VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview...Vblock System 100 models are entry-level Vblock Systems designed to meet the needs of regional and branch office environments

1 © 2012 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Revision history

VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Document revision 2.0 February 2013

© 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

www.vce.com


Revision history VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Revision history

Date Vblock System Document revision Author Description of changes

February 2013 Gen 2.0 2.0 Sandy Guardiani Gen 2.0 release


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Table of contents

Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 5

Accessing VCE documentation ................................................................................................................. 6

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Vblock™ System 100 overview .............................................................................................................. 7 Base configurations and scaling ............................................................................................................. 9 Connectivity overview ........................................................................................................................... 10

Virtualization .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Virtualization overview .......................................................................................................................... 11 VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi ....................................................................................................... 11

Cluster configuration ...................................................................................................................... 11 Datastores ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Virtual networks .............................................................................................................................. 11

VMware vCenter Server ....................................................................................................................... 12 Databases ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Authentication ................................................................................................................................ 12 VCE supported features ................................................................................................................. 13

Storage features ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Data protection software ....................................................................................................................... 14 Storage features support ...................................................................................................................... 14

File deduplication ........................................................................................................................... 14 Compression .................................................................................................................................. 14 Snapshot ........................................................................................................................................ 15

EMC Secure Remote Support .............................................................................................................. 15

Compute layer hardware .......................................................................................................................... 16 Cisco UCS C220 server ....................................................................................................................... 16 Scaling up compute resources ............................................................................................................. 16 Bare metal support ............................................................................................................................... 17

Storage layer hardware ............................................................................................................................ 18 EMC VNXe Series storage arrays ........................................................................................................ 18

Windows 2008 ................................................................................................................................ 18 Scaling up storage resources ........................................................................................................ 18

Disk array enclosures (DAE) ................................................................................................................ 19 Capacity and performance DAEs ................................................................................................... 19 Number of DAEs in the Vblock System ......................................................................................... 19

Network layer hardware ............................................................................................................................ 20 Networking components ....................................................................................................................... 20


Table of contents VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Vblock System 100 .................................................................................................................................... 21 Vblock System 100 model comparison ................................................................................................ 21 Cabinets ................................................................................................................................................ 21 Vblock 100 DX ...................................................................................................................................... 22

Vblock 100 DX configurations ........................................................................................................ 22 Vblock 100 DX storage .................................................................................................................. 22 100DX-3P configuration ................................................................................................................. 25 100DX-3G configuration................................................................................................................. 26 100DX-6P configuration ................................................................................................................. 27 100DX-6G configuration................................................................................................................. 28 100DX-8P configuration ................................................................................................................. 29 100DX-8G configuration................................................................................................................. 30

Vblock 100 BX ...................................................................................................................................... 31 Vblock 100 BX configurations ........................................................................................................ 31 Vblock 100 BX storage................................................................................................................... 31 100BX-3P configuration ................................................................................................................. 33 100BX-3G configuration ................................................................................................................. 33

Power options ....................................................................................................................................... 34 North America power options ......................................................................................................... 34 Outside of North America (EMEA) power options ......................................................................... 34 Japan power options ...................................................................................................................... 34

Additional references ............................................................................................................................... 35 References overview ............................................................................................................................ 35 Virtualization components .................................................................................................................... 35 Compute components .......................................................................................................................... 35 Network components ............................................................................................................................ 36 Storage components ............................................................................................................................ 36


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Introduction

Introduction

The Vblock™ System from VCE is the world's most advanced converged infrastructure—one that optimizes infrastructure, lowers costs, secures the environment, simplifies management, speeds deployment, and promotes innovation. The Vblock System is designed as one architecture that spans the entire portfolio, includes best-in-class components, offers a single point of contact from initiation through support, and provides the industry's most robust range of configurations.

The Vblock System 100 is right-sized to meet the capacity, workload, and space requirements of midsize data centers and distributed enterprise remote offices. By leveraging the Vblock 100, companies experience the repeatability, architecture standardization, and business results synonymous with Vblock Systems.

With pre-defined fixed configurations, the Vblock 100 is designed to:

• Bring the power and benefits of the Vblock System family into a value-focused solution

• Deliver core IT services (file/print and domain) for midsize data centers and distributed enterprise remote locations in industries such as health care and advanced manufacturing

• Offer dedicated local instance business application support including VDI, SharePoint, and Exchange

• Provide predictable performance and operational characteristics

This document describes the high-level design of Vblock 100. This document also describes the hardware and software components that VCE includes in Vblock 100.

The target audience for this document includes sales engineers, field consultants, advanced services specialists, and customers who want to deploy a virtualized infrastructure using Vblock 100.

The VCE Glossary provides terms, definitions, and acronyms that are related to Vblock Systems. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

To suggest documentation changes and provide feedback on this book, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Include the name of the topic to which your feedback applies.

mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Documentation%20Feedback&body=Document:%20ArchOverviewSystem100Please%20provide%20your%20comments:


Accessing VCE documentation VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Accessing VCE documentation

Select the documentation resource that applies to your role:

Role Resource

Customer support.vce.com A valid username and password are required.

VCE Partner www.vcepartnerportal.com/resourcelib-vce.asp?loc=331 A valid username and password are required.

Cisco, EMC, VCE, or VMware employee www.vceportal.com/solutions/68580567.html VCE employee www.vceview.com/solutions/products/

or vblockproductdocs.ent.vce.com

http://support.vce.com/http://www.vcepartnerportal.com/resourcelib-vce.asp?loc=331http://www.vceportal.com/solutions/68580567.htmlhttp://www.vceview.com/solutions/products/http://vblockproductdocs.ent.vce.com/


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Overview

Overview

Vblock™ System 100 overview

Vblock System 100 models are entry-level Vblock Systems designed to meet the needs of regional and branch office environments. Large numbers of remote office branch office sites can be deployed near the end users to provide computing resources locally to reduce latency and bandwidth costs.

Vblock 100 can run different types of applications such as virtual desktops, communication, and collaboration. Vblock 100 models have the following features:

• Optimized, fast delivery configurations based on the most commonly purchased components

• Common power solution across all Vblock 100 cabinets with domestic and international options

• New array software for replication and reporting

Each Vblock 100 model contains the following key hardware and software components:

Resource Components

Management • EMC VNXe Unisphere • EMC Local Protection Suite • EMC ESRS • Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) • VMware vCenter Server • VMware Update Manager • VMware vSphere Infrastructure Client

Virtualization VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus Compute Cisco UCS C220 Server Network Cisco Catalyst 3750-X Switch Storage EMC VNXe3300 or EMC VNXe3150


Overview VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

The following illustration provides a high-level overview of the components in the Vblock 100 architecture:

The VCE Vblock System Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of components for Vblock 100. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Overview

Base configurations and scaling

Vblock 100 is available in two models: Vblock System 100 model DX and Vblock System 100 model BX. Vblock 100 DX is available in six standard configurations. Vblock 100 BX is available in two standard configurations. Each configuration within the model provides a different level of compute and storage capacity based upon the components contained in the Vblock System. These components are contained in a 19-inch 42U cabinet (Vblock 100 DX) or a 19-inch 24U cabinet (Vblock 100 BX). Together, the components offer balanced I/O, bandwidth, and storage capacity relative to the compute and storage arrays in the Vblock System. All components have 1+1 or N+1 redundancy. These resources can be scaled up as necessary to meet increasingly stringent requirements. The maximum supported configuration differs from model to model.

Each model includes a different EMC VNXe storage array model, which is the major differentiator that dictates the capacity of the Vblock System. The storage hardware can be customized. Cabinet space is reserved for all components that are needed for each storage configuration. For information about how to scale up the storage, refer to Disk array enclosures (DAE).

The number of Cisco UCS C220 servers can also be increased. Refer to Scaling up compute resources.

Refer to Vblock System 100 model comparison for more information.


Overview VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Connectivity overview

Components and interconnectivity within Vblock Systems are conceptually subdivided into three layers:

Layer Description

Compute Contains the components that provide the computing power within the Vblock System and host the virtual machines. The Cisco UCS C220 servers belong in this layer. Refer to Cisco UCS C220 server.

Network Contains the components that provide switching and routing between the compute and storage layers within a Vblock System, and between the Vblock System and the customer network. The Cisco Catalyst 3750-X switch belongs in this layer. Refer to Networking components.

Storage Consists of an EMC VNXe storage array. The Vblock 100 DX includes an EMC VNXe3300 storage array. The Vblock 100 BX includes an EMC VNXe3150 storage array. Refer to EMC VNXe Series storage arrays. The storage array consists of a number of disk array enclosures (DAEs) that contain disk drives. Refer to Disk array enclosures (DAE).

All components incorporate redundancy into the design.

The following illustration provides a high level overview of the components with redundant network connectivity:

Note: All Vblock 100 models boot from iSCSI attached storage (EMC VNXe).


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Virtualization

Virtualization

Virtualization overview

VMware vSphere is the virtualization platform that provides the foundation for the private cloud. The core VMware vSphere components are the VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi and VMware vCenter Server for management.

The hypervisors are deployed in a cluster configuration and can scale up to eight nodes for the Vblock 100 DX per cluster and up to four nodes for the Vblock 100 BX per cluster. The cluster allows dynamic allocation of resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage. The cluster also provides workload mobility and flexibility with the use of VMware vMotion and Storage vMotion technology.

For Vblock 100 DX, licenses for three to eight physical hosts are provided for VMware vSphere ESXi in the base configuration. For Vblock 100 BX, licenses for three to four physical hosts are provided for VMware vSphere ESXi in the base configuration.

VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi

The VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi runs in the Vblock System. This lightweight hypervisor requires very little space to run (less than 6 GB of storage required to install) and has minimal management overhead. VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi does not contain a console operating system.

Cluster configuration

VMware vSphere ESXi hosts and their resources are pooled together into clusters. These clusters contain the CPU, memory, network, and storage resources available for allocation to virtual machines. Clusters can scale up to a maximum of eight hosts for Vblock 100 DX and up to a maximum of four hosts for Vblock 100 BX. The clusters can support a large number of virtual machines.

Datastores

Vblock Systems support a mixture of datastore types: block level storage using VMFS or file level storage using NFS.

The maximum size per VMFS5 volume is 64 TB (50 TB VMFS3 @ 1 MB). Each host/cluster can support a maximum of 255 volumes.

VCE optimizes the advanced settings for VMware vSphere ESXi hosts that are deployed in Vblock Systems to maximize the throughput and scalability of NFS datastores. Vblock Systems currently support a maximum of 256 NFS datastores per host.

Virtual networks

Virtual networking uses the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS).


Virtualization VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

VMware vCenter Server

VMware vCenter Server is a central management point for the hypervisors and virtual machines. VMware vCenter is installed on a 64-bit Windows Server and runs as a service.

VMware vCenter Server is located in the management infrastructure within the Vblock System. The Vblock System has a dedicated VMware vCenter Server instance as well as an accompanying instance of VMware Update Manager to assist with upgrades and host patch management. VMware Update Manager is installed on a separate Windows Server and runs as a Windows service.

VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:

• Cloning of virtual machines

• Creating templates

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• Initial configuration of DRS and VMware vSphere high availability clusters

VMware vCenter Server also provides monitoring and alerting capabilities for hosts and virtual machines. Vblock System administrators can create and apply alarms to all managed objects in VMware vCenter Server. These alarms include:

• Datacenter, cluster, and host health, inventory, and performance

• Datastore health and capacity

• Virtual machine usage, performance, and health

• Virtual network usage and health

Databases

The backend database that supports VMware vCenter Server and VMware Update Manager (VUM) is remote Microsoft SQL Server 2008. The SQL Server service requires a dedicated service account.

Authentication

Vblock Systems support the integration of client-side Active Directory for authentication. VMware vCenter Server and Update Manager run as separate Windows services. Each service is configured to use a dedicated service account.


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Virtualization

VCE supported features

VCE supports the following VMware vCenter Server features:

• vSphere High Availability

• DRS

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• Resource Pools

• Storage DRS (capacity only)

• Storage Driven Profiles (user-defined only)

• VMware Syslog Service

• VMware Core Dump Collector

• VMware vCenter Web Services


Storage features VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Storage features

Data protection software

Refer to the EMC VNXe Data Protection white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdf for information about data protection on an EMC VNXe.

The following table describes the data protection software that is installed on Vblock 100 and the software that can be purchased separately:

Software Vblock 100 BX Vblock 100 DX

EMC Unisphere Manager (includes EMC ESRS) Installed Installed EMC VNXe Local Protection Suite Installed Installed EMC VNXe Remote Protection Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately EMC VNXe Application Protection Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately EMC VNXe Security and Compliance Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately

Refer to the EMC VNXe Series Software Packs white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/software/data-sheet/h8510-vnxe-software-ds.pdf.

The VCE Vblock System Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of components for Vblock 100. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

Storage features support

The EMC VNXe File Deduplication and Compression feature can be used with a Vblock 100 to increase the efficiency for how NAS data is stored. This feature allows you to increase storage efficiency by reducing space usage and reducing the cost of storing data.

Refer to the EMC VNXe File Deduplication and Compression white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h10579-vnxe-deduplication.pdf.

File deduplication

Deduplication saves space on a storage resource by compressing redundant data. If multiple files have the same data, the storage resource stores one copy of the data, and shares that data between the multiple files. It is not CPU-intensive and does not require a large amount of memory resources.

Compression

Compression alters the way that data is stored to improve storage efficiency. It is a variable, bit-level, intra-object deduplication. It is CPU intensive and requires minimal memory resources.

Compression is efficient in capacity reduction, but it does impact a storage array's CPU usage during compression. Compression affects the disk-read performance depending on the efficiency of the decompression. Due to the performance cost, best practice states that compression be disabled.

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdfhttp://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdfhttp://www.emc.com/collateral/software/data-sheet/h8510-vnxe-software-ds.pdfhttp://www.emc.com/collateral/software/data-sheet/h8510-vnxe-software-ds.pdfhttp://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h10579-vnxe-deduplication.pdf


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Storage features

Snapshot

Snapshot is a read-only, point-in-time copy of data stored on the storage system. Administrators can recover files and folders from snapshots.

Refer to the EMC VNXe Data Protection white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdf.

EMC Secure Remote Support

EMC Secure Remote Support (ESRS) allows EMC personnel to remotely monitor the health of EMC VNXe storage arrays within the Vblock System, and perform support and maintenance functions. ESRS serves as the conduit for all communications between EMC and the EMC VNXe storage arrays. ESRS can monitor the health of multiple EMC VNXe storage arrays in Vblock Systems and elsewhere. EMC ESRS is integrated into the EMC VNXe base software suite. Refer to Data protection software.

Detailed information about ESRS is available at support.emc.com.

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdfhttp://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdfhttps://support.emc.com/


Compute layer hardware VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Compute layer hardware

Cisco UCS C220 server

The Cisco UCS C220 server is a high-density, two-socket, one rack unit (RU) rack-mount server that is built for production-level network infrastructure, web services, and mainstream data center, branch, and remote-office applications.

Vblock 100 DX standard configurations contain three, six, or eight Cisco UCS C220 servers. Refer to Vblock 100 DX.

Vblock 100 BX standard configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220 servers. Refer to Vblock 100 BX.

The Cisco UCS C220 server provides:

• 96 GB of memory for Vblock 100 DX and 64 GB of memory for Vblock 100 BX

• 2x 2.50 GHz E5-2640 processor 6 core

• Flexible I/O and storage options

• Virtualization optimization

The VCE Vblock System 100 Gen 2.0 Port Assignments Reference provides information about the assigned use for each port in the Vblock System. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

Scaling up compute resources

Vblock 100 DX standard configurations contain three, six, or eight Cisco UCS C220 servers:

Vblock 100 DX configuration Number of Cisco UCS C220 servers (96 GB)

100DX-3P 3 100DX-3G 3 100DX-6P 6 100DX-6G 6 100DX-8P 8 100DX-8G 8

In Vblock 100 DX, you can add Cisco UCS C220 servers (96 GB) as needed with a minimum of three servers and a maximum of eight servers. The servers must be added one at a time.

Vblock 100 BX standard configurations (100BX-3P and 100BX-3G) contain three Cisco UCS C220 servers (64 GB). You can add one Cisco UCS C220 server to the Vblock 100 BX.


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Compute layer hardware

Bare metal support

If applications cannot be virtualized due to technical or commercial reasons, Vblock 100 DX (only) servers can be deployed bare metal; that is, with non-virtualized operating system and application configurations. Vblock 100 DX has the capacity to house a minimal configuration of three VMware vSphere ESXi hosts. The maximum configuration has the cabinet, power, and cabling capability to house an additional five VMware vSphere ESXi hosts (total of eight). Vblock 100 DX standard configurations contain three, six, or eight Cisco UCS C220 servers. Only 50 percent of additional servers can be slated for bare-metal installation.

While it is possible for a Vblock System to support these workloads (with caveats noted below), due to the nature of bare metal deployments, VCE is only able to provide reasonable-effort support for systems that comply with the following requirements:

• The Vblock System contains only VCE published, tested, and validated hardware and software components. The VCE Vblock System Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of components for Vblock Systems. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

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

• For bare metal deployments that include other hypervisor technologies (Hyper-V, KVM, etc.), those hypervisor technologies are not supported by VCE. VCE Support is only provided on VMware Hypervisors.

VCE reasonable effort support includes VCE acceptance of customer calls, a determination of whether the Vblock System is operating correctly, and assistance in problem resolution to the extent possible.

VCE is unable to reproduce problems or provide support on the operating systems and applications installed on bare metal deployments. In addition, VCE does not provide updates to or test those operating systems or applications. Customers must work directly with their OEM support vendor for issues and patches related to those operating systems and applications.


Storage layer hardware VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Storage layer hardware

EMC VNXe Series storage arrays

An EMC VNXe series storage array is a unified storage platform that provides application-ready storage with solution-focused software to manage, provision, and protect data. The EMC VNXe delivers unified IP storage for NAS and iSCSI while simplifying operations and reducing management overhead. Application-centric management and provisioning wizards result in immediate familiarity for users, while integration of snapshot and replication with storage management workflow results in streamlined operations and uniform data protection coverage.

EMC VNXe series includes:

• Compact storage platforms

• Simple capacity management and growth

• Advanced storage efficiency

The following table lists the EMC VNXe Series storage array and the Vblock System where the storage array is used:

Vblock 100 model Storage array model

Vblock 100 DX EMC VNXe3300 Vblock 100 BX EMC VNXe3150

Note: Within Vblock 100 models, all EMC VNXe components are installed within VCE cabinets in VCE-specific layouts. Refer to Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX for more information.


Windows 2008

Windows 2008 requires a minimum of 32 GB of space and between 10 - 20 IOPS to operate properly. Vblock 100 DX supports 100 - 200 virtual machines which require a total of 3.2 TB of usable space and approximately 2000 IOPS. Vblock 100 BX supports 50 - 100 virtual machines which require a total of 1.6 TB of usable space and approximately 1000 IOPS.

Scaling up storage resources

To scale up storage resources, disk array enclosure (DAE) packs can be added. Refer to Disk array enclosures (DAE).


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Storage layer hardware

Disk array enclosures (DAE)

Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX standard configurations are shipped with different numbers and types of EMC VNXe capacity and performance DAEs.

Capacity and performance DAEs

The following table describes the capacity DAEs and the performance DAEs:

DAE type Description

Capacity 2 TB, 7.2k RPM NL-SAS disk drives. NL-SAS drives are approximately three times the size of SAS drives that allow for higher density per drive slot. (The larger the disk, the slower the data rate transfer and seek time.) This disk array enclosure is for capacity-intensive, sequential reads.

Performance 600 GB, 15k RPM SAS disk drives that allow for higher data rate transfers. SAS drives are smaller in size to reduce the amount of seek time. This disk array enclosure is for performance-intensive, random reads.

Number of DAEs in the Vblock System

The following table lists Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX configurations, the number of each type of DPE and DAE, and storage capacity for each standard configuration. The DPE is counted as a performance DAE. The raw TB calculations do not include hot spares.

Standard configuration

DPE performance

DAE performance

DAE capacity Storage capacity (TB raw)

Total SAS capacity NL-SAS capacity

Vblock 100 DX 100DX-3P 1 0 0 8 8 0 100DX-3G 1 0 1 32 8 24

100DX-6P 1 1 0 16 16 0 100DX-6G 1 1 1 40 16 24

100DX-8P 1 4 0 40 40 0 100DX-8G 1 3 2 80 32 48 Vblock 100 BX 100BX-3P 1 0 0 6 6 0 100BX-3G 1 0 1 30 6 24

You can upgrade the base configurations to a maximum of five DAEs for the Vblock 100 DX and to a maximum of four DAEs for the Vblock 100 BX, with no more than two capacity DAEs.

For more information, refer to Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX.


Network layer hardware VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Network layer hardware

Networking components

Cisco Catalyst 3750-X switches in the network layer provide IP connectivity between compute layer components and storage layer components. They also provide IP connectivity to the site network. Refer to Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX for more information.

Vblock 100 DX configurations include two Cisco Catalyst 3750X-48T switches. Vblock 100 BX configurations include two Cisco Catalyst 3750X-24T switches.


These switches provide configuration flexibility with one (per switch) hot-swappable 10 GbE network modules, LAN base, IP base, and IP services software. The switches provide power redundancy and network redundancy using the Cisco StackWise and StackWise Plus Technology.

Vblock 100 uses the 10 GbE network expansion modules. Vblock 100 uses a 10 GbE network module to connect to the VNXe storage.

In Vblock 100, the expansion ports in the switches that can be hot swapped must be populated with the 10 GbE modules to enable 10 GbE network links to the EMC VNXe storage processors. Customer uplinks are reserved from the 48 1 GbE pool.

To facilitate the required level of redundancy and throughput, the customer network uplink device must support port aggregation.


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Vblock System 100

Vblock System 100

Vblock System 100 model comparison

The following table compares the architecture of the Vblock 100 models:

Vblock 100 DX Vblock 100 BX

Cabinet One 42 U One 24 U

Virtual machines 100 - 200 50 - 100

Compute Three - eight Cisco UCS C220 servers (96 GB)

Three or four Cisco UCS C220 servers (64 GB)

Network switches

Two Cisco Catalyst 3750X-48T switches Two Cisco Catalyst 3750X-24T switches

Array EMC VNXe3300 with dual storage processors

EMC VNXe3150 with dual storage processors

Storage capacity Five DAE maximum Four DAE maximum

Storage protocol File = NFS Block = iSCSI

File = NFS Block = iSCSI

Disk drives 3.5" SAS = 600 GB 3.5" NL SAS = 2 TB

3.5" SAS = 600 GB 3.5" NL SAS = 2 TB

System size LUNs / LUN size = 512 / 2 TB File system / File system size = 512 / 16 TB

LUNs / LUN size = 256 / 2 TB File system / File system size = 256 / 16 TB

Cabinets

The compute, storage, and network layer components of a Vblock 100 are contained in a 19” wide cabinet. Vblock 100 DX is contained in a 42U cabinet and Vblock 100 BX is contained in a 24U cabinet. Each cabinet conforms to a standard predefined layout. Space is reserved for specific components even if they are not present or required for the customer configuration. This design makes it easier to upgrade or expand each Vblock System as capacity needs increase. VCE preinstalls all wiring based on the predefined layouts.


Vblock System 100 VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Vblock 100 DX

Vblock System 100 model DX is available in six standard configurations.

Vblock 100 DX configurations

The six standard Vblock 100 DX configurations contain:

• Two 48 port Cisco Catalyst 3750-X switches

• One EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure (DPE) that is included as a performance DAE

• Space reserved for Vblock 100 expansion

The difference among the six standard configurations is the number of Cisco UCS C220 96 GB servers and the number and type of EMC disk array enclosures (DAE). The following table summarizes the differences in Vblock 100 DX configurations:

Vblock 100 DX configuration

Number of Cisco UCS C220 Servers

Number of DPEs

Number of DAEs

100DX-3P 3 1 performance None 100DX-3G 3 1 performance One capacity DAE 100DX-6P 6 1 performance One additional performance DAE 100DX-6G 6 1 performance One additional performance DAE and one

capacity DAE 100DX-8P 8 1 performance Four additional performance DAEs 100DX-8G 8 1 performance Three additional performance DAEs and

two capacity DAEs

Refer to Disk array enclosures (DAE) for information about capacity and performance DAEs.

Vblock 100 DX storage

As shown in Vblock 100 DX configurations, each configuration contains a disk processor enclosure (DPE) and various disk array enclosures (DAE).

The DPE contains 15 600 GB, 15K SAS disks. This number of disks in a 6 + 1 RAID 5 configuration provides 7.2 TB of usable space, which provides approximately 2520 IOPS. Additional IOPS are provided by the 24 GB cache that is available in the EMC VNXe3300. Usable space and IOPS scale based on the DAE type (SAS/performance or NL-SAS/capacity) per available configuration.



Vblock 100 DX disk shelf configurations

The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 DX for the EMC VNXe3300 performance DPE - SAS (8 TB raw, 7.2 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.

The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 DX for the EMC VNXe3300 performance DAE - SAS (8 TB raw, 7.2 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.

The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 DX for the EMC VNXe3300 capacity DAE - NL-SAS (24 TB raw, 16 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.



Vblock 100 DX storage layer base configuration

The configuration for the Vblock 100 DX storage layer consists of an EMC VNXe3300 storage array. The storage array is configured as follows:

• Disk processor enclosure (DPE)

– Dual storage processors. Each storage processor has a four-core 1.6 GHz Intel Westmere CPU and 12 GB cache. Each storage processor has two 6 GB BE 4-lane SAS buses.

– Dual standby power supplies (SPS).

– Drives for storage, and for Vault and Boot RAID groups.

• Disk array enclosures (DAE) - Drives for storage, and for Vault and Boot RAID groups

• Licenses for optional software



100DX-3P configuration

As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-3P configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220 Servers and one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure):



100DX-3G configuration

As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-3G configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220 Servers, one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure), and one capacity DAE:




As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-6P configuration contains six Cisco UCS C220 Servers and two performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure):




As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-6G configuration contains six Cisco UCS C220 Servers, two performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure), and one capacity DAE:




As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-8P configuration contains eight Cisco UCS C220 Servers and five performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure):




As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-8G configuration contains eight Cisco UCS C220 Servers, four performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure), and two capacity DAEs:



Vblock 100 BX

Vblock 100 BX is available in two standard configurations.

Vblock 100 BX configurations

The two Vblock 100 BX standard configurations contain:

• Two 24 port Cisco Catalyst 3750-X switches

• One EMC VNXe3150 disk processor enclosure (DPE) that is included as a performance DAE

• Space reserved for Vblock 100 expansion

The difference between the two Vblock 100 BX configurations is the number of Cisco UCS C220 64 GB servers and the number and type of EMC disk array enclosures (DAE). The following table summarizes the differences in the Vblock 100 BX configurations:

Vblock 100 BX configuration Number of Cisco UCS C220 Servers Number of DPEs Number of DAEs

100BX-3P 3 1 performance None 100BX-3G 3 1 performance One capacity DAE

You can scale up to four Cisco UCS C220 servers in the Vblock 100 BX.

Refer to Disk array enclosures (DAE) for information about capacity and performance DAEs.

Vblock 100 BX storage

The Vblock 100 BX storage layer consists of an EMC VNXe3150 storage array. In the Vblock 100 BX, the minimum number of disks for primary storage is 12 600 GB, 15K SAS disks. This number of disks in a 4 + 1 RAID 5 configuration provides 4.8 TB of usable space, which provides approximately 1800 IOPS. Additional IOPS are provided by the 8 GB cache that is in the VNXe3150.

The storage array is configured as follows:

• Disk processor enclosure (DPE)

– Dual storage processors. Each storage processor has a four-core 1.6 GHz Intel Westmere CPU and 8 GB cache. Each storage processor has two 6 GB BE 4-lane SAS buses.

– Dual standby power supplies (SPS).

– Drives for storage, and for Vault and Boot RAID groups.

• Disk array enclosures (DAE) - Drives for storage, and for Vault and Boot RAID groups

• Licenses for optional software



Vblock 100 BX disk shelf configurations

The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 BX for the EMC VNXe3150 performance DPE - SAS (6 TB raw, 4.8 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.

The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 BX for the EMC VNXe3150 performance DAE - SAS (6 TB raw, 4.8 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.

The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 BX for the EMC VNXe3150 capacity DAE - NL-SAS (24 TB raw, 16 TB usable):



100BX-3P configuration

As shown in the following illustration, the 100BX-3P configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220 Servers and one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3150 disk processor enclosure):

100BX-3G configuration

As shown in the following illustration, the 100BX-3G configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220 Servers, one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3150 disk processor enclosure), and one capacity DAE:



Power options

Vblock 100 supports power outlet unit (POU) options inside and outside of North America.

North America power options

The following table lists the POUs that are available for Vblock Systems in North America:

POU Power specification Number per cabinet

NEMA L6-30P Single phase / 30A / 208V 2

Outside of North America (EMEA) power options

The following table lists the POUs that are available for Vblock Systems outside of North America (EMEA):


IEC 60309 - 2P+E pin in sleeve connector Single phase / 32A / 230V 2

Japan power options

The following table lists the POUs that are available for Vblock Systems in Japan:


JIS C8303 L6-30P Single phase / 30A / 208V 2

The VCE Vblock System 100 Gen 2.0 Physical Planning Guide provides more information about power requirements. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Additional references

Additional references

References overview

The following tables provide links to documentation for each of the product lines that are discussed in this document.

• Virtualization

• Compute

• Network

• Storage

Virtualization components

Product Description Link to documentation

VMware vCenter Server

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

www.vmware.com/solutions/virtualization-management/

VMware vSphere ESXi

Virtualized infrastructure for Vblock Systems. Virtualizes all application servers and provides VMware High Availability (HA) and Dynamic Resource Scheduling (DRS).

www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/

Compute components


Cisco UCS C220 server

High-density, rack-mount server for production-level network infrastructure, web services, and maintenance data center, branch, and remote office applications.

www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12369/index.html

http://www.vmware.com/solutions/virtualization-management/http://www.vmware.com/solutions/virtualization-management/http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12369/index.html


Additional references VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview

Network components


Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch

Next generation Layer 3 Fast Ethernet stackable switches that manage power consumption. Reduces energy cost and carbon footprint.

www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps5023/index.html

Cisco StackWise and StackWise Plus Technology

Technology that utilizes the capabilities of a stack of switches. Individual switches join to create a single switching unit with a 32 Gbps switching stack interconnect. Configuration and routing information is shared by every switch, creating a single switching unit.

www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps5023/ prod_white_paper09186a00801b096a.html

Storage components


EMC VNXe3300 and EMC VNXe3150 storage arrays

Unified storage platform that provides automated, application-ready storage with solution-focused software.

www.emc.com/products/series/vnxe-series.htm

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps5023/index.htmlhttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps5023/prod_white_paper09186a00801b096a.htmlhttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps5023/prod_white_paper09186a00801b096a.htmlhttp://www.emc.com/products/series/vnxe-series.htmhttp://www.emc.com/products/series/vnxe-series.htm


VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview Additional references

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 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 www.vce.com.

Copyright © 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All rights reserved. VCE, 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.

Revision historyTable of contentsIntroductionAccessing VCE documentationOverviewVblock™ System 100 overviewBase configurations and scalingConnectivity overview

VirtualizationVirtualization overviewVMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXiCluster configurationDatastoresVirtual networks

VMware vCenter ServerDatabasesAuthenticationVCE supported features

Storage featuresData protection softwareStorage features supportFile deduplicationCompressionSnapshot

EMC Secure Remote Support

Compute layer hardwareCisco UCS C220 serverScaling up compute resourcesBare metal support

Storage layer hardwareEMC VNXe Series storage arraysWindows 2008Scaling up storage resources

Disk array enclosures (DAE)Capacity and performance DAEsNumber of DAEs in the Vblock System

Network layer hardwareNetworking components

Vblock System 100Vblock System 100 model comparisonCabinetsVblock 100 DXVblock 100 DX configurationsVblock 100 DX storageVblock 100 DX disk shelf configurationsVblock 100 DX storage layer base configuration

100DX-3P configuration100DX-3G configuration100DX-6P configuration100DX-6G configuration100DX-8P configuration100DX-8G configuration

Vblock 100 BXVblock 100 BX configurationsVblock 100 BX storageVblock 100 BX disk shelf configurations

100BX-3P configuration100BX-3G configuration

Power optionsNorth America power optionsOutside of North America (EMEA) power optionsJapan power options

Additional referencesReferences overviewVirtualization componentsCompute componentsNetwork componentsStorage components

Documents

VCE Vblock™ System 100 Gen 2.0 Architecture Overview...Vblock System 100 models are entry-level Vblock Systems designed to meet the needs of regional and branch office environments