Hyper Converged Infrastructure: 'All the Eyes in One Basket'

Hyper-converged infrastructure or HCI is a virtual approach to conventional hardware systems. It modernizes the more commonly used hardware-defined systems by virtualizing all of its elements. It is a software-based architecture that coherently binds all the major components of a network system, such as storage resources. It is a combination of data-centered servers and storage with a distributed infrastructure environment that coherently works as a single unit.

Furthermore, it connects data servers and hardware devices working along with them via a software layer to re-vitalize the commonly used networking methods and systems. 

Hyper-convergence took birth mostly from its previous concept of converged systems. Hyper converged infrastructure typically is just like "all the eggs in one basket." The vendor or the supplier who installs such systems provide all the support ranging from hardware, software, storage, networking, and server-side products altogether. As its components are already software-defined, this type of architecture mainly relies on the concept of abstraction. 

It hides the what and whys of the main application and provides the user with endpoint functionality all at once. One significant difference between this type of architecture and converged systems is that converged systems mainly rely on hardware support rather than software-defined concepts and functionalities. 

Working Principles

Some previous means of networking included eclectic mixes of hardware from various vendors and combining them all to form a rather chaotic, in-efficient working system. The consequence of such an architecture often results in a problematic and inadequate working networking system that proves to be a means of needless, chaotic, and confusing results on the end of the IT staff of an organization. 

A hyper-converged infrastructure or an HCI helps to solve this problem!

It allows solving some of the most baffling problems of modern-day networking. It provides optimal performance and helps in replacing fractured systems with new ones. It does all this by providing scalable and flexible virtualized resources for data storage, computing, and management, all under one roof. 

Beyond the basic premise, there is, however, a lot to dig into about such hyper-converged infrastructures. Following are some of those points:

Software and hardware deployment: 

It provides high levels of productivity and optimization, which allows hardware devices to better integrate with the systems and can abundantly enhance performance. It can also prove vital on occasions where high performance is needed, such as data storage and management. Some examples of hardware-based HCI are HP and DELL VX rails. 

It can, however, also be used as a software-defined system used for virtualizing and managing already present hardware resources. It allows the organizations to gain more and more benefits without further installing new hardware devices. Microsoft Azure Stack is a platform to get such HCI software. 

Integrated Approach: 

HCI's can provide an integrated approach towards hyper-convergence, which is a rather naive and traditional method. The appliances of the whole system are singled out, and then each of them is connected just like a dot making a line. This type of approach offers high speed and productivity. 

Disaggregated Approach

This method of applying an HCI is rather new and is being used in some places. It mainly involves a disaggregated approach and rather than combining all the components. It makes every part run on its own and does its job. The resources are divided into modules, and all the different modules are unified together. 

A Sneak Peek To The Deployment 

HCI is an upcoming and broad new technology. This method of network systems has not been used beforehand and hence provides not many deploying options. 

Following are the three basic deployment methods for hyper-converged infrastructures: 

1. Full deployment

This mode of deployment is the most expensive method for deploying an Hyper converged infrastructure for a company's network needs. It mainly means to replace all the previous means of network systems and to essentially replace the old systems with hyper-converged infrastructure completely. 

This type of deployment method is generally chosen by large-scale companies which have the technological and economic resources to undergo this process.

2. Side-by-Side deployment

Side-by-Side deployment, as the name suggests, means that the hyper-converged infrastructure is deployed keeping in view the previous modes of network systems. An organization "side-by-side" deploys all the necessary resources for the integration of Hyper converged infrastructure. This is not only more cost-efficient than a full deployment but also means that the company can shift its resources time-by-time. 

3. Pre-Application deployment

This is similar to side-by-side deployment, but one difference is that instead of shifting resources from the previous environment to the new hyper-converged infrastructure, it works for specific applications which are authorized by the organization to work under HCI. 

Advantages of HCI

Following are some of the advantages one gains from using a hyper-converged infrastructure:

• Using hyper-converged infrastructures, one can make private cloud-like environments for itself. These can help to lower the costs and improve the scalability and efficiency of the systems. 
• We can also design and deploy public cloud-like environments using HCIs for faster deployment.
• Hybrid clouds are another advantage for using hyper-converged infrastructures. 

Importance

The modern era data centers have large amounts of heterogeneous data consisting of all types. This problem is resolved by the use of HCIs, and companies can now look for cost-effective methods to manage their data. Along with this, Hyper-converged infrastructure is all about speed and deployment ease. It works on the same basis as any other vendor for a regular networking company would that is to have a data-centered approach. 

In essence, hyper converged infrastructures are basically "big boxes," and whenever a company needs more data centers, just install "more boxes." 

Final Verdict

All in all, it could be said that hyper converged infrastructure is the talk of the town for modern-day methods for computing. They provide comprehensive and dynamic functionality to the more commonly used methods of data management and manipulation and can help an organization in moving forward at a rapid pace that relies on data-centered methods due to its economic cost, high speed, flexibility, and scalability. 

More and more companies are shifting to hyper-converged infrastructures daily, and it is gaining more and more popularity over time. One thing is for certain that this technology has a bright future and will be commonly used in every large to small scale company.