What is Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software?

This year, Sangfor Technologies was recognized as a Representative Vendor in the 2023 Gartner® Market Guide for Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software¹ and also recognized as a Strong Performer in the 2023 Gartner® Peer Insights™ ‘Voice of the Customer’ report for Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software². With these releases, the concept of “full-stack” has been thrust into the spotlight.

What is Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software?

What exactly is full-stack hyperconverged infrastructure software? In the Market Guide, Gartner defines it as follows:

Full-stack hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) software provides a complete software solution that includes virtualized compute, storage and networking from a single instantiation running on server hardware. This market consists of those vendors that develop and sell hyperconverged infrastructure software comprising the vendor’s own server virtualization, software-defined storage and network management tools.

However, we believe this definition does not fully capture the essence of full-stack HCI software. From our perspective, to be deemed “full-stack,” HCI should encompass a comprehensive suite of integrated software and services. This can include built-in support for backup and disaster recovery, security features, container and microservices, orchestration and automation, cloud integration, and advanced analytics and monitoring tools. Full-stack HCI should offer an all-in-one solution for data center needs, significantly reducing the complexity and overhead of managing multiple separate systems.

This represents an upgrade from standard hyperconverged infrastructure, which typically converges only the core data center elements: compute, storage, and networking.

As the hyperconverged infrastructure market evolves, HCI can no longer be viewed as a singular, all-encompassing product category. Full-stack HCI software has emerged as a distinct category in its own right, representing a key path of development in this field.

HCI is Constantly Evolving

The first generation of hyperconverged infrastructure was introduced to the market in 2011, with a focus on the integration of server and storage virtualization. Other vendors followed suit, with a concentration on storage capabilities. However, this focus proved insufficient as market needs evolved.

To address these evolving needs, early hyperconverged systems had to offer capabilities beyond server and storage virtualization. As a result, vendors started incorporating networking capabilities. Each vendor has its unique positioning and strategy, and HCI solutions are being implemented across various industries to drive digital transformation. In this context of rapid and diversified technological development, the demand for new products and technologies grows even further.

Today, users expect HCI to deliver more than just basic infrastructure functions and stable business operations. Many are seeking cloud-like modernization to further simplify management, optimize costs, improve scalability, and support a wider variety of workloads. Consequently, organizations are leaning towards vendors that provide complete cloud infrastructure solutions. This is where full-stack HCI systems serve as valuable assets for organizations undergoing digital transformation.

Sangfor’s Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Sangfor has been invested in virtualization technology since 2011 and, in 2015, launched Sangfor HCI—a fully in-house developed hyperconverged infrastructure solution that integrates server, storage, and network virtualization.

Over the years, Sangfor has continuously expanded its HCI capabilities. Thanks to an unwavering dedication to push technological boundaries and align with market needs, Sangfor HCI has now evolved to truly possess full-stack HCI capabilities.

• Virtualization: Provides a stable virtualization platform to run critical applications and core steady-state services like databases.
• Storage: In combination with Sangfor aStor software-defined storage, Sangfor HCI offers high-performance, highly scalable distributed storage services, catering to block, file, and object storage needs.
• Networking: Provides distributed switches, virtual routers, and other network components, enabling network traffic visibility and micro-segmentation on the platform.
• Infrastructure Management: Offers simplified management of the infrastructure resource pool, including unified orchestration of compute, storage, and networking, as well as essential operation and maintenance of hardware resources.
• Security: Integrates over 20 years of security technology expertise into the infrastructure. Its built-in security and security integration capabilities enable organizations to achieve immediate infrastructure, application, and data protection on deployment without additional security devices.
• Backup and Disaster Recovery: Provides a choice of disaster recovery (DR) solutions, including active-active stretched cluster and active-passive DR for Sangfor HCI users and active-passive DR for third-party hypervisors and servers.
• Cloud Management: Supports multi-level cloud user management under VPC mode, resource quota and application process management, application store, and a range of cloud management services.
• Hybrid Cloud: Offers on-demand integration with Sangfor Managed Cloud Services (MCS) and public cloud services like AWS to form a hybrid cloud architecture. Integrating on-premises HCI and MCS creates a Unified Hybrid Cloud solution consisting of the same underlying infrastructure and technology stack, ensuring consistent management, performance, and security.
• Containers: Supports microservice transformation and new business models, offering infrastructure capabilities and mixed orchestration with storage, networking, and virtual machines.
• Monitoring: Provides comprehensive cloud infrastructure monitoring to identify potential risks and faults and rapidly resolve issues.

Additionally, Sangfor maintains a forward-thinking approach, continuously building upon existing full-stack capabilities to deliver greater value to organizations.

• Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps): Sangfor has developed the AIOps solution called SkyOps Engine, which upgrades operational management capabilities and significantly enhances precision in predicting and pinpointing various faults.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): From version 5.9.0 onward, Sangfor VDI uses HCI’s aSV hypervisor for desktop virtualization. This allows VMs running virtual desktops and business applications to coexist within the same cluster. This convergence simplifies management, optimizes resources, and enhances protection with HCI’s security capabilities.
• Database Management: Sangfor’s virtualization management platform integrates with common and core databases, assisting organizations in rapid deployment and providing full lifecycle management capabilities, including deployment, migration, backup, monitoring, and maintenance.

Conclusion

From our perspective, Gartner first publications on Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software have placed greater emphasis on full-stack capabilities, distinguishing it from the more standard form of HCI. As businesses pursue their digital transformation initiatives, we believe that full-stack HCI presents an excellent fit for organizations looking to extract greater value from their IT infrastructure and better achieve their digital goals.

Since its establishment, Sangfor has been committed to in-house technology development, providing an advanced full-stack HCI solution that caters to a wide range of business scenarios and needs across various industries. While technology is making significant leaps and user needs are constantly evolving, Sangfor’s core principle remains unchanged: to Make Digital Transformation Simpler and Secure for every user.

Sources:

1. Gartner Inc., Market Guide for Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software, By Jeffrey Hewitt et al., Published March 14, 2023
2. Gartner Inc., Voice of the Customer for Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software, By Peer Contributors, Published September 18, 2023

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