Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure comparison

Nutanix and Red Hat are both solutions in the HCI category. Nutanix is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6, while Red Hat is ranked #24. Nutanix holds a 8.3% mindshare in HCI, compared to Red Hat’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Nutanix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...

Read 197 Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) reviews

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6,302 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infr...

Read 6 Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure reviews

497 Views
359 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infr...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 31, 2024

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure and Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure compete in the hyperconverged infrastructure market. Nutanix takes an edge with streamlined management and public-private cloud integration, while Red Hat has the advantage of open-source flexibility and strong security.

Features: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure is known for its hypervisors, scalability, and disaster recovery capabilities. Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure stands out with notable data protection, open-source software integration, and robust security. Nutanix is also recognized for its accessible management and automation, whereas Red Hat's flexibility is due to its open-source structure.

Room for Improvement: Nutanix could enhance pricing transparency, improve support for hybrid cloud integrations, and expand open-source compatibility. Red Hat might work on simplifying deployment, integrating advanced management features, and reducing the need for specialized knowledge in deployment processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Nutanix provides streamlined deployment with comprehensive documentation and responsive customer support, making it easy to integrate in various environments. On the other hand, Red Hat benefits from open-source adaptability but requires more specialized knowledge for deployment. Nutanix excels in implementation speed, while Red Hat is recognized for customizable support options.

Pricing and ROI: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure typically has higher upfront costs but promises substantial ROI through its robust features and scalability, especially in hybrid cloud models. Red Hat generally offers lower initial costs and delivers long-term value via its open-source model and strong security features, enhancing ROI with strategic integrations.

To learn more, read our detailed Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs. Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs. Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...

Ranking in HCI

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

197

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Storage (SDS) (3rd), Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (1st), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (4th)

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infr...

Ranking in HCI

24th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the HCI category, the mindshare of Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is 8.3%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

HCI

Featured Reviews

MahendraPanchotiya

Infrastructure Manager at ER Tech Pros

Offers a unified platform, reduces downtime, and simple updates

Nutanix offers a unified platform for managing databases, virtual machines, and applications. This simplifies management by consolidating everything into a single interface. While Nutanix may have a higher upfront cost compared to other hypervisors, it can significantly reduce the resources needed for infrastructure management. With our previous hypervisor, we needed nearly ten IT personnel. Nutanix has allowed us to streamline our team to just three members. We use a combination of database technologies, including SQL databases and web servers such as IIS, BHP, and NGINX. Nutanix features helped our organization reduce downtime. I don't recall the last time we had downtime related to Nutanix because it is such a stable product. Nutanix, a reliable product, helps us streamline our processes, which in turn improves company revenue. We began to see the benefits after two years, with a 40 percent reduction in operational costs. We migrated 200 servers from AWS to Nutanix. Nutanix may not consolidate applications, but it helps us run them more efficiently on its platform. Updating is simple with one click. I would rate the updating processes 10 out of 10. Adding compute and storage on demand is not difficult. However, we need to factor in the existing and new firmware and software requirements.

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systemar777972

System Architect at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

Comes in a small, compact model that does not have any separate management but it is not so stable

This product is not so stable. Maybe it is just not mature enough in its development. When we upgrading from one version to another, there have been some hiccups. There have been a few times where upgraded features cause changes that make problems with existing implementation on the deployment side. I'm not sure if I really need any new features in this product at this point. For us, it is a fixed solution. It's not a full-blown solution and doesn't need to be. It is not really a cloud product, but we use it like some kind of cloud in a box. It is very limited in our use case. It has limited capability in general. You can not really have something like private security domains. Or there are so few servers that you can not really use the different kinds of applications you could with different physical servers. So you cannot select the kind of security that you can have on a cloud with separate layers.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure has a simple, user-friendly GUI, and I also like the remote recovery capabilities. It provides a single platform for managing databases."

"The cloud features in-site offering, which I found to be very interesting."

"The management interface of this solution is great."

"I definitely find the reduced power consumption very valuable. Another aspect I really like, when one compares Citrix to VMware, is the interface where you talk directly to your VM from the present software."

"The snapshots, cloning, and replication are all effective in helping to reduce downtime. It can replicate cluster data for disaster recovery and it provides high availability in case a node or a disk fails."

"The most valuable feature is the one-click to update the firmware and software."

"Management is simple"

"It allows us to have a cloud-based ecosystem."

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) pros

"The most useful feature is the solution's automation in terms of how we are able to spin up a certain workload in real-time when we are doing R&D."

"It is stable and scalable."

"I like that you can add other types of services."

"Both the scalability and stability of this solution are excellent."

"The size of the hardware is what we need because it is very good for small configurations."

"The consolidation of the management in one control point is the most valuable. The whole infrastructure management is consolidated in just one console point. The documentation is also pretty good."

Cons

"We would like to see it support other systems outside of the compute stack from which it was built."

"There is a need is to be able to consume Nutanix storage from outside the cluster for other, non-Nutanix workloads."

"The pricing of the solution is too high. It needs to be adjusted or lowered to be more competitive."

"Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure can be improved in terms of the sizing of the solution."

"In terms of what I would like to see improved, I would say the life cycle management. I don't know if it is because they changed to an LCM from the previous way of upgrading the hardware or software but sometimes it feels that it needs a wizard that says, "Check this, check this," telling you your options. The only thing that's a bit frustrating for me is the life cycle management interface. That's the only thing on the entire system that frustrates me."

"As of now, Acropolis and VMware cannot talk to each other. Until we have some kind of interface, it would be much better for Nutanix if they built an interface which can talk. Otherwise, if I have a VMware stack and I already have a Nutanix stack, I create containers, I create clusters on VMware, I create clusters on Nutanix. All of these clusters cannot talk to each other. Then it has to be then subverted as a parallel execution. What happens then is that I have to work in two different environments within my data center. Practically, they are two different data centers but physically and logically, they are one. If they cannot talk to each other that creates a lot of issues. That is something which Nutanix has to develop because for Nutanix it is very simple. For example, Oracle is using a function called GoldenGate. They have a feature called GoldenGate which allows them to talk to various different environments which must really help."

"We had a few problems with the foundation machine that you can use to build your systems out. We've got it working now, but it should be improved."

"The scalability of the solution had some issues because there were many VMs and the replication ran into some bottlenecks. It was an issue that was known to Nutanix and it was not disclosed to the customer."

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) cons

"It is not user-friendly, and it is very difficult to operate. You have to have a deep understanding of the technical details of the infrastructure to implement it. When you compare it with VMware, it is totally different because the graphical user interface is not that easy to understand. It is not intuitive. To use it, you have to read a lot of documentation and even understand what is going on behind the solution. It is not for someone who has a little bit of knowledge. Currently, it is too complex. I need something that is easy to implement. It should have a basic configuration as well as a complex configuration."

"The licensing policy needs to be improved. They have a licensing policy based on the number of CPU sockets. Nowadays what has happened is that the license they are trying to move is based on the number of CPU cores. With the advancement in technology there are now more cores in a single CPU. It's been very challenging in terms of managing the license around everything. Today we have a processor with 24 and 32 cores on the same physical CPU."

"This product is not so stable. Maybe it is just not mature enough in its development."

"The cloud deployment could be improved."

"The main issue is the initial investment. It is an expensive product, and it should be cheaper. It should also be easier to use and manage. The professional service for this solution is quite complex and expensive."

"It should be more user-friendly, in my opinion."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Nutanix price is high because it bundles all the components into single deals rather than allowing you to select the features that you want/will use."

"Nutanix is cheaper than Cisco HyperFlex, although it depends on the configuration because Nutanix can also be expensive."

"The price of Nutanix is lower than other products."

"The license is quite clear to me. It's much clearer than what we had with our previous virtualization environment. The licensing is not complex to understand."

"Cost-wise, it is very good. It is like the hypervisor cost is not there. We only need to pay for the system and AOS licenses."

"Work close with your InfraTeam and discuss with Nutanix the best way to achieve sizing and price that are right for you."

"AHV is free! This is a great feature that should be taken advantage of."

"I think it's cheaper than VMware in terms of cost."

More Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) pricing and cost advice

"Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure is an open-sourced, low-cost solution with full features."

"It is quite pricey."

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Comparison Review

it_user244362

Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees

Aug 30, 2015

Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod

Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

36%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

22%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Computer Software Company

12%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?

We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...

See all answers

How do I choose between Cisco Hyperflex HX Series and Nutanix Acropolis AOS?

Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions from core to edge and multi-cloud environments. It helps IT and OT teams deploy hyper...

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Which would you choose - Nutanix Acropolis AOS or VMware vSAN?

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Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

VMware vSphere vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 7% of the time

Dell PowerFlex vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 7% of the time

Hyper-V vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 6% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Compared 6% of the time

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VMware vSAN vs Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Compared 53% of the time

VxRail vs Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Compared 18% of the time

Azure Stack HCI vs Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Compared 18% of the time

HPE SimpliVity vs Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Compared 12% of the time

More Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

February 2025

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) report

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HCI

February 2025

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure report

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Also Known As

Nutanix Acropolis AOS, Nutanix AOS, Nutanix Acropolis

Red Hat HCI, Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure for Virtualization

Overview

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is a top-ranking HCI software, cloud management tool, and Software Defined Storage (SDS) tool that is marketed as the foundation for users' hybrid clouds. It offers a powerful and secure hyperconverged infrastructure to deliver all data and applications at any scale and on any cloud. The solution offers a complete software stack that allows users to unify their hybrid cloud infrastructure.

NCI’s services include computer, storage and network, hypervisors and containers, and deployment in public or in private clouds. The product also comes with built-in resilience, disaster recovery capabilities, self-healing, and high-security capacities. It provides further deployment flexibility through several software and hardware options and platforms. NCI includes a full set of enterprise capabilities. It can also be deployed on a wide range of servers from popular manufacturers.

The capabilities of the product are categorized into three main groups:

AOS storage
Flexible and open compute
Automated and secure networking

Outside of these categories, NCI also offers other capabilities:

Integrated disaster recovery
Full-stack lifecycle management
VMware with Nutanix
Intelligent operations

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Features

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) offers its customers various features and tools in each of the previously mentioned categories. The available features for users currently include:

High-performance: This set of features utilizes hardware advances such as NVMe and RDMA to accelerate users' most demanding applications with consistent performance. The tools in this feature category work alongside data locality to ensure successful results.
Foolproof resiliency: These Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure features protect data and keep it available by facilitating advanced distributed consistency algorithms. Users can utilize these features to protect their data from issues like bit rot, hardware failures, and even entire site failure.
Flexibility: This set of features allows storage to be sized for the needs of each organization and expanded promptly and easily so that the organization and its data can grow. The features offer flexibility to users in terms of applying storage policies logically on a pre-workload basis, instead of being tied to hardware.
Hypervisor choice: Users can choose from the leading hypervisors - Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware ESXi. They can also leverage the built-in hypervisor AHV that Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) provides.
Integrated virtualization: These features offer simplified automation and AHV streamlined operations. The services in this category are optimized for high performance and reliability.
Kubernetes: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) offers features to build and deploy cloud-native applications on intelligent distributed infrastructure. Apps can be integrated with cloud-compatible storage and both building and deployment can be achieved within the same platform.
Microsegmentation: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) offers features to prevent malware spread and reduce attack surfaces by leveraging machine learning (ML).
Virtual networking: This set of features allows users to easily implement multi-tenancy in their environment or stretch networks across clouds.
Centralized network management: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) provides organizations with a way to manage networking configurations centrally. Users can utilize it across their human-computer interaction (HCI) environment with simple virtual switch management.

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Benefits

The product offers various benefits to users who utilize its capacities. Some of these include:

NCI reduces technology sprawl and frees up technical resources to allow organizations to focus on other activities, potentially reducing costs for the business.
The product allows customers to deploy, scale, and bridge to the public cloud to be able to react in evolving business environments.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure improves data availability while simultaneously protecting it against several kinds of failures and attacks.
The solution offers high-performance, resilient distributed storage for all workloads.
Working alongside Nutanix Cloud Platform, NCI offers simple management of data from one console.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure works by the zero trust philosophy, protecting users' apps and data through specially designed security protocols.

Reviews from Real Users

According to Gerhard J., an IT manager at Q4 Fuel, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) provides serious reliability and stability across the entire system makes for ROI.

A solutions architect at a computer software company describes NCI as a stable, straightforward to set up, and scalable solution.

Nutanix

Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure - based on our leading OpenStack and virtualization platforms - provides co-located, scalable, software-defined compute and storage, driven by Red Hat Ansible Automation on economical, industry-standard hardware.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

St. Lukes Health System, the City of Seattle, Yahoo! Japan, Sligro, Empire Life, Hyundai AUS, and many others.

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Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs. Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure

January 2025

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