Nutanix Certified Associate Practice Exam

Where are random IO workloads stored in AOS Distributed Storage?

1. Oplog

2. Extent store

3. Cache

The correct answer is: Oplog

In AOS (Acropolis Operating System) Distributed Storage, random I/O workloads are primarily handled by the Oplog, which is specifically designed for optimizing write operations. The Oplog serves as a transaction log that temporarily holds write operations before they are flushed to the primary storage. This allows for efficient processing of random I/O workloads, as the writes can be grouped and handled asynchronously, enhancing performance and reducing latency. For random I/O scenarios, the Oplog enables quick acknowledgment of write requests without immediately writing the data to the underlying storage structure. This non-blocking approach facilitates a higher throughput and lowers response times, which are critical for applications that execute numerous random write operations. The extent store, on the other hand, is responsible for managing the physical layout of data on the cluster but is not specifically optimized for handling random I/O. Instead, it's geared towards the organization and retrieval of data in a more structured manner. Cache serves a different function by storing frequently accessed data to accelerate read operations. However, it does not specifically address the random write workload management like the Oplog. Understanding these roles highlights why the Oplog is the key component for handling random I/O workloads effectively within an AOS environment.