Tips

Tips

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Implementation

• Microsegmentation networking: Nutanix Flow vs. VMware NSX HCI

  Explore how microsegmentation improves network security and the differences in how Nutanix and VMware bring the technology to their software-defined hyper-converged infrastructures.  Continue Reading

• An intro to Nutanix Flow software-defined networking for HCI

  Learn how Flow SDN brings network policy and management services to Nutanix hyper-converged infrastructure through the automation and streamlining of common networking operations.  Continue Reading

• Work-from-home infrastructure HCI tips for VDI, remote desktops

  Best practices, tips for designing a hyper-converged infrastructure to support virtual desktops for remote workers in today's coronavirus-accentuated, work-from-home environment.  Continue Reading

• 3 tips to prevent VDI IP address exhaustion before it happens

  For those turning to VDI to support remote workers due to the COVID-19 influx, it's best to get ahead of IP address problems before people return to the office.  Continue Reading

• Quickly repurpose HCI hardware for hosting virtual desktops

  Virtual desktops are tailored for remote work situations, and hyper-convergence makes a great VDI host that stands up quickly in a pinch. Consider these factors, though.  Continue Reading

• Top hyper-converged infrastructure TCO factors to consider

  A lot of factors for estimating hyper-converged total cost of ownership are fairly straightforward, others less so. Follow these guidelines to get started on this complex process.  Continue Reading

• What is Intel Rack Scale Design and how does it work?

  Find out what Intel's Rack Scale Design architecture is and how its reference code and APIs enable Intel-partner products to compose on-demand virtual servers for specific workloads.  Continue Reading

• AWS Outposts vs. Azure Stack vs. HCI

  See how AWS Outposts vs. Microsoft Azure Stack hybrid cloud offerings work and where they can and cannot take the place of traditional hyper-converged infrastructures.  Continue Reading

• How pay-as-you-go hyper-converged hardware pricing works

  With consumption-based pricing, vendors deploy an HCI on premises, while you pay a subscription fee. It promises to lower upfront costs and reduce headaches. But is it right for you?  Continue Reading

• How VCF on VxRail helps achieve hybrid cloud victory

  Virtual Cloud Foundation on VxRail combines VMware software-defined private cloud technology with Dell EMC hyper-converged hardware to create an extensive hybrid cloud platform.  Continue Reading

• Top tips for moving workloads to hyper-converged technology

  Take security and management seriously when migrating workloads to HCI. Closely evaluate supporting systems -- and the applications and hyper-converged system itself --- as well.  Continue Reading

• How Cisco and Nexenta software defines storage for HyperFlex HCI

  See how Nexenta's virtual storage appliance software can extend Cisco HyperFlex HCI storage capabilities without additional hardware or complex system reconfigurations.  Continue Reading

• A close look at different types of hyper-converged architectures

  Learn more about the major kinds of hyper-converged infrastructure available as we explore the evolution of HCI from basic storage-compute nodes to newer disaggregated types.  Continue Reading

• Explore Robin hyper-converged Kubernetes for containerized apps

  Robin Systems new scalable and agile Kubernetes HCI platform aims to take the pain out of deploying and managing complex data-intensive systems in a containerized environment.  Continue Reading

• Deploying a hyper-converged cluster with mismatched hardware

  Software HCI implementations make it possible to build HCI clusters from mismatched hardware. Even so, see why matched hardware can make deployment easier to manage and maintain.  Continue Reading

• Know the risk of hyper-converged vendor lock-in, myths and facts

  The risk of HCI vendor lock-in is real. The reason why is different than you might think, however. See how it often comes down to financial, not technical, limitations in this article.  Continue Reading

• The vSAN stretched cluster type spreads HCI love for HA, DR

  VMware vSAN stretched clusters enable admins to spread hyper-converged infrastructures across two physical locations. Learn more about them and their benefits.  Continue Reading

• 3 hyper-converged cloud infrastructure benefits

  A hyper-converged cloud enables IT managers to overcome the challenges of managing compute, storage and network resources as separate tiers and move to the cloud in stages.  Continue Reading

• Yes, pertinent, cost-effective hyper-converged platforms for SMBs exist

  Why the simplicity and potential cost savings of a hyper-converged infrastructure from the likes of DataCore, Scale Computing and StarWind may be the way to go for some SMBs.  Continue Reading

• A guide to hyper-converged data resiliency options and requirements

  What you need to find out from HCI vendors to architect a resilient hyper-converged environment that will protect data against failure, error and attack.  Continue Reading

• 4 essential composable infrastructure questions answered

  Learn how composable IT works, and find out when this highly flexible, programmable infrastructure model makes sense for your servers, network, and storage and when it doesn't.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged cloud key to private cloud success

  Granular scaling and rapid deployment help make hyper-converged infrastructure the ideal platform for building out, deploying and scaling out a private cloud.  Continue Reading

• Use Windows Server deployment for feature-filled HCI

  Windows Server 2016 not only supports a hyper-converged infrastructure implementation, but brings with it a rich set of features for both performance and security.  Continue Reading

• Ten hyper-converged infrastructure architecture buying mistakes

  Buying hyper-converged infrastructure systems can be less stressful if you learn about and avoid these 10 common mistakes that trip up some HCI buyers.  Continue Reading

• Match your hyper-converged hardware pick with your workload

  Overall workload demands and growth projections, not just user applications, should be top of mind when you choose among the hardware options in hyper-converged appliances.  Continue Reading

• Match your hyper-converged infrastructure appliance to your apps

  Planning a hyper-converged appliance purchase should start with determining which application it will run and which configuration options will meet apps' needs.  Continue Reading

• Build the right hyper-converged cloud for your apps

  Picking the right hyper-converged hardware and software for your application workload requires understanding how the elements of HCI can best be combined for your needs.  Continue Reading

• Why an edge computing platform benefits from HCI

  HCI's easy implementation and management help admins solve some of the challenges of edge computing, such as distributed endpoint management and a trend toward data silos.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged cloud benefits for service providers

  Cloud service providers can reap a longer, more profitable life from their cloud platforms by taking advantage of the benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• A DIY hyper-converged environment starts with a plan

  Start with software when you plan a DIY hyper-converged platform. That will make it easier to match it with hardware that can give you the best performance results.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged integrated systems ease VDI rollout

  Without the easy scalability of hyper-converged systems, a VDI rollout could stall on a traditional storage array system if user demand creates I/O bottlenecks.  Continue Reading

• Planning your HCI storage needs is vital for VDI

  Accounting for storage and compute demands from both the IT infrastructure and the end users is vital when implementing any hyper-converged architecture for VDI.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-convergence improves VDI storage performance

  Hyper-converged infrastructure can help with VDI performance issues by bringing linear scalability to the deployment and reducing -- or even eliminating -- bottlenecks.  Continue Reading

• The pros and cons of building your own hyper-converged platform

  Building your own HCI platform can save money and headaches around vendor lock-in, but your IT department needs the hardware and manpower to make it work.  Continue Reading

• Seven hyper-converged software options for DIY HCI

  If your company already has hardware that you want to turn into a hyper-converged infrastructure stack, you can do it with one of these software-only options.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged system: Should you build it or buy it?

  You can build your own hyper-converged infrastructure without purchasing an appliance from a vendor, and the DIY movement could have a ripple effect on the whole HCI market.  Continue Reading

• Converged vs. hyper-converged infrastructure: The bottom line

  Is your infrastructure more suited to a converged or hyper-converged system? Both approaches use virtualization, but software and hardware need to be factored in.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged infrastructure benefits vs. CI and public cloud

  Hyper-converged and converged systems are not the only choices for running enterprise workloads. Operating in the public cloud may prove to be a better fit for your organization.  Continue Reading

• Which workloads should you run on hyper-converged platforms?

  VDI, tier-one apps and ROBOs are solid choices to run on hyper-converged systems, but companies should find other resources to support some needy applications.  Continue Reading

• Prepare your environment for HCI platform installation

  Deploying an HCI stack is a transformation in IT infrastructure management. Admins must get VMs in order and plan the migration to get data centers ready for HCI.  Continue Reading

• Selling hyper-converged computing to upper management

  If you want to use hyper-converged infrastructure in your company, getting approval -- and budget -- from higher-ups is the first step. Highlight simplicity, agility and TCO.  Continue Reading

• How HCI vendors threaten innovation opportunities

  Deploying HCI gives IT shops one throat to choke when something goes wrong. But when a new tech advancement comes about, admins must wait on HCI vendors to catch up.  Continue Reading

• How to use hyper-converged products in an enterprise environment

  In a hyper-converged system, you get everything a vendor thinks you need in a single connected system package. But what if your enterprise doesn't need all those component parts?  Continue Reading

• How hyper-converged software provides DRaaS

  When a hyper-converged platform is packaged on an appliance, disaster recovery can be difficult. However, hyper-converged users still have several options for DRaaS-like features.  Continue Reading

• Shorten your data storage problem list with hyper-convergence

  IT professionals have many hurdles to jump in traditional, virtualized storage environments. Luckily, hyper-converged infrastructure can eliminate some of those obstacles.  Continue Reading

• Use a software-defined storage vendor to avoid lock-in

  Vendor lock-in is one downside to buying a prepackaged hyper-converged infrastructure product. But selecting a software option could avoid the problem.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged architectures receive value from deduplication process

  As capacity becomes cheaper, some storage administrators might assume deduplication is less relevant. But in hyper-converged data centers, the technology is as important as ever.  Continue Reading

• How to support resource-hungry VMs on hyper-converged infrastructure

  VMs that run big applications on hyper-converged infrastructures suck resources from the whole cluster, but splitting a demanding app among VMs can improve performance for all.  Continue Reading

• Are you ready for a hyper-converged data center?

  The promise of self-contained compute systems from one vendor may seem to be the answer to tight budgets, but problems still exist with hyper-convergence in the data center.  Continue Reading

• Going all in with a fully hyper-converged data center

  More organizations are incorporating hyper-convergence into their data center, but is 100% hyper-convergence realistic? George Crump explains where it might work.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged data center changes infrastructure upgrades

  Hyper-converged platforms allow customers to purchase more resources as their environments grow, eliminating the costly hardware refreshes of traditional environments.  Continue Reading

• Pain-free hyper-converged platform integration

  Integrating existing hardware into a hyper-converged cluster is important for migration, but adding outside storage hardware can introduce unwanted complexity.  Continue Reading

• Reasons to hyper-converge your architecture

  If you plan to kick off 2016 by hyper-converging your infrastructure, storage expert George Crump outlines the benefits of such a project, as well as some areas of concern.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged architecture: Aggregation vs. replication

  Learn the benefits of aggregation in a hyper-converged environment, how to choose between aggregation and replication, and the compromise to each approach.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged platform integration challenges

  Integrating a hyper-converged platform into your computing environment is an issue for many data centers. Explore possible roadblocks and tools to aid the process.  Continue Reading

• Converged vs. hyper-converged storage: Which method is best?

  Ease of management, scalability and cost are all factors when an organization has to decide on converged vs. hyper-converged storage. We list the benefits for each approach.  Continue Reading

• Increase storage capacity in hyper-converged systems

  Hyper-converged systems make it easy to increase storage capacity, but that also means you could be paying for unneeded compute resources.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged architecture configuration issues

  No hyper-converged architecture setup is alike, but there are some universal steps that can be followed with most vendor products. Brien Posey explains in this tip.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged architecture deployment: Areas of concern

  A hyper-converged architecture is meant to be simple to install, but a smooth deployment depends on proper planning.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged system checklist evaluates required features

  With multiple hyper-converged systems to choose from, this checklist can help you determine which system is right for you.  Continue Reading

• Seven criteria for hyper-converged system selection

  Expert Jon Toigo outlines seven factors to consider when evaluating a hyper-converged storage system.  Continue Reading