A standard architecture ensures the ability to expand exponentially; the capital expense costs are known, the system administration burden is manageable. Just like everything else in life; when you do the same work, you will become more proficient at doing that work.
By contrast, building custom solutions for every technology need will create chaos in an environment. And if the architect of those custom solutions is no longer available to the company, those solutions will fail at significant financial cost your business.
Bare-metal servers
After decades of mainframe-style computing, the late 80s and early 90s saw the rise in adoption of “open systems” – UNIX systems, Novell servers, and then Windows servers led to cost savings by splitting applications onto specialized hardware. However, by the late 90s, the problems of disaggregated systems became clear; server sizing would often led to servers with too many or too few resources. In the early 2000s, VMware revolutionized the market with server virtualization, enabling a reduction in overall IT expenditures with resource sharing. Some physical servers continued for specialized applications, but by the late 2000s, virtualization was the goal.
Converged vs Hyperconverged Virtualization
For 20 years, converged architectures were common; first in the enterprise, and then extending all the way to the SMB market. The advantages of large-scale virtual server farms with enterprise storage arrays provided speed and flexibility. What had previously been dozens or hundreds of physical servers could now function on a handful of servers, some network and SAN switches, and a storage array.
With the emergence of hyperconverged infrastructure in the early 2010s, we are now able to virtualize servers, storage, edge switches, and hypervisor onto a standardized hardware platform with a single management plane.
Bare-metal servers are rare and purpose-built. Converged architectures still exist in various environments, either due to comfort levels or other operational requirements. But hyperconverged architectures have replaced converged architectures in many environments, with savings realized in operational and capital expenditure costs.