53 questions · from 15 interviews · 1 asked more than once
Nutanix interview questions
Every question candidates reported from their Nutanix interviews, most frequently asked first. Each links to the write-up it came from, so you can see the round and how it went.
Nutanix coding and DSA questions
- 01
Rotting Oranges
Given a grid of oranges, determine the minimum time required for all fresh oranges to rot. Each minute, a fresh orange adjacent to a rotten orange becomes rotten.
Medium · Asked 2 times · From Nutanix | MTS-2 | MTS-3 | NDB | Rejected
- 02
Transform array a to b with minimum operations
You are given two integer arrays, a of length n and b of length n + 1. Transform array a into b using the minimum number of operations. Allowed operations on elements in array a: - Increment by 1: increase an element by 1. - Decrement by 1: decrease an…
- 03
Cheapest Flights Within K Stops
LeetCode problem titled "Cheapest Flights Within K Stops". Find the cheapest price to travel from a source city to a destination city with at most K stops.
- 04
Candy
LeetCode problem titled "Candy". Distribute candies to children based on their ratings following specific constraints.
- 05
132 Pattern
LeetCode problem titled "132 Pattern". Determine if there exists a 132 pattern in an array of integers.
- 06
Maximum Quantity (Knapsack Variant)
Given power[i] and quantity[i], pick a subset so that sum(power) <= maxPower and sum(quantity) is maximized.
- 07
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- 09
Alien Dictionary
Given a string of words, determine the order of characters based on the given words. The input is a sequence of words where each word is a sequence of characters, and the order is determined by the first differing character between consecutive words.
- 10
Word Ladder II
Find the shortest transformation sequence from a start word to an end word, using a given set of words. Each transformation must change exactly one character at a time, and each intermediate word must exist in the given word list.
- 11
All Nodes Distance K in Binary Tree
Given a binary tree, find the distance between any two nodes in the tree. The problem can be solved using a BFS approach starting from the target node, considering the parent pointers.
Medium · From Nutanix | MTS3 | IE (cleared)
- 12
Smallest Subsequence of Distinct Characters
Given a string, find the smallest subsequence of distinct characters that can be formed by removing some characters from the string. The problem requires maintaining the order of characters and selecting the minimum length subsequence.
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS3 | IE (cleared)
- 13
Minimum Cost to Schedule Tasks on Two Servers
Problem Statement: Data Engineers in Leetcode need to schedule long-running tasks on remote servers cost-effectively. They have access to two servers: A paid server that requires cost[i] units to process task i A free server that processes any task in exactly…
Hard · From Nutanix OA | MTS II - Python Automation Testing
- 14
Longest Common Subsequence
Given two strings text1 and text2 , return the length of their longest common subsequence. If there is no common subsequence, return 0.
Medium · From MTS-2 Nutanix Interview DSA
- 15
Sqrt(x)
Given a non-negative integer x , compute and return the square root of x . Since the return type is an integer, the decimal digits are truncated, and only the integer part of the result is returned.
Easy · From MTS-2 Nutanix Interview DSA
- 16
Modified Asteroid Collision Problem
A modified version of the classic Asteroid Collision problem was presented during the online assessment.
Medium · From Nutanix Interview Experience || MTS -1 DevEx || OA (2025)
- 17
Function Call Graph: Longest Chain & Cycle
Given several user-defined functions like: def a(): b(), c() def b(): ... def c(): ... Tasks: Build an adjacency list from the function call dependencies. Example: a → [b, c] Find the Longest Chain: Longest path from any function to the deepest nested call…
Medium · From Nutanix MTS
- 18
Remove Duplicate Letters (Lexicographically Smallest)
Given a string s, remove duplicate letters so that every letter appears once and only once. You must make sure your result is lexicograpically smallest one.
- 19
Maximize Minimum Distance (e.g., Aggressive Cows)
"maximize the minimum distance" problem — similar to placing cows in stalls with max spacing.
- 20
Rotate Array
Given an array, rotate the array to the right by k steps, where k is non-negative.
Easy · From Nutanix | MTS-2 | MTS-3 | NDB | Rejected
- 21
Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock III
You are allowed to complete at most two transactions. Find the maximum profit you can achieve.
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS-2 | MTS-3 | NDB | Rejected
- 22
Find Minimum in Rotated Sorted Array
Search for the element with minimum value in a rotated sorted array. This is equivalent to finding the pivot element.
Medium · From Nutanix | MTS-2 | MTS-3 | NDB | Rejected
- 23
First Missing Positive
Find the smallest missing positive integer. I was asked to code it with O(1) space complexity and then optimize it such that the original array remains unchanged after the algorithm runs. I coded a solution using the index as hash key but couldn't come up…
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS-2 | MTS-3 | NDB | Rejected
- 24
Recursively Delete Leave Nodes in a Multi-Tree
Design an algorithm to recursively delete all leaf nodes in a multi-tree structure. Discuss different approaches, time and space complexity.
Medium · From Nutanix MTS-4 Interview Experience (Rected)
- 25
Buildings With an Ocean View
You are given an integer array heights of size n which represents the heights of the buildings in order from left to right. A building has an ocean view if all the buildings to its right have a strictly smaller height. Return a list of the indices of the…
Medium · From Nutanix | MTS-3 | Bengaluru | Feb 2024
14 more in the Nutanix write-ups.
Nutanix system design questions
- 01
Design Online Ticketing System
Design an online ticketing system, covering high‑level components, scalability considerations, and overall system architecture.
- 02
Command-Line Archive Utility
Objective: Build an archive utility (like a basic tar) with the following features — without using any existing archive/compression libraries. Requirements: Archive a Folder: Recursively create an archive from a folder while preserving the directory…
Hard · From Nutanix MTS
- 03
Implement Memory Based Sparse File Class
Task : Implement a Memory Based Sparse File Class I had three functions to implement. There were questions around best way for storing the data, concurrency and optimization of the functions. Also wanted to discuss about the compression algorithms but ran out…
- 04
High-Level Design of a Database Backup Service
Design a high-level architecture for a database backup service.
- 05
Low-Level Design: Paint Application
Design a paint application similar to the one in Windows, with the expectation to deliver running code within an hour. The requirements were: The user should be able to draw different shapes (like circle, rectangle, square, triangle etc). If a user draws a…
- 06
High-Level Design: Centralized Configuration Management
Design a system for N servers (where 2 <= N <= 50). Each server has its own configuration file, and all configuration values are stored within these files. The administrator needs to update a single configuration file, and all other server files must…
- 07
Design Employee Expense Reimbursement Tool
Design a high-level system for an employee expense reimbursement tool similar to SAP Concur. The system should allow employees to submit receipts and claim reimbursements. It must include components to interface with the employee's manager for approvals and…
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS-3 | Bengaluru | Feb 2024
- 08
Design User Bookmark Management System
Create a low-level design (LLD) for a system that manages all bookmarks created by a user across different browsers on their laptop. This design should include UML diagrams and demonstrate interactions between components.
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS-3 | Bengaluru | Feb 2024
- 09
Implement malloc()
I was asked to write code demonstrating how the malloc() function works, focusing on memory allocation and management.
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS | Bangalore | July 2022
- 10
Multiple Reader, Writer Problem
I was asked to code a solution for the classic Multiple Reader, Writer synchronization problem. The main focus was on the code's functionality and modularity.
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS | Bangalore | July 2022
- 11
Sort Large File (External Sort)
Sort a very large file containing integers that cannot fit into memory, with an emphasis on optimal resource usage and minimizing disk access.
- 12
Design YouTube Views Count Feature
High-level system design discussion for implementing a YouTube views count feature. This involved discussing distributed servers, distributed cache, load balancing, and consistent hashing.
Hard · From Nutanix | MTS | Bangalore | Jan 2020
Nutanix other questions
- 01
Python Threading, Classes, and Objects Concepts
Discussion and questions related to Python's threading module, as well as fundamental concepts of classes and objects.
- 02
Server Thread Management and Resource Optimization
Discussion focused on managing threads within a server environment using ThreadPoolExecutor, maintaining states for incoming requests, and optimizing resource utilization.
Nutanix interview questions FAQ
What questions are asked in Nutanix interviews?
Candidates reported 53 distinct questions across 15 Nutanix interviews. 39 coding and DSA questions, 12 system design questions, 2 other questions.
Which Nutanix interview questions are asked most often?
The most repeated are "Rotting Oranges" (2 times).
How difficult are Nutanix interview questions?
Of the questions candidates rated, 8% were easy, 48% medium and 44% hard.