Dell EMC VxBlock and Vblock Systems 350 Architecture Overview · VxBlock™ and Vblock® Systems 350 Architecture Overview ... the high-level design of the Converged ... software

Dell EMCVxBlock™ and Vblock® Systems 350Architecture Overview

Document revision 1.10June 2018

Revision history

Date Document revision Description of changes

June 2018 1.10 Updated the topic Storage features support to include Data Reduction.

April 2018 1.9 Removed vCHA.

December 2017 1.8 Added Cisco UCS B-Series M5 server information.

September 2017 1.7 Added support for Dell EMC All-Flash 350F, 450F, 550F, and 650F storagearrays on the VxBlock System 350.

August 2017 1.6 Added support for vSphere 6.5 throughout the document.Base configurations - added information about maximum server values.

March 2017 1.5 Added support for Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch

February 2017 1.4 Changes for Cisco Falcon software

December 2016 1.3 Minor updates

October 2016 1.2 Released for general availability.

August 2016 1.1 Added VxBlock System 350 sample configurations

May 2016 1.0 Initial version

Revision history | 2

ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................5

System overview.........................................................................................................................................6System architecture and components.................................................................................................... 6Base configurations................................................................................................................................7

Converged System configurations...................................................................................................9Scaling up compute resources.......................................................................................................10Scaling up storage resources.........................................................................................................11

Network topology..................................................................................................................................13

Compute layer...........................................................................................................................................17Compute overview ...............................................................................................................................17Cisco UCS ...........................................................................................................................................17Compute connectivity........................................................................................................................... 17Cisco Trusted Platform Module............................................................................................................ 18Cisco UCS fabric interconnects............................................................................................................18Disjoint layer 2 configuration................................................................................................................ 18Bare metal support policy.....................................................................................................................19

Storage layer............................................................................................................................................. 21Storage overview..................................................................................................................................21Hybrid and All-Flash components........................................................................................................ 22Remote replication............................................................................................................................... 23Storage features support......................................................................................................................24

Hardware features......................................................................................................................... 25Software licensing..........................................................................................................................27

Network layer............................................................................................................................................ 28LAN layer..............................................................................................................................................28

Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch - management networking...............................................................28Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch - segregated networking.......29

SAN layer............................................................................................................................................. 30Connectivity................................................................................................................................... 31Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch...................................................................................31Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch and Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director..........32

Virtualization layer....................................................................................................................................34Virtualization overview..........................................................................................................................34VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi.......................................................................................................34VMware vCenter Server (vSphere 6.0)................................................................................................ 36VMware vCenter Server (vSphere 6.5)................................................................................................ 37

Management..............................................................................................................................................40Management components overview.....................................................................................................40Management hardware components....................................................................................................40Management software components (vSphere 6.0).............................................................................. 41Management software components (vSphere 6.5).............................................................................. 42

3 | Contents

Management network connectivity....................................................................................................... 43

Sample configurations............................................................................................................................. 52

Virtualization components.......................................................................................................................54

Compute components..............................................................................................................................55

Network components............................................................................................................................... 56

Storage components................................................................................................................................ 57

Contents | 4

IntroductionThis document describes the high-level design of the Converged System and compute, network, DellEMC Unity Hybrid and All-Flash storage array models, virtualization, and management components. DellEMC Unity Hybrid and Dell EMC Unity All-Flash storage arrays provide a scalable hardware design andadvanced software capabilities using flash drives and spinning disks.

In this document, the VxBlock System and Vblock System are referred to as Converged Systems.

Refer to the Glossary for a description of terms specific to Converged Systems.

5 | Introduction

https://cpsdocs.dellemc.com/bundle/S_XACT_UG/page/GUID-7EA8F2D3-FAB1-4A30-A383-D3AC413394D7.html

System overview

System architecture and componentsConverged Systems are modular platforms with defined scale points meeting the higher performance andavailability requirements of business-critical applications.

Architecture

SAN storage mediums are used for deployments involving large numbers of VMs and users and providethe following features:

• Multi-controller, scale-out architecture with consolidation and efficiency for the enterprise.

• Scaling of resources through common and fully redundant building blocks.

Local boot disks are optional and available only for bare metal blades.

Components

Converged Systems contain the following key hardware and software components:

Resource Components

Converged Systemmanagement

• Vision Intelligent Operations System Library

• Vision Intelligent Operations Plug-in for vCenter

• Vision Intelligent Operations Compliance Checker

• Vision Intelligent Operations API for System Library

• Vision Intelligent Operations API for Compliance Checker

Virtualization andmanagement

• VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus

• VMware vSphere ESXi

• VMware vCenter Server

• VMware vSphere Web Client

• VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service

• VMware vSphere Platform Service Controllers

• Cisco UCS C220 Servers for AMP-2

• PowerPath/VE

• Cisco UCS Manager

• Secure Remote Services (ESRS)

• PowerPath Management Appliance

• Cisco Data Center Network Manager for SAN

Compute • Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis

• Cisco UCS B-Series M4 or M5 Blade Servers with one of the following:— Cisco UCS VIC 1340, with optional port expander— Cisco UCS VIC 1380

• Cisco UCS C-Series M5 Rack Servers with:— Cisco UCS VIC 1385

System overview | 6

Resource Components

— Cisco UCS VIC 1387

• Cisco UCS 2204XP Fabric Extenders or Cisco UCS 2208XP Fabric Extenders

• Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects or Cisco UCS 6296UP FabricInterconnects

Network • Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switches or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switches

• Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch, Cisco MDS 9396S 16G MultilayerFabric Switch, or Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director

• Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch

• Optional Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches

• Optional VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) for VxBlock Systems only

• Optional VMware NSX Virtual Networking for VxBlock Systems only

Storage array Dell EMC Unity Hybrid

• Dell EMC Unity 300



• Dell EMC Unity 600Dell EMC Unity All-Flash (F)

• Dell EMC Unity 300F








Base configurationsThe base configuration contains the minimum set of compute and storage components, as well as fixednetwork resources for a Converged System.

These components are integrated within one or more 28-inch 42 RU cabinets.

Within the base configuration, customize the following hardware aspects:

Hardware How it can be customized

Compute • Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series M4 or M5 Blade Servers

• Minimum of four Cisco UCS blade servers

• Maximum of 256 Cisco UCS blade servers (The maximum server value isbased on storage array front-end connectivity support and physical chassisslots.)

• Minimum of 2 Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis

Edge servers (with optionalVMware NSX)

Four to six Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers or Cisco UCS C-Series BladeServers, including the B2x0 M4 or B2x0 M5 with VIC 1340, VIC 1380, VIC1385, or VIC 1387.

7 | System overview

Hardware How it can be customized

Network • One pair of Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Switches, or one pair of CiscoMDS 9396S Multilayer Fabric Switch, or one pair of Cisco MDS 9706Multilayer Directors

• One pair of Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switches or one pair of Cisco9396PX Switches

• One pair of Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switches

Storage • Dell EMC Unity 300 - up to 150 drives

• Dell EMC Unity 400 - up to 250 drives

• Dell EMC Unity 500 - up to 500 drive

• Dell EMC Unity 600 - up to 1000 drives

• Dell EMC Unity 300F - up to 150 drives



• Dell EMC Unity 600F - up to 1,000 drives




• Dell EMC Unity 650F - up to 1,000 drives

Management hardware options AMP-2 is available in multiple configurations that use their own resources to runworkloads without consuming resources on the Converged System.

Depending upon the configuration, the following maximums apply:

Component Maximum configurations

Cisco UCS 62xxUP FabricInterconnects

The maximum number of Cisco B-Series Blade Server Chassis with 4 Cisco UCSdomains is:

• 32 for Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects

• 64 for Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric InterconnectsMaximum blades are as follows:

• Half-width = 256

• Full-width = 256

• Double-height = 128 (The maximum server value is based on storage arrayfront-end connectivity support and physical chassis slots.)

Together, the components offer balanced CPU, I/O bandwidth, and storage capacity relative to thecompute and storage arrays in the Converged System. All components have N+N or N+1 redundancy.

Related information

Storage layer (see page 21)

Scaling up compute resources (see page 10)

System overview | 8

Converged System configurations

The initial size of the Converged System is determined by the total number of supported servers acrossall Cisco UCS domains.

The number of servers determines the minimum number of 16 Gb FC ports on the Dell EMC Unity Hybridor Dell EMC Unity All-Flash storage array. The options for FC connectivity on the storage array arethrough the integrated converged network adapter (CNA) ports or the addition of FC I/O modules.

Each Dell EMC configuration for Dell EMC Unity Hybrid and All-Flash storage arrays depends on thenumber of FC ports on each SP.

The following table describes the Dell EMC size configurations that support the Dell EMC Unity storagearray:

Dell EMC configuration Total servers Number of FC ports per SP

Extra small 32 2 (CNA ports only)

Small 64 4 (one 16 Gb FC SLIC)

Medium 128* 6 (CNA and one 16 Gb FC SLIC)

Large 192* 8 (two 16 Gb FC SLICs)

Extra large 256* 10 (CNA and two 16 Gb FC SLICs)

*The Dell EMC Unity 300, 300F, and 350F storage arrays support up to 128 hosts due to initiator recordlimitations.

The large and extra-large configurations consume both I/O module slots that prevents use of the backendbus expansion module (4 port, 12 Gb SAS). The extra-large configuration consumes both I/O moduleslots and the CNA ports. This eliminates use of NAS file services without the use of the integrated 10GbE-BaseT ports (RJ45). These ports do not integrate into Converged Systems without modifications tonetwork hardware that would require an impact assessment.

Only the Dell EMC Unity 500(F), 550F, 600(F), and 650F storage arrays allow bus expansion.

The maximum number of supported Cisco UCS domains is based on the array connectivity configuration.Each domain consists of two Cisco UCS 62xxUP fabric interconnects.

The following table provides the maximums for each Dell EMC configuration:

Dell EMCconfiguration

Domains Chassis Blades

Half-width Full-width Double-height

Extra small* 1 16 32 32 32

Small 2 32 64 64 64

Medium 3 48 128 128 96

Large 4 64 192 192 128

Extra large 4 64 256 256 128

* Does not support the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects.

9 | System overview

The storage layer section of this document contains a description of CNA ports and FC options.

Scaling up compute resources

Compute resources can be scaled to meet increasingly stringent requirements. The maximum supportedconfiguration differs based on core components.

Add uplinks, blade packs, and chassis activation kits to enhance Ethernet and FC bandwidth when theConverged Systems are built or deployed.

Ethernet and FC I/O bandwidth enhancement

For small, medium, large, and extra-large configurations, the Ethernet I/O bandwidth enhancementincreases the number of Ethernet uplinks from eight to 16 from the Cisco UCS 6296UP FabricInterconnects to the network layer. This helps to reduce over-subscription.

FC I/O bandwidth enhancement increases the number of FC links from four to eight or 16 between theCisco UCS 62xxUP fabric interconnects and the SAN switch.

Blade packs

Cisco UCS blades are sold in packs of two and include two identical Cisco UCS blades. The baseconfiguration of each Converged System includes two blade packs. The maximum number of blade packsdepends on the type of Converged System. Each blade type must have a minimum of two blade packs asa base configuration and can be increased in single blade pack increments.

Each blade pack includes the following license packs:

• VMware vSphere ESXi

• Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches (Cisco Nexus 1000V Advanced Edition only)

• PowerPath/VE

License packs for VMware vSphere ESXi, Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches, andPowerPath are not available for bare metal blades.

Chassis activation kits

Power supplies and fabric extenders for all chassis are populated and cabled. All required twinax cablesand transceivers are populated.

As more blades are added and additional chassis are required, chassis activation kits are automaticallyadded to an order. Each kit contains software licenses to enable additional fabric interconnect ports.

Only enough port licenses for the minimum number of chassis to contain the blades are ordered. Chassisactivation kits can be added up-front to allow for flexibility in the field or to initially spread the bladesacross a larger number of chassis.

Related information

Base configurations (see page 7)

System overview | 10

Scaling up storage resources

To scale up storage resources, add block I/O bandwidth, RAID packs, and DAE packs between thecompute and storage resources. I/O bandwidth and RAID packs can be added when the ConvergedSystem is built and after it is deployed.

I/O bandwidth expansion

You can increase FC bandwidth in the Converged System with all Dell EMC Unity storage arrays. An I/Obandwidth expansion adds an additional four 8 Gb FC interfaces per fabric between the fabricinterconnects and the Cisco MDS switches. Refer to the appropriate RCM for a list of what is supportedon your Converged System.

This option is available for environments that require high bandwidth, block-only configurations. Thisconfiguration may require additional 16 Gb FC ports through the addition of an I/O module to eachstorage processor (SP).

Important: The CNA port personality (FC or Ethernet) is established during array initialization. Changingthe personality from Ethernet to FC would require the array to be initialized, effectivelyremoving all data from the array.

.

RAID packs in Dell EMC Unity Hybrid

Storage capacity can be increased by adding RAID packs. Each pack contains a number of drives of agiven type, speed, and capacity. The number of drives in a pack depends upon the RAID level that itsupports.

The number and types of RAID packs to include in the Converged System are based upon the following:

• The number of storage pools that are needed.

• The storage tiers that each pool contains, and the speed and capacity of the drives in each tier.

The following table lists tiers, supported drive types, and supported speeds and capacities.

The speed and capacity of all drives within a given tier in a given pool must be the same.

Tier Drive type Supported speeds and capacities

1Extremeperformance

Serial attached SCSI (SAS) All Flash 2 - 10writes per day

200 GB EFD400 GB EFD800 GB EFD1.6 TB EFD

SAS All Flash 3 - 3 writes per day(All-Flash array or all-flash pool only)

400 GB EFD800 GB EFD1.6 TB EFD3.2 TB EFD

SAS All Flash 4 - 1 write per day(All-Flash array or all-flash pool only)

3.84 TB TLC SSD7.68 TB TLC SSD15.36 TB TLC SSD

11 | System overview

Tier Drive type Supported speeds and capacities

2Performance

SAS 600 GB 10K RPM1.2 TB 10K RPM1.8 TB 10K RPM600 GB 15K RPM

3Capacity

Nearline SAS 2 TB 7.2K RPM4 TB 7.2K RPM6 TB 7.2K RPM

The following table describes each supported RAID protection level and Dell EMC best practice. TheRAID protection level for the different pools can vary.

RAIDprotectionlevel

Description

RAID 1/0 • A set of mirrored drives.

• Offers the best overall performance of the three supported RAID protection levels.

• Offers robust protection. Can sustain double-drive failures that are not in the same mirror set.

• Lowest economy of the three supported RAID levels since usable capacity is only 50% of rawcapacity.

RAID 5 • Block-level striping with a single parity block, where the parity data is distributed across all of thedrives in the set.

• Offers the best mix of performance, protection, and economy.

• Has a higher write performance penalty than RAID 1/0 because multiple I/Os are required toperform a single write.

• With single parity, can sustain a single drive failure with no data loss. Vulnerable to data loss orunrecoverable read errors on a track during a drive rebuild.

• Highest economy of the three supported RAID levels. Usable capacity is 80% of raw capacity orbetter.

• Dell EMC best practice for extreme performance and performance tiers.

RAID 6 • Block-level striping with two parity blocks, distributed across all of the drives in the set.

• Offers increased protection and read performance comparable to RAID 5.

• Has a significant write performance penalty because multiple I/Os are required to perform asingle write.

• Economy is very good. Usable capacity is 75% of raw capacity or better.

• Dell EMC best practice for capacity tier.

There are RAID packs for each RAID protection level/tier type combination. The RAID levels dictate thenumber of drives that are included in the packs. RAID 5 or RAID 1/0 is for performance and extremeperformance tiers and RAID 6 is for the capacity tier.

The following table lists RAID protection levels and the number of drives in the pack for each level:

RAID protection level Number of drives per RAID pack

RAID 1/0 8 (4 data + 4 mirrors)

RAID 5 5 (4 data + 1 parity)


RAID protection level Number of drives per RAID pack

RAID 6 6 (4 data + 2 parity), 8 (6 data + 2 parity)

DAE packs in Dell EMC Unity Hybrid

If the number of RAID packs in Converged Systems is expanded, more DAEs might be required. DAEsare added in packs. The number of DAEs in each pack is equivalent to the number of back-end buses inthe storage array in the Converged System. If an 80-drive DAE is configured in the system, balancebuses as evenly as possible.

The following table lists the number of buses in the array and the number of DAEs in the pack for eachConverged System with the Dell EMC Unity Hybrid:

Converged System Number of buses in the array Number of DAEs per pack

Dell EMC Unity 300 2 2

Dell EMC Unity 400 2 2

Dell EMC Unity 500 2 or 6 2 or 6

Dell EMC Unity 600 2 or 6 2 or 6

There are three types of DAEs:

• 2 RU 25 slot DAE for 2.5-inch disks



A DAE pack can contain a mix of DAE sizes if the total DAEs in the pack equals the number of buses. Toensure the loads are balanced, the physical disks are spread across the DAEs in accordance with bestpractice guidelines.

When adding the 80 slot DAE, limited configurations are available due to slot maximums ineach system.

Capacity in Dell EMC Unity All-Flash

Storage capacity in the Dell EMC Unity All-Flash arrays is not based on flash packs and can be increasedby adding specific drive counts and types or a desired capacity. Dynamic Pools remove the necessity ofhot spares and traditional RAID drive counts, by spreading spare space across the pool.

Network topologyIn segregated network architecture, LAN and SAN connectivity is segregated into separate switch fabrics.

10 Gb connectivity

LAN switching uses the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX or Cisco Nexus 9396PX. SAN switching uses theCisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch, Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch, or CiscoMDS 9706 Multilayer Director.


The compute layer connects to both the Ethernet and FC components of the network layer. Cisco UCSfabric interconnects connect to the Cisco Nexus switches in the Ethernet network through port channels,based on 10 GbE links, and to the Cisco MDS switches through port channels made up of multiple 8 GbFC links.

The storage layer consists of an Dell EMC Unity Hybrid or Dell EMC Unity All-Flash storage array. Thefront-end IO ports connect to the Cisco MDS switches within the network layer over 16 Gb FC links and tothe Cisco Nexus switches over 10GbE port channels.

Segregated network architecture

The storage layer consists of a Dell EMC Unity storage array.

The front-end IO modules connect to the Cisco MDS switches within the network layer over 16 Gb FClinks. Refer to the appropriate Dell EMC Release Certification Matrix for a list of what is supported on yourConverged System.


The following illustration shows a segregated block storage configuration for the 10 Gb based ConvergedSystem:

The transceiver choices are 1 GbE, 10 GbE, copper or optical, SW or LW.

Unified storage

Unified storage contains Cisco MDS switches and Cisco Nexus switches to provide switching and routingbetween the compute and storage layers within a Converged System, and between the ConvergedSystem and the external network.


The following illustration shows a unified storage configuration:

SAN boot storage configuration

VMware vSphere ESXi hosts always boot over the FC SAN from a 10 GB boot LUN (VMware vSphere6.0) which contains the hypervisor's locker for persistent storage of logs and other diagnostic files. Theremainder of the storage can be presented as VMFS data stores or as raw device mappings.

VMware vSphere ESXi hosts always boot over the FC SAN from a 15 GB boot LUN (VMware vSphere6.5), which contains the hypervisor's locker for persistent storage of logs and other diagnostic files. Theremainder of the storage can be presented as VMFS data stores or as raw device mappings.


Compute layer

Compute overviewCisco UCS B- and C-Series Blade Servers installed in the Cisco UCS server chassis provide computingpower within Converged Systems.

Fabric extenders (FEX) within the Cisco UCS server chassis connect to fabric interconnects (FIs) overconverged Ethernet. Up to eight 10 GbE ports on each FEX connect northbound to the FIs regardless ofthe number of blades in the server chassis. These connections carry IP and FC traffic.

Dell EMC has reserved some of the FI ports to connect to upstream access switches within theConverged System. These connections are formed into a port channel to the Cisco Nexus switches, andcarry IP traffic destined for the external network links. In a unified storage configuration, this port channelcan also carry NAS traffic to the NAS servers within the storage layer.

Each FI also has multiple ports reserved by Dell EMC for FC ports. These ports connect to Cisco SANswitches. These connections carry FC traffic between the compute layer and the storage layer. SAN portchannels carrying FC traffic are configured between the FIs and upstream Cisco MDS switches.

Cisco UCSThe Cisco UCS data center platform unites compute, network, and storage access. Optimized forvirtualization, the Cisco UCS integrates a low-latency, lossless 10 Gb/s Ethernet unified network fabricwith enterprise-class, x86-based Cisco UCS B-Series Servers.

Converged Systems contain a number of Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis. Each chassis can contain upto eight half-width Cisco UCS B- and C-Series M4 and M5 Blade Servers, four full-width, or two double-height blades. The full-width, double-height blades must be installed at the bottom of the chassis.

Converged Systems powered by Cisco UCS offer the following features:

• Built-in redundancy for high availability

• Hot-swappable components for serviceability, upgrade, or expansion

• Fewer physical components than in a comparable system built piece by piece

• Reduced cabling

• Improved energy efficiency over traditional blade server chassis

Compute connectivityCisco UCS B- and C-Series Blades installed in the Cisco UCS chassis provide computing power in aConverged System.

Fabric extenders (FEX) in the Cisco UCS chassis connect to Cisco fabric interconnects (FIs) overconverged Ethernet. Up to eight 10 GbE ports on each Cisco UCS fabric extender connect northbound tothe fabric interconnects, regardless of the number of blades in the chassis. These connections carry IPand storage traffic.

17 | Compute layer

Cisco Trusted Platform ModuleCisco Trusted Platform Module (TPM) provides authentication and attestation services that provide safercomputing in all environments.

Cisco TPM is a computer chip that securely stores artifacts such as passwords, certificates, or encryptionkeys that are used to authenticate remote and local server sessions. Cisco TPM is available by default asa component in the Cisco UCS B- and C-Series blade servers, and is shipped disabled.

Only the Cisco TPM hardware is supported, Cisco TPM functionality is not supported. Because makingeffective use of the Cisco TPM involves the use of a software stack from a vendor with significantexperience in trusted computing, defer to the software stack vendor for configuration and operationalconsiderations relating to the Cisco TPM.

Related information

www.cisco.com

Cisco UCS fabric interconnectsCisco UCS fabric interconnects provide network connectivity and management capability to the CiscoUCS blades and chassis.

VMware NSX

This VMware NSX feature uses Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects to accommodate the requiredport count for VMware NSX external connectivity (edges).

Disjoint Layer 2 configurationTraffic is split between two or more different networks at the fabric interconnect in a Disjoint Layer 2configuration to support two or more discrete Ethernet clouds.

Cisco UCS servers connect to two different clouds. Upstream Disjoint Layer 2 networks allow two or moreEthernet clouds that never connect to be accessed by VMs located in the same Cisco UCS domain.

The following illustration provides an example implementation of Disjoint Layer 2 networking into a CiscoUCS domain:

Compute layer | 18

http://www.cisco.com

vPCs 101 and 102 are production uplinks that connect to the network layer of the Converged System.vPCs 105 and 106 are external uplinks that connect to other switches.

If using Ethernet performance port channels (103 and 104, by default), port channels 101 through 104 areassigned to the same VLANs.

Disjoint Layer 2 network connectivity can also be configured with an individual uplink on each fabricinterconnect.

Bare metal support policySince many applications cannot be virtualized due to technical and commercial reasons, ConvergedSystems support bare metal deployments, such as non-virtualized operating systems and applications.

19 | Compute layer

While it is possible for Converged Systems to support these workloads (with the following caveats), due tothe nature of bare metal deployments, Dell EMC can only provide reasonable effort support for systemsthat comply with the following requirements:

• Converged Systems contain only Dell EMC published, tested, and validated hardware andsoftware components. The Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions ofcomponents for Converged Systems.

• The operating systems used on bare metal deployments for compute components must complywith the published hardware and software compatibility guides from Cisco and Dell EMC.

• For bare metal configurations that include other hypervisor technologies (Hyper-V, KVM, etc.)those hypervisor technologies are not supported by Dell EMC. Dell EMC support is provided onlyon VMware Hypervisors.

Dell EMC reasonable effort support includes Dell EMC acceptance of customer calls, a determination ofwhether a Converged System is operating correctly, and assistance in problem resolution to the extentpossible.

Dell EMC is unable to reproduce problems or provide support on the operating systems and applicationsinstalled on bare metal deployments. In addition, Dell EMC does not provide updates to or test thoseoperating systems or applications. The OEM support vendor should be contacted directly for issues andpatches related to those operating systems and applications.

Compute layer | 20

Storage layer

Storage overviewDell EMC Unity Hybrid and Dell EMC Unity All-Flash storage arrays provide a scalable hardware designand advanced software capabilities using flash drives and spinning disks.

The following Dell EMC Unity Hybrid and All-Flash storage array models are available:

Dell EMC Unity Hybrid Dell EMC Unity All-Flash

300 300F and 350F

400 400F and 450F

500 500F and 550F

600 600F and 650F

Dell EMC Unity storage arrays support midrange storage solutions that include transactional workloadssuch as databases, virtualized servers, and multiple workload consolidation. Dell EMC Unity is a unifiedsolution that supports block and file environments with the flexibility to configure a system, capacitypoints, and data protection options.

The Dell EMC Unity 300 to 600 and 300F to 600F storage arrays share the same system hardware, butthe all-flash storage arrays contain only flash drives. The Dell EMC Unity 350F to 650F storage arrayshave updated system hardware and contain only flash drives. The following table lists the processors andmemory per storage processor:

Storage array Processor (per SP) Memory (per SP)

300 and 300F Intel E5-2603v36-core, 1.6GHz

24GB (3x 8GB or 16GB) @ 1600MHz


48GB (3x 16GB) @ 1600MHz


64GB (4x 16GB) @ 1866MHz


128GB (4x 32GB) @ 1866MHz

350F Intel E5-2603v46-core, 1.7GHz

48GB (3x 16GB) @ 1866MHz


64GB (4x 16GB) @ 2133MHz


128GB (4x 32GB) @ 2400MHz


256GB (4x 64GB) @ 2400MHz

Dell EMC Unity storage arrays support integrated block and file storage and are optimized for VMwarevirtualized applications. They feature flash drives for extendable cache in the virtual storage pools.

21 | Storage layer

Automation features include self-optimized storage tiering and application-centric replication. Dell EMCUnity All-Flash supports high density solid-state disks (SSDs) including 3D NAND triple level cell (TLC)drives.

Regardless of the storage protocol implemented, Converged Systems can include cabinet space, cabling,and power to support the hardware. Dell EMC Unity storage processors include software storagecontrollers that eliminate the need for separate hardware to perform file sharing and facilitate moving fromblock storage to unified storage avoiding hardware changes.

Hybrid and All-Flash componentsThe Dell EMC Unity Hybrid and Dell EMC Unity All-Flash storage arrays contain the disk processorenclosure (DPE) that house the redundant storage processors (SPs).

The DPE provides slots for two SPs and integrated drive slots for 25 2.5-inch drives or 12 3.5-inch drives.

Each SP contains the following components:

• Single socket CPU

• Three to four DDR5 DIMM slots, depending on the model

• Internal battery backup unit (BBU)

• Two integrated 10 GbE BaseT ports (RJ45)

• Two integrated converged network adapter (CNA) ports (SFP+ or twinax)

— 10 GbE optical

— 16 Gb FC

• Two integrated 12 Gb SAS ports for DAE connections

• Two slots for additional I/O modules (SLICs)

— Four port 12 Gb SAS (bus expansion)

— Four port 16 Gb FC

— Four port Ethernet 10 GbE optical

— Two port Ethernet 10 GbE Optical (full iSCSI offload)

The integrated Ethernet ports and the Ethernet I/O modules supply Network Attached Storage (NAS) toassociated hosts for file system access. The SPs run virtual NAS servers for file sharing.

The VxBlock System 350 uses the 10GbE optical option for NAS usage.

DAEs contain individual disk drives and are available in the following configurations:

• 2 RU model that can house 25 2.5-inch disks

• 3 RU model that can house 15 3.5-inch disks (hybrid models only)

Storage layer | 22

• 3 RU model that can house 80 2.5-inch disks

Differences between Dell EMC Unity models

The following table provides the specifications among the Dell EMC Unity storage arrays:

Component 300300F

350F 400400F

450F 500500F

550F 600600F

650F

Processor per SP 6 core,1.6 GHz

6 core,1.7 GHz

8 core,2.4 GHz

10 core,2.2 GHz

10 core,2.6 GHz

14 core,2.0 GHz

12 core,2.5 GHz

14 core,2.4 GHz

Memory(GB per storage array)

48 48 96 64 128 128 256 256

Maximum drive count 150 150 250 250 500 500 1000 1000

Maximum FAST cache(HFA only )

800 GB - 1.2 TB - 3.2 TB - 6 TB -

Bus expansion(x4 lane configuration)

NA NA NA NA 4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

Bus expansion(x8 lane configuration)

NA NA NA NA 4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

4 port,12 Gb/sSAS

LUNs 1000 1000 1500 1500 2000 2000 6000 6000

Pool LUN size (TB) 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256

File systems 500 1000 750 1500 1000 2000 1500 4000

File system size (TB) 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256

Pools 20 20 30 30 40 40 100 100

NAS servers 90 90 90 128 128 128 128 256

Remote replicationDell EMC Unity Hybrid and All-Flash storage arrays provide native support for both synchronous andasynchronous remote replication and support for RecoverPoint to provide remote replication.

For block storage configurations, Converged Systems can be upgraded to include RecoverPoint thatprovides continuous data protection and continuous remote replication for on-demand protection andrecovery to any point-in-time. RecoverPoint advanced capabilities include policy-based management,application integration, and bandwidth reduction. RecoverPoint is included in the Dell EMC Unity All-FlashAll-Inclusive Base Software and the Dell EMC Unity Hybrid All-Inclusive Essentials Software packages.

Implementing Recoverpoint

To implement RecoverPoint within a Converged System, add two or more RecoverPoint Appliances(RPAs) in a cluster to the Converged System. This cluster can accommodate approximately 80 MBpssustained throughput through each RPA.

23 | Storage layer

To ensure proper sizing and performance of an RPA solution, Dell EMC works with a TechnicalConsultant. They collect information about the data to be replicated, as well as data change rates, datagrowth rates, network speeds, and other information that is needed to ensure that all businessrequirements are met.

Related information

Scaling up storage resources (see page 11)

Storage features supportThe operating environment for Dell EMC Unity hardware or capabilities provides support for storagefeatures.

Support for array hardware or capabilities

The following table lists the supported capabilities for Dell EMC Unity operating environments:

Capability Description

Virtual NAS Servers (multi-LDAP support) Provides security and segregation for service providerenvironmental clients.

Fully-automated storage tiering for virtualpools (FAST VP) only for Dell EMC UnityHybrid storage arrays

FAST VP places highly-accessed blocks of data on the faster tierin a pool. FAST VP is important in hybrid pools which contain datawith significant skew (usage and capacity).

Dell EMC Unity snapshots Dell EMC Unity snapshots are used for individual LUNs orconsistency groups. Dell EMC recommends including extremeperformance flash drives in pools where snapshots are active.

Quality of Service (QoS) QoS settings can be used to limit the amount of resources used bya particular application or host. These settings can prevent anapplication from impacting other applications running on the samearray.

Data At Rest Encryption (D@RE) D@RE is used by the storage processors to encrypt data prior towriting it to disk.

External NFS and CIFS access The following guidelines must be followed to present CIFS andNFS shares to external clients:

• Dedicated Ethernet ports are required for host access outsideof Converged Systems

• Shares cannot be mounted internally by Converged Systemhosts and externally to the Converged System at the sametime.

Remote replication Dell EMC Unity supports both synchronous and asynchronousreplication natively. Dell EMC also provides support forRecoverPoint Basic and RecoverPoint for VMs.

System health checks Allows you to determine the status of an array prior to any upgradeactivities. The health check code can be upgraded independentlyfrom the system code.

Storage layer | 24

Capability Description

Remote support Secure Remote Services (Virtual Edition) provides:

• Proactive creation of service requests

• Remote dial-in/dial-out connectivity

• Secure large file transfers

• Usage/license reporting

File system quotas Quotas allow regulation of storage consumption through soft andhard limits on user or tree structures.

CloudIQ Cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) to monitor and serviceDell EMC Unity systems. Inform the users about issues before theyoccur. Provide simple, guided remediation to expedite resolution.

Data-In-Place Conversions Data-In-Place (DIP) conversion is a procedure used to upgradestorage processors while leaving all data and configurations intact.

IP Multi-Tenancy Provides network isolation for file-based tenants. Each tenant hasits own network namespace. Enables multiple tenants to use thesame IP addresses.

Data Reduction Data Reduction combines compression and deduplication toreduce the amount of physical storage required to store datasets.

Local LUN Move On a single Dell EMC Unity system, native support to move LUNsbetween pools or within the same pool.

Native SAN Copy Import Import of block resources from a VNX1/VNX2 system to Dell EMCUnity GA can be achieved through SAN Copy.

Dell EMC Unity File Import VNX1/VNX2 systems have options for file migration to Dell EMCUnity. Native support for NFS File Import.

Hardware features

Dell EMC recommends the following best practices for Dell EMC Unity hardware.

DAEs/disks

• Two integrated 12 Gb SAS ports support 20 DAEs, up to 500 drives. Each port is capable ofhandling over 250,000 IOPS.

• Dell EMC Unity 600 has a maximum of 1,000 drives; an SAS bus expansion module is necessary.

• Balance DAEs across available SAS buses:

— Two Integrated SAS ports: order DAEs in multiples of two, including DPE as one.

— Bus expansion module: order DAEs in multiples of six, including DPE as one.

• Minimum five percent flash in every multi-tier pool

• Drives should only be separated into separate pools if a different performance model is required.

— For example, all VMware vSphere ESXi boot and data LUNs can reside in the same pool.

25 | Storage layer

— Drives for file access (NAS) can also be in the same pool, provided the I/O performancerequirements are the same.

— Fewer, larger pools will increase the overall performance of the array.

I/O modules

• Each array must have at least two 16 Gb FC ports (integrated CNA or I/O module)

• Add FC I/O modules to increase the scalability of hosts.

• The following I/O modules are supported:

— 12 Gb SAS backend (four port): increased bus capacity

— 16 Gb FC front end (four port): block access

— 10 GbE optical (four port): file access

Other modules do not easily integrate in Converged Systems and require an impact assessment.

FAST cache

• FAST cache is available in Dell EMC Unity Hybrid only.

• Dell EMC recommends placing available flash drives in disk pools prior to FAST cache to takeadvantage of flash for metadata acceleration, snapshots, and replication.

• Use FAST cache for pools that do not contain extreme performance tier drives.

FAST VP

• Use multi-tier pools where possible and when performance is required. Dell EMC recommends aminimum of five percent Extreme Performance (Flash) capacity.

• Create as few pools as possible to support the different I/O performance requirements. Onlycreate a separate pool when the I/O profile for an application differs significantly from the otherapplications. For example, an application with fairly static data may require a capacity tier-onlypool.

• All LUNs in the pool should be configured with tiering policy Start High then Auto-Tier unless thedata profile for the LUN requires highest available or lowest available.

• VMware vSphere ESXi boot and data LUNs should be allocated from the same pool.

Network Attached Storage

• Internal shares/exports are defined as data used by resources inside the Converged System aseither VMware vSphere ESXi datastores or as file system mounts for guest operating systems.

• External shares/exports are defined as data used by resources outside of the Converged System.

• Internal and external file systems can be provided by the same array as long as there aresufficient Ethernet ports available to provide separate LACP connections. Each LACP pair needsa connection to each LAN switch in the Converged System. Both SPs must have the same LACPconfigurations. For example, if the integrated CNA ports are configured for 10GbE, then Ethernet

Storage layer | 26

port four should connect to LAN switch A and port five should connect to LAN switch B. Both SPsshould be cabled the same. These two ports (Ethernet port four and five) should be used tocreate an LACP pair. This LACP pair can then be used by internal or external NAS servers, butnot both. An additional LACP pair must be created to allow both internal and external NASServers.

• For internal shares, create two different NAS servers, one hosted by SP-A and the other hostedby SP-B. Each server hosts different file systems. Balance the file systems across the NASservers. Additional NAS servers can be created as necessary for different VLANs, but always inpairs for balance across the SPs.

• For external shares create two different NAS servers, one hosted by SP-A and the other hostedby SP-B. Balance the file systems across the external NAS servers. Additional NAS servers canbe created as necessary, but always in pairs for balance.

Software licensing

Dell EMC recommends the following best practices for Dell EMC Unity software.

• Dell EMC Unity All-Flash requires the All-Inclusive Base software license.

• Dell EMC Unity Hybrid requires the All-Inclusive Essentials software license to use FAST cache,FAST VP, and Remote Replication.

27 | Storage layer

Network layerLAN and SAN make up the segregated network layer.

LAN layerThe LAN layer of the Converged System includes a pair of Cisco Nexus 3172TQ and Cisco Nexus93180YC-EX or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switches.

The Cisco Nexus switches provide 10 GbE connectivity:

• Between internal components

• To the site network

• To the second generation Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) through redundantconnections between AMP-2 and the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches

The following table shows LAN layer components:

Component Description

Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX • 1 RU appliance

• Supports 48 fixed 10/25 Gbps SFP+ ports and 6 fixed 40/100 GbpsQSFP+ ports

• No expansion modules available

Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch • 2 RU appliance

• Supports 48 fixed, 10 Gbps SFP+ ports and 12 fixed, 40 Gbps QSFP+ ports

• No expansion modules available

Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch • 1 RU appliance

• Supports 48 fixed, 100 Mbps/1000 Mbps/10 Gbps twisted pairconnectivity ports and 6 fixed, 40 Gbps QSFP+ ports for themanagement layer of the Converged System

Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch - management networking

Each Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch provides 48 100 Mbps/1000 Mbps/10 Gbps twisted pair connectivityand six 40 GbE QSFP+ ports.

The following table shows core connectivity for the Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch for managementnetworking and reflects the AMP-2 base for two servers:

Feature Used ports Port speeds Media

Management uplinks from fabricinterconnect (FI)

2 10 GbE Cat6

Uplinks to customer core 2 Up to 10 GbE Cat6

vPC peer links 2 QSFP+ 40 GbE Twinax

Network layer | 28


Uplinks to management 1 1 GbE Cat6

Cisco Nexus management ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

Cisco MDS management ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

AMP-2 CIMC ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

AMP-2 1 GbE ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

AMP-2 10 GbE ports 2 10 GbE Cat6

Dell EMC Unity management ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

Gateways 14 100 Mb/1 GbE Cat6

The remaining ports in the Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch provide support for additional domains and theirnecessary management connections.

Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch -segregated networking

The Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch provides 48 10/25 Gbps SFP+ ports and six 40/100 Gbps QSFP+uplink ports. The Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch provides 48 SFP+ ports used for 1 Gbps or 10 Gbpsconnectivity and 12 40 Gbps QSFP+ ports.

The following table shows core connectivity for the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch or Cisco Nexus9396PX Switch with segregated networking:


Uplinks from fabric interconnect (FI) 8 10 GbE Twinax

Uplinks to customer core*** 8 (10 GbE)/2 (40 GbE) Up to 40 GbE SFP+/QSFP+

vPC peer links 2 40 GbE Twinax

AMP-2 ESXi management 12 AMP-2S 10 GbE SFP+

*** Converged Systems with Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch or Cisco Nexus 9396PX support 40GbE or10GbE SFP+ uplinks to customer core.

The remaining ports in the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch providesupport for a combination of the following additional connectivity options:

Feature Availableports

Port speeds Media

RecoverPoint WAN links (one per appliance pair) 4 1 GbE GE T SFP+

Customer IP backup 8 1 GbE or 10GbE

SFP+

Dell EMC Unity NAS connectivity 2, 4, or 8 10 GbE Active twinax orMMF 50µ/125LC/LC

29 | Network layer

Feature Availableports

Port speeds Media

Uplinks from Cisco UCS FIs for Ethernet BW enhancement 8 10 GbE Twinax

SAN layerTwo Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switches, Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Directors, or Cisco MDS9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switches that make up two separate fabrics to provide 16 Gbps of FCconnectivity between the compute and storage layer components.

Connections from the storage components are over 16 Gbps connections.

With 10 Gbps connectivity, Cisco UCS fabric interconnects provide a FC port channel of four 8 Gbpsconnections (32 Gbps bandwidth) to each fabric on the Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switches andcan be increased to eight connections for 128 Gbps bandwidth. The Cisco MDS 9396S 16G MultilayerFabric Switch and Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Directors also support 16 connections for 128 Gbpsbandwidth per fabric.

The Cisco MDS switches provide:

• FC connectivity between compute and storage layer components

• Connectivity for backup and business continuity requirements (if configured)

Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) to the existing SAN or between switches is not permitted.

The following table shows SAN network layer components:

Component Description

Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer FabricSwitch

• 1 RU appliance

• Provides 12 to 48 line-rate ports for non-blocking 16 Gbps throughput

• 12 ports are licensed - additional ports can be licensed

Cisco MDS 9396S 16G MultilayerFabric Switch

• 2 RU appliance

• Provides 48 to 96 line-rate ports for non-blocking 16 Gbps throughput

• 48 ports are licensed - additional ports can be licensed in 12 portincrements

Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director • 9 RU appliance

• Provides up to 12 Tbps front panel FC line rate non-blocking, systemlevel switching

• Dell EMC leverages the advanced 48 port line cards at line rate of16 Gbps for all ports

• Consists of two 48 port line cards per director - up to two additional48 port line cards can be added

• Dell EMC requires that 4 fabric modules are included with all CiscoMDS 9706 Multilayer Directors for an N+1 configuration

• 4 PDUs

• 2 supervisors

Network layer | 30

Connectivity

Cisco MDS switches and directors have specific configurations for Dell EMC configurations for the DellEMC Unity storage arrays.

The following table shows connectivity for the Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch, CiscoMDS 9706 Multilayer Director, and Dell EMC configurations for the Dell EMC Unity storage arrays:

Dell EMCconfiguration

FCports

Domains Maximumhosts

FI PC Cisco Ports used withone domain

Cisco MDS9396S/9706

Cisco MDS9148S

Extra small 2 1 32 4,8,16 4 6-18

Small 4 2 64 4,8,16 4+4 8-20

Medium 6 3 128 4,8,16 4+4+4** 10-22

Large 8 4* 192 4,8,16 4+4+4** 12-24

Extra large 10 4 256 4,8,16 N/A 14-26

Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch

Converged Systems incorporate the Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch provide 12-48 line-rateports for non-blocking, 16 Gbps throughput. In the base configuration, 24 ports are licensed. Additionalports can be licensed as needed.

The Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch provides connectivity for up to 48 ports. The Cisco MDS9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch uses the following port mapping to spread the FI N-port channels acrossthe three forwarding engines on the Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch.

For FI connectivity to the SAN, all FI domains use four FC connections from the Cisco UCS FI switches tothe Cisco MDS switches. Each port channel connected to one forwarding engine on the Cisco MDS9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch.

Eight member N-port channels are not allowed per engine on the Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer FabricSwitch to avoid ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) exhaustion on the switch.

The following ports on Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch in each forward engine are reserved forFI port channel members (servers):

Engine Port group Ports for FI port channel

e0 1-16 1-4

e1 17-32 17-20

e2 33-48 37-40

The components are connected from left to right in the following order:

• Servers (FIs) - based upon forwarding engines

• Storage

31 | Network layer

• Optional components:

— VPLEX

— RecoverPoint

— FC backup

The following table provides core connectivity for the Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch:


FI uplinks 4 or 8 8 Gb SFP+

Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch and Cisco MDS 9706Multilayer Director

Converged Systems incorporate the Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch and the Cisco MDS9706 Multilayer Director to provide FC connectivity from storage to compute.

Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Directors provide 48-192 line-rate ports for non-blocking 16 Gbps throughput.Port licenses are not required for the Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director. The Cisco MDS 9706Multilayer Director is a director-class SAN switch with four IOM expansion slots for 48-port 16 Gb FC linecards. It deploys two supervisor modules for redundancy.

The Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director provides connectivity for up to 192 ports from Cisco UCS fabricinterconnects and Dell EMC Unity storage array. The Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director uses dynamicport mapping. Eight ports are reserved for PC to upstream core for connectivity.

Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switches provide 48-96 line-rate ports for non-blocking, 16 Gbpsthroughput. The base license includes 48 ports. Additional ports can be licensed in 12 port increments.

The Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch is a 96-port fixed switch with no IOM modules forport expansion.

For fabric interconnect (FI) connectivity to the SAN, all FI domains use four, eight, or 16 FC connectionsfrom the FIs to the Cisco MDS switches. Dell EMC only supports FC connectivity.

The following table shows connectivity for the Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch and CiscoMDS 9706 Multilayer Director:

DomainsDomain

Total FI ports Maximum storageports Total used ports

1 2 3 4

1 8 - - - 8 10 18

1 16 - - - 16 10 26

2 8 8 - - 16 10 26

2 8 16 - - 24 10 34

2 16 16 - - 32 10 42

3 8 8 8 - 24 10 34

3 8 8 16 - 32 10 42

Network layer | 32

DomainsDomain

Total FI ports Maximum storageports Total used ports

1 2 3 4

3 8 16 16 - 40 10 50

3 16 16 16 - 48 10 58

4 8 8 8 8 32 10 42

4 8 8 8 16 40 10 50

4 8 8 16 16 48 10 58

4 8 16 16 16 56 10 66

4 8 16 16 16 64 10 74

33 | Network layer

Virtualization layer

Virtualization componentsVMware vSphere is the virtualization platform that provides the foundation for the private cloud. The coreVMware vSphere components are the VMware vSphere ESXi and VMware vCenter Server formanagement.

VMware vSphere 6.0 includes a pair of Platform Service Controller Linux appliances to provide the SSOservice. Either the VMware vCenter Service Appliance or the VMware vCenter Server for Windows canbe deployed.

VMware vSphere 6.5 includes a pair of Platform Service Controller Linux appliances to provide the SSOservice. Starting from vSphere 6.5 VMware vCenter Server Appliance is the default deployment model forvCenter Server.

The hypervisors are deployed in a cluster configuration. The cluster allows dynamic allocation ofresources, such as CPU, memory, and storage. The cluster also provides workload mobility and flexibilitywith the use of VMware vMotion and Storage vMotion technology.

VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXiVMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi runs on the second generation of the Advanced Management Platform(AMP-2) and uses VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus.

This lightweight hypervisor requires little space to run (less than 6 GB of storage required to install) andhas minimal management overhead.

In some instances the hypervisor may be installed on a 32GB or larger Cisco FlexFlash SD Card(mirrored HV partition). Beginning with vSphere 6.x, all Cisco FlexFlash (boot) capable hosts will beconfigured with a minimum of two 32GB or larger SD cards.

The compute hypervisor will support 4-6 10GigE physical NICs (pNICS) on the VxBlock 350 VICs.

VMware vSphere ESXi does not contain a console operating system. The VMware vSphere HypervisorESXi boots from Cisco FlexFlash (SD card) on AMP-2. For the compute blades, VMware vSphere ESXiboots from the SAN through an independent FC LUN presented from the storage array. The FC LUN alsocontains the hypervisor's locker for persistent storage of logs and other diagnostic files to providestateless computing within Converged Systems. The stateless hypervisor is not supported.

Cluster configuration

VMware vSphere ESXi hosts and their resources are pooled together into clusters. These clusterscontain the CPU, memory, network, and storage resources available for allocation to VMs. Clusters canscale up to a maximum of 64 hosts for VMware vSphere 6.x. Clusters can support thousands of VMs.

The clusters can also support a variety of Cisco UCS blades running inside the same cluster.

Some advanced CPU functionality might be unavailable if more than one blade model isrunning in a given cluster.

Virtualization layer | 34

Datastores

Block level storage using VMFS or file level storage using NFS are supported datastores. The maximumsize per VMFS5 volume is 64 TB (50 TB VMFS3 @ 1 MB). The maximum VMDK file size is 62 TB. Eachhost/cluster can support a maximum of 255 volumes.

Dell EMC optimizes the advanced settings for VMware vSphere ESXi hosts that are deployed inConverged Systems to maximize the throughput and scalability of NFS datastores. Converged Systemssupport a maximum of 256 NFS datastores per host.

Datastores (vSphere 6.5)

Block level storage using VMFS or file level storage using NFS are supported datastores. The maximumsize per VMFS5 / VMFS6 volume is 64 TB (50 TB VMFS3 @ 1 MB). The maximum VMDK file size is 62TB. Each host/cluster can support a maximum of 512 volumes.

Dell EMC optimizes the advanced settings for VMware vSphere ESXi hosts that are deployed inConverged Systems to maximize the throughput and scalability of NFS datastores. Converged Systemssupport a maximum of 256 NFS datastores per host.

Virtual networks

Alternatively, virtual networking is managed by a VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) withcomparable features to the Cisco Nexus 1000V where applicable. The VMware VDS option consists of aVMware Standard Switch and a VMware VDS and uses a minimum of four uplinks presented to thehypervisor.

Virtual networking in the AMP-2 uses standard virtual switches and is managed by the Cisco Nexus1000V Series Switch. The Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch ensures consistent, policy-based networkcapabilities to all servers in the data center by allowing policies to move with a VM during live migration.This provides persistent network, security, and storage compliance.

For the implementation of Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch for VMware VDS, QoS is set to Default (trusthost).

The vNICs are equally distributed across all available physical adapter ports to ensure redundancy andmaximum bandwidth where appropriate. This provides general consistency and balance across all CiscoUCS blade models, regardless of the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card (VIC) hardware. Thus, VMwarevSphere ESXi has a predictable uplink interface count. All applicable VLANs, native VLANs, MTUsettings, and QoS policies are assigned to the vNIC to ensure consistency in case the uplinks need to bemigrated to the VMware VDS after manufacturing.

Virtual networks (vSphere 6.5)

Virtual networking in the AMP-2S uses standard virtual switches and the Cisco Nexus 1000V is notcurrently supported on the VMware vSphere 6.5 vCSA.

Alternatively, virtual networking is managed by a VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) withcomparable features to the Cisco Nexus 1000V where applicable. The VMware VDS option consists of aVMware Standard Switch and a VMware VDS and uses a minimum of four uplinks presented to thehypervisor.

The vNICs are equally distributed across all available physical adapter ports to ensure redundancy andmaximum bandwidth where appropriate. This provides general consistency and balance across all CiscoUCS blade models, regardless of the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card (VIC) hardware. Thus, VMwarevSphere ESXi has a predictable uplink interface count. All applicable VLANs, native VLANs, MTU

35 | Virtualization layer

settings, and QoS policies are assigned to the vNIC to ensure consistency in case the uplinks need to bemigrated to the VMware VDS after manufacturing.

VMware vCenter Server (vSphere 6.0)VMware vCenter Server is a central management point for the hypervisors and VMs. VMware vCenterServer 6.0 resides on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance or on a 64-bit Windows Server.

By default, VMware vCenter Server is deployed using the VMware embedded Linux appliance. VMwarevCenter can be deployed on a Windows 2012 R2 server. VMware Update Manager runs as a service toassist with host patch management.

The second generation of the Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) and the Converged System eachhave a unified vCSA.

VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:

• Cloning of VMs

• Creating templates

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• Initial configuration of VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and VMware vSpherehigh-availability clusters

VMware vCenter Server provides monitoring and alerting capabilities for hosts and VMs. ConvergedSystem administrators can create and apply the following alarms to all managed objects in VMwarevCenter Server:

• Data center, cluster, and host health, inventory, and performance

• Data store health and capacity

• VM usage, performance, and health

• Virtual network usage and health

Databases

The VMware vCenter Server virtual appliance uses the embedded database, while the optional Windowsbased VMware vCenter Server requires MS SQL Server 2012. The VMware Update Manager Servercontains an embedded MS SQL Server 2012 database. The SQL server service requires a dedicatedservice account.

Authentication

Converged Systems support the VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service capable of the integration ofmultiple identity sources including Active Directory, Open LDAP, and local accounts for authentication. VMware vSphere 6.0 includes a pair of platform service controller Linux appliances to provide the SSOservice. VMware vCenter Server, Inventory, Web Client, SSO, Core Dump Collector, and UpdateManager run as separate services. Each service can be configured to use a dedicated service accountdepending on the security and directory services requirements.


Dell EMC supported features

Dell EMC supports the following VMware vCenter Server features:

• VMware SSO Service

• VMware vSphere Platform Service Controller

• VMware vSphere Web Client (used with Vision Intelligent Operations)

• VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS)

• VMware vSphere High Availability

• VMware DRS

• VMware Fault Tolerance

• VMware vMotion

• VMware Storage vMotion - Layer 3 capability available for compute resources, version 6.0 andhigher

• Raw Device Mappings

• Resource Pools

• Storage DRS (capacity only)

• Storage driven profiles (user-defined only)

• Distributed power management (up to 50 percent of VMware vSphere ESXi hosts/blades)

• VMware Syslog Service

• VMware Core Dump Collector

• VMware vCenter Web Client

VMware vCenter Server (VMware vSphere 6.5)VMware vCenter Server is a central management point for the hypervisors and VMs. VMware vCenterServer 6.5 resides on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA).

By default, VMware vCenter Server is deployed using the VMware vCSA. VMware Update Manager isfully integrated with the VMware vCSA and runs as a service to assist with host patch management.

The second generation of the AMP-2 and the Converged System each have a unified VMware vCSAinstance.

VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:

• Cloning of VMs

• Creating templates


• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• Initial configuration of VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and VMware vSpherehigh-availability clusters

VMware vCenter Server provides monitoring and alerting capabilities for hosts and VMs. ConvergedSystem administrators can create and apply the following alarms to all managed objects in VMwarevCenter Server:

• Data center, cluster and host health, inventory, and performance

• Data store health and capacity

• VM usage, performance, and health

• Virtual network usage and health

Databases

The VMware vCSA uses the embedded PostgreSQL database. The VMware Update Manager andVMware vCSA share the same PostgreSQL database server, but use separate PostgreSQL databaseinstances.

Authentication

Converged Systems support the VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service capable of the integration ofmultiple identity sources including AD, Open LDAP, and local accounts for authentication. VMwarevSphere 6.5 includes a pair of VMware Platform Service Controller (PSC)Linux appliances to provide theVMware SSO service. VMware vCenter Server, Inventory, Web Client, SSO, Core Dump Collector, andUpdate Manager run as separate services. Each service can be configured to use a dedicated serviceaccount depending on the security and directory services requirements.

Dell EMC supported features

Dell EMC supports the following VMware vCenter Server features:

• VMware SSO Service


• VMware vSphere Web Client (used with Vision Intelligent Operations)


• VMware vSphere High Availability

• VMware DRS

• VMware Fault Tolerance

• VMware vMotion

• VMware Storage vMotion - Layer 3 capability available for compute resources, version 6.0 andhigher

• Raw Device Mappings


• Resource Pools

• Storage DRS (capacity only)

• Storage driven profiles (user-defined only)

• Distributed power management (up to 50 percent of VMware vSphere ESXi hosts/blades)

• VMware Syslog Service

• VMware Core Dump Collector

• VMware vCenter Web Client


Management

Management components overviewAdvanced Management Platform (AMP-2) provides a single management point for Converged Systems.

AMP-2 provides the ability for Converged Systems to:

• Run the core and Dell EMC optional management workloads

• Monitor and manage health, performance, and capacity

• Provide network and fault isolation for management

• Eliminate resource overhead

The core management workload is the minimum required set of management software to install, operate,and support a Converged System. This includes all hypervisor management, element managers, virtualnetworking components such as Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches or VMware vSphere DistributedSwitch (VDS), and Vision Intelligent Operations software.

The Dell EMC optional management workload are non-core management workloads directly supportedand installed by Dell EMC with the primary purpose to manage Converged System components. The listincludes, but is not limited to:

• Data protection

• Security or storage management tools such as:

— Unisphere for RecoverPoint

— Unisphere for VPLEX

— Avamar Administrator

— InsightIQ for Isilon

— VMware vCNS appliances (VMware vShield Edge/Manager)

Management hardware componentsThe second generation of the Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) is available in multipleconfigurations that use their own resources to run workloads without consuming Converged Systemresources.

Cisco UCS C220 M4 configured with VMware vSphere 6.x provides the operational relationship for theAMP-2 design between Cisco UCS Servers and VMware vSphere.

Management | 40

The following table describes the available AMP-2 options:

AMP-2 option Physical server Storage Description

AMP-2P* One Cisco UCSC220 server

• FlexFlash SD for VMwarevSphere ESXi boot

• Internal disk drives for VMdata stores

Uses local disk and integratedmezzanine SAS RAID controller

AMP-2S Two to 12 Cisco UCSC220 servers

• FlexFlash SD for VMwarevSphere ESXi boot

• VNXe3200 with FAST cacheand FAST VP for VM datastores

Provides limited scalabilityconfiguration using Cisco UCSC220 Servers and additionalstorage expansion capacity

*AMP-2P is supported on both combinations of Cisco UCS Server and VMware vSphere.

Management software components (vSphere 6.0)The Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) is delivered with installed software components that aredependent on the selected Dell EMC Release Certification Matrix (RCM).

The following software components are installed dependent on the selected Dell EMC RCM:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64

• VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus

• VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi



• VMware vSphere Web Client Service

• VMware vSphere Inventory Service

• VMware vCenter Server

The preferred instance is created using VMware vSphere vCenter Server Appliance.An alternate instance may be created using the Windows version. Only one of theseoptions can be implemented.

• VMware vCenter Database using Microsoft SQL Server Standard Edition

• VMware vCenter Update Manager (VUM)

The preferred configuration embeds the SQL server on the same VM as the VUM. Thealternate configuration leverages the remote SQL server with VMware vCenter Server.Only one of these options can be implemented.

• VMware vSphere client

• VMware vSphere Syslog Service (optional)

41 | Management

• VMware vSphere Core Dump Service (optional)

• VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) or Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch (VSM)

Converged Systems cannot include both VMware VDS and Cisco Nexus 1000V VSMVMs.

• PowerPath/VE Electronic License Management Server (ELMS)


• Array management modules, including but not limited to:

— Unisphere Client

— Unisphere Service Manager

— VNX Initialization Utility

— VNX Startup Tool

— SMI-S Provider

— PowerPath Viewer

• Cisco Prime Data Center Network Manager and Device Manager

• (Optional) RecoverPoint management software that includes the management application anddeployment manager

Management software components (vSphere 6.5)The Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) is delivered with specific installed software componentsthat are dependent on the selected Release Certification Matrix (RCM).

The following software components are installed dependent on the selected Dell EMC RCM:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64

• VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus

• VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi


• VMware vSphere Platform Services Controller

• VMware vSphere Web Client Service

• VMware vSphere Inventory Service

• VMware vCenter Server Appliance

• VMware vSphere client

• VMware vSphere Syslog Service (optional)Management | 42

• VMware vSphere Core Dump Service (optional)


• PowerPath/VE Management Appliance (PPMA)


• Array management modules, including but not limited to:

— Unisphere Client

— Unisphere Service Manager

— VNX Initialization Utility

— VNX Startup Tool

— SMI-S Provider

• Cisco Prime Data Center Network Manager and Device Manager

• (Optional) RecoverPoint management software that includes the management application anddeployment manager

Management network connectivityThis topic provides the second generation of the Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) networkconnectivity and server assignment illustrations on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers.

43 | Management

AMP-2S on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers (vSphere 6.0)

The following illustration provides an overview of the network connectivity for the AMP-2S on the CiscoC220 M4 servers:

* No default gateway

**Where applicable

The default VMware vCenter Server configuration contains the VMware vCenter Server 6.0 and VMwareUpdate Manager with embedded MS SQL Server 2012 database.

Management | 44

The following illustration provides an overview of the VM server assignment for AMP-2S on C220 M4 withthe default configuration:

*Where applicable

The alternate VMware vCenter Server configuration contains the VMware vCenter Server 6.0, VMwarevCenter Database Server, and VMware Update Manager.

45 | Management

The following illustration provides an overview of the VM server assignment for AMP-2S on the CiscoUCS C220 with the alternate VMware vCenter Server configuration:

Converged Systems cannot include both the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) and CiscoNexus1000V VSM VMs.

The scalable option of AMP-2S leverages the DRS functionality of VMware vCenter to optimize resourceusage (CPU/memory) so the VM assignment to a VMware vSphere ESXi host is managed automatically.

Management | 46

AMP-2S on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers (vSphere 6.5)

The following illustration provides an overview of the network connectivity for the AMP-2S on the CiscoC220 M4 servers:

* No default gateway

The default VMware vCenter Server configuration contains the VMware vCenter Server 6.5 Appliancewith integrated VMware Update Manager

Beginning with vSphere 6.5, Microsoft SQL will no longer be used since vCenter and VUM will utilize thePostgres database embedded within the vCSA.

The following illustration provides an overview of the VM server assignment for AMP-2S on C220 M4 withthe default configuration:

47 | Management

Management | 48

AMP-2P on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers (vSphere 6.0)

The following illustration provides an overview of the network connectivity of the AMP-2P on Cisco UCSC220 M4 servers:

*No default gateway

**Where applicable

The default VMware vCenter Server configuration contains the VMware vCenter Server 6.0 and VMwareUpdate Manager with embedded MS SQL Server 2012 database.

49 | Management

The following illustration provides an overview of the VM server assignment for AMP-2P on C220 M4 withthe default configuration:

* Where applicable

The alternate VMware vCenter Server configuration contains the VMware vCenter Server, VMwarevCenter Database Server, and VMware Update Manager.

Management | 50

The following illustration provides an overview of the VM server assignment for AMP-2P on C220 M4 withthe alternate configuration:

*Where applicable

AMP-2P on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers (vSphere 6.5)

The default VMware vCenter Server configuration contains the VMware vCenter Server 6.5 Appliancewith integrated VMware Update Manager.

Beginning with vSphere 6.5, Microsoft SQL will no longer be used since VMware vCenter and VUM willutilize the Postgres database embedded within the VMware vCSA.

51 | Management

Sample configurationsCabinet elevations vary based on the specific configuration requirements.

Elevations are provided for sample purposes only. For specifications for a specific design, consult yourvArchitect.

The sample configuration contains a Dell EMC Unity 500F storage array with AMP-2S.

Sample configurations | 52

The sample VxBlock System 350 configuration contains Dell EMC Unity all-flash storage and a DAE with80, 2.5-inch form factor drives, in 3 RU rack space of an IPI cabinet.

53 | Sample configurations

Virtualization componentsVirtualization component information and links to documentation are provided.

Product Description Link to documentation

VMware vCenterServer

Provides a scalable and extensible platform that formsthe foundation for virtualization management.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vcenter-server/

VMware vSphereESXi

Virtualizes all application servers and providesVMware high availability (HA) and dynamic resourcescheduling (DRS).

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/

Virtualization components | 54





Compute componentsCompute component information and links to documentation are provided.

Product Description Link

Cisco UCS C-SeriesBlade Servers

Servers that provide unified computing in anindustry-standard form factor to reduce TCO andincrease agility.

www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/servers-unified-computing/ucs-c-series-rack-servers/index.html

Cisco UCS B-SeriesBlade Servers

Servers that adapt to application demands,intelligently scale energy use, and offer best-in-class virtualization.

www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10280/index.html

Cisco UCS Manager Provides centralized management capabilities forthe Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS).


Cisco UCS 2200 SeriesFabric Extenders

Bring unified fabric into the blade-server chassis,providing up to eight 10 Gbps connections eachbetween blade servers and the fabric interconnect.

www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/servers-unified-computing/ucs-2200-series-fabric-extenders/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

Cisco UCS 5108 SeriesBlade Server Chassis

Chassis that supports up to eight blade serversand up to two fabric extenders in a six RUenclosure.


Cisco UCS 6200 SeriesFabric Interconnects

Cisco UCS family of line-rate, low-latency,lossless, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel overEthernet (FCoE), and Fibre Channel functions.Provide network connectivity and managementcapabilities.


55 | Compute components

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/servers-unified-computing/ucs-c-series-rack-servers/index.html



http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10280/index.html




http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/servers-unified-computing/ucs-2200-series-fabric-extenders/tsd-products-support-series-home.html









Network componentsNetwork component information and links to documentation are provided.


Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches A software switch on a server thatdelivers Cisco VN-Link services toVMs hosted on that server.


VMware vSphere Distributed Switch(VDS)

A VMware vCenter-managedsoftware switch that deliversadvanced network services to VMshosted on that server.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/features/distributed-switch.html

Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director Provides 48 line-rate 16 Gbps portsand offers cost-effective scalabilitythrough on-demand activation ofports.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/storage-networking/mds-9706-multilayer-director/index.html

Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer FabricSwitch

Provides 48 line-rate 16 Gbps portsand offers cost-effective scalabilitythrough on-demand activation ofports.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/storage-networking/mds-9148s-16g-multilayer-fabric-switch/datasheet-c78-731523.html

Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Provides management access to allConverged System componentsusing vPC technology to increaseredundancy and scalability.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-3000-series-switches/data_sheet_c78-729483.html

Cisco MDS 9396S 16G MultilayerFabric Switch

Provides up to 96 line-rate 16 Gbpsports and offers cost-effectivescalability through on-demandactivation of ports.


Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch Provides high scalability,performance, and exceptional energyefficiency in a compact form factor.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-9396px-switch/model.html

Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX Switch Provides high scalability,performance, and exceptional energyefficiency in a compact form factor.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-93180yc-ex-switch/model.html

Network components | 56






























Storage componentsStorage component information and links to documentation are provided.


Dell EMC Unity The All-Flash and Hybrid Flash platforms optimize SSDperformance and efficiency, with fully integrated SANand NAS capabilities.

http://www.dellemc.com/en-us/storage/unity.htm#collapse=

57 | Storage components



The information in this publication is provided "as is." Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind withrespect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitnessfor a particular purpose.

Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.

Copyright © 2016-2018 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks aretrademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. Publishedin the USA in June 2018.

Dell EMC believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject tochange without notice.

Copyright | 58

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Dell EMC VxBlock and Vblock Systems 350 Architecture Overview · VxBlock™ and Vblock® Systems 350 Architecture Overview ... the high-level design of the Converged ... software