Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is having a significant impact in data centers around the world. Many IT organizations are getting a lot of benefits from a VM-centered approach to infrastructure. I don’t think that an HCI product is necessary to get these benefits. Most of the benefits of HCI could be delivered by software on top …
Alastair Cooke is an independent analyst and consultant working with virtualization and datacenter technologies. Alastair spent eight years delivering training for HP and VMware as well as providing implementation services for their technologies. Alastair is able to create a storied communication that helps partners and customers understand complex technologies. Alastair is known in the VMware community for contributions to the vBrownBag podcast and for the AutoLab, which automates the deployment of a nested vSphere training lab.
HCI Benefits Without HCI, Part 1: Physical
Do you need to buy an HCI product to get the benefits of a hyperconverged system? I don’t believe that storage and compute need to be on the same physical server to get the big HCI benefits. I think you can get some of the biggest value that HCI delivers without using HCI. The big …
Continue reading “HCI Benefits Without HCI, Part 1: Physical”
On-Premises Serverless Needs More Services
I wrote a little while ago about running a serverless platform on-premises. I have since realized that there are a few more things that we need before such a platform is useful. Serverless is just a way of doing application code execution. Most applications need more than execution. At minimum, they need some sort of storage …
Continue reading “On-Premises Serverless Needs More Services”
Enterprises Operate Their IT; Hyperscalers Build Their IT
There is a lot of talk of having enterprises build and operate IT infrastructure the same way hyperscalers do. AWS, Google, and Microsoft can build and operate cloud platforms that are very cost effective. The logic is that enterprise businesses can use the same techniques to build and operate their own efficient data centers. I …
Continue reading “Enterprises Operate Their IT; Hyperscalers Build Their IT”
HCI Will Chase You up the Stack
I really do not see hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) as the final product for the leading vendors. It is more of a minimum viable product than a finished solution. Converging compute and storage has made infrastructure management easier, but there is still a whole lot of IT that is not easier. I sometimes tell people that …
When Every Company Is a Software Company, No Company Is a Software Company
It seems to be fashionable to be a software company. In fact, we hear statements that every company must be a software company. The logic is that software is allowing companies to do business faster than in the past. Software-driven design and manufacturing allow faster product development and shorter time to market. This last part …
Continue reading “When Every Company Is a Software Company, No Company Is a Software Company”