the nutanixist 08: Is it simple because it’s simple, or because it’s always engineered to be simple? A parable about ARM and Nutanix, or why Paul Graham is right.

Very early on in my career, I read this post by Paul Graham, https://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html which argued that software architecture matters. He observed that choosing the right technology could put you on a profoundly different curve. I have always looked for such examples. Those create permanent curves, not transitory ones.

Years ago, while at Juniper, I investigated ARM processors as replacements for x86 processors in high-performance tasks.

I consulted hardware architects and CPU experts, who agreed that ARM consumed less power due to its limited features and said that as its capabilities expanded, power consumption would increase.

This was reassuring until I spoke with a kernel expert who pointed out that the Mac’s power advantage came from macOS’s design, which intentionally reduced power use per task. His analysis was credible.

When Apple released the M1-4 laptops, I tested this hypothesis. Indeed, macOS outperforms Windows PCs and surpasses x86 laptops in power efficiency.

In summary, Apple engineered a system with a fundamentally different power utilization curve than Windows, meaning Microsoft would need significant re-engineering to compete.

VMware customers often wonder about Nutanix’s simplicity. Is the system simple because it is genuinely simple, or is it engineered to be simple even as capability grows?

Many have faced the vSphere complexity curve. In 2015, deploying vSphere was so challenging that VMware engineering spent nine years improving the upgrade and lifecycle on ESX and vCenter. While vSphere can be as simple as Nutanix, VCF is not as simple as NCI.

Is Nutanix simple because it is simple? I thought so, but I was mistaken.

Nutanix’s architecture removes complexity. It features a distributed database per control plane in user space, with separate data, management, and control planes. This database is scoped to a single or multiple clusters (Prism Central).

The database functions as the data path and control plane interface, allowing Nutanix systems to switch data paths without sacrificing control features. Moreover, since the data path works in user space, it can be adapted to Kubernetes.

This is simplicity by design.

The architecture is cloud native because the founders were from Google. A cloud-native application is a distributed database with microservices, precisely what Nutanix is. Adding more management and control plane features can be done as quickly as with any modern application, and by design, the system scales. Porting the system is straightforward. And the proof is in the results.

The team quadrupled Prism Central’s scale in a few years, rebuilt the Networking Control plane, and added support for external storage and Kubernetes.A company a 5th the size of pre-Broadcom VMware to deliver a system with a comparable feature set to VCF.