Hyperconverged Infrastructure

How to Get Started with Hyperconverged Infrastucture

If you’ve read the other parts of this site, you already understand the potential benefits that await you on the other side of a hyperconverged infrastructure implementation.  Getting underway with hyperconverged infrastructure isn’t all that different than getting started with other kinds of environments.  Here are some tips for getting started, no matter the size of your organization.

Cost and Complexity

Even small data centers can be complex these days. There are so many different devices and pieces of software that it’ll make your head spin. From servers and storage to backup and recovery, there’s a lot that goes into building a fully functional data center. As you’re considering your data center and the future of its architecture, make sure your consideration is inclusive of all aspects. When you’re trying to take a hard look at costs, missing anything could drastically alter your figures.

As you do this cost breakdown, here are some of the highest priority considerations (but there could be even more).

  • Computing power is the basis of all data centers, so this one is probably already on your list!
  • Performance and capacity needs continue to grow across the board.
  • Backup and Recovery. A full suite of backup and recovery tools is a must for any IT organization, and that comes with a cost.
  • Hypervisor software. Quality server virtualization can – but doesn’t have to – cost money. Some organizations spend an extravagant sum on hypervisor licenses, but you don’t have to.
  • Replication can be too expensive of a prospect for many organizations, but those that have the capability often spend a pretty penny to accomplish this feat.
  • The costs to keep the infrastructure up to date can be astronomical, and annual support fees multiply as you add equipment.
  • If some of the resources currently allocated to managing infrastructure could be re-allocated to other tasks, what else could you accomplish?

When you start to tally up all of these costs and see what the big picture looks like, a hyperconverged solution that covers and often reduces costs in all of these areas begins to look pretty attractive. Moreover, should you select hyperconverged infrastructure as your data center architecture of choice moving forward, understanding your costs moving forward becomes far simpler.

Take a Phased Approach

No one likes undertaking a forklift replacement project where old infrastructure is removed and replaced wholesale by new technology. It’s invariably a painful process and causes lots of disruption. One of the compelling qualities of hyperconvergence is that it’s incredibly easy to start small, migrate a little bit at a time, and grow as needed until the migration is fully complete.

As a rule, hyperconverged architecture scales easily and with a high degree of granularity. Rather than purchasing for the next three to five years, it’s easy to purchase just enough capacity to get through the next three quarters of growth.

Get Educated

Most importantly, to get truly started on your hyperconvergence journey, get educated by reading through all of the content you see here at HyperConverged.org and make sure to come back as we continue to populate the site with case studies, white papers, videos, blog posts, and much, much more.