You can easily make a cloud sovereign by simply blocking all access. In reality, however, organizations want control, flexibility, and advanced features. To make that combination possible, Nutanix is launching Distributed Sovereign Cloud.
The conclusion that you can make a cloud sovereign simply by setting up a digital roadblock comes from Lee Caswell, SVP Products & Solutions Marketing at Nutanix. The new release of Nutanix Central will introduce 160 features that make it possible to shift the boundary between data and applications without such a roadblock.
Control
We won’t be able to discuss all 160 features, but fortunately Caswell helps us with three ‘pillars’ on which the Distributed Sovereign Cloud rests. First, the basic principle behind a sovereignty requirement: control, and with it, control over security. This is achieved through security policies, and Nutanix can play a decisive role in this. So-called “Follow me” policies can be rolled out from a local setting across all cloud environments, regardless of the hyperscaler.
Those who do not want to move to hyperscalers but prefer on-premises solutions can now run Nutanix Central locally. This is particularly important for dark sites, i.e., locations that are not connected to the internet. Upgrades to this platform are now possible without connecting to the internet. Management via Prism Central can also be expanded with support for Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP).
Security
Management and security go hand in hand, but the latter is considered the second pillar of the Distributed Sovereign Cloud. Improved policy management is obviously a step forward in security, as preventing misconfigurations immediately resolves a whole host of security risks. Backups are also a basic security requirement, with Nutanix able to offload snapshots from the underlying block storage system to an S3-compatible and sovereign endpoint. This improves performance on the primary storage and allows snapshots to be used later.
NKP will also include an Ubuntu Pro image option with FIPS 140-3 validation and STIG compliance. It is currently still in development, but will be accompanied by VPC-based isolation, load balancing, and microsegmentation. Those who use Nutanix for AI can also run these STIG and FIPS-supported Nvidia NIM microservices.
Simplified management
As a final pillar, Nutanix adds better management, which can again be traced back to the concept of control. Nutanix Infrastructure Manager is a new automation tool that makes it easier to set up and maintain data center environments. A unified network control panel will also be introduced, adding VLANs, virtual networks, and microsegmentation policies in a single “pane of glass.” AI management is simplified by mapping model requests and token usage, features that are often offered by smaller players in point solutions, but now fit into Nutanix’s unified infrastructure solution.
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