Companies facing major outages are always in the news. In general, this happens due to misconfiguration in legacy servers and storage systems. Moreover, in those cases, recovery might take days. Additionally, they lead to a loss of productivity and financial resources.
Hence, many businesses are considering a move away from traditional infrastructure. Now, the focus is more on hyperconverged systems. Thus, the debate around hyperconverged vs traditional infrastructure is highly relevant. This is more so because businesses prefer simplicity and scalability.
Therefore, read on to learn more about traditional and hyperconverged infrastructure.
What Is Traditional Infrastructure?
The following are the major components of traditional IT infrastructure:
- Servers
- Storage
- Networking
- Virtualization
Here, each of them is managed independently. Although traditional infrastructure is flexible, it is still complex to manage. This is because IT teams must deal with various interfaces, multiple vendors, and periodic maintenance.
Pros of Traditional Infrastructure
The following are some of the major pros of traditional infrastructure that you will benefit from:
- It is easy to customize traditional infrastructure. Basically, you will be able to tailor its components as per your requirements.
- You will be able to choose the best solutions for every layer in the network.
- It is proven that traditional infrastructures are stable. Additionally, legacy systems have a long track record in enterprise environments.
Cons of Traditional Infrastructure
The following are a few cons of traditional infrastructure that you must be aware of:
- Managing a traditional infrastructure is a complex process. In fact, you will require specialized teams for each component.
- If you want to add more resources to the infrastructure, you will have to reconfigure multiple systems.
- The cost of maintaining a traditional infrastructure is high. For instance, licensing, hardware, and maintenance costs might add up real fast.
What Is Hyperconverged Infrastructure?
Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) combines processes like computation, storage, and networking into a single platform. This platform is defined by software. It helps to simplify deployment and management. Thereby, this data center evolution helps to scale virtualization and automation.
The following are the major components of hyperconverged infrastructure:
- Compute
- Storage
- Networking
- Hypervisor
- Management Software
- Data Protection & Backup
Here, the tight integration of compute, storage, and networking—together with centralized management—allows IT teams to streamline operations, reduce maintenance overhead, and respond faster to changing business needs.
Pros of Hyperconverged Infrastructure
The following are some of the major pros of hyperconverged infrastructure that you will benefit from:
- At the outset, you are getting a single interface. This helps you control everything from one point.
- This type of infrastructure is easily scalable. If you add nodes to it, there will be no disruption in operations.
- You will be more cost-efficient by working with a hyperconverged infrastructure. Apart from that, you will also be able to reduce your hardware footprint and operational overhead.
Cons of Hyperconverged Infrastructure
The following are a few cons of hyperconverged infrastructure that you must be aware of:
- You will not have much flexibility in choosing components.
- If you want to invest in a hyperconverged infrastructure, you have to invest a hefty upfront price for new hardware.
- This infrastructure also comes with a steep learning curve. It means IT teams will require some training to manage those platforms.
Go for Sangfor’s Hyperconverged Infrastructure
If you want enterprise-grade performance, choose Sangfor’s hyperconverged infrastructure solution. Why? Well, it is not as complex as traditional setups. Instead, Sangfor’s HCI, a unified system of data storage with storage, computing, networking, and management, that follows some of the major features to simplify your security steps:
- It comes with a 1-stop software-defined data centre.
- It is easy to operate at the outset. Moreover, you can install business-critical applications faster.
- You will be able to integrate this HCI with any commercially available commodity servers.
- You can either build your private cloud or extend to a public cloud. Apart from that, you can also create a personalized Hybrid Cloud.
The usability is one of the best things about Sangfor’s HCI. In fact, even if you have a small IT team, you will be able to manage it without a deep learning curve. Hence, you will be able to modernize your enterprise network infrastructure without an IT overhaul.
Hyperconverged vs Traditional Infrastructure
The following table consists of an IT infrastructure comparison based on a variety of factors:
| Features | Traditional Infrastructure | Hyperconverged Infrastructure |
| Deployment Time | Weeks to months | Hours to days |
| Management Complexity | High | Low |
| Scalability | Manual and segmented | Automated and unified |
| Cost Structure | CapEx-heavy | Mix of CapEx and OpEx |
| Performance | Depends on configuration | Optimized for workloads |
Hence, by looking at this comparison, you might get an idea of why many business organizations are moving away from traditional infrastructure.
Essentially, the debate between HCI vs traditional systems is mostly about performance and flexibility. In general, a traditional system might provide more granular control. However, if you want to manage modern workloads, you require an HCI platform.
The following are the major ways through which HCI delivers better performance and flexibility:
- To deliver faster I/O, HCI utilizes SSDs and intelligent caching. Meanwhile, some traditional systems suffer from bottlenecks. This happens when you have separate storage and computational layers.
- HCI also supports hybrid cloud deployments and disaster recovery. However, you have to configure legacy systems manually. Also, you might have to utilize third-party tools for similar capabilities.
Therefore, if you want to prioritize agility and uptime, choose HCI.
Go Virtual with Sangfor’s HCI
In general, the most popular virtualization platform for enterprises is VMware. However, it is quite costly for small businesses. Apart from that, it comes with complex licensing models. Hence, many organizations are looking for VMware alternatives.
Sangfor’s HCI is a prominent VMware alternative as recognized by Gartner for its capabilities to provide all computing and storage resources required to run a small-scale, highly centralized environment. Also, the best part is that it can take on several use cases. Other key benefits include:
- It integrates seamlessly with existing VMware tools and processes.
- Both subscription and perpetual licensing are available.
- You will get personalized analyses of existing VMware environments. This way, you will be able to identify opportunities to save costs.
- It also comes with an effective migration suite. This way, you will be able to transfer your workload seamlessly.
- After migration, you will be able to secure workloads with AI-based threat detection.
- Sangfor also comes with dedicated support throughout the sales cycle.
Modernize Your Network Infrastructure Now!
When people talk about hyperconverged vs traditional infrastructure, it is not about which one is better. Rather, it matters what’s right for you. However, if you want to optimize and modernize your enterprise network, the best option is to choose a hyperconverged infrastructure.
Hence, if you want an immediate alternative with proven integration features, choose Sangfor’s HCI. Presently, it is influencing the global infrastructure market. Moreover, it is taking necessary steps to improve its multicloud interoperability features and AI-based automation.
Also Read: TV Mounting: Beyond the Basics for a Flawless Setup