Overview
Lowe, Green & Davis (Atlantis Computing/ActualTech Media, 2016) — Practical guide to designing and transforming enterprise data centers. Covers the evolution from monolithic storage arrays through virtualization to software-defined data centers (SDDC) and hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI).
Key Themes
IT Is Changing
- Simplification as the new imperative
- Focus shifting from technology to customer service and business outcomes
- IT organization flattening
- Capital expenditure → operational expense transition
Data Center Evolution
| Era | Technology | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Monolithic | SAN/NAS arrays | Vendor lock-in, high cost, specialized skills |
| Virtualization | VMware, Hyper-V | Software-defined compute, consolidation |
| Flash | SSD replacing HDD | Performance revolution, cost curve crossing |
| Convergence | Integrated systems | Pre-configured compute+storage+network |
| Hyperconvergence | HCI platforms | Software-defined everything, commodity hardware |
Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC)
- Software-defined compute (server virtualization)
- Software-defined storage (SDS)
- Software-defined networking (SDN)
- Software-defined security
Modern Business Requirements
Risk management, business continuity, regulatory compliance, avoiding vendor lock-in, cost optimization, agility, automation, self-service, data growth, and resiliency.
Transformation Strategy
“Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast” — Align data center transformation with business needs, address low-hanging fruit first (test/dev, remote offices), then progressively adopt SDDC.
Related
- ai-data-center-buildout — Potter’s 2024 analysis of next-generation AI-focused data center challenges
- database-internals — Petrov’s deep dive into the storage layer that lives inside these data centers