hyperconvergence
The Hype
Graham Jarvis, business and technology journalist at Trudy Darwin Consulting, finds out
whether hyperconvergence really is key to an enterprise’s data centre cloud strategy.
V
endors often like to create
a new name for an existing
piece of technology that
is essentially made up of
the same co mponents
and fulfils the same functions.
This is because of factors such
as the competitive pressure
to keep customers interested:
Application Service Provision is
more commonly known today
as the cloud, while converged
infrastructure has led to
hyperconverged infrastructure.
Moving to the cloud however,
won’t necessarily deliver these
benefits if done in isolation.
Organisations also need to look
at their data centre operations
and streamline how these are run.
There’s a need to rationalise your
data centre as you move to cloud.
32 | October 2017
Cloud: Not for everyone
Let’s face it, the cloud isn’t for
everyone, but nevertheless it has
its merits. Yet before you go and
invest in new technology or move
to it, you should examine whether
your existing infrastructure is
sufficient to do the job you need
it for. Ask yourself questions,
including: ‘The hyperconvergence
story: what’s really important?’
In response to this, David
Trossell, CEO and CTO of data
acceleration vendor Bridgeworks,
commented, “We’ve been
shouldering traditional system
architecture for more than 50 years
now”. He explains that there have
only been a few significant changes
along the way. Apart from the likes
of IBM, which has traditionally
provided a one-stop shop, we still
purchase different parts of the
system from different vendors.
This approach means customers
can source parts for the most
competitive price or which offer
the best solution, from different
vendors. However, the downside
is the need to repeat the entire
process of verifying compatibility,
performance and so on.
Part of the story
Anjan Srinivas, senior director,
product management at Nutanix,
agrees that hyperconvergence
is only part of the story. He
explains the history that led to this
technological creation, “The origins
of the name were due to the servers’
form factor used for such appliances
in the early days. The story actually