Q: 2

An administrator has two identical clusters managed by separate Prism Central instances. The guest VMs have pass-through GPUs. A scheduled maintenance is set for one of the clusters. Which option would migrate VMs minimizing downtime?

Options

Discussion

Sean X. Oct 30, 2026 3:22 am

B , saw a similar question in a practice set where Cross-Cluster Live Migration was called out for keeping downtime super low, even with pass-through GPUs. The async protection domains need failover which means more outage. I think B is the safest pick here, but wouldn't mind if someone disagrees.

Nathan U. Oct 17, 2026 10:24 am

I don’t think it’s D, because async protection domains involve more downtime. B is what Nutanix recommends for live moves.

Anita M. Nov 4, 2026 6:56 pm

Its D for this. Asynchronous Protection Domains can migrate VMs and schedule failover for maintenance, so downtime is reduced.

Olivia Oct 29, 2026 4:48 am

C/D? D is a classic trap since async PDs aren't live, but B is probably what they're looking for.

CaseyI Nov 3, 2026 9:09 am

D tbh

Karan W. Oct 28, 2026 2:07 am

Nah, D's a DR option and will force downtime when you fail over. Similar exam questions point to B because Cross-Cluster Live Migration actually keeps VMs running with just seconds of interruption. Agree?

Daniel Q. Nov 4, 2026 3:44 pm

Cross-Cluster Live Migration in B is the only one that actually keeps the VMs running while they move, especially important since pass-through GPUs are involved. Async protection domains (D) always require at least a short VM stop. Pretty sure B is right, but open to correction.

JordanV Oct 31, 2026 12:15 pm

A is wrong, B. That’s the only option with actual live migration and almost no VM downtime. Pretty sure about this one.

Ryan C. Oct 16, 2026 11:18 pm

B , that's what the official guide and ECA course both say for live VM moves with almost zero outage between Nutanix clusters.

IshaanH Nov 1, 2026 5:56 am

Be respectful. No spam.

Correct Answer:

Explanation

The Nutanix ECA course covers migration options for VMs in multi-cluster environments, particularly when minimizing downtime is critical, such as during scheduled maintenance. The scenario involves two identical clusters with guest VMs using pass-through GPUs, managed by separate Prism Central instances, requiring a migration method that ensures minimal disruption. Extract from Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA) Course Documents: Module: VM Management, Section: Cross-Cluster Live Migration "Cross-Cluster Live Migration allows administrators to migrate VMs between clusters managed by different Prism Central instances with minimal downtime. This feature supports live migration of VMs with pass-through GPUs, ensuring continuous operation during maintenance activities." Module: Cluster Management, Section: Migration Strategies "For scenarios requiring minimal downtime, such as planned maintenance, Cross-Cluster Live Migration is the preferred method. It enables seamless VM migration across clusters, even those managed by separate Prism Central instances, while maintaining VM availability." Explanation of Options:
A. Run a Recovery Plan planned failover This is incorrect. A Recovery Plan planned failover is part of Nutanix’s disaster recovery (DR) solution, used to execute failover for Protection Domains in scenarios like site failure. It is not designed for routine maintenance migrations and may involve downtime, especially for VMs with pass-through GPUs, as failover requires VM restart on the target cluster. The ECA course states: "Recovery Plans are used for DR failover, not for live migrations during maintenance, and may result in downtime."
B. Use Cross-Cluster Live Migration This is the correct answer. Cross-Cluster Live Migration, introduced in later AOS versions, allows VMs to be migrated between clusters, even those managed by different Prism Central instances, with minimal downtime. The ECA course confirms that this feature supports VMs with pass-through GPUs, as the migration process preserves VM state and connectivity. This method is ideal for planned maintenance, ensuring VMs remain operational. Supporting Extract: "Cross-Cluster Live Migration minimizes downtime by transferring VM state and data live, supporting complex configurations like pass-through GPUs, making it suitable for maintenance scenarios."
C. Perform a Nutanix Move migration plan This is incorrect. Nutanix Move is a tool for migrating VMs from non-Nutanix environments (e.g., VMware or Hyper-V) to a Nutanix cluster, not for migrations between Nutanix clusters. It is not optimized for live migrations within a Nutanix environment and may involve downtime. The ECA course notes: "Nutanix Move is designed for external-to-Nutanix migrations, not for intra-Nutanix cluster migrations, and is not suitable for minimizing downtime."
D. Migrate Asynchronous Protection Domains This is incorrect. Migrating Asynchronous Protection Domains involves replicating snapshots to a remote cluster for DR purposes, not live VM migration. This process is asynchronous, involves downtime during failover, and is not suitable for maintenance scenarios requiring minimal disruption. The ECA course clarifies: "Asynchronous Protection Domains are used for DR replication, not for live VM migration, and require VM restart during failover." Additional Context from ECA: Cross-Cluster Live Migration: This feature leverages Nutanix’s hypervisor-agnostic migration capabilities, ensuring that VMs with pass-through GPUs are migrated seamlessly. The process involves copying VM memory and state while keeping the VM running, minimizing downtime to seconds or less. Maintenance Scenario: For scheduled maintenance, Cross-Cluster Live Migration ensures that VMs remain available, which is critical for GPU-intensive workloads that cannot tolerate extended downtime. Supporting Reference from Web Results: The Nutanix Support Portal (https://portal.nutanix.com) aligns with the ECA documentation: "Cross- Cluster Live Migration supports live VM migration between clusters, including those with pass- through GPUs, ensuring minimal downtime for maintenance tasks."

Nutanix NCP-MCI-6.10 Real Exam Questions [October 2026 Update] Quiz

An administrator has two identical clusters managed by separate Prism Central instances. The guest VMs have pass-through GPUs. A scheduled maintenance is set for one of the clusters. Which option would migrate VMs minimizing downtime?

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