NCP-AIO Installation and Deployment Practice Question
An AI operations team is deploying NVIDIA AI Enterprise on a bare-metal Kubernetes cluster with DGX A100 systems. They need to enable GPUDirect Storage to accelerate data loading from a local NVMe array. Which component must be installed and configured on the DGX nodes to support GPUDirect Storage?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse GPUDirect Storage with other NVIDIA technologies like RDMA or P2P, which address different data paths.
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
✓
NVIDIA Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage kernel module and user-space libraries
GPUDirect Storage is enabled by installing the NVIDIA Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage components, which include the nvidia-fs kernel module and CUDA libraries. These allow direct DMA transfers between NVMe storage and GPU memory, bypassing the CPU. On DGX systems, these components are typically part of the DGX software stack and must be properly configured.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
NVIDIA Peer-to-Peer (P2P) over PCIe with IOMMU disabled
Why it's wrong here
P2P over PCIe enables direct communication between GPUs, not between storage and GPU. Disabling IOMMU might be required for P2P, but it does not enable GPUDirect Storage. The question focuses on storage acceleration, so P2P is irrelevant. GPUDirect Storage specifically addresses the storage-to-GPU data path.
- ✗
NVIDIA GPU Operator with the RDMA shared device plugin enabled
Why it's wrong here
The RDMA shared device plugin is used for Remote Direct Memory Access networking, not for local storage access. While RDMA can be used with GPUDirect Storage over NVMe-oF, the plugin alone does not provide the necessary kernel modules and libraries for local NVMe GPUDirect Storage. It addresses network fabric, not the storage stack.
- ✗
NVIDIA Container Toolkit with the 'nvidia-container-runtime' configured for privileged mode
Why it's wrong here
The NVIDIA Container Toolkit enables GPU access for containers but does not include GPUDirect Storage support. Privileged mode alone does not install or configure the nvidia-fs kernel module. GPUDirect Storage requires specific kernel modules and user-space components beyond the container runtime, so this is insufficient.
- ✓
NVIDIA Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage kernel module and user-space libraries
Why this is correct
GPUDirect Storage requires the nvidia-fs kernel module and CUDA libraries that enable direct memory access between storage and GPU memory. These are part of Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage. Installing and configuring them on the DGX nodes allows applications to bypass the CPU and system memory, reducing latency and increasing throughput for data-intensive AI workloads.
About these practice questions
One of 309 original NCP-AIO practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.