Nutanix Volumes Block Storage

Name: Nutanix Volumes Block Storage
Brand: Nutanix
Rating: 4.7 (201 reviews)

Nutanix Volumes Block Storage is a scale-out block storage service on Nutanix AOS/NCI that exposes Distributed Storage Fabric capacity as iSCSI LUNs and volume groups for shared-disk clustering, in-guest iSCSI, and CSI-based persistent volumes for container workloads.

Est 2009|Valuation $18.9B|Raised $2.3B

LinkedIn 622K|Website|Web traffic 652K|FTEs 8,350|HQ San Jose, CA

MarketsCloud Infrastructure Providers (IaaS/PaaS)

Nutanix Volumes Block Storage screenshot

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

- Nutanix Volumes and VMware vSAN are not direct substitutes: vSAN is primary storage implemented within VMware clusters, while Volumes provides block services exposed from Nutanix storage, often used for physical hosts or in-guest iSCSI/shared disk needs. The storage primitives and operational models differ and should be evaluated against operational requirements. - Pure FlashArray is a dedicated external SAN. An external array may be preferable where classic SAN operational patterns and features are required at scale; Volumes can be preferable when the objective is to avoid a separate storage silo and the organization is already standardized on Nutanix.

Competitor perspectives and market motion

Nutanix has broadened messaging beyond HCI to include integrations with external storage arrays and expanded cloud platform capabilities. Changes in vendor strategy can affect how buyers evaluate Nutanix as a storage layer versus Nutanix as management plus compute with external storage options.

	Nutanix Volumes Block Storage	VMware vSAN	Pure Storage FlashArray
Starting Price	Quote-based (generally bundled with AOS/NCI; some features may require higher-tier editions)	Quote-based / bundle-driven; public list pricing often opaque	Quote-based; pricing positioning emphasized by vendor rather than clear list price
Best For	Organizations standardized on Nutanix that need integrated block for physical or guest iSCSI and shared disks	VMware-centric environments wanting HCI storage integrated with vSphere	Organizations needing a dedicated external all-flash SAN with mature SAN operational patterns
Key Strength	Unified operations via Nutanix AOS; iSCSI exposure of DSF storage and integration with Nutanix data services	Tight vSphere integration; broad ecosystem familiarity	Purpose-built array with established SAN operational practices
Key Weakness	iSCSI operational complexity remains; Volumes-specific public reviews are limited; performance depends on Nutanix configuration	Licensing complexity and potential for pricing and packaging changes	Higher capital expectations in some segments; vendor claims require validation via quotes or PoC

01Competitive Landscape

Narrative analysis

Nutanix Volumes and VMware vSAN are not direct substitutes: vSAN is primary storage implemented within VMware clusters, while Volumes provides block services exposed from Nutanix storage, often used for physical hosts or in-guest iSCSI/shared disk needs. The storage primitives and operational models differ and should be evaluated against operational requirements.
Pure FlashArray is a dedicated external SAN. An external array may be preferable where classic SAN operational patterns and features are required at scale; Volumes can be preferable when the objective is to avoid a separate storage silo and the organization is already standardized on Nutanix.

Competitor perspectives and market motion

Nutanix has broadened messaging beyond HCI to include integrations with external storage arrays and expanded cloud platform capabilities. Changes in vendor strategy can affect how buyers evaluate Nutanix as a storage layer versus Nutanix as management plus compute with external storage options.

	Nutanix Volumes Block Storage	VMware vSAN	Pure Storage FlashArray
Starting Price	Quote-based (generally bundled with AOS/NCI; some features may require higher-tier editions)	Quote-based / bundle-driven; public list pricing often opaque	Quote-based; pricing positioning emphasized by vendor rather than clear list price
Best For	Organizations standardized on Nutanix that need integrated block for physical or guest iSCSI and shared disks	VMware-centric environments wanting HCI storage integrated with vSphere	Organizations needing a dedicated external all-flash SAN with mature SAN operational patterns
Key Strength	Unified operations via Nutanix AOS; iSCSI exposure of DSF storage and integration with Nutanix data services	Tight vSphere integration; broad ecosystem familiarity	Purpose-built array with established SAN operational practices
Key Weakness	iSCSI operational complexity remains; Volumes-specific public reviews are limited; performance depends on Nutanix configuration	Licensing complexity and potential for pricing and packaging changes	Higher capital expectations in some segments; vendor claims require validation via quotes or PoC