Nutanix announced today it is now making available the software it used to create hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) on servers from both Hewlett-Packard Enterprise as well as additional server platforms from Cisco.
Previously, Nutanix had moved to make its software available on Cisco UCS C-Series rack systems. Now Nutanix is extending that support out to blade servers by adding support for Cisco UCS B-Series systems.
In addition, Nutanix announced today it is adding a Nutanix Go licensing option through which IT organizations can opt to deploy Nutanix software on a server for as little as six months as part of a development or server migration plan.
In general, Greg Smith, senior director for product and technical marketing for Nutanix, says Nutanix wants to give IT organizations maximum choice when it comes to HCI platforms.
“A lot of IT organizations have preferred vendors that they’ve already made commitments to buy infrastructure,” says Smith.
By making Nutanix HCI software available on these platforms alongside reseller agreements that Nutanix has in place with Dell EMC and Lenovo, Smith says Nutanix software is now available on every major platform, including systems provided directly by Nutanix, in the data center.
Smith says most customers are not running Nutanix HCI software on multiple platforms. Instead, they are choosing to continue to standardize on a specific platform. Nutanix, says Smith, doesn’t want that hardware decision to necessarily dictate what HCI software that IT organization may ultimately prefer to deploy on that hardware.