Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Mallik Mahalingam, CTO of the HyperFlex product and formerly cofounder and CEO of Springpath. Mallik’s deep knowledge of hyperconvergence was insightful, especially in the architecture of software-defined storage and distributed file systems. I would like to thank Aaron Kapacinskas from the Cisco HyperFlex Product Management team for taking the time to thoroughly review the book and keep me up to speed on the latest in the HyperFlex development. Many thanks to Michel Khouderchah from the Cisco security business group for his input on hyperconvergence and for encouraging me to write the book. Also, special thanks to my brother Mitri Halabi for his support in the areas of data networking, hyperconvergence, and multicloud; your deep knowledge and guidance were very instrumental. Much research for this book was done by sifting through heaps of design guides, specifications, and videos, so many thanks go to all of the technology professionals out there. I do reference their work where appropriate.

This book couldn’t have been possible without the support of many people on the Cisco Press team. Brett Bartow, product-line manager Pearson IT Professional Group, was instrumental in sponsoring the book and driving it to execution. Sandra Schroeder, managing editor and design manager, was masterful with book graphics. Marianne Bartow, development editor, did a wonderful job in the technical review cycle; it was a pleasure working with you. Lori Lyons, senior project editor, thank you for leading the book to success through the production cycle. Finally, many thanks to the numerous Cisco Press unknown soldiers working behind the scenes to make this book happen.