Cisco, Pure Storage and Nutanix expand FlashStack with Nutanix for flexible, hybrid infrastructures

Cisco, Pure Storage and Nutanix have unveiled an expanded version of FlashStack with Nutanix, offering organisations a modular and flexible converged infrastructure for hybrid and data‑intensive workloads, emphasising independent scaling and investment protection.

In a move that aims to reconcile the competing demands of performance, operational simplicity and architectural choice, Cisco, Pure Storage and Nutanix have announced FlashStack with Nutanix, a jointly validated converged infrastructure designed for hybrid and data‑intensive environments. According to the blog by Cisco’s data centre team, the offering brings Cisco UCS compute and networking, Pure Storage FlashArray and the Nutanix Cloud Platform into a preintegrated, modular architecture intended to support core business databases, analytics and cloud‑native workloads. ^[1][4]

FlashStack has for more than a decade been positioned as a tightly engineered partnership between Cisco and Pure Storage that delivers pre‑validated Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs), predictable performance and coordinated support. The new configuration extends that foundation by validating Nutanix Cloud Platform and Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) on Cisco UCS X‑Series, C‑Series and B‑Series servers, with NVMe/TCP connectivity and unified lifecycle management through Cisco Intersight, Nutanix Prism and Pure1, according to Cisco’s announcement. ^[1][4]

The vendors frame the initiative around “convergence with choice”, arguing that customers want the simplicity of converged systems without being locked into a single hypervisor or a tightly coupled node model. Cisco’s blog and Nutanix’s product pages emphasise independent scaling of compute and storage, hypervisor choice via AHV, and operational continuity for teams that already use Intersight, Prism or Pure1. Industry materials describe the result as a modular, AI‑ready platform intended to reduce deployment risk while preserving existing investments. ^[1][3][4]

Vendor statements stress backward compatibility and investment protection as practical advantages. Cisco says customers can run Nutanix on UCS systems dating back to models such as the B200 M5, allowing phased hardware refreshes and the ability to add Nutanix without replacing FlashArray hardware. Pure Storage and Nutanix publicity likewise highlight that the solution can be deployed across a broad set of server platforms and that it is intended as a flexible landing zone for mission‑critical workloads. ^[1][2][5]

Saveen Pakala, Vice President, Product Management, Nutanix, is quoted in Cisco’s blog saying, “Enterprises are increasingly looking for infrastructure that gives them freedom, freedom to modernize at their own pace, scale efficiently, and operate consistently across environments. FlashStack with Nutanix brings together the simplicity and resilience of the Nutanix Cloud Platform with the proven, validated FlashStack architecture from Cisco and Pure Storage. This collaboration gives customers a modular, enterprise‑ready foundation that preserves existing investments while enabling a more flexible path to modern applications and data‑intensive workloads.” Maciej Kranz, General Manager, Enterprise, Pure Storage, is quoted saying, “Enterprises want infrastructure that performs reliably, operates simply, and gives them confidence as their environments evolve. For more than a decade, FlashStack has delivered that through a deeply validated Cisco and Pure partnership, removing complexity while providing a trusted foundation at scale. With Nutanix, we’re extending that value by expanding customer choice and flexibility, while preserving the operational models and investments teams already rely on.” These remarks appear in Cisco’s announcement and in vendor collateral. ^[1]

While vendor materials state FlashStack with Nutanix “is available today”, reporting from trade press indicates a more staggered rollout for certain components: Pure Storage and Nutanix press releases describe broad platform compatibility and partnership expansion, whereas a CRN report placed some go‑to‑market timing in early access by summer 2025 with general availability through channel partners later in the year. Readers should note that vendor marketing and channel timing can diverge; customers evaluating adoption should confirm availability and support timelines with their chosen vendor or reseller. ^[1][2][5]

Operationally, the vendors say the integration will deliver unified visibility, policy and lifecycle management across Intersight, Pure1 and Prism, and that CVDs and Cisco Live materials will underpin validated configurations for varied workloads. Cisco Live session briefs and technical collateral circulated by Cisco echo the claim that the solution leverages pre‑tested CVDs to reduce deployment risk and accelerate time to resolution. Customers attracted to a disaggregated compute‑and‑storage model are offered a route to attach external FlashArray storage to Nutanix‑managed compute while retaining Nutanix automation and Prism management. ^[6][7][3]

Taken together, the announcement represents an incremental but notable evolution of the FlashStack franchise: it preserves the tested interoperability and vendor‑backed support model that enterprises prize, while explicitly adding Nutanix’s cloud operating model and hypervisor as an option. According to the companies, the aim is to let organisations modernise at their own pace, scale compute and storage independently and avoid forklift replacements of existing UCS or FlashArray investments. Prospective customers should verify compatibility and procurement timing with Cisco, Pure Storage or Nutanix representatives and examine the jointly published CVDs and technical briefs to ensure the validated design matches their workload and lifecycle requirements. ^[1][2][4][6]

📌 Reference Map:

• ^[1] (Cisco blog) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 8
• ^[2] (Pure Storage press release) – Paragraph 4, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 8
• ^[3] (Nutanix product page) – Paragraph 2, Paragraph 7, Paragraph 8
• ^[4] (Cisco product collateral) – Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 8
• ^[5] (CRN) – Paragraph 6
• ^[6] (Cisco Live session BRKCOM-2460) – Paragraph 7, Paragraph 8
• ^[7] (Cisco Live session PSODCN-1011) – Paragraph 7

Source: Noah Wire Services