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Meet NPX 020 – Dan Alexandru Apostu

  • Name: Dan-Alexandru Apostu
  • NPX Number: 020
  • Employer: Global Nutanix Customer
  • Blog URL: 
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  • Virtualisation background: I’ve started working with virtualization technologies in 2005 with VMware Workstation preparing for my university graduation exam. In 2010 I passed VCP3 and as I was working on increasingly complex projects I prepared for and passed the VMware advanced exams for version 3, pre-VCAP.
  • Storage Background: Before working with Nutanix I worked mostly with Fibre Channel block storage arrays such as EMC Clariion, VNX, VNX2 and HPE 3PAR.
  • Hyper Converged Infrastructure background: My first contact with hyper-converged infrastructure was in 2015 during a PoC. Since then I was involved in the majority of Nutanix related projects at my current employer, gathering requirements, performing sizing, generating the bill of materials and helping with the implementation.
  • Future of HCI and other emerging technologies: HCI is the right platform for creating the infrastructure of the future and through the automation capabilities and the services built on top of it will be the on-premise alternative to public cloud.
  • Value of NPX: The NPX certification is proof that its holder has gone through a rigorous process of documenting, designing and troubleshooting Nutanix infrastructure running two hypervisors. It is a strong evidence that the holder of the certification can thrive in various environment and that he/she can have conversations with C-level executives and all the way to technical experts.
  • What made you go for NPX: I knew it would make me a better architect by forcing me to think in conceptual, logical and only afterwards in physical terms, and that it would refine my documentation skills. It was a great learning experience and I got to interact with a lot of knowledgeable people.
  • Advice to people looking into the NPX track: Attend a NPX bootcamp, there is no admission fee and it is the best workshop I have attended, the amount of situations you get exposed to in 5 days is impressive.
    Ask for the support of a NPX mentor, they will make sure you stay on the right path, and you have someone to be accountable to when the going gets tough ( it will ? ).
    Give yourself enough time until the submission, but commit to do it and work on it each day, even if it is just opening the document, reading what you wrote before, modifying it if needed and closing it. Some days will be better than others but consistency is key.