Homegrown cloud infrastructure and applications solution vGRID is bolstering the performance of its platform thanks to investment in the latest hardware systems and a move into Datacom’s fault-tolerant Kapua Data Centre located in Hamilton.
vGRID, developed by LayerX, provides locally-developed and supported Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions tailored for the small to medium business market. vGRID distinguishes itself with reliable unparalleled performance, self-service control panel functionality, and compliance with New Zealand data sovereignty laws.
According to Bruce Trevarthen, LayerX Group CEO, the company is the first in New Zealand to introduce HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) Synergy hardware to underpin its cloud service offering. “This comes in response to strong demand and unprecedented growth for the vGRID portfolio of on-demand solutions,” he says. “We’ve expanded by over 22 percent in the past year and, with a recent deal inked with distributor exeed, expect even stronger numbers in the year ahead.”
HPE Synergy is the first platform architected from the ground up as a composable infrastructure that reduces operational complexity for traditional workloads and increases performance for a new breed of cloud applications and services. Through a single user interface, HPE Synergy allows for the composition of compute, storage, and networking resources into configurations optimised for specific applications.
As an extensible platform, HPE Synergy uses fluid resource pools, software defined intelligence and a unified API to continually optimise the right mix of traditional and private cloud resources. HPE Synergy easily enables a broad range of applications and operational models such as virtualisation, hybrid cloud, and DevOps.
“LayerX is taking the lead in New Zealand by implementing the industry’s first composable infrastructure and delivering new value and opportunities for their business through a hybrid infrastructure. HPE Synergy will help the vGRID platform deliver the highest levels of performance and reliability to local small and mid-size businesses looking to accelerate their business,” says Raj Thakur, General Manager, Data Centre & Hybrid Cloud Group, South Pacific, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Trevarthen notes that HPE Synergy is introduced on the back of LayerX’s successful deployment of HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage, which has underpinned its services since the very first HPE 3PAR installation back in 2011. “This is notable as it is a Tier 1 all-flash storage array. There are no longer any ‘spinning’ hard disks and what that has meant for our customers is dramatically improved performance and far better reliability as the mean time to failure of flash exceeds that of traditional disk by a wide margin.”
It is the subject of reliability and availability that Trevarthen says has resulted in the move, which commences on 10 April, from the current datacentre located at Waikato Innovation Park to Datacom’s purpose-built independently certified Tier 3+ facility in Te Rapa, Hamilton. “The growth of the vGRID platform means we need to be able to scale rapidly without any impact on reliability and performance for existing or new customers. Kapua Data Centre, with its independent certification and Datacom’s reputation for operating high availability infrastructure, was identified as the ideal solution,” he explains.
The move is expected to be completed in November this year; in addition to the move into the new data centre, significantly faster fibre connections are being introduced, Trevarthan adds.
Tier 3+ certification has been independently assessed against the TIA-942 standard. This provides verification of several metrics, including fault tolerance so there are no single points of failure, fire and water protection, and redundant cooling systems. vGRID provides geo-resilience through its Auckland site located at Highbrook.
Hamilton is recognised for its geographic stability and offers redundant connectivity, with all the major network providers running fibre rings through the city. It is also a hub of high tech business activity.
