Nutanix – which is actively courting disgruntled VMware customers – provides storage services that aggregate storage in a global pool that enables any VM to access and consume storage resources. Features include compression, deduplication, high-availability and snapshots.
Enterprises running high-performance databases often require external storage arrays, and Nutanix has addressed that need by certifying storage with SAP HANA and Oracle RAC. (Read more: Cisco, Nutanix strengthen joint HCI package)
4. Scale Computing Platform
Scale provides an all-in-one hardware and software package that includes all software licenses. Software features offered at no additional charge include high-availability clustering, built-in disaster recovery, replication and software-defined storage. Scale also offers a tool to automate migrations off vSphere, a centralized management feature for HCI clusters, and the ability to mix and match dissimilar hardware appliances in a cluster. In addition, all storage is pooled.
Last summer, Scale Computing said in a quarterly earnings announcement that sales have taken off, thanks in part to Broadcom’s changes to VMware sales operations.
5. VergeIO
VergeIO takes HCI to the next level with something it calls ultraconverged infrastructure (UCI). This means VergeIO can not only virtualize the normal stack of compute, networking and storage, it can also implement multi-tenancy, creating multiple virtual data centers (VDCs).
Each VDC has its own compute, network, storage, management and VergeOS assigned to it. Enterprises can manage and use each VDC much like the virtual private clouds offered by the hyperscalers. VergeIO says this model creates greater workload density, which means lower costs, improved availability, and simplified IT.
