Amazon Web Services just expanded hybrid cloud push with Nutanix Storage Gateway support, and VMware users are paying attention

Amazon Web Services expanded its hybrid cloud storage capabilities on December 24, 2025, by announcing support for the Nutanix AHV hypervisor in AWS Storage Gateway. This strategic move allows organizations running Nutanix environments to connect on-premises infrastructure directly to AWS S3-based storage services. The announcement strengthens AWS’s position in the hybrid cloud market as enterprises reconsider their virtualization strategies.

AWS Strengthens Hybrid Cloud Position With Nutanix AHV Support

The Storage Gateway service provides a bridge between on-premises applications and AWS cloud storage. Organizations can now deploy Storage Gateway directly on Nutanix AHV environments, eliminating the need to adapt existing virtualization infrastructure. The service supports multiple protocols including NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and iSCSI-VTL, offering flexibility for backup, archiving, and data migration workloads.

This announcement demonstrates AWS’s strategy to integrate with popular hypervisor platforms. Storage Gateway previously supported VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Linux KVM. The addition of Nutanix AHV, which is KVM-based, represents a natural evolution for the service. AWS emphasizes that this expansion provides virtually unlimited cloud storage capacity for local applications while maintaining low latency through hybrid architectures.

Nutanix’s Growing Challenge to VMware’s Market Position

The timing of AWS’s announcement is significant. Nutanix has emerged as a primary alternative to VMware, particularly for organizations evaluating their virtualization strategies following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware in 2023. Broadcom’s focus on VMware Cloud Foundation as an integrated suite has raised concerns about product choice and licensing costs among customers.

Gartner analysts project that VMware could lose approximately 35 percent of its managed workloads within three years due to Broadcom’s strategic direction. Nutanix executives have indicated that conversations with VMware users shifted from exploratory discussions to implementation planning during 2025. By adding AHV support to Storage Gateway, AWS positions itself to capture demand from organizations migrating away from VMware to Nutanix environments.

Nutanix’s Expanding Storage Strategy Mirrors Industry Trends

Nutanix’s recent announcements demonstrate its acknowledgment that customers require flexibility in storage solutions. The company announced integration with Pure Storage in May 2025, making it generally available in December 2025. Previously, Nutanix established partnerships with Dell for external storage options. These moves reflect market reality—many current and prospective Nutanix customers maintain investments in external storage arrays alongside hyperconverged infrastructure.

AWS’s support for Nutanix AHV fits this larger ecosystem expansion. Organizations transitioning from VMware to Nutanix can now maintain existing AWS storage strategies without reconfiguring their infrastructure. The service deployment remains managed through the existing Storage Gateway management console, simplifying operations for IT teams managing hybrid architectures across multiple cloud and on-premises environments.

Deployment Flexibility for Enterprise Hybrid Architectures

Storage Gateway can be deployed in two configurations—as a virtual appliance on-premises within Nutanix AHV environments or as an Amazon EC2 instance in the AWS cloud. This flexibility enables organizations to choose deployment models based on latency requirements, bandwidth constraints, and data locality preferences. Companies implementing disaster recovery solutions can leverage both deployment options for redundancy and failover capabilities.

The service supports use cases including backing up on-premises workloads to AWS, archiving data for compliance retention, migrating data to cloud-based file shares, and enabling low-latency access to cloud data from local applications. Nutanix AHV customers gain these capabilities without modifying existing virtualization infrastructure or licensing arrangements. The expansion applies to all AWS regions where Storage Gateway operates.

How Does AWS’s AHV Support Impact Your Cloud Strategy?

For organizations evaluating virtualization platforms, this announcement underscores the importance of ecosystem breadth and cloud integration. Nutanix’s ability to integrate seamlessly with major cloud providers strengthens its competitive positioning against VMware, particularly given Broadcom’s emphasis on proprietary Cloud Foundation. AWS’s commitment to supporting diverse hypervisor platforms reduces customer lock-in and provides flexibility when architecting hybrid cloud solutions.

IT leaders considering Nutanix should evaluate how AWS Storage Gateway support aligns with existing data workflows, backup strategies, and disaster recovery requirements. The announcement also signals AWS’s intention to maintain broad hypervisor compatibility, ensuring customers aren’t forced onto specific virtualization platforms to leverage cloud storage services. This approach benefits enterprises managing diverse infrastructure environments.

Sources

• The Register – Reported on AWS Storage Gateway support for Nutanix AHV and market context
• Techzine Global – Documented technical implementation details and Nutanix market positioning
• AWS Official Announcement – Confirmed Storage Gateway deployment options and regional availability

Lee Ann Anderson

Lee Ann Anderson is a technology journalist specializing in consumer tech, digital innovation, and Silicon Valley trends. With a talent for breaking down complex technical concepts into accessible insights, this skilled journalist keeps readers informed about the gadgets, apps, and breakthroughs shaping our digital future. Her coverage bridges the gap between tech enthusiasts and everyday users.