As enterprise workloads grow more dynamic and multi-cloud strategies become the norm, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) must evolve to keep pace. Enter Nutanix AOS 7 — the latest iteration of Nutanix’s flagship Acropolis Operating System. Designed for performance, automation, and security, AOS 7 introduces several game-changing enhancements across storage, DR, cloud-native workloads, and infrastructure operations.
This blog explores what’s new in AOS 7 and how it can transform enterprise IT environments.
🔧 1. Next-Gen Disaster Recovery with Leap Enhancements
AOS 7 takes DR to the next level with advanced capabilities in Nutanix Leap, its native disaster recovery orchestration tool:
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Cross-Cluster Replication: Enables replication across multiple Prism Central-managed clusters, with seamless failover and failback support.
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Async + Near-Sync Policies: Support for Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) as low as 1 minute with Near-Sync for mission-critical workloads.
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Custom Runbooks: Define DR workflows (power on order, IP customization, pre- and post-scripts) to automate application failover steps.
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Cloud Integration: Leap now supports replication to Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) on AWS and Azure, enabling hybrid DR strategies.
Ideal for organizations aiming for high availability with flexible cloud options.
📦 2. Advanced Storage Policies & Per-VM QoS
AOS 7 introduces granular storage policies that allow fine-tuned resource control at the VM and virtual disk level:
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Per-VM IOPS Throttling: Apply minimum and maximum IOPS thresholds to individual workloads, improving performance isolation in multi-tenant environments.
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VM-Scoped Snapshots: In addition to volume-group or container-level snapshots, AOS 7 adds native support for VM-scoped backups.
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Adaptive Data Path Selection: Improved traffic steering across CVMs and controller VMs reduces contention and improves throughput for high-density workloads.
These enhancements make AOS 7 ideal for hosting Tier-1 applications like Oracle, SQL Server, and SAP HANA.
🧱 3. Kubernetes-Native Support with NKE Enhancements
Modern applications run on containers — and Nutanix AOS 7 is ready:
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Tight Integration with Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE): Streamlined lifecycle management of clusters using native Prism Central workflows.
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CSI 2.0 & CNI Support: Advanced storage and network plugin compatibility for persistent volumes and multi-tenant networking.
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GPU-Passthrough for Containers: Native support for AI/ML workloads by directly mapping GPUs to Kubernetes pods (NVIDIA GPU operator compatible).
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Self-Healing Infrastructure: Failed container nodes can be automatically replaced and reconfigured based on desired state.
With AOS 7, DevOps and platform engineering teams can confidently run containerized microservices alongside traditional VMs — all on the same HCI fabric.
🔐 4. Automated Security Compliance: STIG, DISA & FIPS
Security is now integral and automated:
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Pre-built Security Profiles: Out-of-the-box support for DISA STIG and FIPS 140-2 compliance standards.
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Security Central Integration: Centrally audit and monitor security posture across clusters with real-time recommendations.
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Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Enhanced role definitions and granular access auditing for compliance-sensitive environments.
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Cluster Hardening Automation: Run security playbooks that enforce CIS/NIST policies at scale with no downtime.
For federal, healthcare, and financial institutions, these features reduce audit preparation time and risk exposure.
🛠️ 5. 1-Click LCM and Predictive Upgrades
Lifecycle management continues to be a Nutanix strength — and AOS 7 makes it even more hands-free:
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One-Click Firmware & BIOS Upgrades: Upgrade storage controllers, NICs, and BIOS firmware without ever leaving Prism.
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Preflight Check Automation: Automated compatibility checks reduce upgrade risks and ensure component alignment.
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Rolling Cluster Upgrades: Non-disruptive, node-by-node updates ensure continuous availability.
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Integration with Foundation Central: Remote deployment and post-deployment updates for ROBO and edge sites from a single pane of glass.
Admins can now confidently schedule upgrades with minimal effort and no planned outages.
💾 6. SmartTiering: Intelligent Data Placement
AOS 7 introduces SmartTiering — an intelligent tiering engine that automatically classifies and moves data between SSDs and HDDs based on usage:
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Real-Time Heat Mapping: Tracks read/write activity at the block level and tags “hot” vs “cold” data.
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Tier Rebalancing Engine: Uses machine learning to optimize data placement without admin input.
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Policy-Based Tiering Rules: Define thresholds for tier transitions and retention periods.
Ideal for capacity planning and storage cost optimization, especially in environments with large-scale file workloads, backups, or archival data.
🌐 7. Enhanced Flow Networking & Topology Visibility
Prism Central in AOS 7 introduces deeper insights into virtual network traffic:
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VM-to-VM Traffic Flows: Visualize east-west traffic within a cluster, down to the virtual NIC level.
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Network Topology Maps: Get a graphical view of connected VMs, subnets, and VLAN segments.
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Policy Enforcement with Flow: Create microsegmentation policies that isolate apps or block lateral movement using Nutanix Flow Security.
Security and network teams gain visibility that was once only possible through third-party SDN tools — now native and built-in.
🤖 8. AI-Powered Insights with Prism Pro
Prism Pro continues to evolve as the smart brain of Nutanix infrastructure:
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Anomaly Detection: Uses machine learning to detect deviations from normal usage and alert admins.
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Capacity Forecasting: Predicts future compute and storage needs using actual growth patterns.
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What-If Planning: Run simulations to model impact of adding/removing nodes, changing workloads, or shifting VM placement.
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Advisor Integration: Get proactive health recommendations backed by telemetry and best practices from Nutanix Support.
This makes AOS 7 truly autonomous in resource planning and performance optimization.
📢 What’s New in AOS 7.0
In addition to core platform improvements, Nutanix AOS 7.0 introduces several brand-new features that significantly enhance security, resilience, disaster recovery, and platform scalability:
🔐 Cloud KMS Integration
Manage encryption keys directly through your preferred cloud key management system (KMS) using Prism Central. This simplifies data-at-rest encryption by externalizing key storage and rotation policies, supporting compliance and cloud governance.
🛡️ Enhanced Cluster Fault Tolerance: 1N&1D
The One Node and One Disk (1N&1D) Fault Tolerance configuration improves cluster resiliency by allowing operations to continue even during simultaneous node and disk failures, making it ideal for critical environments.
☁️ Multicloud Snapshot Technology for DR
Snapshot replication can now be sent to Amazon S3 or Nutanix Objects using native tools. In a disaster scenario, workloads can be recovered by instantiating on-demand NC2 (Nutanix Cloud Clusters) — reducing both DR cost and RTO.
🖥️ VM Enhancements
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Option to disable CPU hot-plugging and SCSI controller changes for better VM stability and predictable resource behavior.
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Support for live migration of VMs that have Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) enabled, enabling dynamic workload mobility in developer environments.
💽 Hardware & Scalability Upgrades
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Support for up to 8 TB RAM per host (AHV 10.0), unlocking larger workloads and in-memory databases.
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NVMe hot-plug support on AMD Genoa platforms, offering high-performance, flexible storage upgrades without node downtime.
🌐 Improved Metro Availability
Prism Central now supports automated DR failover/failback using an independent Nutanix Witness Service, simplifying DR management for Metro clusters across sites or data centers.
🔒 Password Management for AHV
Centralized lifecycle management of system account credentials (like root/admin on AHV) enhances platform security and enforces tighter access controls.
🧩 Expanded Hypervisor Support
AOS 7.0 continues to bridge the gap between AHV, ESXi, and Hyper-V, offering near feature parity across platforms with:
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Async DR with NearSync
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Integrated VM lifecycle management
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vGPU and vNUMA support for enhanced VM performance on virtualized GPUs and NUMA-aware workloads.
✅ Final Thoughts
Nutanix AOS 7 redefines what hyperconverged infrastructure can do — combining intelligence, automation, and agility into a single software stack. Whether you’re modernizing your data center, scaling remote office deployments, or running a hybrid cloud strategy, AOS 7 has something for everyone.
If you’re running an older version of AOS, this release is worth the upgrade. And if you’re evaluating HCI platforms, AOS 7 is arguably the most complete solution in the market today.
👉 Have you upgraded to AOS 7 yet? What’s your favorite new feature? Let’s chat in the comments!
