Kubernetes adoption in enterprises accelerated by Nutanix

Nutanix, a hybrid multicloud computing provider, announced new Cloud Platform features to accelerate the adoption of Kubernetes running at scale and cost-effectively. The company announced widespread support for leading Kubernetes container platforms, built-in infrastructure as code capabilities, and improved data services for modern applications. These new features enable DevOps teams to accelerate application delivery by leveraging the Nutanix Cloud Platform’s performance, governance, and flexibility, while keeping customers in control of their IT operating costs.

“Kubernetes deployments are inherently dynamic and challenging to manage at scale,” said Thomas Cornely, SVP, Product Management, Nutanix. “Running Kubernetes container platforms cost-effectively at large scale requires developer-ready infrastructure that seamlessly adapts to changing requirements. Our expertise in simplifying infrastructure management while optimizing resourcesー both on-premises and in the public cloudーis now being applied to help enterprises adopt Kubernetes more quickly. The Nutanix Cloud Platform now supports a broad choice of Kubernetes container platforms, provides integrated data services for modern applications, and enables developers to provision Infrastructure as Code.”

Gartner predicts that by 2027, 25% of all enterprise applications will run in containers, up from less than 10% in 2021. This is a significant challenge for many because most Kubernetes solutions are not designed to support enterprise scale, and even fewer can do so in a cost-effective manner. Enterprises can use the Nutanix Cloud Platform to run Kubernetes in a software-defined infrastructure environment that can scale linearly. Furthermore, whether running Kubernetes on-premises or in the public cloud, Nutanix provides a cost-effective solution that can reduce total cost of ownership by up to 53% when compared to other native cloud deployment solutions.

Nutanix is now an even stronger proposition for enterprises looking to deploy Kubernetes at scale, thanks to new capabilities such as broad support for leading Kubernetes container platforms, built-in infrastructure as code capabilities, and enhanced data services. New features specifically include:

Broad Kubernetes Ecosystem: The Nutanix Cloud Platform, with the built-in AHV hypervisor, now supports most leading Kubernetes container platforms with the addition of Amazon EKS-A. This builds on a large ecosystem including Red Hat OpenShift, SUSE Rancher, as well as Google Anthos, and Microsoft Azure Arc for edge deployments, along with the native Nutanix Kubernetes, Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE).

Built-In Infrastructure as Code Operating Model: Nutanix also announced an updated API family along with its SDKs in Java, JS, Go and Python, currently under development. This will enable automation at scale and consistent operations regardless of locationーin the datacenter, on the public cloud, or at edgeーboth of key importance to enterprises. Additionally, when combined with Red Hat Ansible Certified Content or the Nutanix Terraform provider, a DevOps methodology can be brought to infrastructure through automation leveraging Infrastructure as Code.

Strengthened Data Services for Modern Applications: Nutanix Cloud Platform’s web-scale architecture enables customers to start small and scale to multi-PB sized deployments as application needs grow. It is the only platform to unify delivery of integrated data services with file, object, and now adding database services on the same platform for Kubernetes-based applications. Today Nutanix launched Nutanix Database Service Operator for Kubernetes, which enables developers to quickly and easily provision and attach databases to their application stacks directly from development environments. The open source operator is available via artifacthub.io as well as by direct download at GitHub. Additionally, Nutanix Objects now supports a reference implementation of Container Object Storage Interface (COSI) for ease of orchestration and self-service provisioning. It also adds support for observability using Prometheus. Lastly, Objects is now validated with modern analytics applications including Presto, Dremio, and Vertica, along with Confluent Kafka to efficiently enable large-scale data pipelines often used in real-time streaming applications.

These new features expand on the Nutanix Cloud Platform’s ability to scale Kubernetes applications with dynamic demands. Performance and capacity scale linearly with Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure, resilience is built in from the ground up with self-healing nodes, and persistent storage is natively integrated. Furthermore, by eliminating unused compute and storage resources, the Nutanix Cloud Platform can help deliver cost efficiencies. When it comes to cloud integrations, Nutanix delivers the same value across hybrid multicloud endpoints with full license portability across edge, datacenter, service provider, and hyperscaler points of presence.

“When we decided to bring the core platform for our solutions in-house, we decided to take a modular containerized approach to give us the desired flexibility and simplify management by maintaining customization as configurations,” said Larry McClanahan, Chief Product Officer, Nymbus. “Our partnership with Red Hat and Nutanix gives us the flexibility to innovate, the speed to get to market fast, and the tremendous scalability to support ongoing growth. We’re thrilled that we can better help our customers succeed in the digital banking market with unique solutions.”

“Container development platforms promise faster application development speed, but will only be deployed by organizations who can maintain compliance, day 2 operations, and cost management control at scale,” said Paul Nashawaty, Senior Analyst at ESG. “Nutanix offers a compelling path to speed the deployment of modern applications at scale and in a cost-effective manner, with full choice of Kubernetes container development environments and cloud endpoints.”