In a converged architecture, the server, storage, and switch are defined as one dense building block. Components in the building block can be broken down to their intended purpose.
Hyper-converged architecture is a software-defined approach. The hardware building blocks are viewed as integrated and cannot be broken out into separate components. Resources are run as a service.
It is through virtualization software that an enterprise IT can create a delivery model of storage, servers, networks (and hypervisor) as a service, and all the segments can be physically in a single rack building blocks, or spread across the cluster. This is a way for vendors to deliver an out-of-the-box productivity.
There is no better example than storage to give a model of what Hyper-convergence is and isn’t. In the basic converged architecture, the storage volumes are attached directly to the physical servers. In a hyper-converged architecture, there is a storage logic controller function running as a service for each node, assigning a storage pool for each VM from resources across the cluster as needed.
Because the storage controller is a software service, there is no need for the expensive SAN or NAS hardware in the hyper-converged infrastructure. It should be noted that this differs from software-defined storage (SDS) that provides you the software only, leaving the storage infrastructure to the IT.
Can both coexist for the better?
Yes, both approaches can exist, and it is likely to the benefit of both that they do so. Depending on the application need, converged infrastructure can provide the best path for hardware scalability moving forward in a hyper converged model.
What does this mean for IT? Times are fading when traditional IT teams worked as resident experts in their own technology silos. Less common are there experts individually in networking, or storage, or servers. Now a management layer keeps it all manageable.
Whether hyper-converged or not, the simplicity of adding a fully configured and tested infrastructure block makes it easier to expand and maintain the network without needing to spend a lot of time reconfiguring the various components.
Not all of the companies offering white-box converged and hyper-converged solutions are new and unproven. As an original design manufacturer, Advantech has supplied enterprise infrastructure for years to give an IT team a quick time to market, no matter what the platform. Contact Advantech today and we can find the easy solution and best service for a complete enterprise ecosystem.
