Bhupal Ghimire - PeerSpot reviewer
Officer at YETI
Real User
Top 10
Provides a single platform for managing all of our databases
Pros and Cons
  • "I like NCI's dashboard. If there are any infrastructure issues, we'll get alerts inside the dashboard. NCI provides a single platform for managing all of our databases. We are running SQL and Linux databases."
  • "The reporting section of the dashboard could be improved to include more detailed reporting about the servers."

What is our primary use case?

We are an airline company using NCI as a platform for around 20 Windows and Linux servers, including our web and data servers. We have one primary NCI platform and plan to set up another for disaster recovery. However, it's quite expensive, so we have not implemented that yet. 

How has it helped my organization?

We migrated all our services from a hypervisor server to NCI. Since implementing NCI, we have had zero downtime. Our servers run 24 hours a day, and we are running various application-based software worldwide. My company plans to set up a disaster recovery system to prepare for possible downtime, so we can immediately shift to our backup system if there is a catastrophic failure. However, we haven't had any issues so far. 

What is most valuable?

I like NCI's dashboard. If there are any infrastructure issues, we'll get alerts inside the dashboard. NCI provides a single platform for managing all of our databases. We are running SQL and Linux databases. 

What needs improvement?

The reporting section of the dashboard could be improved to include more detailed reporting about the servers. 

Buyer's Guide
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have used NCI for the last three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

NCI is stable. If the company continues to innovate and upgrade the product, I expect it will be a robust solution in the future. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

NCI is scalable. We can scale up sufficiently to meet our requirements. 

How are customer service and support?

I rate Nutanix nine out of 10 for support. Nutanix support is robust, and we're completely satisfied. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

NCI is easy to implement. You can deploy NCI with one or two staff members. That's typically enough to deal with any issues that may arise. We haven't needed any maintenance so far, but the vendor is responsible for replacing or upgrading memory, hard disks, and other hardware. 

What about the implementation team?

We have support from a third-party provider and our reseller. 

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

NCI is quite expensive compared to other products. It would help us if Nutanix considered affordability when releasing new products. We have an annual license and are considering extending it for another year. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure eight out of 10. I would recommend NCI to others if they are searching for a new product.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Infrastructure Architect at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Provides good stability and flexibility for VDI and server utilization
Pros and Cons
  • "Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's most valuable features are all the cloud facilities or benefits it provides for my data center."
  • "Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's cloud platform management software could be improved so that I can manage my load between the cloud and on-premises."

What is our primary use case?

We use Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure for VDI, SuperMicro servers, hypervisors, and server utilization. We do have another use case in a production environment.

How has it helped my organization?

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure is an evolution of technology because it simplifies everything. It mitigates the operation risk because you don't have people handling storage, and you don't have to have storage solutions. It makes everything easier for the administrator and the company, not just because of risk but for stability. Our mission-critical applications are doing their best, running on this platform.

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure is an evolution of technology because it simplifies everything. It mitigates the operation risk because you don't have people handling storage, and you don't have to have storage solutions. It makes everything easier for the administrator and the company, not just because of risk but for stability. Our mission-critical applications are doing their best to run on this platform.

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure helped our organization save time and cost. You can save time using this technology because it simplifies everything, including the process and the deployment. When I moved to NCI, I got rid of the SAN infrastructure or the storage network, which was very expensive. As a result, my whole team can do a better job now because they can focus on other things instead of managing the storage network

What is most valuable?

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's most valuable features are all the cloud facilities or benefits it provides for my data center. Everything that I do in the cloud, I can virtually do in my own data center. NCI provides other benefits like elasticity, upgrading, expanding the cluster, and growing the cluster. Since NCI is non-disruptive, we don't have any downtime when we add new nodes. Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's stability and flexibility are just awesome.

What needs improvement?

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's cloud platform management software could be improved so that I can manage my load between the cloud and on-premises.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure’s stability is awesome. Stability is one of the things that we appreciate more in Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure, as we don't have any downtime with the solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In our current environment, where we use NCI, we have seven clusters. Most of them are four to seven nodes, and the one we use for VDI is three nodes.

How are customer service and support?

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure’s customer support is great.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment with Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure regarding availability, support with response time and knowledge, and peace of mind.

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

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's pricing is higher now. I think Nutanix is trying to make the whole ecosystem look simple.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before choosing Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure, we evaluated other options like Cisco HyperFlex and VxRail VMware. We chose NCI over the others because it is cloud native. Unlike other solutions that bring software from other places and can't handle storage, Nutanix is a whole ecosystem.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I rate Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Owner at a computer software company with 1-10 employees
Reseller
Our customers have consolidated all external data in Nutanix clusters, reducing footprint and power consumption
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "They could improve the graphical user interface."

What is our primary use case?

One of the municipalities in Istanbul uses it for virtual servers in their data centers. They have about 150 virtual servers.

How has it helped my organization?

Before Nutanix, our customers were using VMware with external storage from HPE, IBM, and others. They have been able to consolidate all the external data in the Nutanix clusters. That has reduced their server footprint as well as power consumption, which is important for the environment.

Nutanix has a very rich feature set and product solutions that are good for our customers. Instead of using different types of solutions, Nutanix covers all of them. That is a very big advantage. Often, to get the best feature sets, you need a lot of vendors, each one having different products. Vendor management, in that case, is difficult. But with Nutanix, everything comes from the same vendor, making vendor management easy.

What is most valuable?

There are a lot of features but the main ones are related to storage. Nutanix provides a software-defined storage solution for virtual servers.

It also has a lot of available services when it comes to infrastructure, and our customers use most of them. It provides a redundant set of data. 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. Nutanix's availability feature set is bigger than that of other solutions.

What needs improvement?

They could improve the graphical user interface. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a robust and very stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's also very scalable.

How are customer service and support?

They are very responsive and provide quick resolutions.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The setup is automated and very easy. The time it takes to deploy depends on the project, but in most cases it will take several hours. One person is enough to do the deployment.

Our deployment is on a private cloud, but you can use public cloud because Nutanix has agreements with Azure, Amazon, and other public cloud services.

In terms of maintenance, it's easy to update Nutanix because you can download hardware/firmware upgrade sets and deploy all of them. I worked with VMware for at least 15 years. You can upgrade VMware products, but you can't upgrade hardware firmware with VMware. You need to contact the hardware vendor or support sites. They are separate things. But with Nutanix, you can deploy hardware firmware and software updates together.

It is also very easy to add compute and storage on demand with Nutanix. You can put a disk into an empty slot and, in several minutes, it's working.

In addition, you can get training very easily with Nutanix University and there are certifications. When you complete Nutanix University courses, they provide free certification exams. If I can compare it with VMware, I attended a conference and I passed a VMware certificate exam, but they didn't give me a certificate and said I had to attend a VMware class that costs about $2,500.

What was our ROI?

Our customers see ROI with Nutanix. Using it, they have very efficient infrastructures. They benefit from the reduced footprint, lower power consumption, and easy management. It also gives them efficient data storage with compression, deduplication, and easy snapshot features to reduce the data footprint. All of these things make it worth the licensing costs.

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

It's a bit expensive, but it's worth it.

What other advice do I have?

Nutanix has a lot of products and solutions to provide a complete cloud-integrated infrastructure. Our customers use some of them, but not all of them.

My advice is to use Nutanix, without hesitation.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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PeerSpot user
Senior Director - Technology at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 20
Consolidated all our physical and VMware servers, eliminating complexity and reducing cost
Pros and Cons
  • "The architecture of Nutanix is the best, and the virtualization we get, out of the box, is an advantage. Also, dedupe and compression are done natively, inside the platform, so there are no additional licenses. That adds value to it."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use it for the app DB and infra-related services like Active Directory and file servers. And we run our Verint Enterprise Recording application on the platform.

    I set things up for my internal customers who are the end-users.

    How has it helped my organization?

    The number of servers we need has been reduced with NCI's performance, and it reduces the space we need and provides energy savings on top of that. The major benefit is the consolidation of all the physical and VMware servers into the Nutanix AHV platform. That's the baseline of the entire application, the core platform. We no longer use our old HPE and Dell servers. The three-tier architecture has been eliminated. NCI has eliminated that complexity and the costs associated with it.

    What is most valuable?

    The architecture of Nutanix is the best, and the virtualization we get, out of the box, is an advantage. Also, dedupe and compression are done natively, inside the platform, so there are no additional licenses. That adds value to it.

    In addition, it provides us with a single platform, which is pretty user-friendly, to manage our databases. It doesn't take much to manage the console.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure for about five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It's stable. The design means we get an N+1 architecture for node failures. We haven't had any major downtime until now. We are good with the performance.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have it deployed in multiple locations. It's a distributed architecture.

    How are customer service and support?

    Their technical support is good, but they do have third-party system integrators. If you get one who is not that great, you will have problems.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

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

    I have worked with Cisco Hyperflex and HPE Simplivity but they don't have software that is equivalent to what Nutanix has. The others are still developing their software.

    And Nutanix is far better than a standard SAN solution because it is an all-in-one solution. The read/write speed is far better than in three-tier architecture.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial deployment is pretty straightforward. One person can handle it.

    There isn't much downtime due to maintenance. And updates are pretty easy, they're just plug-and-play. It's not complex. Adding compute and storage on demand is not a problem for me because my deployment is on-prem.

    What was our ROI?

    The ROI is definitely there, based on the consolidation. It reduces the workload footprint. That's the benefit. There aren't too many servers or storage. Nutanix becomes an all-in-one and enables us to accommodate more workloads because it has built-in dedupe and compression.

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

    If they could further reduce the cost, that would be great. I would like to see the cost be less than the equivalent three-tier architecture.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice is to get away from the traditional approach and think in forward terms about an HCI model. Nutanix stays ahead in the market.

    I haven't seen any drawbacks that would lead me to suggest any improvements to the functionality of NCI.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator
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    PeerSpot user
    IT manager at a transportation company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Easy to maintain and update
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the most valuable features of Nutanix is that it's easy to use. I love this solution—it's easy to maintain and update, and I think it's almost perfect."
    • "I'm sure there are a lot of things that could be improved, but I'm actually very satisfied with this product. There may be some possibilities to move the virtual server dismounting points or to move the server from one group to another, but I can't think of any special improvements or update features."

    What is our primary use case?

    My primary use case for Nutanix is for running Windows servers. Nutanix is deployed on-premises. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    Nutanix was a very good business solution for our site. It's an expensive system, but it provides power savings, in terms of the low costs for running it, and it was a good business investment. 

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most valuable features of Nutanix is that it's easy to use. I love this solution—it's easy to maintain and update, and I think it's almost perfect. 

    What needs improvement?

    I'm sure there are a lot of things that could be improved, but I'm actually very satisfied with this product. There may be some possibilities to move the virtual server dismounting points or to move the server from one group to another, but I can't think of any special improvements or update features. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Nutanix for the past two years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I'm very satisfied with the stability and performance of Nutanix. This solution is easy to maintain. You use the LCM module, press update, and it's done for you. It's wonderful because you don't have to do anything—it's almost too easy. I am the only one handling maintenance for and managing Nutanix. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is scalable. I just added some extra discs to the system because we were running out of space and all I had to do was put the discs inside the service—Acropolis took care of the rest. It added volume and said that everything was done automatically, so it's difficult to make the process any easier. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Whenever I have had a support case, Nutanix has always helped to solve it the first time around. I have never had to wait for an extra or false opinion on the product or problem; it has always been solved within first contacting Nutanix. Compared to what I've seen of other technical support, it's hard to get better than this. 

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

    We worked with VMware for some years before switching to Nutanix. We had a problem with our SQL servers, which were running on VMware, and the performance wasn't good. There was a product called Pernix that we installed to VMware, to speed up the storage process when it was saving files and data. Pernix worked very well.

    They implemented that technology from Pernix into Nutanix, which is why I think Nutanix performs so well. There is an internal storage service, rather than a storage center, so you don't have to spend time waiting for the network. That was what Pernix did: it moved the storage, or part of the storage, inside the server, which then took care of saving to that storage. It's a little complicated to explain, but that was why our SQL servers were working as a traditional server with a separate machine. This is the way that Nutanix works as well. You have the server you are running always located on the local stores and it will make sure to back everything up. Instead of looking at VMware, I would advise looking at Nutanix or something else that's similar. However, it's IP, so it's always evolving. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was done by Lenovo at delivery, but it seemed to be quite easy. There is always some setup in the beginning, but once the setup's done, it will only take a few minutes to add an extra node or anything. It's done almost automatically—you don't have to do anything, just put them in and then they're up and running. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented through a vendor team. The initial setup was done by Lenovo Professional Services, but on a day-to-day basis, I handle the running of Nutanix. I only contact Nutanix if there is an error I cannot solve myself, which has only happened three or four times. 

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

    This product is expensive, but they do have discounts. At one point, I saw that they were giving a 70% or 80% discount, which is a good thing, but maybe they should have a more realistic price and then a 5% to 10% discount. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Nutanix a ten out of ten. I recommend this solution to any companies considering implementation. It was a good business investment for our company and as an extended working system, it is easy to maintain and use. The costs for running it are also low. For most companies who are already running some system at a certain scale and on-premises, I think a lot of them could benefit from this solution. 

    I'm an end user and don't have any direct business connection with Nutanix—I only contact them when I need technical support. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Steffen Hornung - PeerSpot reviewer
    Administrator at Neuberger Gebäudeautomation GmbH
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    Easy to manage in an integrated environment using a single pane of glass
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature is the integration of all parts in Prism Element, the browser-based management tool."
    • "I would enjoy an advanced mode where experienced users can leverage their knowledge to do advanced things currently only allowed using the command line tools on the CVM."

    What is our primary use case?

    We replaced our three-tier-solution with Nutanix and kept our VMware ESXi licenses. These will be gone with the new cluster.

    We use it for general virtualization, host our Windows fileserver virtually, and do VirtualDesktops with Citrix there.

    We have two nodes equipped with one nVidia M10-GPU each to get 3D-acceleration to boost the CAE-Terminal servers. This means that VMs like AD-Domain controllers, Exchange-Servers, SQL-Servers, and various Application Servers are running side-by-side with our SAP-Systems leveraging the  SAP ASE Database (no HANA, yet) virtually on vSphere 6.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We were content with the previous solution, which was NetApp Storage and Dell Blade-Servers for compute. We did not miss a thing besides the performance. Now, after three years in production, we would not go back to that solution.

    Nutanix gives us fewer headaches with managing and other administrative operations. Having a single-vendor-solution is much more straightforward. We don't have to deal with VMware because it simply is not necessary, besides setting up new GPU-machines.

    Creation of VMs can be done with Prism Element, the web management for each Nutanix Cluster. Nutanix also covers any problems we have with the ESXi software. 

    The integration with their own AHV hypervisor is awesome. Talk about invisible infrastructure.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature is the integration of all parts in Prism Element, the browser-based management tool. It gives you detailed information about the environment, helps you drill down on alerts, and keeps the solution up to date with LCM (Life Cycle Manager).

    When using Nutanix AHV as a hypervisor, it is the management tool for that too. When you chose another hypervisor it just does basic tasks like VM creation, reconfiguration, and start/stop. It is just enough to keep everything in this "single-pane-of-glass" tool.
    Going AHV is just easier. No additional management for VMs. Everything you need is done with Nutanix Prism Element or through an SSH connection.
    We are beginning to leverage Powershell and their REST API to do things which integrates more tightly with our own process.

    What needs improvement?

    I would enjoy an advanced mode where experienced users can leverage their knowledge to do advanced things currently only allowed using the command line tools on the CVM.

    While using the Shell is okay for such advanced things like take a disk image as a ground for a Calm blueprint it would be easier to get it done via GUI. Even more so if you just follow the directions of a colleague.

    Currently, that kind of task is limited to the shell.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using Nutanix Acropolis AOS for over five years and are in the process of switching to a new cluster.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Unless you opt for the short-term support path (STS), stability is a given with LTS versions. You get not every feature available, immediately, but that is no concern for stable systems.

    You cannot download older versions with known critical bugs. The Life Cycle Manager (LCM) supports you with checks to hint at known compatibility issues. I noticed the hint to update Nutanix Files in order to support the AOS upgrade I was planning. Directly in Prism Elements!

    That is simply amazing. Of course, one would visit the "upgrade paths" and "software interoperability" pages in the support section of https://my.nutanix.com .

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is the true nature of HCI solutions like Nutanix AOS. Just add a node. Done.

    How are customer service and support?

    Nutanix support is the most amazing. Sure, you pay big bucks for that but it is worth every dime. Fast pick-up times even for lower rated tickets, great knowledge of the support team. If your question is not support related they connect you with a sales engineer to talk about it.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

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

    We used NetApp Storage in conjunction with Dell Blade-Servers for compute and we switched from vmWare to Nutanix AHV as a hypervisor.

    How was the initial setup?

    My advice is to get your first cluster up and running with a partner experienced to do so. We got lucky with our Nutanix partner company but ask for their level of experience. Don't get me wrong: it is not hard to set up but you should have support from experienced consultants who are familiar if something goes south.
    If anything goes south, call in to Nutanix support. Your partner can help with that

    What about the implementation team?

    We implemented with a nutanix partner where we did the PoC with. The setup is quite straight-forward and done in a matter of 3-5 hours. 
    Their knowledge was really helpful to guide through some of the questions that came up.

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

    The pricing of Nutanix is not cheap but there are options available. Don't cut short on support contracts, as the (pricey) ultimate support offering is worth every buck.

    You have to realize that Nutanix AOS is the basic platform for your environment. If you need to cut costs then use Nutanix AHV as a hypervisor free of charge. Most applications are running with that. If it runs on ESXi then it most likely runs on AHV, but check with your other application vendors.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We explored the options by re-iterating our previous solution and came short of delivering support for additional demands like VDI. Re-Iterating also meant up-staging storage because of the ONTAP-OS upgrade. So, a change was due, either way.

    What other advice do I have?

    It is difficult for me to point to areas that need improvement. AOS is constantly on the move to new heights. It is considered even on a feature level with vSAN, while far ahead of that in regards to performance and resilience.

    See Nutanix Principal Architect Josh Odgers CloudXC | By Josh Odgers – VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) #90 for a detailed explanation on that topic.

    Again - can't say this enough - talk to Nutanix support if you have trouble determining the exact order in which product to update/upgrade. A call beforehand spares you a headache. Literally.
    But, again, the support area is massive. Onboard with your block/node serial there and you are welcomed with an extra onboarding page on what is what. Best I have ever seen!

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at VertitechIT
    Real User
    Expands as per our needs, works without any issues, and has a good price
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is less expensive than VMware products. It is also a little bit more flexible, but it really comes down to price for us."
    • "The software-defined networking should be improved. It is quite substandard as compared to the VMware variant. The software-defined networking is quite limited, and we usually use other products to do that. We're aware that Nutanix is working on that and will be coming out with better solutions, and we can't wait because to do a fully software-defined architecture, the abstraction layer needs not only software-defined storage, which you have, but also the software-defined networking piece."

    What is our primary use case?

    We have a very large deployment of our own, and we also sell a fair amount of it to our clients.

    We deliver VDI systems over this and other similar technologies. We only work with hospitals. This is all in healthcare. We've essentially created private CloudOp architecture that we sell to hospitals for specialized VDI environments, and this is the product that we use.

    In terms of the version, we have very significant installations of it for our clients. It is part of a product and service for which we work with our clients. I would assume we have the latest versions.

    What is most valuable?

    It is less expensive than VMware products. It is also a little bit more flexible, but it really comes down to price for us. 

    What needs improvement?

    The software-defined networking should be improved. It is quite substandard as compared to the VMware variant. The software-defined networking is quite limited, and we usually use other products to do that. We're aware that Nutanix is working on that and will be coming out with better solutions, and we can't wait because to do a fully software-defined architecture, the abstraction layer needs not only software-defined storage, which you have, but also the software-defined networking piece.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using this solution for about four or five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is quite stable. We had no problems with it.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    So far, it hasn't been a problem for us. It is able to do all the expansions that we've needed.

    How are customer service and support?

    It is adequate. It is no better or worse than VMware's support.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was straightforward.

    What about the implementation team?

    We started with a combination of consultants and Nutanix's professional services group, but now, we're supporting it all internally.

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

    It is less expensive than the VMware alternative.

    What other advice do I have?

    You need to understand abstraction and virtualization properly to be able to deploy it properly. You should look at it as a real alternative to VMware.

    I would rate it as an eight out of 10. It is less expensive than the VMware alternative. I wouldn't say it is better than the VMware alternative. If you consider VMware's software-defined networking piece, VMware has an advantage, but its cost is significantly less. For that reason, I would give it a high rating.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Senior Manager at RP Sanjiv Goenka Group
    Real User
    Stable and scalable solution for an HCI platform
    Pros and Cons
    • "One of the most valuable features is how well this solution performs. It's stable, aside from some patch issues, but it's great from a virtualization and scalability perspective."
    • "The patch updates of Nutanix Acropolis could be improved. I'm work on the corporate side, but I get feedback from our IT team that patch updates and other updates are taking a significantly longer time. This definitely needs to be resolved. We are in discussion with Nutanix regarding certain configuration issues we are having, so maybe something can be changed to ease these patch updates."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use case is for moving to HCI architecture. We have plenty of applications which are mainly homegrown in a LAMP environment. We were looking into restructuring our DC and DR environment and moving from the Spark architecture to an Intel-based platform. We started with a sort of POC for some of those applications in the LAMP environment and moved them to HCI architecture, where they have been running for almost two years now. Now we want to move the rest of the applications into similar architecture so it can be auto-scaled. Since we are from a UPT industry, there are certain state-based and country-based regulations that limit our ability to move our data to the cloud. This is why we want an on-premises solution like Nutanix. Right now, Nutanix handles our virtualization and we use Dell for our servers. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    This solution has helped my company move to HCI architecture. 

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most valuable features is how well this solution performs. It's stable, aside from some patch issues, but it's great from a virtualization and scalability perspective. 

    What needs improvement?

    The patch updates of Nutanix Acropolis could be improved. I'm work on the corporate side, but I get feedback from our IT team that patch updates and other updates are taking a significantly longer time. This definitely needs to be resolved. We are in discussion with Nutanix regarding certain configuration issues we are having, so maybe something can be changed to ease these patch updates. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using Nutanix Acropolis for almost one and a half years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This solution is stable, which is one of the reasons why we are looking to move our entire set of applications into this architecture. There are a couple of issues in terms of patch updates, but overall, the performance is good. Our IT deployment and infrastructure management team is comprised of five or six people, one manager and mostly engineers. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Since this solution is an HCI platform, it automatically scales. The only problem we are running into is that there is a significant amount of software licensing involved. There are approximately 500 to 1,000 people using this solution because one of our key CRM applications is running on it. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Technical support is quite good. They are proactive and take initiative when it comes to resolving issues. In India, things like these are handled through local channel partners, so I believe that Nutanix support works hand-in-hand with the local channel partner to resolve our day-to-day issues. 

    How was the initial setup?

    Installation is pretty straightforward. It was initially done by the vendor, but now we are adding more code and our in-house team handles those installations. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We initially implemented through a vendor team. 

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

    Our Nutanix license is for five years. There is a support arrangement there, but that aspect is more or less taken care of during the initial installation. 

    With HCI architecture, whenever we do any kind of auto scaling or scaling of servers and resources, there is a significant amount of software licensing involved. This is getting a bit problematic for us, so we are looking into some sort of private cloud appliance of Oracle PCA architecture. A lot of applications that we have—ERP as well as custom developed software—have Oracle as the back end. This means that, for HCI, the number of server codes we are using increases each time we add new applications. Oracle licenses are based on code, so the scaling we do significantly impacts our overall TCO. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate this solution an eight out of ten. I recommend this solution to others, however, if you have Oracle Database or Oracle licensing in general, then you need to think about how many licenses will be required—based on that, your overall TCO may increase significantly. Otherwise, in terms of virtualization, scaling, etc., everything is fine. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: March 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.