Dell EMC VxBlock and Vblock Systems 740 Architecture ... Vision Intelligent Operations Compliance Checker • Vision Intelligent Operations API for System Library • Vision Intelligent

Dell EMCVxBlock™ and Vblock® Systems 740Architecture Overview

Document revision 1.16April 2018

Revision history

Date Document revision Description of changes

April 2018 1.16 Removed vCHA.

December 2017 1.15 Added Cisco UCS B-Series M5servers.

August 2017 1.14 Added support for VMware vSphere6.5.

August 2017 1.13 Added support for VMAX 950F and950FX storage arrays.

July 2017 1.12 Added support for SymmetrixRemote Data Facility (SRDF)

March 2017 1.11 Added support for the Cisco Nexus93180YC-EX Switch

February 2017 1.10 Added the 256 GB cache option forEMC VMAX 250F and EMC VMAX250FX.

December 2016 1.9 Added support for AMP-2 on CiscoUCS C2x0 M4 servers with VMwarevSphere 5.5.

November 2016 1.8 • Added support for Dell EMCnetwork attached storage(eNAS).

• Added support for VMAX 250Fand VMAX 250FX.

• Removed IPI Appliance fromelevations.

September 2016 1.7 • Added support for AMP-2S andAMP enhancements.

• Added support for the CiscoMDS 9396S Multilayer FabricSwitch

August 2016 1.6 Added support for Dell EMCembedded management (eMGMT).

July 2016 1.5 • Updated the VMAXconfiguration information toindicate support for a singleengine.

Revision history | 2

Date Document revision Description of changes

April 2016 1.4 • Removed physical planninginformation removed from thisbook and moved it to theConverged Systems PhysicalPlanning Guide

• Added the VMAX All Flashoption

• Added support for the CiscoNexus 3172TQ Switch

October 2015 1.3 Added support for vSphere 6.0 withCisco Nexus 1000V switches.

August 2015 1.2 Added support for VxBlock Systems.Added support for vSphere 6.0 withVDS.

February 2015 1.1 Updated Intelligent PhysicalInfrastructure appliance information.

December 2014 1.0 Initial release

3 | Revision history

ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................6

System overview.........................................................................................................................................7System architecture and components.................................................................................................... 7Base configurations ...............................................................................................................................8

Scaling up compute resources.......................................................................................................11Network topology..................................................................................................................................12

Compute layer overview...........................................................................................................................14Compute overview................................................................................................................................14Cisco UCS............................................................................................................................................14Compute connectivity........................................................................................................................... 14Cisco UCS fabric interconnects............................................................................................................15Cisco Trusted Platform Module............................................................................................................ 15Disjoint layer 2 configuration................................................................................................................ 15Bare metal support policy.....................................................................................................................16

Storage layer overview.............................................................................................................................18Storage layer hardware........................................................................................................................ 18VMAX3 storage arrays......................................................................................................................... 19

VMAX3 storage array features.......................................................................................................22VMAX All Flash storage arrays......................................................................................................22Embedded Network Attached Storage...........................................................................................23Symmetrix Remote Data Facility ...................................................................................................24

Network layer overview............................................................................................................................26LAN layer..............................................................................................................................................26

Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switch - management networking................................................................ 26Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switch - management networking...............................................................27Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch......................................................................................................... 28Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch......................................................................................................... 28Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch - segregated networking.................. 29

SAN layer............................................................................................................................................. 29Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch...................................................................................30Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch and Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director..........30

Virtualization layer overview....................................................................................................................32Virtualization components.................................................................................................................... 32VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi.......................................................................................................32VMware vCenter Server (vSphere 5.5 and 6.0)................................................................................... 34VMware vCenter Server (VMware vSphere 6.5).................................................................................. 35

Management..............................................................................................................................................38Management components overview.....................................................................................................38Management hardware components....................................................................................................38Management software components (vSphere 5.5 and 6.0)................................................................. 39Management software components (vSphere 6.5).............................................................................. 40

Contents | 4

Management network connectivity....................................................................................................... 41

Sample configurations............................................................................................................................. 51Sample VxBlock System 740 and Vblock System 740 with VMAX 400K............................................ 52Sample VxBlock System 740 and Vblock System 740 with VMAX 200K............................................ 54Sample VxBlock System 740 and Vblock System 740 with VMAX 100K............................................ 56

Additional references............................................................................................................................... 59Virtualization components.................................................................................................................... 59Compute components.......................................................................................................................... 59Network components............................................................................................................................60Storage components............................................................................................................................ 61

5 | Contents

IntroductionThis document describes the high-level design of the Converged System and the hardware and softwarecomponents.

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.

Introduction | 6

HTTPS://DOCS.VCE.COM/BUNDLE/O_GLOSSARY/PAGE/GUID-E5B5E1DA-8455-460A-8391-12F5783BE2A3.HTML

System overview

System architecture and componentsConverged Systems are modular platforms with defined scale points that meet the higher performanceand availability 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 System management • 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 and management • VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus

• VMware vSphere ESXi

• VMware vCenter Server

• VMware vSphere Web Client

• VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service

• Cisco UCS Servers for AMP-2

• PowerPath/VE

• Cisco UCS Manager

• Unisphere for VMAX

• Secure Remote Services (ESRS)

• PowerPath Management Appliance

• Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) for SAN

7 | System overview

Resource Components

Compute • Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis

• Cisco UCS B-Series M3 Blade Servers with Cisco UCS VIC 1240, optionalport expander or Cisco UCS VIC 1280

• Cisco UCS B- or C-Series M4 or M5 Blade Servers with Cisco UCS VIC1340, optional port expander or Cisco UCS VIC 1380

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

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

Network • Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches, Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches, CiscoNexus 93180YC-EX, or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switches

• Cisco MDS 9148S, Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switches, orCisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Directors

• Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches or Cisco Nexus 3172TQ Switches

• Optional Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches

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

• Optional VMware NSX Virtual Networking for VxBlock Systems

Storage • VMAX 400K

• VMAX 200K

• VMAX 100K

• VMAX All Flash 950F and 950FX




Base configurationsConverged Systems have a base configuration that is a minimum set of compute and storagecomponents, as well as fixed network resources.

These components are integrated in one or more 28-inch 42 RU cabinets. In the base configuration, youcan customize the following hardware aspects:

Hardware How it can be customized

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

• Up to 16 chassis per Cisco UCS domain

• Up to 4 Cisco UCS domains (four pairs of fabric interconnects)— Supports up to 32 double-height Cisco UCS blade servers per domain— Supports up to 64 full-width Cisco UCS blade servers per domain— Supports up to 128 half-width Cisco UCS blade servers per domain

Edge servers (with optionalVMware NSX)

Refer to the Dell EMC for VMware NSX Architecture Overview.

System overview | 8


Storage Supports 2.5 inch drives, 3.5 inch drives, and a mix of both 2.5 inch and 3.5inch drives (VMAX 400K, VMAX 200K, and VMAX 100K only)

• VMAX 400K— Contains 1 to 8 engines— Contains a maximum of 256 front-end ports— Supports 10 – 5760 drives

• VMAX 200K— Contains 1 to 4 engines— Contains a maximum of 128 front-end ports— Supports 10 - 2880 drives

• VMAX 100K— Contains 1 to 2 engines— Contains a maximum of 128 front-end ports— Supports 10 - 1440 drives

Supports 2.5 inch drives (VMAX All Flash models only)

• VMAX All Flash 950F and 950FX— Contains 1 to 8 engines— Contains a maximum of 192 front-end ports— Supports 17 – 1920 drives

• VMAX All Flash 850F and 850FX— Contains 1 to 8 engines— Contains a maximum of 192 front-end ports— Supports 17 – 1920 drives

• VMAX All Flash 450F and 450FX— Contains 1 to 4 engines— Contains a maximum of 96 front-end ports— Supports 17 - 960 drives

• VMAX All Flash 250F and 250FX— Contains 1 or 2 engines— Contains a maximum of 64 front-end ports— Supports 17 - 100 drives

A single-cabinet configuration of the VMAX All Flash 250F and 250FX isavailable with a single engine. Expansion of the storage array requires theaddition of a storage technology extension.

9 | System overview


Storage policies Policy levels are applied at the storage group level of array masking.Array storage is organized by the following service level objectives (VMAX400K, VMAX 200K, and VMAX 100K only):

• Optimized (default) - system optimized

• Bronze - 12 ms response time, emulating 7.2K drive performance

• Silver - 8 ms response time, emulating 10K RPM drives

• Gold - 5 ms response time, emulating 15K RPM drives

• Platinum - 3 ms response time, emulating 15K RPM drives and enterpriseflash drive (EFD)

• Diamond - <1 ms response time, emulating EFDArray storage is organized by the following service level objective (VMAX AllFlash models only):

• Diamond - <1 ms response time, emulating EFD

Supported disk drives VMAX 400K, 200K, and 100KDisk drive maximums:

• VMAX 400K = 5760

• VMAX 200K = 2880

• VMAX 100K = 1440Tier 1 drives:

• Solid state: 200/400/800/1600 GBTier 2 drives:

• 15K RPM: 300 GB

• 10K RPM: 300/600/1200 GBTier 3 drives:

• 7.2K RPM: 2/4 TB

VMAX All Flash modelsDisk drive maximums:

• VMAX All Flash 950F and 950FX = 1920



• VMAX All Flash 250F and 250FX = 100Tier 1 drives:

• Solid state: 960/1920/3840 GB (VMAX All-Flash arrays)

• Solid state: 960/1920/3840/7680/15360 GB (VMAX All Flash 250F and250FX and 950F and 950FX models only)

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

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.

System overview | 10

Depending upon the configuration, the following maximums apply:

Component Maximum configurations

Cisco UCS 62xxUP FabricInterconnects

The maximum number of Cisco 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 = 512

• Full-width = 256

• Double-height = 128

Scaling up compute resources

To scale up compute resources, you can add blade packs and chassis activation kits when ConvergedSystems are built or after they are deployed.

Blade packs

Cisco UCS blades are sold in packs of two, and include two identical Cisco UCS blades.

The base configuration of Converged Systems includes two blade packs. The maximum number of bladepacks depends on the selected scale point.

Each blade type must have a minimum of two blade packs as a base configuration and can be increasedin single blade pack increments thereafter. Each blade pack is added along with license packs for thefollowing software:

• Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM)

• VMware vSphere ESXi

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

• PowerPath/VE

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

Additional chassis

The power supplies and fabric extenders for all chassis are pre-populated and cabled, and all requiredTwinax cables and transceivers are populated. However, in base Converged Systems configurations,there is a minimum of two Cisco UCS 5108 Blade Server Chassis. There are no unpopulated serverchassis unless they are ordered that way. This limited licensing reduces the entry cost for ConvergedSystems.

As more blades are added and additional chassis are required, additional chassis are addedautomatically to an order. The 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.Additional chassis can be added up-front to allow for flexibility in the field or to initially spread the bladesacross a larger number of chassis.

11 | System overview

Network topologyIn the network topology for Converged Systems, LAN and SAN connectivity is segregated into separateCisco Nexus switches.

LAN switching uses the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX or Cisco Nexus 9396PX Switch and the Cisco Nexus55xxUP Switch. SAN switching uses the Cisco MDS 9148S Multilayer Fabric Switch, the Cisco MDS9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch, or the Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director.

The optional VMware NSX feature uses the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX or Cisco Nexus 9396PX switchesfor LAN switching. For more information, refer to the Converged Systems for VMware NSX ArchitectureOverview.

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 10 GbE portchannels and to the Cisco MDS switches through port channels made up of multiple 8 Gb links.

The front-end IO modules in the storage array connect to the Cisco MDS switches in the network layerover 16 Gb FC links.

System overview | 12

The following illustration shows a network block storage configuration for Converged Systems:

SAN boot storage configuration

VMware vSphere ESXi hosts always boot over the FC SAN from a 10 GB boot LUN (vSphere 6.0) whichcontains the hypervisor's locker for persistent storage of logs and other diagnostic files. The remainder ofthe storage can be presented as Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) data stores or as raw devicemappings (RDMs).

Mware vSphere ESXi hosts always boot over the FC SAN from a 15 GB boot LUN (vSphere 6.5), whichcontains the hypervisor's locker for persistent storage of logs and other diagnostic files. The remainder ofthe storage can be presented as Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) data stores or as raw devicemappings (RDMs).

13 | System overview

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 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.

In a Converged System, each chassis also includes Cisco UCS fabric extenders and Cisco UCS B-SeriesConverged Network Adapters.

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 to

Compute layer | 14

the fabric interconnects, regardless of the number of blades in the chassis. These connections carry IPand storage traffic.

Dell EMC uses multiple ports for each fabric interconnect for 8 Gbps FC. These ports connect to CiscoMDS storage switches and the connections carry FC traffic between the compute layer and the storagelayer. These connections also enable SAN booting of the Cisco UCS blades.

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

Northbound, the FIs connect directly to Cisco network switches for Ethernet access into the externalnetwork. They also connect directly to Cisco MDS switches for FC access of the attached ConvergedSystem storage. These connections are currently 8 Gbps FC. VMAX storage arrays have 16 Gbps FCconnections into the Cisco MDS switches.

VMware NSX

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

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

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:

15 | Compute layer

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.

Compute layer | 16

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.

17 | Compute layer

Storage layer

Storage layer hardwareVMAX3 storage arrays are high-end, storage systems built for the virtual data center.

Architected for reliability, availability, and scalability, these storage arrays use specialized engines, eachof which includes two redundant director modules providing parallel access and replicated copies of allcritical data.

The following table shows the software components supported by the VMAX3 storage array:

Component Description

Virtual Provisioning (Virtual Pools) Virtual Provisioning, based on thin provisioning, is the ability topresent an application with more capacity than is physicallyallocated in the storage array. The physical storage is thenallocated to the application on demand as it is needed from theshared pool of capacity. Each disk group in the VMAX3 (all-inclusive) is carved into a separate virtual pool.

Storage Resource Pool (SRP) An SRP is a collection of virtual pools that make up an FASTdomain. A virtual pool can only be included in one SRP. EachVMAX initially contains a single SRP that contains all virtual poolsin the array.

Fully Automated Storage Tiering for VirtualPools (FAST VP)

FAST is employed to migrate sub-LUN chunks of data between thevarious virtual pools in the SRP. Tiering is automatically optimizedby dynamically allocating and relocating application workloadsbased on the defined service level objective (SLO).

SLO An SLO defines the ideal performance operating range of anapplication. Each SLO contains an expected maximum responsetime range. An SLO uses multiple virtual pools in the SRP toachieve its response time objective. SLOs are predefined with thearray and are not customizable.

Embedded Network Attached Storage (eNAS) eNAS consists of virtual instances of the VNX NAS hardwareincorporated into the HYPERMAX OS architecture. The software X-Blades and control stations run on VMs embedded in an VMAXengine.

Embedded Management (eMGMT) eMGMT is the management model for VMAX3 which is acombination of Solutions Enabler and Unisphere for VMAX runninglocally on the VMAX using virtual servers.

HYPERMAX OS The storage operating environment for VMAX3 deliveringperformance, array tiering, availability, and data integrity.

Unisphere for VMAX Browser-based GUI for device creating, managing, and monitoringon storage arrays.

VMAX All Flash Inline Compression Inline Compression is only for the VMAX All Flash models, andallows customers to compress data for increased effective capacity.

Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) A VMAX native replication technology that allows a VMAX systemto copy data to one or more additional VMAX systems.

D@RE Data at Rest Encryption

Storage layer | 18

VMAX3 storage arraysVMAX3 storage arrays have characteristics that are common across all models.

VMAX3 hybrid storage arrays (400K, 200K, and 100K) include the following features:

• Two 16 Gb multimode (MM), FC, four-port IO modules per director (four per engine) - two slots foradditional front-end connectivity are available per director.

• Minimum of five drives with a maximum of 360 3.5 inch drives or 720 2.5 inch drives per engine.

• Option of 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch or a combination of 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch drives.

• Racks may be dispersed, however, each rack must be within 25 meters of the first rack.

• Number of supported Cisco UCS domains and servers depends on the number of array engines.

VMAX3 All Flash storage arrays include the following features:

• Two 16 Gb multimode (MM), FC, four-port IO modules per director (four per engine). The VMAXAll Flash 250F and 250FX have two additional slots per director for front-end connectivity. Allother VMAX All Flash arrays have one slot for front-end connectivity.

• Minimum of 17 drives per V-Brick. VMAX 250F and 250FX have a minimum of 9 drives per V-Brick.

• Maximum of 240 drives per V-Brick. VMAX 250F and 250FX have a maximum of 50 drives per V-Brick.

• Racks may be dispersed, however, each rack must be within 25 meters of the first rack.

• Number of supported Cisco UCS domains and servers depends on the number of array engines.

Only 2.5 inch drives are supported for VMAX All Flash models.

19 | Storage layer

The following illustration shows the interconnection of the VMAX3 in Converged Systems:

The following table shows the engines with the maximum blades:

Domain count depends on LAN switch connectivity.

Engines Maximum blades (half-width)

1 128

2 256

3 384

4 512

5 512

6 512

Storage layer | 20

Engines Maximum blades (half-width)

7 512

8 512

Supported drives

The following tables shows the supported drives and RAID protection levels for VMAX3 Hybrid models:

Drive Flash SAS NL-SAS

3½ inch drive capacity/speed 200 GB 300 GB -10K 2 TB - 7.2K

400 GB 300 GB - 15K 4 TB - 7.2K

800 GB 600 GB - 10K

1200 GB - 10K

2 ½ inch drive capacity/speed 200 GB 300 GB -10K

400 GB 300 GB - 15K

800 GB 600 GB - 10K

1200 GB - 10K

RAID protection R5 (3+1) (default) Mirrored (default) R6 (6+2) (default)

R5 (7+1) R5 (3+1) R6 (14+2)

R5 (7+1)

The following table shows the supported drives and RAID protection levels for VMAX All Flash models:

250F/FX 450F/FX 850F/FX 950F/FX

Flash drives 960 GB1.92 TB3.84 TB7.68 TB15.36 TB

960 GB1.92 TB3.84 TB

960 GB1.92 TB3.84 TB

960 GB1.92 TB3.84 TB7.68 TB15.36 TB

RAID protection R5 (3+1)R5 (7+1)R6 (6+2)

R5 (7+1)R6 (14+2)

R5 (7+1)R6 (14+2)

R5 (7+1)R6 (14+2)

The following table shows the supported drives on VMAX:

Drive types VMAX3VMAX 100K, 200K, 400K

VMAX AFAVMAX 250F, 450F, 850F, 950F

SSD 2.5 in. 960 GB, 1.9 TB 960 GB, 1.9, 3.8, 7.6, and 15.3 TB

SSD 3.5 in. Not offered N/A

15K 2.5 in. Not offered N/A


21 | Storage layer

Drive types VMAX3VMAX 100K, 200K, 400K

VMAX AFAVMAX 250F, 450F, 850F, 950F

10K 2.5 in. 600, 1200 GB N/A


7.2K 3.5 in. (NL-SAS) Not offered N/A

VMAX3 storage array features

Each VMAX 100K, 200K, and 400K storage array has minimum and maximum configurations, engineswith processors and cache options.

VMAX 400K storage arrays

VMAX 400K storage arrays include the following features:

• Minimum configuration contains one engine and the maximum contains eight engines

• VMAX 400K engines contain Intel 2.7 GHz Ivy Bridge processors with 48 cores

• Available cache options are: 512 GB, 1024 GB, or 2048 GB (per engine)


VMAX 200K storage arrays include the following features:

• Minimum configuration contains one engine, and the maximum contains four engines


• Available cache options are: 512 GB, 1024 GB, or 2048 GB (per engine)


VMAX 100K contains the following features:

• Minimum configuration contains a single engine

• Maximum configuration contains two engines


• Available cache options are: 512 GB and 1024 GB per engine

VMAX All Flash storage arrays

Availability of the VMAX All Flash option is based on drive capacity and available software of the VMAXAll Flash arrays.

Storage layer | 22

Overview

VMAX All Flash models include the following features:

250F/FX 450F/FX 850F/FX 950F/FX

Number of V-Bricks

1-2 1-4 1-8 1-8

Cache per V-Brick

512 GB1024 GB2048 GB

1024 GB2048 GB

1024 GB2048 GB

1024 GB2048 GB

Initial capacityper V-Brick

11.3 TBu 52.6 TBu 52.6 TBu 56.6 TBu

Incrementalcapacity

11.3 TBu 13.2 TBu 13.2 TBu 13.2 TBu

CPU Intel Xeon E5-2650-v4,2.2 GHz 12 core

Intel XeonE5-2650-v2,2.6 GHz 8 core

Intel Xeon E5-2697-v2,2.7 GHz 12 core

Intel Xeon E5-2697-v4,2.3 GHz 18 core

Note the following best practices and options:

• All V-Bricks in the array must contain identical cache types.

• A single cabinet Vblock configuration of the VMAX All Flash 250F and 250FX is available. It has asingle engine and expansion of the storage array requires the addition of a ConvergedTechnology Extension for Dell EMC Storage.

• By default data devices have compression enabled at the Storage Group level. Disablecompression if the application is not designed for compression.

The following table describes the VMAX All Flash versions:

Softwarepackage

VMAX All Flash 950F, 850F, 450F, 250F VMAX All Flash 950FX, 850FX, 450FX, 250FX

Base software(Included)

• HyperMAX operating system

• Thin provisioning

• QoS or host I/O limits

• eNAS

• Embedded Management

• Inline Backend Compression

• HyperMAX operating system

• Thin provisioning

• QoS or host I/O limits

• eNAS

• Embedded Management

• Inline Backend Compression

• D@RE

Optional software • D@RE (disabled by default)

• SRDF (disabled by default)By default, all software is included.

Embedded Network Attached Storage

VMAX3 arrays support Unified storage by consolidating Block and File data into a single array.

Embedded Network Attached Storage (eNAS) uses the hypervisor to create and run a set of VMs onVMAX3 controllers. The VMs host software X-Blades and control stations, which are two major elements

23 | Storage layer

of eNAS. The virtual elements are distributed across the VMAX3 system to evenly consume VMAX3resources for both performance and capacity.

The following table shows the elements for the VMAX3 modules:

VMAX Maximumnumber of X-Blades

Usable capacity Maximum eNAS I/Omodules/software X-Blades

I/O supported modules

100K 2 (1 active + 1standby)

256 TBu 2 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)


1536 TBu 2* 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)


3584 TBu 2* 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)

250F/250FX 4 (3 active + 1standby)Requires 2 V-Bricks

1.1 PBu 2* 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)

450F/450FX 4 (3 active + 1standby)Requiresminimum 2 V-Bricks

1.5 PBu 1* 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 1 GbE Cu4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)


3.5 PBu 1* 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 1 GbE Cu4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)


3.5 PBu 1* 2 x 10 GbE Cu2 x 10 GbE Opt4 x 8 Gb FC Opt (NDMP)

*Converged Systems require at least two of the available slots to have 16 Gb FC IOMs per director forhost connectivity.

Symmetrix Remote Data Facility

VMAX3 arrays support remote replication using Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF).

SRDF requires:

• CPU cores dedicated to the RDF protocol (CPU Slice running RDF emulation)

Storage layer | 24

• Dedicated front-end ports assigned to the RDF over FC (RF) or RDF over Ethernet (RE)emulation

SRDF ports must be on dedicated IO Modules (SLICs). Front-end ports used for hostconnectivity should not share 16 Gb FC SLICs with SRDF.

SRDF is not configured in the factory. Dell EMC Professional Services configures SRDF after the VxBlockSystem is installed at the customer site.

Converged Systems support the following SRDF connectivity models. All participating VMAX arraysconnect as follows:

• To the customer SAN/LAN switches (default connectivity)

• To the same VxBlock SAN/LAN switches

• To the same fabric technology SAN/LAN switches

VxBlock System SAN switches should never connect directly to a customer SAN. It ispermissible for a VxBlock System SAN fabric to connect to a different VxBlock System for DataProtection purposes. Refer to the Integrated Data Protection Design Guide for additionalinformation.

The following table shows the elements for the VMAX3 storage arrays:

I/O module VMAX 400KVMAX 200KVMAX 100K

VMAX 850F/FXVMAX 450F/FX

VMAX 950F/FXVMAX 250 F/FX

4 x 16 Gb FC Yes Yes Yes

4 x 8 Gb FC Yes Yes Yes

4 x 10 Gb Ethernet No Yes Yes

2 x 10 Gb Ethernet Yes Yes No

2 x 1 Gb Ethernet Cu Yes Yes Yes

2 x 1 Gb Ethernet Opt Yes Yes Yes

25 | Storage layer

Network layerLAN and SAN make up the network layer.

LAN layerThe LAN layer of the Converged System includes a pair of Cisco Nexus 55xxUP, Cisco Nexus 3172TQand Cisco Nexus 93180YC-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:


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 3064-T Switch - management networking

The base Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switch provides 48 100Mbps/1GbE/10GbE Base-T fixed ports and 4-QSFP+ ports to provide 40GbE connections.

The following table shows core connectivity for the Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switch for managementnetworking and reflects the AMP-2 HA base for two servers:

Feature Used ports Port speeds Media

Management uplinks from fabricinterconnect (FI)

2 1 GbE Cat6

Uplinks to customer core 2 Up to 10 G Cat6

vPC peer links 2QSFP+ 10 GbE/40 GbE Cat6/MMF 50µ/125LC/LC

Network layer | 26


Uplinks to management 1 1 GbE Cat6

Cisco Nexus management ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

Cisco MDS management ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

AMP-2-CIMC ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

AMP-2 ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

AMP-2-10G ports 2 10 GbE Cat6

VNXe management ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

VNXe_NAS ports 4 10 GbE Cat6

Gateways 14 100 Mb/1 GbE Cat6

The remaining ports in the Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switch provide support for additional domains and theirnecessary management connections.

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:


Management uplinks from fabricinterconnect (FI)

2 1 GbE Cat6

Uplinks to customer core 2 Up to 10 G Cat6

vPC peer links 2QSFP+ 10 GbE/40 GbE Cat6/MMF 50µ/125LC/LC

Uplinks to management 1 1 GbE Cat6

Cisco Nexus management ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

Cisco MDS management ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

AMP2-CIMC ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

AMP2-1GbE ports 2 1 GbE Cat6

AMP2-10GbE ports 2 10 GbE Cat6

VNXe management ports 1 1 GbE Cat6

VNXe_NAS ports 4 10 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.

27 | Network layer

Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch

The base Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch provides 32 SFP+ ports used for 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps connectivityfor all Converged System production traffic.

The following table shows the core connectivity for the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch (no module):


Uplinks from fabric interconnect (FI) 8 10 Gbps Twinax

Uplinks to customer core 8 Up to 10 Gbps SFP+

Uplinks to other Cisco Nexus 55xxUP Switches 2 10 Gbps Twinax

Uplinks to management 3 10 Gbps Twinax

Customer IP backup 4 1 Gbps or 10Gbps

SFP+

If an optional 16 unified port module is added to the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch, there are 28 additionalports are available to provide additional network connectivity.

Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch

The base Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch provides 48 SFP+ ports used for 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps connectivityfor LAN traffic.

The following table shows core connectivity for the Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch (no module):


Uplinks from Cisco UCS fabric interconnect 8 10 Gbps Twinax

Uplinks to customer core 8 Up to 10 Gbps SFP+

Uplinks to other Cisco Nexus 55xxUP Switches 2 10 Gbps Twinax

Uplinks to management 2 10 Gbps Twinax

The remaining ports in the base Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch (no module) provide support for thefollowing additional connectivity option:


Customer IP backup 4 1 Gbps or 10Gbps

SFP+

If an optional 16 unified port module is added to the Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch, additional ports areavailable to provide additional network connectivity.

Network layer | 28

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

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+

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.

29 | Network layer

The following table shows SAN network layer components:


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

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 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.

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.

Network layer | 30

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

The following table provides core connectivity for the Cisco MDS 9396S 16G Multilayer Fabric Switch andthe Cisco MDS 9706 Multilayer Director:


Cisco UCS 6248UP 48-Port FI 4 or 8 8 Gb SFP+

Cisco UCS 6296UP 96-Port FI 8 or 16 8 Gb SFP+

31 | 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 5.5 includes a Single Sign-on (SSO) component as a standalone Windows server or asan embedded service on the vCenter server. Only VMware vSphere vCenter server on Windows issupported.

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 ESXiThe VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi runs in the management servers and in Converged Systems usingVMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus.

The lightweight hypervisor requires very little space to run (less than 6 GB of storage required to install)with 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 32 GB or larger SD cards.

The compute hypervisor will support 4-6 10GigE physical NICs (pNICS) on the VxBlock and Vblock 540VICs.

VMware vSphere ESXi does not contain a console operating system. The VMware vSphere HypervisorESXi boots from the SAN through an independent FC LUN presented from the storage array to thecompute blades. The FC LUN also contains the hypervisor's locker for persistent storage of logs andother diagnostic files to provide stateless computing in Converged Systems. The stateless hypervisor(PXE boot into memory) 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 32 hosts for VMware vSphere 5.5 and 64 hosts for VMware vSphere 6.0.Clusters can support thousands of VMs.

Virtualization layer | 32

The clusters can also support a variety of Cisco UCS blades running inside the same cluster. Someadvanced CPU functionality might be unavailable if more than one blade model is running in a givencluster.

Datastores

Converged Systems support a mixture of data store types: block level storage using VMFS or file levelstorage using NFS. The maximum size per VMFS volume is 64 TB (50 TB VMFS3 @ 1 MB). Beginningwith VMware vSphere 5.5, the maximum VMDK file size is 62 TB. Each host/cluster can support amaximum 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 data stores. Converged Systemscurrently support a maximum of 256 NFS data stores 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

Virtual networking in the Advanced Management Platform uses the VMware Virtual Standard Switch.Virtual networking is managed by either the Cisco Nexus 1000V distributed virtual switch or VMwarevSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). The Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch ensures consistent, policy-based network capabilities to all servers in the data center by allowing policies to move with a VM duringlive migration. This provides persistent network, security, and storage compliance.

Alternatively, virtual networking in Converged Systems is managed by VMware VDS with comparablefeatures to the Cisco Nexus 1000V where applicable. The VMware VDS option consists of both aVMware VSS and a VMware VDS and uses a minimum of four uplinks presented to the hypervisor.

The implementation of Cisco Nexus 1000V for VMware vSphere 5.5 and VMware VDS for VMwarevSphere 5.5 use intelligent network Class of Service (CoS) marking and Quality of Service (QoS) policiesto appropriately shape network traffic according to workload type and priority. With VMware vSphere 6.0,QoS is set to Default (Trust Host). The vNICs are equally distributed across all available physical adapterports to ensure redundancy and maximum bandwidth where appropriate. This provides generalconsistency and balance across all Cisco UCS blade models, regardless of the Cisco UCS VirtualInterface Card (VIC) hardware. Thus, VMware vSphere ESXi has a predictable uplink interface count. Allapplicable VLANs, native VLANs, MTU settings, and QoS policies are assigned to the virtual networkinterface cards (vNICs) to ensure consistency in case the uplinks need to be migrated to the VMwarevSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) after manufacturing.

Virtual networks (VMware vSphere 6.5)

Virtual networking in the AMP-2S uses standard virtual switches and the Cisco Nexus 1000V is notcurrently supported on the 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 a

33 | Virtualization layer

VMware 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 VIC hardware. Thus, VMware vSphere ESXi has apredictable uplink interface count. All applicable VLANs, native VLANs, MTU settings, and QoS policiesare assigned to the vNIC to ensure consistency in case the uplinks need to be migrated to the VMwareVDS after manufacturing.

VMware vCenter Server (vSphere 5.5 and 6.0)VMware vCenter Server is the central management point for the hypervisors and VMs.

VMware vCenter is installed on a 64-bit Windows Server. VMware Update Manager is installed on a 64-bitWindows Server and runs as a service to assist with host patch management.

VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:

• Cloning of VMs

• Template creation

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

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

VMware vCenter Server also provides monitoring and alerting capabilities for hosts and VMs. Systemadministrators can create and apply alarms to all managed objects in VMware vCenter Server, including:

• 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 back-end database that supports VMware vCenter Server and VUM is the remote Microsoft SQLServer 2008 (VMware vSphere 5.1) and Microsoft SQL 2012 (VMware vSphere 5.5/6.0). The SQL Serverservice can be configured to use a dedicated service account.

Authentication

VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service integrates multiple identity sources including Active Directory,Open LDAP, and local accounts for authentication. VMware SSO is available in VMware vSphere 5.x andlater. VMware vCenter Server, Inventory, Web Client, SSO, Core Dump Collector, and VUM run asseparate Windows services, which can be configured to use a dedicated service account depending onsecurity and directory services requirements.


Dell EMC supported features

Dell EMC supports the following VMware vCenter Server features:

• VMware SSO Service (version 5.x and later)

• 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: Layer 3 capability available for compute resources (version 6.0 and higher)

• VMware Storage vMotion

• Raw Device Maps

• 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 Services

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 Platform Service Controller

• 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 overviewThe Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) provides a single management point for ConvergedSystems.

For Converged Systems, the AMP-2 provides the ability 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 management software to install, operate, andsupport the Converged System. This includes all hypervisor management, element managers, virtualnetworking components, and Vision Intelligent Operations Software.

The Dell EMC optional management workload is non-core management workloads supported andinstalled by Dell EMC, whose primary purpose is to manage components in the Converged System. Thelist includes, but is not limited to Dell EMC Data Protection, security, or storage management tools suchas Avamar Administrator, InsightIQ for Isilon, and VMware vCNS appliances (vShield Edge/Manager).

Management hardware componentsAMP-2 is available in multiple configurations that use their own resources to run workloads withoutconsuming resources on the Converged System.

The following list shows the operational relationship between the Cisco UCS Servers and VMwarevSphere versions:

• Converged Systems with Cisco UCS C240 M3 servers are configured with VMware vSphere 6.0.

• Converged Systems with Cisco UCS C2x0 M4 servers are configured with VMware vSphere 6.x.

The following table describes the various AMP-2 options:

AMP-2 option Number of Cisco UCSC2x0 servers

Storage Description

AMP-2HA Baseline 2 • FlexFlash SD forVMware vSphere ESXiboot

• VNXe3200 with FastCache for VM datastores

Provides HA/DRSfunctionality and sharedstorage using theVNXe3200.

Management | 38

AMP-2 option Number of Cisco UCSC2x0 servers

Storage Description

AMP-2HA Performance 3 • FlexFlash SD forVMware vSphere ESXiboot

• VNXe3200 with FastCache for VM datastores

Adds additional computecapacity with a third serverand storage performancewith the inclusion of FASTVP.

AMP-2S 2 - 12 • FlexFlash SD forVMware vSphere ESXiboot

• VNXe3200 with FastCache and FAST VPfor VM data stores

Provides scalabilityconfiguration using CiscoUCS C220 Servers andadditional storageexpansion capacity.

AMP-2S is supported on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers with VMware vSphere 6.x.

Management software components (vSphere 5.5 and 6.0)The Advanced Management Platform (AMP-2) is delivered with specific installed software componentsthat depend on the selected Release Certification Matrix (RCM).

The following components are installed:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Standard x64

• 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

For VMware vSphere 6.0, the preferred instance is created using VMware vSpherevCenter Server Appliance. An alternate instance may be created using the Windowsversion. Only one of these options can be implemented. For VMware vSphere 5.5,only VMware vSphere vCenter with Windows is supported.

• VMware vCenter Database using Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard Edition

39 | Management

• VMware vCenter Update Manager (VUM) - Integrated with VMware vCenter Server Appliance

For VMware vSphere 6.0, the preferred configuration (with VMware vSphere vCenterServer Appliance) embeds the SQL server on the same VM as the VUM. The alternateconfiguration leverages the remote SQL server with VMware vCenter Server onWindows. Only one of these options can be implemented.

• VMware vSphere client

• VMware vSphere Syslog Service (optional)

• VMware vSphere Core Dump Service (optional)


• PowerPath/VE Management Appliance (PPMA)

• Secure Remote Support (SRS)

• Array management modules, including but not limited to Unisphere for VMAX

• 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).

Management | 40

The following components are installed:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Standard x64

• 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

For VMware vSphere 6.5, only the VMware vSphere vCenter Server Appliancedeployment model is offered.

• VMware vCenter Update Manager (VUM – Integrated with vCenter Server Appliance)

• VMware Host client (HTML5 based)

The legacy C# client (aka thick client, desktop client, or vSphere Client) will no longerbe available with the vSphere 6.5 release. vSphere Client (HTML5) has a subset of thefeatures available in the vSphere Web Client

• VMware Host client (HTML5 based)

• VMware vSphere Syslog Service (optional)

• VMware vSphere Core Dump Service (optional)


• PowerPath/VE Management Appliance (PPMA)

• Secure Remote Support (ESRS)

• Array management modules, including but not limited to ExtremIO Management Server

• Cisco Prime Data Center Network Manager and Device Manager (DCNM)

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

Management network connectivityConverged Systems offer several types of AMP network connectivity and server assignments.

41 | Management

AMP-2S network connectivity with Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers with VMware vSphere 6.0

The following illustration shows the network connectivity for the AMP-2S on the Cisco UCS C220 M4servers:

AMP-2S server assignments with Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers with VMware vSphere 6.0

The following illustration shows the VM server assignments for AMP-2S on the Cisco UCS C220 M4servers. This configuration implements the default VMware vCenter Server configuration using the

Management | 42

VMware 6.0 vCenter Server Appliance and VMware Update Manager with embedded MS SQL Serverdatabase:

43 | Management

The following illustration shows the VM server assignments for AMP-2S on the Cisco UCS C2x20 M4servers, which implements the alternate VMware vCenter Servers configuration, using the VMware 6.0vCenter Server, Database Servers, and VMware Update Manager:

Converged Systems that use VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) do not include the Cisco Nexus1000V VSM VMs.

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

Management | 44

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:

45 | Management

Management | 46

AMP-2HA network connectivity on Cisco UCS C240 M3 servers

The following illustration shows the network connectivity for AMP-2HA on the Cisco UCS C240 M3servers:

47 | Management

AMP-2HA server assignments with Cisco UCS C240 M3 servers

The following illustration shows the VM server assignment for AMP-2HA with Cisco UCS C240 M3servers:

Management | 48

AMP-2S network connectivity on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers with VMware vSphere 5.5

The following illustration shows the network connectivity for AMP-2S on Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers:

49 | Management

AMP-2S server assignments with Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers with VMware vSphere 5.5

The following illustration shows the VM server assignment for AMP-2S with Cisco UCS C220 M4 servers:

Management | 50

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.

51 | Sample configurations

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.

Sample VxBlock and Vblock Systems 740 with VMAX 400KElevations are provided for sample purposes only. For specifications for a specific design, consult yourvArchitect.

VMAX array cabinets are excluded from the sample elevations.

Sample configurations | 52

Cabinet 1


Cabinet 2




Cabinet 1


Cabinet 2




Cabinet 1


Cabinet 2


Additional referencesReferences to related documentation for virtualization, compute, network and storage components areprovided.

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/

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.


59 | Additional references





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 Nexus 5000 Series Switches Simplifies data center transformationby enabling a standards-based, high-performance unified fabric.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-5000-series-switches/index.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 3064-T Switch Provides management access to allConverged System componentsusing vPC technology to increaseredundancy and scalability.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-3064-t-switch/model.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

Additional references | 60




































Storage componentsStorage component information and links to documentation are provided.


VMAX 400K Delivers industry-leadingperformance, scale, and efficiencyfor hybrid cloud environments.

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/specification-sheet/h13217-vmax3-ss.pdf

VMAX 200K Dell EMC high-end storage array thatdelivers infrastructure services in thenext generation data center. Built forreliability, availability, and scalability,VMAX 200K uses specializedengines, each of which includes tworedundant director modules providingparallel access and replicated copiesof all critical data.


VMAX 100K Delivers full enterprise-classavailability, data integrity, andsecurity.


VMAX All Flash Provides high-density flash storage. https://support.emc.com/products/40306_VMAX-All-Flash

61 | Additional references










https://support.emc.com/products/40306_VMAX-All-Flash

https://support.emc.com/products/40306_VMAX-All-Flash

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 © 2014-2018 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 April 2018.

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

Copyright | 62

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