The hot new thing in data centers is… hardware. But with a different twist.
Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) is next wave of converged infrastructure (CI), providing even better efficiencies of scale, management and cost through software-defined networking, storage and computing. It’s also the fastest-growing segment in the integrated systems market according to Gartner (with whom we’re inclined to agree), more than doubling from $2 billion to $5 billion over the next few years.
What exactly is the difference between converged and hyper-converged infrastructure? CI appliances consist of discrete, enterprise-class blades, storage arrays and network switches. HCI appliances support virtualized servers, storage and networking all in one server appliance. You can think of HCI as Neapolitan ice cream; instead of having to search for the best vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors independently (i.e., best of breed), you get them all in a single box.
To scale HCI, you add another appliance of virtual server, storage and networking to the existing HCI cluster – just like buying another box of Neapolitan ice cream. Once the HCI cluster is powered up, HCI uses a software-defined infrastructure that allows you to assign networking, storage and computing resources in any configuration as they’re needed.
That said, there are more than a few purveyors of HCI on the market today, so how do you know which one is the right choice? Here are five key features to look for:
- Simple to use. Data centers are heterogeneous by nature, and the last thing that IT departments want is another layer of management or complexity. Some systems require their own management system. Others, such as HPE, can leverage the same management interface (HPE OneView) as your existing converged and virtualized infrastructure.
- Self-provisioning capabilities. IT departments are competing with the public cloud and its simple, self-provisioning capabilities. Nobody wants to wait weeks while the storage and networking teams find the time to spin up resources; everybody wants more capacity on demand. Some HCI solutions (including HPE again) offer simple self-provisioning, others don’t.
- Hybrid cloud support. HCI doesn’t displace the cloud in the data center, it complements it by providing a secure, scalable, on-premise platform. Enterprise should look for HCI solutions that support the major cloud platforms (e.g., Amazon, Microsoft) so workloads can move seamlessly between the data center and the public cloud, or even provide a public cloud experience in the data center.
- Flexibility. While HCI is inherently flexible, enterprises still need to be cautious about a one-size-fits-all mentality. Vendors that offer different HCI solutions give their customers an advantage by allowing them to customize the experience. For example, HPE offers different models of HCI appliances, such as the Hyper Converged 380, which provides 4X the drive capacity for bigger workloads and built-in graphics processors for desktop virtualization and other graphics-intensive applications.
- Low cost. History suggests that hardware is more expensive than moving apps into the cloud, but HCI is changing history. In the five-year TCO studies that we run for our customers, HCI is often significantly cheaper than the cloud, sometimes by a magnitude of four or more.
Separating hyper-converged from the hype can be difficult. To find out whether HCI is right for your data center, talk to Rolta AdvizeX about our technology assessments and advisory services. ▪
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