Vblock™ System 100 Technology Overview...The Vblock System 100 is available in two models: Vblock 100 model BX and Vblock 100 model DX. Both models provide built-in expansion capability

© 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

VBLOCK™ SYSTEM 100

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

Version 1.0

February 2013

© 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2

Copyright © 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

VCE believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to

change without notice.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS.” VCE MAKES NO

REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN

THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR

MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4

Business Case ........................................................................................................................ 4

Solution .................................................................................................................................. 4

Scope ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Audience................................................................................................................................. 5

Feedback ................................................................................................................................ 5

Technology overview ............................................................................................................... 6

Hardware ............................................................................................................................. 7

Software .............................................................................................................................. 7

Compute ................................................................................................................................. 8

Network .................................................................................................................................. 8

Storage ................................................................................................................................... 8

Virtualization ..........................................................................................................................10

Management ..........................................................................................................................11

Building-block platform ...........................................................................................................11

Specifications ........................................................................................................................11

Physical ..............................................................................................................................11

Power .................................................................................................................................12

Use cases ................................................................................................................................13

Manufacturing .....................................................................................................................13

SharePoint for distributed locations ....................................................................................13

Advanced features ..................................................................................................................14

Systems management ...........................................................................................................14

Security .................................................................................................................................15

Data protection ......................................................................................................................15

VCE™ Support ......................................................................................................................16

Summary .................................................................................................................................17

Vblock™ Qualified Partners ...................................................................................................17

Next Steps .............................................................................................................................17


Introduction

Business Case

Converged infrastructure represents a cultural shift in information technology (IT). Gone are the days

when the CIO focused on sourcing, deploying, managing, and supporting a data center with individual

components from a variety of vendors. Also gone are the countless hours devoted to stack integration,

application testing and validation, software and firmware updates, and workload and capacity

balancing. These developments increasingly allow IT departments to quickly and easily deploy

business-critical applications as a strategic partner in the business.

As the strategic and financial benefits of converged infrastructure become clear in larger enterprises,

mid-market companies and enterprises with distributed locations are now looking for similar

performance in a converged infrastructure solution that provides business value and predictable

performance in a right-sized footprint, without sacrificing the repeatability, standardization, and

simplified management of larger enterprise solutions. In the past, smaller converged infrastructure

deployments for midsized data centers and distributed locations were difficult and expensive to set up

and maintain. To be successful, a midsized converged infrastructure IT solution must support

applications and provide features typically found in larger converged infrastructure deployments, in a

footprint well-suited to smaller enterprises. Such a solution must:

Deliver core IT services like Microsoft Exchange for messaging, Microsoft SharePoint for

collaboration, VMware Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI), and core IT services such as file, print,

and domain services

Offer standardized systems that address a broad range of distributed and stand-alone

deployments with predictable performance and high availability

Provide improvements in capital and operating expenditures, with faster time-to-value

Arrive pre-engineered, pre-validated, and pretested with simplified systems management,

security, and data protection

Solution

VCE's Vblock Systems family, the only suite of converged infrastructure systems based on a single

architecture, includes best-in-class components and is codified with best-practice-based repeatable

processes.

Vblock Systems are characterized by:

Streamlined configuration and ordering for single-source accountability of industry-leading

technologies

VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations, which enables and simplifies converged operations by

dynamically informing existing data center management tools about Vblock Systems, providing

a single-object perspective on Vblock Systems and facilitating standardization

Built-in high availability for industry-best system uptime and reliability

Simplified support with single accountability for fastest time-to-resolution


The Vblock™ System 100 brings the power and benefits of the Vblock Systems family into a value-

focused solution for midsized data centers and enterprise distributed locations. Leveraging the Vblock

System 100, companies can, for the first time, address their capacity and workload requirements while

still enjoying the repeatability, standardization, and business results synonymous with the Vblock

Systems family.

Right-sized to fit within a typical footprint, the Vblock System 100 is the same architecture as larger,

modular Vblock Systems in a value-focused solution pre-engineered for faster deployment. The

system is specifically built to:

Deliver core IT services for remote and distributed locations in such specialized industries as

health care, multinational, and advanced manufacturing verticals

Offer core IT services and application support for file, print, and domain services; VDI,

communications, and collaboration

Run local instances of typical business application in remote locations or within midsized data

centers with business segregation requirements such as eDiscovery, eArchive, and more

Scope

This paper provides a high-level overview of the Vblock System 100, with specific discussion of

systems management, security, data replication, and VCE Support.

Audience

This paper addresses business decision makers in technical, financial, operational, line-of-business,

and strategic positions considering virtualized IT infrastructures in midsized and distributed location

environments.

Feedback

To suggest documentation changes and provide feedback on this paper, send email to

[email protected]. Include the name of this paper, the name of the topic to which your comment

applies, and your feedback.


Technology overview

The Vblock System 100 offers predefined, fixed packages that address a broad range of distributed

and stand-alone business cases. The purpose-built system can fit within a small footprint, and can be

made fully operational in a matter of days.

Vblock System 100 provides predictable metrics around business applications to address the unique

customer requirements of the midsized data center and enterprise remote locations with the right

components. Vblock 100 provides:

Compute resources with up to eight servers

Input/output operations per second (IOPS) from 720 to 6K,optimized for intensive I/O workloads

Drives recovering more usable storage of up to 16 TB

VDI support for 50–200 users

Messaging support up to 10,000 mailboxes

Collaboration work spaces for up to 400 SharePoint users

The Vblock System 100 is available in two models: Vblock 100 model BX and Vblock 100 model DX.

Both models provide built-in expansion capability to meet customer scalability needs and are self-

contained in a single cabinet for ease of deployment. There is no multi-cabinet configuration.

The major difference between the Vblock 100 BX and Vblock 100 DX is not with processing power but

with the amount of memory for each of the Cisco UCS C220 M3 Servers: the Vblock 100 BX has 48

GB of memory for each server and the Vblock 100 DX has 96 GB for each server.

Due to the number of servers the Vblock 100 DX requires, it has a greater number of switch ports

from the IP switches, which are used for both storage connectivity and customer network aggregation

layer connectivity.


Hardware

The Vblock 100 BX and Vblock 100 DX come with the following hardware:

Layer Vblock 100 BX Vblock 100 DX

Cabinet 24RU 42RU

Compute UCS C220 M3 Rack Servers (2x 2.50 GHz E5-2640 processor, 64 GB memory)

UCS C220 M3 Rack Servers (2x 2.50 GHz E5-2640 processor, 96 GB memory)

Network Catalyst 3750 (24 ports) Catalyst 3750 (48 ports)

Storage VNXe 3150 Dual (iSCSI and NFS)

DPE–SAS (4 TB usable; 2 x 600 GB SAS 4+1 RAID 5 pack + 1 x 600 GB hot spare + 1x 2 TB hot spare)

DAE–SAS (4 TB usable; 2 x 600 GB SAS 4+1 RAID 5 pack + 1 x 600 GB hot spare + 1 x 2 TB hot spare)

DAE–NL-SAS (14TB usable; 2 x 2 TB NL-SAS 4+2 RAID6 pack)

VNXe 3300 Dual (iSCSI and NFS)

DPE–SAS (6 TB usable; 2 x 600 GB SAS 6+1 RAID 5 pack + 1 x 600 GB hot spare)

DAE–SAS (6 TB usable; 2 x 600 GB SAS 6+1 RAID 5 pack + 1 x 600 GB hot spare)

DAE–NL-SAS (14 TB usable; 2 x 2 TB NL-SAS 4+2 RAID 6 pack + 1 x 2 TB hot spare)

Software

Both Vblock System 100 models come pre-configured with the following software:

Layer Software Version

Network Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch 1

Storage VNXe OS 2.1.1.14913

VNXe Unisphere v1.6.1

VNXe Connection Utility v1.6.1

VSI plug-in 5.0

Virtualization VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus 5.x

5.x

vCenter Standard 5.x

VMware Update Manager 5.x

SQL database Windows Server 2008 R2

Management VCE Logical AMP


Compute

The Cisco UCS C220 M3 Rack Server is a high-density, two-socket, one–rack unit rack-mount server

designed for performance and density over a wide range of business workloads. The enterprise-class

C220 Server is an exceptional building block and entry point for UCS. The Vblock 100 BX is available

in two configurations, with three C220 Servers. The Vblock 100 DX is available in six configurations,

with three to eight C220 Servers. Each C220 contains two processors and six cores per processor, for

a total of twelve cores. The Vblock 100 BX has 64 GB memory per server, and the Vblock 100 DX has

96 GB memory per server.

Virtualized deployments require VMware ESXi server installation on the Vblock System 100. A Vblock

100 DX can support up to a maximum of 50% bare-metal installation and must have minimum three

servers configured as VMware ESXi hosts.

Network

Cisco Catalyst 3750 v2 Series Switches are next-generation energy-efficient Layer 3 Fast Ethernet

stackable switches. The Catalyst 3750 consumes less power than its predecessors and is an ideal

access layer for enterprise distributed offices and midsized data center environments. It helps

increase productivity and protects your network investment by providing a unified network for data,

voice, and video.

Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches provide policy-based network connectivity within the vSphere

environment to allow consistent network provisioning from the virtual machine layer to the data center.

Developed in close collaboration with VMware, the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series is compatible with

VMware vSphere, vCenter, ESX and ESXi, and many other vSphere features. You can use the Cisco

Nexus 1000V Series to manage your virtual machine connectivity with confidence in the integrity of

the server virtualization infrastructure.

Storage

The EMC VNXe Series Unified Storage Systems provides an affordable iSCSI-based unified storage

platform ideal for midsized data centers and distributed offices:

Virtual provisioning simplifies and accelerates processes and delivers just-in-time capacity

allocation and improved utilization.

File deduplication conserves storage resources by allowing multiple files to share the same data.

Compression uses variable, bit-level intra-object deduplication to improve storage efficiency.


The Vblock System 100 is available in performance and general purpose configurations. Performance

configurations rely exclusively on SAS drives; general purpose configurations combine SAS and NL-

SAS, which increases capacity and reduces cost.

C220 Servers Usable storage (TB)

SAS NL-SAS Total

Vblock 100 BX

3 server performance 4 14 24

3 server general 4 14 18

Vblock 100 DX







The Vblock 100 BX uses VNXe 3150, and the Vblock 100 DX uses VNXe 3300, with the following

specifications:

Item VNXe 3150 Vblock 100 BX

VNXe 3300 Vblock 100 DX

Max. drives 100 150

I/O slots 2

Storage processors 2

Memory 8 GB / storage processor 12 GB / storage processor

Base software Unisphere

File deduplication and compression

Thin provisioning

Snapshot

Local protection suite

Unisphere

File deduplication and compression

Thin provisioning

Drive types SAS

NL-SAS

Protocols NFS

iSCSI


Drives are configured in RAID 5 or RAID 6 protection schemes. RAID 5 offers the best mix of

performance, protection, and economy. RAID 6 offers increased protection and read performance

comparable to RAID 5.

RAID protection level Number of drives per RAID pack

RAID 5 Vblock 100 BX: 5 (4+1)

Vblock 100 DX: 7 (6+1)

RAID 6 6 (4 drives + 2 parity)

Virtualization

VMware vSphere virtualization simplifies your IT footprint and maximizes utilization of the Vblock

System infrastructure. With it, you can allow multiple virtual machines to share the computing,

networking, and storage resources of a single physical machine. vSphere provides application

availability with built-in business continuity features, policy-based service-level management, and

integrated network security and firewall protection.

The core components of VMware vSphere are the ESXi Hypervisor and vCenter Server. Hypervisors

are deployed in cluster configurations: up to three nodes in the Vblock 100 BX and up to eight nodes

in the Vblock 100 DX. These clusters allow dynamic allocation of CPU, memory, and storage

resources; as well as workload mobility using VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

The Vblock System 100 includes a dedicated VMware vCenter instance, which allows you to clone

virtual machines, create templates, and configure the vSphere Distributed Resources Scheduler and

VMware vSphere HA clusters. Distributed Resource Scheduler continuously monitors utilization

across vSphere Servers and intelligently allocates available resources among virtual machines, which

aligns resources with needs, balances computing capacity, and reduces power consumption.

VCE supports the following VMware vCenter Server features:

VMware vSphere High Availability (HA)

VMware vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)

VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

Resource pools

Storage DRS (capacity only)

Storage Driven Profiles (user-defined only)

VMware syslog service

VMware coredump collector

VMware vCenter Web Services


Management

The Advanced Management Pod (AMP), a key differentiator in the converged infrastructure space,

hosts all of the software used to manage the virtual infrastructure. The Vblock System 100 uses a

cost-effective Logical AMP (L-AMP), which resides in virtual machines on the Vblock System 100 and

hosts native element managers for all Vblock System 100 components. The L-AMP includes:

Cisco Integrated Management Console for each Cisco UCS C220 Server, for direct server

management

EMC Unisphere for flexible, integrated VNXe storage array management at both the file and

block level

Vblock Monitor for managing Vblock System components and sharing their performance

metrics with your network management system

VMware vSphere Client on an element manager virtual machine, providing a single access

point for all management interfaces and the Vblock Monitor OS

Building-block platform

Vblock Systems are pre-defined in fixed configurations that are right-sized to meet a range of capacity,

workload, and space requirements, abstracting away the complexity of countless options while

tailoring a solution to your needs. All Vblock Systems are designed and built using best-of-breed

equipment from Cisco, EMC, and VMware:

Cisco C220 Servers

Cisco 3750 Network Switches

EMC VNXe Storage

VMware vSphere

Specifications

Physical

Dimension Vblock 100 BX Vblock 100 DX

Rack size 24RU 42RU

Weight (pounds) 915 1,271

Height (inches) 49 80

Width (inches) 24 24

Depth (inches) 42 42

Power (watts) 4,570 6,790


Power

Power configurations are available for customers inside and outside of North America. Power outlet

units (POU) allow remote power management through a standard web browser, using a permanent IP

address for each POU.

Item North America Outside of North America

Japan

Plug NEMA L6-30P IEC 60309, splashproof JIS C8303 L6-30P

Power spec. Single-phase 30A 208V Single-phase 32A 230V Single-phase 30A 208V

POUs per cabinet 2 2 2


Use cases

Use cases for the Vblock System 100 include:

Customers who have deployed and are standardizing on the Vblock System 300 and Vblock

System 700 in their data centers and want to simplify and streamline their distributed

deployments

Organizations extending standard line-of-business applications from the enterprise data center

such as Exchange for messaging, VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, collaboration using

Microsoft SharePoint or Cisco’s Unified Communications, as well as small-database support and

web/file share and print servers

Manufacturing

Situation

This major player in the manufacture of chemicals required rapid deployment of a standardized

system to deliver core IT services to its manufacturing plants after its acquisition of a global specialty

chemicals company. The company needed to get their infrastructure in place as fast as possible to set

up VDI solutions for its employees and clients.

Solution

The company purchased 26 Vblock System 100 units consisting of a variety of Vblock 100 BX units to

meet the specific site requirements. At least one site received multiple Vblock 100 DX units because

of the large number of employees at that site.

Business benefits

Provided VDI solutions for distributed locations worldwide

Rapid deployment of multiple units globally in a short time frame

Consistent application performance

SharePoint for distributed locations

The Vblock Solution for Microsoft SharePoint in Remote and Branch Offices (go to www.vce.com)

describes and validates the virtualization and unified management technologies for easily installing,

configuring, and managing a distributed SharePoint deployment on a Vblock 100 DX. This solution

achieved sustained high performance and availability across the 500-, 2000-, and 5000-user bands,

with browse, search, and modify operations all significantly faster than Microsoft’s acceptable user

response times. This solution also shared VCE design considerations for cost-effective sizing and

scaling. With this validated solution, customers are able to optimize their IT infrastructure and quickly

deploy valuable SharePoint resources in a high-performing and secure environment.

http://www.vce.com/


Advanced features

Systems management

VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations enables and simplifies converged operations. The software acts

as a mediation layer between Vblock Systems and existing data center management tools,

dynamically informing those tools about Vblock Systems. It delivers intelligent discovery to provide a

single-object perspective on Vblock systems. Comprehensive awareness of the industry-leading

components that comprise Vblock Systems promotes infrastructure standardization through

automated validation and system assurance. And integration capabilities make it possible to provide

this level of intelligence to any toolset. The software has native integration with key management

products from VMware, and supports API-enabled integration into other standard industry tools.

VCE Vision™ software has six new software capabilities for Vblock systems:

Discovery: Ensuring management tools constantly reflect the most current state of Vblock stems

Identification: Enabling the converged system view

Validation: Providing system assurance.

Health monitoring: Expediting diagnosis and remediation

Logging: Promoting rapid troubleshooting

Open API: Simplifying integration

The software is delivered pre-installed on all new Vblock Systems, and includes:

The VCE Vision™ System Library that runs on all Vblock Systems to implement core

functionality including the discovery, compliance, and object models

A plug-in for vCenter and an adapter for vCenter Operations Manager that enable native

integration with these two key components of the VMware management toolset

A software development kit, which includes the API documentation, sample code, Java bindings

and a simulator, as well as an online developer community to help foster innovation


Security

Enterprises large and small are moving quickly to take advantage of the financial and operational

efficiency of virtualized, cloud infrastructures. The adoption of cloud technologies has created a new,

dynamic security landscape that IT organizations must now manage while integrating existing risk

management policies. Vblock Systems support compliance with common industry and government

standards, before and after installation. VCE follows industry best practices to maximize out-of-the-

box security while minimizing operational impact by applying hardening standards in the following

areas:

ESXi host hardening

- Configuring remote syslog

- Configuring NTP time synchronization

- Enabling the ESXi firewall

Securing virtual machines

- SQL database server

- vCenter Server

- vCenter Update Manager

Securing the virtual network

Data protection

Today, many organizations have geographically dispersed sites that locally create, process, and store

data. Loss of data at any site could result in economic loss for the organization and must be

continually protected to ensure the organization functions smoothly. Protecting the organization’s data

assets for business continuity, governance, compliance, and security is fast becoming a high priority.

In the past, organizations have struggled to manage tape backups for data protection. Tape backups

are slow, failure-prone, vulnerable to loss, and require offsite storage to be safe from natural disasters,

security breaches, or sabotage. Further, with the rise in data demands, tape backups are increasingly

time-consuming and expensive, and incremental backup strategies to address these problems make

restoration difficult and time-consuming. Customers consolidating their IT infrastructure need a data

protection strategy that is quick, affordable, and easily managed from central and local sites.

Data protection is a critical element of the comprehensive effort for developing the Vblock Systems.

VCE’s preferred data protection methodologies leverage proven, industry-leading components from

EMC and VMware that are integrated into a seamless solution from VCE. The VCE data protection

strategy encompasses three main tenants:

Simplified data protection in a virtualized environment

Complete end-to-end data protection covering all aspects from the Vblock Systems

infrastructure to customer workloads

Flexible, state-of-the-art data protection for new deployments, along with preserving legacy data

protection system investments


Data protection on Vblock Systems is pre-architected, easy to deploy, and easy to manage.

Deduplication allows you to perform full backups in a fraction of the time required by traditional backup

solutions, facilitating remote backups over your existing network within tight backup windows with

headroom for future growth. Tight integration with vCenter and backup agents for applications like

Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint provide backup and restore options that optimize

servers and ensure faster application-consistent recovery.

VCE™ Support

VCE Support complements the strategy of deploying a converged infrastructure solution with a

support experience that dramatically simplifies the support process while proactively identifying and

resolving issues. VCE Support ensures the coordination of technical support resources spanning all

aspects of Vblock Systems, including the proper functioning and integration of components from

Cisco, EMC, and VMware.

The VCE Support portfolio provides customers with flexibility in choosing the level of support that best

aligns with their business objectives. The entry point for Vblock Systems includes VCE™ Core

Support. Customers have the option of upgrading to VCE™ Plus Support or VCE™ Premier Support

for an additional fee:

VCE Core Support

24x7 support through VCEConnect

VNXe Unisphere self-service capabilities

Dial-home support provided by EMC and Cisco

24x7x4 on-site parts replacement

Web access to customer installable software and firmware updates

VCE Plus Support

Designated Customer Advocate

Monthly service request review, analysis, and trending

Semiannual health check report, remote change support, operations review, entitlement review,

and contract gap analysis

Annual code currency planning and implementation

VCE Premier Support

Dedicated, high-touch Customer Advocate

Strategic support relationship

Weekly service request review, analysis, and trending

Semiannual health check report, and code currency planning and implementation

Quarterly remote change support, operations and entitlement reviews, and contract gap analysis


Summary

Vblock System 100 brings enterprise performance and high availability to midsize data centers and

distributed locations with systems suitable for supplying core IT services and business-critical

applications with existing staff and skillsets. Vblock Systems streamline configuration, ordering, and

support with a single point of contact for each. Vblock Systems are built on a consistent platform

across the product line with superior compute and network components from Cisco, storage

components from EMC, and virtualization software from VMware, making integration with larger

Vblock Systems convenient and easy for distributed locations. Vblock Systems offers companies the

ability to offer enterprise IT services at any scale.

Vblock™ Qualified Partners

Vblock Systems are primarily available from Vblock Qualified Partners, who:

Reduce delivery time from months to days with pre-engineered, tested, and validated solutions

that reduce implementation costs and risks

Offer customers outstanding expertise, adaptability, and industry best practices in developing,

deploying, implementing, and supporting converged Infrastructure solutions

Deliver strategic, customized solutions faster by applying their intimate understanding of their

customer’s business and IT requirements to leverage the power of the Vblock Systems for

maximum performance and ROI

Next Steps

To learn more about this and other solutions, contact a VCE representative or visit www.vce.com.

http://www.vce.com/

ABOUT VCE

VCE, formed by Cisco and EMC with investments from VMware and Intel, accelerates the adoption of converged infrastructure and

cloud-based computing models that dramatically reduce the cost of IT while improving time to market for our customers. VCE,

through the Vblock Systems, delivers the industry's only fully integrated and fully virtualized cloud infrastructure system. VCE

solutions are available through an extensive partner network, and cover horizontal applications, vertical industry offerings, and

application development environments, allowing customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating, validating, and

managing IT infrastructure.

For more information, go to http://www.vce.com.

Copyright © 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All rights reserved. Vblock and the VCE logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of VCE Company, LLC and/or its affiliates in the United States or other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.


ContentsIntroductionBusiness CaseSolutionScopeAudienceFeedback

Technology overviewHardwareSoftwareComputeNetworkStorageVirtualizationManagementBuilding-block platformSpecificationsPhysicalPower

Use casesManufacturingSituationSolutionBusiness benefits

SharePoint for distributed locations

Advanced featuresSystems managementSecurityData protectionVCE™ SupportVCE Core SupportVCE Plus SupportVCE Premier Support

SummaryVblock™ Qualified PartnersNext Steps

Documents

Vblock™ System 100 Technology Overview...The Vblock System 100 is available in two models: Vblock 100 model BX and Vblock 100 model DX. Both models provide built-in expansion capability