HPE SimpliVity

HPE SimpliVity
Name	HPE SimpliVity
Developer	Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Released	2014
Latest release	2019
Platform	x86
Genre	Hyperconverged infrastructure

HPE SimpliVity is a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform produced by Hewlett Packard Enterprise that integrates compute, storage, and networking with data protection and virtualization stack optimizations. The product aimed to simplify datacenter operations for enterprises, service providers, and branches by consolidating resources onto commodity hardware while incorporating deduplication, compression, and WAN-optimized replication. Deployed alongside platforms such as VMware vSphere, SimpliVity competed in markets occupied by Nutanix, Dell EMC VxRail, and Cisco HyperFlex, and was adopted by customers migrating from traditional arrays produced by NetApp, EMC Corporation, and Hitachi Data Systems.

Overview

HPE SimpliVity combined software-defined storage and virtualization acceleration on HPE ProLiant servers and was positioned for use cases including virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) cited by vendors like Citrix Systems, remote office/branch office (ROBO) consolidations used by organizations similar to Royal Mail and Siemens, and enterprise application hosting comparable to deployments by SAP SE and Microsoft Exchange Server. It integrated with hypervisors managed by tools such as VMware vCenter Server and competed with ecosystems represented by Red Hat and Microsoft Hyper-V. The platform offered built-in data protection functions that appealed to teams using Veritas Technologies or Veeam Software for backup in legacy environments.

Architecture

The architecture combined HPE ProLiant hardware with a distributed software stack running on each node, employing techniques like inline deduplication and compression at the virtual machine level similar to approaches from Pure Storage and IBM FlashSystem. The system used a patented federation model inspired by principles present in distributed systems research from institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, and interoperability testing referenced standards bodies like Distributed Management Task Force and Storage Networking Industry Association. Integration with networking technologies from Aruba Networks, Cisco Systems, and Juniper Networks enabled fabric connectivity patterns used in designs influenced by Facebook and Google hyperscale datacenters.

Features and Capabilities

SimpliVity provided global deduplication, compression, and optimization to reduce footprint—a strategy also employed by Dropbox, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform in various storage tiers. It offered policy-driven deduplication akin to policies in VMware Tanzu and snapshot and cloning functions comparable to features in NetApp ONTAP and Dell EMC Unity. Built-in replication and disaster recovery features paralleled offerings from Zerto and CommVault, and encryption capabilities aligned with standards used by RSA Security and OpenSSL libraries. Data mobility and VM-centric management echoed concepts used in Kubernetes for container workloads and in OpenStack for cloud orchestration.

Deployment and Integration

Deployments typically involved rack-mount HPE ProLiant servers certified by VMware and integrated with management platforms such as HPE OneView and orchestration suites like Ansible and Puppet used by enterprises including General Electric and BP. Integration points supported authentication and directory services like Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP, and storage migration pathways were provided for customers transitioning from arrays by EMC Corporation or software-defined stores by Red Hat Ceph Storage. Connectivity options aligned with SAN and NAS ecosystems driven by vendors such as Brocade, Brocade Communications Systems, and Mellanox Technologies.

Management and Administration

Administration relied on native interfaces and plug-ins for VMware vCenter Server and could be automated via RESTful APIs and scripting tools such as PowerShell and Python libraries used across the industry by teams at NASA and CERN. Role-based access control and audit logging followed practices consistent with compliance frameworks from ISO and standards referenced by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Integration with enterprise monitoring and logging stacks like Nagios, Splunk, and Prometheus enabled operational visibility similar to observability models employed by Netflix and Uber.

Performance and Scalability

Performance characteristics depended on ProLiant server class, CPU families from Intel or AMD, and NVMe/SAS storage tiers similar to product families from Samsung Electronics and Western Digital. HPE SimpliVity used local caching and I/O acceleration strategies influenced by research from Intel Labs and practices seen in Oracle Database deployments. Scalability models supported single-rack to multi-site federations comparable to architectures used by Dropbox and Microsoft Azure; capacity planning often referenced methodologies from Erwin and consulting firms like Accenture and Deloitte.

History and Product Evolution

Originally developed by SimpliVity Corporation and later acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the product evolved through generations of hardware and software updates from early releases in 2014 to enhanced integrations announced around 2019. Its lifecycle intersected with industry consolidation trends including acquisitions by Hewlett-Packard and subsequent restructuring that affected lines across EMC Corporation, Dell Technologies, and Lenovo. The evolution included increased emphasis on hybrid cloud interoperability with providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, and partnerships with systems integrators such as Capgemini and IBM Global Services.

Category:Hyperconverged infrastructure