Dell recommendations for CIOs before deploying HCI solutions

There are five key areas that chief information officers (CIOs) must not overlook while deciding the right hardware components for hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) deployment in their companies, according to Dell Technologies.

Two of the areas include checking the HCI deployments’ configuration as well as monitoring reliability, stability and service of the hardware components.  

HCI refers to a software-defined infrastructure that helps companies virtualise conventional hardware-based systems. Some HCI vendors include NetApp, Huawei, VMWare, Nutanix, Dell EMC and HPE Simplivity.

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The underlying difference between converged infrastructure and HCI is that the storage area network and underlying storage are implemented in software rather than hardware in the latter.

Dell said that hardware is an essential component for HCI deployments. The technology giant said that maximum results could be achieved with hardware that is specifically optimised to the needs of specific HCI stacks. CIOs need to configure HCI to make sure that their performance is predictable. 

“Choosing the right hardware for HCI is of the utmost importance to achieve notable performance. Coupled with proper hardware, it is a key component of digital transformation and is best suited for both hybrid and multi-cloud architecture,” Surajit Sen, chief of staff of modern data centre – APJ, Dell Technologies, said.

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Second, with HCI becoming more mainstream and playing a bigger role in mission-critical applications, companies must focus on reliability, stability and service of HCI to assure better quality, the company said. 

Third, the lifecycle of software and firmware must be managed well to reduce staff time and manpower required for routine maintenance. Dell said that a jointly-engineered HCI solution could determine the time information technology (IT) teams need to manage and maintain infrastructure, and thus making businesses more efficient.  

Fourth, CIOs must ensure that HCI is not only present in hardware resources, but also help maintain and manage the component’s lifecycle. 

“It (HCI) also needs the intelligence to manipulate both the physical network and software-defined network configuration in context,” Dell said. 

Finally, a good HCI needs to be backed with quality hardware and solutions support. Instead of building their own HCI solutions and dealing with internal support and multiple third-party hardware and software vendors, CIOs must adopt HCI as a turnkey solution that can work with two teams (one for hardware and software each) or just one supporting team, requiring fewer points of contact.