Cisco announced platform innovations for Cisco HyperFlex with the 3.0 software release that delivers performance and simplicity for any application, on any cloud, at any scale.  Enhancements include support for Microsoft Hyper-V, stretch clusters, containers, and new multicloud services that enable applications to be deployed, monitored and managed in any cloud. The result is a platform that uniquely enables development and deployment of both traditional and cloud-native applications on a common hyperconverged platform.

Cisco HyperFlex: The Power to Simplify More
Other hyperconverged solutions neglect the crucial roles that networking and distributed file systems play in the performance and scaling of clustered servers. Cisco redefined hyperconvergence with a complete end-to-end approach that engineers high performance server and networking technology, with a purpose-built filesystem. The result is industry leading performance that enables customers to efficiently support a broader array of applications, including databases and mission critical ERP workloads. 

"HyperFlex's approach enables high performance of Microsoft SQL and Oracle databases and critical applications with faster delivery of the environment, lower costs, and more effective management," said Edivaldo Rocha, CEO, CorpFlex.

The latest release of HyperFlex builds on this superior architecture and expands the opportunity for customers to simplify more.  "Customers tell us they need operational simplicity, effortless scalability, and the ability to serve the unique needs of each of their applications," said Liz Centoni, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Computing Systems Product Group.  "The new HyperFlex platform underscores our commitment to continuously simplify and improve data center operations and help organizations thrive in a multicloud world."

Run Any Application
The HyperFlex 3.0 software release delivers significant advancements for mission critical and cloud-native workloads:

• Multi-hypervisor Support. In addition to VMware ESXi, HyperFlex adds hypervisor support for Microsoft Hyper-V.
• Container Support. Data platform enhancements include a FlexVolume driver to enable persistent storage for Kubernetes managed containers, enabling development and deployment of cloud-native applications on HyperFlex.
• Enterprise Application Validations. HyperFlex is ready for a wide range of workloads with workload profiling and sizing tools available to support application migration projects. In addition to design and deployment guides for Virtual Server Infrastructure (VSI) and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) , Cisco design guides are now available for mission critical databases, analytics and ERP applications - including Oracle, SQL, SAP, Microsoft Exchange, and Splunk.

On Any Cloud
Organizations today require workload mobility and application monitoring across public and private clouds.  HyperFlex is the platform for the multicloud era featuring new service integrations with Cisco's multicloud software portfolio:

• Application Performance Monitoring. AppDynamics with HyperFlex enables performance monitoring of hybrid applications running on HyperFlex and across multiple clouds.
• Application Placement. Cisco Workload Optimization Manager (CWOM) for HyperFlex assists customers with automated analysis and workload placement.
• Cloud Management. Introduced last year, CloudCenter for HyperFlex enables workload lifecycle management across one to many private and public clouds.
• Private Cloud. CloudCenter for HyperFlex simplifies the deployment and management of VM's, containers and applications, making it easy for developers and administrators to consume private clouds.

At Any Scale
Only Cisco enables customers to power rapidly growing workloads with comprehensive resiliency while enjoying the global reach of cloud-based systems management.

• Greater Scalability and Resiliency On-prem. Supporting customers with higher virtual machine density,  HyperFlex clusters now scale to 64 nodes with added resiliency through fully-automated availability zones. 
• Stretch Clusters Across Datacenters. To meet data protection and high availability requirements, HyperFlex can now be configured into stretch clusters for campus and metro mission critical availability.
• Cloud-based Management Across Datacenters.   Cisco Intersight now supports HyperFlex Cloud Deployment, extending simplified deployment and management to any remote location.

Applications are at the heart of digital transformation.  The changing application landscape demands support for both traditional, monolithic workloads as well as distributed microservices architectures. In addition, the ability to enable a multicloud operating environment is quickly becoming a data center requirement. According to IDC's July 2017 CloudView Survey, 85 percent of respondents are evaluating or using public cloud, while among current cloud users 87 percent have taken steps towards a hybrid cloud strategy and 94 percent plan to use multiple clouds.

Organizations are rapidly adopting hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) to help simplify their environments.  HCI is one of the fastest growing segments in the data center space with a 5-year CAGR (2016-2021) of 30.2 percent (Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Converged Systems Forecast Tracker, 3CQ17).  Cisco HyperFlex is being adopted as the platform of choice for enterprise IT, accelerating this market transition with more than 2000 customers globally.