Introduction
Many enterprise IT organizations today operate in a “split-brained” world. On one hand, you have traditional virtual machines (VMs) powering mission-critical enterprise applications, and on the other you’ve got the accelerating world of cloud native development—driven by containers and Kubernetes.
For years, the prevailing narrative was that containers would replace VMs, but the reality is far more nuanced. Most organizations are continuing to run VMs even as they develop and deploy new microservices apps. The challenge for IT leaders and platform engineers isn't choosing between the two—it’s mastering the simultaneous operation of both without drowning in complexity.
The Challenge of Siloed Operations
Managing VMs and containers on separate platforms creates significant inefficiency and leads to siloed infrastructure and teams: often with one group managing virtualization and another managing cloud native. This results in divergent security policies, separate storage management workflows, and a lack of unified visibility.
To accelerate innovation, platform engineers need a solution that bridges the gap, allowing teams to apply the same operational excellence to cloud native workloads and VMs.
Watch: Unified VM & Kubernetes Operations with Nutanix
This 4-minute video explains how the Nutanix Cloud Platform streamlines operations by providing a single, unified management plane for every workload, with Prism Central providing instant visibility into all VMs and containers everywhere, Nutanix Flow integrating VM and container networking in the same Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and Nutanix Data Services for Kubernetes (NDK) delivering enterprise-grade resilience for cloud native apps.
Bridging the Gap Between Containers and VMs
Nutanix delivers critical capabilities that transform how platform engineers manage infrastructure. Nutanix Prism provides a unified management plane that treats Kubernetes clusters as first-class citizens alongside VMs. With Nutanix Marketplace, you can deploy Nutanix portfolio products—including production-ready Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) clusters—with simple, centralized workflows that eliminate friction.
The NKP console provides a centralized view for operating your entire Kubernetes fleet—whether clusters are running on Nutanix, VMware, or in the public cloud. NKP allows platform teams to apply consistent policies, automation, and services (like logging and monitoring) everywhere, reducing the operational overhead of managing distributed environments.
Solving Network and BCDR Challenges
One of the biggest constraints in hybrid application design is the network separation between VMs and containers, which can require complex routing and firewall rules to enable communication.
Nutanix Flow Container Network Interface (Flow CNI) removes this barrier by making both VMs and pods native citizens of the same VPC, enabling:
Seamless connectivity: Applications can span both VMs and containers without networking layer changes.
Unified security: Flow network security policies can be applied alongside native Kubernetes network policies, securing all workloads from a single pane of glass.
Stateful workloads in Kubernetes have historically been difficult to manage. Nutanix simplifies storage for stateful workloads by allowing Kubernetes clusters to consume Nutanix storage out of the box; persistent volumes are ready for immediate use without the need for complex external storage that requires additional setup and adds complexity.
Nutanix Data Services for Kubernetes enables synchronous and asynchronous replication for block and file storage across sites, allowing you to protect Kubernetes workloads with the same rigor as traditional VM-based applications.
A Single Path for the Future
The future of infrastructure isn't about choosing between VMs and containers; it's about running both with maximum efficiency. By adopting a complete and open platform, you can standardize operations, strengthen security, and increase agility.
If you want to learn more about the unique approach that Nutanix takes to VMs and containers, check out the following links:
- Unified Cloud Operating Model: Centralized Management for the Dual World of VMs and Containers
- Cloud Native VMs and Containers—Choosing the Right Lineup to Win
- Nutanix Kubernetes Platform nutanix.com/nkp
- Nutanix Data Services for Kubernetes nutanix.com/ndk
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