What is Hyperconvergence?

Hyperconvergence is an IT framework that combines storage, computing, and networking into a single system in order to reduce data center complexity, increase scalability, and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Gartner defines HCI as:

A category of scale-out software-integrated infrastructure that applies a modular approach to compute, network and storage on standard hardware, leveraging distributed, horizontal building blocks under unified management. HCI vendors either build their own appliances using common, off-the-shelf infrastructure (hardware, virtualization, operating system), or they engage with system vendors that package the HCI vendor’s software stack as an appliance. Alternatively, HCI vendors sell their software directly to end users, through resellers and integrators, for use as part of a reference architecture, or on an HCI-as-a-service basis, either on-premises or in a public cloud.

Virtualization, the Precursor to Converged Infrastructure and HCI

Before HCI and converged infrastructure, virtualized infrastructure was organized into what we now call a 3-2-1 architecture (see image below). This consists of virtual machines (VMs) running on 3 or more clustered host servers connected by 2 network switches and backed by 1 or more shared storage appliances (SAN/NAS).

When virtualization first arrived in the market, the physical server model was dominating IT infrastructure. As a software solution, virtualization required the existing physical servers as well as shared storage technologies like SAN and NAS to survive and thrive.

The 3-2-1 architecture was the result of combining these existing hardware components into clusters. Unfortunately, these hardware components were never designed for virtualization and were typically from different vendors.

The Rise of Converged Infrastructure

To tackle the complexity of the 3-2-1 architecture, the idea of converged infrastructure was to combine some of the different component layers into a single “system” and SKU, most often combining servers and storage. Sold as one solution, the hardware and software components were pre-tested together to avoid incompatibility issues and speed up deployment time.

The next stage in converged infrastructure was combining and integrating the different components into a single appliance. It wasn’t difficult to add more compute resources to a storage appliance in order to run virtual machines, and that’s what some vendor solutions offered.

The problem with converged infrastructure solutions is that they generally mimic the same storage architectures as the 3-2-1. These clustered, converged storage and compute solutions relied on virtual storage appliances (VSAs) running as VMs to manage storage in a similar way that shared SAN and NAS controllers functioned.

What is Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)?

Hyperconverged infrastructure or HCI is a converged infrastructure solution that natively includes the hypervisor for virtualization.

Software running on each server node distributes all operating functions across the cluster for superior performance and resilience. You can learn more about why we recommend 3 nodes minimum per cluster in our recent blog.

Components of Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Although there are some software-only solutions that call themselves HCI, appliance-based HCI hardware solutions offer additional benefits. An HCI appliance can include server compute resources, the storage, preferably the hypervisor, and often disaster recovery and backup features. HCI is sometimes referred to as a “datacenter in a box” because, after the initial cabling and minimal networking configuration, it has all of the features and functionality of the traditional 3-2-1 virtualization architecture.

The Benefits of HCI

There are a variety of benefits of hyperconvergence including:

1. Utilizing a single vendor that provide servers, storage, and the hypervisor makes it easier to support, update, patch and manage, resulting in cost savings in both time and training from IT resources and budget.
2. Eliminate inefficient storage protocols, files systems, and VSAs by utilizing a native hypervisor and embedding the storage directly within it.
3. Increase efficiency and performance by designing the hypervisor and storage to directly interact.
4. Improve management efficiency by having the hypervisor included natively in the solution.

Questions to Ask When Evaluating HCI Vendors

• Does the solution provide a native hypervisor or does it require an additional purchase of hypervisor licensing and support?
• Does the solution offer hypervisor-embedded storage or does it use virtual storage appliances (VSAs)?
• Can the solution combine and scale with dissimilar appliance models and configurations?
• Does the solution offer native backup and disaster recovery capabilities?
• Does the solution integrate with cloud computing? As the IT industry continues to evolve, HCI is the next logical

If you’ve like to learn more about hyperconvergence and HCI, check out our new whitepaperHyperconverged Infrastructure: A Brief Introduction.

At Scale Computing, the success of our customers is our priority. Whether they are on land, air or sea, we have the ability to provide our customers with the technology they need to power their IT infrastructure across industries, regardless of size or location.

Founded in 1977, Empire Airlines in Hayden, Idaho flies 50 aircraft for FedEx, as well as passenger and cargo aircraft for Hawaiian airlines. In addition to its air carriers, Empire Airlines has a maintenance repair overhaul facility in Idaho, where the company takes airplanes apart and puts them back together.

According to Melanie Ellingson, director of IT at Empire Airlines, the company was looking to upgrade its legacy IT infrastructure with a virtualization solution. Ease of use was a priority for Ellingson, who said she wanted a simple solution that did not require additional training or specialized personnel to maintain the IT infrastructure. After researching competitors, Ellingson selected Scale Computing, remarking, “With Scale Computing, you plug it in, turn it on and you’re running. That’s all there is to it.”

How Empire Airlines Leveraged Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solutions like the HC3 virtualization platform eliminate the need to combine traditional virtualization software, disaster recovery software, servers, and shared storage from separate vendors to create a virtualized environment. The HC3 all-in-one appliance architecture makes it easy to deploy fully integrated, highly available virtualization out of the box. With HCI, you can more easily deploy your virtualization architecture to consolidate servers in your environment and eliminate the need for storage appliances like SAN and NAS. Using patented HyperCore™ technology, the HC3 self-healing platform automatically identifies, mitigates, and corrects problems in the infrastructure in real-time, enabling applications to achieve maximum uptime even when local IT resources and staff are scarce.

The platform combines self-healing with intelligent automation, empowering Scale Computing customers to spend less time on infrastructure maintenance and more time focusing on strategic projects to grow their business. Since implementing Scale Computing HC3, Ellingson said she and her team save time bringing up servers, adding, “If I need something, it’s there instantly. Before, I had to research hardware, get it delivered, put it in a rack. Now we have time to work on other projects.”

At Scale Computing, our HC3 architecture combines hyperconverged infrastructure for everything from centralized data centers to widely distributed edge computing use cases, and comes fully equipped with a number of built-in disaster recovery capabilities. Even in an emergency with the failure of hardware components or entire appliances, HC3 infrastructure lets you keep critical apps – and your entire organization – up and running.

After one drive failure, Ellingson said the combination of the HC3 platform and Scale Computing support team ensured Empire Airlines had minimal downtime. Ellingson noted, “HC3 alerted us, we called Scale Computing’s support team, they sent a new drive to us the next day, we put it in and we were done. I can’t stress how easy it is.”

Driving Performance with Edge Computing

With 16 locations across the U.S., Empire Airlines also benefits from an edge computing solution. Scale Computing HC3 brings simple, available, and affordable infrastructure to edge computing. The solution meets the company’s demands for operating a distributed enterprise with its highly available features that make it ideal for multiple industries. The HC3 platform also provides the flexibility, ease of use, and scalability that many customers require to create reliable and efficient working environments.

With HC3, organizations are able to improve the availability of critical workloads, rapidly scale their infrastructure, enhance disaster recovery capabilities, and do it all more simply and easily. HC3 is modern infrastructure for modern companies across industries. For more information on Scale Computing HC3, visit here.