In the world of commercial IT services, there are two major categories of infrastructure: converged and hyperconverged.
Converged infrastructure and hyperconverged infrastructure are two ways of designing and deploying a data center. If you’re wondering which approach is right for you, this article will explain how each works, what features they share, and how they differ from one another.
But why should you care?
Well, if you’re running a business that needs to be able to grow quickly without sacrificing performance—and you want to save money by consolidating your IT infrastructure—then it’s important to know which option is best for your needs.
So what are the differences between these two types of infrastructure? Let’s find out!
What is converged infrastructure?
Converged infrastructure (CI) is a type of infrastructure that combines compute, storage and networking into a single hardware appliance. CI is designed to simplify the process of deploying and managing a data center by eliminating the need for multiple vendor-specific hardware components such as servers, storage systems and switches.
Because it eliminates these components from your environment, converged infrastructure is typically considered more cost-effective than traditional data centers because fewer hardware components are needed.
What is hyperconverged infrastructure?
Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCL) is a type of infrastructure that combines the hardware, software and storage resources into a single platform. It’s designed to make it easy to deploy and manage virtual machines.
Hyperconverged infrastructures are more cost-effective than the traditional converged infrastructure model because they eliminate the need for multiple components such as separate storage, servers and networking equipment. Instead, hyperconverged solutions combine these segments into one device or server rack so you can eliminate duplicate hardware purchases from your budget.
Key Differences Between Converged vs Hyperconverged Infrastructure
In the IT world, there are two main types of infrastructure—converged and non-converged. Converged infrastructure is a type of IT that has all of your systems—storage, networking, servers—in one place. This makes it easier to manage and scale across multiple locations. Non-converged infrastructure refers to individual pieces of hardware or software spread out across various locations.
Converged and hyperconverged infrastructures are similar in many ways. They both use software-defined storage (SDS) to help them operate more efficiently than traditional hardware-based storage. They also both use virtualization to organize workloads into clusters of servers or other resources that are managed from a single location. But there are some key differences between the two:
Converged Infrastructure (CI) is designed for large enterprises that need to manage data across multiple sites or branches in different geographic regions (for example: customers who want to move their datacenter closer to their customers). CI is designed around using SDS as its primary storage solution, which allows for faster access times and better performance than traditional storage solutions like SANs
Price
Converged Infrastructure is more expensive to buy and maintain. The cost of buying converged infrastructure can be higher than traditional infrastructure, due to the additional components and software licenses required for a CI environment. In addition, ongoing maintenance costs are also higher because of the need to manage multiple hardware and software components that work together.
Performance and Scalability
Hyperconverged Infrastructure has better performance and scalability. This is because the storage and compute are all housed in a single node. This means you don’t have to worry about managing multiple storage systems, which can lead to performance issues.
Security
Hyperconverged Infrastructure has better data protection and availability features available in the platform. This is because the storage and compute are all in the same node. This means you don’t have to worry about managing multiple storage systems, which can lead to performance issues.
When To Use CI vs HCI
When choosing between converged and hyperconverged solutions, there are a few things to consider.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to improve your business’s IT infrastructure, converged infrastructure (CI) might be the way to go. CI is designed to give businesses access to all of the advantages of virtualization—from easy provisioning and management of resources, to simplified administration of applications—without having to invest in separate storage solutions.
Converged infrastructure also has built-in scalability, so as your business grows, you can scale up your data center without having to buy more hardware or software.
However, if you’re looking for even more flexibility in how you deploy your applications and services and want complete control over your infrastructure’s performance, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) could be ideal for you. HCI allows businesses to set up highly flexible environments that can adapt quickly as they grow.
When it comes to deciding which kind of infrastructure is right for your organization, it’s important to remember that there are many factors at play. Your business needs and IT goals should be the primary drivers when making this decision. If you have any questions or concerns about CI vs HCI, feel free to contact our team at Cynergy Technology today!
