Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA)

Description

If you're ready to move beyond the basics of Nutanix and start steering the ship of a modern, hybrid multicloud data center, you've come to the right place. This intermediate course is designed specifically for IT professionals—Systems Administrators, Cloud Engineers, and Data Center Architects—who already possess a foundational understanding of Nutanix but want to master the intricacies of the Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP).

Ascending to a more senior Nutanix administrator means moving from a reactive "fix-it" role to a proactive, strategic one. Senior admins are the architects of "invisible infrastructure," ensuring that developers and business units have seamless access to resources without ever seeing the complexity behind the scenes.

The career landscape for those with intermediate to advanced Nutanix skills is rapidly expanding. By mastering this level of the stack, you qualify for high-impact roles such as HCI Architect, Cloud Infrastructure Lead, and Virtualization Engineer. Furthermore, as enterprise AI becomes the norm, Nutanix administrators are evolving into AI Infrastructure Ops roles—managing the high-performance, GPU-enabled clusters that power large language models and machine learning workflows.

To help you position yourself for success as a Nutanix administrator, this course will equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to:

• Initialize and manage single or multi-cluster environments via Nutanix Prism.
• Configure AOS storage and virtual networks.
• Streamline VM creation and management using image libraries, reusable templates, and advanced disk operations.
• Use affinity policies to optimize workload placement.
• Secure the stack through RBAC, system hardening, and entity categorization.
• Ensure business continuity with HA and disaster recovery.
• Perform seamless migrations using Nutanix Move.
• Automate tasks with Playbooks.
• Perform non-disruptive upgrades via the Life Cycle Manager (LCM).

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Deploy and configure Prism Element and Prism Central for multi-cluster management
• Secure infrastructure using RBAC, cluster hardening, and guest VM security features
• Manage AHV networking, including virtual switches, subnets, and network segmentation
• Configure and manage core storage constructs, including storage pools, containers, and volume groups
• Administer VM lifecycles from creation and templates to advanced disk operations and NGT
• Automate tasks through X-Play playbooks and workload placement/affinity policies
• Implement data protection and disaster recovery using snapshots, recovery plans, and Nutanix Move
• Maintain cluster health and perform non-disruptive upgrades via Life Cycle Manager (LCM)

Course Outline

Module 1: Introduction

• Introduction to Nutanix, Product Portfolio
• Understanding Your Cluster
• Accessing Prism Central and Prism Element
• Using the Nutanix Support Portal

Module 2: Security

• Nutanix’s Approach to Security
• The Security Dashboard
• Authentication and Role Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Infrastructure Hardening

Module 3: Networking

• Understanding AHV Networking
• Managing Networks in Prism Central and Prism Element
• Understanding Network Segmentation

Module 4: Storage

• Understanding AOS Storage and Nutanix Storage Constructs
• Storage Resiliency
• Capacity Optimization
• Storage Management in Prism Central

Module 5: Categories

• Understanding Categories
• Pre-built and Custom Categories
• Assigning and Unassigning Categories

Module 6: Images

• Understanding the Image Service
• Uploading Images to Prism Central and Prism Element
• Importing Images to Prism Central
• Modifying Uploaded Images

Module 7: Creating VMs

• Exploring the VMs Dashboard
• Creating VMs in AHV
• Using Nutanix Guest Tools

Module 8: Managing VMs

• Updating Existing VMs
• Working with VM Templates
• Cloning and Customizing VMs
• Exporting and Importing VMs

Module 9: Protecting and Recovering VM Data

• Working with Snapshots in Prism Element
• Working with Recovery Points in Prism Central
• Using Self Service Restore

Module 10: Policies

• Using Storage Policies
• Using Affinity and Anti-Affinity Policies
• Using NGT Policies
• Using VM Startup Policies

Module 11: Task Automation

• Understanding Task Automation in Prism Central
• Playbooks and their Components
• Using Manually Triggered Playbooks
• Using Alert-Triggered Playbooks

Module 12: Disaster Recovery

• Understanding Data Protection Strategies
• Understanding Synchronous and Asynchronous Replication
• Using Nutanix Disaster Recovery

Module 13: Migrating Workloads with Nutanix Move

• Understanding Move and its Components
• Deploying and Configuring Move
• Configuring Migration Plans

Module 14: Monitoring Cluster Performance

• Using the Analysis Dashboards
• Working with Sessions
• Reporting in Prism Central
• Customizing Prism Central’s Main Dashboard
• Creating Custom Dashboards

Module 15: Monitoring Cluster Health

• Health Monitoring in Prism Central and Prism Element
• Using Nutanix Cluster Check

Module 16: Upgrading a Cluster

• Introduction to Life Cycle Manager (LCM)
• Understanding Inventory and Upgrade Processes
• Understanding Dark Site Upgrades

Module 17: Cluster Maintenance

• Using Maintenance Mode
• Starting and Stopping Nodes and Clusters

Terms and Conditions

• Customer must purchase training seats in advance of scheduling course dates.
• Customer may not cancel purchased training seats and all amounts paid are non-refundable.
• Customer may reschedule courses with no less than 15 business days written notice to Nutanix. Rescheduling fees may apply.
• Customer may substitute a student with no less than 5 business days written notice to Nutanix. Rescheduling fees do not apply to substitutions.
• Training seats must be consumed within 12 months of purchase. Failure to utilize the training seats within the 12 months of purchase shall result in forfeiture of all fees paid for such seats. Extensions may be available on a case by case basis.
• Most of our Authorized Training Partners (ATPs) have a 10-business-day cancellation and/or reschedule policy. If customer cancels or reschedules within those 10 business days, fees may apply up to the full price of the seat.
• Nutanix reserves the right to cancel any scheduled course due to minimum enrollment not being achieved, instructor illness, or other events outside of its control.
• Cancellation notices will be sent to enrolled students by email with rescheduling information and alternative training options.