A hyperconverged infrastructure integrates servers, storage and networking into one IT system that combines and virtualises all the components. A traditional IT infrastructure has separate physical systems for each of these functions, often even from different technology providers. As a result, the servers, storage and networking are also managed separately in silos by someone with this specific expertise. The difference in performance between these different IT systems often creates a problem for the applications that run on them. With HCI, the management is a lot simpler because there is a central management system for all the IT functions. The performance is also better because the technology used – both the hardware and the software – is uniform and coordinated.

Easier path to the hybrid cloud

A hyperconverged infrastructure is therefore the ideal foundation for a hybrid cloud: with HCI you are creating a local private cloud that works just like a public cloud with virtual systems. This makes integrating this private cloud with the public cloud much simpler than integrating traditional on-premises systems with the public cloud. For this reason, a hyperconverged infrastructure is a good step in the IT roadmap of companies that want to let their IT environment evolve into a hybrid cloud environment.

The benefits of hyperconverged infrastructure

In fact, with a hyperconverged infrastructure you no longer see the separate components of the IT environment – everything is software-driven (software-defined). Because the networking, computing, storage and virtualisation are managed in one environment, the operational IT is thoroughly simplified and you can adapt the environment very quickly and flexibly through the central interface, for example by adding a virtual server or more storage space. This means companies can respond much more efficiently to changes in their business needs.

Therefore you can expect major benefits from a hyperconverged infrastructure, such as cost savings in management, better performance of the applications that run on it and a leap in maturity in terms of the evolution towards a hybrid cloud landscape.