Converged infrastructure management
Converged infrastructure represents a bundling of various data center systems -- such as storage, networking and servers -- that organizations can purchase all at once from a single supplier. Explore converged infrastructure management options such as DCIM, hybrid cloud and different management software to keep converged infrastructures running smoothly.
Top Stories
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Feature
31 Jan 2024
5 hyper-converged infrastructure trends for 2024
Hyper-converged infrastructure is rapidly changing. Read what HCI has to offer and what projected growth it may have within the next couple years. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
09 Jun 2023
The networking imperative for AI applications
Networking is vital to support the requirements of AI applications. Technologies such as smartNICs and RDMA can improve efficiency and scalability. Continue Reading
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Definition
08 Dec 2023
hyperconverged appliance (HCI appliance)
A hyperconverged appliance (HCI appliance) is a hardware device that provides multiple data center management technologies within a single box. Continue Reading
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Definition
29 Aug 2023
unified computing system (UCS)
A unified computing system (UCS) is a converged data center architecture that integrates computing, networking and storage resources to increase efficiency and enable centralized management. Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Aug 2023
Dell EMC VxRail
Dell EMC VxRail is a hyper-converged appliance. Like VSPEX Blue -- the Dell EMC product that it replaced -- and other hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems, VxRail includes compute, storage, networking and virtualization resources in a single device. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
09 Jun 2023
The networking imperative for AI applications
Networking is vital to support the requirements of AI applications. Technologies such as smartNICs and RDMA can improve efficiency and scalability. Continue Reading
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Definition
19 May 2023
vendor lock-in
Vendor lock-in is a situation in which a customer using a product or service cannot easily transition to a competitor's product or service. Continue Reading
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Definition
21 Apr 2022
data center infrastructure management (DCIM)
Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) is the convergence of IT and building facilities functions within an organization. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2022
FlexPod XCS brings cloud capabilities to data centers
FlexPod XCS, the latest NetApp and Cisco converged infrastructure appliance, expands support for hybrid cloud environments with hyperscaler integrations. Continue Reading
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News
03 Mar 2022
Nutanix revenue increases, driven by hybrid cloud adoption
Benefiting from the growing user adoption of hybrid clouds and a significant increase in digital transformation projects, Nutanix second-quarter revenue jumped 19%. Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Feb 2022
Why hyper-converged infrastructure simplifies IT management
As fractured data center landscapes shift to HCI environments to consolidate IT operations, learn the many advantages, disadvantages and challenges of hyper-converged deployments. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Feb 2022
The top hyper-converged systems and composable infrastructure of 2021
These Products of the Year winners offer the flexibility and scalability that make hyper-converged systems an excellent choice for companies of any size. Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Jan 2022
Hybrid cloud strategy blends public, private cloud benefits
When opting for a hybrid cloud infrastructure during digital transformation, migrating applications and workloads to the cloud doesn't necessarily dictate vacating the premises. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Jan 2022
Managed services benefits ease enterprise IT security woes
At a time when threats to network and data security are on the rise, MSSPs can help overwhelmed enterprises confront cloud configuration, risk reduction and regulatory compliance. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jan 2022
Managed services IT support closes the cloud skills gap
As businesses in the throes of digital transformation and cloud migration struggle to find and hire technically skilled IT professionals, MSP expertise can help fill the void. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Nov 2021
Server lifecycle approach lowers risk, raises app performance
Nemertes Research CTO John Burke warns that a server's lifecycle may be shorter than you think and offers a four-stage approach to maintain on-premises servers at peak efficiency. Continue Reading
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News
28 Oct 2021
TrueNAS Scale puts storage spin on HCI
TrueNAS Scale hits general availability and marks iXsystems' first foray into HCI, bringing scale-out storage to its NAS devices. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Aug 2021
Hyper-converged market shifts with IT trends
The hyper-converged infrastructure market has seen a good deal of movement lately. While some vendors strengthened their products, others went in the opposite direction. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Aug 2021
technological convergence
Technological convergence is a term that describes bringing previously unrelated technologies together, often in a single device. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Jul 2021
Explore the evolution of Intel and AMD server processors
Intel and AMD server processors are used in a variety of systems, including converged and hyper-converged infrastructure. Explore the improvements in their technologies. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Jul 2021
A Red Hat Hyperconverged Infrastructure deep dive
Hyper-converged infrastructure is a popular platform for compute, storage and networking. So where does Red Hat fit in with its variety of HCI offerings? Continue Reading
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News
02 Jun 2021
New Dell VxRail systems improve speed, resource management
Dell VxRail hardware and software updates improve performance and ease deployment and management, while enabling discrete compute and storage scaling for demanding workloads. Continue Reading
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News
12 Mar 2021
VMware vSAN storage update eyeballs HCI scaling challenges
The VMware vSAN storage update aims to help enterprises start with a small HCI deployment. Customers gain the option to connect compute servers to existing storage vSAN clusters. Continue Reading
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News
05 Mar 2021
HPE SimpliVity gains cloud backup and Kubernetes CSI plug-in
SimpliVity has added integration with HPE Cloud Volumes Backup and HPE StoreOnce to enable easier backup at the edge, as well as a new Kubernetes CSI plug-in. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Feb 2021
Top hyper-converged systems and composable infrastructure of 2020
Dell EMC, Scale Computing and SmartX win praise for multifaceted, edge-friendly and high-performance applications, respectively, to lead the way in the hyper-convergence category. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Feb 2021
Enterprise technology trends for 2021 shaped by COVID-19
Explore IT infrastructure and storage-related software, hardware and services that will likely be embraced in the coming year, and how the pandemic has influenced their use. Continue Reading
- 14 Feb 2021
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News
08 Feb 2021
NetApp HCI keeps classes in session amid pandemic lockdown
Barry University initially deployed NetApp HCI to host its VMware farm. The hyper-converged system allowed the Miami-area school to scale its private cloud during the pandemic. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Jan 2021
Why and how to adopt a data-centric architecture
Data has become one of the most valuable assets in the enterprise. IT teams must make changes -- both culturally and technically -- to ensure their strategy reflects that. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jan 2021
Microsoft HCI partnership with Intel aimed at Dell, Nutanix
Microsoft Azure Stack HCI extends Azure public cloud services to on-premises deployments. Intel will install Microsoft's HCI OS on L9 Intel server systems. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2021
IaC tools comparison shows benefits of automated deployments
Learn how these infrastructure as code tools can help streamline application development and deployment by reducing many of the headaches associated with manual processes. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Dec 2020
Deep dive into NetApp Converged Systems Advisor for FlexPod
Converged Systems Advisor from NetApp helps FlexPod customers better manage their converged infrastructure deployments. Dive into its features to see if it is right for you. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Dec 2020
Surveying top hyper-converged Kubernetes container platforms
See how VMware, Cisco, Nutanix, Red Hat and Google -- along with NetApp, HPE and Dell EMC -- make Kubernetes integration in HCI possible and what IT advantages that engenders. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 Dec 2020
Composable disaggregated infrastructure right for advanced workloads
Composability provides the agility, speed and efficient resource utilization required to support advanced workloads that continue to grow ever-more sophisticated and comprehensive. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Dec 2020
NFV systems converge virtual network services at the edge
Explore functions, products and use cases that illustrate how NFV and edge computing trends combine SD-WAN endpoints and other network services on single pieces of hardware. Continue Reading
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News
09 Dec 2020
Nutanix names VMware vet Ramaswami as CEO
New Nutanix CEO Ramaswami appears to have the SaaS model background the HCI vendor sought, after helping VMware move in that direction as COO of cloud services. Continue Reading
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News
04 Dec 2020
Nutanix clusters files and objects into public clouds
Nutanix takes the next step in moving from hyper-converged infrastructure to hybrid cloud infrastructure by supporting file and object data in Clusters for public clouds. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Nov 2020
How HPE OneView composes, manages Synergy infrastructure
HPE OneView enables Synergy composable infrastructure to do its job. Learn how OneView enables users to manage compute, storage and network for composing virtual servers on-demand. Continue Reading
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Definition
18 Nov 2020
data center capacity planning
Data center capacity planning ensures that an IT organization has enough facility space, power and computing resources to support average and peak workloads. Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Nov 2020
7-step pandemic return-to-work IT infrastructure checklist
As employees return on site, ensure your HCI can handle the changes. Follow these steps for checking system hardware and storage, as well as securing software and firmware. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Nov 2020
Hybrid cloud infrastructure design for AWS, Azure, Google Anthos
Learn about infrastructure for tightly coupled hybrid clouds and delivering AWS Outposts, Microsoft Azure Stack and Google Anthos from an on-premises data center. Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Nov 2020
Microsegmentation networking: Nutanix Flow vs. VMware NSX HCI
Explore how microsegmentation improves network security and the differences in how Nutanix and VMware bring the technology to their software-defined hyper-converged infrastructures. Continue Reading
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Opinion
09 Nov 2020
Post-acquisition strategy and why storage mergers go bad
NetApp-SolidFire and HPE-SimpliVity cuts illustrate some of the pitfalls awaiting large vendors when they spend hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars on acquisitions. Continue Reading
- 09 Nov 2020
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Feature
09 Nov 2020
The state of data center convergence: Past, present and future
Discover if CI, HCI, dHCI or composable technology is right for your environment and workloads, and how the converged data center continues to evolve. Continue Reading
- 09 Nov 2020
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Quiz
30 Oct 2020
Do you know how HPE GreenLake services work?
IT infrastructure hardware and services delivered through HPE GreenLake takes the cloud Opex spending model and brings it on premises. Test your GreenLake acumen with this quiz. Continue Reading
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News
30 Oct 2020
Composable storage startup Fungible chases hyperscalers
Fungible's composable storage includes FS1600 block storage server and Fungible Composer management backplane. Fungible offloads data services to its FS1 Data Processing Unit. Continue Reading
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News
26 Oct 2020
TrueNAS Scale arrays place open source HCI into spotlight
TrueNAS Scale gives iXsystems a foothold in converged systems. Customers can obtain it as open source software or as an integrated system based on TrueNAS storage servers. Continue Reading
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Feature
22 Oct 2020
Hyper-converged edge infrastructure targets carriers, ROBOs
Hyper-converged systems provide a way to locally process IoT data and deliver streaming content at the network's edge while maintaining service and application performance. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Oct 2020
Composable, an IoT infrastructure paradigm with potential
Composable infrastructure can stand up and down virtual servers depending on the varying needs of workloads. Learn why composability is a good for IoT. Continue Reading
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Feature
20 Oct 2020
Infrastructure for machine learning, AI requirements, examples
AI, machine and deep learning infrastructure has component and configuration requirements. See what hardware you need and how it goes together in an HCI or high-density system. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Oct 2020
Bare-metal container clusters: Infrastructure for next-gen apps
Learn the requirements, designs and software stacks used to build bare-metal clusters for containers using dedicated 1-2U HCI hardware instead of existing virtual machine servers. Continue Reading
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Opinion
08 Oct 2020
Hybrid cloud vs. hyper-converged: Hybrid wins hands down
When everything goes to cloud, why do you even need HCI? Who cares where server, storage, virtualization and networking are when IT adopts a 'run any app from anyplace' strategy? Continue Reading
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News
06 Oct 2020
VMware bulks up vSAN against container-native threats
As VMware embraces Tanzu and Kubernetes, it expands vSAN hyper-converged infrastructure software to try to make it a better fit for developers who embrace containers. Continue Reading
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Infographic
30 Sep 2020
Tips to counter sales tactics thru server refresh lifecycle
See what you can do throughout the server lifecycle to counter the sales strategies of hardware vendors competing for customer dollars in a cutthroat market. Continue Reading
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News
30 Sep 2020
Seagate's open source Cortx object store targets HAMR HDDs
Seagate launched new open source object storage software that is designed to exploit its highest capacity hard disk drives in supported Lyve Drive converged infrastructure racks. Continue Reading
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Infographic
28 Sep 2020
9 steps to better IBM ELA negotiation results
Get a leg up on your next IBM enterprise licensing agreement or renewal. Following these nine steps will help prepare you to meet Big Blue across the negotiation table. Continue Reading
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News
09 Sep 2020
Retiring Nutanix CEO Pandey ponders what's next
As he prepares to hand over the reins of Nutanix, CEO Dheeraj Pandey said the vendor's next big question is, 'How will HCI morph in this world of hyperscalers?' Continue Reading
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News
08 Sep 2020
Nutanix Next steps into cloud: Clusters available in Azure
The Microsoft deal is part of Nutanix's pivot from an HCI vendor to provider of cloud software as it battles VMware and faces the same challenges as other infrastructure companies. Continue Reading
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Answer
03 Sep 2020
Is third-party threat a viable server maintenance contract tactic?
When negotiating server hardware and maintenance agreements with vendors, server customers can threaten to go elsewhere. But how effective is that tactic? Continue Reading
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Answer
02 Sep 2020
What is a top barrier to fruitful server refresh cycle negotiations?
Successfully countering server vendor sales tactics requires forecasting hardware and maintenance needs. Lacking a solid, consolidated forecast can be a recipe for failure. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Sep 2020
Best practices for better server lifecycle management deals
A buyer's playbook with granular forecasts of server refresh, upgrade, maintenance and precedent discount details strengthens your negotiation position with your server supplier. Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2020
Nutanix CEO plans to step down, search for successor begins
Nutanix CEO Dheeraj Pandey declared his intent to retire, pending the appointment of his replacement, following a $750 million investment from Bain Capital Private Equity. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Aug 2020
Composable benefits from infrastructure-as-code techniques
Learn why composable infrastructure is an effective infrastructure as code delivery model and can serve as a foundation for orchestrating and automating IT resource provisioning. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Aug 2020
VMware vs. Nutanix on HPE GreenLake: Comparing approaches
See how Synergy composable infrastructure with VMware Cloud Foundation and ProLiant DX on Nutanix Enterprise Cloud take different approaches to HPE GreenLake pay-per-use IT. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Aug 2020
Actual sales tactics vendors use during server refresh lifecycle
See specific examples of the strategies server vendors use in order to better prepare for sales pitches throughout the five stages of the server renewal and refresh lifecycle. Continue Reading
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News
18 Aug 2020
Chip startup debuts with Fungible data processing unit (DPU)
Fungible, backed with $300 million-plus in funding, launches data processing unit (DPU) chips it will use to build high-performance composable infrastructure storage systems. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Aug 2020
How 5 stages of server lifecycle influence vendor sales tactics
Learn about sales tactics that server suppliers like Dell EMC, HPE, Lenovo, IBM and Cisco use to try to win back market share from white box suppliers and how those affect you. Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Aug 2020
HCI vs. cloud: The main differences
A hyper-converged infrastructure can support cloud deployments, but they are not one in the same; the variances in infrastructure should be noted before potential adoption. Continue Reading
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News
12 Aug 2020
Nutanix launches clusters for AWS
Hyper-converged infrastructure pioneer Nutanix puts clusters on AWS, enabling common management of applications and workloads on premises and in the public cloud. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Aug 2020
10 top hyper-converged infrastructure vendors and products
Determining which hyper-converged infrastructure platform is right for your organization should include analyzing your workloads and assessing technology from top HCI vendors. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Aug 2020
How GreenLake Central improves HPE's GreenLake program
Learn about the features and benefits of HPE's GreenLake Central, an online portal that lets users manage and optimize their on-premises GreenLake systems. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Aug 2020
11 main benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure
Benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure include simplified deployments and management, easy upgrades, scalability and flexibility, improved performance, agility and more. Continue Reading
- 10 Aug 2020
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Opinion
10 Aug 2020
World of technology changed forever by the pandemic
While most of the events of a remarkable 2020 would not be welcome again, changes to the IT and storage landscape will stay with us for the foreseeable future. Continue Reading
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Opinion
10 Aug 2020
Modern HCI environment shaped by evolving IT priorities
Hyper-convergence simplified deployment and scaling of IT resources over the past decade, but modern IT is far more complex than it once was. HCI vendors evolved, but have you? Continue Reading
- 10 Aug 2020
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Tip
10 Aug 2020
Top 8 hyper-converged infrastructure use cases
You might be aware of basic HCI use cases, such as server consolidation and virtual desktop infrastructure, but there are other areas where HCI can come in handy. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Aug 2020
Examining hyper-converged infrastructure costs and savings
There are several factors to consider when calculating HCI costs, including licensing, storage, networking and CPU types. In addition, costs might include support contracts. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Aug 2020
hyper-converged storage
Hyper-converged storage is a software-defined approach to storage management that combines storage, compute, virtualization and sometimes networking technologies in one physical unit that is managed as a single system. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Jul 2020
What is HPE GreenLake and how does it work?
GreenLake allows users to pay only for the IT resources they use. Find out how it works for HCI, composable infrastructure and other purposes, its benefits and potential drawbacks. Continue Reading
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News
29 Jul 2020
Pivot3 Acuity streamlines streaming video with automation
Pivot3 Acuity refresh injects health analytics and tools to orchestrate system-wide HCI upgrades. The vendor targets organizations with dense streaming media. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Jul 2020
An intro to Nutanix Flow software-defined networking for HCI
Learn how Flow SDN brings network policy and management services to Nutanix hyper-converged infrastructure through the automation and streamlining of common networking operations. Continue Reading
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Opinion
14 Jul 2020
WFH technologies prosper with ongoing remote access needs
The work-from-home cat is out of the bag, and many skeptical executives have now seen its benefits, boosting markets for technologies like VPN, VDI, HCI that make it all possible. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Jul 2020
Work-from-home infrastructure HCI tips for VDI, remote desktops
Best practices, tips for designing a hyper-converged infrastructure to support virtual desktops for remote workers in today's coronavirus-accentuated, work-from-home environment. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Jul 2020
The ins and outs of Google Cloud Anthos on NetApp HCI
Combining NetApp HCI with Anthos from Google enables enterprises to more easily implement and maintain a hybrid cloud infrastructure that supports modern applications and more. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jun 2020
Understanding VMware Cloud Foundation components, features
VMware Cloud Foundation enables users to implement an integrated software-defined data center. Version 4 represents a major architectural upgrade integrating Kubernetes in vSphere. Continue Reading
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News
23 Jun 2020
Dell EMC pushes VxRail hyper-convergence to the edge
Dell EMC VxRail hyper-converged infrastructure expands E Series models with AMD EPYC processors. New VxRail D Series is built to withstand extreme temperature and shock. Continue Reading
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Infographic
22 Jun 2020
Illustrated guide to converged infrastructure and vendors
Prequalified, turnkey systems from converged infrastructure vendors deliver the flexibility of traditional IT approaches with some of the support and management aspects of HCI. Continue Reading
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Opinion
16 Jun 2020
HCI vs. traditional IT vs. dHCI vs. composable infrastructure
Compare outcomes of hyper-converged, traditional/converged, disaggregated HCI and composable infrastructures, plus hybrid cloud, to decide which approach best fits your IT needs. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Jun 2020
Controlling IBM licensing agreement narrative key to success
Take control of the information narrative and unify your messaging strategy through a cross-functional negotiation team for best-in-class enterprise license agreement renewals. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 May 2020
6 converged infrastructure vendors' product options compared
Converged infrastructure systems help reduce hardware deployment risks by providing a preconfigured software stack, which greatly reduces the risk of configuration errors. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 May 2020
Assess risk, forecast for IBM software licensing agreement success
When it's license renewal time, ClearEdge Partners recommends taking stock of the licenses you already have and determining how to allocate spending across your IBM ELA. Continue Reading
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News
28 May 2020
Healthcare IT teams pivot around HCI during pandemic
When COVID-19 put stress on healthcare organizations, IT teams needed to respond quickly to enable telehealth remote access. Learn how HCI helped two organizations cope. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 May 2020
Insight into Big Blue key to better IBM ELA renewals
Before negotiating a renewal of your IBM enterprise license agreement, get to know Big Blue's sales strategy and which factors influence its deal-making process. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 May 2020
VxRail vs. Nutanix: HCI heavyweights square off
Learn how leading hyper-converged infrastructure systems from Dell EMC and Nutanix stack up in this in-depth comparison. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 May 2020
Successful IBM ELA renewal negotiations require preparation
Start planning early, follow a realistic timeline and know your enterprise license agreement options inside and out as you gear up for ELA negotiations with IBM. Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2020
Scale HCI systems add NVMe; Pivot3 spins to speed up compute
Scale Computing expands HCI systems with HC3000 line equipped with NVMe flash. Pivot3 Surveillance Series gets power from new Lenovo servers and AMD Epyc CPUs. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 May 2020
Dell EMC vs. NetApp: Comparing converged infrastructure systems
The Dell EMC VxBlock and NetApp FlexPod converged infrastructure platforms can help IT reduce the complexities of implementing and maintaining data center systems. Continue Reading
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News
13 May 2020
Nutanix DR gets automated, adds orchestration, replication
Nutanix builds in disaster recovery capabilities to its HCI operating system to complement its Xi Leap DRaas and coming Nutanix Clusters running in public clouds. Continue Reading
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Infographic
13 May 2020
The coronavirus effect on enterprise technology practices
Effects of COVID-19 on enterprise IT go well beyond enabling remote workforces. Coronavirus is also changing approaches to IT staffing, projects/initiatives and budgets/spending. Continue Reading
