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Hyperconverged Infrastructure
The hyperconverged architecture was introduced to the market approximately one
year after CI. True hyperconverged architectures are achieved by converging the
compute resources, storage resources, and management layer into a single product.
It is possible to deploy a hyperconverged solution in a software-only (SWO) model
or in an appliance model that includes purpose-built hardware.
By including a hardware appliance as part of the product, the vendor can now include
the management of the infrastructure along with the other resources that are being
converged in the product. Figure 4 illustrates a simple example of a hyperconverged
infrastructure alternative.
The software-only architecture can provide great flexibility at the hardware layer, allowing
choice of platform to deploy on. When considering SWO options they should still provide
an appliance-like experience. This is different from offerings with a loosely coupled
hardware compatibility list that only incorporates minimal testing.
Figure 4:
Hyperconverged Infrastructure
Network
Intelligent
Software
Network CPU
RAM Hypervisor Flash HDD
Network CPU
RAM Hypervisor Flash HDD
Network CPU
RAM Hypervisor Flash HDD
Network Flash
RAM HDD
