Nutanix Flow
Advanced Networking and Application Centric Network Security
Overview:
Functions
- VM Microsegmentation
- Application Visualization
- Service Chaining
- Policy-based Control
- Network Automation
- NFV Support
The network is the foundation for the connected Enterprise. With increasing application complexity, driven by distributed services and rapid growth in SaaS and cloud-based offerings, the need to easily visualize, analyze and govern network communications becomes critical.
Nutanix Flow delivers advanced networking and security services, providing visibility into the virtual network, application-centric protection from network threats and automation of common networking operations.
Fully integrated into Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS and Nutanix AHV virtualization, Flow allows organizations to deploy software-defined virtual networking without the complexity of installing and managing additional products that have separate management and independent software maintenance requirements.
Key Benefits
- Application centric firewall policies for VMs
- Always-on native networking functionality with no additional software or management consoles
- Full application-level network flow visibility
- Automated policy change management tied to VM lifecycle
- Prevent the propagation of network security threats
- Expand functionality via third-party network inspection and policy tools
Application Centric Networking Made Simple
Nutanix Flow simplifies network and policy management with a focus towards applications - enabling applications and environments to be governed independent of the physical infrastructure. Delivering advanced networking and security services that allow enterprises to gain visibility and granular control of their enterprise applications, leading to better application function and security posture.
Nutanix can provide additional network functions by enabling partners and other 3rd party virtual networking solutions to integrate directly into the virtual network. Tightly integrated with Calm, Prism and AHV virtualization, Nutanix Flow delivers the power of software defined virtual networking with the simplicity and elegance of the Enterprise Cloud OS.
Features:
Microsegmentation
Protect against advanced threats that are capable of propagating from machine to machine by segmenting virtual networks and applications to permit only necessary communications between application tiers or other logical boundaries via native stateful VM firewall.
- Application Centric Simplified Policies
With nothing additional to deploy. VMs are ready to protect. Application policies are granular, easier to create, and support app mobility. - Automated Change Management
Policies automatically update when VMs are provisioned, change network configuration, power state or migrate. - Contain Threats
Create granular policies based on minimally required network flows between application components to limit malware's ability to spread.
Visualization
Take the mystery out of network policy creation. Before policy can be created and enforced the behavior of a application must be understood. By allowing the policy owners to visualize the discreet communications between VMs that make up an application, that understanding becomes possible. Creating policies for the allowed traffic then becomes a simple repeatable process.
- Comprehensive Visibility
View and understand VM and application network communications. - Simplified Policy Creation
Create policy automatically based on real-time visualization of communications between applications and VMs without application domain knowledge.
Extensions and Automation
Software defined networking allows easy extension of network functionality via third-party software integration. Nutanix allows partners to enhance the Enterprise Cloud by inserting their functions in-line between virtual machines or leverage API integration to automate common networking actions.
- Service Insertion and Chaining
Services are inserted in-line with VM traffic. Common network functions include virtual firewalls, load balancers, threat detection, and application performance monitoring. - Network Automation
Observe VM lifecycle events enabling automation of typical network configuration changes, such as the provisioning of VLANs and dynamically updating firewall and load balancer policies.
Application Visualization:
Setting the right application-centric network policies requires a complete understanding of workload behavior. Nutanix Flow provides real-time visualization of communications between VMs, making it simple and straight-forward to set the right policies for the environment.
Network Microsegmentation
Microsegmentation provides granular control and governance of all traffic into and out of a virtual machine (VM), or groups of VMs. It ensures that only permitted traffic between application tiers or other logical boundaries is allowed and protects against advanced threats propagating within the virtual environment.
Microsegmentation differs from traditional perimeter firewalls by allowing network policy to be attached to VMs and applications, rather than specific network segments (e.g., VLANS) or identifiers (IP addresses). Through centralized management from Prism, policies are auto-updated throughout the VM lifecycle, removing the burdens of change management.
Service Insertion and Chaining
Nutanix Flow functionality can be extended to leverage virtualized network functions from third-party software. These services are inserted in-line or in tap-mode with VM traffic, and can be easily enabled for all traffic, or deployed only for specific network traffic. Common network functions include virtual firewalls, load balancers, threat detection, and application performance monitoring.
Network Automation
Flow provides API based notifications enabling third-party network devices to observe VM lifecycle events, such as the instantiation of a new VM into the Nutanix environment. This enables automation of typical network configuration changes, such as the provisioning of VLANs or dynamically updating firewall and load balancer policies.
Availability:
Nutanix Flow is built into the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software, and works seamlessly with AHV virtualization. Capabilities are delivered with AHV and are licensed separately from Acropolis Editions.
| All Acropolis Editions | Flow License | |
|---|---|---|
| Service Insertion and Chaining | ||
| Network Automation | ||
| Application Flow Visualization | ||
| Microsegmentation |
Documentation:
Download the Nutanix Flow Datasheet (.PDF)