Nutanix Introduces NKP Metal, Bringing Bare-Metal Kubernetes to its Platform

NKP Metal offers automated deployment, enterprise data services, and unified operations to bare-metal Kubernetes environments

CHICAGO, April 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- .NEXT Conference – Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, today announced NKP Metal which extends the Nutanix operating model and Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) solution to support Kubernetes^® deployments directly on bare-metal infrastructure.

Running Kubernetes on bare metal can deliver the performance and flexibility many modern workloads require, particularly for edge environments and AI training workloads that rely on dense GPU infrastructure. But operating these environments at scale often introduces new complexity, from provisioning physical servers to managing firmware updates and integrating storage and networking services. As a result, many organizations end up having to build a highly specialized and siloed team for managing bare-metal Kubernetes deployments.

Unlike solutions which are strictly hypervisor- or Kubernetes-based, NKP Metal supports a dual-native architecture in which containers and virtual machines operate as first-class infrastructure under a unified operating model including for AI and other performance-intensive workloads that often run directly on bare-metal infrastructure.

NKP Metal represents an extension of the Nutanix operating model and HCI stack to bare-metal Kubernetes environments, enabling organizations to run containers directly on physical infrastructure while maintaining a consistent level of automation, lifecycle management, networking, and enterprise data services they rely on in virtualized environments. As part of this approach, customers can choose to consume Nutanix storage through a container storage interface or use Cloud Native AOS as a purpose-built storage option for true bare-metal Kubernetes deployments while leveraging Nutanix Data Services for Kubernetes-native data services, extending the Nutanix experience end to end while keeping storage closer to Kubernetes workloads.

"Running Kubernetes on bare metal has traditionally meant sacrificing the operational simplicity of virtualized environments,” said Dan Ciruli, Vice President and General Manager, Cloud Native, Nutanix. “With NKP Metal, we’re extending the Nutanix operating model to bare-metal Kubernetes, combining automated lifecycle management with integrated Cloud Native AOS data services to deliver the simplicity, consistency, and enterprise storage capabilities customers need on their physical infrastructure.”

Cloud-Like Simplicity for Bare-Metal Kubernetes

With NKP Metal, organizations can deploy and manage containerized workloads on physical servers while maintaining the operational simplicity, automation, and enterprise services of the Nutanix Cloud Platform solution.

NKP Metal will also simplify the lifecycle management of physical infrastructure. Leveraging capabilities such as automated node deployment with Nutanix Foundation and Operating System and Firmware lifecycle management through Lifecycle Manager, organizations will be able to provision, scale, patch, and update bare-metal Kubernetes environments while retaining operational consistency used for virtualized workloads.

Availability

The NKP Metal deployment option is available to early access to NKP PRO and NKP ULT license users now, and it will go to general availability in the second half of 2026.

Analyst Commentary

“Today, organizations run their containerized workloads across physical and virtual environments that could be in a data center, at the edge, or in the cloud. Nutanix calls this a dual-native architecture. I call it a necessity that requires consistency in creating and managing Kubernetes clusters wherever they are. The key to success is finding a trusted and proven platform capable of meeting these needs with operational consistency—be it virtual, bare metal, or cloud.”

— Michael Warrilow, Chief Researcher, Virtified

Ecosystem Commentary

“Bare-metal Kubernetes is a common mode of operation for demanding AI and edge workloads. With Ubuntu, the world’s leading operating system for containerized environments, NKP Metal will bring to enterprise customers a consistent, familiar, and seamless experience. Combining Ubuntu-based workflows developers love with Nutanix’s enterprise-grade automation and data services removes the operational friction of managing physical infrastructure at scale.”

— Aniket Ponkshe, Dir, Software Alliances, Canonical

“With NKP Metal running on Cisco infrastructure solutions, including our new Cisco Unified Edge platform, customers will gain the performance benefits of physical hardware with a cloud operating model, eliminating the operational gap between infrastructure and Kubernetes. By extending Nutanix lifecycle management into Kubernetes environments and integrating with Cisco Intersight for unified visibility and control, we’re simplifying how organizations deploy and operate modern applications from core data centers to edge locations and sovereign environments.”

— Jonathan Gorlin, Senior Director, Product Management, Cisco Compute

"NKP Metal is designed for the kinds of environments—bare-metal edge deployments, dense AI infrastructure, and performance-intensive workloads—that generate the highest volumes of logs, metrics, and events. That's exactly where Cribl Edge excels: getting observability data under control at the source, before it overwhelms downstream systems. We're excited to see partners, like Nutanix, bring data management capabilities to the edge from day one."

— Vlad Melnik, VP of Business Development and Global Alliances at Cribl.

"Bare-metal Kubernetes is the frontier for performance-intensive applications, but it requires a hardware foundation that is both powerful and easy to manage. Intel is proud to support the launch of NKP Metal, bringing the raw power of Intel® Xeon® with its high core counts and superior memory bandwidth to Nutanix’s cloud-native stack. Together, we are eliminating the complexity of physical infrastructure management, allowing developers to run containerized AI and modern workloads at the edge and in the data center with maximum speed and operational consistency."
                                       
— Srini Kirshna, Intel Fellow, Data Center Products

“Deploying Kubernetes often presents unique challenges. The integration of NKP Metal with Lenovo’s high-performance, resilient ThinkSystem servers will provide a unified operating model that spans from the data center to the furthest remote site. Together with Nutanix, we are delivering an automated experience for bare-metal containers that keeps critical infrastructure reliable and easy to scale.”

— Scott Patti, Vice President, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo

"Nutanix and SolarWinds share a common mission: helping organizations manage VMs and bare-metal Kubernetes under a unified platform. With AI-powered insights and our new SolarWinds AI Agent delivering deep visibility into the physical layer, we're giving enterprises the confidence to deploy complex applications and AI workloads knowing their full stack is optimized, observable, and resilient."

— Amiya Adwitiya, Senior Product Director, SolarWinds

“Enterprises are increasingly looking to deploy cloud-native applications directly on bare-metal infrastructure to maximize performance, efficiency, and control. Our collaboration with Nutanix on NKP Metal will bring together Nutanix’s powerful Kubernetes platform with Supermicro’s optimized, high-performance server solutions, enabling customers to seamlessly deploy, manage, and scale modern applications with enterprise-grade reliability and simplified operations.”

— Vik Malyala, SVP, Technology and AI, Supermicro

About Nutanix

Nutanix is a hybrid multicloud computing leader, offering organizations a unified software platform for running applications, deploying enterprise AI workloads and managing data anywhere. With Nutanix, organizations can simplify operations for traditional and modern applications, freeing them to focus on business goals. Trusted by more than 30,000 customers worldwide, Nutanix helps empower organizations to transform digitally and power hybrid multicloud environments consistently, simply, and cost-effectively. Learn more at www.nutanix.com or follow us on social media.

© 2026 Nutanix, Inc. All rights reserved. Nutanix, the Nutanix logo, and all Nutanix product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or unregistered trademarks of Nutanix, Inc. (“Nutanix”) in the United States and other countries. Kubernetes is a registered trademark of The Linux Foundation in the United States and other countries. Other brand names or marks mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s). This press release is for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes a warranty or other binding commitment by Nutanix. Customer statements on results, benefits, savings or other outcomes depend on a variety of factors including their use case, individual requirements, and operating environments, and should not be construed to be a promise or obligation to deliver specific outcomes or as guarantees of future performance. This content contains express and implied forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding our plans and expectations relating to new product features and technology under development, the capabilities of such product features and technology, and our plans to release product features and technology, including with respect to Cloud Native AOS on Bare Metal, Foundation for Bare Metal NKP, Hardware LCM for Bare Metal NKP, and new updates to NKP. Such statements are not historical facts and are instead based on our current expectations, estimates, and beliefs. The accuracy of such statements involves risks and uncertainties and depends upon future events, including those that may be beyond our control, and actual results may differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by such statements, including, among others: failure to develop, or unexpected difficulties, delays or disruptions in developing, releasing or distributing, new products, services, product features or technology in a timely or cost-effective basis. Any forward-looking statements included speak only as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or otherwise revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Certain products and features or functionalities described herein remain in varying stages of development and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The development, release, and timing of any such products, features or functionalities are subject to change. Nutanix will not have any liability for any failure to deliver or delay in the delivery of any such products, features or functionalities. Any future product or product feature information is intended to outline general product directions, and is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation for Nutanix to deliver any functionality. This information should not be used when making a purchasing decision.

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