GreenOps - Nutanix: Waste reduction through radically simplified infrastructure

Transcending the 3-tiered model

Our own pedigree (or, let’s say validated track record) in this arena stems from the sustainability credentials achieved through the architectural advantage of Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) over traditional 3-tier systems, by which we obviously mean the traditional triumvirate of compute, storage and networking.

So let’s break down what we have to work with if we move forward here.

Firstly, we can look at consolidation i.e. by collapsing compute, storage and networking into a single platform, organisations significantly reduce their physical datacentre footprint. This is a prime mover efficiency play; computing rarely succeeds when it trades on tradition and hangs onto the past… and we ourselves are constantly looking at our own stack to identify areas that could benefit from reinvention. People talk about embracing so-called “modern cloud” services as part of a progressive approach to GreenOps – and that’s precisely what organisations will get here.

Let’s also consider key metrics. Through consolidation, customers can achieve up to 70% reduction in rack space and 50% reduction in energy consumption compared to legacy systems. They can also do more with less i.e. there is a direct link between sustainability and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), so lower power and cooling requirements mean lower operational costs, making the Green in GreenOps extremely evident.

Visibility & measurement

Let’s then look at visibility & measurement (which really are the Ops in GreenOps if you will), no organisation can manage what it cannot measure. Nutanix empowers IT teams to operationalise sustainability through carbon transparency. This is because the Nutanix Cloud Platform (specifically Prism Ops/Nutanix Cloud Manager) provides visibility into power consumption and carbon emissions, allowing admins to measure their environmental impact directly.

We can also talk about eliminating waste. Tools like Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) help identify “zombie” Virtual Machines (ones that languish powered on, but unused) and over-provisioned resources, allowing teams to right-size workloads and cut unnecessary energy usage.

Hybrid cloud choice & flexibility

We always say that hybrid multicloud is an enabler for sustainability strategies. Think about workload mobility. Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) allows customers to move workloads dynamically to public clouds or regions that use cleaner energy sources e.g. moving a workload to a region powered by hydro or wind.

Organisations should always think about avoiding lock-in. The “freedom of choice” factor very much extends to energy; so customers should never be locked into a single provider’s energy mix and can choose partners (like OVHcloud or specific AWS regions) that align with their corporate ESG goals.

Finally, almost, for now, there is the question of making sure that a business pursues a hardware agnostic approach to all IT instances and dovetails that with lifecycle management consideration. That means an end to rip-and-replace and that’s something we ourselves are good at i.e. because Nutanix is software-defined, it often allows customers to extend the life of existing hardware or repurpose servers, delaying e-waste.

Cloud complexity conquered

It’s a complicated road ahead… and cloud computing is often said to be getting even more complex in the era of Kubernetes, with the responsibility to shoulder agentic AI scaling as well. A key way to prepare for the road ahead is to ensure a company’s IT function is consistently able to support the most efficient hardware.

As hardware vendors release more energy-efficient servers (e.g. new CPU generations, liquid cooling and so on), Nutanix software can run on them immediately, allowing customers to upgrade efficiency without changing their operating model.

In summary, Nutanix enables GreenOps by radically simplifying infrastructure. By moving from complex 3-tier legacy systems to a unified hybrid cloud platform, customers typically reduce their energy and carbon footprint by 50% while gaining the visibility to measure, optimise and report on their sustainability goals.”