What’s New in Nutanix 7.5

The Nutanix 7.5 release brings meaningful updates across the platform with Prism Central 7.5, AOS 7.5, and AHV 11 introducing new capabilities for multi cluster architecture, security, and day to day operations. This overview highlights the features that matter most from a design and engineering perspective, focusing on how they naturally fit into modern Nutanix environments.

Elastic VM Storage and the shift toward flexible resource domains

One of the most important additions in this release is Elastic VM Storage. Clusters registered under the same Prism Central domain can now consume storage served by other AHV clusters.
This breaks the traditional one to one relationship between compute and storage and allows a more flexible approach. It becomes easier to build compute heavy clusters that rely on storage served remotely, or to consolidate storage dense clusters that expose capacity to multiple consumers.

The model is fully integrated into Prism Central and maintains the same VM lifecycle and operational semantics as local storage. It feels like a natural extension of the Nutanix architecture for customers who are already working with multi cluster footprints.

Security enhancements for both data and operational controls

AOS 7.5 expands the CVM hardening model and applies it to upgraded clusters, not only fresh deployments. Internal access to data paths is now restricted in a more consistent way across the fleet.
The option to disable SSH access on both CVMs and AHV hosts introduces a stronger operational boundary. It aligns with an API driven posture and reduces the exposure of privileged entry points. Clusters that rely on workflows requiring SSH will need a review before enabling the setting.

There is also support for storing vTPM encryption material on external KMS platforms. This unifies data at rest encryption and guest integrity under a single key management model and removes the need for local handling of vTPM secrets.

Data path improvements for performance and efficiency

AOS 7.5 introduces several changes that enhance long term performance and storage efficiency.
AES metadata optimizations now apply to all flash clusters by default, and existing hybrid clusters are converted automatically during upgrade when eligible.
Garbage collection has been redesigned to reclaim space more quickly, merge inefficient EC stripes and reduce the number of scans required for ongoing operation. High churn environments should notice more predictable behavior over time.

Another addition is the ability to expand all flash nodes up to 185 TB per node. This increases density for consolidation scenarios and creates new opportunities for lowering the storage footprint while preserving low RPO protection levels.

Operational improvements for VM management and automation

Prism Central 7.5 introduces VM Startup Policies. These policies allow administrators to specify dependencies and priorities during restarts or failover events. It is a simple concept that significantly improves the control over service recovery sequences in environments where multi tier applications coexist on the same cluster.

Windows customization workflows also evolve through reusable guest customization profiles. Combined with NGT 4.5, profiles can be applied during cloning or template creation, making golden image strategies easier to maintain.

There is also support for authenticated NTP sources through cluster profiles. This is essential for environments that enforce cryptographically validated time synchronization.

AHV 11 platform updates

AHV 11 adds support for the latest AMD Milan and Genoa processors within the Advanced Processor Compatibility framework. This simplifies mixed hardware generations and live migration planning.
The release includes IPv6 support for host level services such as DNS, NTP and syslog. Dual stack environments can integrate AHV more cleanly into existing network architectures.

For deployments that rely on compute only nodes, AHV can now be installed manually using the AHV Installer without imaging through Foundation. This is useful when extending existing resource pools or creating dedicated compute clusters that use storage exposed by other clusters.

External storage and disaggregated infrastructure options

AOS 7.5 extends official support for Pure Storage FlashArray over NVMe TCP. AHV VMs can now use namespaces provisioned automatically by AOS and fully participate in asynchronous DR workflows through Prism Central.
This strengthens the option of running Nutanix clusters in a disaggregated model where external arrays provide storage while AOS manages provisioning, protection and placement.

Upgrade considerations for architects and operators

Upgrading to the 7.5 stack follows the usual sequence. Prism Central first, AOS next and AHV after storage services are stable.
Environments with GPUs, SR-IOV, Network Offload or Flow Networking should review the known issues and feature interactions. Some operational workflows such as cross cluster live migration or specific security configurations may require additional steps.

Legacy VM CPU profiles and host reboot workflows

A specific warning applies to clusters upgrading to AOS 7.5 and AHV 11.0. Host level workflows that require sequential reboots may fail if legacy VMs are still running. These VMs were created with older CPU feature sets that do not align with the unified CPU profile introduced in AHV 11. When this happens, the host cannot enter maintenance mode and the workflow stops. The behavior is documented in KB 20485.

To avoid interruptions, identify older VMs that have not been restarted for a long time and perform a cold reboot or cold migration before running workflows that require host reboots. This aligns the VM CPU feature set with the current cluster profile and prevents maintenance operations from being blocked.

Where these features fit in real architectures

Although this release does not change the overall architecture of the Nutanix platform, it strengthens several foundational areas.
Elastic VM Storage creates new opportunities for modular and resource efficient deployment models.
CVM hardening and SSH restriction improve the platform security posture.
Data path enhancements reduce long term operational overhead.
AHV improvements modernize hardware compatibility and deployment flexibility.

These changes help move Nutanix environments toward a more federated, API driven and resource optimized approach.