In contrast to traditional converged infrastructure solutions, hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) is a software-defined architecture.
You learned earlier that virtualization is a technology that allows a physical resource (like a computer) to be divided into a number of virtual devices that can behave like and do the same things as a physical device. Applied to compute, virtualization is the process is dividing the physical resources of a computer, things like its memory and processor, into separate virtual computers that can perform tasks just like a real physical computer can. Other technologies can also be virtualized. Physical network switches can be abstracted into virtual switches and used to create virtual LAN or SAN networks. And physical storage can be abstracted into virtual storage arrays.
A software defined architecture enables compute, storage, and networking functions to be decoupled from the underlying infrastructure to create virtual pools of compute, network, and storage resources. And remember, virtual pools of IT resources cost less and are easier to implement and manage.
