Nutanix Enters the Enterprise Data Backup Market

Nutanix is adding data backup and recovery software to its hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) offerings.

A new appliance, called Nutanix Mine, integrates with third-party data backup and recovery software with Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud OS software, allowing Nutanix customers to easily manage their primary storage and data backup and recovery through a single management console, Greg Smith, Nutanix’s VP of product marketing, told Data Center Knowledge.

Nutanix Mine will support data backup and recovery software from Veeam, HYCU, Commvault, Veritas, and Unitrends, Smith said.

“With Nutanix entering the secondary storage market, it’s another example of Nutanix breaking down individual silos in the data center,” he said.

Nutanix also made two other announcements today. One is that its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) software – originally available for the public cloud – is now available as an in-house, private cloud solution. The other is that its cloud-based disaster recover service will soon expand into Asia and further into Europe. The company made the announcements at its annual .Next customer conference today in Anaheim, California.

The common theme across the announcements is that Nutanix wants customers to turn to it for tools to manage data center infrastructure across a multi-cloud environment.

One of the leaders in the HCI market, it competes with the likes of VMware and Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s SimpliVity. Nutanix sells its own HCI appliances but more recently has shifted focus on selling its HCI software across different vendors’ hardware.

Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud OS software allows enterprises to run applications and build infrastructure services in their own private clouds. It includes free virtualization software, software-defined networking, and database management, and allows enterprises to manage compute, primary storage, virtualization, and networking through a single management console.

Data Backup and Recovery

Nutanix Mine expands Nutanix’s footprint in the data center market and is a good strategy, Forrester Research senior analyst Naveen Chhabra said in an interview with Data Center Knowledge.

In the past, many of its product announcements were focused on developers and in-production application instances. This announcement is aimed at increasing relevance of the Nutanix platform to CIOs and infrastructure decision makers, Chhabra said.

“It’s an attempt by Nutanix to increase its acceptance by the decision makers,” he said. 

Nutanix Mine, which also integrates with Nutanix’s Prism management software tool, is a software-driven appliance that addresses the cost and complexity of managing separate systems for data backup and recovery, Smith said. It also takes advantage of Nutanix’s compression and deduplication features.

“As we have done with primary storage, virtualization, networking, and others, integrating secondary storage operations into a single operating system makes data managers dramatically more efficient,” he said.

The appliance integrated with Veeam and HYCU software will be available in the third quarter, Smith said. Nutanix is still integrating its product with Commvault, Veritas, and Unitrends and will announce product availability in the near future.

VDI in Private Clouds

Nutanix today also made its Xi Frame VDI software available for private clouds. Xi Frame was previously available as a desktop-as-a-service solution, allowing enterprises to launch virtual desktops hosted in public clouds like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Now, companies can deploy virtual desktops in-house. Some companies may take a hybrid approach, Smith said. They would use Xi Frame to deliver virtual desktops internally, but during busy seasons, when they hire a lot of contractors, they could launch virtual desktops in the public cloud and manage it all through a single cloud-based console.

Nutanix also announced that it will soon expand its cloud-based disaster recovery service to new regions. Today, Nutanix Xi Leap is available in three availability zones: US West, US East, and UK. Within the next few months, the company will expand disaster recovery services to Italy, Germany, and Japan, Smith said.

“It’s already successful in the US, so now we are moving to other regions in Europe and Asia,” he said.