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Free NCP-AII Practice Test — Systems & Server Bring-Up (2025 Edition)

Published: September 30, 2025 | 5 min read
NVIDIA-Certified Professional • AI Infrastructure Free

10 free exam-style questions with answers & explanations for the Systems & Server Bring-Up domain. Practice smarter with AI-guided learning, Smart Review, and Flashcards.

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On this page
  1. About the Systems & Server Bring-Up Domain
  2. 10 Free Practice Questions (with Answers)
  3. NCP-AII FAQ
  4. Next Steps & Free Tools

About the Systems & Server Bring-Up Domain

This domain validates your ability to assemble, configure, validate, and troubleshoot GPU-based systems for AI workloads. Typical tasks include:

  • Verifying GPU health, PCIe/NVLink topology, and lane bifurcation
  • Validating firmware/driver versions and kernel initialization
  • Ensuring power, thermals, and airflow are within spec
  • Running diagnostics (e.g., nvidia-smi, DCGM) during bring-up

10 Free Practice Questions — Systems & Server Bring-Up

Q1. During a GPU server bring-up, one GPU is not detected. What’s your first step?

  1. Replace the GPU immediately
  2. Reseat the GPU and check PCIe slot connections
  3. Update the NVIDIA driver package
  4. Run an nvidia-smi reset
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. Physical seating/cabling issues are common in bring-up. Validate connections before replacing hardware or changing software.

Q2. Which tool best verifies GPU health/status during bring-up?

  1. iperf3
  2. nvidia-smi
  3. dmidecode
  4. sar
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. nvidia-smi is the primary utility for GPU health, utilization, temperature, and memory diagnostics.

Q3. When validating a multi-GPU system, which BIOS setting is critical?

  1. CPU Hyper-Threading
  2. PCIe bifurcation settings
  3. Boot order
  4. Secure Boot
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. Proper PCIe bifurcation (lane splitting) is key to multi-GPU stability and bandwidth.

Q4. Recommended power-on approach for initial bring-up?

  1. Connect GPUs after powering on
  2. Power GPUs first, then CPUs
  3. Ensure all power cables are connected before powering on
  4. Sequence doesn’t matter
Answer & explanation

Answer: C. Confirm power cabling/integrity before the first boot to avoid damage and intermittent issues.

Q5. A server fails POST when multiple GPUs are installed. Most likely cause?

  1. Incompatible SSD firmware
  2. Insufficient PSU wattage
  3. Incorrect fan profile
  4. Missing OS patches
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. Multi-GPU systems draw high power; an undersized PSU can prevent boot/POST.

Q6. Best method to validate GPU-to-GPU communication in a DGX-class system?

  1. Run LINPACK
  2. Check NVLink topology with nvidia-smi topo -m
  3. CPU burn-in
  4. Review BIOS boot logs
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. nvidia-smi topo -m shows NVLink/PCIe connectivity and hop distances between GPUs.

Q7. Firmware mismatch found vs. validated version during bring-up. What next?

  1. Ignore and proceed
  2. Roll back to the validated firmware
  3. Flash the latest available firmware
  4. RMA the GPU
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. Use validated firmware for stability. Avoid untested latest builds in bring-up.

Q8. Which Linux log is most useful for driver init issues?

  1. /var/log/syslog
  2. dmesg
  3. /var/log/secure
  4. /var/log/messages
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. dmesg surfaces kernel/driver initialization details, including GPU driver errors.

Q9. Role of NVIDIA DCGM during bring-up?

  1. VM orchestration
  2. Network throughput testing
  3. GPU health/performance monitoring & diagnostics
  4. BIOS configuration
Answer & explanation

Answer: C. DCGM provides monitoring, diagnostics, and policy management for GPUs; valuable in validation.

Q10. Thermal throttling appears during bring-up. Immediate action?

  1. Disable GPU overclocking
  2. Increase airflow & verify cooling configuration
  3. Lower power cap permanently
  4. Replace GPUs
Answer & explanation

Answer: B. First address environmental/cooling factors (airflow, fans, heatsinks, ducting) before tuning power limits.

NCP-AII — Quick FAQ

What is covered in the Systems & Server Bring-Up domain?

Hardware bring-up, PCIe/NVLink checks, firmware & driver validation, thermal/power integrity, logging/diagnostics, and initial performance sanity tests.

How should I study efficiently?

Start with domain-wise practice, then switch to full exam simulation. Use Smart Review to target weak areas; translate questions for clarity if needed.

Is this practice set really free?

Yes—this page contains 10 free questions with answers & explanations. You can continue with larger practice banks and simulations in FlashGenius.

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