Hyperconverged Secondary Storage: Driving Unified Data Management for Enterprise IoT

Hyperconverged secondary storage is set to become the cornerstone of modern enterprise IoT infrastructures, enabling organizations to efficiently handle the explosive data volumes generated by connected devices.

As IoT applications demand seamless data flow between Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) environments, a unified storage strategy is essential.

Traditional secondary storage relies on siloed solutions—dedicated backup, analytics, file storage, and more—leading to fragmentation and inefficiency. Cohesity’s software‑defined platform consolidates all secondary data onto a single, hyperconverged platform that runs on standard x86 servers, eliminating silos and streamlining operations within the data centre.

Figure 1 illustrates how similar software‑defined platforms operate at the network edge, running in virtual machines on shared physical servers. Deploying the platform both at the edge and centrally allows remote sites to replicate local data back to the core data centre for secure backup and rapid recovery.

The edge—encompassing branch offices, retail outlets, wind farms, or fleet telematics—generates and processes data locally. A deployed data platform aggregates, analyses, and synchronizes results across distributed networks, feeding them into a central data hub.

Integrating this architecture with cloud services extends its value: the cloud remains a cost‑effective archive for long‑term retention, while interoperability ensures data can be replicated across on‑prem and cloud environments and managed through a single, intuitive interface.

Part 3 of this series is published tomorrow.

Author: Bob Emmerson, freelance IoT writer and commentator.