Cloud computing has carved a niche in the IT industry and is growing at a fast rate. Organizations have started to realize that they could get a lot more out of their infrastructure by moving to off-premises cloud solutions. They also realized that managing multiple servers, virtual machines, networks, and storage devices using this approach is not cost-effective or practical.

One solution that seems to appeal to all parties involved in this paradigm shift is hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). This post examines how IT infrastructure and management can be simplified by (HCI).

Benefits Of Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI)

Simple Deployment

HCI helps IT organizations modernize their infrastructure by simplifying the deployment process and reducing the costs associated with managing traditional data center environments.

By standardizing on a common platform, HCI eliminates the need to purchase multiple silos of hardware and software licenses, which can save organizations a lot of time and thousands of dollars.

HCI simplifies management because it’s easier to deploy and manage than traditional data centers or SDDCs because there are fewer components in each system. There are no separate systems for backup, replication, or storage.

Single Source For Support

The need for a single source for support is a common challenge for organizations. In the past, IT infrastructure was managed by different teams and there was no centralized support structure that could be accessed from any location.

Today’s modern IT infrastructure requires new levels of integration and collaboration between teams to ensure that systems are running smoothly and efficiently. This can be challenging for IT departments who must balance the desire to have complete control with the need for access to critical resources.

HCI provides a solution that allows an organization to cut down on costs, improve productivity, and increase security while also giving IT staff more flexibility in how they manage their infrastructure.

HCI uses hardware and software that are built together in a single platform that includes storage, networking, compute, and applications. This means one operating system manages all aspects of the application stack across all of these components. The result is better uptime and less complexity than traditional virtualization solutions.

Scalability-Made Simple

HCI is the ideal solution for organizations that want to simplify their IT infrastructure management and lower their costs. These businesses need to grow and expand in order to achieve their business goals. However, they may not have the resources to manage their existing IT infrastructure.

HCI allows you to build a new system from scratch while allowing you to add or remove components as needed without having to rebuild the entire system from scratch. HCI is an excellent way for smaller businesses to scale up without adding additional staff or equipment, which can be difficult if you don’t have the budget or manpower for it.

For example, a company may want to purchase additional servers or storage space in order to meet future demand, but they don’t have the budget or manpower to do so right away. By using HCI, they can create a new system and add those resources when they need them instead of building an entirely new system from scratch every time they want additional resources added to their environment.

Increase In Uptime And Efficiency

HCI is not just about virtualized servers, but rather it’s about taking advantage of the different steps you can take to optimize efficiency and increase uptime.

HCI is a convergence of both software and hardware. It’s a way for companies to build distributed high-availability environments on a single infrastructure platform.

This means you can use a cloud provider such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide end-to-end storage and networking services to your entire environment while using a combination of traditional “on premise” servers and virtual machines (VMs) to deliver applications.

HCI reduces the time it takes to provision new servers, move VMs between hosts or services, perform maintenance tasks, etc. by eliminating the need for each step in the process.

Improved Data Protection

Data protection is an important aspect of any IT infrastructure. It’s the foundation of disaster recovery and business continuity planning, and it’s also an important part of the HCI model.

When you use a cloud service provider for your IT infrastructure, you’re able to leverage its built-in data protection tools. But if you’re managing your own infrastructure, then how do you manage data protection?

HCI offers two key benefits in this area. First, it allows you to scale up or down in response to demand without disrupting service. Second, it helps ensure that all critical data is protected with redundancy at all times, which can prevent downtime caused by hardware failure or human error.

Faster Disaster Recovery

Portable HCI solutions can provide faster disaster recovery. In the event of a disaster, HCI solutions are easy to move and reconfigure.

As an alternative to traditional backup solutions that require multiple tapes or devices, HCI solutions provide high-speed data protection through snapshots and replication.

For example, in the event of a disaster, the HCI solution can automatically create a restore point and send it to the remote site for storage and replication. This process is faster than traditional backups because it does not require multiple devices or tapes and allows for continuous availability.

In addition to faster recovery times, HCI solutions also offer greater security by providing near-real-time access across all nodes in an enterprise cluster. For example, if one node fails due to a hardware issue or malware attack, other nodes can still function as usual by taking advantage of their shared storage pools and compute resources.

Bottom Line

If you’re going to the trouble of developing new applications, don’t short-change yourself by relying on archaic IT equipment. Take a look at the different options for hyper-converged infrastructures, and consider how an HCI can fit into your long-term plans.

HCI allows users to take advantage of these virtualized infrastructures without having to configure any of them at all. HCI products are becoming more standardized, offering more capabilities and easier management options so that IT pros won’t have to rely on engineers to set up and configure their IT environments on a daily basis.