What is our primary use case?
One of the components that we like about using Nutanix Acropolis AOS is its ability to interact with hardware. You don't have to go into different systems, all your locked files and everything for the hardware is directly available.
Our use cases are for data storage. We use the total Nutanix system in connection with Inuvika. We are busy phasing out all our work stations, where we basically go back to the principle of old bank terminals. When you boot up, you're going into the Inuvika environment, which runs five physical servers on the Nutanix. The accessibility of the performance and upgradeability of the system increase about five-fold where you don't have to upgrade workstation performance, you only add an additional Nutanix server node if you want to increase your performance on your users' workstations. An important feature for me that comes with a hypervisor, as well as the AOS in combination with everything, is the backup redundancy, as well as the encryption component on the server that we use quite extensively. Since we've installed Nutanix our downtime was about 40 minutes to an hour, and that was just to do a memory upgrade on the system.
How has it helped my organization?
In terms of how Nutanix Acropolis AOS has improved our organization, for starters, the one major thing that comes up again and again is stability. Our downtime is literally based on hardware upgrades that need to be done. Acropolis is very, very user friendly.
You don't have to physically have a super IT guy to manage the system. You can actually give it to a younger guy to manage and there won't be problems. And if he makes a mistake, it's very, very easy to fall back and sort out the mistake.
What is most valuable?
The features that I have found most valuable depend on the scenario. The nice thing with the Acropolis design is that in a specific situation where you've got either the problem or you need to adapt quickly in connection with the setup in the environment, they really work through everything.
The total solution is valuable, you can't split it up. The nice thing with the AOS, as well as basically the entire Nutanix system is that you are not time bound to increase your entire node or service setup. You can add additional nodes as time goes past. It's not like VMware, for example, where it looks like you've got a time period where you have to finish your entire setup, otherwise the upgrades and the newer hardware and that kind of stuff become a problem. Nutanix is very, very backwards compatible, as well as forwards compatible.
What needs improvement?
In terms of what I would like to see improved, I would say the life cycle management. I don't know if it is because they changed to an LCM from the previous way of upgrading the hardware or software but sometimes it feels that it needs a wizard that says, "Check this, check this," telling you your options. The only thing that's a bit frustrating for me is the life cycle management interface. That's the only thing on the entire system that frustrates me. I'm very, very happy with the other stuff.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Nutanix Acropolis AOS for roughly four years now.
We are currently using the full setup of the system and it's very stable.
We are using the latest version. We update our system on the LTX every time a long sported version comes out and it's very stable.
We are running on-premise. We're running roughly 40 servers on it, which is a combination from Linux, our PBX system, Windows Operating Systems and additional data software that we've built on our own distro's on the system itself.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Nutanix Acropolis AOS is very stable.
Since we started it up, the only time that we had any problems on it or downtime, if I can put it that way, was literally to upgrade the memory. That's it.
In the last three years since it's been running, it was peace of mind. We didn't have any problems and even with Nutanix overseas, we had a faulty memory module and the system worked perfectly, and they sent us a new memory module. We sent the old memory module back and that process with Nutanix support was magnificent, zero frustrations.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. We see the scalability in two places. Point number one for scalability, if we need additional hardware by installing an additional node, it's not painful at all. You just put in the node, you tell your Acropolis to find it, integrate it with the system, and everything operates seamlessly. It automatically balances all your virtual machines between all your nodes that you've got at that stage.
Additionally, I used it in our environment a lot as an additional backup for our remote sites. Where we basically have two Nutanix nodes on each remote site and because data in South Africa is very expensive we don't have a lot of bandwidth between our sites. So during the evenings, I replicate everything to our primary server setup that we've got and it works perfectly, no problems.
We have 6,000 units or servers. We are running currently from high performance users right through to just Word and Excel people. We are in the area of 250 users that are running on the system.
Nutanix is at the core of our business. So if the Nutanix falls over, our entire company will go offline.
At this stage it is not necessary to increase usage, but they're talking about opening additional branches, then we will be looking at another two or three nodes within the next two years.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is excellent.
I'm thinking about the two situations that we had. One was the memory problem that we had, and this guy from America explained in detail everything that he did. How the testing principles worked, how the process operated and he put us in connection with all the correct people. The entire process in that case was extremely streamlined and extremely user friendly. Then our second scenario that we had was in connection with upgrade faults that I made, and they explained what happened and how to fix the problem. So yeah, they are excellent.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
In South Africa, we've got this saying for the test principle, keep it straight and simple. That is the principle that I followed with it.
Our deployment took us longer to get all the cabinets prepared for the servers or for the nodes than it actually took to set up the entire Nutanix system. I think it took us about half an hour to 45 minutes since we started, and we started installing our first VM on the system.
In the setup, there are literally two people responsible.
I am the IT manager and we've got my 2IC, and we're the only two that work with the servers on all six primary sites.
What about the implementation team?
We did it through Pinnacle Micro and the guy helped us extremely well and was extremely knowledgeable about the Nutanix product and the systems around it. They were extremely knowledgeable in the Nutanix environment and with the processes and risks that need to be assessed. It was an excellent experience and not only the fact that they actually came out and talked to us, it wasn't all over the telephone.
What was our ROI?
We were running a stand-alone service originally. So we saved a lot of money on hardware upgrades that we needed to do. We saved a lot of money on energy consumption. As you know, power or electricity in South Africa is getting extremely expensive. We are now running at about 20% of our original power consumption and that also includes cooling the server room, reduction on security (physical security not cyber security). So all those components played a major role in ROI. Except for our hardware upgrades and that kind of stuff, we've saved about 200,000 Rand.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our license is Rand based. I can't remember because we bought the license with other software as well. We did the licensing and it includes the support and everything over a five year basis.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We previously looked at VMware to build our hyperconverged environment. We started looking at costing and lifetime of products and it was quite shocking from my point of view. Because I feel a server must at least have the ability to run for five to seven years and then have scalability. And the thing with VMware is you've got quite a short shelf life on the setup. Meaning, you've got five years and if your system is not fully built, you start from scratch.
VMware versus Nutanix - number one, the cost is much lower with Nutanix. The hardware needed for operating the system is much cheaper and that played a major role in the choice that we made between Nutanix and VMware. The other major thing is the support that we got from the Pinnacle Micro guys. Actually, that's one of the major points why we made the choice for Nutanix. They were very, very intuitive with your company, they knew what we needed, what possibilities to look at, what risks to assess, that kind of stuff.
Before choosing Nutanix I also played with VMware's ESXi open source setup. I also played with Nutanix's open source setup. When we setup Nutanix, it was a lot more intuitive and a lot more user friendly, versus the setup from VMware, which is not bad either. I'm not saying it's a bad product, don't get me wrong. It's just different.
What other advice do I have?
The biggest lesson I learned from using Nutanix Acropolis AOS was that at the stage when we looked at it, Nutanix was still relatively young - so don't underestimate the underdog.
My advice to anyone considering Nutanix Acropolis AOS is that you won't go wrong. It's an easy, maintainable system, it's user friendly. They designed quite an excellent product and with the support and the knowledge from the guys, you're not going to have problems in setting up a system like Nutanix.
On a scale of one to ten, I would put Nutanix Acropolis AOS in the area of eight to nine.
It is so high because for starters, I have not really had problems with Nutanix at all in the greater picture. We've had one or two incidents, which were mostly from our side, except for the memory situation, which was hardware related and not software related. They were always before the schedule on turnaround time for repairs and getting everything sorted out and repaired and up and running. I know a big thing is that local suppliers play a big role in support of hardware and so forth, but we didn't have any problems right through the bank.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.