Nutanix Cloud Platform Software Options

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is a complete software stack to unify your hybrid cloud infrastructure including compute, storage and network, hypervisors and containers, in public or enterprise clouds; all with built-in resilience, self-healing, disaster recovery capabilities, and security. It includes enterprise data services and consolidated storage, data protection and disaster recovery, native virtualization and container management, networking and security.

NCI Software Editions

Nutanix Kubernetes Platform

 Nutanix Kubernetes Platform Full Stack Editions

NCM Software Editions:

NCM licenses can be purchased and applied on the number of physical CPU cores capacity in your deployment. Licenses are portable across hardware platforms and are available in 1 through 5-year term options.

Nutanix Central

All tiers of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) now include Nutanix Central.

• Nutanix Central delivers a unified, cloud-based, console to manage your hybrid multicloud. Get centralized visibility across clusters and access all Nutanix products through one platform. The integrated marketplace streamlines the deployment of Nutanix and partner apps across domains. Centralized administration simplifies user, license and lifecycle management at scale.
• Customers on PnP 1.0 are entitled to Nutanix Central when they have any AOS tier license and either a Prism Pro, Prism Ultimate or Calm license.

NCM Cloud Add-ons

By default, NCM provides coverage for all Nutanix and on-prem VMWare environments, metered per core. For supporting public cloud environments using the same NCM deployment, customers should purchase appropriate NCM Cloud SKUs as add-ons. There are three public cloud focused add-ons available as SKUs- NCM Self-Service add-on for Public Cloud SKU, NCM Cost Governance SaaS SKU and NCM Security Central SaaS SKU. These add-ons are metered by the number of Virtual Machines (VM) managed in the public cloud. Note: For on-prem environments, Cost Governance is available for AHV and ESXi on AOS and Security Central is available for AHV.

NCM SaaS (Software as a Service) 

NCM is also available as a fully managed Software as Service Option. Customers can experience multi-cloud self-service, app automation, governance, and security compliance capabilities, without requiring to run any on-prem Nutanix software. The NCM SaaS offering is available to purchase as à la carte SaaS licenses for these four NCM SaaS modules:

• NCM SaaS – Operations (in development) 
• NCM SaaS – Self-Service
• NCM SaaS – Cost Governance
• NCM SaaS – Security Central
  

NCM SaaS licenses are metered by the number of Virtual Machines (VM) managed in the public cloud.

Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP) Bundles

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) and Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) can be purchased together in 3 ‘better together’ Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP) bundles:

Nutanix Unified Storage

Nutanix Unified Storage is a software-defined data services platform that consolidates file, object, and block storage services. Built on top of Nutanix Cloud Platform, Unified Storage is built for scale and performance with a rich set of advanced data services. NUS offers agility, flexibility, and simplicity to deploy and manage modern applications and services at the core, in the cloud, or edge.

Nutanix Unified Storage can be deployed in two possible ways:

• Mixed Mode: Applications and storage services run on the same cluster. When running in mixed mode, NCI or NCP licenses are needed in addition to NUS licenses.
• Dedicated Mode: Cluster is used only for storage with applications running on external servers. Only NUS licenses are needed when running in dedicated mode.

When running in dedicated mode, a max of 1 user/application VM is allowed per node in the cluster excluding any system VMs (CVM and FSVMs). If more user/application VMs are needed, the cluster must be configured in mixed mode with the appropriate NCI or NCP licenses.

Nutanix Unified Storage is licensed per usable TiB.

Nutanix Unified Storage Editions:

^{1:  A cluster has a single identity; Starter and Pro cannot be applied to the same cluster.
2: NUS licenses are not needed for Volume Groups if the storage is deployed on an NCI-Pro/Ultimate Cluster. For NCI-Starter licenses, Volume Group access is only supported for VMs running within the cluster.}

NUS Add-ons

The following optional add-on licenses are available with NUS:

• Advanced Replication add-on includes Metro File Sync Replication, Near-sync FSVM-level Replication. Advanced Replication add-on is available only with NUS Pro and is licensed per usable TiB.
• Security add-on includes Data-at-Rest Encryption (Software-based and SED). Security add-on is available with both NUS Pro and NUS Starter and is licensed per usable TiB.
• Nutanix Data Lens (NDL)
  • Data Lens Basic includes File and Object Data Analytics only. Data Lens Basic add-on is available only with NUS PRO
  • Data Lens Premium includes Ransomware Protection and Recovery, Permissions Risk Analysis, Auditing, Behavioral Analytics and Alerts, Active Risk Remediation. Data Lens Premium is available for both NUS Pro and NUS Starter

Depending on whether the cluster is deployed in mixed mode or dedicated mode, the appropriate NCI or NUS add-on license needs to be added as follows:

NDL - Software Options

Nutanix Data Lens is a SaaS-based cyberstorage solution offering ransomware resilience and global data visibility for unstructured data on Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP). This cloud-based data analytics service proactively assesses and mitigates data security risks by identifying anomalous activity, auditing user behavior, and adhering to compliance requirements. while enabling efficient data lifecycle management.

Nutanix Data Lens is currently offered through a “Freemium” licensing model, consisting of two tiers.

1. “Basic Tier” comprises limited capabilities that are available free for NUS Pro customers
2. “Premium Tier” comprises extended capabilities, including Ransomware security, and is licensed on a per TiB basis for all NUS customers.

Self-service onboarding for current Nutanix Unified Storage Customers through My Nutanix Portal

*For a limited time, NUS Pro customers may be eligible for a One Year No-Cost Premium License. Please visit www.nutanix.com/data-lens-promo for more information

Nutanix Mine Integrated Backup

Nutanix Mine is a dedicated storage platform for integrated data protection and backup solutions, providing both the compute and the storage for the data protection software to run and store its backups. 

Nutanix Mine is licensed on a per usable TiB basis. Please consult the below table to determine which Nutanix Unified Storage Tier.

Existing Mine customers with Mine v2 licenses will be migrated to United Storage Pro and current Mine v3 licenses will be migrated to NUS Starter edition. Mine v2 licenses will be converted from TiB raw to TiB usable at a 50% conversion ratio (e.g. 100 TiB RAW will be migrated to a 50 TiB usable capacity license)

Nutanix Database Service

Nutanix Database Service (NDB) is a hybrid multicloud DBaaS that makes databases a seamless part of software development while reducing the administrative burden and delivering the performance, resilience and security needed for dev, test and production workloads.  NDB is purchased and licensed on a per core basis and is available in two license forms: NDB Platform and NDB Add-on for NCI. NDB Platform includes NCI Ultimate functionality in addition to database-specific capabilities and is licensed on a per-core basis.

Nutanix Database Service (NDB) Feature Set

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure - VDI

The NCI-VDI per user model offers hybrid cloud infrastructure capabilities appropriate for on-prem virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS) use cases with pricing based on a Maximum Concurrent User basis (maximum number of concurrently powered-on end-user VMs). VDI per user is an alternative to the core-based NCI licensing option and is designed to provide simple, transparent licensing for all VDI users, regardless of the underlying hardware, hypervisor, or cloud.

• Agnostic: Works with any EUC management platform including Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops and VMware Horizon
• Term license: 6 month through 5-year options
  
  •     Term license must run on a dedicated software licensed VDI cluster with no core-based licensing. Mixing of non-VDI workloads is not supported.
• Unified Storage: Built-in and also available as a per TiB base add-on
• No additional license cost for DR site
• Portable across on-premises and public cloud, public cloud use requires Ultimate edition
• Available in Starter, Pro, and Ultimate editions
• Cloud Native and Database Service Add-ons not available with NCI VDI. Advanced Replication and Security Add-on features require NCI Ultimate edition

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure - Edge

NCI - Edge is an alternative to the core-based NCI licensing option and offers a per virtual machine pricing model appropriate for edge and remote office/branch office (ROBO) use cases.  NCI-Edge is restricted to small clusters running up to 25 concurrently powered-on VMs, with each VM limited to 96GB memory allocation. NCI-Edge provides the same hybrid cloud infrastructure capabilities and benefits as NCI in a pricing model suitable for small edge deployments..

• Term license must run on a dedicated software licensed Edge cluster with no core-based licensing. Mixing of NCI license types in a cluster is not supported.
  • Term license: 6 month through 5-year options
    
• Unified Storage: Built-in and also available as a per TiB base add-on
• Disaster Recovery sites require separate licensing.
  
• Nutanix system VMs (CVMs, PCVMs, FSVMs) do not require NCI-Edge licenses. However, non-Nutanix system VMs (e.g., vSphere vCLS) must be licensed.
• Portable across on-premises and public cloud, public Cloud deployment requires minimum Pro edition. NCI-Edge Starter is not eligible for public cloud deployment
• Available in Starter, Pro, and Ultimate editions
• Cloud Native and Database Service Add-ons not available with NCI Edge. Advanced Replication and Security Add-on features require NCI Ultimate edition

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM-Edge)

A unified IT solution for intelligent operations, self-service, security compliance and costs

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) is a hybrid multi-cloud management platform that offers Intelligent Operations, Self-Service, Cost Governance, and Security, natively with the Nutanix Platform and also through a SaaS subscription. Key features include:

• Self-service VMs and apps defined via simple blueprints, easily created and managed through GUI/CLI.
• IT lifecycle management, providing visibility, optimization, and financial control over multi-cloud deployments.
• Near real-time detection, monitoring, and remediation of security vulnerabilities and compliance issues across multiple cloud environments.

Nutanix Cloud Manager – Edge (NCM-Edge) provides the same capabilities as NCM, enabling intelligent operations, self-service, cost governance, and security for small edge and End-User-Computing (EUC) deployments. NCM-Edge is limited to a maximum of 25 VMs in a cluster, with each VM being limited to a maximum of 96GB of memory. NCM-Edge provides centralized visibility and control to seamlessly manage and connect infrastructure across edge locations, data centers, and public clouds through a single pane of glass, enabling consistent operations and governance.

Key Benefits

• Multi Site, Multi Cloud Coverage
  With support for Nutanix and VMware on-premises, AWS, Azure, and GCP clouds. 
• Broad Coverage and Ecosystem Support
  Out-of-box integration with various ITSM, IT-Sec, and automation platforms. 
• Simplicity and Ease of Use
  A 2024 IDC survey of Nutanix customers found that with NCM, customers were 52% faster in deploying new storage and 48% faster in deploying new compute, leading to an overall 26% lower cost of operations over 3 years.

Inclusion

Intelligent Operations

• NCM Intelligent Operations enables customers to optimize virtualization and infrastructure management, forecast capacity needs, proactively detect performance anomalies, and automate operational tasks with ease.

Self-Service

• NCM Self-Service empowers organizations to streamline the provisioning, scaling, and management of new or existing applications across hybrid cloud environments while maintaining control over consumption and governance.

Cost Governance

• NCM Cost Governance is a multicloud cost management service that provides visibility, optimization, and control over multicloud deployments for efficient cloud consumption. It offers essential showback and chargeback capabilities for IT teams.

Security Central

• NCM Security Central offers a single dashboard to plan, manage, and govern workload security across all cloud types without requiring deep cybersecurity expertise or additional personnel. The solution uses intelligent analysis to automate incident response and support regulatory compliance for strategic initiatives such as zero trust.