Bridging Network and Security across Hybrid Multicloud by Integrating Cisco ACI VMM with Nutanix AHV Hypervisor

We are proud to collaborate with Cisco Systems, Inc. to deliver one cloud-ready platform that extends the broad benefits of Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) to the Nutanix AHV hypervisor. Together, we deliver dramatic improvements in control, security, scalability, and ease of management to the integration point between networking and the hypervisor.

Cisco ACI Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) integration for the Nutanix AHV hypervisor enables greater visibility of virtualization workloads for network administrators - without sacrificing control or the server team's ability to work quickly when responding to changing business needs.

Deconstructing the Silo: Cisco ACI and Nutanix AHV Hypervisor Integration

The Nutanix AHV hypervisor works with Cisco ACI to tear down networking and virtualization silos with a cohesive solution that works at the point of integration to deliver:

1. Two-way visibility that benefits networking and virtualization teams.
2. The ability for networking to retain full control over provisioning and configuration.
3. Overlapping protections for true defense-in-depth security.

This integration gives the network team a streamlined process that pushes changes to the server team with minimal friction. Nutanix AHV works with the Cisco Application Policy Interface Controller (APIC) to provide virtual and physical network automation and VM endpoint visibility within Cisco ACI.

How it Works

Cisco ACI provides a single source of truth for networks while allowing administrators to configure virtual switches and subnets for Nutanix clusters. This approach preserves the line of demarcation between network/security administrators and server/infrastructure administrators. All virtualization networks are created solely within ACI as follows:

1. Cisco ACI administrators create policy changes as normal in the ACI APIC.
2. New policies and ACI Endpoint Groups (EPGs) mapped to virtual networks automatically trigger new network creation on the AHV hypervisor and the creation of VLAN networks (subnets) in the Prism Central (PC) environment.

Changes are subsequently pushed into the Nutanix Prism management platform - our unified multicloud management solution - and then the AHV virtual switch to maintain synchronicity with ACI's state.