Cloud transformation: the strategic alliance between Cisco and Nutanix
A cloud model brings both benefits and challenges for organizations. In the case of multi-cloud environments, their resilience and operational redundancy compete with the management complexity they represent for IT teams.
Since 2022, multi-cloud has become the reference IT implementation model. According to Nutanix data, 8 out of 10 companies globally have adopted a multi-cloud architecture to meet two main needs: data sovereignty and cost optimization.
Thus, the high global demand for multi-cloud technology, combined with the need to simplify its operation, has led Cisco and Nutanix to form a strategic alliance to offer an innovative solution that simplifies and accelerates IT modernization and business transformation.
Alliance for Cloud Optimization
The solution is Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix, a hyperconverged platform that integrates Cisco’s SaaS-managed network and computing infrastructure with Nutanix’s cloud platform, aiming to offer the best cloud operating models, flexible deployment options, and automated resilience.
“This alliance offers a complete solution, including virtual computing, networking, and storage in customers’ data centers and public clouds. By combining Cisco’s award-winning SaaS-managed computing solutions with Nutanix’s cloud platform software, we can help companies power their on-prem and cloud workloads,” said Jeremy Foster, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Networking – Compute.
The new solution provides flexible installation options, with support for Cisco UCS rack and blade servers, including initial support for C-Series servers and future support for UCS X-Series servers (winners of the SEAL Sustainable Product of the Year Award 2023 and CRN’s Tech Innovator Award 2023). Additionally, it integrates Cisco’s advanced servers (UCS), networking and security (ACI), and management (UCS Manager, Intersight) with Nutanix Cloud Platform software.
“Our collaboration expands the market opportunity for both companies, helping address the challenges of standardizing, simplifying, and securing environments across the data center, public cloud, and edge,” said Tarkan Maner, Chief Commercial Officer of Nutanix.
What is Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)?
Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is an approach to IT infrastructure that combines servers, storage, computing, network connectivity, and virtualization into a unified system to manage them in an agile, secure manner, replacing traditional enterprise structures.
The components of this technology are nodes and clusters. Each node is a server that includes computing resources (CPU, RAM), storage, and networking. These nodes are grouped into clusters that provide resources for the entire IT infrastructure, enabling the creation of flexible and scalable environments.
In HCI platforms, nodes in a cluster work in a coordinated and collaborative manner through specialized software that manages efficient resource allocation, workload distribution, and overall infrastructure management.
Benefits of HCI Platforms
When a company opts for hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), it gains these benefits:
- Simplifies IT Resource Management: Facilitates management and reduces complexity by eliminating the need to manage infrastructure components separately.
- Improves Scalability: Enables efficient, proportional, and predictable resource expansion by adding additional nodes to the infrastructure as needed.
- Enables Centralized Management: The IT team can perform administration and monitoring tasks from a single interface, saving time and reducing the possibility of errors.
- Ensures Resource Efficiency: Hyperconverged infrastructure automatically shares and distributes workloads among nodes. This maximizes resource utilization and prevents underutilization that can occur in traditional environments.
- Optimizes Performance: By consolidating resources and using advanced technologies such as software-defined storage and networking, HCI can offer superior performance compared to traditional solutions.
- Reduces Operational Costs: The ability of this technology to scale incrementally allows organizations to add resources as needed, avoiding excessive initial capital investments.
- Quick Implementation: HCI implementation can start with a basic cluster and then add resources as needed.
- Adaptable to Varied Workloads: HCI can adapt to a variety of workloads, including virtual machines, containers, and cloud-based applications.
How to Implement Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)?
Before starting the implementation of hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), it is crucial to define performance and scalability needs, storage capacities, application requirements, and other key variables for the organization. Then, it will be essential to evaluate the HCI options available in the market, such as VMware vSAN, Nutanix & Cisco, Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, among others.
In the case of Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix, the solution can be implemented and managed by Ikusi’s team of experts, who configure the technology according to the operational and commercial needs of organizations.
The Cisco-Nutanix HCI solution has been available on the market since October 2023.
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