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Nutanix Files Manual: Deployment and Scaling

Deployment Workflows

Nutanix Files deployment is managed entirely through Prism Central or Prism Element using automated workflows.

Prism Central Setup:
- Navigate to Services > Files or Storage > File Servers.
- Select Create File Server.
General Details Configuration:
- Specify File Server Name (e.g., fs-corp-01), Domain Name, and DNS Servers.
Client Network & Storage Network Selection:
- Assign Client Network VLAN, Subnet, Netmask, Gateway, and IP pool range.
- Assign Storage Network VLAN.
FSVM Sizing & Scale:
- Choose FSVM Count (e.g., 3 FSVMs for scale-out HA).
- Select Resource Profile (vCPUs and Memory per FSVM).
- Set Initial File Server Storage Capacity (GB/TB).
Directory Services Integration:
- Option to join Active Directory immediately during creation by providing AD Domain Admin credentials or Pre-created Machine Account details.

Nutanix Files supports Non-Disruptive Upgrades (NDU) via Nutanix Life Cycle Manager (LCM):

Rolling Upgrade Sequence: LCM updates FSVMs one at a time.
Client Continuity:
- For SMB 3.0 Continuous Availability shares, clients automatically transition to partner FSVMs without I/O interruption.
- For NFS v3/v4 clients, connections fail over to partner IPs transparently during the brief reboot of each FSVM node.

Scale-up increases CPU and Memory allocations for existing FSVMs:

Scale-out adds new FSVM nodes to an existing file server instance (e.g., expanding from 3 to 4 or 5 FSVMs):

Increases total connection capacity, IOPS, and throughput.
Automatically distributes Volume Groups and shares across the expanded FSVM pool.
Requires available IP addresses in the Client and Storage subnet pools.

Storage capacity of a file server can be expanded dynamically without downtime.
In Prism Central, click Expand Storage, enter the target capacity (TB), and apply.
Underlying Volume Groups automatically expand in DSF.

Last updated Oct 08, 2026