What is Hyperconverged Infrastructure? A Beginner’s Guide

Enterprise Edge

Enterprise edge environments need reliable performance and effective management. This might be across hundreds or thousands of sites, for example in energy or utilities, and often with customer-facing requirements, such as retailers.

While location count is often high, the applications being run at each are often similar if not identical, like point of sale (POS) systems or machinery sensors that are business-critical and latency-sensitive. Organizations at the enterprise edge look for economies of scale when committing to large-scale IT deployments.

Challenges

• Storing and processing data locally across many locations, often in isolated or remote environments.
• Achieving high availability and reliability at reduced costs compared to major HCI vendors, like VMware by Broadcom.
• Centralized and simplified management for all locations, with no on-site IT staff requirements.
• Consistency across performance, reliability, and data processing.

Remote and Branch Offices (ROBOs)

Remote and branch offices can be made up of roughly 10-50 locations or encompass a chain of facilities. Examples include healthcare facilities, a chain of law firms, or government organizations. These environments tend to run several workloads as each location’s exact nature may differ, in purpose and/or in size.

There is a need to reduce operating costs while also retaining the ability to store and process data locally. Additionally, ROBOs need to manage every site from one centralized system.

Challenges

• Balancing limited budgets against a need for adequate IT infrastructure.
• Maintaining systems capable of managing a variety of workloads and data locally.
• Managing every ROBO from a centralized system.
• A need for easy installation processes and straightforward maintenance.

Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs)

Small and medium businesses tend to only have one, or a small number of locations. Budgets are restricted and technical expertise can also be limited. Generally, SMBs are looking to reduce the costs of their critical hardware and software using a single, radically simple HCI solution.

Challenges

• Smaller budgets that limit the types of solution that can be deployed.
• Continuing to use older technologies that may lack features such as high availability, with upgrades often forced by failures or lack of performance or capacity
• Little or no IT expertise, requiring systems that are easy to manage, or managed remotely by a service provider.

Hyperconverged infrastructure addresses these challenges by decreasing the amount of space, IT support, and budget needed to operate. Hyperconverged infrastructure converges traditional datacenter hardware components into a single virtualized appliance, consuming a much smaller physical footprint.

It’s easy to operate, eliminating the need for specialist IT support, and is much more affordable as it decreases the amount of expensive, physical hardware needed per site. It delivers superior network performance and resiliency, as software running on each server node distributes all operating functions across the cluster.

By combining all the elements of a traditional datacenter into a single architecture, hyperconverged infrastructure helps many businesses achieve superior performance, resiliency, and protection.

1. Easy Scalability

Hyperconverged infrastructure is incredibly agile, enabling businesses to easily expand as demands increase. They can scale up or scale out their infrastructure by simply adding more nodes, or storage/compute capacity, as demand dictates.

2. Reduced Complexity

With hyperconverged infrastructure, storage, network, and computing are all virtualized, enabling operations and upgrades to be facilitated via automation and centralized management. With everything under a single umbrella, hyperconverged infrastructure removes complexities within the datacenter, allowing for simple upgrades and scaling, reducing the number of IT vendors you have to work with.

3. Improved Cost-Effectiveness

Hyperconverged infrastructure is affordable because it can run on low-cost commodity hardware, versus expensive legacy hardware used in traditional datacenter architecture. It decreases CAPEX and OPEX spending by lowering physical hardware requirements (i.e. power, cooling, space). It also reduces the need to hire specialist IT support to manage the system, which can be expensive.

Looking for a Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution?

Look no further than SvHCI. Purpose-built, dependable, and cost-effective for SMBs and the edge.

How Does Hyperconverged Infrastructure Enhance IT Efficiency?

HCI boosts IT efficiency by consolidating the traditional infrastructure components of computing, storage, and networking into a scalable, integrated software-only solution. As a result, you get greater efficiency, enhanced performance, and increased resiliency.

Additionally, you can control all of the components of HCI from a single, centralized platform. Administrative tasks become more straightforward, and it reduces the complexity of compatibility issues across multiple vendors. You can add more nodes or licenses with minimal disruption when additional resources become necessary. Application owners can then focus solely on their workloads, without worrying about the infrastructure.

Importantly, HCI is radically simple, and so these tasks can be achieved with minimal technical expertise. If you need support, your HCI vendor should offer a comprehensive support package.

Is ‘Hyperconverged Infrastructure’ Any Different to ‘Hyperconvergence’?

Hyperconverged infrastructure, or HCI, is a widely used industry term. It’s the same concept as hyperconvergence, and the terms are interchangeable.

Converged Infrastructure (CI) vs Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)?

CI is mainly hardware-based, while HCI is software-based. CI is a mostly hardware-based approach that combines resources into a single, physical appliance. Hardware and management software is pre-packaged and integrated by the vendor. It’s designed to simplify deployment for businesses. Meanwhile, HCI is a 100% software-based approach. It uses software that’s straightforward to scale as needed. All of its components are integrated, but it’s easy to add to and customize the software without any additional IT support.

Is Hyperconverged Infrastructure Scalable?

Yes, you can add capacity as needed. It’s straightforward to add nodes and expand the infrastructure to match your business needs. Traditional infrastructure, in contrast, requires large, complex storage arrays that often slow down as demands grow. Adding nodes can enable capabilities such as high availability.

Does Hyperconverged Infrastructure Simplify Storage Management?

HCI dramatically simplifies storage by unifying resources into one easy-to-manage system. As data volumes increase, traditional infrastructure often struggles with oversight and governance. HCI is a virtualized solution that consolidates everything you need into a single management layer, optimizing storage operations. It enables administrators to manage different types of workloads in a single place.

Can High-performance Applications Run on Hyperconverged Infrastructure?

Yes, HCI supports high-performance applications. Initially, it handled virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), but it now handles demanding workloads, including databases and mission-critical applications. Modern HCI architectures handle a wide range of applications, offering performance at scale similar to traditional SAN systems. These solutions are certified for major databases and enterprise applications like Oracle, SAP HANA, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Will HCI Work Well With My Existing IT Environment?

HCI integrates seamlessly with most existing IT environments. It uses standard hardware like servers and disk or flash storage, while the software handles the creation of a single, manageable system across an organization’s datacenter, public cloud, and edge environments. Although it may replace some existing infrastructure, it still fully supports critical business applications, systems, and processes. It does all of this more efficiently, saving IT teams time and effort.

Why Choose HCI vs Traditional IT Approach?

The traditional siloed approach requires specialized teams, making it harder to scale these systems as a business grows.

In contrast, HCI integrates all these core components into a unified interface. It’s a single channel for all essential functions, simplifying management and streamlining operations across a business.

What are the Advantages of Hyperconverged Infrastructure?

• Simplified management: HCI integrates computing, storage, and networking into one system, allowing management through a single interface. This reduces the need for specialized IT skills and simplifies administration.
• Easy scalability: HCI lets businesses scale quickly by adding nodes for high availability. This ensures fast infrastructure expansion with minimal downtime or disruption.
• Cost savings: HCI lowers CAPEX and OPEX by consolidating infrastructure into one system and using standard servers. Fewer components reduce power and cooling costs, making it ideal for SMBs.
• Data and storage efficiency: HCI places data close to computing resources, reducing latency and boosting performance. Features like deduplication and caching further optimize resource use.
• Increased reliability: HCI distributes data across multiple nodes, enhancing redundancy and disaster recovery. Various backup options ensure business continuity in case of issues.
• Straightforward deployment: HCI offers pre-configured hardware and software, enabling rapid and remote deployment. Systems go live quickly, often within an hour, speeding up time to value.
• Flexibility: HCI adapts to a variety of use cases, from enterprise edge environments to SMBs and remote offices. It adjusts to specific business needs without sacrificing performance.
• Built-in security: HCI includes integrated security features like backup, disaster recovery, and encryption. These provide added data protection without requiring extra hardware.
• Reduced vendor lock-in: HCI provides flexible hardware and software options, helping businesses avoid dependence on a single vendor. This reduces unnecessary costs by allowing custom choices.
• Compatibility: HCI works with existing software and hardware, avoiding costly migrations. It supports legacy applications and integrates seamlessly with current IT infrastructure.

Want an in-depth overview of the benefits of HCI? Read more about the benefits of HCI in our blog.

How Much Does HCI Cost?

By integrating storage, computing, and networking into a single system, HCI eliminates the need for costly, complex infrastructures, making it ideal for business decision-makers looking to reduce costs. It involves lower costs overall as its software-based, integrated approach eliminates the need for separate components.

Additionally, it makes for predictable future costs if you need to scale. You can add on to your HCI software as your business grows, helping not only streamline IT operations but also your budget.

Most HCI software is subscription-based. This flexible pricing strategy ensures you only pay for what your business needs, based on key components like capacity tier, number of licenses, subscription length, and additional features.

What is the ROI of Hyperconverged Infrastructure?

HCI keeps business-critical apps running smoothly, reducing risks and ensuring an uninterrupted user experience. In fact, the right HCI vendor can enable capabilities like HA with just two nodes. HCI also simplifies management and scaling, letting businesses add storage or nodes as needed, making it perfect for future growth without the hassle of traditional infrastructure. Additionally, HCI cuts costs by using standard x86 servers and reducing IT support needs, saving both time and labor.