Converged Infrastructure
Encyclopedia
Converged infrastructure packages multiple information technology (IT) components into a single, optimized computing solution. Components of a converged infrastructure solution include servers, data storage devices, networking equipment and software for IT infrastructure management, automation and orchestration.
Converged infrastructure is used by IT organizations to centralize the management of IT resources, consolidate systems, increase resource utilization rates, and lower costs. These objectives are enabled by the creation of pools of computers, storage and networking resources that can be shared by multiple applications and managed in a collective manner using policy driven processes.
IT vendors and industry analysts use various terms to describe the concept of a converged infrastructure. These include converged system, unified computing
, fabric-based computing, and dynamic infrastructure
.
Converged Infrastructure solutions are available by various vendors. VCE (formed by Cisco, EMC, VMware and Intel) builds converged infrastructure platforms which are primarily comprised of compents from the parent companies. Dell, HP and IBM offer converged infrastructure solutions comprised primarily from their own proprietary compenents. NetApp also offers a converged infrastructure solution.
s of data they generate, IT resources were deployed in a silo-like fashion. One set of resources has been devoted to one particular computing technology, business application or line of business. These resources support a single set of assumptions and cannot be optimized or reconfigured to support actual usage.
The proliferation of IT sprawl in data centers has contributed to rising operations costs, reducing productivity, and stifling agility and flexibility. Maintenance and operations can consume two-thirds of an organization’s technology budget, according to a 2009 InformationWeek survey of executives in 500 companies with annual revenue over $250 million. That leaves just a third of the budget for new IT initiatives. This ratio prevents IT from supporting new business initiatives or responding to real application demands.
A converged infrastructure addresses the problem of siloed architectures and IT sprawl by pooling and sharing IT resources. Rather than dedicating a set of resources to a particular computing technology, application or line of business, converged infrastructures creates a pool of virtualized server, storage and networking capacity that is shared by multiple applications and lines of business.
Writing in CIO magazine, Forrester Research
analyst Robert Whiteley noted that converged infrastructures, combining server, storage, and networks into a single framework, help to transform the economics [of] running the datacenter thus accelerating the transition to IP storage to help build infrastructures that are "cloud-ready". The combination of storage and compute into a single entity is known as Converged storage
.
Decreased complexity, through the use of pre-integrated hardware with virtualization and automation management tools, is another important value proposition for converged infrastructure as noted in an IDC study.
InformationWeek highlighted the promise of two long-term advantages of a unified data center infrastructure:
services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service
(PaaS) and Software as a Service
(SaaS) offerings.
Several characteristics make converged infrastructure well suited to cloud deployments. These include the ability to pool IT resources, to automate resource provisioning and to scale up and down capacity quickly to meet the needs of dynamic computing workloads.
Converged infrastructure is used by IT organizations to centralize the management of IT resources, consolidate systems, increase resource utilization rates, and lower costs. These objectives are enabled by the creation of pools of computers, storage and networking resources that can be shared by multiple applications and managed in a collective manner using policy driven processes.
IT vendors and industry analysts use various terms to describe the concept of a converged infrastructure. These include converged system, unified computing
Fabric computing
Fabric computing or unified computing involves the creation of a computing fabric consisting of interconnected nodes that look like a 'weave' or a 'fabric' when viewed collectively from a distance....
, fabric-based computing, and dynamic infrastructure
Dynamic Infrastructure
Dynamic Infrastructure is an information technology paradigm concerning the design of data centers so that the underlying hardware and software can respond dynamically to changing levels of demand in more fundamental and efficient ways than before...
.
Converged Infrastructure solutions are available by various vendors. VCE (formed by Cisco, EMC, VMware and Intel) builds converged infrastructure platforms which are primarily comprised of compents from the parent companies. Dell, HP and IBM offer converged infrastructure solutions comprised primarily from their own proprietary compenents. NetApp also offers a converged infrastructure solution.
The evolution of data centers
Historically, to keep pace with the growth of business applications and the terabyteTerabyte
The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
s of data they generate, IT resources were deployed in a silo-like fashion. One set of resources has been devoted to one particular computing technology, business application or line of business. These resources support a single set of assumptions and cannot be optimized or reconfigured to support actual usage.
The proliferation of IT sprawl in data centers has contributed to rising operations costs, reducing productivity, and stifling agility and flexibility. Maintenance and operations can consume two-thirds of an organization’s technology budget, according to a 2009 InformationWeek survey of executives in 500 companies with annual revenue over $250 million. That leaves just a third of the budget for new IT initiatives. This ratio prevents IT from supporting new business initiatives or responding to real application demands.
A converged infrastructure addresses the problem of siloed architectures and IT sprawl by pooling and sharing IT resources. Rather than dedicating a set of resources to a particular computing technology, application or line of business, converged infrastructures creates a pool of virtualized server, storage and networking capacity that is shared by multiple applications and lines of business.
Benefits of converged infrastructure
Converged infrastructure provides both technical and business efficiencies, according to industry researchers and observers. These gains stem in part from the pre-integration of technology components, the pooling of IT resources and the automation of IT processes.Writing in CIO magazine, Forrester Research
Forrester Research
Forrester Research is an independent technology and market research company that provides its clients with advice about technology's impact on business and consumers. Forrester Research has five research centers in the US: Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York, New York; San Francisco, California;...
analyst Robert Whiteley noted that converged infrastructures, combining server, storage, and networks into a single framework, help to transform the economics [of] running the datacenter thus accelerating the transition to IP storage to help build infrastructures that are "cloud-ready". The combination of storage and compute into a single entity is known as Converged storage
Converged storage
Converged storage is a storage architecture that combines storage and compute into a single entity. This can result in the development of platforms for server centric, storage centric or hybrid workloads where applications and data come together to improve application performance and delivery...
.
Decreased complexity, through the use of pre-integrated hardware with virtualization and automation management tools, is another important value proposition for converged infrastructure as noted in an IDC study.
InformationWeek highlighted the promise of two long-term advantages of a unified data center infrastructure:
- Lower costs as the result of both:
- lower capital expenses resulting from higher utilization, less cabling, and fewer network connections
- lower operating costs resulting from reduced labor via automated data center management and a consolidating storage and network management infrastructure teams
- Increased IT agility by:
- virtualizing IPInternet ProtocolThe Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
and Fibre ChannelFibre ChannelFibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute –accredited standards...
storage networking - allowing for single console management.
- virtualizing IP
Converged infrastructure and cloud computing
Converged infrastructure can serve as an enabling platform for private and public cloud computingCloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
services, including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service
Platform as a service
Platform as a service is a category of cloud computing services that provide a computing platform and a solution stack as a service...
(PaaS) and Software as a Service
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
(SaaS) offerings.
Several characteristics make converged infrastructure well suited to cloud deployments. These include the ability to pool IT resources, to automate resource provisioning and to scale up and down capacity quickly to meet the needs of dynamic computing workloads.