Is your IT department struggling with data centre sprawl, tedious manual processes, or managing outdated technology?
Are you still running traditional three-tier architectures consisting of computing, storage and networking?
While three-tier architecture has served many businesses well in the past. Three-tier architecture is expensive to build, complex to operate, difficult to scale, and can't respond quickly enough to meet today's application demands. Plus, the need for innovation and for fulfilling customer demand sees more and more companies embrace the concept of digital transformation, which requires a flexible and agile IT department.
Welcome hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI)
Back in 2009, converged technology, which combines server, storage, and networking in one system appeared for the first time. A few years later, HCI technology emerged and took consolidation to the next level with the virtualisation of server and storage layers and the orchestration between them. As a result, IT departments could integrate more hardware and workload.
According to the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), HCI is "a software-defined infrastructure approach that seamlessly combines computing, storage, and data services in a single solution running on industry-standard x86 systems with the intention of running virtualised and/or containerised workloads."
HCI has moved into the mainstream
"When Hyper-Converged Infrastructure first emerged, it was primarily pitched for high-performance workloads, or specific use cases such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure or Databases. While it is still very suitable for these high-performance workloads, as with all leading-edge technologies, HCI has moved into the mainstream," explains Ashley Steadman, Account Director at The Missing Link.
"The perception of HCI as a platform for specific use cases is not something we see anymore. These days it's common to see HCI running General Virtual Server workloads (File/Print/Applications). In fact, for most of our clients that are considering a general infrastructure refresh, HCI comes out on top as both the right technology solution and also more cost-effective."
7 compelling reasons to make a change to HCI
"As more and more is being asked of our customers' IT teams, they are looking for ways to reduce the time and effort required to maintain their server, storage, network, and virtualisation platforms. HCI reduces these efforts with software-defined redundancy, automation, and self-reporting and vendor-supported diagnosis of issues," says Ashley Steadman.
So why should you consider hyper-converged infrastructure?
- Saves you money and helps you become more agile
- Enables you to modernise your data centre, make it more resilient, and take advantage of an on-premise cloud solution protecting your data
- It's scalable because the hardware and software of the HCI are designed in lock-step, which means that neither component is exhausted when processing tasks increase
- Dramatically lowers CapEx costs, because you can scale up and down by adding or removing drives and x86 servers without disruption
- Allows you to be more responsive to the business because it requires less time and expertise for routine tasks
- Hyper-converged solutions are more reliable and perform better due to rigorous testing from the manufacturers for mission-critical workloads
- Built with the entire lifecycle of a system in mind, from deployment to upgrades, scaling, and meeting changing support needs
Need help with HCI solutions?
If you want a less complicated, less pricey, and more agile solution for your IT department, talk to our IT specialists today to learn more about using HCI as your in-house answer to cloud-computing.
From pre-sales technical guidance to installation and configuration, and ongoing support we're here to help you transform your business.
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