What is Synergy?

 

 

HPE Synergy is the next generation server architecture replacing the highly successful C7000.  It is a software-defined solution that enables you to compose fluid pools of physical and virtual compute, storage, and fabric resources into any configuration for any workload. It allows for a quick deployment through a single interface, which creates efficiency and allows you more control.

 

 

What Are People Saying?

 

 

IT professionals often struggle with old technology that cannot fit all of the dynamic organizational needs of their company. Along with ease of deployment, valuable features of the Synergy solution include effortless management and integration with OneView.  OneView allows everything to be managed on one dashboard.

 

 

Synergy gives you more control over firmware and how physical servers are managed, along with providing online firmware updates, which minimizes windows downtime.

 

 

Check out the latest technology refreshes for Synergy in this video from HPE Discover:

 

 

 

 

Benefits

 

 

With the ever-growing need for more bandwidth, Synergy midplane offers a bandwidth of over 16Tbps. The latest C7000 midplane is only capable of 7Tbps of bandwidth. Above all, this is three times the bandwidth from each compute node when compared to BladeSystem. It can support 100Gbit Ethernet and beyond, technology that the C7000 is not capable of supporting.

 

 

The Photonics-ready solution (able to support network bandwidth requirements well into the future as they’re developed) offers up to 200 drives (HDD and SSD) of storage. These drives can be allocated, as needed, individually to compute nodes within the same Frame. A second option is pooled, to allow the storage to be shared by other Frames.

 

 

Covering up to 60 blades, this solution allows two VC modules (plus satellites). This provides network virtualization for up to five Synergy Frames. Whereas before, two modules were needed in every blade enclosure, covering only 16 blades.

 

 

 

 

 

Money Talks

 

 

Synergy has been known to reduce IT Infrastructure costs by as much as 50%. When you consider the capacity enhancement, the time it takes to deploy this solution, and simple management component, the transition is a no-brainer!

 

In addition, a recent IDC analysis showed that organizations will realize value with HPE Synergy. The value will translate into more than a three-to-one return on their investment (223% five-year ROI).

 

 

Get Moving with Synergy

 

 

If you would like to learn more about Synergy and how it can add value to your IT infrastructure, please reach out to Zunesis to schedule an appointment.

Synergy is the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or
other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

 

 

HPE Synergy

 

 

HPE Synergy is a composable infrastructure which treats computing, storage, and devices as resources that can be pooled together and used as needed. An organization has the ability to adjust the infrastructure depending on what workloads are required at the time. This allows for an organization to optimize IT performance and improve agility.

 

 

The best definition I found for Composable Infrastructure is the following:

 

 

Compose your infrastructure for any workload.

 

 

Some History

 

 

HPE started shipping the Synergy Platform during the first half of 2016, over 3 years ago. It is hard to believe this platform has been around for 3 years already.

 

 

In general, the Synergy platform provides options in compute, storage and networking.  It offers a single management interface and unified API to simplify and automate operational complexities. It helps to increase operational response to new demands.

 

 

Composer and Image Streamer Management

 

 

Using the Composer and Image Streamer management, an organization has the software-defined intelligence to rapidly configure systems to meet the requirements and needs of the organization. Using HPE composer’s integrated software-defined intelligence, you are able to accelerate operations using a single interface.

 

 

Synergy Image Streamer enables true stateless computing for quick deployments and updates. This is a new approach to deployment and updates for composable infrastructure. This management appliance works with HPE Synergy Composer for fast software-defined control over physical compute modules with operating system provisioning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Synergy platform provides a fully programmable interface that allows organizations to take full advantage of potential vendor partnerships for open-source automation.  Tools such as Chef, Docker, and OpenStack also work with the Synergy Platform. Using these tools an organization is able to seamlessly integrate multiple management tools, perform automation and future-proof the data center.

 

 

 

Infosight and Synergy

 

 

 

HPE has also announced Synergy Support in HPE InfoSight. InfoSight is a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) management tool that came with the Nimble purchase. HPE has expanded the platform to include HPE Servers including Synergy and Apollo systems.

 

 

 

It includes the Predictive Analytics, Global Learning and the Recommendation Engine. The AI Engine provides data analytics for server security and predictive analytics for parts failure. Future capability will include firmware and driver analytics.

 

 

The Global Learning aspect provides a server wellness dashboard, a global inventory and performance and utilization information. The Recommendation Engine will provide information to eliminate performance bottlenecks on the servers.

 

 

 

Built with the Future in Mind

 

 

 

The Synergy platform is built with the future in mind. From the Management analytics to new compute platforms, to higher power requirements, to increased networking bandwidth, this platform is ready. Architectures are evolving to memory-driven computing, 100Gb networking and non-volatile memory (NVM).

 

 

 

The Synergy frame has been architected to handle these new technologies and more. Each HPE Synergy bay is ready to support future technologies such as Photonics, future CPUs, GPUs and new memory technologies.

 

 

For more information on HPE Synergy, Contact Zunesis today.

HPE announced HPE OneView almost 5 years ago as the next generation management tool.   It is hard to believe that this product has been on the market for 5 years now.  This management platform was written from the ground up, with the idea that it is an open, software defined approach to managing your infrastructure.  HPE OneView was designed to use software-defined intelligence with a template-driven approach to rapidly provision, update, and deploy servers, storage, and networking, reducing the risk of human errors.

 

HPE OneView is a next generation management software replacing HPE Systems Insight Manager and Insight Control as the management platform for the HPE Proliant family of servers. In fact, Insight Control does not support the latest generation of servers and will be going obsolete on January 31, 2019. OneView provides the path to composability and the underlying management platform for Hybrid IT.

 

Recently, HPE announced OneView version 4.1.  This release of HPE OneView features several enhancements to lifecycle operations, including new cluster profiles and rolling cluster updates for VMware, and online firmware and BIOS updates for HPE ProLiant DL servers. HPE OneView Remote Technician offers secure, live troubleshooting with an HPE service technician for faster problem resolution. The security has been improved with the added support of CNSA mode and is FIPS 140-2 verified for the highest security protocols.

 

There are three key features included with HPE OneView:

 

1. Deploy infrastructure faster. OneView allows you to rapidly provision servers with template-based automation. The templates now include a new feature called cluster profiles to improve VMware deployments and rolling cluster updates.  Existing VMware clusters can be imported into OneView and managed as a single entity.  Rolling cluster updates allow users to automate cluster updates and eliminate downtime by keeping the workload up and running on available resources while other hosts get updated.

 

2. Increase productivity. With extensive API’s available, you can integrate HPE OneView into most scripting languages available for automated deployments, including Chef, Ansible, Puppet, Saltstack, and PowerShell. The HPE Composable infrastructure allows you to programmatically control the infrastructure through a single, open RESTful API and can automate the provisioning, configuration and monitoring.

 

3. Simplify life cycle operations. OneView and OneView Global Dashboard streamlines the management and allows you to see a single, unified view of the health of thousands of servers, profiles, enclosures and frames across multiple data centers. Get near real-time visibility of the health and status of HPE servers and storage across the globe in multiple data centers.  OneView and OneView Global Dashboard provides a unified view of HPE Synergy, HPE BladeSystem c-Class, HPE ProLiant DL/ML servers, HPE Hyper Converged 380, HPE Apollo systems, HPE SimpliVity, HPE 3PAR StoreServ, and HPE StoreVirtual VSA storage in a single view.

 

 

 

The new Remote Technician capability provides faster problem resolution.  Remote Technician allows you to grant temporary, secure access for live assistance from an HPE certified service technician.  This is done on a case-by-case basis.

 

 

 

Contact Zunesis to learn more about HPE OneView and how it can help manage your infrastructure.

 

Composable

 

Have you heard the term “composable infrastructure” and aren’t really sure what it is? You’re not alone. There’s a lot of confusion out there about infrastructures of all types, from converged to hyper converged and now composable, so we understand the confusion. First, let’s talk about three types of infrastructures to give you a bit more background:

 

• Converged Infrastructure. This is a hardware-focused, static (aka it doesn’t change) infrastructure that supports both private and cloud environments.
• Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI). In an HCI environment, the infrastructure is software-defined instead of hardware-focused like a converged infrastructure. All of the various technologies (compute, storage, networking, and virtualization) are integrated together into a hardware box from a single vendor.
• Composable Infrastructure. Here, nothing is static. It consists of compute, fabric, and storage modules that you can access and use as you need them.

 

The main differentiator for a composable infrastructure, specifically one from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, is that it’s completely programmable and software-defined. This means that you can access your composable infrastructure to configure and reconfigure all of the resources—compute, fabric, and storage—for whatever your particular workflow needs are at that moment. Composable infrastructure is hallmarked by these three differentiators:

 

• Fluid Pool of Resources. Your compute, storage, and fabric resources are pooled together and provisioned to use at will.
• Software-Defined Intelligence. This is where you define the resources you need and manage the resource lifecycle.
• Unified API. The HPE OneView is a programmable interface that you use to set everything up through just one line of code.

 

 

Synergy

 

For composable infrastructure, we work with HPE Synergy. Maybe you’ve heard of that, too, and aren’t sure what it’s all about? Let’s dig in.

 

Consider this: You need to test something, and in order to do that, you need resources. So, to deploy those necessary resources, you would go to the Synergy template and request the exact resources you need in the form of an infrastructure. Synergy then quickly gets to work to compose the exact infrastructure you need from the pool of resources. When you’re done with what you’re working on, you then go back into Synergy and release those resources back into the pool for others to use.

 

Now that you know more about it, contact us to learn how we can help you make the move to composable infrastructure.

 

 

 

 

Composable Infrastructure: The Engine for the Idea Economy

 

In an effort to move toward an Idea Economy, IT must now be able to support two operating environments.

 

1. Traditional Business based off of traditional apps which are Ops driven and cost focused
2. Idea Economy which encompasses cloud apps which are Apps driven and agility focused

 

A new category of infrastructure is needed to power the Idea Economy. In the traditional model, Application and Operations optimization took months to deliver. Converged Infrastructure took days, Hyper-converged took minutes, and now Composable takes seconds.

Composable Infrastructure, also known as HPE’s new Synergy, simplifies Infrastructure as a Service by providing the following:

 

• Hardware and software architecture as one
• Fluid IT
• Software-defined everything
• Unlimited scale
• Physical, virtual, and containerized workloads

 

 

Composable Infrastructure is the new engine for the Idea Economy allowing customers to take leaps and bounds:

 

• REDUCE over-provisioning and CAPEX. Users can precisely compose any compute with any storage pool.
• DEPLOY at cloud-like speed. Power up to a portal in minutes.
• DEVELOP more apps, faster. Program Infrastructure the way you want.
• UPDATE firmware seamlessly. Frictionless operations reduce operational effort.

 

HPE’s Composable Infrastructure multi-year vision empowers IT to create and deliver new value instantly and continuously for traditional business and the Idea Economy.

 

• Run Anything – Optimize all apps and service-levels.
• Move Faster – Accelerate app and service delivery.
• Work Efficiently – Reduce operational effort and cost.
• Unlock Value – Increase productivity and control.

 

The path to Composable Infrastructure allows an ease of management and interoperability across the entire infrastructure. Converged Blocks with Composable attributes provide value to your existing infrastructure. With HPE’s fully Composable Infrastructure, you receive continuity and investment protection of tools, integration, and process. HPE’s Composable Infrastructure transforms cost to value creation with infrastructure that bridges traditional and new.