Nutanix & Pure Storage team up for flexible virtual workloads

Nutanix and Pure Storage have announced a partnership to provide an integrated solution aimed at improving deployment and management of virtual workloads for mission-critical environments.

The partnership combines the Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure, including the Nutanix AHV hypervisor and Nutanix Flow virtual networking and security, with Pure Storage FlashArray over NVMe/TCP. This integration is designed to address the needs of organisations facing rapid changes in the technology landscape and increasing demand for operational efficiency, particularly as the virtualisation market continues to evolve.

Gartner forecasts that by 2028, concerns over cost will prompt 70% of enterprise-scale VMware customers to migrate half of their virtual workloads to alternative solutions. This context forms part of the rationale behind the new collaboration, which aims to provide flexibility, security, and scalable performance for high-demand data workloads, including artificial intelligence applications.

The new offering is expected to deliver several key benefits for customers. These include access to a scalable and high-performance infrastructure for virtual compute and data storage, enhanced cyber resilience through combined security features, and greater freedom of choice when modernising mission-critical environments. Features like Flow micro-segmentation, disaster recovery orchestration from Nutanix, and data-at-rest encryption and SafeMode from Pure Storage are intended to support these outcomes.

Anthony Jackman, Chief Innovation Officer at Expedient, commented on the collaboration, stating, "We're thrilled to see Nutanix and Pure Storage joining forces. Their collective expertise, innovative technologies, and shared commitment to reliability and performance will deliver a compelling solution that directly addresses critical needs in the market. Expedient is proud to be an early design partner, collaborating closely with both companies to ensure this solution elevates the quality of service we deliver, ultimately enhancing the value and experience for our clients nationwide."

Tarkan Maner, Chief Commercial Officer at Nutanix, said, "This new solution will help Nutanix and Pure reach more customers together and help them better manage and modernize their mission-critical applications. Our integrated solution will be ideally suited for companies with storage-rich environments looking for choices in modernization."

Maciej Kranz, General Manager, Enterprise at Pure Storage, added, "With more than 13,500 global customers, I'm hearing more than ever that organizations of all shapes and sizes have a growing need for efficient, flexible, and high-performance solutions that can also scale to support their most critical, data-intensive applications. Nutanix and Pure Storage are both known for pushing the boundaries of traditional infrastructure, driving innovation, and enabling unmatched agility. With this easy-to-manage solution, our joint customers will have the power of a virtual infrastructure that's truly built for change."

The integrated solution will be compatible with server hardware from major partners that currently support Pure Storage FlashArray, including Cisco, Dell, HPE, Lenovo, and Supermicro. This applies to both existing installations and new deployments.

Cisco and Pure Storage will also extend their partnership beyond the existing FlashStack validated designs to include Nutanix in their joint portfolio to streamline full-stack delivery. Jeremy Foster, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Compute, remarked, "The future of infrastructure is defined by flexibility. That's exactly what this next evolution of FlashStack delivers. With nearly a decade of joint innovation with Pure Storage, and an expanded partnership and co-development roadmap with Nutanix, we're offering a proven platform backed by Cisco validated designs, a world-class joint support model, and deep integration with Cisco Intersight – providing unified visibility across both Pure Storage and Nutanix clusters for a more complete view of the operating environment. This level of integration, insight, and support is what will set FlashStack with Nutanix apart in the market."

The solution is currently in development and planned to enter early access by summer 2025. General availability is expected by the end of the calendar year through Nutanix and Pure Storage channel partners.