What’s New in Nutanix Files 5.2 | Features, Cloud Support & Performance
Nutanix Files 5.2 has landed with a wave of new features that enhance scalability, cloud-readiness, performance, and user accessibility. Whether you’re managing data on-prem or in the cloud, this release offers powerful tools to make your enterprise file services smarter and faster.
1. Native Support for Microsoft Azure
Run Nutanix Files directly on the Azure public cloud. Manage cloud and on-prem file servers from a single control plane, auto-scale storage, and enable disaster recovery across environments.
2. Metro Availability for AHV
Enable synchronous replication for file servers on AHV hypervisors with 0 recovery point objective (RPO), ensuring mission-critical business continuity with no data loss.
3. Hypervisor Attached Disks (HAD)
Bypass iSCSI dependency and connect volume groups directly to file server VMs for better performance, reduced latency, and simplified deployment architecture.
4. NFS over RDMA
Speed up sequential reads using RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access)—enabling more efficient data flow and support for high-performance GPU workloads with GDS.
5. Smarter Replication Jobs
New intelligence allows replication jobs to skip transfers when there’s no data churn—saving compute and network resources for Data Sync, VDI Sync, and Smart DR.
6. Self-Service Restore (SSR) Improvements
- On-demand snapshot creation
- Custom SSR policy configuration
- Up to 400 snapshots per share/export
7. Unified Namespace with Third-Party File Server Access
Now you can add third-party file servers to the unified namespace even before performing a migration—making data accessible sooner in hybrid environments.
8. Support for 12,2 Erasure Code Strip
Improve data efficiency with support for 12,2 erasure coding, ideal for balancing performance and resilience in large-scale deployments.
Final Thoughts
Nutanix Files 5.2 is a major release tailored for modern enterprises that demand resilience, cloud compatibility, accessibility, and performance. With new features targeting both operations and end-user experience, it’s a smart upgrade for any Nutanix-powered infrastructure.
This release also reflects a broader trend in Nutanix’s roadmap—delivering thoughtful, high-impact innovations across the stack. Much like the recent advancements in AOS 7.3, which introduced improvements in core platform stability, lifecycle management, and performance optimization, Files 5.2 continues that same momentum. It’s clear Nutanix is committed to shipping enterprise-grade capabilities that align with real-world IT challenges—from on-premises to the public cloud.