Issue link: https://insights.oneneck.com/i/1450344
8 Next-Generation Hyperconverged Infrastructure For Dummies, Nutanix Special Edition These materials are © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Why three-tier infrastructure is a one-trick pony We'll get this out of the way: Legacy three-tier architecture is not going to help you solve the IT challenges ahead of you. But what is three-tier architecture? Simply put, it's a bunch of servers, storage systems, and network fabrics used to create a computing environment for your applications. At first glance, it's easy to understand the allure of such environments. After all, you buy your favorite servers and storage and then connect it all together with your favorite networking gear. You get to buy "best of breed" in every component! What could possibly go wrong? Well, unless your idea of fun is working late on a Saturday night trying to figure out why the #&!*$ host bus adapter (HBA) won't talk to the #&@1! storage array, you'll quickly get your first glimpse into some of the challenges in these environments and the frustration they can bring. However, there's more at play. Although it's true that you get some resource flexibility in terms of being able to independently scale resources, it comes at the cost of complexity, interoperability, and, well, cost. On the complexity front, you have to do some deep planning to build the whole thing. On the interoperability side, you have to procure gear that minimizes the potential for vendors to point their fingers at one another in blame while you sit between them waiting for resolution. All of this complexity comes at a cost. The more moving pieces you have, the more expensive putting them together will be. Try looking a little deeper into the complexity part of this issue. In addition to making sure everything works together, you have to deal with a number of administrative consoles to configure and manage various aspects of the solution. Need to create a logical unit number (LUN)? Fire up the storage management interface. Need to configure a host to connect to the storage? Start up a second, completely different admin tool and fumble around for the answer.