Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) Reviews

We use Nutanix Unified Storage for our day-to-day operations in relation to production clusters.

We had a brand new build for our data center and implemented the solution there. We were not trying to solve a specific problem but liked the product and its features.

We have one block with four nodes in it, but our use case for our cluster is different because we run our own private cloud. We don't have traditional offices and have more web servers. We don't have file server services. Thus, we are not fully utilizing Nutanix Unified Storage for unifying our organization’s block, file, and object storage.

We use a solution with snapshots as part of our ransomware protection strategy. For backups, we use HYCU with different backup schedules and snapshots. We're migrating over to Veeam right now as well. If we had a ransomware-type scenario or a situation where the servers were encrypted and there was a DR situation, we'd rely on our solution to go back in time on snapshots until we found a recovery point. We'd then restore from there.

Nutanix Unified Storage is easy to use. New employees are able to come up to speed fairly quickly with regard to the day-to-day administration processes.

Because Nutanix is web-based, I can be in Illinois and check on the data center in Michigan. If we have a problem that one of my engineers can't solve, then they can call me, and I can take a look at it. The remote availability features are great.

I used Nutanix Data Lens a little bit, but my security engineer has been playing more with it. He has not said anything bad about it.

Nutanix Unified Storage helped remove siloes in our organization. IT doesn't have to operate as it did 10 years ago, where you had a team dedicated just to storage, one team that was just hardware, or one dedicated to certain applications. With Nutanix, everybody learned all the different ins and outs. We're bringing on a whole new data center and will be doing replication between the clusters and between the data centers. Everyone has come up to speed pretty quickly, and I don't have to pigeonhole a person. Everyone can jump from console to console and learn it fairly quickly.

We've been using this solution for two years now.

I'd the give solution's stability a ten out of ten. It's never been down.

I would give Nutanix Unified Storage a ten out of ten for scalability.

Technical support has been excellent, and I'd give them a ten out of ten. Anytime we've got questions, someone will get us an answer fairly quickly.

Positive

The initial deployment was straightforward and only took a couple of hours.

We hired Nutanix professional services to handle the deployment, and they trained us on it after the fact. They have always provided excellent service.

We have definitely seen an ROI in terms of uptime and the quality of the software. If we have issues, we reach out to support, and they respond quickly. We'll have a response within 30 minutes, and that is worth more than anything else. Our account reps and resell vendors have been great too.

With all of the Nutanix equipment, the licensing is expensive. We operate in the enterprise space, but we're a midsized company. At times, the price tag is a little bit shocking for a company with only 35 employees. We're not a Fortune 500 company, but we deal with Fortune 500 drug and energy companies. We have to play in that enterprise space if we're going to have enterprise customers. I'm very price-conscious, but I understand that if I want the best, I've got to pay the price.

Nutanix Unified Storage fills a need, and it definitely works well within the Nutanix stack. It's not a waste of money. I would rate it ten out of ten and recommend it.

We use Nutanix Unified Storage for object and file storage.

We wanted to improve the availability of our storage solution by implementing Nutanix Unified Storage.

Nutanix Unified Storage is a flexible solution that is efficient.

Nutanix Unified Storage has enabled our organization to consolidate our storage needs, eliminating the need for multiple storage solutions.

Nutanix Unified Storage helps us with file and object storage on the same platform.

We are able to easily manage Nutanix Unified Storage from any location.

Nutanix Unified Storage effectively eliminates the silos in our storage and provides centralized access to all our locations across the country from a single location.

Nutanix Unified Storage integrates well with other Nutanix solutions.

The most valuable features of Nutanix Unified Storage are the unified dashboard and the ease of administration.

The integration could be improved by addressing the outstanding tasks that need to be completed before implementation can begin.

The documentation on the support site needs to be improved.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for one year.

I would rate the stability of Nutanix Unified Storage ten out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of Nutanix Unified Storage ten out of ten.

The technical support is quick.

Positive

We previously used Azure NetApp Files.

The initial deployment was intricate due to the comprehensive set of requirements that needed to be fulfilled prior to implementation. It took four weeks and five individuals to complete the deployment.

Nutanix Unified Storage was cheaper than other solutions we evaluated.

I would rate Nutanix Unified Storage nine out of ten.

We have 1,000 users in our organization. Nutanix Unified Storage is currently deployed for a small group of people, but it will be deployed across the organization soon.

Nutanix Unified Storage requires some maintenance.

I recommend Nutanix Unified Storage.

We are using Unified Storage for our hybrid cloud connectivity as well as virtual machine deployment and migrations. We use it to create different tiers where we store our important data, for our data classification policy. Apart from that, we are using it for our production SAP HANA platform. All our use cases are related to our field which is energy and utilities.

The solution has definitely improved things a lot for us. Earlier, we were using legacy infrastructure with a heterogeneous environment with storage platforms from different providers. We had to approach each vendor for every type of work. But after migrating to Nutanix Unified Storage, everything has been streamlined and simplified, through the single-vendor approach. We are able to accomplish whatever we want in terms of operations and migration.

And with the advanced features—the data protection, data tiering, et cetera—we have been able to get rid of data silos.

The features that are most important to us are related to integration with the cloud platforms like Azure and AWS, although it supports Google Cloud as well. But the most important point is the simplicity of the API integration. We can leverage the API integrations and connect our hybrid-cloud network environment with Nutanix's cloud storage.

We also use Nutanix Data Lens to boot our virtual machines and to create zoning. 

In addition, we can manage and run the storage from any location. The solution gives us the capability to operate the complete unified platform from the cloud. We can create the logical chunks in the storage, and we can map the different types of pools to any resource, residing in any environment, irrespective of location.

And for managing unstructured data, like audio, video, and images, we create different types of tiering or pools in Unified Storage. On the basis of those pools, the data is classified and we use the classifications to connect the storage pools to their respective endpoints.

I would like to see the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. That could definitely be a major breakthrough in providing a unified, seamless experience for end-users. It could reduce costs as well as human effort.

We have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for about three and a half years.

The stability is perfect. We haven't faced any high-priority or critical issues where the storage platform has been degraded or users are facing difficulties. We are satisfied with the stability and code releases.

In terms of resiliency, with high availability and redundancy, Unified Storage works on a cluster model. With the help of this solution, everything has gone well.

An important point is that this storage is scalable on demand. It's very elastic. We can add and remove clusters without any downtime. We haven't faced any challenges with the flexibility or scalability. We have completed seamless integrations with third-party tools, including monitoring tools.

We have it deployed across multiple locations and have more than 10,000 end-users.

We get tremendous technical support from the Nutanix team, 24/7.

Positive

Previously, we used traditional, legacy storage solutions provided by different vendors, including CommVault and Dell. There were problems because we worked with a very heterogeneous network. We were facing a lot of complexities in terms of compliance and defining processes because we had different types of storage devices in our environment.

We found that Nutanix Unified Storage has a complete and rich set of features that can support a cloud-native platform as well as all the workloads that we operate on different cloud platforms. In addition, it's a very cost-effective and stable solution and includes an extensive set of security features for data protection.

After moving to Unified Storage, we got rid of all those complexities. Everything is simplified. We have a single-vendor approach for all of our storage.

I was involved in the full deployment, including migration, implementation, and operations. The initial deployment was a very straightforward process. We followed the complete life cycle approach suggested by the vendor. With that approach, all the phases went well.

Maintenance of the solution includes patching, checking the efficiency of storage, and checking alerts. These are part of the day-to-day operations. We have about 10 people involved in the maintenance.

We worked directly with the vendor.

We have seen return on investment over the last three years and we are quite satisfied with it.

The solution has reduced our operational, capital, and licensing costs. It has also reduced the human effort and our headcount in managing the operations compared to our old storage models.

Nutanix's pricing is definitely much better when compared to other storage providers. That was one of the main reasons we switched to this platform.

To anyone who is concerned about the price, I would say that Nutanix is very robust, stable, and unified, with a complete set of advanced features. If you look at the features, Nutanix has the upper hand when compared to other vendors.

The licensing model is very easy with Unified Storage and our operational cost has been reduced drastically.

We evaluated another product from a similar vendor whose storage platforms we were already using. The main differences were the cost, simplicity, ease of management, and having a single pane of glass dashboard for each module. The seamless integration and simplified licensing model were also important.

Nutanix also provides very robust security. The encryption is perfect. The data is fully encrypted with an advanced set of encryption keys and policies. We are very satisfied with the encryption and data protection provided by the solution.

My advice to organizations that are planning to migrate to a unified storage solution is to go with Nutanix Unified Storage as this is the most trusted and stable platform I have ever seen.

We haven't had any challenges using the solution. There have been no problems with the implementation, integration, or in terms of operations. That is also true for operational support, technical support, patch management, and license management.

We are also using Nutanix clusters for our traditional workloads and Prism Element and Prism Central. We are using them because they are a part of hyper-converged technologies and save us a lot of costs. These clusters have unified storage, network, and compute, providing an integrated platform that simplifies management.

We run our VMs on Nutanix Unified Storage. We were trying to reduce the data center footprint and shrink the bandwidths on the number of storage units that we were using. We also wanted to avoid having to deal with different vendors when there is an issue. We have a 700 TB environment.

We use Varonis for ransomware protection. It's very expensive, but it does a very good job. Varonis monitors file pattern changes and maintains well-known dictionary sets.

The life cycle managers of the PCMs are very impressive, and I like them. They make our lives easy when managing patches and security updates when they come in. A life cycle manager helps to consolidate different vendors.

Also, because the management is simplified, I can depend on one or two people. We are able to reduce contractors and FTEs. We used to be a team of more than ten people, and now we are a team of six. As such, we are able to save about $400,000 a year.

We have to run mandatory disaster recovery processes every year. It's very important that Nutanix Unified Storage is able to manage and run our storage from any location.

Nutanix Unified Storage removed siloes from our organization’s storage.

Security is an area for improvement. When there are vulnerabilities, there needs to be a faster approval process. The solution needs to automatically target the vulnerabilities and not waste too much time.

We have been Nutanix customers for two years.

NUS's stability is very good.

Nutanix's technical support is good. They go the extra mile to help us out with health checks as well. Therefore, I would give them a nine out of ten.

Positive

NUS's initial setup was straightforward.

Our partner, CAS Severn, helped us with the initial deployment process.

I believe that we have seen an ROI.

I would recommend trying Nutanix Unified Storage. I rate it a nine out of ten.

My colleague and I are currently trying to migrate from the old-style file server to the new Nutanix Files feature. We have bought and organized some sessions with their technician to be able to migrate the files to the new structure and see if we can meet the compliance needs of our company.

We migrated our whole infrastructure based on HPE and VMware to HPE and Nutanix. This powerful and new type of structure has taken our workload to the next level.

We have seen fast recovery time and the ability to quickly move the model machine from one to another. We are proud to be here at .NEXT 2024 and having bought the Nutanix Infrastructure.

Fortunately, we did not have any attacks, and we did not have to manage any attacks. However, with a good recovery point, it would be easy to recover data with Nutanix.

Nutanix Unified Storage has not resulted in a reduction in the number of storage nodes due to increased storage capacity per node, but we have the possibility to utilize more VM servers to synchronize any workload. We can move a VM from one node to another in a fast and secure way based on our needs. We have different types of nodes. We have different configurations, and we can move the servers from one to another based on our needs and the workload.

Nutanix Unified Storage has saved us money because many activities are completely automatic. It surely saves money and time for our IT team. It has saved about 30% of their time.

The scalability, data redundancy, and security are valuable.

The dashboard can have more details and be more useful.

I started using it when we put the Nutanix infrastructure in our company in 2021. It has been about three and a half years.

We have chosen Nutanix just for scalability. We are planning a new installation of the cluster. We have to create a new cluster due to the workload needs. We have to put a cluster in the full flash mode and not hybrid mode. We will put new nodes and attach them to the cluster. It will work great.

Their technical support is great. We opened a number of cases. We had a problem with licensing, and we also wanted some information about launching the shell in CVM. We absolutely had a great experience with the tech support.

Positive

We did not use a similar solution for storage. We moved from hyperconvergence and we had the standard structure.

It is quite easy to deploy.

We had help from Nutanix. Their technical architect came to help us during the migration. He helped design the configuration of the new clusters because we had new clusters. It was great. We had no problem with that.

We had someone working in a supplier company who had experience with Nutanix. One day, we were discussing that our company had decided to go to a new type of infrastructure, and we realized that Nutanix was the right decision. We also started using AHV. We left VMware completely and used the hypervisor on Nutanix.

We are currently considering a new cluster of three new nodes, full flash to NVMe, because we have some new needs for the ERP of our company. If the management approves it, we can put it in our company and take our infrastructure to a new level.

We are starting to analyze the flow with micro-segmentation to protect unstructured data in our organization. We have not yet put it into production. We need to study more and go deeper into it. These tools are absolutely important for us. In our company, security or cybersecurity is put at a very high level. It is considered important. We have to manage it and put the correct configuration with things like micro-segmentation.

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

We use it for servers and files for internal use. We also use it as a partner because we are also proposing it to clients for S3 anti-ransomware storage and so on.

It is helping us better understand the solution so that we can sell it. We are Nutanix partners, so this is the most relevant for us.

We have not tested Nutanix Unified Storage for data-intensive workloads, such as AI or data analytics, but because we know the latency of the Nutanix clusters, my understanding is that it will be good.

The simplicity of management is valuable because, in more traditional environments, the platform updates are much more complex.

I do not have any input as such. It is a robust and simple solution. Perhaps when it comes to deploying NUS virtual machines on top of CVMs, it should not be necessary for them to be in all of them or they should require fewer resources on the servers.

We evaluated it about two or three years ago and deployed it internally last year.

Its stability is very good.

Its scalability is spectacular.

Nutanix’s support is very good.

Positive

Before Nutanix Unified Storage, we did not work with anything similar.

It is pretty simple. We do not have any deployment strategies.

Infrastructure management is greatly reduced, and that is a quick return on investment.

We are Nutanix partners, so it is pretty good. With the free terabyte that comes with the Nutanix clusters, we have started to build proposals for the clients. The price adjustment with the new policy of Nutanix Unified Storages seems attractive. Let us see if it has results.

We did not evaluate any other solution.

On paper, Nutanix Unified Storage looks very good for detecting and blocking ransomware threats, but we have not tried it. From what we are seeing and hearing, it can be very interesting and powerful.

Implementing Nutanix Unified Storage can result in a reduction in the number of storage nodes due to increased storage capacity per node, but our use case is not very big. We had a more or less small environment, and now with the Nutanix cluster also, it is not very big. It has not affected us in that sense.

For protecting data in our organization, we have backup tools and antivirus tools. We are backing up the clusters with the NAKIVO solution in addition to taking snapshots of Nutanix itself. We also apply the Microsoft security part in the environments. These tools are very important for our functionality to guarantee business continuity in the event of a disaster.

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

We use the solution to replace the Microsoft file server. The solution ensures that the Microsoft file server is reachable and you always have your infrastructure in place. With Nutanix Unified Storage, you can synchronize the other locations.

Nutanix Unified Storage is quite easy to manage and back up everything.

The most valuable features of the solution are high availability and synchronization to another location. Just in case it goes down, then you always have your data. Nutanix Unified Storage is easy to implement, and the way the architecture is built is very good.

The solution has already improved a lot. The first time we used it, we ran into boundaries. Since then, the solution has become more mature.

The throughput or latency of Nutanix Unified Storage for data-intensive workloads is one of the better things we see. It's like expanding storage and two times doing nothing. If you have to do that in other systems, it takes more work and care. The storage in Nutanix is better organized and more flexible.

We have used the demo version of Nutanix Data Lens, which is okay from what we saw. Our organization is considering using Data Lens because it gives insights into what's happening with our data, which is interesting.

We have several security measures in place that are very important for our organization.

There are still some gaps in the solution's synchronization that could be improved.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for two years and three months.

Nutanix Unified Storage has been a stable solution in the past.

Nutanix Unified Storage is a scalable solution.

The solution's technical support was horrible in the past. We addressed it to Nutanix, and they took it seriously, created an action plan, and adapted it. Afterward, the support improved, and now we have a direct channel to them. The engineers are also good.

Positive

We previously used the Microsoft file server. We switched to Nutanix Unified Storage because the business had a requirement for heavy availability. That was one of the biggest reasons we wanted a different solution, as it was not easy with Microsoft.

The solution’s initial setup was not easy.

We implemented the solution through an in-house team. We found errors in the guide provided by Nutanix, so the information that went out to us was wrong. We found the issue, experimented, and found a solution. Nutanix wasn't aware of the issue and rewrote its manual. Each time we went back to Nutanix, we found out what was wrong and correctly deployed the solution the second time.

The biggest return on investment with the solution is high availability because it costs a lot of money if the tool goes down.

The solution’s pricing could be cheaper.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Nutanix Unified Storage is our primary storage solution for file sharing. Our users can access files based on the assigned policies.

We implemented Nutanix Unified Storage because we were seeking a low-maintenance solution. 

Nutanix Unified Storage is a flexible product.

Nutanix Unified Storage is resilient, allowing for adaptability.

Nutanix Data Lens is a sophisticated feature that contributes to the enhancement of our security posture.

We can easily identify and protect against unknown threats with Nutanix Unified Storage.

We have reduced the manual work and maintenance required for our storage with Nutanix, while also increasing performance.

It empowers administrators to manage and run storage from any location. 

The most valuable feature is the unified dashboard, as it allows us to easily observe everything from a single location.

The GUI is not user-friendly for new users and has room for improvement.

Nutanix Unified Storage could benefit from additional safeguards to enhance security and prevent data leaks.

I have been using Nutanix Unified Storage for one year.

I would rate the stability of Nutanix Unified Storage ten out of ten.

Nutanix Unified Storage is scalable and there is no downtime involved in scaling the solution.

The technical support staff has consistently provided efficient and helpful assistance to us.

Positive

Before adopting Nutanix, we used traditional file server storage solutions. However, with over a million files, we lacked any analytics capabilities.

The initial deployment was straightforward and took around two months to complete. Our team of four worked with a team of three from Nutanix for the deployment. 

The cost of Nutanix Unified Storage can be prohibitive for some small and medium-sized businesses, making it challenging for them to adopt the product.

I rate Nutanix Unified Storage an eight out of ten.

When evaluating security features, Nutanix Unified Storage stands out among comparable software-defined storage options.

We have around 60 users and the solution is deployed in multiple regions.

Maintenance is required for uploads and updates.

I highly recommend Nutanix Unified Storage due to its robust security and low maintenance requirements.