Lenovo and Simplivity deliver hyperconverged infrastructure using System x servers

Combination of Lenovo hardware and Simplivity software could be a rival to Nutanix

Lenovo and hyperconverged infrastructure firm Simplivity are teaming up to deliver Simplivity's OmniStack platform on System x server hardware, claiming the combination will reduce data centre complexity and the cost of operating services such as private clouds.

The two firms announced that hyperconverged infrastructure systems based on their joint technologies will be available as an integrated solution through global distributors such as Arrow Electronics, beginning in North America from the fourth quarter of this year.

Simplivity's portfolio is based on a software platform called OmniStack, which runs atop VMware's hypervisor and is claimed to deliver a "data centre in a box" by including functions such as software-defined storage, backup and WAN optimisation as standard.

The concept is similar to that offered by Nutanix, with OmniStack running on an appliance-like server node that includes SSD and hard disk storage. Customers can scale out by adding additional nodes to a cluster.

Simplivity introduced its platform to the UK market last year, when its OmniCube appliances were based on Dell server hardware. The partnership with Lenovo now means that the platform will also be available on the System x server hardware that Lenovo gained from its acquisition of IBM's server division last year, specifically the System x3650 M5.

"Customers will benefit from Simplivity's new hyperconverged solution offerings, with Lenovo's highly versatile enterprise servers as a foundation," said Brian Hamel, vice president for Lenovo's North America Enterprise Business Group.

The System x3650 M5 offers high performance and pay-as-you-grow flexibility and offers lower operating costs by providing outstanding reliability, availability and serviceability to keep business-critical applications and cloud deployments running efficiently, Lenovo said.

The server is a two-socket system based on Intel's Xeon E5-2600 v3 processors with up to 1.5TB memory and up to 26 drive bays available for storage.

Combined with Simplivity's OmniStack, it delivers a scalable data centre building block with all the functionality of traditional IT infrastructure in a 2U rack-mount chassis.

OmniStack eliminates expense and complexity by consolidating up to 12 data centre functions into a single shared resource pool with global unified management, the firm said.