Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

it_user768270

Director of IT at a hospitality company with 51-200 employees

Nov 14, 2017

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The ROI can be quickly realized for most organizations

What is most valuable?

Prism
One-Click

How has it helped my organization?

Now, we can worry less about the technology and focus on other business value initiatives.

What needs improvement?

A fantastic product that could spend a bit more time in QA between releases.

For how long have I used the solution?

Five years.

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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

None.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Compatibility issue with Nutanix and Zerto.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

None.

How are customer service and support?

Customer Service:

10 out of 10.

Technical Support:

10 out of 10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We switched from a legacy 3-2-1 solution to HCI due to its ease of use and scalability.

How was the initial setup?

Very straightforward; no issues.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented through a vendor team, although the setup was so easy that we could have handled the process in-house.

What was our ROI?

We have realized a 3:1 ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The upfront cost can be higher than traditional solutions, but the ROI can be quickly realized for most organizations.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

SimpliVity and Dell EqualLogic.

What other advice do I have?

A great product from a great company with world class support.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Bryan Luers

Systems Engineer at a tech services company

Oct 23, 2017

Very easy to use and very reliable

Nutanix has helped us with a system that has high performance in a small footprint. It has been very easy to use and is very reliable. Using AHV looks good, and is a much cheaper alternative to VMware.

There were initially some setup complications with Nutanix on Dell hardware by not having Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) open locally on the network switches. The simple hour install was closer to a day, but the system has been solid since then.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

December 2024

Free Report: Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Reviews and More

Learn what your peers think about Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.

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824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.

it_user600720

Cyber Security Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jul 15, 2017

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It is now our single most powerful server that is easily scalable and has an HTML5 site that manages all aspects of the system.

Pros and Cons

"Hyper-convergence is the most valuable feature for me as it allows me to scale the hardware according to project requirements."

"It would be great if it could emulate some of the features that their competitor VMware has, for example port mirroring or Netflow output at hypervisor level."

How has it helped my organization?

It is now our single most powerful server that is easily scalable and has an HTML5 site that manages all aspects of the system.

What is most valuable?

Hyper-convergence is the most valuable feature for me as it allows me to scale the hardware according to project requirements.

What needs improvement?

It would be great if it could emulate some of the features that their competitor VMware has, for example port mirroring or Netflow output at hypervisor level.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We did not encounter any issues with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We did not encounter any issues with scalability except for cost and feature requests.

How are customer service and technical support?

Local support has been wonderful so far in my case, but I didn't have many support requirements for my projects.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was using a standard server infrastructure previously and found an offer for Nutanix so we switched.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was handled by our local IT vendor hence you can say it's convenient.
However I was there to observe how it was done and I can say that you need network experience to link the hardware together as the nodes inside the hardware communicate using TCP/IP.

The software is set up on the get-go (off-the-shelf) but due to my project requirements I have to customize the software, hence the complexity.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

If you're willing to spend on hyper-convergence technologies be prepared to pay more and be locked down to a specific hardware vendor.

The basic license that comes with the box allows basic virtualization features but advanced automation features would require an upgrade of licenses.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before the purchase we were evaluating VMware only.

What other advice do I have?

Please be prepared to be locked down on the hardware.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user692274

IT Infrastructure Architect at a wellness & fitness company with 501-1,000 employees

Jun 28, 2017

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Valuable features include one-click upgrade and data locality.

Pros and Cons

"Data locality provides super-fast data access and ultra-low latency."
"To receive a performance enhancement by merely clicking the one button upgrade is the true value of the platform and what I look forward to the most."

How has it helped my organization?

Our 125 seat VDI implementation went from barely usable, to a good alternative, to desktops. The performance of our server apps has never been better.

What is most valuable?

One-click upgrade and data locality are valuable features. The one-click upgrade provides simple management and upgrades. Data locality provides super-fast data access and ultra-low latency.

What needs improvement?

The focus on performance improvements over new features is more important to me. It is always fun to play with new buttons in the platform.

In reality, it is hard for me to find flaws in this platform because it is without comparing. For me, the fact that I run all of my workloads on Nutanix, which is a software defined datacenter platform, the biggest advantage for me is performance increases with updates. I was once asked what does "Software Defined" mean to me. My response was "a platform that allows for your next feature or performance upgrade to be as easy as a software patch or update."

To receive a performance enhancement by merely clicking the one button upgrade is the true value of the platform and what I look forward to the most. I do understand that new features provide the wow in the platform and I completely understand this value. However, for a datacenter admin, performance increases without cost, and sometimes unexpectedly delivered, is real wow.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no stability issues so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no issues with scalability. It's built for scale.

How are customer service and technical support?

Nutanix support is second to none. There has never been an issue when interacting with them.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Vblock, a converged solution. We switched for many reasons. Footprint, power, cooling, savings, and support time.

How was the initial setup?

I did the setup myself in less than 45 minutes from box to data.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You get what you pay for here.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated VMware VXRail/Rack and SimpliVity. We did PoCs. The hands-down winner was Nutanix!

What other advice do I have?

Do a PoC and judge for yourself. It costs nothing but time.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user388365

Hyperconverged specialist with Nutanix & CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jan 16, 2017

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It provides a distributed storage fabric and setup was simple.

What is most valuable?

Distributed storage fabric

How has it helped my organization?

We don’t need to be SAN or virtualization experts J

What needs improvement?

Manage virtualization layer with Hyper-V

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used it for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not encountered any stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not encountered any scalability issues.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is 10/10.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used DataCore, but scaling it is too difficult.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was too simple. Our datacenter was on in two hours.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing and licensing is so correct compared with other solutions.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have not evaluate other options because for the past three years, Nutanix has been the leader in hyperconverged solutions.

What other advice do I have?

Choose Nutanix for the simplicity and performance ahead of other products.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are a reseller of Nutanix products.

it_user327513

Technical Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Oct 19, 2015

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Metro availability with synchronous replication is most appreciable for my customer, but cloning VMs in Prism would be nice.

What is most valuable?

Metro availability
Fingerprinting

How has it helped my organization?

Metro availability with synchronous replication is most appreciable for my customer. Its benefit is high avaibility in production.

What needs improvement?

Maybe more functions for Prism with VMmware, for example, cloning VMs in Prism, exactly like Acropolis.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used them for almost three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

One time, with IPMI not reachable for CVM. I troubleshot this problem with Nutanix US support.

How are customer service and technical support?

It's at a high level.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

No previous solution was used.

How was the initial setup?

It is small but complex. Howerver, if you have a good skills with virtualization solutions, and Linux systems, you can install it without any problems.

What about the implementation team?

I installed the solution alone. My advice is to read the Nutanix documents before your installation.

What was our ROI?

I have am immediately gain, as it has lower hardware maintenance costs, and lower electricity consumption.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have evaluated SimpliVity OmniCube.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user302127

Network Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 31, 2015

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It centralizes management, so we can build clouds anywhere, but they should replace all the hard drives with SSD.

Valuable Features

All the software-defined, hyper-converged, and cloud-based infrastructure provide our network with VMs and storage.

Improvements to My Organization

It centralizes management, so we can build clouds anywhere. Regardless of the hardware platform, it still works.

Room for Improvement

The processing power is OK, but for the future it needs to be better. Replacing all the hard drives with SSD would dramatically improve performance.

Stability Issues

Very good compression
QoS is very good

Scalability Issues

It's highly scalable because it's all in the cloud.

Customer Service and Technical Support

We often use technical support, but usually we grab an account manager who sends an entire team.

Initial Setup

It was very easy.

Other Advice

The solution you choose will depend on your budget. If you want to build a hybrid cloud, and have a good balance between cost and performance, then Nutanix is good option.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user234735

Technology Consultant, ASEAN at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

May 10, 2015

Reduces complexity but does not use RAID and there is no RAID Controller.

Nutanix is hyper-converged infrastructure, which is currently a major concern in the world of IT. New players are appearing in hyper-converged infrastructure like Simplivity, VMware EVO: Rail, EMC ScaleIO, and so forth.

Waht is Hyper-Converged?

Hyper-Converged is the solution to combine Computer (Server), Storage and Networks in one solution or in one hardware. This solution will reduce complexity of the management and also the price. So like in Nutanix, the 2 U Server, in which there are four independent servers (nodes), who each have 2 Socket CPU, RAM, 2x10GbE, 2x1GbE, 6 Disks. Bringing the total in 2U Server (Series NX-3450) there are 80 CPU Cores, 2TB RAM (assuming 512GB per node), 8x10GbE and 16TB SATA Row, Row 3.2TB SSD.

Storage in Nutanix (Converged Storage), reduces the complexity of the storage layer, because it does not need LUN, Volume, Zoning, etc as when we configure FC Storage. Storage in Nutanix is NFS, NFS is the benefit of reducing the overhead of the disk groups and LUNs.

Nutanix Architecture

Inside there is a term Nutanix nodes and blocks.Block is a 2U rack mount chassis in which there are four nodes.Hardware Nutanix is OEM Super Micro or Dell.

In each of these nodes are Nutanix Controller VM (CVM). CVM is a storage appliance or controllers which use VMware Direct Path for direct access to the LSI Disk Controller. This is what allows the CVM to control the disks directly without passing through the hypervisor (ESXi or Hyper-V or KVM). Nutanix does not use RAID and no RAID Controller therein. Nutanix Distributed Files System (NDFS) algorithm is owned (proprietary) by Nutanix system for distributing files or replicating data to each Node. NDFS is a similar technology as used by Googles Files System, Facebook and other Web-Scale Technology.

Hypervisor is installed in the SATA DOM (Disk on Motherboard) module. So there is a flash chip in the motherboard 64GB per node (read article unboxing Nutanix). CVM is a VM running on the hypervisor, which has the configuration of 8 vCPUs and 16-24GB RAM.CVM has two vNICs that one vNIC to connect to the production network and one vNIC to connect to a private vSwitch. Private vSwitch VMkernel adapters have and currently do not have physical network adapter (Punic). Private network used for communication from the host to the CVM for mounting NFS datastore of Nutanix Storage Cluster.CVM uses public vNIX for communication between the CVM in other nodes and also for monitoring cluster plus replicate data.

The figure below is a diagram per Node:

And the image below is a diagram per Cluster Nutanix:

And some of the questions often asked are:

What happens when CVM failure in one node? Autopathing will redirect IO to the CVM in other nodes in the same cluster.
What happens when a disk failure on one node?Nutanix Storage Cluster will "sustain" the current single disk failure, and the system will redistribute data through Cluster.When the rebuild or redistribution is complete it will Cluster Healthy back.This process is very fast (ms).
What happens when one node failure?The process is almost the same as point 2, the data will redistribute within the Cluster.Only this process Nutanix uses MapReduce to speed up the process.If we have three nodes in one cluster, then only allowed one node failure.Therefore, at least 3 nodes required to form 1 Nutanix Cluster.

Management Console

Management Console in Nutanix is PRISM.PRISM is a web interface as shown below.

The first time we log in, then the initial menu as shown above.Visible top left is the ESXi hypervisor is installed, if you use Microsoft Windows, the look is Hyper-V.Then also seen versions of ESXi, below is the total storage capacity, a total of VMs (VMs 230), total node (5) and total blocks (2).In the middle column visible performance monitoring IOPS, bandwidth, CPU and Memory.And the rightmost column is the Events and Alerts.

Top left corner there is a drop down menu (Home), then I moved to the Storage menu Diagram View.It will appear as shown below.

Now we move to the VM menu, which will give us the details of the VM is running in the cluster.Seen there total VM, total CPU and Memory.Then there is also a report by IOPS, Latency IO, Memory Usage and CPU Usage.

Then we move to the VM Table, it is seen in detail per-VM, as shown below. If we look at the information that there is, then I think this function together with VMware vCenter Ops, which did not exist just Forecast Analysis. Here we can search the VM and then perform analysis per-VM performance based on CPU, Memory, IOPS, Latency, or Network.

And now we move to the Storage menu Diagram.Seen all information relating to such Usage Storage, IOPS, bandwidth IO, IO Latency. And in the top right corner, there are two menus of "Container" and "Storage Pool".

Storage Pool, is the union of all disks that exist in all Nodes.Container is as Datastore. We can make some Container in 1 Storage Pool.As with traditional storage, we can make some LUNs in 1 Disk Group.

Interestingly here is Nutanix without RAID but using NDFS, no volume or LUNs. For example, we will create one Container, then I click menu in the top right corner Container, the menu will appear below.

Interestingly, we we would like to mount the new container to multiple hosts / nodes, we just need to do the check as shown below.Imagine if we use the SAN, must do Zoning first, then setting WWN ID to each of the hosts, and so on.

And we can compress or dedup the container that we have made, and only one click then completed as shown below. Interesting is it not it?

And no less, that is build-in replication. We can do replication N-Way means can perform replication to 3rd place (A-> B-> C) upto 6th place (A-> B-> C-> D-> E-> F). Which greatly facilitates that we can do per-VM based and fixed per block-level replication. Imagine in traditional storage, replication must be done LUN to LUN.So if there are 50-VM per LUN, then total all 50 VM will be replicated to the LUN in the DR Site.Replication in Nutanix, can be integrated with VMware SRM.

Likewise reviews Nutanix, although not as complete but could be an additional complete our knowledge. And we will come back to a Nutanix detailed discussion at a later time.

Thanks to Nutanix for allowing me to "box-test" Nutanix lab in Singapore.
I would like to thank the team for greater Nutanix Reviews their help in providing the access to Reviews their lab and willingness to answer questions during our process.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.