Why Tintri Makes The Best Foundation for Building Enterprise Clouds

So I have been putting together various VMUG presentations titled “Laying the Foundation For Your Enterprise Cloud” and I wanted to explain a little more why I believe this is a great focus for Tintri.  It also came up in a few Facebook exchanges where someone said to me, “Wow you guys are really stretching this Enterprise Cloud thing….it’s just a Storage Array!”.  Between explaining why I came to Tintri as a Cloud Architect and watching the messaging about what we do for cloud one needs to understand how “things are built”.  The coolest part about my career over the years is I actually can explain almost anything in terms of building a house or structure and guess what….that applies here.

Everything Starts With a Strong Foundation

I don’t care if we are talking fitness, houses, or clouds.  Everything really does start with a strong “base”, which is its foundation.  In my fitness world this means building up core strength where you can since this supports just about the entire body.  For anyone that’s built a house, same thing applies.  Footings go down first, then foundation walls, and only then can the rest of the structure be supported.  When it comes to building an Enterprise Cloud we all know storage is important but how Tintri does it can actually give you so much more to offer in your cloud.

What Makes Tintri More Than Just Storage – The API

We all remember Nicira back when VMware acquired them?  If many people recall I was part of a team then that was tasked with learning more about the platform.  The one major thing that started to define Nicira then and everything people talked about was the API’s.  In fact they even admitted then that the UI was horrible and nothing more than a means to call the API’s.  It truly was API first, UI second and there was actually MORE you could do with the API stack than in the UI.  This was by design, but why you ask?  The reason was simply that any operations at scale needed to be AUTOMATED, and automation is a fundamental need for any cloud.

If you are trying to build any sort of cloud, Enterprise or Public you simply must have less manual steps in place and automate as much as possible.  The Tintri API is one, if not the ONLY storage API that allows you to create automated, storage level operations.  It goes well beyond just standing up storage, presenting a LUN to the hypervisor and creating machines until you need more storage.  Below is an image I use that compares the Tintri vRealize Orchestrator level operations to other storage platforms.

Notice the machine level vs LUN level operations.  Any of these could be incorporated into cloud workflows for building better clouds or even monetizing the item.  Now, imagine a custom cloud portal that had options to “protect” a machine as part of the deployment or even attach production data, and then charge for that option without any additional work on the storage admin’s side?

That’s the kind of “above and beyond” cloud capabilities this platform brings to the table and yes it’s available today to do.  The three highlighted options above are something you will only find if you are using Tintri as the foundation for your Enterprise Cloud.

See The Difference Yourself

Look, seeing is believing.  There is a lot of noise out there in the market on storage, but if you want to see some real Enterprise Cloud level operations Tintri can find your local sales team or, heck, reach out to me.  I can help connect you with the right folks and even demonstrate some of it myself.  You can also visit Explore.Tintri.com to learn more or click the image below.  Over the coming weeks I will dive into some specific Enterprise Cloud use cases and how Tintri can dramatically improve them.

About Chris Colotti

Chris is active on the VMUG and event speaking circuit and is available for many events if you want to reach out and ask. Previously to this he spent close to a decade working for VMware as a Principal Architect. Previous to his nine plus years at VMware, Chris was a System Administrator that evolved his career into a data center architect. Chris spends a lot of time mentoring co-workers and friends on the benefits of personal growth and professional development. Chris is also amongst the first VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX#37), and author of multiple white papers. In his spare time he helps his wife Julie run her promotional products as the accountant, book keeper, and IT Support. Chris also believes in both a healthy body and healthy mind, and has become heavily involved with fitness as a Diamond Team Beachbody Coach using P90X and other Beachbody Programs. Although Technology is his day job, Chris is passionate about fitness after losing 60 pounds himself in the last few years.

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