Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) Reviews

I use the solution in my company mainly for tax data, which we use for some user orders.

The tool is easy to use. My company preferred Nutanix Unified Storage to replace old storage systems, which is good for our company's purpose.

The solution's most valuable feature is the range of files we use it for in our company. My company also uses Nutanix Volumes.

The aspect of the product that I like the most is its simplicity.

The throughput or latency of Nutanix Unified Storage for data-intensive workloads can be handled by the tool, but our workloads are not so intensive since they consist of data, some user files, and so on, but it works fine. The tool does a good job with what you need to do with it.

In our company, our second session with Nutanix Unified storage involves using it to detect and block ransomware threats and then using Nutanix Data Lens. I can monitor with the tool's help, which is an interesting part.

I do not use Nutanix Data Lens, but I plan to use it in the future.

The tools that we currently use to protect unstructured data in your organization revolve around the area of disaster recovery for some of the other sites in our company, along with its use for backup. My company is in the healthcare industry, a reason why I believe that the aforementioned tools are important for my organization.

From an improvement perspective, maybe some features can be rolled out in the GUI, especially the ones we can do only in CLI as of now. There are some processes, like if I like to change the data storage to another place, I have to use CLI, and I don't like it since I believe that it could have been simpler in GUI.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for about five and a half years.

It is a stable solution. I don't remember any crashes when it comes to Nutanix Unified Storage.

It is a scalable solution. My company has multiple file instances, and the tool has the minimum amount of file servers, which is available for free. In our company, whenever we need, we can scale up, but our use is not so intensive, so it works fine for us from the beginning.

The solution's technical support is good, especially compared to other vendors. When you raise the ticket with Nutanix's support team, they reply quickly with a solution. I rate the technical support an eight or nine out of ten.

Positive

I have experience with Dell PowerScale (Isilon). My company switched to Nutanix Unified Storage from Dell PowerScale (Isilon) as the latter had reached the end of the support phase at a time when we had to renew the license.

The product's initial setup phase was simple.

My company did not have any strategy while deploying Nutanix Unified Storage since it was the first time that my company had deployed it.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. My organization is in the healthcare business, so we are allergic to the cloud.

My company deployed the product with the help of the product's partner, Proact. Nowadays, the tool is installed by our company's sales team.

The ROI I have experienced from using the solution revolves around disaster recovery,, which is good since if one of the sites goes down, it serves as an easy and quick tool to recover it.

The product is neither cheap nor expensive, making it a solution offering a price range that is in the middle. The use of licenses offered by the product is an area that is complicated, especially since my company has so many clusters, for which a couple of different licenses are required for different companies with different licenses. With so many clusters in place, the licensing part gets complicated. Previously, with EBX, my company had to deal with license-related expenses from the US end. My company is learning how to deal with the tool's licensing model so that it can be made easier for us to deal with in the future.

I rate the tool an eight out of ten.

On-premises

We are currently using Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) for Citrix Virtual Desktop. These virtual desktops are used as a jump host.

There are a lot of features in Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS). The file server is very good for the environment because previously we needed to create separate file servers. Now we can make them on Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) only. There are many features like Flow, which is for segmentation. I also have experience in administration.

There are some techniques in Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) that need to be improved. Sometimes, processes get stuck on the console, which requires intervention from the command lines. There are gaps between the GUI and command lines.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) for the last ten years.

For the first time, it was difficult because it was our initial deployment. After that, it has been very easy.

Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is very stable. During updates or upgrades, it is stable and user-friendly. The upgrade process is simple: just click, click, click, next, next, next, finish.

Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) is very easy to scale. You can simply rack and mount the server or node you want and add it to the cluster anytime.

The customer service is better than VMware and other solutions. They come on the call and start troubleshooting immediately. The quality of support is good.

Neutral

I previously worked with VMware before moving on to Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS). I also have experience with Citrix and Hyper-V.

The initial setup was difficult the first time, but after that, it became very easy.

Just one person is required for the deployment. However, we need information from the network teams about requirements. During our recent deployment, I was in Mumbai, India, while my hardware was in Denver, US. We didn't use a deployment service. Our data center team connected the cables, and I managed the rest remotely.

I heard that VMware is costlier than Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS). Previously, I worked with a Nutanix partner, so I am aware of the pricing.

I would rate Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) a perfect ten out of ten. You don’t have to do much; you just have to purchase the required hardware, rack it, power it on, connect the network cables, and add it to the cluster. That's it. Nutanix technical support is impressive, as they resolve issues immediately without unnecessary delays. My overall product rating is ten.

On-premises

It serves as a centralized network location accessible to all staff members within our district school district, including technology personnel, teachers, and administrators. We utilize it as a shared file repository, allowing individuals to access necessary files from any computer based on their assigned policies.

When we decided to implement Nutanix, we aimed to address several challenges. Firstly, we were dealing with an outdated NAS server that had been in place long before my tenure at the school district. It was over ten years old and required a hard drive replacement within the first year of my arrival due to failure. Secondly, we sought to minimize our data center's footprint by consolidating our infrastructure. Rather than adding more equipment to accommodate our needs, Nutanix allowed us to streamline services by consolidating them onto our existing virtualization platform.

It has effectively managed our unstructured data, including audio and video files. We've experienced smooth operations without any complaints regarding uploading or downloading videos. While video usage isn't as frequent, we primarily utilize it for downloading videos related to specific incidents for administrators or our police department. We've encountered no issues uploading files of any kind.

Transitioning from VMware to Nutanix has highlighted the overall flexibility of Nutanix's platform. Unlike VMware's three-tier system, Nutanix simplifies the learning curve by streamlining operations. The update process, in particular, has been favorable, with no critical issues encountered.

The resiliency of Nutanix hasn't been thoroughly tested in our environment so far. However, I routinely check fault tolerance settings to ensure they meet our requirements. During the update process, I've observed critical errors occur as hosts restart, but Nutanix's self-healing mechanism handles these issues seamlessly.

The benefit of using Nutanix is evident in several ways. Firstly, we've effectively compressed our storage while significantly expanding our overall storage pool. Previously, our service had a capacity of twenty-five terabytes, but with Nutanix, we've scaled up to a hundred and twenty terabytes physically and approximately fifty terabytes logically. This expansion has been accompanied by noticeable improvements in performance, particularly with reduced latency and IOPS well within the boundaries of our equipment.

All our resources are centralized in a single location for managing and running storage: our data center. We operate three Nutanix nodes within this center, effectively managing everything from one central location. We don't have any other locations outside of our data center running a Nutanix cluster.

Nutanix's capability to eliminate silos within our organization's storage infrastructure was discussed during our recent call with the engineer. Although we haven't explored this feature extensively yet, there's a forthcoming project where we anticipate leveraging it.One thing I'd appreciate is having a desktop application similar to what VMware offered. With VMware, I could download a separate client program onto my computer, allowing me to log in directly rather than accessing the host through a browser.

Currently, the most valuable aspect of our Nutanix implementation is its file storage functionality.

One thing I'd appreciate is having a desktop application similar to what VMware offered. With VMware, I could download a separate client program onto my computer, allowing me to log in directly rather than accessing the host through a browser.

We transitioned from a VMware environment to Nutanix over a year ago, during which we also introduced Unified File Storage capabilities alongside our existing Enterprise Storage solution.

The occurrence of lagging and downtime has been very minimal since we migrated most of our servers. It has been an improvement overall. Any lag that may occur would likely be imperceptible to the average user. Occasionally, I may receive minor warnings in reports, such as a recent anomaly where computation usage nearly reached a hundred percent during midday. However, this did not impact everyday use, and it was only noted upon reviewing the report later in the day.

I can't provide a definitive assessment of scalability as we initially started with a three-node cluster. However, in terms of deploying virtual machines, Nutanix has demonstrated greater efficiency with resources compared to our previous VMware setup. Previously, I often had to allocate significant amounts of RAM and CPU resources to servers. With Nutanix, resource allocation requirements are notably reduced. For instance, where I would typically allocate a four-core CPU and eight gigs of RAM, I can now achieve similar performance with just two cores for the CPU and two gigs of RAM. This efficiency in resource utilization suggests that we have ample runway to deploy more virtual machines as needed.

Before migrating to Nutanix, our infrastructure was based on VMware. Regarding other services, we utilize Unified Storage and operate within the hyper-converged Acropolis hypervisor environment for our virtual machines. This setup allows us to leverage the multi-cloud infrastructure aspect in conjunction with Unified Storage. The integration between Unified Storage and our Acropolis hypervisor environment has been excellent. The reporting functionality is highly readable, and I appreciate how it includes links to knowledge-based articles whenever critical errors occur.

When comparing the security features of Nutanix to VMware, we didn't delve deeply into security with VMware. However, with Nutanix Files, I appreciate the ransomware feature. This feature allows us to add known malicious file names to a list, preventing any uploads of those files into the system. I find this feature valuable, especially considering past incidents like the Log4J malicious code. If any other threats arise in the future, we can easily add them to the list for protection.

Initially, when we purchased the solution, I wasn't involved in the hardware selection process. Instead, a third-party technology firm handled the initial deployment since I lacked full certification or expertise in Nutanix at the time. However, since then, I've obtained the Nutanix Certified Associate certification.

Two individuals were involved in the deployment process, with one acting as an overseer while the other handled the entire implementation. Following the deployment, the latter provided me with an Excel sheet containing all the usernames, and passwords for Nutanix admin users, and an overview of the tasks completed.

The only maintenance task I handle is performing life cycle management updates, which I conduct twice a month. This includes software and firmware maintenance. As for physical maintenance, there haven't been any requirements since the nodes were purchased.

For new users considering Nutanix, my advice would be to first assess your specific goals and needs within your environment. Determine what you're aiming to achieve—is it more efficient virtual machines, a smaller footprint in your data center, or reduced energy consumption. In our case, transitioning from VMware to Nutanix significantly reduced our footprint from a full six-foot rack to just three small servers. This not only reduced space requirements but also improved energy efficiency. Additionally, if you're dealing with outdated hardware, Nutanix could be a viable option to explore. Considering recent changes, such as VMware's shift towards more subscription-based models and potentially less customer-oriented programs, evaluating Nutanix's offerings in alignment with your organization's mission and views may be worthwhile. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

On-premises

It is utilized as a storage repository, serving as the file storage. It is also employed for enabling the export of any NFS share for web applications.

The flexibility of Nutanix Unified Storage is evident, particularly in its licensing model. Unlike before, where we had to meticulously calculate license allocations for different storage types, now we can simply purchase a specific amount of storage and utilize it as needed. This means we have the freedom to allocate storage for various purposes, whether it's for object storage, agent storage, or data block groups, without the hassle of rigid licensing constraints.

I'm well acquainted with the resilience offered by Nutanix. When you create a file server using Nutanix Files, the tool automatically sets up a cluster of virtual machines. Each of these virtual machines is a vital component of the file cluster. Should one virtual machine encounter an issue, others within the cluster step in to maintain high availability, ensuring uninterrupted service. It establishes a cluster of object servers, utilizing multiple VMs for resilience.

The Nutanix Data Lens is a product developed by Nutanix, operating in the cloud.  It provides valuable insights into the various types of data stored in my Nutanix Files. Recently, Data Lens introduced a new feature allowing connectivity to Nutanix Objects as well. However, I have been using it to analyze the data within Nutanix Files. It offers numerous dashboards to delve deep into the characteristics of stored data and provides helpful insights for data protection.

The benefits of utilizing Nutanix Unified Storage lie in its performance. With numerous virtual machines supporting critical business applications, any issues with one VM are quickly mitigated by others in the cluster, ensuring consistent performance and resilience. Managing and setting up file servers with Nutanix Files is straightforward and unmatched in simplicity. It doesn't require extensive expertise to handle storage tasks.

Unified Storage enables us to efficiently run and manage storage operations from any location. Currently, we operate from a single site in our production environment. As a healthcare research center under government jurisdiction, our main facility is located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We manage our data center there, and due to the presence of Nutanix, our storage management is consolidated in this single location.

I appreciate its storage licensing model, as it offers flexibility. With this model, you purchase a specific amount of storage and have the freedom to allocate it to different services as needed.

One notable feature is the ability to set hard limits on data consumption. Also, its compatibility with data lakes. This allows for data inspection within the cluster, providing a solution for potential attacks on object storage buckets.

"When creating a SMB share, Nutanix Files is restricted to 100 characters, whereas Windows allows for up to 254 characters."

I have been using it for approximately five years.

I would rate its stability capabilities ten out of ten.

Scalability is a strong aspect of this solution for my company's needs. Currently, we operate our Unified Storage cluster comprising eighteen nodes, supporting government processes. We plan to further expand our Unified Storage cluster. I would rate it nine out of ten.

Technical support has consistently been very helpful, often providing prompt responses to our inquiries. The speed of their response typically depends on the urgency of the case, whether it's classified as critical, normal, or given priority status. I would rate it nine out of ten.

Positive

Previously, we utilized a Windows share with the SMB protocol, for some types of data. We opted for Nutanix because of its streamlined approach to purchasing unified storage, enabling us to modernize our data storage practices. Nutanix offers enhanced performance capabilities, akin to working with Amazon S3 or Microsoft's Azure Blob storage, facilitating ease of use and adaptability for developing new applications aligned with Devops culture.

The initial setup may require some intermediate knowledge, but Nutanix provides thorough documentation which, if followed attentively, leads to smooth implementation.

Recently, I successfully created a new cluster of objects, overcoming initial challenges by delving deep into the documentation. While previously, such tasks were handled by the company providing the Nutanix solution, I now have the confidence and capability to independently deploy and manage clusters. 

For the implementation process, I can manage the process by myself, but certain requirements necessitate involvement from other teams. For instance, I need to collaborate with the security team regarding firewall configurations. Additionally, I must coordinate with the network team to obtain the necessary subnets for creating the cluster. I am also responsible for the maintenance.

While the price may not be the most affordable, I believe it offers good value for the benefits it provides. It offers simplicity and excellent performance. I consider it to offer the best balance of cost and benefits.

Before opting for Nutanix, we considering options like Dell and Cisco solutions for hyper-convergence. Nutanix wins. We have Nutanix Karbon (Kubernettes) and Nutanix Calm (Aplications Orchestrator) in our arsenal, but due to the limited number of collaborators on our team, we haven't yet deployed these solutions in our production environment. Additionally, within the upgrade Prism Central Pro to Ultimate version licensing product, there's a feature called Nutanix Cost Governance. This allows us to manage the costs associated with virtual machines like a public cloud. We can assign specific values to factors such as RAM, storage, and virtual CPUs for each virtual machine, consolidating them into a single cost for internal departments. It enhances visibility and tangibility regarding IT costs, making it easier to manage resources effectively.

If you're migrating from Windows File Server to Nutanix Files, my recommendation is to proceed gradually, involving different departments and prioritizing non-critical tasks initially. Thorough testing and careful planning are essential steps and would help mitigate risks and ensure a smoother transition. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

On-premises

We use Nutanix Unified Storage for virtualization with Acropolis and have approximately 120 servers on Nutanix.

We replaced our entire infrastructure with Nutanix, greatly reducing data center space and consumption, which has helped the company. Everything we have today runs on top of Nutanix.

Unified Storage has reduced the number of storage nodes needed by about 60 percent. We had nearly two racks in the data center, and now we have less than half a rack. It has helped us put fewer resources into data center expansion, and by reducing them, we can put more computing power in the same space.

We have virtually zero downtime with Nutanix. It updates itself, and we can easily move machines from one cluster to another. Through its hyperconvergence, Nutanix performs comparably to traditional hardware or better.

I think that recently, about two years ago I imagine, Nutanix added a better feature on the platform and now it competes with the best on the market. I think the add-on feature they used is very good.

While Unified Storage has evolved a lot over time, its database handling needs to improve a little. There could be an improvement in terms of costs. It's a little expensive for Brazil but still delivers a lot of performance.

I have used Nutanix Unified Storage for eight years.

Nutanix Unified Storage is highly stable. We haven’t had any issues.

Over time, Unified Storage's versions changed, and its capacity also increased a lot. Eventually, you also need to upgrade the hardware version, but it is highly scalable and easy.

I rate Nutanix nine out of 10 for support. Nutanix support is one of the best on the market. They respond quickly, and the technicians are knowledgeable and professional. 

Positive

It's easy and transparent to deploy servers on Nutanix. We started with some servers to test. Once we saw there were no major problems and the installation was quick, we implemented the entire load..

We use a consultancy from Brazil called Tech Channel, which supports us to this day. We are here at the event with them.

The biggest benefits are performance, security of use, and a single management platform.

Nutanix's licensing model isn't too difficult, but the price is high for Brazil, and the software renewal is considerable. 

I rate Nutanix nine out of 10. It is extraordinary, and the price is okay.

My company started off without Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor initially. After three years we migrated to Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor and started to increase it in our company's environment with other clusters during the designing phase.

The product has been helpful for my company because we deal with big projects in the data center infrastructure, and we see that with Nutanix Unified Storage, we can improve and get better results for the company.

The most valuable features of the solution are replication and backup and our company needs a tool to help us with disaster recovery and the security of our data.

Some of the new features in the tool cannot be used with just one click, as was possible in the past. The aforementioned area can be considered for improvement in the product.

The throughput or latency of Nutanix Unified Storage for data-intensive workloads, such as AI or data analytics, is better in the present compared to the past. In the past, my company faced some small problems with the latency part, but nowadays, it works very well.

In terms of the use of detecting and blocking ransomware threats, I would say that my company applies some configurations to all the data so that the other people in the environment involved in the administration part can't delete them. If someone tries to attack and delete some data, then my company has a feature in the tool to enable the protection of data so that no one can delete any data.

Implementing Nutanix Unified Storage resulted in a reduction in the number of storage nodes due to increased storage capacity per node. In the past, my company had more servers and appliances, but nowadays, we have reduced the number of appliances in the data center by around six percent. The reduction in storage nodes has affected our company's operation and business in terms of the cost of energy, environment, administration, and contracts for continuing the business in the data center.

In terms of the tools used to protect unstructured data, my company replicates the environment in one data center to another and one Nutanix cluster to another Nutanix cluster.

It is very important to use the data protection features offered by Nutanix in our company because we can have another point of data in a separate cluster of Nutanix.

My company analyzed a traditional architecture, but we saw a better solution in Nutanix because it is small, and we can run the same appliance everywhere.

The new solutions that users have been seeing for the past one or two years don't have features available in one click like they were in the past, but they do work, though it is not as easy as it was in the past.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for eight years.

It is a stable solution. My company did not have to stop anything in our environment due to any problem associated with Nutanix Unified Storage.

During the eight years that we have had the product in our company, we haven't seen any problems during the three times we used the tool's scalability feature in the environment. During some moments, we were able to improve the same clusters. At times, our company had to buy or order new clusters, but every cluster is actually used for replication, and it has never been a problem.

During the eight years my company has used the product, I would say that we have had some experience with the tool's support team. Whenever my company requires help with the product, we have received good support. I rate the support team a nine out of ten.

Positive

In the past, my company used to use some other solutions for replication purposes, but it was not a native solution of the appliances used. My company used to use another solution like a backup solution, which was a tool to restore a queue manager from IBM.

The product's initial setup phase was easy, especially because my company was planning to move some small workloads on it to see how it works and then continue with the other biggest work.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

My company sought help from a partner company in Brazil named TechChannel to help our organization with the deployment.

The security of the data and replication are areas where I see an ROI from the use of the solution. I think the best ROI is in terms of security since we can save the data in other appliances.

My company is in Brazil, and making the payments in dollars is tough for our organization.

I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

On-premises

We run our entire production environment on the HCI Nutanix cluster, including SQL servers, web servers, on-prem exchange, hybrid Active Directory, and essentially, our entire virtual infrastructure.

The biggest problem we had was with an old aging vendor and our three-tier architecture. We had to constantly spend a lot of money on purchasing storage to meet our demands, making it quite expensive. Additionally, our data center's power consumption was increasing rapidly. To solve these issues, we decided to replace the old vendor with a four-node cluster of about 8U, significantly reducing our footprint and the cost of buying various components for virtualization, CPU, and SAM solutions separately. This was achieved by implementing Nutanix Unified Storage.

Nutanix Unified Storage handles unstructured data effectively. Currently, we are using Citrix, which works well for audio and other tasks. However, apart from that, we don't have a significant amount of media of that type in our organization's environment.

Nutanix Unified Storage is incredibly flexible and scalable. It has made troubleshooting CPU spikes, memory, and network issues very easy for us. We can easily fix and remedy any problems that arise. The interface is user-friendly, and we can easily expand and add additional clusters when we run low on resources. Overall, it provides us with great flexibility in managing our storage needs.

The resiliency of Nutanix Unified Storage is impressive, with excellent uptime. We faced numerous issues with our previous three-tier architecture. However, with our current Nutanix solution, we have experienced no downtime in the last three-plus years. It appears to be very reliable.

Nutanix Unified Storage has significantly improved the performance of our virtual machines. We can now supply data faster to our end users without experiencing long waits and lag. Additionally, we save a lot of money by purchasing a server that contains all three components, storage, computing, and everything else at a much cheaper price, rather than buying them individually. Switching to Nutanix from a three-tier architecture has also allowed us to save considerable money on electricity consolidation in our data center.

We immediately recognized the benefits of Nutanix Unified Storage after its deployment.

We have integrated the Nutanix file system to consolidate our files and object storage. Previously, we had a CIFS share from a different vendor, which resulted in significant lag and poor performance. However, after implementing Nutanix and its file analytics component, the speed improved drastically. As a result, we are now able to share numerous files with our end users, enabling seamless collaboration. We no longer experience network bottlenecks or performance problems like before.

Nutanix Unified Storage helps our organization manage and operate its storage from any location. Currently, we have two campuses where we utilize this technology. With the challenges brought about by COVID, our employees in the healthcare profession have shifted to remote or teleworking, and Nutanix has played a significant role in enabling them to access all critical systems just as if they were in the office. It has allowed our end users to work from home and connect seamlessly to their workstations.

Before switching to Nutanix Unified Storage, we had a three-tiered architecture with siloed individuals who only knew specific components of that architecture. This led to a highly compartmentalized organization, with separate individuals responsible for storage, virtualization, and VDI. Now, with Nutanix Unified Storage, all these tasks can be handled by a single administrator as they are integrated into the same system. This centralization makes management much easier as everything is now consolidated within the organization.

We have a Nutanix cluster with four nodes. Additionally, we use File Analytics and Nutanix Files for managing our files. The integration between these solutions and Nutanix is excellent. We can easily manage them through their respective management UIs, which are very user-friendly. There are numerous add-ins and third-party products that we can incorporate into their system, although we haven't explored this option much yet. However, the products we currently utilize, such as Files and File Analytics, seamlessly integrate into a single management interface.

The scalability, ease of use, and technical support are the most valuable features of Nutanix Unified Storage. Whenever we encounter an issue, we call their support team and they are great in assisting us. We are able to quickly scale our environment to meet our annual demands without incurring high costs for replacement or addition. We do not have to remove anything, we simply add on as needed.

The graphical user interfaces could benefit from more attention to detail. Simplifying some menus and incorporating a few sub-menus would enhance the ability to manage the clusters through Prism and Prism Element.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for a couple of years.

Nutanix Unified Storage is extremely stable. In the past three years, I have never encountered any issues that resulted in downtime. The storage system has multiple resiliency and backup features, ensuring that we do not experience any outages. Occasionally, we have come across some software bugs, but when we contact their engineers, they promptly provide solutions and guide us through the process of fixing them. Through screen sharing and phone calls, we quickly resolve these minor issues without any significant impact on our operations or data loss.

What I like about Nutanix Unified Storage is the ability to easily add the amount of space it would save in our data center. With our previous vendor, we needed almost an entire rack full of hardware to accommodate what we are now able to do with just four servers sitting at the top of our rack. This takes up very little space, leaving plenty of room underneath for expansion and growth. All we need to do is buy one server if we want to expand, as it contains the CPU, memory, and storage in one small unit, all being solid-state drives. We can easily expand our current cluster by adding on an additional one, and if we run out of space, we can simply buy and add more servers until our rack is full. This level of flexibility and ease of expansion is something I haven't experienced with their competitors or other solutions we've tried in the past. It requires a lot less effort and work on our end.

I have never encountered tech support that is better than theirs. Whenever I call their main number, I am always connected with an engineer. The person who answers my call is always the engineer who then opens a ticket and ensures they have all my contact information. Once the engineer receives the information and inputs it into their computer, we are already on a screen share. This means there is no waiting involved, and I have never had to wait for a callback, regardless of the criticality of the issue. Whenever I call, I immediately get on the phone with an actual engineer, and I am never transferred. They always manage to resolve the issue efficiently.

Positive

We used to use NetApp before switching to Nutanix Unified Storage. NetApp had much slower disks and did not have solid-state disks. It was essentially just a 10K RPM storage shelf that we kept having to add on to, and it eventually reached the end of its lifespan. The performance was no longer good, and we experienced some outages as a result.

The initial setup is straightforward. I had never worked on an HCI solution before, but I found it very intuitive once the engineer contracted to help us install the solution and showed us how to do it. It didn't take very long at all. He was there for only two days, and we had an entire cluster and all of our production stuff migrated over to it. It was simplistic.

The deployment was completed by two network engineers, including myself and the consultant.

We hired a consultant from Converge Technology Solutions who was helpful in assisting with the implementation.

We have definitely seen a return on investment, particularly from an uptime perspective. It has proven to be more cost-effective and efficient. Our users have been able to be more productive due to the increased uptime with our old solution. Previously, we experienced quite a bit of downtime, which hindered our users' ability to perform their jobs. Therefore, Nutanix Unified Storage has undoubtedly been beneficial for us.

The only concern I have about the cost of Nutanix Unified Storage is the buyout between VMware, as we still use VMware instead of Acropolis. I believe Broadcom now owns VMware, and Nutanix has its own hypervisor, Acropolis. We are considering migrating to Acropolis due to the increased cost imposed by VMware since being acquired by Broadcom, which raised their virtualization pricing. However, in terms of pricing, Nutanix is very competitive. They offer one of the better pricing schemes compared to their competitors, providing many included products at the base level that other companies charge extra for.

Considering our origins and the benefits we gained from Nutanix Unified Storage, we explored other vendors such as Dell VxRail and another NetApp three-tier solution. However, we ultimately found that Nutanix was the best fit for us. Currently, I am the main administrator for this product. In terms of its functionality, I find that it works wonderfully and has several fail-safe features. For instance, if updates are done, it can easily roll them back or identify and fix any issues. Personally, I haven't encountered any problems with it. Additionally, I appreciate their tech support as they are always very responsive.

I give Nutanix Unified Storage a perfect score of ten out of ten.

When I compare the security offered by Nutanix Unified Storage to Dell VxRail, the two solutions are very similar. However, it seemed that Nutanix had a slightly higher level of granularity and more control over the security features and options available to us.

I am the person responsible for managing the environment, particularly in terms of maintenance and patching. I take care of these tasks using either Prism Element or Prism Central. Occasionally, I update our VMware hypervisors through VMware VirtualCenter.

I'm not sure about all the various vendors currently in that field, but when we installed Nutanix Unified Storage, there weren't many other competitors. I recommend researching different solutions, checking their pricing, ensuring a fair comparison of features, and considering their potential future needs. Additionally, it's essential to evaluate how easy it is to support the solution, decide who will administer it, and select a vendor with excellent tech support. Nutanix offers new training at Nutanix University, and I've never seen anything like it. They provide a lot of free videos, training, certifications, and similar resources. I think that's also important for the decision-makers evaluating other vendors to ensure they have some sort of good training documentation or utilities as Nutanix does.

On-premises

Our NetApp storage array, nearing its end of life, prompted us to seek a replacement. We aimed to migrate NFS, CIFS (SMB), and SIP shares to a new platform. Initially, we considered a Windows file server, but the Nutanix Unified Storage file offering proved more appealing. However, setting up Nutanix files required a dedicated server, and we used Robocopy jobs to transfer workloads to the new platform.

Nutanix Unified Storage boasts impressive flexibility. It offers extensive capabilities and built-in continuity, ensuring minimal disruption to workloads during updates. Unlike Windows servers, where applying updates or security patches necessitates rebooting and potential user downtime of five to 30 minutes, Nutanix Files seamlessly handles updates. During an update, user requests are automatically directed to another node while the original node reboots and sequences, ensuring a smooth and transparent experience for users.

Resiliency is about maintaining functionality despite setbacks. During our installation, we had three different file servers built with redundancy. When we tested this by powering down one server completely, users didn't experience any change in file accessibility.

I've seen demos of Data Lens, but it's not currently deployed in our environment. Nutanix United Storage is holding it in development and testing until additional features become available. However, I recognize its potential, particularly for specific notifications like unusual file activity, such as encryption or large-scale downloads. The snapshot technology offers the advantage of swift recovery within hours or minutes, compared to days or weeks with traditional methods.

One of the key advantages of Nutanix Unified Storage is its resilience, which allows us to perform updates without causing disruptions to users. This is crucial for our global organization, as any downtime would affect employees accessing files anywhere from Great Britain to India. With Nutanix, we can perform maintenance without worrying about complaints due to inaccessibility. We initially encountered the benefit of this resilience when we first implemented updates. While it was still in a testing phase and files weren't accessible to the entire company, we grasped the power of seamless updates for our globally distributed teams.

Unifying everything to Nutanix makes great sense. We no longer have to deal with multiple vendors. For us to have different workloads running. At one time, we had three different storage vendors for different application uses.

Three years ago, I was frustrated with the user permission management process for Nutanix files. It necessitated using an MMC plugin for Windows. Thankfully, newer versions, like our current version 4.4, have streamlined this management by unifying and integrating it into the overall solution.

Nutanix Unified Storage helps our organization remove storage silos. It allows us to create diverse file repositories, eliminating the need for separate tiers of storage. Additionally, we can set distinct policies based on the specific storage requirements of each repository.

Nutanix Unified Storage integrates seamlessly with other Nutanix solutions, presenting a unified view through Prism Central's single pane of glass. This centralized console simplifies operations, eliminating the need to navigate across multiple interfaces for information or management tasks.

With the current version of Nutanix Unified Storage, we've implemented a new feature called Data Lens that provides powerful capabilities for reporting file usage and identifying abnormal trends. These trends could include unusual file deletions, large-scale file access events, or potential indicators of cyberattacks like ransomware. Additionally, this data lens can help detect malicious insider activity, such as a disgruntled employee downloading sensitive company information before termination. The real-time alerts generated by this system enable us to swiftly address and mitigate such threats.

The feature request I have is for the consistent improvement of how user account permissions are assigned in Nutanix Unified Storage. While there have been vast improvements over the last three years since I began using it, there's still some additional functionality I'd love to see. I believe their team is working towards those goals, but I understand that not everything can be implemented at once, and progress takes time.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for three years.

I've only experienced one instance of downtime, and even that wasn't caused by Nutanix. It was a network issue. This underscores the stability of Nutanix Unified Storage. I haven't encountered any other problems with it. If any concerns arise, we can always reach out to support for a health check. They typically respond quite promptly.

Nutanix Unified Storage is indeed highly scalable. With just a few clicks, we can deploy another worker VM, and the solution seamlessly scales to meet our growing needs.

Technical support is generally quick to respond to P3 requests. Their standard response time is within eight to twelve hours, although I usually receive responses much sooner than that. The benefit of their global support network is that even if we call from the US at midnight, there's a good chance we'll reach someone in Australia who can help and is happy to do so.

Positive

We were previously using NetApp for our storage needs. However, when we decided to switch to a hyper-converged platform as part of a broader platform change, we needed to move away from NetApp. Finalizing our purchase with Nutanix was an easy decision because it streamlined the process considerably. The fact that Nutanix offered file services was also a significant factor in our choice.

The initial setup was straightforward. While some network and firewall configuration was necessary, the installation wizard clearly outlined the steps. I was able to complete the installation myself within an hour, thanks to the helpful Nutanix documentation.

The migration, however, took several months due to the large amount of data involved and the need to coordinate with other departments and teams. Since the data resided in existing storage, we continued running our Robocopy jobs to maintain synchronization. This meant we had to carefully choose downtime windows compatible with business operations for the cutover, which ultimately extended the migration timeline.

Two people were involved in the full deployment process.

The implementation was completed in-house.

Using Nutanix as a whole, I've seen a significant return on my time investment. I spend significantly less time troubleshooting, configuring, and updating. It's been much easier, and it's allowed me to reclaim my nights and weekends.

Nutanix Unified Storage pricing is reasonable.

We were initially considering VMware as a hyper-converged solution, similar to Hyper-V. However, the licensing costs for VMware were significantly higher than what we found with the Nutanix solution.

I would rate Nutanix Unified Storage a ten out of ten.

I find the security of Nutanix Unified Storage to be on par with industry standards. Additionally, the various security reports and analytics offered by Nutanix help me ensure that we are following best practices and maintaining a secure environment.

For those considering Nutanix Unified Storage for their organization but concerned about the cost, I recommend visiting the Nutanix website to test drive the solution. For specific pricing information, speak with the local reseller to explore available options.

The only maintenance required is for the software updates.

I recommend reading the documentation and taking advantage of the free test drive before migrating your existing storage to this new platform. Be sure to create a migration plan to ensure a smooth transition.

On-premises