Nutanix 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.
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.
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.
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.
