The latest form factor, hyper-converged infrastructure, seems to be storming through the data center market like a thundering donkey with a rainbow laser cannon. Join the Datanauts as they pick apart the pros and cons of hyper-converged, ramble on about architecture and design challenges, and shine a piercing light into a dark and murky corner of the next generation data center!

 

What we discuss…more or less.

* High level overview of hyper-converged infrastructure

* Is this a technical name, marketing name, or neither?

* Some historical details would be superb.

* What traits makes a platform hyper-converged?

* Is this a software-defined thing? Such as software defined storage in a new package?

* What food groups are represented by HCI? Such as storage and compute, but not network.

* Platform decision points

* What advantages do the hyper-converged model provide versus status quo, converged, reference architecture, and so on?

* How does one manage such a system on a day-2 basis?

* Use cases

* Any particular vertical or application that makes a great fit?

* What doesn’t fit well?

* Design stories / war wounds

* Is the technology mature enough for enterprise customers?

* Is this an SMB / mid-tier play?

* How long does it take before we do trust this platform?

* What data do I need to create a design?

* Scale limitations

* What sort of size can I expect to reach with HCI?

* Is scale vendor driven or generic to HCI?

* Is this a single data center, multiple data center, or in between model?

* Software solutions versus hardware + software solutions

* Who are the players in this space?

* Why would I want to roll my own HCI versus buying a solution?

* Does it even matter, are they both so easy that it’s 6 of one, ½ dozen of the other?

* What are the analysts saying about HCI?

* What’s the hyper convergence value add beyond the hardware?

* Isn’t it all just COTS components anyway?

* Partnerships in the field (e.g. Dell XC, Cisco)

Guest information.

* Scott D. Lowe

* Title: Consultant and Co-Founder of ActualTech Media

* Twitter: @otherscottlowe

* Blog: http://www.actualtechmedia.com/

Links.

* http://www.actualtechmedia.com/

* http://www.datacenterzombie.com/hyperconverged-is-not-just-ready-for-enterprise-its-ready-to-take-over-the-enterprise/

* http://blog.scalecomputing.com/scale-computing-launches-new-hc3-product-at-vmworld-2012/

* http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/Server_SAN_Market_Definition

You can reach Ethan (@ecbanks on Twitter) or on his blog EthanCBanks.com and Chris (@ChrisWahl on Twitter) or on his blog WahlNetwork.com. For more superb Packet Pushers content, crab walk on over to PacketPushers.net to partake on the bountiful feast of podcast goodness. Until then, may your server lights blink, your storage spindles spin, and your cables be cleanly managed.