Tag: Nutanix

Nutanix .NEXT 2020 Announcements

This week, Nutanix .NEXT 2020 is being held as a digital event due to COVID-19. This combines the traditional US and EU .NEXT programs into one event.

Nutanix Core is the leader in the HCI market. With that being said, Nutanix is certainly not resting on its laurels and continues to innovate in that space with the new BlockStore/SPDK and Optane announcements. They continue to innovate and blaze a trail for the competition to follow. Moving the governance/security module from Xi Beam to Flow in Prism Central is an interesting move. Consuming this service from Prism Central will increase adoption I think. VPCs on-prem (along with Flow) is beefing up the Nutanix offering to complete in the Network Virtualization market, which was always a hole in their game.

The announcements:

  • Foundation Central will support 50K VMs and 500 Clusters
  • Self Tuning feature to view and resolve application issues
  • New licensing tier: Prism Ultimate – App Insights and Cost Showback, Metrics to drive business efficiency and new tier to drive AI Ops
  • AOS performance improvements with Block Store, SPDK and Optane support
  • Deploy Files & Objects anywhere from Prism Central
  • 60 second RPO support for Files & Objects
  • Cold Data Tier support for Files & Objects
  • Ransomware Protection with Detection, Prevention (immutable snapshots) and Recovery (immutable objects WORM storage)
  • Security Central with security module from Beam moved to Flow (in Prism Central)
  • VPCs On-Prem with AHV (Layer 2 extension over Layer 3 networks)
  • Nutanix Central announced (Multi-Cloud DevOps SaaS)
  • Karbon Services PaaS Family announced (Multi-Cloud PaaS)
  • Citrix on Nutanix Clusters announced
  • Nutanix Era multi-cluster support announced
  • Nutanix Clusters on Azure announced
  • Calm-as-a-Service announced
  • Service Providers running Nutanix software

Screenshots:

Nutanix .NEXT 2019 EU Announcements

This week, Nutanix .NEXT 2019 EU was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. There are six announcements of note:

  • ServiceNow integration with Nutanix for Private Cloud IT Automation. This includes Auto-Discovery for CMDB, Alerts Integration for Event and Incident Management & Provisioning Automation for Service Requests.
  • Xi Clusters on AWS ready for Early Access & Tech Preview.
  • Xi Beam supports Nutanix On-Prem Security Compliance (AHV) and Private Cloud Metering & Chargeback.
  • Nutanix Insights announced. This is a predictive health and support automation service that leverages Nutanix Pulse.
  • HPE GreenLake with Nutanix-as-a-Service.
  • Nutanix AOS supports all NVMe platforms and Intel Optane SSDs.

Screenshots:

Which is better? VMware or Nutanix?

I get this question all the time – “Hey René, you are an expert on VMware, why do you bother with Nutanix?” or vice-versa, depending upon whether I am talking to a VMware or Nutanix employee.

And my answer is, “Well it depends upon the customer requirements, both vendors have great solutions.” Let me elaborate, generally speaking both companies have the following attributes:

VMware

  • Extensive product eco-system that is getting broader and deeper each year
  • Broad support for third party vendors
  • Loads of nerd knobs exposed for complex use-cases
  • Rolls Royce of software and features
  • Likes to lead by acquisition
  • VMware is over 20 years old

Nutanix

  • An obsessive focus on simplicity
  • Second to none customer support
  • Great choice for simple use-cases
  • Likes to build from the ground up
  • Nutanix is 10 years old

In summary, my advice to customers is this: If you have very simple use-cases, you care about vendor support and you want things to work with the minimum of fuss, then Nutanix with AHV should be on your list. If you have complicated use-cases, your infrastructure team loves fiddling with software settings and you have a broad range of third party integrations into the hypervisor, then VMware is the way to go. Both companies have a vision that they are currently executing and will deliver working solutions, it just comes down to what the customer is trying to achieve.

Nutanix XLAB for Partners is Live

The Nutanix XLAB licensing for Partners feature in Nutanix Support is now live. Why should you care if you are a Nutanix Partner?

Up until now, Nutanix Partners could consume Nutanix software in four ways:

  • Community Edition – crowd-sourced support, used for functional demonstrations and learning, available to everyone, runs with AHV only and you supply the hardware (no HCL, cross your fingers and pray).
  • Nutanix Demo environment – ready built, limited use-cases, demonstration only, shared environment consumed as a service (similar to VMware HOL), available to all partners.
  • NFR (Not For Resale) – includes support, heavily discounted software, including NX hardware if needed, available to all partners.
  • MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) – loaner hardware tied to sales objectives for a fixed period of time and must be returned to Nutanix at the end, licensing and support is not included, all partners can apply.

Now we have a fifth option, XLAB:

  • Gives you access to Acropolis Ultimate, Prism Pro, Flow, Calm, Files, Era and Buckets licensing.
  • Depending upon your Partner level, the quantities allowed vary (Master, Scaler or Authorized Distributor).
  • Partner provides the hardware: Nutanix NX, HPE DX, HPE, Cisco, Dell-EMC PowerEdge or OEM (Dell-EMC XC Core or Lenovo HX).
  • Allows you to run all supported hypervisors.
  • No support provided.
  • Gives you the ability to run PoCs in your own lab including performance testing (before you would have to use an official PoC request – which takes time, or use NFR/MOU hardware).

How do you access XLAB? Easy:

  • Login to my.nutanix.com
  • Select the Support Portal
  • Go to My Products, Licensing
  • Expand the XLab Licenses section
  • Select Manage Licenses to start the Cluster File upload process and generate the License File for the cluster

Nutanix .NEXT 2019 US Announcements

This week, Nutanix .NEXT 2019 US is being held in Anaheim. There are ten announcements of note in the Private Cloud, Multi-Cloud and Edge spaces:

  • First Edition of The Nutanix Design Guide released – download the PDF.
  • Nutanix Buckets for Object Storage: Available on May 15 with Buckets and Buckets Pro licensing.
  • Nutanix Mine for secondary storage: Available in H2-2019. Available in Small (96TB) and Medium (192TB) sizes. Will support Veeam, HYCU, Commvault, Unitrends and Veritas.
  • Nutanix Era simplifies database operations: Added support for SQL-Server AAG, PostreSQL HA, Oracle Patch Management & RBAC.
  • Xi Frame from anywhere: Supports On-Prem Nutanix cluster Frame data-plane install.
  • Xi Leap expansion: Enhancements to Xi Cloud Security. London and Italy added as DRaaS targets.
  • Xi Beam security compliance: Event-driven security compliance added.
  • Xi IoT developer experience: Frictionless delivery in the Cloud, Solution-centric approach with multiple sensor options.
  • MEDITECH is certified for Nutanix AHV and AOS, including Nutanix Files.
  • Xi Clusters on AWS

Screenshots:

The Nutanix Design Guide

Since October last year, RoundTower Technologies has been collaborating with Nutanix on the First Edition of “The Nutanix Design Guide”. This book was written to explain the “Why?” of Nutanix and to present a 40,000ft view of the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud eco-system. This book has something for everyone, even if you have just been introduced to Nutanix or are an experienced Nutant. At 264 pages, this tome has a pleasing weight, when held in your hand.

It was a community effort, with Angelo Luciani and myself as co-editors/co-authors and 15 other Nutants authoring content (including 6 NPXs) to complete the final book. Dheeraj Pandey was also kind enough to write the Foreword. We are incredibly proud of the final product which included hundreds of hours of collective effort. Listen to this Nutanix Podcast Episode to hear more.

How do you get a copy?

Easy, a physical copy will be provided at strategic locations around the event when you attend Nutanix .NEXT US in Anaheim (there will be a book signing on the Wednesday with Dheeraj and team) or contact your Nutanix/RoundTower Account Executive for a copy.

DOWNLOAD THE NUTANIX DESIGN GUIDE – FIRST EDITION PDF

You are most welcome! We hope you find value and enjoy reading it.

Nutanix Test Drive Revamped

The Nutanix Test Drive environment has been revamped with a new look and feel. Gone is the Community Edition running on Ravello, it now uses the latest version of AOS and runs on GCP. There is also a helpful interactive storyboard that takes you through the Prism UI, which is great if this is your first time with Nutanix.

To access Test Drive:

  • Visit the Nutanix Test Drive page
  • Enter your details and press “Launch Test Drive”
  • Take note of the admin credentials and press “Start Test Drive”
  • Accept any SSL warnings and the Prism UI will appear
  • Follow the Interactive Demo prompts to learn the Prism UI
  • This instance is available to you for 2 hours
  • Test Drive only covers Prism Element, the advanced features of Nutanix Enterprise Cloud are not included