Since its introduction in the late 2000s, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) has grown in popularity as an IT transformation tool.

Legacy infrastructure is generally complicated and requires time-consuming, costly management. This is often due to data and computation silos, distinct servers, and various vendors with several support points. Today’s businesses require HCI solutions that are easy to operate and maintain, allowing companies to focus on projects and activities that can accelerate business growth and transformation.

HCI combines processing, storage, and networking into a single system. The smart software that runs HCI abstracts the hardware underneath into flexible parts that can be changed to meet different business goals. The uniform interfaces made possible by the hyperconvergence of IT resources make management easier.

Top benefits of HCI

HCI simplifies deployment by using a single architecture with pre-configured nodes and a single vendor as a point of contact. HCI not only simplifies deployment, but it also simplifies IT infrastructure management. The software manages environments, makes backups easier, and provides solutions with a unified administration interface.

The software-defined infrastructure makes it simple to switch systems or add hardware without difficulty or risk. Regarding scalability, pre-defined nodes may be added or removed as needed without causing integration issues.

HCI systems are dependable as they are created with numerous nodes. An HCI cluster comprises multiple nodes that share functions to ensure the cluster’s reliability and ease of access.

Because storage and computing are close to one other, HCI enhances performance. Latency may be reduced, and SSD and HDD can be employed to accommodate differing workloads.

While an HCI platform is made up of fixed nodes, it provides excellent flexibility to accommodate various shifting workloads. Workload deployments may be automated and assembled using agile techniques. HCI gives a cloud-like experience by abstracting the underlying hardware resources and presenting them as consumable services.

With features like built-in disaster recovery and security management capabilities, an HCI platform secures organisational data. Users can also expect decreased expenditures due to the unification of hardware requirements (i.e. smaller footprint).

HCI challenges

One of the issues related to HCI operation is power consumption. HCI architectures compress a large number of workloads into a compact space, which may lead them to consume more energy than data centres were designed for. Administrators may need to rearrange their facilities to ensure appropriate power and cooling solutions are in place to meet demand, which may involve additional costs.

Businesses who use HCI frequently need help to estimate their computing and storage requirements appropriately. Based on this first evaluation, a solution is created and implemented with a predefined node configuration. The amount of storage and processing is fixed based on the original estimate. In the incident that there is an error in the assessment or demands change, the business must continue adding nodes to meet its computing or storage needs, even if one of these nodes is underused. Resources are squandered and expenses rise.

HCI has a performance cost. The scale-out distributed design demands an increase in computation capacity. CPU is shared between data services such as deduplication, compression, and applications need more nodes to give the same IOPS and performance as a three-tier system.

HPE dHCI solution

The disaggregated HCI (dHCI) solution from HPE addresses and eliminates the disadvantages associated with other HCI solutions. dHCI is designed for users that wish to grow computing and storage layers separately. The system is constructed with one of the most secure servers in the world,

HPE ProLiant. Businesses that already use this technology can instantly benefit from dHCI. This strategy has shown itself to be incredibly cost-effective in several IT projects to date.

The solution is advantageous for users who cannot readily forecast their workload. This is especially true for businesses undergoing a digital transition and cannot foresee the infrastructure demand as their business evolves. dHCI is helpful for companies of all sizes, and scaling may be accomplished with as few as two servers and as many as 100.

dHCI addresses IT workloads that fluctuate over time with the ability to grow to meet these new needs while remaining user-friendly. Its flexible, independent scalability enables businesses to scale computation and storage separately, extend over a hybrid cloud, and achieve market-leading data efficiency. The option to add only the necessary resources to meet the organisation’s goals minimises overprovisioning while allowing for growth flexibility.

HPE dHCI is robust and able to manage heavy workload applications while providing 99.9999% availability and sub-millisecond latency. With AI-powered HPE Infosight, the solution can identify impending difficulties and self-heal once they arise. Clients receive advice regarding when and how many resources a business needs and how to repurpose resources to maximise the solution. With native data mobility between on-premise and cloud storage, the system also proliferates to the cloud.

The system can scale to the cloud with native data mobility between on-premise and cloud storage. It enables clients to consume virtual machines as a service and generates substantial CAPEX savings by eliminating over-provisioning.

Consumption-based models as a component of HPE Greenlake, pay just for what is used, and the solution may be scaled up or down as needed. The HPE Greenlake architecture enables the technology to be updated when new technology is released inside the existing agreement and technological stack.

Conclusion

HCI also offers several compelling advantages, including simplicity, adaptability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Some businesses may find HCI suits their needs, HPE’s Simplivity is an intelligent, hyper-efficient HCI solution that’s optimised for edge, VDI and general virtualisation workloads.

dHCI provides businesses with the advantages of HCI and added flexibility where organisations require it. dHCI is generally more versatile and agile than its predecessor, HCI. HPE provides dHCI solutions that incorporate these benefits and can meet a wide variety of business needs. Businesses with variable workloads and use patterns may achieve exceptional operating efficiency while supplying infrastructure to match individual demands simply and expediently.

HPE Greenlake is available for clients that seek to manage and consume their infrastructure as a service. As your IT partner, we can help you investigate and implement a tailored dHCI solution for your business.