George Crump

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As IT professionals seek VMware alternatives, they often encounter hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solutions, but these systems can’t deliver the media and node flexibility of Ultraconverged Infrastructure (UCI). UCI solutions like VergeIO provide businesses with enhanced adaptability to support diverse storage media and node types. This approach better aligns with real-world demands and long-term infrastructure goals.

What is Ultraconverged Infrastructure?

Unlike traditional HCI or three-tier architectures, UCI integrates storage and networking directly into the hypervisor, running as services rather than virtual machines (VMs). Traditional three-tier systems rely on separate networking, virtualization, and storage hardware components. At the same time, HCI typically bundles these functions but still operates them as independent layers, each running as independent VMs.

With UCI, these critical functions are embedded within the hypervisor, improving efficiency and higher performance. This architectural shift also delivers greater flexibility in choosing media and server (node) types, allowing IT teams to scale infrastructure resources precisely according to their specific workload demands. VergeIO’s implementation of UCI is VergeOS.

The Limitations of Traditional HCI in Mixing Media and Node Types

Traditional hyperconverged infrastructures have rigid configurations requiring identical nodes for computing and storage. Organizations must scale both resources equally, which may not meet their needs. Additionally, traditional HCI solutions can’t support multiple storage types in the same environment, like flash and HDDs. These limitations force businesses to overprovision resources and spend unnecessarily on high-performance storage not aligned with their workloads.

Ultraconverged Infrastructure (UCI) addresses these challenges by enabling independent scaling of compute and storage through a mixed-node approach. It supports various storage media types, allowing IT teams to use high-density QLC flash, high-endurance TLC flash, and HDDs for optimized performance. This flexibility lets organizations assign workloads to the best resources for cost efficiency and improved performance.

Comparing HCI and UCI

The following table summarizes key differences between HCI and UCI, emphasizing how UCI overcomes many of the limitations faced by traditional HCI:

FeatureHyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)Ultraconverged Infrastructure (UCI)
Node FlexibilityRequires identical nodes with balanced compute and storage resourcesSupports mixed nodes (compute-heavy, storage-heavy, GPU-heavy), allowing independent scaling
Media FlexibilityAllows independent scaling, adding only storage or computing as neededSupports a wide range of media types (TLC, QLC, HDD) tailored to workload requirements
ScalabilityMust add identical nodes, scaling compute and storage equallyAllows independent scaling, adding only storage or compute as needed
Cost EfficiencyHigher costs due to forced resource overprovisioningReduced costs by scaling based on actual workload needs
Resource AllocationLimited flexibility, requires additional hardware to meet diverse workloadsFlexible resource allocation across different node types for varied workloads
PerformanceOften limited by storage and compute configuration; may not fully utilize advanced hardwareMaximizes performance by optimizing workload placement and storage tiering
Data PlacementTypically lacks fine-grained control, with limited storage tieringSupports advanced data placement and storage tiering, utilizing high-density QLC, TLC, and HDD
Use CasesSuitable for basic virtualization needs, with uniform resource requirementsSupports diverse workloads (VDI, ML, AI, data lakes, backup) by adjusting to specific needs
High Availability and RecoveryBasic high availability, often requires more servers to maintain stabilityEnhanced high availability with efficient recovery, requiring fewer servers
ROI and Resource UtilizationLower ROI due to higher hardware costs and limited resource optimizationHigh ROI, optimized resource use through flexible node and media support
Hardware RefreshAll servers must be refreshed at onceServers can be refreshed gradually, one at a time, as needs change

Leveraging Mixed Storage Media: TLC, QLC, and HDDs

The Media and Node Flexibility of Ultraconverged

A key strength of UCI is its ability to support a variety of storage media, including TLC (Triple-Level Cell) flash, QLC (Quad-Level Cell) flash, and traditional HDDs. Each storage type offers unique benefits, and UCI enables IT teams to assign workloads to the most appropriate media, optimizing cost and performance without compromise.

  • TLC NVMe Flash: High-performance, high-endurance TLC flash is ideal for applications requiring frequent access to data, such as real-time analytics or transactional databases. UCI platforms allocate TLC flash where speed is critical.
  • QLC NVMe Flash: Cost-effective and high-density, QLC flash can store large datasets with minimal expense. QLC media, like Solidigm’s new 60TB+ QLC drives, is optimal for workloads with significant storage needs but lower performance requirements.
  • HDDs: HDDs remain a cost-effective choice for archival storage and backup, as they offer high capacity without the expense of flash storage. UCI allows organizations to assign archival or backup data to HDDs, reducing costs and freeing up flash resources for more demanding tasks.

In a recent evaluation, StorageReview verified VergeOS’s multi-media support, showcasing its flexibility to handle diverse storage types within a single environment. Readers can watch our on-demand webinar, in which VergeIO, StorageReview, and Solidigm discuss the test results and how these media options enhance the platform’s performance. Click here to register for the on-demand session.

Scaling Storage and Compute Independently with Mixed Node Types

UCI supports mixed node types, enabling independent scaling of compute and storage resources. Traditional HCI solutions require identical nodes for expansion, which is inefficient for businesses with unequal compute and storage demands. For example, data-intensive applications may need more storage without extra compute, whereas HPC tasks might require more compute with less storage.

The Media and Node Flexibility of Ultraconverged

In UCI, storage-heavy nodes or compute-heavy nodes can be added independently within the same instance, enabling organizations to scale up only what they need. This flexibility offers significant advantages for specific workloads:

  • Data Lakes and Analytics: Storage-heavy nodes provide the capacity required for large data lakes, while compute-heavy nodes and GPU-heavy nodes can seamlessly access the storage, creating a powerful path to analytics, machine learning (ML), and AI workloads—all supported by the media and node flexibility of Ultraconverged Infrastructure (UCI).
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): Compute-heavy nodes can handle the CPU resources needed for VDI. In contrast, fewer storage-heavy nodes are used for backend storage, ensuring cost-effective scaling without excess.
  • Backup and Archival: Storage-heavy nodes offer the necessary space for long-term backup and archival data without requiring additional compute resources. When paired with GPU-heavy nodes, this configuration provides a high-capacity, cost-efficient foundation supporting AI-driven data analysis or data mining when needed.

This combination of mixed nodes enables organizations to flexibly support a wide range of workloads, from storage-intensive tasks to GPU-powered analytics and AI applications, all while optimizing resource use and reducing overprovisioning.

ioOptimize: Maximizing Efficiency in Mixed-Node and Mixed-Media Environments

In VergeIO’s UCI implementation, VergeFS boosts efficiency by allowing data to be placed across various media and optimizing computing and storage use. IT can allocate performance-critical data to TLC flash and assign archival data to QLC flash or HDDs. Additionally, IT can direct high-performance workloads to compute-heavy nodes, freeing storage-heavy nodes for data-intensive applications. This management prevents resource bottlenecks and maximizes ROI throughout the infrastructure.

The Advantages of UCI’s Flexibility in Media and Node Types

Combining mixed storage media and mixed node types allows UCI to deliver several essential benefits for modern data centers:

  1. Cost Efficiency: Organizations can optimize storage costs by matching storage media to workload requirements without compromising performance. High-density QLC and HDDs help reduce expenses, while high-performance TLC flash is allocated to applications that truly need it.
  2. Scalability: Mixed node types allow organizations to scale only the resources they need, adding storage or compute independently for greater scalability and control over infrastructure growth.
  3. Enhanced Flexibility: The media and node flexibility of Ultraconverged Infrastructure (UCI) allows businesses to fine-tune infrastructure according to specific workload requirements, reducing waste and maximizing resource utilization.
  4. Future-Proofing: UCI supports a broad range of storage and compute configurations, allowing businesses to adopt new storage technologies and accommodate changing needs over time, ensuring the infrastructure remains resilient and adaptable.

Conclusion: Ultraconverged Infrastructure for True Flexibility and Efficiency

Flexibility is essential in today’s complex IT landscape. Ultraconverged Infrastructure (UCI) provides media and node flexibility unmatched by traditional HCI, supporting high-performance TLC flash, high-capacity QLC flash, and cost-effective HDDs. UCI allows businesses to mix compute-heavy and storage-heavy nodes, scaling resources to meet real-world demands and reduce costs.

Solutions like ioOptimize enhance UCI’s effectiveness by optimally placing data and maximizing resource efficiency across mixed-node environments. By adopting UCI, businesses attain a future-ready infrastructure that scales flexibly, aligns with workload needs, and minimizes overprovisioning—ideal for organizations transitioning from VMware to a more adaptable, cost-effective platform.

Filed Under: Storage Tagged With: , ,

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Data centers have come a long way since the early days of server infrastructure, but one question remains: Why do most data centers still rely on dual-processor servers with 16 or 32 cores despite the availability of quad-processor servers? Quad-processor systems, after all, offer significant advantages like reduced server count, lower total costs, and decreased power and cooling requirements. Yet, many organizations must forgo these benefits.

This article explores the historical context of quad-processor servers, the real reasons behind their limited adoption, and why modern virtualization solutions are required to help organizations fully unlock the potential of these powerful machines.

The History of Quad-Processor Servers

Quad-processor servers have existed for over twenty years. Intel first offered quad-processor server support with its Xeon MP processors in the early 2000s. Designed for high-performance workloads, these servers provide notable benefits in computing power, minimized server footprint, and efficiency. Theoretically, they should have represented a straightforward option for data centers looking to streamline their infrastructure and lower operating costs.

However, despite these early promises, the adoption of quad-processor servers has remained limited.

Why Haven’t Quad-Processor Servers Taken Off?

At first glance, the main reason organizations might avoid quad-processor servers seems to be cost. However, a closer look reveals that hardware cost is not the primary barrier. In fact, when you account for fewer servers, reduced energy consumption, and lower cooling requirements, quad-processor systems result in a lower total cost of ownership compared to the cost of delivering the same compute capacity using dual-processor servers.

So, why do data centers still rely on dual processor servers? The answer lies in inefficient virtualization software and licensing models.

1. Inability to Fully Utilize Additional Compute and Storage Capacity

A key challenge lies in virtualization solutions’ storage and compute utilization capabilities. Even when quad-processor servers are deployed, many virtualization platforms struggle to effectively distribute workloads across the increased number of cores and more densely packed storage.

Virtualization solutions were initially designed around smaller dual-processor servers. These architectures are not inherently optimized to take full advantage of the increased computing power and memory that quad-processor systems offer. As a result, these systems often bog down, forcing IT teams to reconfigure environments to extract performance gains manually.

2. Virtualization Solutions Aren’t Optimized for Scaling Down

Why Do Data Centers Still Rely on Dual Processor Servers
Lack of Affordable Quad-Processor Support = Server Sprawl

If the virtualization software can efficiently use them, quad-processor servers should lead to fewer physical servers, and the data center should actually shrink in size. Another reason why data centers still rely on dual-processor servers is that traditional virtualization solutions don’t have an easy way to scale down, making refreshing to fewer, more powerful servers very complex. The result is server sprawl, which is the opposite of sustainability.

3. The Licensing Problem: Software Costs Outpacing Hardware Savings

Perhaps the most significant reason why data centers still rely on dual-processor servers is how most virtualization software is licensed. Most major virtualization platforms, including VMware, have adopted licensing models based on the number of CPU cores. This strategy effectively makes the software cost significantly more expensive than the hardware costs when moving from dual-processor to quad-processor servers.

As a result, the software cost cancels out any potential savings from reduced hardware, power, and cooling expenses. This dynamic leaves many organizations feeling trapped, unable to justify the transition to quad-processor systems despite their clear benefits.

Part of the issue is that legacy virtualization solutions often hide their inefficiencies by requiring customers to maintain more physical servers in a cluster than their compute demands truly justify. These platforms spread workloads across an unnecessarily large number of servers, compensating for their inefficiencies. When introducing a quad-processor server, which should theoretically allow for fewer servers, these inefficiencies become even more exposed.

Traditional licensing strategies often hide these inefficiencies behind twice as many servers as the customer needs. In this scenario, virtualization vendors profit from increased server counts and core-based licensing, while customers are left with an infrastructure that is neither fully optimized nor cost-efficient.

VergeIO and ioOptimize: A Common-Sense Approach to Virtualization

To truly take advantage of today’s powerful servers, organizations need a virtualization solution designed to optimize performance across dual—and quad-processor environments. This is especially important for environments in transition, where a mix of dual—and quad-processor servers may exist.

Server Based Licensing

VergeIO offers a server-based licensing model, meaning organizations are not penalized for using more powerful hardware. Whether your infrastructure includes dual or quad-processor systems, VergeIO scales seamlessly across both, helping you maximize your resources without the bloated costs associated with core-based licensing.

Optimize Your Infrastructure

What sets VergeIO apart is ioOptimize, which uses AI and machine learning to dynamically manage workloads, ensuring that your environment operates at peak efficiency. VergeIO’s built-in intelligence can adjust resource allocation in real-time, optimizing both computing and storage for the hardware available, whether running dual-processor or quad-processor servers. This adaptability helps organizations achieve better performance while keeping infrastructure streamlined. It also enables you to “sweat the asset” instead of replacing it, creating a situation that may make you less inclined to go to the cloud.

Scale-Down

Why Do Data Centers Still Rely on Dual Processor Servers

One of the most powerful capabilities of ioOptimize is its autonomous scale-down feature. For instance, a customer operating 12 dual-processor servers can replace them with quad-processor servers simultaneously or incrementally. ioOptimize will intelligently consolidate both VMs and storage, migrating them to the denser, more robust architecture. This process occurs automatically, requiring minimal administrative oversight. The system continuously reallocates workloads and resources, ensuring that the transition maximizes performance while reducing the number of servers. As a result, customers can reduce power consumption, cooling requirements, and data center space without interrupting operations.

The Common-Sense Solution for Modern Data Centers

With a practical focus on eliminating inefficiencies and leveraging modern hardware, VergeIO provides a clear path for data centers looking to optimize their infrastructure. The ability to fully take advantage of dual and quad-processor servers simultaneously—along with AI-driven management through ioOptimize and intelligent storage optimization—enables a scalable, cost-efficient solution that grows with your infrastructure needs.

Whether you’re looking to reduce your server count, lower your energy costs, or simply get more out of your existing hardware, VergeIO provides the flexibility, intelligence, and efficiency that today’s data centers need.

Conclusion

While quad-processor servers have been available for years, the natural barriers to their adoption have not been hardware costs but rather the inefficiencies and licensing models of legacy virtualization solutions. By leveraging AI, machine learning, and flexible, server-based licensing, VergeIO enables organizations to manage dual and quad-processor environments efficiently, taking full advantage of today’s most robust hardware.

Don’t settle for just a VMware alternative—uplevel your infrastructure with VergeIO, where common sense and advanced technology converge to optimize your entire data center.

Next Steps

  • Live Demonstration: Join VergeIO and analyst firm SmallWorldBigData as we explore how a VMware alternative, armed with the right capabilities, can help you extend server lifespans, affordably integrate power-efficient servers, and reduce energy consumption—all without sacrificing performance.
  • White Paper: Read how VergeIO employs machine learning and AI with ioOptimize to enhance hardware lifecycles, maximize performance, and decrease power and cooling expenses.
Why Do Data Centers Still Rely on Dual Processor Servers

Filed Under: Virtualization Tagged With: , ,

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ANN ARBOR, MI – October 22, 2024—VergeIO, the leading VMware alternative, today announced ioOptimize, an integrated service of VergeOS featuring machine learning (ML) and narrow artificial intelligence (AI). This service is crafted to boost VergeOS’ flexibility, enabling servers to provide dependable service long beyond their expected lifespan. With ioOptimize, organizations can utilize VergeOS without being tied to specific hardware, thus offering customers increased flexibility and control over their IT environments, all at no extra cost.

ioOptimize Extends Hardware Longevity

VergeIO’s ioOptimize extends the lifespan of IT hardware by employing VergeOS to support multiple generations of CPUs, various storage media, and diverse network hardware simultaneously. Customers can effortlessly mix new and older nodes from different vendors, enabling them to create an environment where servers of varying ages operate together seamlessly. By automatically migrating virtual machines (VMs) from aging or failed servers to more capable nodes, ioOptimize ensures smooth, uninterrupted operation.

“As our customers’ servers age, ioOptimize steps in to manage workload placement and automatically migrates VMs when needed, minimizing downtime due to hardware failures,” said Greg Campbell, CTO of VergeIO. “This level of resiliency ensures organizations get the most out of their hardware investments.”

Rapid Hardware Innovation Adoption

ioOptimize helps VergeOS customers stay ahead of the competition by rapidly incorporating new hardware innovations. Unlike traditional solutions that require hard-coded updates for new hardware, ioOptimize dynamically learns and adapts to new hardware capabilities. For example, customers upgrading from 10GBe to 25GB network cards benefit from ioOptimize’s ability to instantly leverage increased bandwidth and active-active ports, ensuring seamless network performance.

New Automated Scale-Down Feature

With the release of VergeOS 4.13, ioOptimize introduces an “automated scale-down” feature. As VergeIO’s unique licensing is per server rather than per CPU or core, this feature enables customers to reduce server count while increasing capacity. For example, organizations using 12 dual-processor nodes may transition to 8 quad-processor servers with increased performance and capacity.

ioOptimize seamlessly migrates VMs and data from older hardware to new, denser servers, reducing power, cooling, and space requirements. Once the migration is complete, VergeOS notifies administrators, enabling them to power down older servers and streamline their data center operations.

Lower TCO, Sustainability Benefits, and Unrestricted Licensing

ioOptimize helps organizations lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) by enabling them to consolidate hardware, decrease energy consumption, and reduce data center footprints. This directly supports sustainability initiatives, allowing enterprises to achieve their environmental goals through a more energy-efficient IT infrastructure. Fewer servers result in lower energy use, reduced carbon emissions, and more cost-effective operations.

Unlike traditional licensing models, which penalize organizations for deploying high-density, quad-processor servers with triple-digit cores, VergeIO’s licensing frees customers to adopt more powerful servers without incurring additional costs. Competing models restrict an organization’s ability to meet sustainability goals, imposing higher costs for using efficient hardware. With VergeIO’s server-based licensing, customers can implement dense, robust systems that reduce power consumption, cooling needs, and data center footprint, aligning their infrastructure with financial and environmental objectives.

“Hardware vendors have been focused on assisting organizations, helping them reduce their data center costs while achieving sustainability goals. Unfortunately, too many software vendors hamper those efforts because of their per-core and per-capacity licensing models. These models discourage, rather than encourage, customers to invest in denser, more efficient hardware platforms that lower rack space, power, and cooling expenses,” said Marc Staimer, President of Dragon Slayer Consulting. “VergeIO’s per sever licensing model is a rare exception to this trend. Their willingness to help customers significantly shrink their data center footprint is exactly what IT professionals need.”

About VergeIO

VergeIO is the leading VMware alternative, providing an integrated data center operating system with built-in virtualization, storage, and networking capabilities. VergeOS simplifies IT management while delivering exceptional performance and scalability. With ioOptimize, VergeIO continues to innovate, helping customers extend hardware lifecycles, reduce costs, and quickly adopt the latest technology advancements.

For more information about ioOptimize or VergeIO, please visit www.verge.io.

Media Contact:

Judy Smith

JPR Communications

Phone: (818)522-9673

Email: [email protected]

Filed Under: Press Release

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The StorageReview VergeIO lab results show that VergeOS meets the demands of IT professionals looking for a VMware Alternative. StorageReview’s evaluation revealed that VergeIO not only matches VMware’s performance; it surpasses it. Their testing shows that VergeIO is a viable choice for those seeking a more efficient, high-performance solution at a lower cost.

The VergeIO Review Process

StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results:

StorageReview’s in-depth evaluation used an advanced hardware setup that included Solidigm SSDs, AMD EPYC processors, and Giga Computing’s dense liquid-cooled nodes. The lab environment was designed to replicate the real-world demands of enterprise IT infrastructure, emphasizing high-performance workloads like virtualization, VDI, and database management.

The goal was to assess VergeIO’s ability to deliver seamless performance while evaluating its built-in disaster recovery features and ease of use.

Highlights: StorageReview VergeIO lab results

  1. 1000 VM Bootstorm in 71 Seconds
    VergeIO was able to boot 1,000 VMs in just over a minute—an impressive feat that highlights its ability to handle high-demand workloads efficiently. This benefits enterprises deploying large VDI environments or managing dynamic workloads where quick spin-up times are critical.

  2. 6.9 GB/s Write Performance
    VergeIO’s platform achieved 6.9 GB/s write speeds during testing. For organizations dealing with large data volumes, this means more efficient data transfers and reduced latency for write-intensive applications. Solidigm’s SSDs were crucial in achieving these results, demonstrating the synergy between VergeIO’s software and modern hardware.

StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results: Scalability and Cost Efficiency:

IT professionals need a high-performance alternative to VMware that offers speed, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. VMware’s licensing can be intricate and expensive, particularly for large organizations. In comparison, VergeIO’s per-node licensing is more straightforward and predictable. VergeIO’s base license encompasses all advanced features, including storage tiering and disaster recovery, without incurring extra costs for add-ons.

VergeIO’s model is at least 50% cheaper than VMware’s, providing enterprises a straightforward way to lower infrastructure costs without sacrificing performance. This pricing transparency is a significant advantage for companies looking to scale efficiently.

StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results: vSAN with Storage Tiering

StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results:

VergeIO offers storage tiering as part of its base package, allowing IT teams to optimize data placement based on performance needs. Solidigm SSDs were used in the lab to create two distinct storage pools—Tier 1 with high-performance TLC SSDs and Tier 2 with larger, more cost-effective QLC SSDs. VergeIO’s ability to seamlessly manage different storage types within the same platform simplifies operations while ensuring that performance-critical applications can access the fastest available storage.

VergeIO’s vSAN includes no additional licensing fees for consumed capacity, setting it apart from competitors like VMware, which requires higher-tier licenses for high-capacity environments.

StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results: Migration

One of the biggest concerns for organizations migrating away from VMware is the complexity of the migration process. However, StorageReview found that VergeIO makes this transition seamless. The platform includes native integration with vCenter and ESXi APIs, allowing IT teams to sync and migrate VMs with minimal disruption. The ability to retain critical settings like MAC addresses and storage tiers ensures a smooth and efficient transition to VergeIO. Enroll in our hands-on lab to perform a VMware Migration in real life.

StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results: Data Protection and Recovery

Beyond performance, IT professionals require solutions that ensure a critical workload’s protection and recoverability. VergeIO’s built-in disaster recovery capabilities provide a clear advantage. During testing, the platform’s high availability feature demonstrated quick recovery, with VMs becoming available again on another node in 138 seconds after a node failure. When coupled with IOGuardian, even this short time can be potentially eliminated thanks to its ability to provide real-time recovery from multiple simultaneous drive or server failures.

For data protection IOClone, based snapshots enable independent snapshots that aren’t reliant on previous clones, improving recovery times. This independence means that IT can have thousands of active snapshots and retain them indefinitely without impacting performance. VergeOS provides a robust scheduling capability for managing snapshot retention. Enroll in our hands-on lab to learn the full potential of VergeOS Snapshots.

By incorporating disaster recovery directly into the platform, VergeIO eliminates the need for separate solutions, reducing complexity and cost. VergeIO can replicate an entire data center in minutes. This replication includes data and the complete configuration (VM, network settings), enabling fast and comprehensive recovery even on different hardware.

VergeIO simplifies backup and recovery processes with native snapshot and replication features. Its disaster recovery integration within the central platform ensures that backups can be completed quickly, minimizing the risk of data loss and reducing downtime.

For organizations where uptime and data protection are paramount, VergeIO’s ability to seamlessly integrate these capabilities into its core offering—without additional licensing fees—offers significant operational advantages.

The Bottom Line: A VMware Alternative That’s Easier, Faster, and More Affordable

VergeIO’s performance, scalability, and built-in disaster recovery features make it a compelling alternative to VMware. The StorageReview VergeIO Lab Results show that VergeIO performs exceptionally well under real-world conditions, simplifies operations, and reduces costs.

With 50% lower licensing costs, simplified management, and a platform built to handle complex enterprise workloads, VergeIO offers a solution that meets the needs of IT professionals looking to reduce overhead without compromising on performance or protection.

If you’re exploring VMware alternatives, VergeIO is worth serious consideration. To learn more about how VergeIO performed in the lab, register for our webinar on October 23rd with StorageReview and Solidigm. We’ll demonstrate these results firsthand.

For the full StorageReview report, visit StorageReview’s Lab Evaluation.

Filed Under: Storage Tagged With: , , ,

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Lab Tests Reveal Boot Storm Performance of 1,000 VMs in 71 Seconds

Ann Arbor, Michigan — October 15, 2024 — VergeIO, a leader in ultraconverged infrastructure solutions, today announced test results by StorageReview indicating its software-defined infrastructure delivers high performance without costly add-ons while simplifying virtualization, making it a compelling alternative for organizations seeking relief from VMware’s expensive licensing model.

According to StorageReview’s findings, VergeIO’s ultraconverged infrastructure, VergeOS, stands out as a serious alternative to VMware for businesses of all sizes. The review highlighted its simpler licensing model, built-in disaster recovery and high performance on modern hardware, positioning VergeIO as a highly efficient option for enterprises looking to move away from VMware.

“Our evaluation of Verge.io revealed a robust, high-performance virtualization platform that challenges the status quo set by VMware, said Brian Beeler, StorageReview’s CEO. “It provides a streamlined, cost-effective alternative that delivers the agility, simplicity, and scalability today’s organizations need, to drive their IT environments forward, especially at the edge where technical resources and budgets are limited.”

StorageReview conducted testing using a cutting-edge hardware configuration at its Cincinnati lab, leveraging AMD EPYC processors, high-performance Solidigm SSDs and liquid-cooled nodes from Giga Computing. Results underscored VergeIO’s ability to efficiently handle demanding workloads, achieving impressive performance metrics in sequential and random I/O operations. VergeIO delivered up to 6.9GB/s in write operations, providing a solid foundation for enterprise virtualization and data center environments.

During StorageReview’s test drive, VergeIO was able to handle a massive boot storm of 1,000 virtual machines (VMs) within just 71 seconds. This extreme scenario, where all 1,000 VMs booted simultaneously, showcased VergeIO’s robust storage IO infrastructure, which is designed to handle even the most demanding virtualization environments. The test used a mix of TLC and QLC SSDs, demonstrating that VergeIO can deliver fast, reliable performance while maintaining cost efficiency.

Additional highlights from StorageReview’s review include:

  • VM migration capabilities, which allow enterprises to transition seamlessly from VMware environments to VergeOS.
  • Built-in tools that enable efficient syncing and updating of VMs, reducing downtime, and ensuring smooth transitions to the VergeOS platform.
  • Disaster recovery capabilities and advanced security features, such as WireGuard integration for secure remote access, that further enhance the platform’s value proposition for enterprises looking to protect their data and maintain high availability.
  • A single-code-based platform, which integrates virtualization, storage and networking, offering a simpler, more cost-effective solution for enterprises looking to streamline their IT infrastructure.
  • Per-node licensing model, which was noted for its transparency and affordability over the complex and costly licensing models of VMware, Nutanix and Windows Server.
  • VergeIO’s storage tiering capability that assigns data to different storage media based on performance and recovery needs, enables organizations to maximize performance and cost efficiency.

“Having an independent storage authority like StorageReview evaluate your platform thoroughly and confirm what you’ve been saying to the world – that VergeOS is a better and more cost-effective alternative to VMware – is particularly gratifying,” said Yan Ness, CEO of VergeIO. “With our platform’s ability to reduce costs, streamline IT operations, simplify compliance, protect from ransomware, simplify moving workloads, and provide scalability using only the resources you need, VergeIO is more than a VMware alternative. It is a powerful data operating system software that can replace disparate vendors and orchestration challenges for organizations of all sizes.”

To see the full report click here

Those interested in learning more about the results of StorageReview’s findings can join representatives of VergeIO and StorageReview on a special webinar on Wednesday, October 23rd, at 1:00 pm ET: https://www.verge.io/storagereview-live-lab-analysis-of-vergeio/

About VergeIO

VergeIO is the future of virtualization. The VergeOS software provides a highly integrated single-code-base data center operating system that simplifies IT infrastructure by combining virtualization, storage, and networking into a single unified platform. VergeIO enables enterprises to reduce costs, streamline operations, and scale their IT environments effortlessly.

Media Contact

Judy Smith
JPR Communications
Email: [email protected]

Filed Under: Press Release Tagged With: ,

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When considering an alternative to VMware, it’s essential to elevate your infrastructure rather than simply seeking cost savings. Elevating your infrastructure means improving data protection, resiliency, and availability—critical elements that should define your next virtualization platform. In this post, we’ll explore the key features you should demand in a modern virtualization platform, and how VergeIO delivers on those expectations.

How to Elevate Your Infrastructure with Better Data Resilience

Snapshot Technology

In today’s IT environments, preparing for potential data loss, corruption, or accidental deletions is crucial. One of the most vital features in any virtualization platform is advanced snapshot technology. Traditional snapshots are often plagued by performance bottlenecks and limited retention, resulting in large gaps in protection. Many organizations are forced to take only one snapshot per day to feed their backup software, which is no longer enough.

To elevate your infrastructure, your VMware alternative should provide frequent, independent snapshots that don’t rely on redirect-on-write techniques. These snapshots should maintain system performance while allowing multiple snapshots throughout the day. This enhances Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO), ensuring fast recovery when needed.

Workload Isolation

Secure workload isolation is key to protecting mission-critical workloads. Multi-tenancy ensures individual workloads are isolated for better performance and enhanced security. With an elevated infrastructure, you can place mission-critical applications in their own tenants, isolating them from less critical workloads. If ransomware attacks a user workload, it won’t spread to other tenants.

Multi-tenancy also streamlines disaster recovery (DR). By encapsulating consistent states of networking, storage, and virtual machines, the failover process becomes simpler and more reliable, improving your DR capabilities. Frequent testing becomes easier, encouraging proactive planning.

Key considerations include:

  • Robust isolation mechanisms to protect workloads.
  • Custom backup policies for each workload.
  • Encapsulated DR processes for easy recovery.

Protection from Hardware Failures

Look for a VMware alternative that can elevate your infrastructure by withstanding multiple simultaneous hardware failures. While most platforms can handle a single failure, resilient virtualization solutions keep workloads running even during multiple failures.

Look for virtualization platforms that offer self-healing capabilities to automatically reroute workloads to available hardware, ensuring minimal downtime. Solutions that provide affordable redundancy can enable high availability without requiring excessive resources.

Disaster Recovery

A comprehensive disaster recovery (DR) plan is key to elevating your infrastructure. While backup solutions play a crucial role, they must be paired with automated disaster recovery capabilities. DR should be fully integrated into the platform, with failover and failback processes automated to ensure that workloads remain available during outages. Frequent DR testing without disrupting production is also essential for preparing your infrastructure for worst-case scenarios.

Importance of a Separate Backup Process for Long-Term Retention

While advanced snapshots and disaster recovery are critical, they cannot replace the need for a separate backup process to ensure compliance with the 3-2-1 backup rule. This rule mandates that organizations maintain three copies of their data: two on different storage media and one offsite.

An effective VMware alternative should integrate seamlessly with separate backup solutions that can provide long-term retention and offsite storage. This process ensures compliance, protects against ransomware, and meets legal or regulatory data retention requirements. Moreover, having a distinct backup solution enables organizations to recover data from further back in time, providing more flexibility and protection in the event of an unexpected disaster or human error.

Backup considerations include:

  • Immutable backups that cannot be modified or deleted, providing extra protection against ransomware.
  • Offsite storage for compliance with the 3-2-1 rule.
  • Long-term retention capabilities that meet regulatory and legal requirements.

VergeIO: Elevate Your Infrastructure

Among the many VMware alternatives, VergeIO stands out by offering more than just an alternative—it elevates your infrastructure, particularly in the realm of data protection and resiliency.

Elevate Your Infrastructure with Advanced IOclone Technology

VergeOS’s IOclone technology takes data protection to the next level. Unlike traditional snapshots that slow down performance and use excessive storage, IOclone creates fully independent snapshots of virtual machines, instances, or virtual data centers. Snapshots are optimized with inline deduplication, maximizing storage efficiency while maintaining high performance.

Elevate Your Infrastructure

These independent snapshots mean that even if the original data is deleted, the snapshot remains intact. This capability allows IT teams to take frequent snapshots and reduce their RPO and RTO, enabling granular recovery of full virtual data centers, individual VMs, or even specific files. Experience using snapshots for granular recovery in our hands-on lab.

Elevate Your Infrastructure with Virtual Data Centers

VergeOS provides secure multi-tenancy but takes it a step further by delivering virtual data centers for each tenant. These virtual data centers encapsulate networking, storage, and compute resources into consolidated objects, allowing complete environments to be recovered quickly during outages.

This encapsulation minimizes recovery delays, offering a more robust approach to disaster recovery by ensuring all configuration files are in sync and workloads are restored seamlessly. See how to use virtual data centers right now in our hands-on lab.

Elevate Your Infrastructure by Protecting it from Hardware Failures

VergeOS’ self-healing architecture detects failures in real-time, rerouting workloads automatically to minimize downtime. VergeOS provides affordable redundancy, ensuring high availability without the need for resource duplication.

Elevate Your Infrastructure

For greater protection, VergeOS includes ioGuardian, an integrated capability which offers inline recovery in case of catastrophic multiple simultaneous hardware failures. ioGuardian delivers missing data segments to virtual machines in real-time, enabling VMs to remain operational and saving you from resorting to your backup software.

Elevate Your Infrastructure by Exceeding the 3-2-1 Rule

While VergeOS provides robust snapshot technology and integrated disaster recovery, working with Storware ensures complete compliance with the 3-2-1 backup rule. Storware offers an advanced backup solution that integrates seamlessly with VergeOS’s snapshot capabilities, allowing organizations to meet long-term retention and offsite storage requirements.

Storware’s incremental forever backups ensure that only changed data is backed up after the initial full backup, minimizing storage use while still offering comprehensive protection. Storware also supports immutable backups, which are critical for protecting against ransomware and accidental deletions.

Conclusion: VergeIO is the Future of Virtualization

Don’t just settle for a VMware alternative that maintains the status quo. Elevate your infrastructure with VergeIO, a solution that improves snapshot technology, workload isolation, resiliency against failures, and integrated disaster recovery.

Next Steps

  • Explore more about VergeIO’s approach to data protection through our on-demand webinar “Protecting VergeOS.”
  • Experience VergeOS first-hand by signing up for our hands-on lab here.
  • Download our solution brief for an in-depth look at how VergeIO and Storware provide complete data protection.

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