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Question

Can AHV Guest OS directly access external Dell PowerMax storage via iSCSI?

  • Nov 5, 2026 8:12 AM UTC
  • 4 replies
  • 22 views

Hi Nutanix Team,

We are planning to run Windows/Linux VMs on Nutanix AHV with the following environment:

  • Cisco UCS X210C M8

  • Nutanix AHV

  • Dell PowerMax 2500

  • 25GbE network

Can a Windows/Linux Guest OS running on AHV use its native iSCSI initiator to directly access an external Dell PowerMax storage LUN?

The architecture is:

Guest OS → iSCSI Initiator → AHV/OVS → 25GbE → Dell PowerMax

If yes, is this officially supported by Nutanix? Could you please provide the relevant documentation?

Thank you.

4 replies

JeroenTielen
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No, external storage is only for specific brands/models. And that dell is not one of it. 

 

Keep in mind, AHV is not just a hypervisor you can install and use. There is a CVM involved as well (Running AOS). And lots of other requirements.

Nutanix NTC 2022+2023+2024+2025+2026 || Community Excellence Award 2025+2026 || Nutanix NUG Champion || Nutanix Certified Instructor
  • Lei1234
  • Author
  • Voyager
  • Nov 5, 2026 9:13 AM UTC

Thank you for your reply.

I understand that Dell PowerMax is not on the supported list for AHV External Storage integration.

However, our use case is different. We do not intend to use PowerMax as an AHV datastore.

We want to use the native iSCSI Initiator inside Windows/Linux Guest VMs to connect directly to PowerMax LUNs through the VM's vNIC and 25GbE network.

Is this Guest OS-level iSCSI configuration supported on AHV? Does it require the storage array to be on Nutanix's supported External Storage list?

Any relevant documentation would be appreciated.

Thank you!

JeroenTielen
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Ah got it. Yes offcourse that will work. That has not so much to do with nutanix ;) 

Nutanix NTC 2022+2023+2024+2025+2026 || Community Excellence Award 2025+2026 || Nutanix NUG Champion || Nutanix Certified Instructor

Yes you can connect iSCSI to windows / Linux Guest OS through  TCP 3260 & TCP 3205 ports. 

 

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