Choosing the most suitable hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) for your business can be a challenging task for any IT department. Currently, the top contenders in this segment are VMware and Nutanix.
These two competitors are recognized as the best for a reason: they control the biggest share of the virtualization and cloud computing market, in addition to multiple other achievements in the IT field. Still, choosing one of the two options can be a difficult task, requiring organizations to thoroughly evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of every solution.
In this post, we compare VMware and Nutanix, highlighting their features, strengths, and weaknesses to help IT managers make an informed decision about the best infrastructure for their organization.
VMware: Exploring the Dominant Market Player
Probably one of the main Nutanix competitors, VMware started as a virtualization platform in 1998 and then became popular as a solution for enterprise infrastructures. Among other advantages, VMware provides the opportunity to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server. Thus, organizations can utilize hardware more efficiently and save funds on physical infrastructure.
Additionally, with features such as high availability, disaster recovery (DR) and live migration, the VMware platform is a decent choice for organizations that need to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity.
VMware’s stability and dependability are the key points that make the platform stand out when compared to other solutions on the market. The solution’s expanded variety of partners and thoroughly supported integrations provide the flexibility that an organization of any size and in any industry can appreciate.
VMware is used in multiple industries including finance, government and healthcare, that have specific requirements when it comes to compliance and data protection. However, costly licensing and specialized hardware requirements of VMware virtualization solutions can become deal-breakers for some organizations.
Nutanix: Specifics and Differences
As a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform by design, Nutanix has been around since 2009. The solution combines computing resources, storage and networking in one appliance, thus simplifying the IT workflows and increasing the overall cost-efficiency. Nutanix benefits originate from advanced functionalities such as machine learning, automation and self-healing. These and other features make Nutanix AHV an option worthy of attention for any organization.
In comparison with competing HCI solutions, Nutanix seems much more user-friendly and provides better scalability. With a built-in hypervisor, reducing the specialized hardware requirements, organizations can further minimize the infrastructure costs or get more performance for the budget.
Still, when comparing Nutanix vs VMware, one should be aware of the higher upfront cost. Plus, managing the infrastructure requires special knowledge and qualifications from IT team members, meaning that additional training effort and investment may be needed. It is important to note that in industries where flexibility and agility are paramount, such as media, retail or education, Nutanix is extensively used.
vSan vs Nutanix: Direct Comparison
The primary considerations in the comparison VMware vSAN vs Nutanix are the specifics and requirements of your industry and organization. VMware is a reputable and reliable virtualization solution, while Nutanix works well when your main concerns are cost efficiency and HCI simplicity. You need to analyze the pros and cons of each platform in detail to make an informed choice.
When choosing software solutions for an organization, IT experts normally evaluate the following:
- Pricing and licensing
- Hardware requirements
- Usability (user-friendliness, simplicity, learning curve)
- Scalability (horizontal and vertical)
- Customer support availability and qualification
In the Nutanix vs VMware argument, the goals of an organization, the available human and hardware resources and the assigned budget are the key factors you should consider. The way to a suitable pick is a thorough analysis of every solution’s features in the context of your organization’s needs. Below we explain five critical aspects of the two solutions for you to consider when evaluating your choice.
Architecture, Management and Scalability
The direct Nutanix vs VMware comparison must start with architecture differences that shape the core capabilities of both solutions. Again, VMware relies on a virtualization layer above the hardware level while Nutanix works as an HCI platform. With VMware, you can apply a regular virtualization approach to build a diverse and specific infrastructure. Nutanix’s HCI-based architecture, in turn, enables you to create more integrated and streamlined environments.
Both VMware and Nutanix have the scalability that can satisfy the requirements of small organizations and large enterprises well. Still, Nutanix can provide additional flexibility when speaking of storage and hardware management.
Overall, the management capabilities of VMware and Nutanix are sufficient. VMware vCenter enables you to manage a virtualization platform via a centralized console. Prism by Nutanix is the unified interface that provides access to all the elements of your organization’s infrastructure.
Costs and Licenses
VMware calculates licenses according to the number of physical processors and cores in servers: up to 32 cores per CPU. The Nutanix model relies on the number of nodes in the cluster, providing the opportunity to add nodes incrementally, thus being more flexible whenever your infrastructure needs scaling.
Performance and Efficiency
The infrastructure efficiency and performance are high for both solutions. However, there are specific points worth highlighting in the VMware vs Nutanix comparison. When speaking of VMware in this context, one should consider fast live migration as an additional advantage. On the other hand, the higher infrastructure consolidation level of Nutanix results in increased resource utilization efficiency.
Nevertheless, every use case can have unique resource requirements and expected timings. In this case, the actual performance of every platform can be evaluated only in direct tests within your organization’s environment.
Security and Data Protection
Advanced data security functions such as encryption, secure boot and role-based access control are available with both VMware and Nutanix solutions. In this aspect, VMware is backed with reputability and time-tested features that have a proven efficiency record and are well-known to the IT world. Nutanix AHV has built-in security features that benefit significantly from the infrastructure centralization.
Regardless of the solution you choose after evaluating all the features and functions, organizations should strengthen their data protection with reliable and regular backups. A fresh backup at hand can help you maintain data integrity and control when the original data is lost due to a disruption or disaster. To integrate backup and recovery workflows into your VMware or Nutanix infrastructure, consider using a specialized all-in-one solution, such as NAKIVO Backup & Replication.
Compatibility and Integration
Nutanix and VMware offer a wide range of integrations with different IT solutions and components, including those for networks and storage functionality. VMware is significantly ahead here in terms of numbers, offering a diverse range of integrations and partnerships. Nutanix has fewer partners and ecosystem elements but again comes up with seamlessness and in-depth consolidation of environment components.
Nutanix vs VMware: Summary
Concluding the above, we can shape short lists of advantages for VMware and Nutanix.
Advantages of Nutanix AHV vs VMware:
- Infrastructure simplicity
- Performance boost
- Improved scalability
- Licensing flexibility
- Cost-effectiveness
Advantages of VMware vs Nutanix:
- Large market presence
- Wider infrastructure integration capabilities, including legacy solutions
- Comprehensive and streamlined management instruments
Conclusion
The final verdict in this Nutanix vs VMware comparison is up to you. Evaluate both platforms on your own and decide which one suits your organization the most. Those looking for extended reliability, compatibility and management with appropriate performance might prefer VMware. The HCI platform by Nutanix is more about affordable simplicity, flexibility and scalability within the infrastructure with limited integrations.