Scale Computing Launches HC3: Servers, Storage and Virtualisation Seamlessly Integrated Into a Single Cluster for Applications

Scale's 'datacentre-in-a-box’ takes as little as one-tenth the effort to set up and install compared to traditional infrastructure, and at 75 percent cost savings

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scale Computing, the leading provider of seamlessly integrated IT infrastructure for small to medium-sized organisations, today announced at IP EXPO the UK availability of HC³ - the easiest, most affordable virtualisation system for midsize companies. With no virtualisation software to license and no external storage to buy, HC³ lowers out of pocket costs by as much as 75 percent and radically simplifies the infrastructure needed to keep applications running. HC³ makes the deployment and management of a highly available and scalable infrastructure as easy to manage as a single server.

“Virtualisation is a highly beneficial tool for all businesses but also a complicated one”

“After launching HC³ in North America six weeks ago, we’re excited to offer this high-availability ‘datacentre-in-a-box’ to the UK market,” said Patrick Conte, EVP and GM of Worldwide Field Operations at Scale Computing. “The UK is a strategic market for us so it’s only appropriate to make investments in the market and personnel to reflect that opportunity. As we help midmarket companies make the transition into a virtualised IT environment with HC³, we look forward to continuing, as well as expanding, our UK presence and making it a key part of our success moving into Q4.”

Scale Computing has transformed its affordable scale-out storage cluster into a hyperconverged solution that combines servers, storage, and virtualisation into the industry’s first product that delivers virtualised infrastructure-as-an-appliance. As a fully integrated appliance, HC³ eliminates the need to separately purchase virtualisation software, external servers, and shared storage - resulting in significant reductions in both costs and complexity. As a scale-out solution, additional compute or storage resources can be added to a cluster within minutes, with applications and data failing over between nodes in the event of equipment failure. “The result is a turnkey method to deploy a modern infrastructure,” said Conte. “Gone are the days of pulling together a collection of hardware components and software licenses. For our customers, HC³ delivers a new kind of solution with fully integrated hardware and software. Applications can be deployed in minutes, in a scalable and highly available environment, that eliminates the need to license VMware, purchase a SAN, or buy traditional servers. HC³ is a cloud architecture, delivered as an appliance, that provides radical ease-of-use and flexibility for IT administrators.”

“Scale Computing has seamlessly blended compute virtualisation and storage management together to such a degree that they’ve reduced virtual server configuration time by 8x compared to traditional vSphere infrastructures, and all but eliminated the need for virtualisation expertise,” said Jeff Boles, Senior Analyst Sr. Analyst and Director of Validation Services at the Taneja Group. “In our assessment, HC³ may take as little as one-tenth the effort to set up and install compared to traditional infrastructure, one-fourth the effort to configure and deploy VMs versus traditional infrastructure, and can eliminate the planning, troubleshooting, and reconfiguration exercises that can consume as much as 25 to 50 percent of IT administrator time in the midmarket.”

With over 20 customers and partners participating in the beta program over the past three months, HC³ users are touting the simplicity and cost savings. "We are extremely impressed with the simplicity of the HC³ product. It can be managed remotely so we can focus on our core business responsibilities,” said Rob Titley, IT Manager, Breedon Aggregates. “The support and expertise provided by Scale Computing has been invaluable in supporting our virtualisation strategy.”

“Virtualisation is a highly beneficial tool for all businesses but also a complicated one,” commented Jeff Rhys-Jones, Technical Director, ACC International. “HC³ gives us the opportunity to take virtualisation to our customers, all packaged up in a ready to go infrastructure solution. It is an additional revenue stream for us and something that our customers are showing a lot of interest in.”

Ideal for first-time virtualisers and small IT departments, a complete 3-node HC³ cluster capable of 15 – 30 virtual workloads starts at under £19,449 and includes all necessary servers, storage and virtualisation, along with 24x7 premium support. For a complete HC³ demo, visit the Scale team at IP EXPO, Stand F7. To learn more about Scale Computing, visit www.scalecomputing.com.

About Scale Computing

Scale Computing develops scale-out clustered IT infrastructure products for small to medium-sized organizations based on its patented ICOS [Intelligent Clustered Operating System] technology. Since launching its initial scale-out storage solution in 2009, Scale has grown to over 1,000 deployments. Scale is currently expanding its footprint throughout the datacenter with what analysts are calling the industry’s first hyperconverged architecture, HC³. Scale’s HC³ seamlessly integrates storage, servers and virtualisation into a scalable, turnkey infrastructure that’s as easy to manage as a single server. Designed specifically for IT generalists, HC³ is ideal for those who have not yet adopted virtualisation due to cost and complexity, enabling them to run highly available applications. For additional info, visit www.scalecomputing.com.