Simplify AI Infrastructure and Operations with Cisco and Nutanix

Generative AI (Gen AI) is opening up transformative possibilities across an incredible range of industries and use cases. But realizing this potential constitutes a unique challenge for enterprise datacenters.

Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box is designed to meet this challenge head-on, paving the road for streamlined deployment while protecting sensitive internal or customer data.

This blog explores how this reference architecture for the Cisco® and Nutanix joint solution takes the complexity out of GenAI adoption, provides a turnkey environment for large language models (LLMs) and ultimately serves as a launch pad for predictable, cost-controlled AI deployments.

A True Hardened Environment for Any LLM

More and more companies are recognizing that AI has the potential to accelerate their existing activities while opening up entirely new possibilities – and recognizing that recent market disruption should be leveraged by investing in AI-ready capabilities. A 2024 IDC survey reports that 69% of respondents expect GenAI to significantly disrupt their competitive positioning and operating models within the next 18 months.

In this context, GenAI is driving a new imperative to understand how technologies like LLMs can drive value without sacrificing stability or control.

While the possibilities for AI can feel endless, IT leaders need concrete solutions for launching their AI journey while keeping sensitive company data secure, managing costs and maintaining control of business-critical systems.

The Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box solution takes the complexity out of adopting generative AI by providing prescriptive steps for deploying the underlying infrastructure for Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box. This solution combines Cisco UCS X-Series servers and SaaS operations with Nutanix software, utilizing the most popular LLMs to produce a fully validated AI-ready platform that simplifies and jumpstarts your AI initiatives from the datacenter to the edge.

Robust security features help maintain the privacy of AI workloads, with native data protection and security, including defense in depth, microsegmentation, file analytics, and security. Built on self-healing infrastructure, this joint solution is ready to support true AI resilience by speeding-up recovery and enabling central and/or edge backup and restore capabilities.

This Cisco UCS X-Series with Nutanix solution combines the operational simplicity of the Nutanix Cloud Platform with the flexibility and efficiency of the award-winning Cisco UCS X-Series Modular System, enabling organizations to easily deploy, scale and upgrade hyperconverged clusters with a more sustainable, future-ready solution:

• A reference architecture based on hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) with the fast GPU interconnects needed to make high-performance GenAI applications possible.
• A flexible investment that runs your hypervisor now and AI solutions when you are ready, all while supporting automation and cost-containment.
• A containerized applications deployment model based on Kubernetes® that’s ideal for handling the unique governance, compliance and security challenges associated with AI apps. Containerization speeds-up deployment without the requisite dependencies of monolithic application models.
• The ability to quickly deploy off-the-shelf AI apps or enable developers to build custom solutions.

Collectively, these capabilities allow enterprises to deploy AI with greater confidence, seamlessly update LLMs and AI apps without disrupting their cloud operating model, and retain the flexibility to fluidly move AI solutions across on-premises, cloud and edge deployments throughout their lifecycle.

This joint solution brings application-aware data services, efficiency and enterprise resiliency to support the deployment of AI apps across use cases. For example:

• Customer-facing chatbots can access internal data to rapidly respond to customer service requests. This improves responsiveness while automating routine queries frees-up human support professionals for more complex requests.
• Intelligent data analysis can be tuned to deliver high-quality output based on custom internal and external data sources. For example, fraud detection for retail or finance can help pinpoint illicit activity across large datasets while improving the experience for honest customers.
• Task automation can directly unlock new operational efficiencies and automate the resolution of common business issues. For example, AI-powered document processing can save time and boost accuracy while support bots can solve common issues for employees.

Designed to Simplify AI Adoption

A secure and validated solution for integrating AI applications throughout your organization, Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box was built from the ground up to jumpstart AI initiatives, speed time to value, and enable flexible deployment of AI applications across datacenter, edge and public clouds. Nutanix provides a one-click solution for remote app deployment, infrastructure management, upgrades, and troubleshooting.

Scalable Resources for Controllable, Predictable Costs

A scalable platform provides the ideal foundation for deploying customized AI applications to meet unique needs without inflating the total cost of ownership. The Cisco and Nutanix joint solution scales data for AI workloads quickly and non-disruptively, making it easy to expand LLMs and incorporate new data sources like video and sensor output.

The containerized model supports Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) and reduces wasted resources by carefully aligning spending to ground-level business demands.

Learn More About Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box

Nutanix is proud to work with Cisco to deliver the best platform for enterprise AI and cloud-native applications. We believe the right architectures will have a critical role to play in helping enterprises accelerate the road to ROI for novel applications while streamlining adoption and keeping data secure. We look forward to working with customers to achieve these goals and invite you to explore a more in-depth examination of Cisco Compute Hyperconverged with Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box solution.

Evaluating the foundational challenges associated with AI, IDC notes that “choosing which use cases are best served by different deployment methodologies is daunting, which is why simple, powerful, flexible infrastructure that enables applications to run anywhere and data to provide value in any context can be an enabler of business value in AI and GenAI initiatives.”

Explore this IDC white paper for a deeper look at how to unlock GenAI with AI-ready Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure.