What Nexenta Systems does

Nexenta Systems, founded in 2005 by Alex Aizman and Dmitry Yusupov, is a privately-held software-defined storage (SDS) vendor that builds its platform on the ZFS file system with open source roots in the Illumos, OpenSolaris, and OpenStorage codebases. The company's core product is NexentaStor, an enterprise SDS platform that provides unified file, block, and object storage supporting NFS, SMB, and iSCSI protocols, with inline data reduction, unlimited snapshots, and high-performance replication. The portfolio is 100% software-based and hardware-agnostic, deployable as a bare-metal appliance, virtual storage appliance (VSA), or as a SaaS instance on AWS via NexentaCloud. Supporting products include NexentaFusion (centralized management and analytics), NexentaEdge (scale-out block/object for OpenStack), NexentaConnect (VDI acceleration for VMware Horizon), and the NexentaStor MetroHA stretch cluster solution. The company holds 50 patents in SDS technology and has grown to manage nearly 2,000 petabytes of storage across 3,000-6,000 customers globally.

Nexenta makes money primarily through software licensing (perpetual and subscription models) and recurring enterprise support subscriptions, with additional revenue from training and certification programs. Pricing is quote-based for enterprise editions, with a free Community Edition and 45-day enterprise trial available for evaluation. The go-to-market is partner-led through the Nexenta Partner Program (NPP), engaging 300+ VARs, system integrators, and service providers, supplemented by direct enterprise sales, a presence in AWS Marketplace for self-service cloud deployment, and an active open source community (Illumos.org) with 45,000+ members. Strategic technology alliances span hardware OEMs (Dell, Cisco, HPE, Lenovo, Supermicro, Fujitsu), hypervisor platforms (VMware Elite Partner status, Red Hat OpenStack certification), and global systems integrators (notably Wipro, which launched an Open Data Center Centre of Excellence). Major customer segments include multi-cloud enterprises, 5G telcos (T-Mobile, Vodafone, KDDI, Telstra, Optus, Orange, Millicom, Wind), education and research institutions, healthcare providers, and government agencies. Nexenta is a subsidiary of DDN (Data Direct Networks), operating as 'Nexenta by DDN', and is headquartered in San Jose, California with 101-250 employees.

Name

Nexenta Systems

Legal name

Nexenta Systems, Inc.

Website

https://nexenta.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Nexenta Systems is a privately-held software-defined storage vendor, founded in 2005 and now a subsidiary of DDN, that provides hardware-agnostic unified file, block, and object storage built on the ZFS file system for multi-cloud enterprises, 5G telcos, service providers, and public sector organizations worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Software-Defined Storage

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Storage Virtualization & Software-Defined Storage (SDS) (HDABAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Cloud Networking & SDN/NFV Management (HDABABAK), NFV Infrastructure (NFVI) (HDAFANAB)

Keywords

• Software-defined storage
• Enterprise storage solutions
• Unified file block storage
• Cloud storage software
• ZFS-based storage

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Clara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Nexenta derives revenue from software licensing of its SDS platform (NexentaStor, NexentaFusion, NexentaCloud). Software is sold as perpetual license or subscription with enterprise support. Multiple deployment options (bare-metal, VSA, SaaS) provide flexibility in licensing structure.
2. Enterprise Support & Services: Comprehensive 24x7 global enterprise-class support and services, including case severity categories and premium support offerings beyond standard maintenance.
3. Training & Certification: Customer and partner training programs including Certified Nexenta Storage Operator instructor-led courses and certifications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Nexenta Systems develops and sells software-defined storage (SDS) solutions built on the ZFS file system with open source roots in the Illumos/OpenSolaris communities. The portfolio includes NexentaStor (unified file, block, and object storage), NexentaFusion (centralized management and analytics), NexentaCloud (enterprise NAS on AWS), and NexentaEdge (scale-out SDS for OpenStack). Software is delivered as bare-metal appliance, Virtual Storage Appliance, or multi-cloud SaaS, eliminating vendor hardware lock-in for enterprise customers.

Product overview

Nexenta Systems offers a portfolio of 100% software-defined storage solutions designed for enterprise multi-cloud environments. The core offering centers on NexentaStor, available as a bare-metal appliance, Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) for VMware/hypervisor deployment, or cloud-based instance. NexentaFusion provides unified centralized management and analytics for both on-premises NexentaStor and cloud-based NexentaCloud deployments, enabling hybrid cloud management from a single pane of glass. NexentaEdge extends the portfolio with scale-out block and object storage for OpenStack environments. The solutions support NFS, SMB, iSCSI, and object protocols with inline data reduction, high-performance replication, and enterprise data protection features. Nexenta's portfolio can be deployed as bare-metal hardware appliance, virtual storage software appliance, on virtual machine or container, or as multi-cloud Software as a Service (SaaS).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NexentaStor Full-featured enterprise software-defined storage platform providing unified file, block, and object storage services with inline data reduction, unlimited snapshots, high-performance replication, and MetroHA stretch cluster support. Supports NFS, SMB, and iSCSI protocols. Available as bare-metal appliance, virtual storage appliance, or cloud-based SaaS.
• NexentaFusion Centralized storage management and analytics platform providing single-pane-of-glass administration for NexentaStor and NexentaCloud deployments across on-premises and cloud environments, with REST-based APIs for automation.
• NexentaCloud Enterprise NAS solution running on Amazon Web Services, bringing NexentaStor capabilities to the public cloud for hybrid cloud deployments, available through AWS Marketplace with one-click deployment via NexentaFusion.
• NexentaEdge Scale-out block and object storage solution purpose-built for OpenStack clouds, providing cluster-wide inline deduplication and compression with instant VM image snapshots and clones via Cloud Copy on Write.
• NexentaStor Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) Virtual machine deployment of NexentaStor that runs on VMware, Hyper-V, or other hypervisors, providing enterprise storage capabilities without dedicated hardware. Available in Small (4TB), Medium (16TB), and Large (32TB) configurations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50-80% lower TCO compared to proprietary storage vendors
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers39 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationAWS provides the public cloud infrastructure for NexentaCloud, Nexenta's enterprise NAS solution running on AWS. NexentaCloud is available in AWS Marketplace with one-click deployment options. Partnership enables hybrid cloud storage deployments with NexentaFusion management.
• CiscocoreTechnology or IntegrationCisco and Nexenta partner on software-defined storage and hyperconverged infrastructures on Cisco data center fabric. Joint solutions include validated reference architectures and Cisco HyperFlex integration with NexentaStor VSA.
• Dell (including Dell EMC)coreTechnology or IntegrationNexenta and Dell team up to deliver cost-effective, highly flexible, massively scalable storage to enterprise customers. Dell PowerEdge storage array servers combined with PowerVault backup powered by NexentaStor SDS.
• HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)coreTechnology or IntegrationHP and Nexenta partner to deliver validated storage solutions based on NexentaStor and HP servers. Technology collaboration provides validated solutions and peace of mind for customers.
• LenovocoreTechnology or IntegrationCompanies working together to introduce solutions integrating Nexenta's award-winning SDS with Lenovo x86 servers and joint go-to-market. Both scale-up and scale-out reference architectures on all-flash, hybrid, and spinning media.
• SupermicrocoreTechnology or IntegrationSuperMicro and Nexenta strategic partnership offers comprehensive SDS running on global leader in high-performance and high-efficiency server technology.
• FujitsucoreTechnology or IntegrationNexenta and Fujitsu team up to deliver high-performance, cost-effective SDS platform running on Fujitsu hardware with unified file and block storage services from tens of TB to petabyte configurations.
• VMwarecoreTechnology or IntegrationNexenta is a VMware Elite Partner and NexentaStor is VMware Ready Certified. Integration includes vCenter plugin, VVOLs support, and NexentaStor VSA certified for VMware vSAN. Partnership enables NAS capabilities for vSAN environments.
• Red HatcoreTechnology or IntegrationNexenta is a member of Red Hat Connect for Technology Partner Program and has achieved Red Hat OpenStack Platform certification. Open source drivers for Nexenta products are part of OpenStack integration testing framework.
• SeagatecoreTechnology or IntegrationAlliance partner collaborating to offer data center-ready, leading edge enterprise storage technologies with maximum performance and value. Joint certification and validation of all-flash requirements.
• HGST (Western Digital)coreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership developing agile infrastructure for modern digital business. Enterprise Strategy Group solution showcase featuring Scott Sinclair discussing SDS benefits and Nexenta-HGST collaboration.
• SanDisk (Western Digital)coreTechnology or IntegrationTechnical collaboration spans Nexenta scale-up and scale-out SDS products and SanDisk portfolio of flash technologies including SSDs and InfiniFlash all-flash storage system. Joint webcast at Gartner conference with Supermicro and Wipro.
• WiprocoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWipro, a global IT consulting and outsourcing company, has a tight-knit relationship with Nexenta offering leading companies ability to deliver complete open-source-driven software-defined enterprise at unprecedented scale. Wipro launched first-of-its-kind Open Data Center Centre of Excellence with SDI theme. Partnership extends to leveraging each other's services and solutions to deliver best-of-breed technologies.
• ZeroStackcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of fully integrated private cloud solution combining ZeroStack Intelligent Cloud Platform with Nexenta data integrity and scale for pre-tested, integrated, fully-supported private cloud deployments.
• OpenStack FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNexenta participates in OpenStack projects including Cinder (block storage), Manila (file storage), and Swift (object storage). Delivered first commercially available open source-based block storage driver for Cinder.
• Illumos CommunitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen source community collaboration through Illumos.org. Nexenta pioneered components of Linux with ZFS, OpenSolaris and OpenStorage codebases. Community with 45,000+ members one of the strongest and most vibrant open source storage communities.
• TintriminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNexenta partner program has merged with Tintri partner program. More information available at tintri.com/partners/.
• DDN (Data Direct Networks)flagshipOthersNexenta is now Nexenta by DDN following acquisition/partnership. Copyright shows 'Nexenta by DDN, Inc.' Parent company DDN is a leading provider of enterprise big data storage systems.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• NetApp: NetApp is a major enterprise storage vendor with ONTAP unified storage; competes with NexentaStor for enterprise workloads and offers its own cloud-integrated storage services.
• Nutanix: Nutanix delivers hyperconverged infrastructure with integrated software-defined storage, competing with NexentaStor VSA for enterprise virtualization and private cloud workloads.
• Pure Storage: Pure Storage offers all-flash and software-defined storage (Portworx for containers), competing with NexentaStor all-flash performance positioning in enterprise and cloud-native markets.
• VMware vSAN (Broadcom): VMware's vSAN is a hyperconverged/SDS solution integrated with vSphere, competing with NexentaStor VSA for VMware-centric customers; broader product portfolio and now under Broadcom.

Direct peers

• Cloudian: Cloudian provides software-defined object storage with S3 compatibility, targeting enterprises and service providers — directly comparable to Nexenta's unified file/block/object SDS portfolio.
• Scality: Scality delivers software-defined object and file storage for petabyte-scale enterprise and telco workloads, competing head-to-head with NexentaStor and NexentaCloud for multi-cloud and telco use cases.
• DataCore Software: DataCore offers software-defined storage and block-storage virtualization solutions for enterprise data centers, directly competing with NexentaStor on hardware-agnostic unified storage.
• Red Hat (Gluster Storage / Red Hat Ceph Storage): Red Hat offers open-source-driven software-defined storage (Gluster for file, Ceph for block/object) and is one of Nexenta's most direct competitors in the open SDS space, both serving enterprise and telco cloud deployments.

Emerging players

• Quobyte: Quobyte provides software-defined storage for HPC, AI, and enterprise use cases, an emerging player with overlapping SDS positioning to Nexenta's high-performance scale-out storage.
• MinIO: MinIO provides S3-compatible software-defined object storage popular in Kubernetes and cloud-native environments, an emerging alternative to Nexenta's object storage offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nexenta
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NexentaVideos
• Facebookfacebook.com/nexenta
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nexenta-systems

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds11 records

Investors19 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nexenta Systems