Nowadays, hyperconvergence is at the forefront of client demand. Hyperconvergence, which is supported by virtualization technology, is progressively gaining traction in the IT sector. In this article, we will walk through two concepts:

  • Converged Infrastructure
  • Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Let's dive deeper into these infrastructure journeys.

What is non converged architecture?

A traditional non converged infrastructure requires the server, networking components, and storage to be installed and combined separately. A separate IT team would usually be in charge of running a specific component, which could be costly and cumbersome.

In non converged infrastructure, physical servers execute a virtualization hypervisor that handles all virtual machines (VMs) built on the server. There are three possibilities for data storage:

  • Storage-area network (SAN)
  • Direct Attached Storage (DAS)
  • Network Attached Storage (NAS)

Let's now talk about CI and HCI in detail.

Computing, data storage, networking, and server virtualization are all aspects of infrastructure components. All four of these serve different purposes. For a specific number of files and other characteristics, the vendors would choose a particular method of storing.

The core IT solutions are converged infrastructure (CI) and hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI).

Converged Infrastructure (CI)

Converged infrastructure (CI) is a technology that combines different IT components such as servers, data storage devices, network equipment, and IT infrastructure management, automation, and business process applications to build a single optimal computing solution.

Server modules are delivered in a compact set of hardware in this infrastructure strategy. This implies that your IT staff will only need to work with one provider for support. You'll also avoid investing in a significant amount of physical space for a wide range of hardware-CI is a one-box solution system.

How Does HCI Work?

The whole data center stack, including computing, storage, networking, and virtualization, is achieved with hyperconverged systems. You can replace a traditional, time-consuming, and costly infrastructure with a platform that operates on turnkey servers (the industry standard) and enables businesses to begin growing from node to node. For exceptional performance and resiliency, software running on each server node distributes all operational functions throughout the cluster.

The Key Benefits of Converged Infrastructure:

  • Converged infrastructure provides the significant benefit of scalability and brings new services by streamlining installations, confirming setups, and improving efficiency.
  • Reducing time for recurrent installation operations and system testing can save costs.
  • Defining modular configurations that simplify deployments enables new service launch speed and agility.

Point in case:

Converged infrastructures are appropriate for businesses that require a high level of control over each component of their IT infrastructure, as each element can be "fine-tuned" alone. They may also be a suitable match for major organizations updating their whole infrastructure because they eliminate the need to search the market and buy each component separately.

Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)

In contrast, a hyperconverged infrastructure is an architectural concept in which IT infrastructure components such as servers, storage, virtual machines, and networking are combined into a single software-defined system.

The distinct infrastructure components are completely isolated from the hardware in this approach, allowing for centralized administration and monitoring. As a result, your whole IT infrastructure can be controlled, configured, scaled, automated, and monitored through a single control user interface.

HCI involves virtualized computing (a hypervisor), software-defined storage, and virtualized networking (software-defined networking).

HCI typically runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers.

Since storage is now solely a software service, there's no need in the hyper-converged infrastructure for pricey storage area network (SAN) or network-attached storage (NAS) hardware. Instead, you can utilize less costly hardware since the hypervisor convergence software manages it.

The Key Benefits of Hyperconverged Infrastructure:

  • Compared to traditional infrastructure, hyperconverged infrastructure provides more ease of use, flexibility, adaptability, and data protection (thanks to virtualization).
  • Integrated storage, servers, and networking devices are intended to be managed as a single entity across all HCI implementations.
  • HCI environments save money in the following areas:
    • Power and space in a data center
    • Management Efficiency
    • Scalability
    • Data Protection

Use case:

Small and medium businesses that require HCI infrastructure can be easily maintained by two IT people that are economical, flexible, and agile.

The significant distinction between converged infrastructure (CI) and hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is that when using HCI, both the storage area network and the internal storage abstractions are implemented virtually (at or through the hypervisor) rather than physically in hardware. All software-defined aspects are implemented within the framework of the hypervisor.

How do we select infrastructure between converged and hyperconverged platforms?

  • Converged infrastructure makes deploying physical resources such as computation, network, and storage resources easier. The purpose of hyperconverged infrastructure solutions is the same, but the implementation is different. Although particular implementations and definitions vary, hyperconverged infrastructure is comprised of software-defined computation, storage, and networking. Converged infrastructure is less adaptable, agile, and expandable than hyperconverged infrastructure.
  • Converged infrastructures are more common among businesses that need to scale their systems swiftly and wish to spend less per unit of growth. However, many organizations opt for hyper-converged infrastructure for life cycle and cloud apps, big data analytics, and app developments.
  • Another significant difference between converged infrastructure and HCI is the rack system. Converged infrastructure is a big rack space platform that combines computation, storage, and networking into a single package. However, HCI includes 1U or 2U (rack-unit) systems with local storage.
  • Though both CI and HCI address multi-tiered IT infrastructure issues, they differ. CI is hardware-based, whereas HCI is software-based. Since CI is made up of several hardware components, it may be disassembled and utilized as a stand-alone device. Since HCI involves software, all of the elements must be handled together. They're generally less customizable, and users give up some control over what they get from the initial implementation.

Adding the "Hyper" to Convergence:

The first step is to understand the differences and know some of the benefits. HCI and CI are the two fundamental corporate network solutions for scalability and administration. Compared to converged infrastructure, hyperconverged infrastructure is a rapidly increasing and valuable technological sector in today's IT industry.

Posted in IT Infrastructure Transformation