Nutanix .Next – Nutanix has announced new features in the Nutanix Cloud Platform, including the launch of AOS version 6 software, to help enterprises build modern, software-defined data centers and speed their hybrid multicloud deployments.
Rajiv Mirani
“Our customers are looking for cloud solutions that can adapt to their needs, with a focus on simplicity, flexibility and freedom to choose the right technology for each situation,” says Rajiv Mirani, chief technology officer at Nutanix. “The Nutanix Cloud Platform continues to break down common silos within IT teams with the goals of simplifying operations so customers can focus on business needs. With these new features, we focused on addressing the common challenges many enterprises face in hybrid multicloud environments, including security, DR and virtual networking.”
Mirani explains that the company is announcing innovations in two core areas: hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and data services.
The HCI offering becoming more enterprise-friendly, he says, as it develops into a full infrastructure as a service (IaaS) stack.
“One of the things that has been missing is networking and now we are creating virtual networking. In addition, moving workloads on and off public clouds is now even easier.
“Disaster recovery is becoming important, so we have added metro clustering, so administrators can replicate storage between clusters for full failover.”
Also announced today is a new disaster recovery (DR) dashboard that offers DR observability so administrators can see whether applications are behaving as should, and SLAs are being met.
“Security is another pillar,” Mirani says. “We have invested more in security over the years, and have now automated zero-trust security. This takes the complexity out of micro-segmentation with automated policy recommendations.”
Nutanix is partnering with Qualys to scan systems for threat detection and visualisation.
“Overall, we are focusing on simplicity and making it easier for customers to gain a full IaaS stack,” Mirani says.
The new HCI offerings launched today are:
Simplified Virtual Private Cloud Across Hybrid Multicloud
Nutanix AOS 6 can now deliver Flow Networking – a Network Virtualisation offering on the AHV hypervisor that enables customers to simplify their networking through a software-defined single pane of glass management.
Enterprises and service providers can now easily create Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to offer their users a cloud-like agility with minimal dependency on hardware switches and routers.
Flow Networking also offers VPN capabilities which allow customers to bridge and extend their virtual networks to any public and private cloud infrastructure. Ability to provision cloud connectivity on demand, without needing dedicated physical appliances and other complex configurations, further reduce cost and simplify operations for the customers.
Expanded Access for Enterprise-Grade Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Customers adopting the Nutanix Cloud Platform with AOS 6 gain access to new Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) capabilities previously only found in specialized solutions.
Built into AOS 6 is the ability to leverage the public cloud as a secondary site, native metro clustering support for the built-in AHV hypervisor enabling automatic failover in the event of a disaster, as well as end-to-end encryption capabilities for DR traffic. In addition, a new DR dashboard provides a comprehensive view into customers’ DR configuration and status across primary and secondary sites.
These capabilities enable enterprises to eliminate specialized DR hardware and software, reduce licensing costs, improve recovery time, simplify their operations, and potentially eliminate expensive hot-standby secondary sites. It enables mid-size companies that might not have had the budget or skills to implement robust DR capabilities to better protect their businesses from disasters.
Automated Zero-Trust Security Policies
More and more organizations are looking to adopt a Zero-Trust approach to security, but developing policies that are both efficient and effective can be a significant hurdle, particularly for environments that span public and private clouds.
Upcoming features in the Nutanix Cloud Platform, as part of the Flow Security Central SaaS platform, eliminate this common challenge by automatically creating Flow microsegmentation policies through a machine learning-based planning engine that analyzes an organization’s network traffic and recommends security policies to protect virtual-machine workloads against potential attacks.
Additionally, the Nutanix Cloud Platform will deliver integration with Qualys Inc.’s industry leading vulnerability management detection and response (VMDR) solution to empower customers to streamline security patching efforts with virtual machine-centric threat detection and vulnerability risk visualisation capabilities.
Enhanced protection in Nutanix Files will help detect and prevent against 4000+ known ransomware attack signatures with the ability to deliver new signatures dynamically.
Finally, Nutanix AOS, AHV, and Files products are now approved for placement on the Department of Defense Information Network Approved Products List (APL) after successfully completing rigorous cybersecurity and interoperability testing.
- Virtual networking and enterprise-grade DR features are currently available to customers; security improvements are currently under development.