Several weeks ago, I was vacationing in Florida just after Hurricane Milton made landfall and rendered millions without electricity, gasoline, phone service, or internet. These recent devastating storms are a stark reminder of the critical importance of disaster recovery (DR) in today’s business landscape. An irony of modernization is that our increasing dependence on technology opens the door to more business disruption. While natural disasters have long been a primary driver for DR initiatives, the rise of ransomware attacks has exposed new vulnerabilities in our increasingly digital businesses.

Disaster Recovery Is No Longer Hypothetical

The threat landscape has expanded beyond traditional concerns. In addition to natural disasters, businesses face risks from cyberattacks, power outages, and hardware failures. As the frequency and variety of potentially disruptive events increase, the likelihood of needing to rely on a DR solution becomes less of a hypothetical scenario and more of an inevitable reality. According to a 2021 survey, nearly one in three businesses experienced an outage over a two-year period, and 61% reported outages that cost them more than $100,000 at some point. Disaster recovery is also a growing concern amid compliance requirements, as data loss can lead to financial and other penalties.

Disaster Recovery Challenges

At the core of disaster recovery lies the critical ability to restore data. Data is both transformative and complex. Business leaders expect all data to always be available to foster new initiatives and projects. They want nearly everything to be retained because they see potential value in a greater array of data types. If you could simply store all data in a single cloud repository, that request would be easy enough. Unfortunately, there are many challenges:

• On-Premises Considerations: Despite the cloud trend, 37% of organizations still run data protection exclusively on-premises, and 47% for government organizations do the same.
• Regulatory Requirements: Some agencies mandate that data be kept in-house due to control capabilities and specific requirements. Others set minimum retention periods for certain types of data.
• Hybrid Complexity: Hybrid environments involve managing data and applications across both on-premises and cloud infrastructures, making DR planning and execution more complex.

According to the mentioned study, 28% of survey respondents identified meeting disaster recovery requirements as a challenge. Only data capacity and growth were of greater concern. DR is a growing challenge in the era of transformational digital data.

Businesses Turn To Hybrid DR

Hybrid computing introduces significant complexities to DR strategies:

• Organizations must carefully balance on-premises and cloud-based solutions to meet their DR needs.
• Managing complex storage implementations across different environments becomes a challenging task often requiring specialized skills and tools.
• Ensuring the security and availability of critical data across multiple locations demands a comprehensive approach to data protection and access control.

Organizations can no longer rely on traditional on-prem DR solutions. That is why they are turning to more modernized solutions, according to a :

• 63% of organizations are using cloud services for data protection.
• 41% use a hybrid cloud deployment for data protection.
• 22% exclusively use cloud-based backup services like DRaaS.

Greater Flexibility And Enhanced Resilience

In the same way hybrid has transformed enterprises, it is now changing the game for DR. The shift to hybrid DR is not just about saving time and money. It is about making your whole system more resilient. Since most companies already use both on-site and off-site infrastructure, being able to keep data in multiple places just makes sense.

One of the keys to hybrid DR is Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI). HCI provides a common management plane across hybrid cloud environments and can help to minimize the outages related to hardware and software failures through its standardized architecture. Some HCI platforms, such as Nutanix, offer multiple snapshot types for greater flexibility in disaster recovery strategies. Nutanix provides two main types of snapshots:

• Full Snapshots: Used for asynchronous replication when RPO is 60 minutes or greater, keeping system resource usage low for extended periods with multiple snapshots.
• Lightweight Snapshots (LWS): Used for NearSync replication with RPO between 1-15 minutes, reducing metadata overhead and improving storage performance by decreasing I/O operations from long snapshot chains.

This flexibility is particularly valuable as enterprises increasingly seek to minimize their RPO and RTO times, where RPO measures the interval between backups and RTO measures the time between an outage and data recovery. The inherent flexibility of the Nutanix architecture is also evident in its distributed processing capabilities as well:

• Each node has its own virtual storage controller and access to local metadata.
• This design allows replication to scale along with the system because as you add more nodes, you add more processing power for replication.
• Every node participates in the replication process, which helps prevent performance hotspots in the cluster.
• Nutanix is designed to easily stretch between on-prem and the cloud, providing an approach where you can move data and workloads around as needed. By having your Nutanix infrastructure configured in this fashion allows for a simple to use and cohesive platform that can protect your data and also orchestrate the recovery shall the need arise.

This distributed approach allows for better scalability and performance compared to traditional systems that might have centralized bottlenecks or rely on specialized hardware.

Watch: Achieve A Game Winning Strategy With WEI & Nutanix

Final Thoughts

Nutanix leverages hybrid cloud environments to provide deeper resiliency and flexibility in data retention across multiple locations. Businesses that have embraced their approach have experienced numerous benefits in the DR efforts including:

• Elastic scaling
• Efficient snapshot management
• Simplified hybrid deployment
• Improved recovery times
• Integrated ransomware protection

As part of the Nutanix Elite Partner ecosystem, WEI can deliver a comprehensive disaster recovery solution tailored to your hybrid enterprise needs. Our innovative approach leverages Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) to seamlessly integrate on-premises and cloud environments that provides the resiliency and flexibility you need to ensure that your DR strategy aligns with both your infrastructure requirements and business objectives.

Next Steps: A leading federal credit union faced aging infrastructure, rising costs, and scalability challenges that jeopardized the reliability of its critical systems. To modernize its IT environment, they partnered with WEI to deploy a Nutanix-based hyperconverged solution, replacing outdated hardware and ensuring future growth with enhanced disaster recovery capabilities. and learn how WEI can transform your IT infrastructure!

*Source: 451 Research’s Voice of the Enterprise: Storage, Data Management and Disaster Recovery 2021

The post Why Disaster Recovery Matters For Business Survival In The Hybrid Cloud Era appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

In today’s hyper business climate, companies need to be faster and more agile in order to stay ahead of the competition. To keep up, IT decision-makers are looking for efficient ways to improve operations and reduce costs. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is a popular solution but comes with some compromises such as higher costs or limited built-in data protection. HPE SimpliVity offers an alternative that provides the same hyperconvergence experience without sacrificing performance. Keep reading to discover more about this revolutionary technology!

What Is HPE SimpliVity?

HPE SimpliVity is an innovative HCI solution that simplifies IT operations, from edge to core. As an all-in-one platform for general-purpose workloads and VDI applications at the edges, it offers scalability in deployment so customers can start small and grow as needed – a major benefit in a hybrid-heavy workforce. Its packed data services enable efficient resource utilization while reducing complexity and overhead costs.

Video: Cheers To Backup & Recovery As A Service With HPE

This platform also offers an easy-to-use, two-node, high-availability system with built-in data protection and hyper-efficient storage for edge sites and data centers – all at a reduction of the total cost of ownership. , businesses can simplify the management of virtualized storage and will enjoy unified control over all IT operations in one efficient system.

Benefits Of HPE GreenLake for HPE SimpliVity

is also transforming IT by offering managed services as a pay-per-use model. HPE GreenLake for HPE SimpliVity allows organizations to now build their own VM as a service platform with ease. Additionally, with HPE GreenLake Central, organizations can track capabilities for consumption and costs, and it is easier to accelerate the value of application deployments while avoiding costly upfront investments. This provides an excellent opportunity for digital transformation with no overprovisioning needed, which also saves enterprises 30% in savings.

Four Ways HPE SimpliVity Is Creating A New Standard For HCI

1. All-In-One Solution

With its all-in-one intelligent solution, HPE SimpliVity simplifies the deployment and scaling process, streamlines management tasks through software-defined infrastructure, unifies control systems, and automates policies. The best part? It is powered by AI for a truly seamless experience.

This all-in-one HCI solution also provides an easy and fast way to deploy virtual or container-based workloads across your environment. With its rapid deployment capabilities, zero downtime refresh cycles, and modular systems for scaling up as needed, HPE SimpliVity is the perfect solution for any business looking to quickly adjust their IT infrastructure in response to changing demands.

Furthermore, for HPE SimpliVity enables businesses to predict and diagnose infrastructure issues with powerful telemetry, machine learning capabilities, and automated alerts. It provides a multi-site view of all VMs and backups complete with insights on hardware and software problems and recommendations for corrective action. This reduces operational expenses and alleviates support needs.

2. High Availability With Two Nodes

HPE SimpliVity is designed to enable continuous operations while saving you money and valuable space. This is achieved by using just two nodes, reducing the number of appliances required along with a smaller data center footprint. Furthermore, it meets SLAs through protection against multiple failures and uptime across multiple sites, via stretched clustering technology.

3. Incorporated Data Protection

HPE SimpliVity is the perfect choice for data protection, guaranteeing resiliency and disaster recovery. It has powerful capabilities such as VM backups anytime and anywhere with a or less. Also, with its secure cloud bank backup options to reduce costs and risks, organizations can mitigate ransomware threats while enjoying maximum safety of valuable data.

4. Increased Efficiency

With the help of HPE SimpliVity, expect to experience frequent backups with quick restores in addition to longer retention periods and faster recovery times using lightweight VMs. This innovative HCI solution saves of capacity on storage combined with guaranteed backup. Multi-site disaster recovery becomes more efficient due to a need for ten times fewer WAN links. This ultimately allows businesses to save money by reducing the amount of data sent over the network while minimizing expensive resources used within their data centers.

Final Thoughts

Organizations facing limited resources are turning to hyperconverged infrastructures as an effective solution for their business-critical applications. HPE SimpliVity is the perfect HCI tool that helps organizations save costs while meeting distributed edge requirements with ease. Get in touch with WEI today and consult one of our experts on how to reap the full benefits of a hyperconverged infrastructure.

Next Steps: WEI and HPE/Zerto recently welcomed Rachel Wilson for an exclusive IT security discussion. Rachel currently serves as the director of cybersecurity for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and is a former NSA senior executive. Experts from WEI and HPE also provided data protection and disaster recovery options to help combat cyber threats to your organization, data, and self. Learn more by watching the full webcast below.

The post HPE SimpliVity And The Advantages Of HCI Without Compromise appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Companies have spent the past decade racing to achieve their digital transformation. One of the primary means of achieving this objective is through the cloud – a simple solution to a complex problem.

The problem is that there isn’t just one cloud. The found that “84% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy.” Hybrid cloud environments are challenging enough by themselves, but things have grown even more complex due to the adoption of another IT architecture, edge computing. In a rush to migrate everything to the cloud, we found the cloud isn’t the optimal environment for everything in an enterprise.

Problems With Configuring Modern Environments

When it comes to cloud migration the hybrid cloud environment doesn’t necessarily equate to multi-cloud interoperability. Enterprises face challenges when it comes to integrating all their clouds into a single ecosphere in order to create a framework that routes workflows in an automated fashion amongst themselves.

The practice of uploading all data to the cloud for processing adds too much latency for some mission critical operations. Additionally, many companies have had to face real costs that often exceed those anticipated. While OPEX cost modeling has significant advantages over CAPEX, it doesn’t always equal lower expenses. Now, IT leaders find it cheaper to run things back on-premises. Enterprises need to attain a multi-cloud infrastructure in order to define and create policies to improve efficiencies, accelerate deployments and minimize security risks across their entire cloud portfolio.

How Nutanix Supports A Hybrid Multi-Cloud Environment

It’s obvious that enterprises can’t regress back to on-premise infrastructures. Too many executives have witnessed the enormous impact digital transformation has had in terms of greater innovation and profitability. The solution is a next-generation hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) HCI is cloud-like technology, but it isn’t restricted to the cloud.

is a combination of servers and storage in a distributed infrastructure platform with intelligent software to create flexible building blocks that replace on-premise infrastructure. It consists of separate services, storage networks, and storage arrays. Advanced HCI solutions today can manage enterprise applications in a hybrid cloud environment. No more choosing between public or private cloud. The unifying nature of today’s leading HCI solutions puts you in charge of what goes where. Latency sensitive processes and compliance abiding applications can reside on local infrastructure while other apps can be assigned to their optimum cloud environment. On top of that, admins can then manage both their private and public cloud infrastructures through a single management plane, eliminating the need to bounce between interfaces and portals to manage everything.

Today’s advanced HCI solutions can create a borderless IT estate in which silos are a thing of the past. No need to purchase a bunch of servers and pair them with an external storage solution while connecting it all together with a network switch. Because they were purchased separately you never benefited from purchasing the best of breed for every component. You may have ended up with a complex mesh of compartmentalized equipment that required training and kept you in a proprietary lockdown. Additionally, the implementation and upgrade processes were so expensive, enterprises embraced the practice of oversizing their infrastructures for future growth.

How HCI Continues To Grow

The recent challenges presented by the global pandemic showed how critical the need for great elasticity really is in the . This has accelerated the transition to multi-cloud infrastructures that utilize the appropriate mix of both private and public clouds.

Today’s advanced Nutanix’s HCI solutions are designed for this new era. HCI allows you to create heterogeneous clusters that can accommodate hybrid cloud environments that include multiple CPU generations, all-flash storage, and multiple hypervisors. Additionally, HCI significantly condenses the footprint of your data center or edge computing environment. You also have the ability to choose your hardware preference. You can select the most optimal cloud for your apps and business needs. HCI has the potential to deliver turnkey infrastructure for any app at any scale, across any location, whether it’s an on-premises data center, computing edge location or public cloud service. This cross-platform mobility gives enterprises the duality to run enterprise applications through multi-cloud infrastructures without any code change.

In a world without borders, you need an enterprise hybrid cloud environment that is void of borders as well, one that provides frictionless agility, management simplicity and fractional consumption of services regardless of where they reside, Nutanix’s HCI is innately designed for this.

Next Steps: We’ve helped countless enterprise IT teams transform their business with Nutanix. Leverage our team’s knowledge and expertise to discuss how you can achieve a next-gen HCI solution customized for your business needs. Sign up for a commitment-free conversation with our Nutanix expert, Mark Gabryjelski today!

The post Next Gen HCI: How Nutanix Can Support Your Hybrid Multi-Cloud Environments appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Batman and Superman. Iron Man and Captain America. Everyone loves when two giants in their own right come together for the common good. Simply put, everyone loves a superhero team up. Enter and .

Each offers a variety of solutions that propel enterprises through digital transformation and modernization efforts, including key cloud computing solutions. Through their partnership, HPE and Nutanix have gone one step further by offering enterprises a complete private cloud infrastructure integrated with software.

HPE And Nutanix Are Helping Enterprises Take Control Of The Cloud

As previously mentioned, HPE and Nutanix each stand in their own right when it comes to cloud computing.

In one corner you have , a fully managed, scalable IT infrastructure service, which offers enterprises a cloud-like consumption model for on-premises infrastructure. With GreenLake, HPE has cast aside the one-size-fits-all approach to supported technology by allowing enterprises to choose the most appropriate supported HPE or third-party technology. HPE also offers flexible pay-as-go models and makes it easy for enterprises to scale to their exact needs.

In the other corner is the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Platform, a complete IT infrastructure which has the agility, scalability, and simplicity of the cloud, and the security, performance, and cost predictability of traditional on-premises infrastructure. Nutanix Enterprise Cloud offers additional benefit by spreading all data and processes across the entire cluster, which improves resource utilization, scalability, and performance predictability.

HPE And Nutanix Combined

Together, Nutanix and HPE are reinventing the way IT organizations build cloud infrastructure by combining the best of public cloud with the security and control of private cloud.

First up is , which feature built in integration with Nutanix software. Engineered to provide an infrastructure stack which is delivered either as an up-front purchase or as-a-service, this joint venture offers support for (VDI), built-in data protection, and additional third-party integrations right out of the box.

In terms of VDI, HPE ProLiant DX systems offer improved user performance and scalability, without the burden of high capital costs. IT organizations also have full remote replication capabilities, as well as backup to local systems, a remote site, or to the cloud.

In addition to the ProLiant DX systems, HPE and Nutanix have also collaborated to offer , which expands HPE GreenLake to run the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud as-a-service to support key areas.

For databases, HPE GreenLake with Nutanix mitigates common management challenges that come about due to the use of traditional infrastructure to support high-performance database operations. By streamlining database deployment, management, and operations, HPE GreenLake frees IT up for more complex and strategic projects.

Amongst its numerous other benefits, offers enterprises faster and easier deployment and management of VDI, as well as desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) infrastructure. HPE GreenLake with Nutanix also simplifies bring-your-own-device and choose-your-own-device programs through the distribution of applications through SaaS models.

Additionally, the focus on private cloud infrastructure, supported by hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), allows enterprises to consolidate siloed workloads into just one management platform. HPE GreenLake with Nutanix also offers one-click database deployment, management, and operations, simplifying the management process even further.

[Featured Video]
The Hype is Real with Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Overall, HPE GreenLake with Nutanix and the ProLiant DX family of systems are offering enterprises additional flexibility, security, and efficiency when it comes to cloud computing, as well as flexible billing options and support for remote workforces.

Ready to Master The Cloud With HPE And Nutanix?

While many enterprises have made moves to adopt cloud computing, truly mastering the cloud is another thing entirely. HPE and Nutanix are both leading the charge in the development of cloud software and through their partnership, they are offering the cloud solutions enterprises need to succeed in today’s digital world. If you’re ready to make the change now, contact WEI to begin building a custom solution for your business.

[Featured Video]
Real Tech with WEI – Episode 1: HPE ProLiant Gen 10 Servers

Take a closer look at the HPE ProLiant family of servers and find out why the HPE Gen10 rack servers have earned the title of “World’s Most Secure Industry Standard Servers” in this episode of Real Tech with WEI featuring WEI Solutions Architect, Jay Cardin.

The post HPE and Nutanix – The IT Modernization Dream Team appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Over the last handful of years, the adoption of private and public cloud solutions has revolutionized enterprise IT and offered a level of operational agility that was previously unheard of.

Today, enterprises are increasingly choosing to make use of multiple cloud solutions and deployment models. To properly manage and administer these hybrid cloud environments, many organizations have turned to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), which offers the ability to support integrations between public cloud application platforms, as well as a common management platform for the entire hybrid cloud environment.

One such HCI solution is . In this two-part blog series, we will discuss the proven benefits of this solution, as reported by and based on real customer feedback.

As part of the research process for the study and subsequent report, IDC interviewed organizations “with experience with or knowledge about (Nutanix Enterprise Cloud’s) benefits and costs. The interviews covered a variety of quantitative and qualitative questions about the impact of Nutanix Enterprise Cloud on their overall IT costs, operations and businesses.”

In this first article, we take a look at the most prevalent business and operational benefits of Nutanix Enterprise Cloud.

1. Improved IT Agility Delivering Storage and Compute ؛£½اض±²¥

In the study conducted by IDC, participants shared that through utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, they saw significant agility improvements when it came to deploying and upgrading core compute and storage environments.

Various capabilities of the solution contributed to enhancing agility in these areas, including “having a common pool of storage and compute resources, the ability to easily add capacity to their Nutanix environments, automated provisioning of resources, and offering self-service to users.”

According to IDC, participants saw the following benefits when utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud:

• Average time to deploy new storage systems was 82% faster
• Average staff time to deploy each system was reduced by 85%
• Average time to update storage systems was 70% faster
• Average staff time for updates was reduced by 66%
• Average time to deploy new physical servers was 53% faster
• Average staff time to deploy new physical servers was reduced by 44%

2. Improved Data Protection and Reduced Operational Risk

IDC’s study also found that participants reported improved business continuity and reduced operational risk when utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud. This was achieved by “reducing the frequency of unplanned outages affecting applications and services running on their platforms and having more robust data backup and recovery environments.”

According to IDC, participants reported:

• An 85% reduction in unplanned downtime
• A 72% increase in the frequency of data backups
• A 29% increase in data recovery efforts completed within the objective

By reducing the frequency and impact of unplanned outages, enterprises utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud are also reducing the costs associated with these business interruptions. This offers an opportunity for organizations to put those cost savings to work by investing it back into the backup environment.

3. Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Offers A Business-Enabling IT Platform

It’s never been more apparent than now how essential business agility and adaptability is to an enterprise. For organizations utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, many of the challenges associated with managing a highly distributed workforce and its data are vastly reduced.

Participants in IDC’s study found that they saw improved customer satisfaction, faster onboarding of new branches and partners, and the ability to increase focus on business objectives when utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud.

IDC identified that the support Nutanix Enterprise Cloud offers to business activities results in a higher average revenue, which IDC quantified to be an average of $932,800 per organization per year.

When it comes to VDI, participants in IDC’s study also reported benefiting from faster VDI application performance and found it was easier to extend their VDI environments with Nutanix Enterprise Cloud. This translates to improved productivity from employees at these organizations.

Are You Interested In Nutanix Enterprise Cloud?

The data in IDC’s study and the feedback from its participants makes it clear that Nutanix Enterprise Cloud makes a positive impact on business and operational activities for the organizations that deploy it. Enterprises of all types and from a variety of industries are adopting this solution to modernize data centers, improve IT response time and refocus IT on activities that generate revenue instead of just keeping the status quo.

NEXT STEPS: Learn more about the benefits of software defined infrastructure and how to get started with hyperconverged infrastructure in our eBook. Click below to start reading.

The post 3 Proven Business and Operational Benefits of Nutanix appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

The data needs of today’s enterprises continue to evolve and to keep up, many IT organizations are turning to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). The benefits of HCI, which include rapid deployment, reduced physical space requirements, and streamlined infrastructure, match perfectly with the immediate priorities of IT organizations looking to modernize legacy systems to increase agility, improve the management experience, and simplify scalability.

That said, HCI is continuing to evolve as does the needs of the enterprise. As shared by IDC, it’s predicted that by 2023, 70 percent of enterprises will run varying levels of processing at the IoT edge, and the compound annual growth rate of edge infrastructure spending on compute and storage will grow to hit $21.2 billion in 2023.

As companies modernize their infrastructure and adopt HCI, they realize workloads at the edge are different from typical enterprise workloads. These workloads are creating and processing data at the edge, they are small and resilient, and they require friction-less deployment, connectivity and mobility. HCI must evolve to service the world we are living in, the world at the edge. Let’s take a look at the next steps needed for your organization to extend HCI to the edge, and the reasons why HPE SimpliVity just might be the right choice.

Achieving Edge-Optimized HCI

To optimize and bring HCI all the way to the edge, IDC specifies that enterprise requirements include:

• More efficient technologies for capturing and processing data
• Local resiliency and no-touch IT
• Built in security
• Automation to simplify management and automate day-to-day activities
• Simplified deployment, connectivity, and operations
• High availability (HA) in the smallest physical footprint possible

HCI at the Edge with HPE SimpliVity

is edge-optimized HCI. This leading HCI solution offers enterprises the simplest and most efficient all-in-one appliance (including data protection) with HA in as little as two nodes, remote and multi-site management, and artificial intelligence (AI) and automation through .

Four differentiators of HPE SimpliVity:

1. Easy to deploy – Low-entry price point and packaging for compact, highly available, all-in-one HCI with built-in data protection
2. Efficient data movement – global dedupe, space efficient replication and rapid multi-site DR for fast recoveries in low bandwidth settings
3. 2-Node high availability – Achieve resiliency with 2 nodes in small footprint with built-in data protection and disaster recovery features to help keep data safe at the edge
4. Simple to manage – Remote, multi-site infrastructure management with integrated data services and backup/recovery through VMware vCenter

Research by IDC shows that 75 percent of customers saw better storage utilization and 57 percent saw improved staff productivity when utilizing HPE SimpliVity.

Why are Enterprise Leaders Choosing HPE SimpliVity?

Businesses are moving to more data-centric business models; they are capturing and analyzing more data than ever before. This faster pace of business and the immense volume of data are forcing organizations to modernize IT infrastructure at a rapid rate. They require increased agility, improved manageability, and the ability to scale when needed. Turns out, HPE SimpliVity is solving the need.

A recent PeerPaper Report by IT CentralStation titled, , captures real user reviews of HPE SimpliVity. Of the many factors these companies considered before deploying HCI, here are the top reasons they ultimately went with HPE SimpliVity:

• Simplicity
• Manageability
• Efficiency
• Faster, more highly available applications
• Fast backup and Restore
• Footprint consolidation
• More Cloud options

The other major factor is data intelligence and is part of what makes HPE SimpliVity different from competing HCI solutions. comes with the benefit of AI-driven intelligence with HPE InfoSight, providing visibility and predictive analytics across your infrastructure. With VM-centric management and mobility, built-in , and unparalleled data efficiency in an architecture that’s already optimized for the edge, HPE SimpliVity has truly evolved from the HCI solutions of the past.

It’s Good for Remote Workforce Initiatives, Too!

We would be remiss if we didn’t stop for a moment to call out HPE SimpliVity’s ability to support your remote workforce. In an article on HPE’s Community platform titled, , HPE reports that HPE SimpliVity is a proven architecture for VDI, with running virtual desktops on the platform (that was from May 2020, we estimate it to be significantly higher by now given the implications of the pandemic). HPE customers are already benefiting from the powerful, built-in data protection and single-click lifecycle management of HPE SimpliVity, but the solution goes further to support the evolving needs of a remote workforce. Here’s how:

1. Easily scalable: Customers can start with a small, medium, or large configuration and easily add new nodes in small, powerful increments from pilot to production scale with no disruption.Powerful capabilities in a compact form factor: Starting with the very first appliance, customers can take advantage of the full software capabilities of HPE SimpliVity including guaranteed data efficiency, built-in data protection, and global VM-centric management and mobility.
2. Lower dollar per desktop cost: Doubling the virtual desktops per server provides businesses a 50% savings in cost per remote worker.
3. Seamless integration into existing IT environment: Customers can mix HPE SimpliVity 325 with HPE SimpliVity 380 and 2600 models in the same federation across many sites, easily integrating the new HCI nodes into existing environments.

Highly dense HPE SimpliVity 325 is a powerful hyperconverged infrastructure for space-constrained IT. The 1 rack-unit model is ideal for remote sites, Edge, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

Are You Interested In Utilizing HCI At The Edge?

As a global, edge-to-cloud company, HPE is helping enterprises around the world upgrade from legacy systems and experience the benefits of a new generation of HCI. With a variety of use cases, and powered by the industry’s most advanced AI for infrastructure, HPE SimpliVity is offering the HCI experience at the edge, without compromising performance.

If you’re considering a move to hyperconverged infrastructure, rest assured that WEI can help you along the way. Ask us about our experience implementing HPE SimpliVity for mid-market to enterprise companies across several industries. We are there by your side to consult, design and architect a solution, as well as implement and support your organization beyond deployment. Contact us today to talk more about how HPE SimpliVity can fit in your environment.

NEXT STEPS: Modernizing your IT infrastructure? Sure, we all are! Dig into the differences between Converged and Hyperconverged Infrastructure and find out the key questions to ask before investing in an HCI solution in our white paper below. Read it today!

The post Extend HCI to the Edge with HPE SimpliVity appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

The basic function and expectation of IT is to fulfill the day-to-day technology needs of the enterprise, support innovation and ensure a positive user experience for employees and customers. This requires a certain amount of time, money, and resources to be done correctly, but the unfortunate reality is that many IT teams are being asked to do more with less these days.

To meet these budget requirements without sacrificing performance, many enterprises have turned to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). Through HCI, enterprises can simplify IT infrastructure, speed up deployment and reduce operational costs with efficiency gains.

The HCI solution we’ll highlight today is , which can deliver savings of up to 66 percent over a three-year period compared to public cloud, 43 percent when compared to traditional three-tier infrastructure, and 28 percent when compared to other HCI solutions, according to a .

Top 5 areas of value from HPE SimpliVity

As shared in the ESG report, HPE SimpliVity 325 brings tangible value in five important areas:

1. 1. Cost of Acquisition
2. 2. Data Protection
3. 3. Administration
4. 4. Data Center Costs
5. 5. Support

1. Cost of acquisition

HPE SimpliVity 325 offers immediate value by reducing the minimum deployment requirement from three nodes to just two, offering instant savings when compared to other HCI offerings. Other cost savings come in the form of data efficiency through software-optimized inline deduplication, compression, and optimization of I/O and network traffic. In addition to offering significant storage and bandwidth efficiency, these advantages also improve performance.

2. Data protection

Several core features come standard with HPE SimpliVity 325, including built-in virtual machine backups, multi-site replication, recovery and cloning, and disaster recovery. In terms of monetary value, these features reduce costs associated with security. HPE also offers benefits through its partnerships with other technology vendors, including Veeam, making it simple for enterprises to acquire solutions for specialized data situations.

3. Administration

HPE SimpliVity 325 builds upon the standard administrative benefits of HCI by facilitating all aspects of management through the interface and requires no specialized training. This means IT teams only require a single generalist to handle management tasks for the entire deployment.

4. Data center costs

For data centers, HPE SimpliVity 325 offers cost savings because of its two-node minimum, meaning the infrastructure takes up less floor space, needs less power and less cooling. This equates to environmental cost savings of up to 16 percent when compared to other HCI offerings, according to ESG.

5. Support

In terms of support, HPE SimpliVity 325, which requires less hardware and features built-in data protection, has lower support costs and has a single support center for infrastructure, software, and backups. This significantly reduces the resources and time IT teams have become used to from years of dealing with support delays and challenges with legacy hardware.

Additional

In addition to the cost savings, HPE SimpliVity delivers self-managing, self-optimizing, and self-healing infrastructure through artificial intelligence (AI). Machine learning predictive analytics through elevates the solution above other HCI offerings and give enterprises a truly intelligent HCI solution.

As a global, edge-to-cloud Platform-as-a-Service company, HPE is helping enterprises around the world upgrade from legacy systems and experience the benefits of HCI. With a variety of use cases, HPE SimpliVity can transform any IT operation and reduce costs, improve efficiency, and boost performance.

Find out how HPE SimpliVity fits in your environment. Contact us to start a conversation and learn how your business can start realizing these benefits from HPE SimpliVity.

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When it comes to pieces of the IT puzzle where skimping or going with the option that’s just “good enough” will inevitably come back to haunt you, backup and disaster recovery tops the list.

, a global leader in backup and replication software, and , an innovator of hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), have teamed up to offer Veeam Backup for Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) giving enterprises data resiliency, protection and unparalleled data access, regardless of the workload type or location.

Before we jump into the additional benefits of this partner solution, let’s talk a bit about each of them individually.

Veeam Backup Replication V10

Veeam’s is an industry-leading BUDR solution that offers availability for cloud, virtual, and physical workloads though a simple management console. Backups are easy to recover, reducing operational costs and getting enterprises back on their feet faster.

In their latest update, Veeam added a host of , including network attached storage (NAS) capabilities for data protection and recovery, storage snapshots support, and a forever-incremental backup engine.

To help enterprises defend again ransomware attacks, Veeam also added an immutable backups feature, which protects recent backup copies from unauthorized changes or deletions though S3 Object Lock.

Nutanix AHV

is a native hypervisor solution which integrates with Nutanix’s enterprise Cloud OS stack. It offers secure, enterprise-grade virtualization to give enterprises an easy way to manage storage, with the added the benefits of built-in security practices, low operational costs and optimal performance for even the most demanding applications.

To reduce the IT burden, Nutanix prioritized ease-of-use, allowing administrators to effortlessly manage storage and virtualization all from one place.

Use cases include server visualization for Linux distributions and Microsoft server and desktop operating systems, VDI and DaaS, infrastructure and databases, and remote or branch offices.

The perfect backup and data protection pair: Veeam backup for Nutanix AHV

While both solutions are effective options on their own, combining them offers enterprises a new, agentless approach for virtualized environments.

Management functionality, including job management scheduling, data compression and duplication, retention policies, and other backup and restore activities, is conducted within the AHV Proxy, leaving the Veeam backup server to operate as a repository, reducing overall complexity.

In the event of a BUDR emergency, the restoration begins with the backup data, provided by the AHV Proxy though the use of snapshots. This allows for complete file and disk level restoration and the simplicity of the solution’s design guarantees fast recovery.

The flexibility of Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV offers a host of different options for backups, including converting them into VMDK, VHD or VHDX formats for use in various virtual or testing environments. Likewise, the unmatched performance of the solution and instant recovery options reduces disruptions and downtime, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted end-user experience.

With the recent updates to Veeam Backup Replication, Backup for Nutanix AHV also has , including:

• Console integration which displays job status, start/stop/disable jobs, and the option to launch the proxy web user interface.
• No additional licenses are required for the proxy appliance as the license management is solely performed by the Veeam Backup Replication server.
• New VeeamZIP support for AHV workloads, easily accessed through the Veeam Backup Replication console.

Additionally, the restore features of the solution also underwent improvements, including the addition of live file-level recovery through AHC FLR Appliance, entire VM restoration though Veeam’s universal VMK backup file format, AHV snapshot restores and the addition of instant VM recovery.

has also been integrated within the solution, as well as support, which provides protected VM reports on AHV backups.

Ready to discover the benefits of Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV?

Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV offers enterprises a way to modernize data centers through increase agility and simplicity with the confidence is data is highly available for your enterprise users. The solution is designed for ease-of-use and centralized management, reducing IT costs and time spent administering backups.

NEXT STEPS: Have you integrated cloud in your backup and DR strategy? You might be interested in exploring our white paper, , which covers:

• Best practices for protecting and restoring your data
• Where HA and replication technologies fit in your organization
• Questions to consider when switching to a cloud solution

Read the white paper today and please contact us to talk to our backup experts with any questions about modernizing your backup or improving your data protection strategy.

The post Why Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV is a Beautiful Thing appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Modern data centers are more efficient and high-performing than ever, but problems and failures still occur. The goal is to leverage the software defined data center (SDDC) to achieve optimal efficiency for the business. Incompatible hardware and an overabundance of solutions often prevent true convergence. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) links the entire data center to one comprehensive management system. HCI creates a seamless, robust data center environment, eliminating many virtualization challenges. With HCI, you can maximize performance and efficiency, and get a better return on your data center investment.

Simplify Data Center Management

HCI turns the data center into a cohesive environment with one management console. Formerly isolated devices are linked together to form a single system with a shared resource pool. IT administrators can manage the entire system from a central interface. This convergence is not limited to a single location. With HCI, enterprises can connect multiple data centers and manage them as one system. HCI eliminates the need for a divided IT with a specialized group managing each aspect of the data center.

Support Virtualization

Virtual machines (VMs) are a key part of the software-defined infrastructure (SDI). With HCI, IT can shift to a VM-centric approach to data center management. HCI provides integrated policies and management options that are implemented at the VM level. In a hyperconverged system, the VM is always the main focus. Policies and resources are implemented and managed in a way that best supports the VM.

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The goal of virtualization is to create a shared resource pool that helps maximize performance and resource utilization. However, many data centers face the performance-killing input/output (IO) blender effect. HCI connects the hypervisor and storage resources in a way that prevents the IO blender. Enterprises can eliminate their resource islands and still meet individual application needs. HCI allows for true resource pooling, resulting in increased capacity and optimal performance.

Maximize Scalability and Efficiency

HCI provides granular scalability, simplifying expansion. Enterprises no longer need to make sizable infrastructure investments to increase their resources. The infrastructure can be scaled up by much smaller amounts, allowing companies to only invest in the resources that they actually need. HCI also makes it easy to implement new resources. The comprehensive system can identify and configure each device as it is added.

Create Effective Automation

Incompatible, unconnected hardware has always rendered data center automation impossible. HCI’s central management interface turns the data center into a unified environment where automation is not just possible; it is simple to achieve. With HCI, IT can finally automate many routine processes. The management interface even provides tools to make automation easy and effective. Automation increases IT efficiency and reduces the manpower needed for basic operations. IT can focus on business needs rather than routine procedures.

Provide Better Data Security

Data security is a complex challenge that many enterprises do not adequately address. Legacy systems rely on third-party solutions that are often ineffective and hard to integrate. HCI provides built-in comprehensive security tools that offer greater protection. Efficient backup and recovery solutions maximize data protection and availability without creating a drain on the system. The central management platform allows IT to immediately recognize and resolve security issues.

Increase Agility and Responsiveness

Business needs rapidly change, requiring IT to be more agile and responsive than ever. The simplified management, automation, and scalability HCI provides help maximize IT agility. Administrators can easily move workloads and allocate resources as needed while automated processes allow IT to focus more on meeting business needs. With HCI, IT can function as a valuable business service, improving performance and efficiency throughout the organization.

HCI eliminates many of the issues that modern SDDCs face. With HCI, data center management is simple and efficient. Automated processes allow IT to focus more on business objectives and maximize their agility. Easy scalability and resource pooling ensure optimal resource utilization. Built-in tools ensure that data is always secure without sacrificing system performance. HCI does not require an expensive upfront investment as it can be implemented over time. HCI is a cost-effective solution that can help you get more from your data center investment. When every part of the data center is linked to form a cohesive infrastructure, virtualization can reach its full potential.

[Featured Video]

Real Tech with WEI: Getting Started with Hyperconverged Infrastructure

NEXT STEPS: Explore the key differences between converged and hyperconverged infrastructure in our white paper: Future Ready Data center: Converged vs Hyperconverged infrastructure.

The post What Can Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Do for Your Business? appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Over the past decade, drastic changes have taken place within the data center. Technological advances and innovative new products have revolutionized the way data centers operate. Virtualization is now a vital part of the modern software-defined data center (SDDC). While virtualization is enormously beneficial, it comes with a new set of challenges. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) resolves many of the efficiency, security, and scalability issues facing today’s data centers.

What is HCI?

HCI is a next-generation architecture designed to meet the needs of the modern SDDC. Created to support cloud and software-first methods, HCI unites every aspect of the data center. Servers, hypervisors, storage, and data management are controlled from a central platform. HCI provides high scalability and agility while simplifying data center management. With HCI, enterprises can take a cloud-first approach without sacrificing availability and performance.

Data center convergence is not a new idea. There are many comprehensive solutions that link storage, networking, and computing devices. However, many of these solutions only serve to simplify infrastructure development and upgrades. Modern SDDCs require a solution that also addresses day-to-day management and operational needs.

Virtualization has become a key data center element. HCI simplifies the management of virtual machines and workloads, and solves many virtualization challenges. With HCI, IT can manage the entire data center from a single interface. HCI permits the clustering of systems, even across separate sites, creating shared resource pools. In turn, this helps maximize availability, agility, performance, and scalability.

Challenges and Industry Trends

Virtualization has redefined the data center, but it has its own challenges. New products and solutions are available each week. Enterprises often rush to employ every new device to ensure that their data centers are state-of-the-art. Many of these solutions are highly beneficial and meet specific needs. For example, deduplication appliances can significantly cut down on the storage space required for backups. The downside is that these devices are not all designed to work together. Each product must be managed separately, and each part of the IT department requires a dedicated specialist. This disconnect has made data center management complicated and inefficient.

IT departments often employ several solutions to maximize data efficiency and storage capacity. However, many of these products utilize the same methods, resulting in CPU intensive redundancies. For example, data sent to storage is deduplicated to maximize storage space. To create a backup, the data must be hydrated or returned to its original state. It is then deduplicated again when the system sends the backup to storage. This repeated deduplication and hydration results in extensive CPU and bandwidth costs. The intended benefits of the solutions are neutralized by the increased demands on the infrastructure.

Virtualization has revolutionized the way enterprises use and manage their servers. Unfortunately, few companies are using virtualization as intended. True virtualization should unite all resources into a single pool that users can access as needed. When IT departments use separate incompatible hardware and software components, the benefits of virtualization are reduced. Each component must be managed through its own interface. The result is separate groups of specialists managing different aspects of the data center. This creates a complex management system that limits the data center’s potential.

Benefits of HCI

HCI seeks to simplify data center management and optimize resources. With HCI, enterprises can eliminate the need for separate management systems and staff. HCI works by linking each aspect of the data center to create a single physical system with one comprehensive management interface. Data center management is drastically simplified, resulting in increased performance. HCI helps enterprises maximize:

• Data efficiency
• Scalability
• Data protection
• Application and workload mobility
• Data availability

Resource and management optimization also lowers operating costs and reduces IT expenses, making HCI a cost-effective solution. With HCI, companies can get more out of their data center investments.

HCI allows enterprises to realize the true potential of their modernized data centers. Tech innovations and changing business needs have transformed the data center and brought on new challenges. Incompatible devices and solutions are managed separately and often create intense system demands. IT becomes a multi-department division, with each group managing a different aspect of the system. This separation cancels out the unity that virtualization should bring. With HCI, every part of the data center is connected to and managed by a single interface. HCI turns the modern data center into the comprehensive, streamlined environment it is designed to be.

NEXT STEPS: Explore the major differences between converged and hyperconverged infrastructure in our white paper: Future Ready Data center: Converged vs Hyperconverged infrastructure.

The post The Basics of Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.