Nutanix Private Cloud

  • Updated on Dec 22, 2025
  • Published on Oct 24, 2024
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Nutanix Private Cloud is managed infrastructure-as-a-service on a single-tenant Nutanix/AHV platform. Expedient maintains the hardware, software updates, licensing, and ongoing maintenance as a managed service. Clients have full admin access to their virtual machines, along with the ability to perform many of the same operations as their on-premises environments.

Expedient offers Nutanix Private Cloud with two types of storage configuration:

  • Nutanix Private Cloud HCI

    • The host contains all compute, storage, and networking in one hardware chassis and is managed through unified a software platform.

    • The storage is Nutanix’s native AOS Storage.

  • Nutanix Private Cloud with External Storage

    • The host switches to a three-tiered architecture, separating the storage layer completely.

    • The external storage is currently available with Pure Storage.

Licensing

Expedient’s Nutanix Private Cloud comes with NCI Ultimate and NCM Starter

See Nutanix Cloud Platform Software Options for more details.

Support Summary

Activity

Expedient

Client

Co-Managed

Platform Infrastructure Monitoring

X

Platform Infrastructure Break/Fix

X

Firmware Updates

X

Platform Licensing

X

Platform Updates/Patches

X

Virtual Machine Management

X

Operating System Licensing

X

Operating System Management

X

Replication Software Configuration

X

Replication Monitoring (Success/Failure)

X

Disaster Recovery Runbook

X

Replication Failure Remediation

X

Workload Protection Configuration

X

Declaration of Disaster Recovery Enactment

X

Failover of VMs to Secondary Site

X

Failback of VMs to Primary Site

X

Validation of Application Functionality

X

Note: Co-Managed tasks can be performed by Expedient or client, based on preference, but will require input and direction for configuration.

When Expedient will “Assist”

  • Items where Expedient will provide “assistance” typically require clients to complete defined tasks on external platforms not controlled or owned by Expedient.

  • “Assisting” a client consists of providing appropriate documentation and general guidance with the option to run live walkthroughs for additional help.

  • Assistance will be offered during the delivery phase but will also be available from the operation support center after implementation.

Deployment

  • Expedient will deploy private cloud instances in Expedient data centers including hardware and physical networking.

  • Expedient will apply Prism Central and Prism Element licensing.

  • Expedient will provision hosts, storage, and deploy Prism Central and Prism Element clusters for the client to our most recent standards

    • Reserve Rebuild Capacity Disabled

    • Compression Enabled

    • Deduplication: Disabled

    • For Nutanix HCI:

      • The Cluster and Storage container will be set to RF2 for clusters with up to 20 nodes for N+1 and a Fault Tolerance of FT1.

      • The Cluster and Storage container will be set to RF3 for clusters with more than 20 nodes for N+2 and a Fault Tolerance of FT2.

        • A cluster set to RF3 cannot be downgraded to RF3.

  • VM HA Availability enabled

  • Encryption

    • Expedient will use the native KMS for cluster encryption.

      • External and Cloud KMS solutions are client supported and may impact Expedient's ability to maintain the platform.

  • Networking

    • Expedient will configure our multi-cloud firewall solution (if applicable).

  • Expedient will create any requested client networks in AHV.

    • VPC Self-Service capabilities to be test.

  • Expedient will grant networks access to cloud data protection environment (if applicable).

Management Plane

  • Prism Central – Expedient will provide all clients access to Prism Central UI and configure access via existing Active Directory or LDAP.

    • Client’s will have admin permissions in Prism Central to:

      • Manage and configure networking, storage, and compute resources.

      • Create, modify, delete, and manage virtual machines.

      • Add, remove, or modify user accounts.

      • Access logs and analytical data.

      • Set up and manage backup schedules and perform recovery operations.

    • Prism Central will be maintained and updated by Expedient.

    • Two-Factor authentication will be configured with OneLogin.

      • Additional third-party authentication is not supported by Expedient.

  • API and CLI – Clients can utilize Nutanix’s API, SDK, and CLIs

    • Expedient support is limited to ensuring that Nutanix’s aCLI, nCLI and API components are available for use and updated along with Prism Central and AOS.

    • Nutanix SDKs are maintained by Nutanix and available on GitHub.

For Nutanix Private Cloud with Pure

  • Direct access to the Pure Storage management plane in shared arrays will not be provided

  • The ability to view/create/remove/manage storage containers in Prism Central will remain available

Authentication

  • Expedient will provide access and authenticate to Prism Central.

    • Expedient will connect an existing Active Directory domain to Prism Central.

    • Two-factor authentication will be provided through OneLogin (required addon).

  • Expedient requires Prism Centrals to be accessed behind a VPN. This can be via a BYOB solution or Expedient’s multi-cloud firewall option.

Maintenance and Monitoring

  • Platform Infrastructure and Supporting Hardware Monitoring

    • Service tickets are created from Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) alerts in Prism Central.

  • Infrastructure and Supporting Hardware Break/Fix

  • Firmware Updates

    • Firmware updates will be part of routine updates through Nutanix LCM.

  • Software Updates

    • AOS upgrades will be routine and include recommended AHV and Prism Central version upgrades.

Nutanix Move

  • Server migration services are available for to assist clients relocating workloads to Nutanix Private Cloud.

  • At this time, we will only assist in Nutanix-to-Nutanix migrations for Files (ESXi or AHV).

Definitions

  • Node - An x86 server with compute and storage resources.

  • Clusters - A logical grouping consisting of multiple nodes.

    • An Expedient cluster contains a minimum of 3 nodes.

  • AOS (Acropolis Operating System) - The underlying OS for managing infrastructure virtualization, including compute, storage, and networking.

  • AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor) - The AOS hypervisor.

  • Prism - The management plane for AOS.

    • Prism Element – The management plane for a single cluster.

    • Prism Central – The consolidated management plane for multiple clusters.

  • AOS Storage - The underlying, unified storage component of AOS.