To Converge or Not: Drama-Free

Infrastructure Solutions for IT

To fully reap the benefits of a converged infrastructure, IT needs to make sure
its the right choice and prepare its organization for the transition.

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PROS AND CONS

OF CONVERGED
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WHEN CONVERGENCE
MAKES THE MOST SENSE

HYPER-CONVERGENCE
OFFERS DATA CAPACITY,
MOBILITY BENEFITS

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Breaking Down Silos With Converged Infrastructure

Organizations are always looking to

consolidate resources and increase efficiency.
Many products are presented as fix-all solutions that address these ideals, including
converged infrastructure. CI provides IT with
a rigid structure that helps facilitate deployment and increases organizational scalability
and agility. It also has its drawbacks, as IT may
feel shackled to the so-called solution once the
respective organization grows or shifts paths.
In this handbook, we examine the ins and
outs of converged infrastructure, highlighting the benefits and potential drawbacks for
organizations that may adopt this technology.

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

IT consultant and writer Alastair Cooke examines the potential impact CI can have on an
organizations IT landscape and bottom line.
Additionally, he covers the inherent compromise that must be made if infrastructure convergence is the agreed-upon solution. We also
asked some tech experts to weigh in on CI, its
potential for both success and failure, and the
alternative solutions that exist. n
Patrick Hammond
Associate Features Editor,
Data Center and Virtualization Group
TechTarget

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Pros and Cons of Converged Infrastructure

A converged infrastructure (CI) is a

vendor-defined collection of products delivered
as a unit to run a workload. Usually the workload is x86 virtualization and the hardware is
a set of servers, networking tools and a storage
array, but other things also get the converged
infrastructure label. A four-rack-wide vBlock is
converged infrastructure, and so is a rack full of
the HP ConvergedSystem.
Still, there are some commonalities. Converged infrastructure is:

a single-unit product a customer orders;

a rigidly controlled collection of components;

a small number of differently configured

units available from the vendor; and
a working infrastructure within a short
amount of time following delivery.

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

The vendor mandates the hardware and software combination in its unit, ensuring that the
pieces work together. As a result, the infrastructure is delivered as a fully functioning
unit. By offering a small selection of different
converged infrastructure units, vendors simplify both the testing and ordering processes.
Usually the different configurations relate
to scale. One configuration might suit running
a few hundred virtual machines (VMs), while
the next might suit a few thousand. Customers
order the configuration that can accommodate
their workload.
Cost is always a factor for IT, but converged
infrastructure is a long-term play that can pay
dividends. Though the initial price is more
than that of the components (if they were the
sole purchase), the cost of integrating these
partsto the point where they are ready to run
VMsis more than the converged infrastructure product.

PROS
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Because the CI vendor has worked out the

integration between the parts of each unit, the
customer can immediately focus on putting the
infrastructure to work. The vendor has selected
each element so that it can perform in conjunction with the others. Every piece of hardware,
every firmware version and most of the settings
are fixed to ensure compatibility.
The provider thoroughly tests new firmware
and configurations, meaning a buyer does not
need to put time into testing.
Converged infrastructure allows customers to focus on their workloads, not the infrastructures components. Everything below the
virtual machine hardware is defined by the
converged infrastructure product and is validated by the vendor. The customer looks after
the VM operating system and applications
without worrying about any of the physical
infrastructure.
The alternate approach is usually referred
to as best of breed, where the customer
chooses each of the components. The servers,
the network and the storage array are separate
purchases, and each may be sold by different

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

vendors. This requires an organization to

ensure that all parts work together. It is then
required validate each firmware upgrade and
settings change.

THE LIMITS OF CI

The biggest problem with converged infrastructure is that it is so fixed. This rigid structure could lead to waste, as resources may get
saturated in certain areas.
If a unit is designed for server virtualization,
a VDI workload will likely use all of the CPU
capacity before a small percentage of the disk
capacity is filled. Even worse, VDI will make
storage performance demands that are very different from the needs of a server platform. A
media company might use all of the disk capacity while needing little CPU, whereas a medical
research organization may fill every available
resource.
Customers would like an appliance to run
VM workloads, but one size doesnt fit all.
To address this, CI vendors tend to offer varying resource balances for different workloads.
A dedicated VDI unit is the most common

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offering, as large scale VDI is different than

server virtualization; the workload specific
units are still a generalized balance of resources. Each customers workload is slightly
different and may not fit well on a fixed
configuration.
Converged infrastructure units rarely have
space to grow and meet increased load needs.
Thus, customers should plan for larger-thanexpected growth and buy the unit that can
accommodate this demand. A client expecting a 7,000 VM rollout may need to choose
between the 5,000 VM setup and one that can
support 10,000 VM units. The smaller unit
will be inadequate, saturated before the full
workload is deployed. The larger unit will probably not be initially cost effective since it will
be lightly utilized, unless growth occurs.
Once a converged infrastructure unit is
fully utilized, the customer must buy a whole
new unit. Since these units contain a group of
servers and a storage array, they qualify as a

capital-intensive item. Also, as there are a lot

of parts for the vendor to assemble, delivery
can take weeks or months.

THE HYPERCONVERGED PATH

Hyper converged infrastructure is another

option. It provides many of the same benefits
and yet addresses some of the shortcomings of
converged infrastructure. While the latter combines existing storage compute and network
into a validated configuration, hyper converged
builds a new server product that merges the
storage and compute into one server.
Multiple servers are clustered to provide a
platform for the workload. Scaling the cluster
requires the addition of new servers, which is a
much smaller purchase than a new CI unit. The
cluster scales out as more servers are added,
and any number of servers can be added to
accommodate the changing workload.
The risk with hyper convergence is that it

Hyper converged infrastructure provides many of the same benefits

and yet addresses some of the shortcomings of converged infrastructure.

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

PROS
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uses emerging hardware and software platforms, and has new operational paradigms.
This is in contrast to converged infrastructure,
which uses existing, proven hardware in a new
way.
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KNOW YOUR COMPROMISE

Converged infrastructure products can be a

significant help to customers, especially those
that do not want to manage device and firmware compatibility conflicts. Converged infrastructure allows an in-house team to focus on
the applications and users that make the business run.

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

There is an inherent trade-off in using existing, proven hardware in a new way. With convergence infrastructure, an organization gains
operational simplicity but it sacrifices configuration flexibility. In the end, the question is:
What delivers the best value for your particular
organization?
Startups would be unlikely candidates for the
converged model, as the size of the organization wouldnt justify such a hefty infrastructure. Ideal fits for converged infrastructure
are medium and large companies, particularly
those preferring to focus on the applications
being delivered rather than the management of
the underlying infrastructure. Alastair Cooke

WHEN
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When Convergence Makes the Most Sense

Converged infrastructure products

have been getting a lot of attention lately, and
for good reason. Todays innovative products
are more than just a pre-packaged collection of
hardware. Theyre offering easier management
and advanced automation. These products are
often seen as a natural fit for virtual infrastructures, but they are not a magic bullet and may
not be right for everyone.
Weve asked the SearchDataCenter Advisory
Board members about the advantages and disadvantages of converged infrastructure products and when a converged approach fits best.
n

Brian Kirsch, IT architect and instructor,

Milwaukee Area Technical College

The goal of converged infrastructure is a onestop solution to address data center needs by
providing seamless integration of multiple
technologies or vendors and automation to
provide a cost-effective business solution. VCE

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

is a great example of combining VMware, Cisco

and EMC into a single data center product. By
having this one throat to choke a business
can avoid the classic finger pointing of which
vendor is to blame when issues arise. This can
reduce outage times, streamline the support
process and possibly even lead to price breaks
and discounts on maintenance agreements.
This converged infrastructure can be great
for customers who prefer the single-vendor
approach for both simplicity and cost benefits. However, while some larger vendors have
extensive experience in multiple technologies
through internal development or acquisition,
it is still not a best-of-breed approach. And
customers can find limitations in some of the
technologies within the converged product.
Of course, many businesses have elected
to pass on the converged infrastructure and
have gone la carte with multiple vendors
and technologies. The result is often multiple

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management interfaces, higher costs and more

complex support situations. However, this
approach brings one key benefit: a lower cost
over the converged infrastructure options.
While the single pane of glass for the converged infrastructure offers improved management, the additional cost can be difficult for
business of all sizes to justify.
While a converged infrastructure is ideal for
a new data center, it often does not fit with
existing data center infrastructure. It requires
a rip-and-replace strategy, which can be too
costly and complex. Converged infrastructure has its place, but if it means ditching
your existing infrastructure, your data center
might not be the correct place for a converged
product.
n

Bill Smeltzer, Focus Technology Solutions

Many believe that next generation data centers will be software-defined and not rely on
proprietary hardware. The success stories of
this approach are plentiful (Google, Amazon,
Facebook are a few examples). The goal of a
software-defined data center is to give companies more agility and automation, but the ideal

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

of the software-defined data center is still

not within reach for many companies. Converged infrastructure solutions allow companies to get agility and automation today by
using a tightly coupled hardware and software
product.
The advantage of a converged approach is
that automation and advanced functionality are possible. A company can achieve very
quick results with an off the shelf or shrink
wrapped product. However, converged products remain expensive because of the proprietary hardware and software needed to operate it.
There are a few converged approaches
worth mentioning: VCE, FlexPod, and VSPEX
use existing manufactures technologies and
wrap automation and functionality around
these vendors to provide a converged product.
SimpliVity and Nutanix take the appliance
approach and use their proprietary hardware
and software to deliver a turnkey appliance.
Both approaches promise the same advances
of agility and automation, but the appliance
approach tends to be less expensive because
they are pushing for more market share and do
not rely on hardware from big-name vendors.

WHEN
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The VCE approach offers the benefit of namebrand products with the convenience of one
support organization.
n

Maish Saidel-Keesing, infrastructure

administrator and virtualization architect,

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Cisco Video Technologies Israel

Converged infrastructure has been a lifesaver for

many enterprises, saving on rack space, cooling,
cabling and electricity, just to name a few.
There are downsides as well, including limited flexibility. With converged infrastructure
products, you have a standard form factor with
a standard maximum number of disks, CPUs
and RAM. There is no way to deviate from this.
Before investing in a converged product, you

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

should ask yourself what will happen if a need

arises to deviate from that standard. A good
example of this scenario would be VMwares
new VSAN. Because VSAN requires a substantial number of hard disks in each node, most
converged infrastructure products would not
be suitable candidates for VSAN. If you have
already heavily invested in a converged product,
then you will have to decide whether or not
to use this new technology or to deviate from
your current standards.
Similar to most things in life, converged
infrastructure has its advantages and disadvantages. As a technical decision-maker, you will
have to perform the analysis of how and when
it is worth your time and money. n

ALTERNATIVE
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Hyper-Convergence Offers
Data Capacity, Mobility Benefits
There are plenty of converged infrastructure products on the market today, and each
offers something slightly different than the
next. What do these stacks really do, and will
the market grow?
Its more than just converging storage and
servers, said Doron Kempel, CEO of SimpliVity Corp., an early hyper-converged provider,
at TechTargets recent Modern Infrastructure
Summit in New York. Companies that can
solve data capacity, protection and mobility
problems are the next big wave of hyper-converged offerings. In fact, hyper-converged
is just a buzzword that doesnt get at the
true evolution of these products, Kempel
explained.
Kempel comes from a background in storage,
as a former vice president at EMC and founder
of Diligent Technologies, a deduplication company. He addressed the hyper-convergence
markets progression and future.

TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

What exactly is the difference between

converged and hyper-converged products?

You look at large enterprises today and their

IT is comprised of about 12 different products
that they buy from as many different vendors.
Those products include a server, a switch,
then storage (an SSD array), then potentially a
backup deduplication appliance, a WAN optimization appliance, a cloud gateway, perhaps
data caching, then two, three or four data protection applications. Convergence 1.0 ... takes
a server, storage, switch and [virtualization]
and puts them in one container, but it doesnt
take away the environmental costs of space and
power, and you still need to buy all the other
products. Those do not address what we call
the data problem.
In order to take the promise of Web economics and bring it into the enterprise, you cant
just converge storage and server. You also need
to include all the functionality that solves data

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problemsfive or six different products that

dedupe and compress a single phrase in the
lifecycle of the data. We introduced a data virtualization platform ... that does that very fast
at the point of inception when the data is written by the application.

the economics of the cloudthe chickenfarmer logic into the puppy-lover worldyou
need to introduce more capabilities. Its a difficult problem to solve and thats why it took
us three and half years just to develop our
product.

What were the problems organizations

Why is the data virtualization part

had that werent being solved before

of hyper-convergence so important?

hyper-convergence came along?

The data virtualization platform is basically the

underpinnings that allow you to associate very
agile, granular deduped or compressed data
with the applications that own itonce, and
everywhere. It addresses IOPS, data mobility,
protection and capacity.
We used to ship 18 GB drives; today we ship
3, 4, 5, 6 TB drives, which means the density
of the drive increased about 300 times. But the
RPM, the performance of the drive, increased
45% or 50%. Its as if we used to drink with
a straw out of a cup, but now, with the same
straw were drinking out of a swimming pool. It
doesnt work. There is a major IOPS problem.
So what do we do? We throw SSD [solid-state
drives] at the problem. But SSD is very expensive. So if we dedupe the data before it ever hits

My sense was that if somebody is going to

solve the data problem at the point of origin,
then all of us dedupers are going to be out of
a job. ... [Second], all the technologies are now
available to build a 21st century product that
assimilates all the functionality [of the mainframe] on x86 very efficiently. If we solve the
data problem, that allows us to bring the promise of cloud economics into the data center.
When the data center people look at the
cloud peopleAmazon, Google etc.what
they say about them is that the cloud guys
treat the applications the way a farmer treats a
chicken: Theyre all uniform. Data center people treat the applications the way a puppy lover
treats a puppy: It has a personality. So to create

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ALTERNATIVE
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the disk, we reduce the number of IOPS.

Second, the problem is still capacity, but
its not the capacity on the disk drive, its the
capacity that it needs to travel on your network. And we all agree that todays IT needs to
cross geographies. And in order for data to be
mobile, it needs to be deduped and compressed
and optimized.
Now, onto protection. Theres a disconnect
between the way we manage data and the way
we manage storage. In our architecture, the data
belongs to a virtual machine. You can manage
all the VMs [virtual machines] globally and
make protection decisions on a per-VM, perapplication basis.
What do you think about EMC announcing that
they will build a hyper-convergence platform?

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TO CONVERGE OR NOT: DRAMA-FREE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS FOR IT

Everybody is going to get into the converged

space, because theres no alternative. Thats
what the customers want. If they are able to
deliver a new solution to the data problem and
do it within a homogenous stack as opposed to
all different software running on a lot of x86
resources, then thats great. They will further
validate what weve been doing. When they
made that announcement and they referenced
us, we viewed that as a great compliment.
With this growth, whats the next big
thing in this market going to be?

This wave is the big wave for the next decade

or two. I see incremental innovation, where
basically even the cloud players are going to
benefit from this technology. Their technology
is already 10 years old. Alyssa Wood

ABOUT
THE
AUTHORS

ALASTAIR COOKE is a freelance trainer, consultant and

blogger specializing in server and desktop virtualization.

Known in Australia and New Zealand for the APAC virtualization podcast and regional community events, Cooke
was awarded VMwares vExpert status for his 2010 efforts.
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BRIAN KIRSCH is

an IT architect and instructor at

Milwaukee Area Technical College, focusing primarily
on virtualization and storage environments. He has been
in information technology for over 15 years and worked
with VMware products for more than seven years. Brian
also accepted a position in 2012 as a member of the
VMUG Global Board of Directors.

MAKES THE MOST SENSE

HYPER-CONVERGENCE
OFFERS DATA CAPACITY,
MOBILITY BENEFITS

BILL SMELTZER is

the CTO of Focus Technology Solutions,

an enterprise-level technology solutions provider based in
New Hampshire.
MAISH SAIDEL-KEESING is

an infrastructure administrator
and virtualization architect for Cisco Video Technologies
Israel (formerly NDS Group) in Jerusalem, Israel. He
received the vExpert 2009 award from VMware, is a
VMware Communities moderator and is co-authoring a
book on vSphere design. His blog, Technodrone, focuses
on VMware products, PowerCLI and Powershell.
ALYSSA WOOD is

the site editor for TechTargets

SearchConsumerization.

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To Converge or Not: Drama-Free Infrastructure Solutions

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