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Definition of hyper-converged infrastructure evolves, as do products
This article is part of the Storage issue of September 2018, Vol. 17, No. 6
The definition of hyper-converged infrastructure has always been a bit tricky. HCI consists of traditional IT resources -- storage, compute, virtualization and sometimes networking -- packaged and managed differently than people are used to seeing. Industry analysts came up with the term mainly to describe what Nutanix was doing in 2011 when it launched what an early customer called "a mini data center in a box." That led to ad hoc attempts to come up with a definition of hyper-converged infrastructure to fit this new IT category, as converged infrastructure also emerged around the same time. SearchConvergedInfrastructure defines hyper-convergence as "a software-centric architecture that tightly integrates compute, storage and virtualization resources in a single system that usually consists of x86 hardware. A hyper-converged system can also be sold as software that can be installed on a buyer's existing hardware or as hardware purchased specifically for the installation." So we have software-defined storage; commodity hardware;...
Features in this issue
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Examples of hypervisors and how they're supported in HCI products
Hypervisor support in hyper-converged infrastructure has evolved over time. Find out how as we assess the past and current place of individual hypervisors in these architectures.
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Data governance best practices exploit big data
Emerging technologies, such as AI and IoT, in the age of big data mean there's more data than ever to benefit from and for data governance policies to manage and secure.
Columns in this issue
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Definition of hyper-converged infrastructure evolves, as do products
Defining hyper-convergence can be a challenge. Focus instead on learning about hyper-converged infrastructure product options and how they fit your data center and cloud plans.
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Preventing ransomware attacks is a top storage vendor claim
Storage vendors advance silly and not-so-silly claims about how data backup and protection technologies are the answer to ransomware prevention and growing ransomware fatalism.