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Software-defined infrastructure

Software-defined infrastructure definition

Software-defined infrastructure (SDI) is where the setup and management of networks, storage, and servers are controlled by software without human involvement.

See also: software-defined networking, network infrastructure

Benefits of software-defined infrastructure

  • Flexibility. Organizations can adapt their infrastructure based on their needs.
  • Cost savings. SDI allows saving expenses on manual work and physical hardware.
  • Automation. Tasks like setup, scaling, and maintenance become automated, reducing errors.
  • Simplified management. Administrators can oversee the entire infrastructure through a central software platform.
  • Disaster recovery. SDI allows automatically shifting resources and rerouting data if there's a problem.

Use cases of software-defined infrastructure

  • Data centers. SDI can dynamically allocate resources (like computing power and storage) in data centers. That helps adjust to changing workloads and ensure optimal performance without manual intervention.
  • Cloud integration. SDI simplifies working with multi-cloud environments. It helps distribute workloads across private, public, and hybrid clouds.
  • Networking. Software-defined networking (SDN) is a subset of SDI that allows dynamic management of network resources. It can take care of load balancing, routing, and bandwidth allocation.
  • Storage management. Software-defined storage (SDS), another aspect of SDI, allows scaling storage resources up or down. This helps optimize storage costs and performance.
  • Edge computing. For businesses that process data where it's created (like on phones or security cameras), SDI helps allocate resources more efficiently.