Data Center & Infrastructure
Immutable Backups and the 3-2-1-1-0 Rule Explained
Attackers now delete or encrypt backups before launching ransomware. Immutable, isolated and verified backups are what make recovery possible.
Key takeaways
- Start with workload requirements, not vendor preferences.
- HCI simplifies operations for many general-purpose workloads.
- Virtualization licensing changes have made platform choice a strategic decision.
- Hybrid designs keep sensitive or latency-critical workloads on-premises.
Why modernise now
Many organizations face end-of-support hardware, rising power and cooling costs, virtualization licensing changes and pressure to support cloud-native workloads — all at once.
Architecture options
| Option | Strengths | Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Three-tier (compute, SAN, network) | Independent scaling, mature | More complex to operate |
| Hyperconverged (HCI) | Simple scaling, unified management | Compute and storage scale together |
| Disaggregated HCI | Flexibility of both models | Product-specific |
| Hybrid cloud | Burst and DR to cloud | Network and governance design |
| Colocation | Exit own facility | Contract and connectivity planning |
Choosing a virtualization platform
Evaluate total cost over five years, features you actually use, skills, ecosystem support for backup and security, and migration effort. Options include established hypervisors, open-source platforms and cloud-provider hybrid stacks.
Sovereignty and compliance
Regulated data, customer contracts and latency needs often keep certain workloads on-premises. Design hybrid placement around these requirements.
Efficiency and sustainability
Modern servers deliver much more performance per watt than older generations. Consolidation, higher virtualization density and efficient cooling reduce both cost and emissions.
Migration approach
Inventory workloads, define target placement, plan migration waves, and keep rollback options. Test backup, DR and monitoring on the new platform before moving critical systems.
Five-year total cost of ownership
Include hardware, software and virtualization licences, support, power and cooling, space, staff effort and migration costs. Compare options on the same workload assumptions, including growth.
Operations after modernisation
| Capability | Target state |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | One-click firmware and software updates |
| Monitoring | Unified health and capacity dashboards |
| Automation | Infrastructure as code for provisioning |
| Backup and DR | Integrated and tested |
| Security | Hardened management plane, MFA, segmentation |
Planning for AI and GPU workloads
AI workloads bring higher power density and cooling demands. If on-premises AI is on the roadmap, plan power, cooling and network capacity now.
How NAZZTEC helps
We assess current infrastructure, model TCO for each option, design and deploy modern platforms, migrate workloads with minimal downtime and operate data centres through managed services.
Next step: explore Data Center Services and Infrastructure & Data Center Solutions.
Frequently asked questions
Is HCI suitable for databases?
Many database workloads run well on HCI; very large or specialised databases may still benefit from dedicated storage.
Should we move everything to cloud instead?
Not necessarily. Steady, predictable workloads can be more economical on-premises; a hybrid strategy is common.
How long does a refresh project take?
Typically three to nine months depending on scale, procurement and migration complexity.
NAZZTEC Editorial TeamWritten and reviewed by NAZZTEC practitioners. This briefing is general guidance, not legal advice.
