NCP-AIO Administration Practice Question
An administrator is preparing a cluster for a new large language model training job that will use NVIDIA Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage to stream training data directly from a parallel file system to GPU memory. The administrator must verify that the environment supports GPUDirect Storage before the job starts. (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that GPUDirect Storage depends on MIG or a specific network transport, when it actually relies on driver, kernel module, and file system client support.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Ensure that the parallel file system client supports the cuFile API and that the file system is mounted with options that allow direct I/O and peer-to-peer memory access.
GPUDirect Storage requires compatible drivers, the nvidia-fs kernel module, and a file system client that supports the cuFile API with suitable mount options. These two checks confirm that the software stack and storage client can perform direct memory transfers. MIG, exclusive RoCE, and disabling IOMMU are not prerequisites and may be counterproductive.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable IOMMU in the BIOS on all GPU nodes to allow direct memory access between storage devices and GPUs.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling IOMMU is not a requirement and can introduce security and stability risks. GPUDirect Storage supports IOMMU with proper configuration. In many environments, IOMMU must remain enabled for device isolation. This action is not a valid readiness step and could break other features.
- ✓
Ensure that the parallel file system client supports the cuFile API and that the file system is mounted with options that allow direct I/O and peer-to-peer memory access.
Why this is correct
The file system client must support cuFile and be mounted appropriately for direct memory access. Without cuFile support, applications cannot use the GPUDirect Storage path. Mount options and client capabilities determine whether the storage stack can perform peer-to-peer transfers to GPU memory.
- ✗
Configure the cluster to use RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) exclusively for all storage traffic, because GPUDirect Storage requires RDMA.
Why it's wrong here
GPUDirect Storage can work over various transports, including PCIe and NVLink, and does not strictly require RoCE. While RDMA can improve performance, mandating RoCE exclusively is incorrect and may not be supported by the file system client. This is not a required readiness check.
- ✓
Confirm that the NVIDIA driver and CUDA toolkit versions installed on the nodes meet the minimum requirements for the GPUDirect Storage release being used, and that the nvidia-fs kernel module is loaded.
Why this is correct
GPUDirect Storage depends on the nvidia-fs kernel module and compatible driver and CUDA versions. Without the module loaded, the storage path falls back to CPU bounce buffers, negating the direct path. Verifying versions and module state is a fundamental readiness check for this feature.
- ✗
Enable NVIDIA Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) on every GPU to provide isolated memory partitions for storage transfers.
Why it's wrong here
MIG partitions GPU resources for compute isolation and does not enable or enhance GPUDirect Storage. In fact, MIG can restrict peer-to-peer and direct memory access capabilities. Enabling MIG is not a prerequisite and may interfere with the storage path.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official NVIDIA exam blueprint
This NCP-AIO practice question is part of Courseiva's free NVIDIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NCP-AIO exam.