Picture all of the parts that make up your IT foundation. Much like an automobile, each year manufacturers produce new models and update parts to make the latest data center faster and more efficient than the last. Preparing your car for the open highway is much like updating your IT foundation: there are many interacting parts to consider, and while you pore over the best map, the odometer ticks.

An IT assessment of your infrastructure can help you decide which parts to replace and which parts can stay.

IBM PureFlex is a factory-integrated and optimized set of hardware. It allows you to build your system infrastructure with integrated management, automation and optimization expertise built in. PureFlex is part of PureSystems, a new family of converged infrastructure products from IBM.

PureFlex comes in three pre-configured set ups or a built-to-order set up. A pre-configured infrastructure is like driving a brand new car off the lot. A built-to-order infrastructure is like dropping new parts and a bossy new powertrain into the car you already have. Regardless, if you want a rip-and-replace infrastructure or simply hardware upgrades, PureFlex manages all of the new hardware and integrates nicely with old hardware.PureFlex can come with hardware that is preconfigured for auto provisioning and scalability, so you know you’re setting up a solid private Cloud foundation for when you’re ready to make the move.

Under the hood of PureFlex

On a technical level, it’s codified best practices for presetting configuration options by type of selected web application (e.g. high availability, high security, etc.). On a simple level, it’s a pre-configured IT infrastructure. [Read more...]