Nutanix NCP-VDI key terms

Nutanix's centralized management plane that provides a single console for multi-cluster inventory, categories, policies, and analytics, and hosts the services used to deploy and govern VDI environments across clusters.

The per-cluster management interface in Nutanix, covering storage containers, hosts, VMs, and alerts for a single AOS cluster. It is the local scope that Prism Central aggregates and governs.

The distributed storage and cluster services layer of the Nutanix platform. It pools local disks across nodes into a single datastore and delivers resiliency, deduplication, compression, and snapshots to VDI workloads.

Nutanix's native, KVM-based hypervisor included with the platform. VDI deployments on AHV use Acropolis services for VM lifecycle, live migration, and high availability without a separate hypervisor license.

The management and orchestration component of AOS that handles VM creation, scheduling, migration, and cluster operations. It underpins VM administration on AHV and integrates with Prism for self-service.

The Nutanix software-defined storage layer that presents local disks on every node as one shared pool, handling data placement, replication, and rebuilds so VDI desktops benefit from aggregate cluster performance.

A logical storage namespace on a Nutanix cluster that defines policies such as replication factor, compression, deduplication, and advertised capacity. VDI datastores are typically mapped to containers with tuned policies.

The number of copies of data the cluster keeps, commonly RF2 or RF3. It determines how many simultaneous component failures the data can survive and directly affects usable capacity for desktop images.

A capacity-saving scheme that stores data as parity fragments across nodes instead of full replicas. It increases usable capacity but adds rebuild and write overhead, so it is usually applied selectively to cold VDI data.

The background process that re-creates lost data copies after a disk or node failure so the cluster returns to its configured replication factor. Rebuild time affects resilience during maintenance and failures.

The property that a VM's read requests are served by the node hosting its data, avoiding network hops. VDI performance depends on keeping desktop VMs near their data through correct scheduling.

A rule that keeps selected VMs on the same host or spreads them apart. For VDI, anti-affinity protects against host loss for critical management VMs, while affinity can improve data locality for desktops.

The network security and microsegmentation feature in AOS. It enforces allow-list rules between desktop tiers, management servers, and user segments, and supports policy-driven isolation of VDI workloads.

A security model that applies firewall policy to individual workloads rather than network subnets. In VDI it limits lateral movement between desktops and protects broker and file server traffic.

Key-value labels assigned to VMs and other objects in Prism Central. They drive policy scope for protection domains, Flow rules, and reporting, making them central to organizing large desktop pools.

A named group of VMs, often defined by categories, that shares a snapshot and replication schedule. VDI administrators use them to protect golden images, brokers, and profile servers consistently.

A point-in-time, space-efficient copy of VM data on Nutanix storage. Snapshots support fast rollback of golden images and recovery of desktop or profile data after failed updates.

A copy of a VM or disk created from a snapshot or source image. Nutanix clones are space-efficient, which allows rapid provisioning of many non-persistent desktops from one base image.

Nutanix's desktop-as-a-service platform that delivers Windows desktops and applications from a cloud console. It handles capacity, streaming, and user assignment without the customer managing the underlying infrastructure.

The tenant-level container in Frame that holds cloud credentials, networks, capacity settings, and user directories for one organization's DaaS environment. It is the unit where pools and images are organized.

The cloud compute instances that Frame provisions to run user sessions, selected by instance type and scaled by schedule or demand. Capacity choices determine session density, cost, and user experience.

The remote display protocol that carries screen, input, audio, and USB traffic from a session host to the user's device. Protocol tuning affects perceived responsiveness on high-latency links.

VMware's adaptive remote display protocol, supported for Horizon desktops on Nutanix. It adjusts encoding to network conditions and is a common choice when Horizon is the broker layer.

The VMware Horizon component that authenticates users, selects entitlements, and brokers connections to desktops or published applications. It sits between client devices and the VDI session hosts.

A managed group of identical desktops provisioned from a base image and assigned to users. Pool type, provisioning method, and assignment model determine how desktops are created and refreshed.

A desktop that resets to its base image at logoff or reboot, so user changes do not survive. This model simplifies patching and reduces storage growth but requires profile and app layering.

A desktop whose disk state is preserved between sessions, letting users install software and keep local files. Persistence increases management effort and storage demand compared with pooled models.

A server that runs multiple user sessions for published desktops or RemoteApp-style delivery. Session hosts improve density and cost efficiency but require careful sizing and profile isolation.

A group of Remote Desktop Session Host servers sharing published applications or shared desktops. Users are load-balanced across members, and the pool is managed as one unit for patching and scaling.

The master VM template containing the operating system, drivers, agents, and base applications from which desktop pools are cloned. Keeping it minimal and versioned reduces drift and rebuild time.

The process of publishing a new version of a golden image and rolling it into existing pools. It may use recompose, push, or clone-and-swap methods, each with different downtime and storage impact.

Rebuilding existing desktops from a new image while preserving user assignment and, optionally, user data. It is the standard way to apply image patches across a pool without full reprovisioning.

A technique that separates applications from the base OS image and attaches them dynamically per user or pool. It reduces the number of images to maintain and speeds delivery of app updates.

VMware's application layering product that attaches virtual app packages to desktops at login. It complements non-persistent VDI on Nutanix by delivering apps without modifying the golden image.

The practice of capturing and redirecting user settings and data outside the desktop so they persist across sessions. It is essential for non-persistent pools and for consistent logon performance.

A Microsoft profile virtualization feature that stores a user's entire profile in a VHD or VHDX file mounted at logon. Placement on fast, low-latency storage is critical for logon speed.

The file server or share hosting profile containers and Office container files. Its latency and throughput directly affect logon storms, so it is often sized and isolated separately from desktop storage.

A policy that moves known user folders such as Documents and Desktop to a network location. It keeps data out of the desktop image and supports backup, but adds dependency on file server performance.

The principle of granting users and service accounts only the access needed for their role. In VDI it shapes broker roles, image management rights, and help-desk permissions.

An access model that assigns permissions through roles rather than directly to individuals. Nutanix and broker platforms use it to separate image admins, pool admins, and read-only help desk staff.

A surge of simultaneous user logons, typically at shift start, that stresses brokers, domain controllers, and profile storage. Staggered schedules and pre-provisioned pools mitigate its impact.

A spike in storage and CPU demand when many desktops start at once, often after maintenance or at the beginning of the day. Capacity planning and boot staggering prevent timeouts and slow sessions.

Nutanix's backup and recovery solution for integrating third-party backup software with Nutanix storage. It can protect VDI management components and profile data alongside other workloads.