NEXT Conference: Nutanix Cloud Platform to Deliver Strengthened Data Services for Unstructured and Structured Data

Nutanix, Inc. announced new capabilities in its Cloud Platform that make it easier for customers to simplify data management, and optimize database and big data workload performance for the most critical applications.

The Cloud Platform will deliver unstructured data tiering from on-premises to cloud, up to a 2x storage performance increase for database workloads and 3x for big data workloads without requiring complex reconfiguration, as well as ‘Nutanix Data Lens’, a new unstructured data governance service. In addition, database service Era now delivers 1-click storage scaling and rich role based access control for database management across hybrid multicloud environments for database engines like PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle Database.

“Customers require a variety of ways to store data-both structured and unstructured-and are looking for ways to simplify management without needing to rely on different vendors to do so,” said Rajiv Mirani, CTO. “The new features in the Cloud Platform extend our data centric innovation to high performance applications to deliver a unified platform with comprehensive data services for all workloads and all variety of data.“

Increased performance for databases and big data Workloads
Customers looking to modernize their IT infrastructure and run large scale databases will be able to easily do so without requiring complex changes in their databases’ storage configuration, resulting in up to a 2x performance increase compared to the previous release. Customers will also be able to benefit from lower storage latency by taking advantage of hardware advances such as Intel Optane technology combined with the firm‘s preferential data placement.

In addition, the company is making it simpler to run data analytics workloads, including Hadoop and SAS Grid workloads. A replication factor storage mode in the firm’s platform results in up to 3x faster data processing, compared to the previous release, while reducing costs. Finally, Nutanix Objects, the company’s S3 compatible object storage solution, supports performance petabyte-scale storage for building data lakes. Customers working with modern analytics applications, such as Apache Spark, will benefit from dramatically increased query and large batch processing performance with S3 Select and optimized S3A support.

Simplified storage scaling and governance for databases
The company’s database service, Era, manages the popular database engines like PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle Database across hybrid multicloud environments. Customers can scale database storage online, turning days or weeks of work into a one-click operation. Additionally, customers can implement their security and compliance policies through support for role based access control, as well as securely share access to databases and database management operations. Lastly, Era supports multi-region failover capabilities, delivering increased resilience through a highly available database-as-a-service.

Mobility and Governance for Unstructured Data Across Clouds
The firm announced Data Lens, a cloud service designed to empower customers to manage their unstructured data growth and help protect their data vs. security risks. By providing a global view with insights into unstructured data stored on the company’s unified storage – whether on-premises or in the public cloud – including access patterns, data age, data types and more, Data Lens will simplify data lifecycle management as well as protect vs. ransomware attacks by detecting and blocking suspicious files and alerting on anomalous activity.

Additionally, the firm will help customers manage unstructured data growth, with native support for data tiering to Nutanix Objects, AWS S3, and Azure blob storage, as well as to manage DR for file shares on Nutanix Files with 1min RPO and self-service restore.

“Enterprises are looking for ways to more efficiently and securely manage the rapid growth of size, velocity, and variety of data, as well as simplify the operations across on-premises and cloud,” said Eric Burgener, research VP, infrastructure systems, platforms and technologies group, IDC. “Nutanix is taking important steps to deliver comprehensive data services across both structured and unstructured data on a single platform with a common management interface that stretches across on-premises and cloud.“

Features in Era are available to customers. Expanded support for database and big data applications in the the company’s Cloud Platform, and unstructured data management features are currently under development.

Resources:
AOS 6 Advances Performance and Resilience for Business-Critical Applications     
Database as a Service on your terms with Nutanix Era   
Rethinking Storage For A Data Centric World