Hyper-converged storage is gaining popularity in the data center infrastructure space. It is a centralized design that consolidates storage, networking, computing, and virtualization resources into a single entity. Hyper-converged storage provides highly optimal data center solutions for target workloads by integrating storage, computing resources, applications, and data into a single entity.
Furthermore, hyper-converged storage is a software-defined storage (SDS) since each node has a software layer that runs the same virtualization software as the rest of the cluster. That software layer virtualizes the resources in each node and distributes them to the other nodes in the cluster. This allows managers to treat resources as a single storage or computing pool.
How Does Hyperconverged Storage Work?
Hyperconverged storage separates storage and associated controllers from the underlying hardware. This differs between direct attached storage (DAS), in which each computer device has its own storage drive, and networked storage techniques, in which numerous devices share a central pool of storage in a storage area network (SAN) or network attached storage (NAS).
The storage includes computation and networking capabilities that function independently of hardware, allowing for gradual scaling. Businesses wanting to adopt hyperconverged storage have three options:
- Purchase it directly from storage manufacturers, together with the gear required to support it.
- Purchase it from suppliers and separate commodity servers and storage units.
- Hire a cloud provider to deliver hyper-converged storage as a service.
Parts of Hyperconverged Storage
Hyperconverged storage consists of numerous components, including a hypervisor that runs virtual machines, software-defined applications, and virtual networking tools. Everything can operate on commodity hardware, such as x86 servers, without needing more costly proprietary arrays.
The essential takeaway is that hyper converged storage eliminates the need for separate boxes for storage, networking, and computing resources and allows each of these components to be packed into a unique piece of hardware tailored for a particular application. Instead, a software layer that overlays everything virtualizes all storage and other resources, allowing many people and devices to share them.
This results in a pool of storage comprising many NAS devices, SAN arrays, and cloud assets managed as a single entity with closely linked components. Load balancing and software-defined networking applications are critical components of hyper-converged storage, as they enable storage arrangements in the optimum location to improve performance and meet organizational objectives.
The Hyperconverged Storage Features
Hyperconverged storage eliminates the need to manage each hardware component independently. Storage is no longer limited to a disk array, a NAS filer, or the cloud, each with its own management systems and, in some cases, whole distinct operating systems.
In a hyperconverged architecture, storage is managed and handled at the hypervisor level. The hypervisor handles many pools of storage and considers them all as virtual resources inside the same pool, abstracting the underlying hardware. Software-defined storage (SDS) decouples from hardware by abstracting storage resources to improve flexibility, efficiency, and scalability.
All storage resources can be integrated into a larger software-designed data center (SDDC) design, which adds automation to overall data center functions and increases the automation and flexibility of storage assets. As a result, application programming interfaces (APIs) can be easily tied into storage to integrate across a broader range of platforms and applications.
Benefits of Hyperconverged Storage
Hyperconverged storage provides many significant benefits over conventional storage systems.
Cost
Storage expenses are significantly reduced when hardware is removed from the equation. Of course, some companies provide hyperconverged solutions on their chosen hardware, but such products are often priced competitively. Expensive storage hardware is often required only when a particular machine is configured to execute a certain application.
Flexibility
Storage provisioning is much simpler with hyperconverged storage since there is no need to define the specific physical location or device on which the storage will be housed. This allows storage managers to respond to changing requirements more readily.
Downtime
The introduction of software-defined storage and hyper-converged infrastructure has resulted in features such as self-healing, more redundancy, and enhanced robustness. This, in turn, leads to reduced downtime.
Automated Provisioning
When providing storage, storage managers were forced to put in a great deal of physical effort. Hyperconverged systems make provisioning easier by allowing the administrator to define performance, capacity, and other factors while assigning storage resources automatically.
Ramping
Hyperconverged storage may be scaled up and down in granular steps. More storage may be added as needed and withdrawn as soon as it is no longer required. Organizations pay for just what they need.
The Hyperconverged Storage Challenges
There are a few issues to consider with hyperconverged storage.
Performance
Hyperconverged systems generally provide excellent performance; however, certain workloads, such as high-performance computing (HPC) and generative artificial intelligence (AI), may not benefit from hyperconverged storage. There are hyper-converged systems that achieve exceptional performance by tailoring software, storage, networking, computing, and memory to a particular workload or application, but they are costly.
Capacity
Hyperconverged storage systems may scale well but not enough for particular applications. For example, traditional storage can scale a SAN significantly more than most hyperconverged systems.
Vendor Lock-In
Adopting hyperconverged storage often involves being locked into a certain vendor environment. Not all suppliers force customers to utilize pre-defined hardware; if flexibility is crucial, look for a provider that provides a variety of suitable alternatives.
Migration
Once all your data is in a hyperconverged storage system, transferring it elsewhere may take a lot of work. While the solution is flexible, it is less so when migrating data to or from that box.
Additional Layers
Hyperconverged storage simplifies many tasks but adds another degree of complexity. Those educated in conventional storage may need further instruction to master it.
Use Cases of Hyperconverged Storage
Hyperconverged storage is appropriate for a variety of applications. Here are some of the most popular.
- Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Desktop virtualization separates the desktop environment, as well as its related programs and data, from the actual client device that has historically been used for access. Because no data is kept locally on the user workstation, the different desktop components are virtualized, providing more flexibility and making disaster recovery easier.
- Virtual machines. Hyperconverged storage is an excellent choice for hosting many virtual machines (VMs) since virtualization lends nicely to SDS-based infrastructure.
- Data protection. Hyperconverged storage unifies all storage resources in a single virtual pool, simplifying data protection. The software can back up everything in the pool from a single interface, and disaster recovery (DR) can be done across hyper-converged storage, eliminating the need to manually set up each physical storage device for backup and recovery.
- Databases. Several databases do very well in hyper-converged storage; several companies supply boxes specialized to their databases, providing a full hyper converged infrastructure solution that includes storage, computing, networking, and apps.
- Branches. Some businesses have branch offices backed by centralized, offsite IT—hyperconverged storage may be an excellent choice for branch office installations since the infrastructure can be monitored remotely.
Conclusion
Hyperconverged storage is growing in popularity and works well in many applications. In the grander scheme of things, IT infrastructure is becoming increasingly virtualized. Storage has evolved from a labor-intensive function of IT to something that is now becoming more of a general IT task. Hyperconverged storage makes scalable storage more accessible to a more significant number of businesses without having to rely upon experienced storage teams.