Nutanix to VMware: Component Cheat Sheet for Seamless Migration
Migrating from VMware to Nutanix—or integrating both—can be confusing for IT architects and engineers, especially when mapping features, terminology, and platform components. This cheat sheet is your quick-reference guide to understanding how VMware core components align with their Nutanix counterparts. Whether you’re planning a phased migration, hybrid architecture, or just supporting both stacks, this guide is engineered to save you hours of research and reduce costly misconfigurations.
Feel free to check in on this series:
TL;DR: Quick Mapping Table
| VMware Component | Nutanix Equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| vCenter Server | Prism Central | Centralized cluster management |
| ESXi | AHV | Hypervisor layer |
| vSAN | AOS (Nutanix Filesystem) | Distributed storage platform |
| NSX | Flow (Microsegmentation) | Advanced network/security features |
| vSphere Replication | Nutanix Protection Domains | Native replication/DR |
| SRM (Site Recovery Manager) | Nutanix Leap | Disaster recovery orchestration |
| Aria Operations | Prism Pro/Insights | Monitoring & analytics |
Understanding Platform Parity
VMware vCenter vs. Nutanix Prism Central
- vCenter Server is VMware’s centralized management for ESXi hosts and VMs.
- Nutanix Prism Central delivers a similar single-pane-of-glass management for Nutanix clusters—supporting multi-cluster, multi-cloud, and automation features.
Hypervisor: ESXi vs. AHV
- ESXi is VMware’s market-leading bare-metal hypervisor.
- Nutanix AHV is a native hypervisor based on KVM, deeply integrated with Nutanix’s management and automation.
- Tip: Nutanix also supports running VMware ESXi as a hypervisor, which may ease phased transitions.
Storage: vSAN vs. AOS
- VMware vSAN: Hyperconverged, software-defined storage within vSphere clusters.
- Nutanix AOS: Acropolis Operating System, powers distributed storage across all cluster nodes, abstracting storage from hardware.
- Bonus: Nutanix Files adds scalable, enterprise file services.
Network & Security: NSX vs. Flow
- VMware NSX: Full-stack network virtualization, microsegmentation, advanced overlays.
- Nutanix Flow: Provides network microsegmentation and security, integrated into Prism Central.
Replication & DR: vSphere Replication + SRM vs. Nutanix Protection Domains + Leap
- VMware: vSphere Replication for VM-level replication, with SRM for DR orchestration.
- Nutanix: Protection Domains (for snapshotting/replication), with Leap for runbook-style DR automation.
Monitoring & Analytics: vRealize vs. Prism Pro/Insights
- Aria Operations: Deep analytics, dashboards, capacity planning.
- Prism Pro/Insights: Native monitoring, anomaly detection, and capacity forecasting.
How to Use This Cheat Sheet
- Migration Planning: Use this table to plan phased or big-bang migrations, ensuring feature parity.
- Hybrid Operations: Support and troubleshoot hybrid Nutanix-VMware environments by knowing which tools perform similar functions.
- Upskilling: Accelerate onboarding for engineers moving between platforms.
Example: Mapping a Simple vSphere Environment
Scenario:
You’re running vSphere clusters with vSAN and NSX, protected with SRM, and want to replicate the architecture using Nutanix.
| VMware Stack | Nutanix Stack |
|---|---|
| ESXi Hosts | AHV Hosts or ESXi on Nutanix |
| vCenter Server | Prism Central |
| vSAN Storage | Nutanix AOS |
| NSX | Nutanix Flow |
| vSphere Replication + SRM | Protection Domains + Leap (Nutanix DR) |
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