Why use a hyperconverged infrastructure?

Van Ingelghem: "In many companies the role of IT is shifting from support to strategic. This makes a streamlined underlying infrastructure a must-have. The IT department must be able to quickly respond to changing business needs. That is not always easy with a traditional infrastructure, where every component – the network, storage or servers – acts like its own domain. Everything is managed and tuned separately, not as a whole. This is where HPE Simplivity offers an attractive alternative. A hyperconverged infrastructure is an overall solution that uses centralized management to provide more operational efficiency, so you can react flexibly to new developments without having to tinker with individual infrastructure components."

For example, you can upgrade your entire stack with one click of a mouse. HPE Simplivity is an all-in-one solution that gives your IT department the levers to be able switch gears faster. Suppose your organization wants to roll out a VDI, which means a virtual desktop infrastructure. With a hyperconverged infrastructure, you can make all the necessary changes at once across the whole IT environment, while with a traditional infrastructure it would take much longer and you would run into unpleasant surprises more often. In short: HPE Simplivity guarantees a shorter time-to-value."

"Another plus point is efficiency. HPE Simplivity delivers high performance and can process more diverse workloads, thanks to built-in optimization of data processing in the OmniStack Accelerator card," explains Van Ingelghem. "This way, data is compressed and deduplicated in-line, so that less storage space is needed. That results in higher net capacity and better performance of the system. HPE can demonstrate impressive figures in this respect. They are the only hardware supplier that guarantees a "data reduction" ratio of 2.25:1. In numbers: for every 2.25 GB of data, you need a maximum of 1 GB storage space. The built-in back-up and restore functionality benefits from these optimizations: Simplivity can complete a back-up or restore that would normally take hours in less than one minute."

"You can imagine, therefore, that HPE Simplivity will save your company substantial costs," concludes Van Ingelghem. "The implementation of a hyperconverged infrastructure does of course require a substantial financial investment. It is often an option when a data center is being totally replaced. But the investment gives a generous payback, since less time is then needed to manage, maintain and secure everything. Sometimes there is even talk of a dizzying cost reduction of up to 70%. Because with a hyperconverged infrastructure, you do not need to have a wide range of specialists any longer, just a handful of generalists."

Is a hyperconverged infrastructure beneficial for every company?

Van Ingelghem: "HPE Simplivity is an interesting solution that can offer any company – of whatever size – some added value. At Realdolmen we believe in "The right infrastructure for the right workload". Every company is different, and that is why we always start with a detailed discussion of your needs and expectations."

Like to find out more about the options?

Contact us. We will work with you to find the best solution for your organization.