Building a Dynamic Data Center

8/12/2019 Building a Dynamic Data Center

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Windows Platform Design NotesDes ign In format ion for the Mic rosof t Windows Fami l y o f Operat ing Sys tems

Building a Dynamic Data Center

Abstract

This paper provides information about the Dynamic Data Center for the MicrosoftWindowsfamily of operating systems. It provides guidelines for manufacturers ofcomputers networ! and storage e"uipment to build foundational hardware for aDynamic Data Center and provides recommendations for how to integrate hardwareand software into a complete Dynamic Data Center offering.

ContentsIntroduction..................................................................................................................................................#

Information Technology Comple$ity......................................................................................................# The Dynamic %ystems Initiative............................................................................................................# Capabilities of a Dynamic Data Center.................................................................................................&

Components of a Dynamic Data Center......................................................................................................& 'esource Management and (utomation %oftware...............................................................................) *ardware 'esources.............................................................................................................................+ ,etwor! %witches and -abrics..............................................................................................................

%oftware (rchitecture for the DDC.............................................................................................................. 'esource Managers............................................................................................................................../ 0rovider Model......................................................................................................................................1

*ardware and ,etwor! 'e"uirements for the DDC ...................................................................................1 *ardware 'e"uirements.....................................................................................................................23 4thernet %witch and -abric 'e"uirements.........................................................................................2)

Windows 5ogo Considerations for Computer 'esources.........................................................................2Call to (ction and 'esources....................................................................................................................2


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Building a Dynamic Data Center - 2

The information contained in this document represents the current view of MicrosoftCorporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft mustrespond to changing mar!et conditions it should not be interpreted to be a commitment onthe part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any informationpresented after the date of publication.

This White 0aper is for informational purposes only. MIC'6%6-T M(74% ,6

W(''(,TI4% 480'4%% IM05I4D 6' %T(T9T6': (% T6 T*4 I,-6'M(TI6, I,T*I% D6C9M4,T.

Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limitingthe rights under copyright no part of this document may be reproduced stored in orintroduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means ;electronicmechanical photocopying recording or otherwise33# Microsoft Corporation. (ll rights reserved.

Microsoft ?isual %tudio Windows and Windows %erver are either registered trademar!s ortrademar!s of Microsoft Corporation in the 9nited %tates and@or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademar!s oftheir respective owners.

A >33# Microsoft Corporation. (ll rights reserved.


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Introduction

Information Technology Comple$ity5owcost highvolume industrystandard hardware components are becoming the

building bloc!s of todays data center. The most demanding business wor!loadscan now be run by using standard hardware storage and networ!ing components.*owever operating system architectures application models and managementsolutions have not sufficiently evolved to simplify the challenges that customersface when operating these highly scalable systems.

6perating systems were designed to manage computer storage and networ!resources within a server not across a data center. (pplication models dont enabledevelopers to effectively describe the operational re"uirements of distributedapplications and todays management solutions focus primarily on individual piecesof the infrastructure and dont provide an application centric view that spansunderlying hardware resources. This comple$ity across the entire informationtechnology ;IT< life cycle is driving customers to spend close to 3 percent or moreof their IT budgets =ust on maintaining their e$isting infrastructure which leaves #3percent or less to invest in new strategic IT opportunities. Customers need a newsoftware architecture to significantly shift this budget imbalance.

The operational challenges that customers face in the data center are the result of aseries of shortcomings in the IT infrastructure they have today and theseshortcomings span from development all the way through to operations.

DevelopmentDevelopers dont have an application model that ma!es it

easy for them to describe the operational re"uirements of an applicationaspects such as topology configuration settings and resource re"uirements.

Deployment Deployment of a distributed application is a manual process

that is coordinated among multiple people and is closely coupled to hardwarethat is purchased specifically for an application.

!peration 6ver 3 percent of todays administration tas!s are either

completely manual or script driven and those that are automated tend to beuni"ue to a particular application. -urther administrators do not have a holisticview of the entire application and all of its underlying resources whichchallenges their ability to meet committed servicelevel agreements.

"rom operations bac# to development -inally the operations staff has

no systematic way to formaliEe feedbac! and return it to development. (t besttoday operations teams produce a re"uirements document that is difficult bothto adhere to and to enforce.

The Dynamic %ystems InitiativeThe Dynamic %ystems Initiative ;D%I< is a broad Microsoft and industry initiative thatunifies hardware software and service vendors around a new software architecturethat enables customers to harness the power of industrystandard hardware andbrings simplicity automation and fle$ibility to IT operations.

That software architecture is based on the %ystem Definition Model ;%DM


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operators to capture their policies in software and developers to describeapplication operational re"uirements. (t deployment time the %DM description ofthe application will enable the operating system to automatically deploy thecomplete application and dynamically allocate a set of distributed server storageand networ!ing resources that the application re"uires. Throughout ongoingoperations the %DM also enables the operating system to easily grow and shrin!the necessary resources that are associated with a particular application based onchanging business needs.

Microsoft begins delivering on D%I with Microsoft Windows %erverF >33#.(utomated Deployment %ervices ;(D%< is a feature of Windows %erver >33# thatuses a subset of the %DM specifically for automating server provisioning andreprovisioning. (D% version 2.3 is useful in a diverse set of customer ITenvironments. 6ver time as (D% becomes a more comprehensive platform thatleverages the %DM to automate the provisioning of servers storage andnetwor!ing topologies it will be necessary to be more prescriptive about thehardware configurations that (D% supports. When customers use a combination ofa later version of (D% along with a Windows certified set of server storage andnetwor!ing building bloc!s that are connected in a welldefined topology they willbenefit from tremendously lower operating costs. Microsoft calls this combination of

automation software with a welldefined topology of Windows certified serversstorage and networ!ing hardware a Dynamic Data Center ;DDC


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storage and networ!ing hardware. The following figure shows the hardware andsoftware components of a DDC.

Components of a Dynamic Data Center

'esource Management and (utomation %oftware

5ater versions of (D% will be able to ta!e full advantage of the powerful hardwareconfiguration of the DDC by providing the ability to dynamically allocate andconfigure the computer storage and networ! resources.

6ne e$ample is the scenario in which a data center administrator wants to deploy anew webbased application. The desired topology consists of two web server frontends in a loadbalancing group that is lin!ed to a single data store on the bac! end.Creating this topology re"uires allocating and configuring computer networ! andstorage resources. The DDC software includes a resource manager for each ofthese types of resources that are under its control. In this case the computerresource manager would provision the two web servers with the appropriateoperating system the networ! e"uipment resource manager would configure theneeded load balancer and the storage resource manager would allocate thenecessary amount of storage.



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*ardware 'esourcesDDCs will most li!ely be built by using standard computer rac!s. The hardwarecomponents that are housed within those rac!s will vary but the most commonresources includeG

Computers Computers in the DDC may vary in characteristics and a DDCmight include blade servers or standard rac!mounted servers with varyinglevels of compute capacity. -or e$ample they might have different amounts ofmemory different performance and capacity dis!s different number type andspeed of processors and so on.

Networ# e*uipment ,etwor! e"uipment that is loaded in the rac! might

consist of Internet 0rotocol ;I0 networ! switchesand f irewalls.

+torage -or DDCs with storage area networ! ;%(,< capability the rac!s

might be populated with one or more %(, storage arrays. -or filebasedstorage the DDC would create file stores out of the base computer resources.

Because of the diversity of application usages that customers will have for a DDC itis impossible to define a single generalpurpose configuration that fits all needs.Microsoft will provide a set of design re"uirements and recommendations that applyto both the basic hardware building bloc!s and the networ! topology of a DDC.64Ms and system integrators will compose specific DDC configurations withinthese guidelines by using Windows certified hardware that is configured within thetopology specifications.

(ll DDC resources are connected to an internal networ! fabric and managed by theDDC software. The DDC has specific ingress and egress points that connect it tothe e$ternal networ!. 'esources within a DDC might includeG

Heneralpurpose computers ;server hardware


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,etwor! %witches and -abrics

The resources in a DDC are interconnected by using one or more fabrics as shownin the following figure.

Networ# opology of a Dynamic Data Center

.t&ernet fabric The DDC relies on an 4thernet fabric for networ!

connectivity. The 4thernet fabric is used for communication both within the DDCand with the e$ternal networ!. The DDCs 4thernet fabric should be engineeredto be secure scalable and highly available.

+torage fabric If the DDC contains %(,based bloc! storage then the

infrastructure must also contain a %(, fabric to connect computer resources tostorage subsystems.

%oftware (rchitecture for the DDCThe %DM (utomation and Control layer will interpret the user re"uest for a specifictopology and coordinate among the various resource managers to provision thenecessary hardware resources and topologies. The resource managers maintainthe state of all hardware in the data center and allocate computer networ! and

storage resources when they are needed. This paper focuses on the resourcemanager architecture because it is directly relevant to the relationship of thesoftware with the underlying hardware.



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'esource Managers(s stated earlier in this paper DDCs include three types of resource managers.

The computer resource managerprovides computers with the proper

configuration and operating system.

The networ# resource managerconfigures the 4thernet networ! fabric and

networ! e"uipment such as load balancers.

The storage resource managerallocates file and bloc!based storage

resources.

4ach of the resource managers uses a set of JprovidersK to communicate with thephysical hardware within the DDC. The following diagram shows the resourcesmanagers and the providers.

0esource managers and DDC providers

Computer 0esource 1anager

The computer resource manager handles the allocation of computers in the DDC. Itcan detect machines during preboot e8ecution environment ;084< initialiEation andthen configure them with the correct operating system and settings that theapplication re"uires.

Networ# 0esource 1anager

The networ! resource manager handles all networ! e"uipment in the DDC. It canconfigure switches load balancers and other networ! e"uipment within the networ!environment to provide the re"uested logical networ! topology. It also monitorsdevice state and credentials so that it can perform tas!s such as configuring virtuallocal area networ!s ;?5(,s< and arranging loadbalancing groups.



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+torage 0esource 1anager

The storage resource manager allocates storage inside the DDC. It can allocateboth bloc!based storage on the %(, and filebased storage.

-or bloc!based storage the storage resource manager uses the ?irtual Dis!%ervice ;?D%< to allocate logical unit numbers ;59,s33# Microsoft Corporation. (ll rights reserved.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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*ardware 'e"uirements

Computer 0e*uirements

In the Dynamic Data Center computer systems that are available for allocation inlogical networ! topologies are referred to as computer resources.

Basic 0e*uirements

It is re*uiredthat computer resources and all of their operating systemcontrolledhardware comply with the re"uirements that are defined in Windows Logo ProgramSystem and Device e!uirements "ersion #$% and be listed on theWindows *ardware Compatibility 5ist ;*C5.2 logo re"uirements means that the system supports Window%erver >33# and compliance with v>.3 means that the system supports Windows>333 %erver.

In addition to the Windows 5ogo 0rogram re"uirements all DDC computerresources must meet the following re"uirementsG

It is re*uiredthat the computer resource has a 233Mbit or faster 4thernet

local area networ! ;5(,< port. It is recommendedthat the 4thernet port be2 Hbit and recommendedthat the computer resource has at least two 4thernetports.

It is re*uired that the networ! interface card ;,IC< miniport driver either

support I444 /3>.2 ?5(, tagging as specified by the Windows DD7 or allow/3>.2 tagged pac!ets to pass through unaltered. It is recommendedthat the,IC miniport driver support I444 /3>.2 ?5(, tagging as specified by theWindows DD7.

It is re*uiredthat the computer resource supports 084 version >.3 or >.2.

It is recommendedthat it support 084 version >.2.

It is recommended that the computer resource supports an authenticated

identity.

It is recommended that the computer resource contains a BMC.

It is recommended that the computer resource be housed in a chassis

;relevant to blade computers


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highly susceptible to human error. DDC software will use the (uthenticated Identityand networ! resource manager to maintain a secure data center networ!ingenvironment with minimal operational overhead.

If authenticated identify is implemented the main board must be enhanced with anisolated cryptographic processor and a storage area that is separate from the corecentral processing unit ;C0933# Microsoft Corporation. (ll rights reserved.


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;(C0I< discovery peripheral component interconnect ;0CI< basic input@outputsystem ;BI6%< discovery or 0lug and 0lay ;0,0< discovery.

Baseboard 1anagement Controller

The BMC is a recommendede$tension that allows the DDC software to remotelycontrol computers even if the installed operating system is unresponsive or the

computer is turned off.

If the BMC is implemented it is re*uiredthat the implementation supports all of thefollowing itemsG

( DDC provider must be available that can gain access to the BMC during

any of its lifecycle phases ;before Windows is booted while Windows isrunning and after Windows is shut down


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These networ! resources ;unli!e 4thernet switches and the core 4thernet topology33# Microsoft Corporation. (ll rights reserved.
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alternatives. (s technology advances to overcome some of todays performanceand "ualityofservice ;o%< issues that are associated with building these 4thernet%(,s this fabric would provide considerable benefit to customers of a DDC.

"ile-Based +torage

-ilebased storage can be used within the DDC and can be easily created by using

basic resources within the DDC in two ways. Computers with highperformancedirectly attached storage can be provisioned with Windows %erver and convertedinto file servers. (lternatively even a computer with modest dis! resources can beprovisioned into a filebased store by binding it to storage on a %(,.

4thernet %witch and -abric 'e"uirements

.t&ernet +witc& 0e*uirements

(s discussed earlier the DDC specifies a devicespecific provider model for4thernet switches. This provider can be developed by the manufacturer andcertified by Microsoft to comply with DDC re"uirements.

The switches that are used in a DDC 4thernet fabric must meet a number of

specific re"uirementsG

1anaged switc&es It is re*uiredthat the DDC software be able to

manage the switch through a DDC provider. (n 4thernet switch is fullymanageable because it can emit information and accept controlling commands.

(mong the fully documented controlling commands that an 4thernet switch canaccept over a secured networ! connection must be those for setting up andtearing down the re"uired features and protocols that are described in thissection such as ?5(, 'emote (uthentication DialIn 9ser %ervice ;'(DI9%)+ ?5(,s. ( ?5(,allows multiple logical ;virtual< 4thernet 5(,s to be created over one singlephysical 4thernet. ?5(,s are used to generate logical networ! topologies andto create isolation between different applications that the DDC hosts.



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Aut&enticated identity support This is a recommendedset of features

for switches that when combined with the authenticated identity on thecomputer enables the DDC to support an authenticated boot process. Ifimplemented the following features are re*uired.

/42> port aut&entication This standard specifies a way to achieve

portbased networ! access control on an 4thernet 5(,.I444 /3>.2$ is

used within the DDC to prevent unauthoriEed computers from gainingaccess to the networ! fabric.

?uest ;=AN mode Huest ?5(, is a switch configuration that isolates

nonauthenticated computers that are on a dedicated ?5(,. (fter acomputer is authenticated access restrictions are lifted from that port.

+ource port filtering This filtering isolates D*C0 and 084 traffic so

that a booting computer receives traffic only from a designated port. Thismitigates rogue 084 servers.

0AD5@+ support 4thernet switches that implement I444 /3>.2$ can

use the '(DI9% protocol to pass authentication and authoriEationinformation to an authenticator. The '(DI9% protocol is based on aclient@server model and is described in I4T- '-C >2#/. 4thernet switches

operate as a client of '(DI9%.

"abric 0e*uirements

.t&ernet "abric

Huidelines for the DDC prescribe specific networ! fabric topology re"uirements.This enables the DDC to create a much more fle$ible and highly available sharedpool of computing resources. ,ot all of these guidelines are mandatory. Theguidelines and re"uirements for the 4thernet fabric includeG

;=ANs The 4thernet fabric is re*uiredto support ?5(,s that are based

on the I444 /3>.2 standard. ?5(,s are used within the DDC for generatinglogical networ! topologies.

44-1bps and -?bps connectivity The 4thernet fabric is re*uiredto

provide connection speeds of at least 233 Mbps. Connectivity may also beprovided by using gigabit networ!s.

0edundancy It is recommendedthat the 4thernet fabric be built from two

redundant networ!s. In this configuration every hardware resource in the DDCis wired to both networ!s. ,etwor! redundancy is necessary to achieve highavailability in the 4thernet fabric.

Nonbloc#ing It is recommendedthat the 4thernet fabric be nonbloc!ing.

( nonbloc!ing fabric is one in which the total switching capacity of the fabrice"uals the sum of the ingress@egress bandwidth of all the fabric ports. (nonbloc!ing fabric ensures that traffic is never bogged down in congested lin!s

and reduces the ris! of denialofservice attac!s. +trict tree topology It is re*uiredthat lowerlevel nodes in the topology

connect only to a higherlevel single switch in a nonredundant networ! or toonly two higherlevel switches ;a primary and secondary< in a redundantnetwor!.

"lattest switc& tree topology It is re*uiredthat the fabric switch

hierarchy be as flat as possible with the chosen switches.



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The following figure shows a simplified representation of the topology of a DDC.

opology for t&e DDC .t&ernet "abric

Windows 5ogo Considerations for Computer'esources

(ll computer resources and all of their operating systemcontrolled hardware in aDynamic Data Center must comply with Windows Logo Program System andDevice e!uirements' "ersion #$%and must be listed on the Windows *ardwareCompatibility 5ist;*C5.2 logo re"uirements means that the system can support Window%erver >33#.

6ptionally computer resources and all of their operating systemcontrolledhardware may comply with Windows Logo Program System and Devicee!uirements' "ersion #$&( and be listed on the Windows *ardware Compatibility5ist;*C5< as such. Complying with ?>.3 logo re"uirements means that the systemcan support Windows >333 %erver.

Call to (ction and 'esourcesCall to Action

-or everyoneG

'ead and submit "uestions on the concepts in this white paper.

Download and use the current version of (utomated Deployment

%ervices ;(D%< to rapidly deploy operating systems to servers.

-or system manufacturersG

'ead and submit "uestions on the blade authentication section as well

as other re"uirements for computer networ! and storage systems.

-or firmware engineersG

http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/downloads.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/http://www.microsoft.com/hwdq/hcl/


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Implement 084 >.2.

-or device manufacturers and driver developersG

'ead and submit "uestions on the DDC provider model section. Wor!

with Microsoft to develop and refine the provider model for your devices.

-or "uestions about this paper please send email to msddcLmicrosoft.com.

0esources

Designed for 1icrosoft Windows >P Application +pecificationhttpG@@www.microsoft.com@winlogo@software@windows$psw.msp$

1icrosoft :ardware and Driver Developer 5nformationhttpG@@www.microsoft.com@hwdev@

1icrosoft Platform +oftware Development it 6+D7httpG@@msdn.microsoft.com@downloads@

1icrosoft Windows Driver Development it 6DD7httpG@@www.microsoft.com@dd!@

1icrosoft Windows =ogo Program +ystem and Device 0e*uirements8;ersion 2a

httpG@@www.microsoft.com@winlogo@hardware@ default.msp$

Windows >P Application Compatibility ool#ithttpG@@msdn.microsoft.com@compatibility@

1icrosoft Windows >P :ardware Compatibility est it8 ;ersion 2httpG@@www.microsoft.com@hwtest@

A >33# Microsoft Corporation (ll rights reserved
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/software/windowsxp-sw.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/http://www.microsoft.com/ddk/http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/default.mspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/compatibility/http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/mailto:[email protected]://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/software/windowsxp-sw.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/http://www.microsoft.com/ddk/http://www.microsoft.com/winlogo/hardware/default.mspxhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/compatibility/http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/

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