What is our primary use case?
We use Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) for storing the profile and related data for all of our end-user computing VDI sessions like their FSLogix profile and O365 data.
How has it helped my organization?
Prior to having NUS and Nutanix Files, we were hosting profiles on some older Dell Isilons. Due to their age, they were using hybrid storage, so we had some old-style spinning disks in addition to all-flash, which create a performance bottleneck. Nutanix's platform and the NX hardware that was purchased with it allowed us to move profiles to an all-flash solution. We're also able to utilize a 25 gigabit per second transfer speed, as opposed to the 10 gigabit per second maximum for the Dell Isilons.
What is most valuable?
The biggest advantage we find with Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is the performance due to it being hyper-converged while using all-flash nodes. The storage is very responsive and it's easy to manage from the Nutanix Files platform that comes with NUS Pro.
We appreciate the cybersecurity and ransomware protection features that are built in. We appreciate that it's included and that they maintain a regular digest of file extensions and behaviors to analyze data for malicious intrusion.
What needs improvement?
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) sits in a good place for us. The biggest improvement would be to make it more cost-effective from a storage node and storage perspective, so that the solution isn't so cost-prohibitive versus other vendors.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) for pretty much the life of our Nutanix, which we installed roughly about two years ago.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is very stable. With Isilon, we encountered issues with some profile disks not detaching when people would sign off. Sometimes we would have to use the CLI or command line to tell the system to disconnect those disks so they would be ready to be presented to another virtual session. We have not experienced these issues with Nutanix, which I attribute to the all-flash technology, the quality of their platform, and the responsiveness of the hyper-converged infrastructure.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) would scale very easily, simply from the ability to buy storage-focused nodes, as opposed to having to buy full-on compute and storage nodes. We would be able to scale very easily if the need arose.
How are customer service and support?
Nutanix support is built from an administrator's perspective first. Anytime we see a problem in Prism Central, we can click on that alert or problem, and we can see a linked KB that tells us exactly what that problem is and how to resolve it. If we don't feel comfortable resolving it, or we feel we can't, we can raise a ticket or escalate with them very quickly. In our experience, they've been very responsive.
Nutanix support deserves a rating of nine out of ten. Nutanix should continue pioneering its current approaches, allowing administrators to self-service while maintaining quick access to support when necessary.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using older Isilon systems that were on hybrid storage.
How was the initial setup?
With Nutanix Files, we have to use Nutanix's own management console snap-in to perform some management features with Nutanix Files. It's not as easy as just clicking on Windows File Explorer and doing what you need to do. It was just a process change for us, but I wouldn't call it a drawback.
What was our ROI?
While I cannot provide a specific dollar figure for return on investment from Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), we've seen a perceived return in terms of time. As administrators, we are able to focus on other issues. The business has gained more of our time to focus on other areas, saving approximately 2 - 5 hours per week.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I was not involved in much of the pricing, setup costs, and licensing. In the manufacturing industry, we operate under very lean principles where costs are heavily scrutinized. There was some initial hesitation, but the performance we've experienced since switching to the Nutanix platform, along with the peace of mind from having confidence in our platform to not cause issues that keep us up at night, has smoothed over much of that scrutiny.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Right now, we have Dell Isilon, and we are in a migration process to move that from Dell Isilon to Nasuni. Nutanix NUS Pro was definitely in the running, but it was just ultimately a decision by the business to not do any more capital expenditures on hardware.
For the specific use case of user profiles, we decided to leverage Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS). However, for our main file storage conversion, we considered newer versions of Dell Isilon, more Nutanix nodes, and Nasuni, with Nasuni being our ultimate selection. The benefit with Dell would have been the technology advantages of quickly seeding the new Isilon with the old Isilon data without any conversions.
For Nutanix, if we had gone with more NUS nodes, we would have gotten the Data Lens product, providing a fuller view of unstructured data and a more comprehensive library of malicious and intrusion signatures. Nasuni distinguished itself by not requiring additional hardware to implement its product since it is a virtual appliance that tiers off into the cloud. The absence of capital expenditures for additional hardware, which would have been required for Dell and Nutanix, ultimately led us to choose Nasuni.
What other advice do I have?
We are not currently running any AI/ML workloads as we're part of the manufacturing industry, which tends to be slower in adopting new and emerging technologies. The driver for AI adoption would likely come from our engineering group and not IT.
I would advise companies considering Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) to thoroughly understand their business needs before making the transition. Moving to Nutanix and its price point required us to deeply understand our business requirements. The platform is built to accommodate both current and future feature needs, with continuous evolution to address emerging requirements.
I would rate Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) a nine out of ten, considering the scalability, performance, and ease of use with the Nutanix Files console.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
*Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
