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NCP-ARI: AI Rack & Interconnect Exam Prep
New
6 students
NCP-ARI: AI Rack & Interconnect Exam Prep
Exam-focused preparation for NVIDIA's AI Rack and Interconnect cert - cabling, power, cooling, and safety
Created byAseem Mankotia
Last updated 8/2026
English
What you'll learn
- Assess AC vs DC rack power architecture and verify rPDU phase balancing and redundancy
- Evaluate CDU placement and liquid vs air cooling design for GB200 NVL72-class racks
- Conduct pre-deployment site surveys covering floor load, clearance, and environmental readiness
- Prepare extra-wide AI racks with correct cable-management accessories and containment clearances
- Select correct NVIDIA cable, transceiver form factor (OSFP/QSFP), and fiber type (MMF/SMF) for a given link
- Install and clean MPO/APC fiber connectors and seat transceivers per manufacturer procedure
- Apply the 50/50 left-right routing strategy while honoring the ~30mm minimum bend radius
- Design overhead cable support systems and manage weight and slack for ultra-high-density bundles
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Course content
12 sections • 12 lectures
Requirements
- Approximately two years of enterprise data-center experience recommended by NVIDIA
- Familiarity with high-density or supercomputing infrastructure environments
- Basic understanding of rack-mounted server hardware and structured cabling
- Awareness of electrical safety practices in industrial/data-center settings
- No prior GPU programming or AI/ML software experience required
Description
This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.
This course delivers exam-focused preparation for NVIDIA's NCP-ARI (AI Rack and Interconnect) certification, the hardware-installation pillar of NVIDIA's professional infrastructure track. Taught by Aseem Mankotia, the twelve chapters walk through every officially published exam domain in order - from power and cooling fundamentals for GB200 NVL72-class racks, through site assessment, rack preparation, high-density cabling, cable support and weight management, testing and documentation, and safety and compliance - using NVIDIA's own official domain weightings rather than editorial guesses. Every chapter pairs a tightly-scoped technical walkthrough with a diagram-based, read-and-understand lab, so you do not need physical access to a GB200 rack or a live data center to work through the material.
The curriculum is built around the exact terminology and physical-layer decisions the exam tests: OSFP vs QSFP, MMF vs SMF, InfiniBand NDR/XDR DAC vs ACC copper, MPO/APC fiber and connector cleaning, the 50/50 left-right routing strategy and the ~30mm bend-radius rule, rPDU phase balancing, CDU and liquid-cooling design, bit-error-rate troubleshooting, and LOTO/ESD/NEC/DU-10438 compliance. Every chapter includes heavily-tested concept callouts, common exam traps such as dirty-connector vs over-bend BER causes and CMP vs CMR ratings, and scenario-style practice questions that mirror the exam's decision-based format rather than simple definitions.
The course closes with a full 70-question, 120-minute exam simulation and time-management strategy chapter covering all seven domains proportionally. This is exam-focused preparation material, not a guarantee of any exam outcome - confirm current exam details, topics, and domain weights on NVIDIA's official NCP-ARI exam page before scheduling, since NVIDIA periodically updates its exams.
AI content disclosure: This course was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools. Lecture narration is AI-voice generated, and lecture scripts, slides, and practice questions were drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and curated by the instructor for technical accuracy and alignment with the official NCP-ARI exam guide.
Who this course is for:
- Data-center infrastructure technicians and engineers who physically stage, deploy, and validate high-density NVIDIA AI clusters - bridging facility engineering (power and cooling) and physical-layer network engineering. Related roles include data-center hardware installation technician, rack and structured-cabling technician, physical-layer network technician, and data-center facilities (power/cooling) engineer. NVIDIA recommends about two years of enterprise data-center experience with high-density or supercomputing infrastructure. This is the HARDWARE-INSTALLATION pillar of NVIDIA's professional infrastructure track, complementing the more software- and fabric-oriented NCP-AII (AI Infrastructure), NCP-AIO (AI Operations), and NCP-AIN (AI Networking) courses already in this catalog.