Nutanix supports Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid on Nutanix AHV

Nutanix has announced support for the general availability of Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Hybrid with Nutanix AHV, giving organisations greater choice over where their virtual desktops and data run.

This will enable organisations to run Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts on-premises while continuing to use Microsoft’s cloud-based control plane for identity, access and session brokering. Nutanix has been involved in the Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid initiative from the outset as a launch ecosystem partner, helping bring Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid support to the Nutanix AHV hypervisor.

The hybrid deployment model is designed for organisations that want to modernise desktop delivery while retaining greater control over their infrastructure and data. It is particularly relevant across regulated industries where data residency, digital sovereignty, security, latency, performance and infrastructure economics can influence where workloads need to run.

With Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid on Nutanix, the Azure Virtual Desktop control plane remains in Azure while session hosts run on Nutanix AHV in the customer’s data center. Azure Arc connects those session hosts into the Azure environment, helping preserve the Azure-based identity, policy and management experience. Users can authenticate through Microsoft Entra ID, while organisations retain control over areas such as VM capacity, lifecycle management, networking, storage, disaster recovery and automation on AHV.

Organisations can also choose how they want to operate the environment. Teams with established scripting and automation skills can use Nutanix APIs and tools to manage Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid directly, while organisations looking to reduce operational effort can use Nerdio Manager to automate and centralise tasks such as VM provisioning, lifecycle management, power management, image and patch updates, policy management and autoscaling.

Key capabilities include:

• Running Azure Virtual Desktop session hosts on premises on Nutanix AHV while retaining Microsoft’s Azure-based Azure Virtual Desktop control plane.
• Supporting data residency and digital sovereignty objectives by keeping desktops and data within customer-controlled environments.
• Using Azure Arc and Microsoft Entra ID to maintain a consistent identity, policy and management experience across the hybrid environment.
• Supporting Windows Server multi-session and Windows 11 Enterprise single-session, with Windows 11 multi-session remaining exclusive to Azure and Azure Local.
• Giving IT teams a choice between API-driven management and automated orchestration with Nerdio Manager.
• Helping organisations balance cloud innovation with existing infrastructure investments, operational control, performance requirements and cost considerations.

“Customer choice and flexibility are at the core of Azure Virtual Desktop Hybrid. Nutanix’s support helps organisations extend the benefits of Azure Virtual Desktop to environments that align with their operational and business requirements, enabling a smoother path to modernisation while preserving existing investments,” says Bhavya Chopra, partner director: product management at Microsoft.

“The value for customers is straightforward. They no longer have to choose between using Azure Virtual Desktop and maintaining control over where their desktops run. If compliance, data sovereignty, latency or cost means those workloads need to stay on premises, they can run them on Nutanix AHV while still using Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop services. It gives IT teams a more practical way to modernize without forcing every workload into the same model,” says Tarkan Maner, president at Nutanix.

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