Why Hyper-convergence is set to go hyper

By Corey Baker, Solution Specialist, Data^#3

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the last ten years you have witnessed the rise and rise of the virtual machine. And for good reason – they deliver more bang for your buck.

Which raises the question – how do organisations keep pace with the explosion of virtual environments, manage data growth, improve back-up and server virtualisation density whilst keeping costs down, and still find time for innovation?

Is Hyper-convergence the answer?

Hyper-convergence seamlessly integrates servers and storage in a single appliance, combined with automated installation, non-disruptive scaling and a simplified user experience.

HP and VMware have joined forces to develop the HP Converged System for EVO:Rail. This is the first hyper-converged infrastructure appliance that is 100% powered by VMware software and comes fully loaded with vSphere, Log Insight, and Virtual SAN.

What are the benefits for the customer?

Firstly its built on HP’s Proliant technology which is tightly integrated with Vmware, vCentre and the vSphere ecosystem and uses the same tools and management interfaces that many customers are familiar with.

Secondly it incorporates HP’s OneView InstantON wrapper which allows you to go from opening the box to deploying your VM’s in as little as 15 minutes.

Thirdly, VSAN’s allow customers a first foray into Software Defined Storage, increasing their agility. Which, when combined with Thin Provisioning provides significant reductions in storage costs.

Finally and most importantly its modular architecture uses building blocks of compute and storage which are predictable and easily adapted to changing workloads. Each time an appliance with four nodes and 20 disks is added to the HP Converged System for EVO:RAIL cluster, the capacity, performance, and redundancy of the entire solution increases.

By drastically reducing the time and effort spent keeping your IT house in order you have more time to spend on innovation, and I find that a compelling proposition.