# What hyper converged infrastructure really means for your financial institution (Part 2)
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2019-08-14
Category: FINANCE
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance
Meta Title: Why Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) is the Future of
Meta Description: Learn all about hyperconverged infrastructure - the data centre in a box solution that offers fast deployment, seamless management, improved security, high
URL: https://financedigest.com/what-hyper-converged-infrastructure-really-means-for-your-financial-institution-part-2html

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By: **Alan Conboy**, Office of the CTO, [Scale Computing](https://www.scalecomputing.com/)

**HCI – What’s the deal?**

![Alan Conboy](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/alan-conboy-450x450-1736839001795-compressed.jpg)

Alan Conboy

Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is referred to as the “data centre in a box”. This is because of the preliminary cabling and minimal networking configuration, and the [fact that it has all of the features and functionality](https://www.financedigest.com/baby-food-industry-will-turn-to-drive-sales-growth-of-functional-dairy-ingredient-market-fact-mr-report.html "Baby Food Industry Will Turn To Drive Sales Growth Of Functional Dairy Ingredient Market, Fact.MR Report") of the traditional 3-2-1 virtualisation architecture (except that single point of failure).

**No fuss deployment**

Thanks to its appliance-based architecture, HCI systems can be deployed faster than other virtualisation solutions, with racking and networking usually the only slightly time-consuming elements of the implementation. Deployment times differ by vendor, especially if there is a [third party](https://www.financedigest.com/why-a-replacement-to-third-party-cookies-is-key-to-post-pandemic-recovery.html "Why a replacement to third party cookies is key to post-pandemic recovery") hypervisor to install and VSAs to configure. But, with a native hypervisor pre-loaded, an entire cluster of appliances can be up and running in under an hour in your financial [services](https://www.financedigest.com/facilitating-open-finance-through-secure-services.html "Facilitating open finance through secure services") environment.

**Dynamic management**

HCI offers users a single pane of glass management, which stands in stark contrast to the multiple management consoles and interfaces necessary in 3-2-1 architectures. Of course, this is not automatically the case for HCI [solutions using third-party hypervisors which typically end](https://www.financedigest.com/veritone-launches-marvel-ai-a-complete-end-to-end-voice-as-a-service-solution-to-create-and-monetise-hyper-realistic-synthetic-voice-content-at-commercial-scale.html "Veritone Launches MARVEL.ai, a Complete End-to-End Voice-as-a-Service Solution, to Create and Monetise Hyper-Realistic Synthetic Voice Content at Commercial Scale") up using two interfaces. For HCI with a native hypervisor included, this single interface tactic dramatically decreases management time and effort and streamlines management tasks for the administrator.

**Improved security**

To eliminate yet another unnecessary vendor from your IT environment, backup and disaster recovery (DR) can be included at no extra cost in your HCI solution. This is critical, as backup, failover, failback, and DR should always be a part of every IT environment. Unlike third-party solutions, native solutions are typically embedded in the [storage layer and allow innate awareness of block changes for cleaner backup](https://www.financedigest.com/ransomware-storage-and-backup-techniques-and-limits.html "Ransomware, storage, and backup: techniques and limits"), replication, and recovery options.

**High availability**

HCI can be deployed as a single appliance for selected use cases, however, it is commonly architected as a cluster of appliances for high availability. As such, not only can an appliance absorb the [loss of a disk drive](https://www.financedigest.com/basic-material-luxury-stocks-drive-european-shares-to-a-third-day-of-losses.html "Basic material, luxury stocks drive European shares to a third day of losses"), but the cluster can absorb the loss of an entire appliance. Clustering also enables the HCI system to scale seamlessly by adding additional appliances to the cluster. Some HCI solutions require clustering appliances of the same model and configuration, while others allow clustering of heterogeneous appliances.

**Seamless updates**

HCI can make conducting regular [system software and firmware updates](https://www.financedigest.com/blood-thawing-systems-market-analysis-growth-opportunities-future-demand-and-leading-players-updates-by-forecast-2030.html "Blood Thawing Systems Market Analysis, Growth Opportunities, Future Demand and Leading Players Updates by Forecast 2030") less of a dreaded task for financial organisations. By owning the entire virtualisation, server, and storage stack, and operating in a highly available cluster, updates can be performed automatically across the entire cluster. All software layers (hardware, firmware, hypervisor, storage, and management) can be upgraded simultaneously as a single, fully-tested system to eradicate component compatibility concerns. VMs can be automatically moved from appliance to appliance in the cluster as updates are made to keep all [systems operational](https://www.financedigest.com/robot-operating-system-market-is-witnessing-a-sustainable-growth-due-to-increase-in-demand-scrutinized-in-the-new-analysis.html "Robot Operating System Market is witnessing a Sustainable Growth Due to Increase in Demand Scrutinized in the New Analysis"). HCI can eliminate downtime and headaches when performing updates.

**Reduction in cost**

HCIwon’t always be the [lowest cost](https://www.financedigest.com/britains-cost-of-living-crisis-sends-sterling-to-lowest-since-mid-july.html "Britain’s cost of living crisis sends sterling to lowest since mid-July") solution in terms of the initial capital investment―although it often actually is, due to the ease of scalability enabling organisations to purchase only the needed appliances, rather than excessive over-provisioning in the initial investment. Buying only what you [need and when you need it can lead to dramatic savings](https://www.financedigest.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-tax-savings-for-businesses-in-las-vegas-nv.html "What You Need to Know About Tax Savings for Businesses in Las Vegas NV"). In addition to capital savings, HCI provides considerable [operational savings](https://www.financedigest.com/grid-operator-urges-ukrainians-to-save-electricity-as-temperatures-drop.html "Grid operator urges Ukrainians to save electricity as temperatures drop") over time as well, by greatly reducing the costs of management and maintenance. Simplifying an IT environment with HCI can save over 50 percent in the total cost of ownership over 3-2-1 solutions.

**What does it all mean for you?**

HCI eliminates excess cost and complexity found in the traditional 3-2-1 architecture. Because of this, it will benefit any size financial services organisation that requires a robust virtualisation environment. The extreme simplicity of HCI makes it highly beneficial, especially in use cases where IT staff is limited, for instance smaller branch offices and building societies. [Small and medium businesses](https://www.financedigest.com/best-small-business-loans-speaks-to-fundbox.html "Best Small Business Loans Speaks to Fundbox") (SMBs) and distributed enterprises with many remote offices or branch offices (ROBO) typically have staffing issues that make HCI an ideal choice.

For a distributed financial services organisation, remote offices and [branch locations rarely have dedicated IT staff](https://www.financedigest.com/unicredit-to-pay-bonus-replace-850-older-branch-staff-in-italy.html "UniCredit to pay bonus, replace 850 older branch staff in Italy"). These remote locations often require frequent visits from IT staff which can result in high [travel costs and lower](https://www.financedigest.com/cathay-pacific-lowers-q4-capacity-forecast-as-travel-restrictions-linger.html "Cathay Pacific lowers Q4 capacity forecast as travel restrictions linger") productivity. The simplicity of HCI includes multiple redundancies for HA, failure handling, and self-healing. A failed drive at a remote site does not lead to an outage and does not require immediate replacement (nor the risk of business, legal and/or regulations non-compliance consequences). Greater uptime and accessible [remote monitoring](https://www.financedigest.com/precise-remote-monitoring-to-steal-the-cell-separation-technologies-market.html "Precise Remote Monitoring to steal the Cell Separation Technologies Market") and management lead to lower travel costs of IT staff to these locations and significantly lower operating costs (OpEx)―not to mention the increase in productivity.

**Stepping up the the challenge**

[Financial institutions](https://www.financedigest.com/how-can-financial-institutions-make-the-most-of-data-for-their-business.html "HOW CAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS MAKE THE MOST OF DATA FOR THEIR BUSINESS?  ") are constantly challenged with ensuring remote branch locations deliver top quality services to their clients. Today’s [customers expect instant access to data and on-demand IT services](https://www.financedigest.com/how-can-financial-firms-improve-customer-service-after-the-pandemic.html "How Can Financial Firms Improve Customer Service after the Pandemic?") at every location. Infrastructure, including servers, storage, virtualisation, and disaster recovery (DR), can be both costly and complex using traditional methods.

As the financial [services industry](https://www.financedigest.com/why-sustainability-presents-one-of-the-greatest-opportunities-for-the-financial-services-industry.html "Why sustainability presents one of the greatest opportunities for the Financial Services industry") and its compute requirements continue to evolve, HCI is the next logical step in on-premises and cloud-integrated virtualisation infrastructure. Standing still with more traditional virtualisation solutions like the 3-2-1 architecture may end up costing organisations far more in capital, manpower, and training, than moving on to the dramatically increased capabilities, simplicity and [cost savings](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-save-money-as-a-student-during-the-cost-of-living-crisis.html "How to Save Money as a Student During the Cost of Living Crisis") of aHCI solution.

_To learn more about hyperconverged infrastructure, please visit:_ [_https://www.scalecomputing.com/_](https://www.scalecomputing.com/) _._

**Biography:**

Alan Conboy is the Office of the CTO at [Scale Computing](https://www.scalecomputing.com/) (https://www.scalecomputing.com/) since 2009. With more than 20 years of experience, Conboy is an [industry veteran and technology](https://www.financedigest.com/how-blockchain-technology-can-help-the-fashion-industry-make-verifiable-green-claims.html "How Blockchain Technology Can Help the Fashion Industry Make Verifiable Green Claims") evangelist specializing in designing, prototyping, selling and implementing disruptive storage and virtualization technologies. Prior to Scale Computing, Conboy held positions at Lefthand Networks, ADIC, CreekPathSystems, Sun Microsystems and Spectra Logic. Conboy is notably one of the first movers in the X86/X64 hyperconvergence space, and one of the first 30 people ever certified by SNIA.


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