Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• Is third-party threat a viable server maintenance contract tactic?

  When negotiating server hardware and maintenance agreements with vendors, server customers can threaten to go elsewhere. But how effective is that tactic?  Continue Reading

• What is a top barrier to fruitful server refresh cycle negotiations?

  Successfully countering server vendor sales tactics requires forecasting hardware and maintenance needs. Lacking a solid, consolidated forecast can be a recipe for failure.  Continue Reading

• Are attitudes toward edge computing architecture changing?

  Edge computing has many advantages over the centralized running of applications and processing of data on premises and in the cloud. Are IT leaders getting the message, though?  Continue Reading

• What does HCI 2.0 mean for hyper-convergence?

  Like composable infrastructure, next-gen hyper-convergence promises to ease procurement and management by, among other things, enabling users to add disparate IT resources independently.  Continue Reading

• 5 reasons why hyper-converged infrastructure could be right for you

  The reasons for going hyper-converged vary. Often, however, organizations deploy HCI technology to effectively address one or more of the five issues outlined in this article.  Continue Reading

• Are Nutanix products hyper-converged hardware, software or cloud?

  Nutanix may still offer branded appliances, but there is a lot more to the hyper-converged infrastructure pioneer's product offerings than that nowadays.  Continue Reading

• Which converged infrastructure vendors are businesses considering?

  Today's fast-paced business landscape has led enterprises to increasingly turn to convergence vendors. See why, which they are choosing and who leads the market.  Continue Reading

• Top hyper-converged platform features to look for in an HCI system

  Know software compatibility, maximum scalability and long-term potential of hardware support from vendors before buying a hyper-converged infrastructure system.  Continue Reading

• What hyper-converged network details should I consider?

  No longer a second-class citizen to compute and storage, networking is now integral to most HCIs. Keep in mind certain networking facts when adopting hyper-convergence, however.  Continue Reading

• How do I measure overall TCO when comparing HCI vendors?

  Comparing the TCO of deploying different HCI vendors' platforms makes it likelier you'll pick the right one for your organization. Start the process with our checklist.  Continue Reading

• Erasure coding vs. RAID: Pros and cons for hyper-convergence

  Hyper-converged systems, like any other, require data protection. We describe using RAID and erasure coding for hyper-convergence to help you pick the best option for your HCI.  Continue Reading

• HCI management layer vs. native hypervisor management

  See why inherent differences between hyper-converged and native hypervisor management tools tend to make one better suited for managing virtualized HCI resources than the other.  Continue Reading

• Essential hyper-converged backup, data protection questions to ask

  Procure a hyper-converged infrastructure, and you'll need to protect the data residing in that environment. Ask and answer these questions to determine the best HCI backup approach for your organization.  Continue Reading

• HCI hardware or hyper-converged software: Which is better for me?

  Appliance-based hyper-convergence integrates software with hardware, while software-only HCI enables you to use the hardware of your choice. Each type has pluses and minuses.  Continue Reading

• Why is composable infrastructure important and what are its uses?

  The ideal function of composability is to make IT infrastructure more flexible, manageable and scalable than ever. It isn't for everyone, however; at least, not yet.  Continue Reading

• What is HPE SimpliVity hyper-converged with Composable Fabric?

  SimpliVity with Composable Fabric incorporates HPE's software-defined networking technology for implementing, managing and automating a fully connected and composable mesh fabric.  Continue Reading

• Is HCI but a stop on the road to composable architecture?

  Find out if composable infrastructure is the next step in the evolution of HCI, if it is a completely different type of IT infrastructure or if the truth is somewhere in between.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of hyper-converged flash storage

  Find out why and for what use cases and application workloads 100% solid-state flash may not be the best storage choice for hyper-converged infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• Which Windows Server deployment features work best with HCI?

  There are features in Windows Server 2016 that are specific to hyper-converged infrastructure, but many of the more basic functions also can be used to customize and improve HCI.  Continue Reading

• How does composable infrastructure fit in the data center?

  A programmable infrastructure offers data center admins even greater flexibility, lower costs and faster modification than converged and hyper-converged infrastructures.  Continue Reading

• Do the benefits of hyper-convergence outweigh the drawbacks?

  Much has been said about the inability to scale storage separately from other resources in a hyper-converged system, but are there any advantages to treating storage in this way?  Continue Reading

• Why is the hyper-converged infrastructure definition so varied?

  The definition of hyper-converged infrastructure has evolved as the technology has grown. But the phrase still means different things depending on who you talk to.  Continue Reading

• How can I decide between converged and hyper-converged infrastructures?

  Is a converged or hyper-converged deployment the best option for you? While both infrastructures are similar, there are key differences in use cases and deployment.  Continue Reading

• Is Storage Spaces Direct a viable alternative to hyper-convergence?

  Windows Storage Spaces Direct can act like a hyper-converged system, but it's more do-it-yourself hyper-convergence, and may not offer all that you need in an HCI product.  Continue Reading

• How will the hyper-converged data center affect storage admin roles?

  Despite easier provisioning and policy-based management, the unique knowledge held by storage administrators remains essential in the age of hyper-convergence.  Continue Reading

• How does converged infrastructure management affect IT?

  Converged infrastructures eliminate technology silos in the data center. But organizational silos also need to be broken down to realize the technology's benefits.  Continue Reading

• Is customizing a hyper-converged platform a good idea?

  How much flexibility do you have with hyper-converged systems when it comes to data storage? Discover how to deal with changing hyper-converged resource requirements.  Continue Reading

• Do hyper-converged platforms have scalability limitations?

  Hyper-converged architectures let users scale easily by adding nodes as needed, but it's important to be aware of vendor- and hypervisor-specific limitations.  Continue Reading

• Can a VDI strategy be streamlined with hyper-convergence?

  Virtual desktop infrastructure environments are complex and have to work with many variables. A hyper-converged infrastructure can reduce costs and complexity in a VDI project.  Continue Reading

• Can a hyper-converged appliance be multi-hypervisor?

  It's possible to design hyper-converged hardware to run several hypervisors at the same time, but various factors make this a scenario we're unlikely to see for some time.  Continue Reading

• What hyper-converged architecture features are most important?

  When evaluating your options for a hyper-converged architecture, simplicity, resilience and scalability are some factors that should top your shopping list.  Continue Reading

• How can I fix VSAN performance problems?

  Users dealing with poor VMware VSAN performance should review their hardware configuration.  Continue Reading

• How do I manage VM resources in hyper-converged systems?

  Hyper-converged systems are growing in popularity, but the setup of virtual environments can result in wasted VM resources.  Continue Reading

• How are hyper-converged vendors providing DR?

  Brien Posey explains how hyper-converged systems are used for DR and which vendors are offering it in this expert answer.  Continue Reading

• Why should I choose a converged vs. hyper-converged system?

  Converged and hyper-converged systems both include storage, networking and compute in one package, but converged systems can offer users some additional advantages.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of hyper-converged cloud storage integration?

  Hyper-converged products are increasingly adding support for public cloud access – a move that can make it easier to use the cloud as a storage tier.  Continue Reading

• How does the cost of a hyper-converged system compare to SAN or NAS?

  When evaluating the cost of a hyper-converged storage system, it's important to keep the functionality of the system in mind in addition to cost per gigabyte.  Continue Reading

• Are vSphere Virtual Volumes necessary with an EVO:RAIL appliance?

  Taneja Group's Tom Fenton explains how VVOLs work, and the storage differences between VVOLs and VSAN.  Continue Reading

• How do NetApp's FlexPod and EVO: RAIL systems compare?

  NetApp will soon ship a version of VMware's EVO: RAIL, which is designed to achieve similar goals as its existing FlexPod reference architecture. So how do they differ?  Continue Reading

• Is hyper-converged storage for VDI a good option?

  Hyper-converged storage can be a great fit for VDI because it eliminates complicated configuration that comes with virtualizing desktops.  Continue Reading

• How do HP's EVO: RAIL and StoreVirtual appliances compare?

  HP signed on as a VMware EVO: RAIL partner even with its similar StoreVirtual product. What's the difference between the two HP offerings?  Continue Reading

• Can I use NAS storage with my hyper-converged infrastructure?

  Hyper-converged options aren't always compatible with shared storage, but some products have added capabilities to better leverage existing architecture.  Continue Reading

• Can you compare software-defined storage architecture to hyper-converged systems?

  Hyper-converged systems and software-defined storage provide similar storage management features, but the technologies are architected very differently.  Continue Reading

• Are there guidelines for determining if VMware vSAN is right for us?

  Expert Brien Posey explains which types of environments VMware's virtual SAN is most beneficial in and which environments can do without it.  Continue Reading