Smart Tieringin Nutanix Files is a built-in feature that allows administrators toautomatically move infrequently accessed data(cold data) tolower-cost storage tiers(like NFS or S3-compatible storage). It also supportsautomatically recalling dataif it becomes hot (frequently accessed) again.

According to NUSA course details:

“Smart Tiering policies in Nutanix Files allow administrators to define rules based on file metadata (type, size, owner) and last access time. Cold data is tiered off to cheaper storage, and Files can recall the data if needed, ensuring transparent access for users.”

Key reasons why Smart Tiering is the solution:

Automatically identifies cold data(based on access patterns).

Moves cold data to external or cheaper storagetransparently.

Re-hydrates dataautomatically if it becomes hot again, maintaining performance and user experience.

The other options:

Advanced tiering in Data Lens— Data Lens is for analytics and reporting, not for moving data.

Lifecycle Rules in Objects— manages data lifecycle for object buckets, not Files shares.

SSR (Self-Service Restore)— is for file recovery, not data tiering.

Thus, the administrator shouldconfigure Smart Tiering in Nutanix Filesto satisfy the requirement.