Announcing Nutanix Database Service 2.11: Dynamic Scaling, Advanced Data Protection, and Expanded Hybrid Cloud Capabilities

NDB is the premier Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) platform that supports  the most popular commercial and open source databases including Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, EDB, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL, and MariaDB. It’s trusted by global enterprises and government institutions worldwide for delivering enterprise-grade database automation, lifecycle management, and data protection at scale.

NDB 2.11 introduces dynamic scaling enhancements for Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL and MongoDB database clusters, allowing for the addition or removal of nodes and sharded cluster expansion with near-zero downtime. This significantly simplifies capacity adjustment and maintenance. Data protection for PostgreSQL and EDB Postgres is strengthened through native, automated features such as Point-in-Time Recovery and Transparent Data Encryption, which avoid the need for complex, error-prone manual scripts. Additionally, security and governance are improved through structured audit trails, granular Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) that enables safe delegation of tasks, and streamlined communication protocols. Other enhancements include expanded support for public cloud placement, operational tools, expanded database support, and enhanced security capabilities.

Let’s dive into the key areas of NDB 2.11.

Dynamic Scaling for Existing Database Clusters

Prior to NDB, organizations had to manually add or remove database nodes through complex provisioning, configuration, replication setup, and data synchronization—a process that takes significant time and effort from DBAs. These changes typically require maintenance windows, causing downtime and business disruption.

NDB 2.11 makes it easy to grow or adjust your database clusters without rebuilding the cluster or taking it offline.

Add or Remove Database Nodes Without Downtime

You can now add or remove database nodes from existing SQL Server Always On Availability Group (AG) and PostgreSQL clusters directly through the NDB UI, API, or CLI — with near-zero downtime and no need to create a new cluster or migrate data. Supported cluster sizes are:

• SQL Server AG clusters scale up to 9 node
• PostgreSQL clusters scale up to 5 nodes

This capability is ideal for replacing failed nodes, creating new nodes, migrating individual nodes, or dynamically adjusting capacity when performance (especially read throughput) or resilience requirements change.

Zero-Downtime Incremental Scaling for MongoDB Sharded Clusters

For MongoDB Enterprise Advanced sharded clusters, you can now incrementally add shards or mongos (query routers) one at a time with zero downtime — reads and writes continue uninterrupted while NDB manages the cluster's balancer and data readiness state throughout the expansion. New shards automatically inherit all existing settings, including backup policies, networking, and software profiles.

These scaling features give organizations true operational agility to grow or right-size clusters with minimal operational overhead.

Advanced Encryption and Data Protection

NDB 2.11 delivers expanded encryption and native data protection capabilities that helps minimize reliance on custom scripts and manual processes.

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) — MySQL & EDB Postgres

NDB now supports native Transparent Data Encryption across both MySQL and EDB Postgres, with external KMS integration (including Thales) and automated key rotation. Encryption is enabled at provisioning — NDB handles KMS configuration, key/certificate setup, and initialization automatically:

• MySQL: Automated key rotation with no manual intervention
• EDB Postgres: Key, certificate, and credential rotation performed entirely from the NDB UI/API, with zero downtime

For both engines, restore, clone, and refresh operations automatically use the correct encryption key — no manual steps on database servers.

PostgreSQL Disaster Recovery

Native Disaster Recovery is now available for PostgreSQL High Availability clusters directly through NDB. It orchestrates primary and standby clusters, combining real-time streaming replication with WAL archival to Nutanix Objects Storage.  Full lifecycle automation includes: 

• One-click  failover
• Planned switchover (and switchback) with zero data loss

This replaces complex custom DR scripts with simple, reliable, non-disruptive workflows.

Enhanced Security, Governance, and Hybrid Cloud Expansion

NDB 2.11 significantly strengthens security posture and governance while expanding cloud reach.

NDB Audit Trail

Every user action across the Console, API, and CLI is now captured in a structured audit trail that records who did what, when, from where, and the outcome. Audit logs are automatically forwarded to Prism Central, the centralized multi-cluster management and control plane for Nutanix environments. These logs can also be routed to enterprise SIEM platforms such as Splunk, QRadar, and Datadog via syslog. A simple toggle in NDB settings enables this capability, which can support customer efforts to meet applicable compliance requirements.

Granular RBAC Improvements

Entity sharing — granting other users or teams access to a specific database or clone — now supports richer access levels:

• Databases: Manage and Full access (previously limited to View)
• Database Clones: Full access (previously View and Manage)

Teams can now delegate meaningful operational control — such as snapshotting, restoring, scaling, refreshing, or even removing databases/clones — without granting Super Admin privileges.

Enhanced Security for Prism Communication

Prism is the centralized management plane for the Nutanix Cloud Platform. Prism API calls from database server VMs are now securely routed through the NDB control plane. Prism credentials stay centralized in the control plane and are never distributed to database VMs. Database VMs no longer require direct network access to Prism (port 9440). This reduces the attack surface, enables better network segmentation, and provides full auditability of infrastructure calls.

Expanded Cloud Support: Google Cloud

NDB is now available on Google Cloud Marketplace.  With this, customers can manage their databases with NDB on all 3 leading hyperscalers: AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, giving customers the freedom to select their public cloud of choice for database management. Full support has been added for NDB on the Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) solution for Google Cloud — covering all supported database engines in both single-instance and high-availability deployments.  NDB workflows are consistent across on-premises and AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud — so you're not locked into a single cloud provider's database tooling.

For more information, read the NDB on Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) solution for Google Cloud blog post.

Operational Excellence Tools

To help teams improve day-to-day efficiency and reduce operational overhead, Nutanix Database Service includes the following specialized tools:

• Fitment Tool for Microsoft SQL Server: A standalone, portable tool that scans existing SQL Server VMs (up to 100 at once), validates NDB onboarding readiness, identifies configuration issues, and generates detailed remediation reports. 
• Diagnostic Log Bundle Improvements: Granular filtering by log category, exclusion of large components (such as pg_dump), and precise time-window selection — resulting in smaller, faster-to-transfer bundles and faster troubleshooting.

New Supported Versions

NDB 2.11 adds support for the following platforms and databases:

• Windows Server 2025 with SQL Server 2025 (RTM)
• RHEL 10 with PostgreSQL Community v17 and v18
• RHEL 10 with MySQL Enterprise and Community v8.4.5

NDB 2.11 represents a major step forward in making enterprise database management simpler, more secure, and more flexible across hybrid environments. Whether you need to scale clusters on demand, protect data with native encryption and recovery, or operate consistently across on-premises and public cloud, this release delivers the capabilities you’ve been asking for.

Ready to get started?

• Take a Test Drive (*)
• Review the detailed release notes
• Explore how leading organizations are using NDB today on our customer stories page
• Contact your Nutanix account team to discuss how NDB 2.11 can benefit your environment

For the latest updates and community discussions, visit the Nutanix Database Service page or join the conversation in the Nutanix Community Forum for NDB. We’re excited to see what you build with these new capabilities. Thank you for your continued partnership and feedback — it directly shapes every release.