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16 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. What if we told you these forklift upgrades are no longer necessary? You've probably already guessed that the solution is next- generationHCI. Withthistechnology,whenthetimecomesto retire nodes and replace them with newer ones, you simply add the new node to your cluster, let it integrate, and then tell the cluster's admin console that an old node is being taken out of ser- vice. The cluster control software evacuates that node and severs its connection to the cluster. After that, you remove the node from its rack and take it out of service. Rinse and repeat for each node that you need to replace. The beauty of this approach is that no manual migration is needed, which means no service disruption and no application downtime. The software layer does all the hard work. Likewise, when you need more capacity or computing power, you just add nodes. That's it. You don't need to go through an inten- sive process to determine next steps. Just click Go. Fromanoperationalperspective,next-generationHCIallowsyou to implement what amounts to a fractional consumption model. If you've managed a three-tier environment, you're certainly famil- iar with the virtually impossible task of trying to anticipate your organization's storage capacity and performance needs over the nextthreetofiveyears.Youinevitablyendupeitheroverbuying hardware and hoping that you'll "grow into it" before the tech- nology becomes outdated, or under buying and having to go back toyourCFOformoremoneytoaddressthepoorperformancethat your users are experiencing as a result. Ifyoubuytoomuch,you'veeffectivelywastedmoneybypurchas- ing hardware that you may never use. If you don't buy enough, you'llhavetobuymorehardwaremid-cycle.Ofcourse,ifyouget it perfect, all is golden, but how often does that happen? Next-generation HCI allows you to scale on-demand without requiring a massive capital investment each time your needs change. You buy what you need for right now and when your needs grow, you add another node.