Nutanix

I want to start with a little background of Nutanix.  (Yes I used the information off their website)

The Nutanix Virtual Computing Platform is a converged infrastructure solution that consolidates the compute (server) tier and the storage tier into a single, integrated appliance.

Nutanix uses the same design principles and technologies that power IT innovators such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon. It tailors these for mainstream enterprises and government agencies.

The Nutanix solution is radically simple compared to traditional datacenter infrastructures.

• Rapid time to value: deployment in under 30 minutes
• No disruption to ongoing operations
• Easily scales
• Powerful off-the-shelf, non-proprietary hardware
• Reduces the cost and complexity of storage
• Works with legacy components, protecting investments you’ve already made
• Delivers advanced, enterprise-class storage capabilities

What does that mean for you?  Pure awesomeness. Nutanix was formed in 2009.  The first founders left Google and started Nutanix. I believe that the SE (Sales Engineer) that was onsite said Nutanix now has 10(Update from Tony at Nutanix) VCDX(s) on staff.  VMware employees 60 VCDX and there is roughly 130 in the world.  If this number is incorrect feel free to contact me and I will update my post. The SE also explained that Nutanix searched months to find a name for the company that no one had ever used. The Nutanix model was NX-1350.  It has 64GB per node.  Nutanix will not sell you the first appliance with less than three nodes.  Here is a picture of the device from the back of an appliance with all four nodes populated.   Each node is running CentOS.  Within CentOS there is software call KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine). Nutanix has extra programming on top of the KVM software.  So no secrets have been revealed. Within the KVM, ESX machines are staged.  The SE used the Nutanix Foundation software to provision all the ESX, networks, LUNs, etc. within 2 hours the system was operational. Great tool. Next steps are to get vCenter and View running.  We will have to think about getting the new Windows 2012 Domain online in short order also. As this project progress I will provide updates.