What is ZStack?

Alibaba Cloud ZStack is the next-generation open-source cloud computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) software.

Designed for intelligent data centres of the future, it provides a complete set of APIs to flexibly manage resource such as computing, storage, and networks. You can use it to set up various cloud environments, such as Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Which HCI should you choose?

How can you cut costs?

ZStack, VMware and Nutanix address the issue of deficient traditional architecture by increasing the efficiency of available resources and simplifying the management processes. All three are infrastructure solutions (HCI) which look to integrate processing, network, memory and storage in the same cluster or container.

Both also feature single data stores where all disks of each nodes are joined and presented to all the hosts that are apart of the cluster, allowing for scalable growth.

Nutanix, unlike VMware, features the ability to choose hardware and virtualization platforms that best suit each business platform. With this, Nutanix does not require additional licensing and does not rely on a network solution which reduces cost on infrastructure and skilled labour. In contrast, VMware requires additional licensing if infrastructure is not already VMware-based as vSAN is built into vSphere, specific licensing is needed to use the software.

Cost-Benefit can undoubtedly be a determining factor between choosing between Nutanix and VMware for many companies. As we outweigh the pros and cons of each, both are very complete tools that excel differently by factoring an enterprise's business scenario. The newly rising competitor, being Alibaba Cloud ZStack, offers many advantageous software features at an significantly inexpensive price point compared to its competitors.

More about Alibaba Cloud ZStack