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34 Next-Generation Hyperconverged Infrastructure For Dummies, Nutanix Special Edition These materials are © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Supporting Multiple Storage Types All HCI solutions make it possible for you to create storage solu- tions via deployment of VMs that provide those services. For example, if you need a file server, you can simply build a Windows VM, enable file services, and go on your merry way. This approach presents some problems, though. You may want something more scalable (for example, leveraging automation) and reliable without having to build a cluster of such VMs. This is where a next-generation HCI solution comes to the res- cue. Nutanix provides a storage solution for just about every need beyond serving up VMs. The architecture provides native support for file storage, object storage, and block-based storage. Named, respectively, Files, Objects, and Volumes, these services grow with you. As is the case with your VM storage, if you need more capacity for one of these storage services, you just add nodes. Why is this capability important? You may not want to run every application inside your cluster, but you still want the cluster's storage to be used as an application target. With these services, you're exposing your cluster's storage resources in a native format that enables a broad array of application support, thereby elimi- nating the need to buy alternative storage solutions that create islands of infrastructure for your different applications. Bringing Containers into the Enterprise A container is somewhat analogous to a small apartment in which a mini-application resides, generally supporting a specific task and either operating independently or as a part of a larger dis- tributed application. Kubernetes takes the analogy a bit further: A Kubernetes cluster is like a high-rise apartment complex full of containers. Now we're movin' on up! A next-generation HCI solution must support containers. This can be done in a couple of ways. The first is to deploy a VM that itself becomes a container host. The second is to use a platform that provides native container orchestration, automation, and management with integrated persistent storage services, like Nutanix with Karbon.