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Exam Information
Official specifications published by VMware
Exam Format
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Skills this practice test covers
- Explain the software-defined data center and the networking problems it solves.
- Describe the management, control and data planes in NSX.
- Identify the vSphere components, switches and features that virtual networks use.
- Match a business use case to the VMware product that supports it.
- Describe NSX-T segments, gateways and the distributed firewall.
- Find the NSX Manager UI page that completes a given task.
Explore related topics
1V0-4120 exam content
3 domains · 13 topics · 200 of 208 questions sorted by domain
Architecture and Technologies39 questions
This domain covers the ideas behind network virtualization. Candidates explain the software-defined data center, the traditional networking problems that virtual networks solve, and the building blocks of software-defined networking.
Skills tested
- Explain the basic concepts of the software-defined data center (SDDC).
- Describe how virtual networking removes limits of physical networks, such as manual configuration work.
- Separate the management, control and data planes of a software-defined network.
Questions by topic
- Identify the basic concepts of SDDC.11
- Identify how virtual networking addresses traditional networking challenges.11
- Identify the Software Defined Networking (SDN) building blocks.17
VMware Products and Solutions128 questions
Most of the exam objectives sit in this domain. Candidates identify vSphere components and networking, the products that form the SDDC, and how the parts of NSX work together.
Skills tested
- Compare vSphere standard and distributed switches, port groups and VMkernel ports.
- Match a use case to the VMware product that supports it, such as vSAN for storage.
- Describe the roles of NSX Manager, transport nodes and NSX Edge nodes.
- Explain NSX-T features: segments, Tier-0 and Tier-1 gateways, the distributed firewall and load balancing.
Questions by topic
- Identify vSphere networking concepts.15
- Given a use case, identify the product that supports the use case.13
- Identify the roles of each of the high-level components of the NSX architecture.12
- Identify the functionality of the NSX-T features.30
- Identify the key features of vSphere.11
- Identify how the high-level component of the NSX architecture interacts with the other high-level components.13
- Identify the components of vSphere.10
- Given a use case, identify the benefits of NSX Data Center.13
- Identify the VMware products that are part of the SDDC solution.11
Administrative and Operational Tasks33 questions
This domain has one objective: use the NSX graphical user interface to reach a stated goal. Questions describe a task and ask where in the NSX Manager UI to do it.
Skills tested
- Find where to create segments and gateways in the NSX Manager UI.
- Locate where to apply security policies and check system settings.
- Read the NSX dashboards to check the state of the environment.
Questions by topic
- Given a scenario including a goal, identify how to use the NSX graphical user interface to achieve that goal.33
Requirements
- No formal prerequisites: anyone can book the exam.
- Recommended: basic IT, networking and security experience, including switching and routing concepts.
- Recommended: basic virtualization and operating system skills, and about six months with VMware products.
About the 1V0-4120 exam
1V0-4120 is VMware's associate exam for network virtualization with NSX. Passing it earns VMware Certified Technical Associate - Network Virtualization 2024. It is written for people with basic IT, networking, security, virtualization and operating system knowledge who are new to NSX. The objectives cover software-defined data center concepts, vSphere networking, the NSX architecture and NSX-T features. One objective is practical: using the NSX interface to reach a stated goal.
VMware Products and Solutions holds most of the objectives, and the PlanetCert practice test gives it the most questions, with NSX-T features the largest group. The explanations help most where components sound alike, such as a Tier-0 and a Tier-1 gateway, or the distributed firewall and the gateway firewall. Flashcard mode suits the many product and component names. Brainy AI Assistant can explain how GENEVE overlay traffic crosses the physical network, or what each NSX plane does.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- VMware Certified Technical Associate - Network Virtualization 2024 (VCTA-NV 2024)Associate
VCTA-NV 2024 has no expiry date.
- After
- 2V0-41-24 NSX 4.x Professional V2
The professional NSX exam, for those who will deploy and run NSX day to day.
- 2V0-21.23 vSphere 8.x Professional
The professional vSphere exam, for deeper data center virtualization skills.
- 2V0-41-24 NSX 4.x Professional V2
How to prepare for 1V0-4120
- 1
Draw where each NSX plane runs
Sketch NSX Manager, two ESXi hosts and an Edge node, and mark where the management, control and data planes run. Add one arrow for configuration and one for packet flow.
- 2
Refresh vSphere networking first
Review standard and distributed switches, port groups, VMkernel ports and VLANs in vSphere. The NSX objectives build on this layer, and the products domain tests it directly.
- 3
Trace a packet through both gateways
Follow traffic from a VM on one segment out to the internet: through a Tier-1 gateway, a Tier-0 gateway and the physical router. Then follow traffic between two VMs and note where the distributed firewall acts.
- 4
Click through NSX Manager in a lab
Use any NSX lab to find where segments, gateways, firewall rules and system settings live. The Administrative and Operational Tasks domain asks exactly where each task is done.
- 5
Pair products with use cases, then time it
Write one line per SDDC product, such as vSAN, vCenter Server and NSX, on the problem it solves. Then take the 1V0-4120 practice test in Timed Mode and ask Brainy AI Assistant about each missed component question.
Start a timed 1V0-4120run
VMware recommends the VMware Network Virtualization: Core Technical Skills course for this exam.
Who 1V0-4120 is for
- Network administrators who are starting to work with VMware NSX.
- vSphere administrators who now need to support virtual networks.
- Support engineers and IT staff who want a first VMware certification.
Typical job titles: Network administrator · Virtualization administrator · Systems administrator · Technical support engineer · Junior network engineer
1V0-4120 glossary
16 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- Control plane
- The layer that works out the network state, such as routes, and sends it to the hosts that forward traffic.
- Data plane
- The layer that forwards packets; in NSX it runs on transport nodes such as ESXi hosts and Edge nodes.
- Distributed Firewall
- The NSX firewall that runs in each host's hypervisor and filters traffic at every virtual machine's network interface.
- GENEVE encapsulation
- The overlay protocol NSX uses to wrap virtual network traffic in packets that cross the physical network.
- Management plane
- The layer that takes configuration from users and APIs and stores it; in NSX it runs in NSX Manager.
- Micro-segmentation
- Applying firewall rules to single workloads, so that traffic between virtual machines on the same network is controlled too.
- NSX Manager
- The NSX component that provides the user interface and API and stores the configuration, usually deployed as a cluster.
- Segments
- NSX's virtual layer 2 networks, which connect virtual machines across hosts as if they shared one switch.
- Software Defined Data Center (SDDC)
- A data center where compute, storage and networking are all virtualized and run as software under central management.
- Software Defined Networking (SDN)
- Networking in which software decides how traffic flows, separately from the physical switches and routers that carry it.
- Tier-0 Gateway
- The NSX gateway that connects virtual networks to the physical network, often using BGP, for north-south traffic.
- Tier-1 Gateway
- The NSX gateway that routes between segments, often one per tenant or application, and links up to a Tier-0 gateway.
- Transport nodes
- ESXi hosts and NSX Edge nodes that are prepared for NSX and carry its virtual network traffic.
- Transport zones
- Groups of transport nodes that set how far a segment reaches: only hosts in the zone can use it.
- Virtual switches (vSS and vDS)
- vSphere switches for VM traffic: a standard switch (vSS) belongs to one host, and a distributed switch (vDS) spans many hosts.
- VMkernel ports
- ESXi host interfaces that carry the host's own traffic, such as management, vMotion and storage.