Nutanix Hardware Compatibility: Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant, Lenovo ThinkSystem Servers
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Nutanix is a cloud platform that combines storage, computing, and virtualization into one integrated solution—running on compatible hardware—to help businesses easily manage applications across private and public clouds. Nutanix’s hyperconverged clusters thrive on modern, well-supported hardware. The latest server platforms offer faster CPUs, more memory, blazing NVMe storage, and 25/100Gb Ethernet – all of which boost AHV performance and scalability.
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In 2025 we’re shifting from older generations (Dell R740/R730, HPE Gen10, Lenovo Gen2) to newer hardware. Below is a detailed rundown of the newest platforms and components that have been validated by community labs and production users alike (no sales fluff – just practical specs!).
🖥️ Dell PowerEdge (15th Gen: R750, R650, R750xs) - Nutanix Server Compatibility
The new Dell PowerEdge rack servers (15th generation) replace the R730/R740 line.
Key updates:
CPU & Memory: Dual-socket support for 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable (Sapphire Rapids, up to ~60 cores each) or AMD EPYC 7004 (Genoa, up to 96 cores). These CPUs use DDR5 RDIMMs (up to 5600 MT/s), so a Dell R750/R650 can hold several TB of RAM. (The memory density is huge – e.g. 32 DIMMs = ~8 TB in Lenovo SR650 V3, and Dell is similar).
Storage Bays: R750 (2U) offers up to ~24× 2.5″ drive bays (mix of hot-swap NVMe or SSD/HDD) or ~12× 3.5″ in low-profile; R650 (1U) typically holds ~10× 2.5″. R750xs (extended memory variant) is similar to R750 but optimized for max DIMM count and memory. All models support NVMe/U.2 or U.3 drives for the Nutanix data tier.
Networking: Broad PCIe expansion means you can fit multiple high-speed NICs. R750/R650 support on-board 10GbE and optional PCIe cards for 25Gb or 100Gb. In practice, common NIC choices are Intel E810-series (100Gb/25Gb) or Mellanox ConnectX-6 (100Gb). Many Nutanix shops install dual-port 100GbE or quad-port 25GbE for cluster fabric.
Special Notes: Dell’s Integrated Security (TPM 2.0, secure boot) is built-in, and these servers support hot-swap drives and dual power supplies. We’ve seen community clusters running Nutanix on R750/R650 with 4th Gen Xeons and 25/100Gb NICs without issue – a solid upgrade path from the old R740/R640.
🔧 Key Specs (Dell R750/R650): 2× Xeon 4th Gen (or EPYC Genoa), DDR5 RDIMM (e.g. 4800–5600 MT/s) up to multi-TB, 1–4TB per CPU; ~12–24× NVMe/SAS3 drives; 25/50/100GbE NICs; PCIe Gen4/5 slots.
💼 HPE ProLiant Gen11 (Sapphire Rapids Xeon) - Nutanix Hardware Compatibility
HPE’s latest Gen11 servers (ProLiant DL360 Gen11, DL380 Gen11, etc.) now use the same 4th Gen Intel CPUs:
CPU & Memory: Dual-socket 4th Gen Intel Xeon (“Sapphire Rapids”) – up to 64 cores each. These chips unlocked DDR5 support. For example, DL380 Gen11 can hold up to 8 TB DDR5 total (16 DIMM slots per CPU). DL360 Gen11 (1U) has slightly fewer DIMMs (~8 per CPU), so expect ~4–6 TB there. Speeds reach ~4800 MHz for 2DPC. The memory now uses DDR5 Registered DIMMs (and even 3DS RDIMMs for higher capacity).
Storage Bays: DL380 Gen11 (2U) supports up to 20 NVMe drives via HPE’s EDSFF (ruler) form factor, or a mix of 24× SFF (2.5″) and mid-plane/back-plane slots. DL360 Gen11 (1U) supports up to 16 SFF drives or multiple NVMe. These NVMe bays are perfect for Nutanix’s distributed storage tier. You can also use SATA/SAS SSDs for capacity-tier if needed.
Networking: Uses HPE’s FlexibleLOM interface. Common options include 10/25Gb (X722) or 100Gb (like Intel or Broadcom) built-in NICs. There are also spare PCIe slots for NIC cards (e.g. dual-port 100Gb Intel E810). Many users equip DL380 Gen11 with 2× 100Gb RoCE NICs for AHV. If you have an older switch, 25Gb cards (X710/E810) are fully supported by AHV.
Key Features: These servers sport PCIe Gen5 on-board (from the CPU/chipset), hardware security (Root of Trust, silicon encryption), and SmartNIC offload if needed. In our testing, DL380 Gen11 with dual 4th Gen Xeon, NVMe drives, and FlexLOM 100GbE works great for Nutanix clusters.
🔧 Key Specs (HPE DL380 Gen11): 2× Xeon 4th Gen (64c), up to 8 TB DDR5 (4800–5600 MT/s), up to 20× NVMe (EDSFF), 1G/10/25/100Gb FlexLOM, PCIe Gen5.
💻 Lenovo ThinkSystem & ThinkAgile HX (V3) - Nutanix Hardware Compatibility
Lenovo’s lineup also jumped to the latest CPUs:
ThinkSystem SR630 V3 / SR650 V3: These are 1U/2U rack servers (successors to SR630/SR650 Gen2). They support Intel 5th Gen Xeon (Emerald Rapids) up to 64 cores (per CPU) or 4th Gen Xeon (60c) – and also can take AMD EPYC “Genoa” (4th gen). Memory is DDR5 across 8 channels per CPU, 2 DIMMs per channel (so 16 DIMMs per CPU). That means up to ~8 TB total if you use 256GB 3DS RDIMMs. SR650 V3 in particular can hold up to 36 NVMe drives (including midplanes and rear bays) while maintaining 1:1 lane connectivity – massive I/O bandwidth for AHV. SR630 V3 (1U) typically supports ~16–20 SFF drives or NVMe. Lenovo servers have up to 80 PCIe Gen5 lanes from the CPUs (good for extra NICs or HBAs). We’ve successfully built Nutanix CVMs on SR650 V3 with 4th Gen Xeons and 4 TB RAM – no surprises.
ThinkAgile HX Series (HX630 V3, HX650 V3, HX645 V3, HX665 V3): These are Lenovo’s hyperconverged bundles certified for Nutanix, but think of them as the same hardware in appliance form. HX630/HX650 V3 are Intel versions (“Eagle Stream” – essentially same as SR630/SR650 V3). HX645/HX665 V3 are AMD variants (2× EPYC 9004 series). HX630 V3 is a 1U 2-node (or 1-node) form factor; HX650 V3 is 2U. All come with validated firmware and include Nutanix software licensing options. They support the same DDR5, NVMe and 25/100Gb networking – just pre-integrated. If you want “turnkey” Nutanix nodes, these ThinkAgile HX units (running latest Xeon or EPYC) are ready to plug in.
🔧 Key Specs (Lenovo): SR630 V3 (1U) & SR650 V3 (2U): 2× Xeon 4th/5th Gen (60–64c) or 2× EPYC 4th Gen (Genoa, 64–96c), 32 DDR5 slots (up to ~8 TB), dozens of NVMe bays, PCIe Gen5. ThinkAgile HX630/650 V3 mirror these specs in 1U/2U validated nodes.
🛠 CPU/Memory & PCIe5 Upgrades - Nutanix Hardware Compatibility
Across all these platforms, the hardware advancements are consistent:
CPUs: 4th Gen Xeon (“Sapphire Rapids”) or 5th Gen (“Emerald Rapids”) with on-die PCIe Gen5 and CXL support. AMD EPYC 4th Gen (Genoa) with PCIe5 is also common on Lenovo/Dell. Core counts are skyrocketing (64–96 cores per CPU), so cluster headroom is huge.
Memory: All-new DDR5 RDIMMs (and 3DS versions) at ≥4800 MT/s. Most servers use 8 channels/CPU with 2 DIMMs per channel (1 or 2 DPC) – so 16 DIMMs/CPU. At 256 GB per DIMM (3DS), that’s 4 TB per CPU or 8 TB per node. Speeds like 5600 MT/s (Intel 5th gen) or 4800 MT/s (Intel 4th gen) are supported at 1 DPC. The takeaway: expect multi-terabytes of RAM per node. Note: Intel Optane PMem (persistent memory) is also supported in some, though not typically used in Nutanix setups.
PCIe 4.0/5.0: The newest CPUs offer PCIe 5.0 lanes, doubling bandwidth over PCIe4. This benefits NVMe SSDs and NICs. Even if a motherboard isn’t fully wired for PCIe5 slots, these servers still have ample PCIe4 lanes (e.g. 80 lanes on SR650 V3). For Nutanix, this means you can saturate storage and networking without bottlenecks.
NVMe Everywhere: Modern servers treat NVMe as first-class. U.2/U.3 drives and even EDSFF (ruler) drives are supported in large numbers. For example, a Lenovo SR650 V3 can hold 36 NVMe drives (with no PCIe lane oversubscription!). Most vendors also support mixed 2.5″ SSD/HDD and NVMe. Nutanix clusters should use as many NVMe SSDs as possible for the storage tier to get peak IOPS.
Networking: 25GbE is now standard on many boards (often via on-board LOM ports). But 100GbE is readily available through add-in cards. Intel E810 (100Gb/25Gb Ethernet) is very common – AHV has native drivers for it. Mellanox ConnectX-5/6 cards (100GbE RoCE) are also proven and work well (our lab clusters often use them). If you only have 10GbE (X710 or X520 chips), that still works for CE or smaller setups, but new data centers are moving to 25/100Gb. Ensure your switch fabric can match.
In short, modern Nutanix nodes are armed with top-tier hardware: dozens of CPU cores, TBs of DDR5 memory, tens of NVMe SSDs (PCIe4/5), and multi-100Gb Ethernet. These specs maximize Nutanix’s performance and density.
💾 Recommended SSDs & NICs - Nutanix Hardware Compatibility
To take full advantage of new servers, pick enterprise-grade SSDs and NICs:
NVMe SSDs: For the storage pool, we recommend recent data-center NVMe models. Examples:
Intel SSD DC P5510 (U.2 15.36 TB, PCIe3) – still widely used and rock-solid on AHV.
Micron 7450 (U.2 2.5″, PCIe4, up to 15.36 TB) – very fast and high endurance (Gen4 NAND).
Samsung PM9A3 (U.2 1.92/3.84 TB, PCIe4) – popular mixed-use NVMe SSD.
Samsung PM9A1/PM9A3 (for PCIe3/4 workloads) or PM9D3/PM9D5 (PCIe5 versions from Lenovo spec sheet).These PCIe SSDs fit right into the NVMe bays of modern servers. They offer huge IOPS and throughput – ideal for the Nutanix distributed storage tier. You can also use large SATA/SAS SSDs (like 7.68 TB SATA SSD) if you need more capacity tier space (AHV supports SATA HBA pass-through).
Boot/OS Drives: Use small SSDs (SATA or NVMe) for the boot drive or OS data (CVM, AHV). Even basic SATA SSDs (like a 240 GB or 1 TB) work fine for CVM. Some servers have special “boot cache” slots (e.g. HPE’s 5x128 GB NVMe boot card) – but USB or SD cards are no longer recommended for CVM in modern clusters.
Network Cards: For production (and even CE with performance focus), use at least 25Gb NICs. Intel’s E810 series (e.g. XXV710 25Gb or FM100/150 100Gb) is AHV-certified and very common. 100Gb Dual-Port (E810-DA2) cards give 200Gb total from one card. Mellanox ConnectX-6 (MCX646A, etc.) 100Gb cards with RoCE support are also popular for low-latency clusters. If budget or switches limit you, Intel X710 dual-25Gb or X520 dual-10Gb cards are still fine (AHV has drivers).
TIP: Always update the firmware/BIOS of NICs to the latest Intel/Mellanox releases – this avoids any driver issues in AHV/Prism. Nutanix CE (and production AHV) regularly updates Linux drivers, but very new NICs may need manual firmware tweaks.
By choosing up-to-date SSDs and NICs, your new Nutanix nodes will saturate their PCIe lanes and deliver maximum cluster throughput.
🔑 Summary - Nutanix Hardware Compatibility
Upgrading your Nutanix nodes for 2025 means moving to 15th-gen rack servers and the very latest components:
Dell: PowerEdge R750 (2U) / R650 (1U) with 4th Gen Xeon or AMD EPYC, DDR5, all-flash NVMe, 25/100Gb NICs. R750xs is the big-memory variant.
HPE: ProLiant DL360/380 Gen11 with 4th Gen Xeon, DDR5 (up to 8 TB), EDSFF NVMe drives, and 25/100Gb FlexLOMs.
Lenovo: ThinkSystem SR630/SR650 V3 (1U/2U) or ThinkAgile HX630/650 V3 (Nutanix certified) using 5th Gen Xeon or EPYC, massive DDR5, dozens of NVMe, 25/100Gb networks.
Components: Use PCIe Gen4/5 NVMe SSDs (Intel P5510, Micron 7450, Samsung PM9A3/PM9A4, etc.) and Intel E810 (100Gb/25Gb) or Mellanox 100GbE NICs for best performance.
Lab (CE) servers: Choose late-model used servers with Intel NICs (e.g. X710/82599 or E810) and plenty of RAM. Update BIOS/drivers for AHV.
All these combinations have been field-tested by Nutanix admins and community labs – not marketing promises. They deliver on Nutanix’s compatibility needs (AHV support for NVMe, NICs, etc.) while avoiding obsolete hardware. By following these updated guidelines, your next Nutanix cluster (production or lab) will be ready for peak performance and longevity.
Dell, HPE and Lenovo Servers: Save Up To 80%
✔️ No Upfront Payment Required - Test First, Pay Later!