When it comes to IT infrastructure, managing complex systems can be a frustrating hassle. IT managers have their hands full trying to keep security and performance at required levels while also deploying new features. Silos of specialized IT skills add another level of complexity to the issue. Organizations are increasingly turning to hyperconverged solutions to simplify their IT infrastructures.
Businesses that wanted proper data security and redundancies often had to invest in their own facilities to house these server banks. This streamlined, maintenance free (for the customer) system made business owner’s lives infinitely easier. Included in the service were software updates, data backups, and server replacements–and all for about the same cost as an onsite model would provide–without paying for staff to manage it.
Following in their footsteps, thousands of other companies have since released their own “as-a-service” products like
- Software as a service
- Platform as a service
- Infrastructure as a service
And thus, the hardware-centric IT model of the past transitioned into a service-based model.
What is Hyper convergence?
Hyper convergence is the process of server integration that supports this new server-room and as-a service delivery model. It’s simplified. It’s pared down. Hyper convergence handles all of the separate components of the traditional server room and melds them into fewer devices. The ultimate goal is to reach a one piece hardware solution. Think an entire server room designed into a single device (via either circuitry or software). Think “the cloud”!
Physical Requirements for Cloud-Based Solutions
Keep in mind that the cloud does actually require physical technology. Somewhere, somebody has to maintain the server farm. An important part of the service, though, is that that very same responsibility lands with someone else. It’s a one-stop-shop. As the customer, I just want to get in and get out without spending too much money. I have a whole laundry list of other priorities that are critical to the success of my business.
So what is a hyper-converged server exactly? What could it mean for your clients? Let’s find out.
Anatomy of a Hyper-Converged Stack
Hyper-convergence is a type of infrastructure system with a software-centric architecture that tightly integrates compute, storage, networking and virtualization resources and other technologies from scratch in a commodity hardware box supported by a single vendor. It is essentially a 3rd generation level of convergence, where greater numbers of devices have been consolidated into one.
It pre-integrates all of the necessary components of server stack. These include
- Computing capacity
- Storage
- Virtualization
- Networking
- Software
One of the many reasons why Hyper-converged technology is so appealing is that it eliminates the need for manual integration.As you can imagine, this saves a lot of time. There is very little needed in order to get one of these units up and running.
How Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Benefits Companies
Keep in mind that the cloud industry is still relatively young. Experts are still ironing out some of the kinks, and security has definitely been a very public concern. Fortunately for clients, it’s not necessary to go all-in on either avenue. The vast majority of companies currently leveraging cloud technology have “hybrid enterprises”. Meaning, some of their infrastructure may be on local hardware, while the rest lives in the cloud.
All of that said, there are some great advantages to cloud technology and we expect to see more and more businesses push all of their requirements into the cloud. Some of the main benefits your company can expect from making the switch to a hyper-converged or cloud-based stack are faster workload deployments, fewer intricacies, more efficient operation, less expensive, fast recovery during disasters, private cloud infrastructure and more.