Cloud-Ready, Azure-Steady: The Next Release of Nutanix Unified Storage Is Here!

The rapid increase in data generation is making cloud storage an essential part of modern IT infrastructure. Driven by factors such as digitalization, the Internet of Things (IoT), social media, AI, and remote work, the volume of data created daily is staggering. 

This exceptional growth is directing enterprises to seek storage solutions that are scalable, cost-effective, and accessible to manage this data deluge. The Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) solution continues to be distinctively positioned to meet these demands by consolidating file, object and block storage while offering rich data services such as analytics, lifecycle management, cybersecurity, and strong data protection. Today, we are announcing the next sequential step in data platform innovation with the release of Nutanix Unified Storage 5.2. 

In this blog post, we will discuss some of the key innovations bringing more simplistic hybrid cloud data management, along with performance enhancements and protocol support that will further accelerate the deployment of next generation cloud and AI applications.

Let’s first look at how NUS brings innovation for Hybrid Cloud Data Management…

Nutanix Unified Storage was built on a software-defined architecture that offers flexibility. This enables the components of NUS, such as the Nutanix Files Storage solution, to run on top of an existing Nutanix deployment or directly on a public cloud. This native deployment use case, introduced in a prior release for Amazon Web Services, adds more public cloud deployment options alongside existing Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) scenarios. In this release we are building upon what was built and announcing native deployment options on Microsoft’s Azure Public Cloud.

Let’s dive deeper…

This latest offering utilises Azure VMs, Azure Managed Disks and Azure Managed Network interfaces to host the files services while continuing to leverage the time-tested NUS Files Storage stack. The Nutanix Prism Central multi-cluster manager continues to be the straight-forward deployment and management pane-of-glass, with Azure specific prerequisites such as region selection, virtual network setup, managed identity creation, key vault setup required to be configured by the user.

Does it scale?

When it comes to scalability, for this deployment within Azure, scaling up or down of the file servers is supported through the provisioning of additional Azure VM resources (assuming that local temporary volumes are compatible) to the file server cluster as per storage utilization requirements. Likewise, scale out is supported with additional provisioning of the required number of VMs to the file server cluster. 

Azure disks are thickly provisioned, meaning customers are billed for the provisioned storage rather than actual usage. To help bring cost efficiency in provisioning cloud storage, Nutanix Files Storage on Azure supports deployment of the smallest initial capacity needed with room to grow as business requirements change. This aligns with the existing Nutanix deployment model, where backend virtual resources expand gradually as capacity requirements change.

Built-In Cost Optimization and Tiering

Apart from the storage deployment mentioned above, Nutanix Files Storage on Azure also supports tiering of data to Azure Blob storage, further optimizing storage costs. Based on the user’s chosen option (Balanced/Conservative/Aggressive), the system balances data between block and object storage. Relevant data sets can be moved between the hot and cold tiers automatically utilizing Azure managed Disk and Blob Storage as needed. This automation intelligently controls storage based on parameters involving data usage patterns.

What about managing my on-prem data?

We know that a hybrid cloud storage strategy includes data deployed across different systems. With that in mind, also in this release, we’re taking a significant step forward in simplifying large-scale file storage management by extending our unified namespace to include third-party file servers. This directly addresses the complexity and inefficiency of managing isolated legacy systems, offering IT teams a seamless way to incorporate external file shares into a single, logical namespace together with new or existing NUS instances. 

Using this feature, customers can put in place phased migration strategies while maintaining operational continuity therefore allowing users to modernize at their own pace. This approach allows for customers to manage  risk, minimize disruption, and preserve user access throughout the transition. Whether you're consolidating infrastructure or extending the life of existing assets, this capability empowers you to streamline operations, accelerate adoption of Nutanix Unified Storage, and future-proof your data services strategy.

The Performance Enhancements Keep Coming…

The interest in AI/ML Infrastructure innovation is extremely high for good reason. These workloads are becoming increasingly central to business innovation strategies. 

The demand for ultra-low latency and high-throughput data access has never been greater. With the NUS 5.2 release, we’re expanding our performance capabilities by introducing support for GPU-Direct storage via our implementation of NFS over RDMA on the Nutanix AHV hypervisor. This enables direct memory-to-memory data transfers between storage and GPUs in client systems, and is designed to eliminate CPU bottlenecks,  reduce latency, and allow for high speed operation. 

Taking this further, combined with support for SR-IOV, this release delivers a streamlined, high-efficiency data path designed to keep  GPUs fully utilized and accelerates time-to-insight. Whether you're driving real-time analytics, predictive maintenance, or next-gen healthcare solutions, Nutanix can meet the performance demands of your modern AI-driven strategy regardless of your hypervisor choice.

One last thing…

For IT leaders managing mission-critical applications in sectors like finance, healthcare, and emergency services, ensuring uninterrupted service is non-negotiable. Downtime can severely impact operational continuity and customer trust. Not to mention the unexpected monetary costs.

As of this release, Nutanix Unified Storage introduces new support for Metro clusters on AHV. This new capability directly addresses the challenge by enabling synchronous replication with zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO). It ensures real-time data mirroring across geographically separated clusters, safeguarding against site, cluster, or hardware failures.

We encourage you to take a look at the following blog on the Nutanix Community which goes into much more detail on this feature.

With the release of Nutanix Unified Storage 5.2, organizations gain a powerful, cloud-ready platform designed to meet the evolving demands of modern data infrastructure. From native Azure deployment and intelligent tiering to unified namespace integration and GPU-accelerated performance, this release delivers the scalability, efficiency, and resilience needed to support next-generation workloads across hybrid environments. The future of unified, intelligent, and cloud-integrated storage is here, and it’s built for what’s next.

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