Can HCI Deliver?

Can HCI deliver an architecture that enables IT professionals to overcome the four most significant challenges facing mid-sized data centers? IT professionals need to evaluate if their current infrastructure or a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) can overcome these challenges:

1. Reducing Costs
2. Simplifying Operations
3. Improving Ransomware Recoverability
4. Finding a VMware Alternative

That is a lot to overcome! This article will discuss how HCI fares in helping IT overcome the first two of these four challenges and compare it to an alternative, ultraconverged infrastructure (UCI). We’ll follow this article up in a few days with an article that covers how HCI and UCI compare in helping IT overcome the third and fourth challenges.

On the surface, hyperconverged infrastructure (HC) appears well suited to enable IT to overcome these challenges. Still, it often falls short when IT professionals examine the technology more closely. IDC recently reported that over half of the organizations considering HCI ultimately choose a legacy three-tier architecture.

VergeIO recognizes the shortcomings of HCI and addresses them with VergeOS. The software was recently selected by IT analyst firm DCIG as one of the top HCI solutions on the market. It is a breakthrough technology that, instead of bundling the legacy IT stack (networking, servers, storage) as separate components onto a server, integrates them into a single piece of software, creating an ultraconverged infrastructure (UCI). As a result, it moves beyond HCI, creating a very efficient architecture that enables IT to use its existing hardware while increasing workload density thanks to improved performance.

To learn more about the VergeOS architecture, watch this architecture deep dive LightBoard session with VergeIO CTO and Founder Greg Campbell.

How to Reduce IT Infrastructure Costs

The current economy is leading to the flattening or even shrinking of IT Budgets. However, the demand for IT resources and services continues to increase. IT leaders must find ways to reduce costs while keeping up with user and organizational demands. One of the best ways to reduce costs is to increase the effectiveness of the existing hardware investment by using more efficient software.

Suppose the underlying infrastructure software, which controls and manages storage, virtualization, and the network, can be more efficient. In that case, the current hardware investment can support higher workload density and extend its useful life for years, thereby canceling or delaying upcoming server and storage refresh projects.

Can HCI Deliver Reduced Costs?


Most HCI solutions do not lower costs. In fact, many increase costs. Additionally, HCI solutions often require that the customer buy new, more powerful hardware. After all, that hardware performs two or three functions, offering storage, virtualization, and networking services.

While HCI solutions use the excuse of running these three services as justification for requiring an additional hardware purchase, the reality is that most HCI solutions are only offering storage services. They borrow the hypervisor from another vendor, typically VMware, and provide almost no value-added network services.

As a result, most HCI solutions are essentially software-defined storage (SDS) products squeezed into a virtual machine (VM). Running as VMs, they run inside the borrowed hypervisor. The problem is that this approach increases inefficiency instead of improving it. The overhead of the hypervisor, the virtualization tax, impacts all storage I/0.

The overhead of running storage services as a VM is why vendors need to propose new hardware or require strict hardware compatibility lists to hide the impact of the virtualization tax.

Can UCI Deliver Reduced Costs?

An ultraconverged solution, like VergeOS, on the other hand, integrates storage, virtualization, and networking services into a single piece of software, creating an efficient data center operating system (DCOS). After converting to VergeOS, customers consistently see significant performance improvements that enable them to increase workload density and extend the useful life of the hardware. With UCI, a customer can delay and maybe even cancel upcoming server purchases. VergeOS is also significantly less expensive than the incumbent software stack. The combination of affordability and efficiency leads to dramatic upfront savings and lower total cost of ownership. Read how VergeOS helps you overcome the challenge of aging IT hardware.

The UCI solution also eliminates buying expensive, separate all-flash arrays or proprietary network hardware. Verge OS provides complete storage services, like global in-line deduplication and extensive layer 2 and 3 networking functionality.

How to Simplify IT Infrastructure Operations

Simplifying operations requires products that are easier to learn and interact with and a reduction in the number of products that IT is expected to manage. That simplification must go beyond what HCI claims to offer, converging networking, virtualization, and storage. Each of these layers usually has multiple products within them. Most companies have more than one model and brand of server, and most also have more than one storage system installed.

However, the modern IT infrastructure stack is more than the traditional three layers of networking, computing, and storage. There are also additional layers like on-premises data protection (backup, snapshots, clones), retention (backup, archive), and disaster recovery preparedness (storage replication, hypervisor replication, and ad-hoc backups of configuration files).

All these layers require that IT learn, monitor, and troubleshoot them. It also means they must carefully orchestrate patches of these different products as well as the interaction of those patches with all the other products installed.

Can HCI Simplify Operations? 


HCI does not reduce the number of products in use. It only changes their form. Instead of a standalone storage system, HCI uses storage inside the nodes powering the virtualized applications. However, the software that manages that storage is still separate from the virtualization layer.

The networking layer is also separate. The HCI solution may use a different software solution or insist that the customer continue to use proprietary network hardware. The data protection, retention, and disaster recovery processes are also each driven by separate software and hardware.

Each layer is a separate code base that needs to be learned, managed, supported, and maintained. Patching is as problematic within HCI as in the legacy three-tier architecture. The complexity of the HCI environment requires a never-ending demand for specialized training and certifications on each of the various products in use.

Can UCI Simplify Operations?

UCI solutions, like VergeOS, not only eliminate the need for separate storage, virtualization, and networking software but can also eliminate the need for separate data protection, data retention, and disaster recovery software. It is all built-in. Even dreaded tasks like patching are simple with VergeOS. There is one component to patch, and patches are applied non-disruptively. IT does not need to worry about the impact of a patch on other components because there is only one component.

Any IT professional, regardless of their experience level or area of specialization, can use VergeOS. Most IT administrators can grasp the basics of VergeOS in less than an hour and achieve an expert level of confidence and proficiency soon after. Most VergeIO customers manage their entire infrastructure with one or two team members.

Next

In our next entry, we will go through the remaining two challenges; improving ransomware recoverability and finding a VMware alternative. In the meantime, you can watch our on-demand webinar with the analyst firm DCIG and VergeIO, where we cover these challenges, plus three more. Click here for email-only registration.