IBM POWER and Nutanix Software bringing new workloads to hyperconverged deployments

In the technology landscape, processing real-time information is necessary but not sufficient. Being able to react in real-time used to give enterprises a competitive advantage, but this approach no longer guarantees happy customers. The value has now migrated to the ability to rapidly gather large amounts of data, quickly crunch and predict what’s likely to happen next - using a combination of analytics, cognitive skills, machine learning and more. This is the start of the insight economy.

IBM and Nutanix have announced a multi-year initiative to bring new workloads to hyper-converged deployments. Handling these kinds of workloads present unique challenges - needing a combination of reliable storage, fast networks, scalability and extremely powerful computing. It seems like private datacenters that were designed just a few years ago are due for a refresh - not only in the technology, but also in the architectural design philosophy. This is where the combination of IBM Power Systems and Nutanix comes in.

The integrated offering aims to combine Nutanix’s Enterprise Cloud Platform software with IBM Power Systems, to deliver a hyper-converged solution targeting critical workloads in large enterprises. The partnership plans to deliver a full-stack combination with built-in AHV virtualization for a simple experience within the datacenter.

Enterprise workloads to be handled:

- Next generation cognitive workloads, including big data, machine learning and AI

- Mission-critical workloads, such as databases, large scale data warehouses, web infrastructure, and mainstream enterprise apps

- Cloud Native Workloads, including full stack open source middleware and enterprise databases and Containers

With a shared philosophy based on open standards, a combination of Nutanix and IBM will be designed to bring out the true power of software-defined infrastructure - choice -  for global 2000 enterprises, with plans for:

- A simplified private enterprise cloud that delivers POWER architecture in a seamless and compatible way to the datacenter

-  Exclusive virtualization management with AHV, advanced planning and remediation with Machine Learning, App Mobility, Microsegmentation and more, with one-click automation

- A fully integrated one-click management stack with Prism, to eliminate silos and reduce the need for specialized IT skills to build and operate cloud-driven infrastructure

- Deploying stateful cloud native services using Acropolis Container Services with automated deployment and enterprise-class persistent storage

“Hyper-converged systems continue on a rapid growth trajectory, with a market size forecast of nearly $6 billion by 2020. IT teams now recognize the need, and the undeniable benefits, of embracing the next generation of datacenter infrastructure technology,” said Stefanie Chiras, VP Power Systems at IBM. “Our partnership with Nutanix will be designed to give our joint enterprise customers a scalable, resilient, high-performance hyper-converged infrastructure solution, benefiting from the data and compute capabilities of the POWER architecture and the one-click simplicity of the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform.”