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AWS shucks: Nutanix dives into hybrid cloud, mines for secondary data gold
New appliance runs your backup engine of choice
.NEXT Nutanix has made a flashy bid for hybrid cloud relevance by enabling its environment to run in AWS and added a Mine appliance to bring backup data into its fold.
By converging primary and secondary data storage, Nutanix will compete directly with Cohesity's hyperconverged secondary storage business.
The firm revealed its latest at Nutanix's .NEXT conference in Anaheim, California, and fleshed out its Enterprise Cloud ideas which surfaced in June 2017.
Customers can use a Xi Cluster running in the AWS cloud to run Nutanix's Enterprise Cloud OS, with its cluster of AOS nodes, instead of their on-premises Nutanix cluster. They can use an existing AWS account to do this as AWS Networking has been integrated with Nutanix's Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) software.
The new cluster runs on bare metal EC2 instances and has access to NVMe storage. The Prism Central console is used to manage the AWS cluster. It means Nutanix AHV workloads can be transferred – bursted – to AWS when local resources are insufficient.
The spun-up AWS cluster can be hibernated in S3 if it needs to be revived and used again.
Nutanix founder and CEO Dheeraj Pandey told The Register that Azure is likely the next target once the API situation has been sorted out to enable the automation involved.
Your backup data is Mine
The Mine move turns a Nutanix system into a backup appliance, storing the backed-up data on the Nutanix system's storage. This is said to converge secondary backup data with existing primary data storage in the Nutanix environment, with both managed through the Prism console.
Instead of writing its own backup engine, Nutanix has worked with Veeam, HYCU, Commvault, Unitrends and Veritas to integrate their software with its own and have them managed through Prism. Nutanix's channel integrates the backup supplier's software with an x86 server and sells the bundled product as a Nutanix SKU.
This Nutanix Mine appliance can be used to back up third-party systems. A Nutanix source suggested that Rubrik could become a fifth backup engine for Mine.
Nutanix Mine with Veeam Mine with HYCU should be available in the calendar third quarter, with Mine with Commvault, Veritas and Unitrends becoming available later on. ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
