Nutanix includes file storage in hyperconvergence proposition

Source: Nutanix blog. AFS eliminates NAS.

Nutanix has announced Acropolis File Services (AFS), a web-scale native file serving solution built using the same technology that powers Nutanix Enterprise Clouds. AFS lets customers simplify their data centres further by addressing the cost, complexity and scalability challenges associated with storing and serving unstructured data like home directories, user profiles, application logs and department shares.

Simplify, eliminate silos

A key attribute of an enterprise cloud is making the complex invisible: there is seamless, quick deployment, high availability, and easy scalability. AFS brings this simplicity to what is traditionally an IT silo – file storage. Running on the same Nutanix infrastructure running user virtual machines, AFS eliminates the need for standalone network attached storage (NAS) appliances.

According to Nutanix, traditional NAS deployments are complex and require that administrators go through several low value activities to get the system operational. There is the setup of RAID groups, storage to aggregate, volumes to create and a file protocol to layer on, for example. These activities must be repeated every time the NAS appliance is expanded or a new appliance added.

In contrast, AFS can be deployed in a few clicks.

Redefining hyperconvergence

AFS now redefines hyperconvergence to combine compute, storage, virtualisation and unstructured data management. Characteristics of the public cloud – deployments in a few clicks, just-in-time provisioning, scale-in and scale-out elasticity – are apparent in AFS and now available to enterprises of all sizes.

Interested?

AFS is available today in tech preview through a software upgrade.

Read the Nutanix blog post at for a comparison between AFS and NAS appliances, and between AFS and AWS.

posted from Bloggeroid