HPE Synergy Decentralizes Data Center Storage

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is giving customers a new way to mix and match their traditional IT and private cloud resources with the launch of HPE Synergy, a disaggregated platform designed to run both traditional and cloud native applications.

The platform is being touted as a way for businesses to stretch limited resources so they can deliver applications running on traditional systems and applications as well as new services centered around mobile, big data and cloud-native technologies, according to HPE.

The HPE Synergy platform leverages a new architecture called “Composable Infrastructure,” which consists of several disaggregated elements. The platform utilizes fluid resource pools, giving users the ability to modify their compute, storage and fabric networking based on their individual needs, with support for all types of workloads. HPE has also included software-defined intelligence, which self-discovers and self-assembles infrastructure, as well as a unified API. All three elements are managed through a single interface powered by HPE OneView.

This means customers can run their business-critical applications in their own datacenters while simultaneously utilizing the cloud for added speed and agility, according to Antonio Neri, executive vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Group at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

“Market data clearly shows that a hybrid combination of traditional IT and private clouds will dominate the market over the next five years,” said Neri in a statement. With HPE Synergy, IT can deliver infrastructure as code and give businesses a cloud experience in their datacenter.”

With Synergy, HPE is hoping to bridge the two separate “worlds” of traditional and cloud-based apps by eliminating the need for a bimodal infrastructure. And by providing IT with a way to restructure and change their infrastructure at will, HPE also expects to help reduce capex costs for the creation of new resources.

“As customers look toward balancing out their businesses across public and private cloud, they need a new class of infrastructure that isn’t going to hold them back,” said Paul Miller, vice president of Marketing for HPE Converged Systems, in an interview with The VAR Guy. “This is all about bringing that private cloud experience up to the level of no other experience they can get with their [current] infrastructure.”

HPE Synergy is a continuation of the formerly unified Hewlett-Packard’s mission to eliminate infrastructure storage limitations and deliver a more fluid means of resource creation, according to Miller. While past efforts such as hyperconvergence have advanced this philosophy, the introduction of Synergy is the first time HPE is allowing IT to deliver infrastructure as a code, thus helping developers to create apps faster.

Currently, the HPE Synergy ecosystem includes partners such as Microsoft, Arista, Chef, Docker, Capgemini, NVIDIA and VMware. The platform is expected to launch in Q2 2016 and will be available directly through HPE or through the company’s worldwide channel partner network. Pricing information will be released at the time of launch.