Which environment utilizes software and virtualization to provide network connectivity for various locations?

The correct choice is focused on the concept of software-defined wide area networking, or SD-WAN. This technology leverages software and virtualization to optimize the connectivity and management of networking across multiple geographic locations.

SD-WAN allows organizations to connect various sites—such as branch offices and remote workers—through logically unified, cloud-based management. By using virtualization and centralized control, SD-WAN can dynamically route traffic based on real-time connectivity and application performance needs. This results in improved application performance, reduced costs, and greater flexibility compared to traditional WAN setups.

The other options represent different networking environments or technologies. For example, an on-premise environment typically involves physical hardware and infrastructure hosted locally, rather than utilizing virtualization and software-based management. Software-defined networking (SDN) is related but primarily focuses on the management orchestration aspect within single data centers rather than wide-area connectivity. Nutanix, known for its hyper-converged infrastructure, does not specifically describe an environment designed for network connectivity across various locations but instead focuses on storage and compute resources. Thus, SD-WAN distinctly stands out due to its dedicated purpose of enhancing connectivity across diverse locations using software and virtualization.