An evolution has occurred in servers, storage, and networking.   A decade ago, different vendors provided hardware in each of these functional areas and integration could be a challenge.  Vendors began to address these silos by creating converged infrastructures which involved validated interoperability and defined implementation guides.  The vendors began working together to resolve problems and most of the finger-pointing from the past was replaced with a degree of cooperation.   Despite this resolve to work more closely together, there were still a variety of challenges with this approach.  Firmware upgrades required coordination and could lead to challenges.  Despite the validated architectures, multiple vendors were still involved in delivering the solution which meant different management interfaces.

 

Simplifying The Stack

Instead of multiple vendors with different hardware platforms, imagine consolidating the server, storage, and network functions to a single set of appliances developed by a single vendor.  Now imagine managing the entire solution from a single pane of glass.  This is the promise of hyperconvergence.  Multiple upgrades coordinated across multiple platforms can be replaced with an upgrade of a centralized software suite responsible for the entire solution.  Changes to server configurations, storage allocations, or even network connectivity made from a central management console.  With the consolidated interface, automation becomes easier than ever.

 

Making the Move

Hyperconvergence seeks to reduce complexity in deployment, simplify management, increase productivity, reduce costs, and generally make IT organizations more effective.  For all the capabilities, there are a few limitations.  One of these is the relatively small storage footprint provided by most hyperconverged vendors.  Compared to the petabyte storage environments of some enterprises, the hyperconverged clusters are in the terabytes range.  Most solutions rely on the virtualization hypervisor as a primary management component but this might not integrate in with the existing management platform.  Instead of creating consolidated management, it creates additional overhead.  Hyperconvergence may not be a one-size-fits-all solution. So where does hyperconvergence fit?  Many people are adding a hyperconverged solution to address a specific need.  Typical deployments might include a virtual desktop (VDI) deployment, creation of a standalone test/dev environment or a solution for a large branch office.  As the offerings continue to grow and mature, complete environments may soon move entirely to the hyperconverged stack. Contact us today to discuss whether hyperconvergence could be a fit for you.