VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture OverviewVCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Introduction Introduction The Vblock™ System from VCE is the world's

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

VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Revision history

VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Document Revision 3.2 March 2013

© 2013 VCE Company, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

www.vce.com


Revision history VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Revision history

Date Vblock System

Document revision

Author Description of changes

December 2012 Gen 3.0 3.0 Julie Hamm Gen 3.0 release

January 2013 Gen 3.0 3.1 Julie Hamm • Updated for VCE rebranding • Changed wording from segregated storage

architecture to segregated network architecture

March 2013 Gen 3.0 3.2 Julie Hamm Updated for VCE rebranding.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Table of contents

Table of contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Accessing VCE documentation ................................................................................................................. 8

Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Vblock™ System 320 overview .............................................................................................................. 9 Base configurations and scaling ........................................................................................................... 12 Connectivity overview ........................................................................................................................... 13

Segregated network architecture and unified network architecture ............................................... 13 Segregated network architecture .......................................................................................................... 14

Block storage configuration ............................................................................................................ 14 SAN boot storage configuration ..................................................................................................... 15 Unified storage configuration ......................................................................................................... 16

Unified network architecture ................................................................................................................. 17 Block storage configuration ............................................................................................................ 17 SAN boot storage configuration ..................................................................................................... 18 Unified storage configuration ......................................................................................................... 19

Aggregating multiple Vblock Systems .................................................................................................. 20 Aggregation common services ....................................................................................................... 22

Compute layer hardware .......................................................................................................................... 24 Compute overview ................................................................................................................................ 24 Cisco Unified Computing System ......................................................................................................... 25 Cisco UCS fabric interconnects ............................................................................................................ 26 Scaling up compute resources ............................................................................................................. 27

Ethernet and FC I/O bandwidth enhancement .............................................................................. 27 Blade packs .................................................................................................................................... 27 Chassis activation kits .................................................................................................................... 28

VCE bare metal support policy ............................................................................................................. 29

Storage layer hardware ............................................................................................................................ 30 Storage overview .................................................................................................................................. 30 EMC VNX series storage arrays ........................................................................................................... 30 Replication ............................................................................................................................................ 31 Scaling up storage resources ............................................................................................................... 31

I/O bandwidth expansion................................................................................................................ 31 RAID packs .................................................................................................................................... 32

Storage features support ...................................................................................................................... 34 Support for array hardware or capabilities ..................................................................................... 34 Hardware features .......................................................................................................................... 35 VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration ................................................................................. 35 File deduplication ........................................................................................................................... 35 Block compression ......................................................................................................................... 35 External NFS and CIFS access ..................................................................................................... 36


Table of contents VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Snapshotting .................................................................................................................................. 36 Replicas ......................................................................................................................................... 36

Network layer hardware ............................................................................................................................ 37 Network overview ................................................................................................................................. 37 IP network components ........................................................................................................................ 37 Storage switching components ............................................................................................................. 39

Virtualization components ....................................................................................................................... 40 Virtualization overview .......................................................................................................................... 40 VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi ....................................................................................................... 40

Cluster configuration ...................................................................................................................... 40 Datastores ...................................................................................................................................... 40 Virtual networks .............................................................................................................................. 41

VMware vCenter Server ....................................................................................................................... 41 Databases ...................................................................................................................................... 41 Authentication ................................................................................................................................ 42 VCE supported features ................................................................................................................. 42

Management components ........................................................................................................................ 43 Management hardware components .................................................................................................... 43 Management software tools ................................................................................................................. 44

AMP software tools ........................................................................................................................ 44

Data protection .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Vblock Data Protection overview .......................................................................................................... 45

Data protection defined .................................................................................................................. 45 Vblock Data Protection capabilities ...................................................................................................... 46 Backup and recovery ............................................................................................................................ 47

One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar ............................................................................... 47 Multiple VCE cabinets that contain EMC Avamar .......................................................................... 49 One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain 670 Controller ................. 49 One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and another VCE cabinet that contains EMC Data Domain 890 Controller ................................................................................................................... 50 One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and multiple cabinets that contain EMC Data Domain 890 Controller ................................................................................................................... 52

Business continuity and workload mobility ........................................................................................... 52 EMC VPLEX ................................................................................................................................... 53 Cluster configurations .................................................................................................................... 53 Recommended configurations ....................................................................................................... 54 Single engine ................................................................................................................................. 55 Dual engine .................................................................................................................................... 56

Vblock 320 Components .......................................................................................................................... 57 Vblock 320 System descriptions ........................................................................................................... 57 Cabinets overview ................................................................................................................................ 58 Cabinet types ........................................................................................................................................ 59


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Table of contents

Compute/network/storage cabinets ............................................................................................... 59 Compute/storage cabinets ............................................................................................................. 59 Storage cabinets ............................................................................................................................ 60 Network cabinets ............................................................................................................................ 60

Power options ....................................................................................................................................... 61 North America power options ......................................................................................................... 61 Power options outside of North America ........................................................................................ 61

Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 ............................................................................................................... 62 Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 overview ........................................................................................... 62 Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum configuration ...................................................... 63

Expanding Vblock 320 (7500) compute layer ................................................................................ 64 Expanding the Vblock 320 (7500) storage layer ............................................................................ 65

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum CNS cabinets ..................................................... 65 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) CNS 1 cabinet .................................................................................... 66 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) CNS 2 cabinet .................................................................................... 67

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum CS cabinets ....................................................... 68 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 3 cabinet ..................................................................... 68 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 4 cabinet ..................................................................... 69 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 5 cabinet ..................................................................... 70 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 6 cabinet ..................................................................... 71 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 7 cabinet ..................................................................... 72 Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 8 cabinet ..................................................................... 73

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum S cabinet ............................................................ 74


Expanding the Vblock 320 (5700) compute layer .......................................................................... 77 Expanding the Vblock 320 (5700) storage layer ............................................................................ 77

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 maximum CNS cabinets ..................................................... 78 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) CNS 1 cabinet .................................................................................... 78 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) CNS 2 cabinet .................................................................................... 79

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 CS cabinets ........................................................................ 79 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized CS 3 cabinet ..................................................................... 80 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized CS 4 cabinet ..................................................................... 81 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized CS 5 cabinet ..................................................................... 82 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized C 6 cabinet ....................................................................... 83 Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized C 7 cabinet ....................................................................... 84


Expanding the Vblock 320 (5500) compute layer .......................................................................... 87 Expanding the Vblock 320 (5500) storage layer ............................................................................ 87

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 maximum compute/network/storage cabinets .................... 89


Table of contents VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Sample Vblock 320 (5500) compute/network/storage 1 cabinet ................................................... 89 Sample Vblock 320 (5500) compute/network/storage 2 cabinet ................................................... 90

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 CS cabinets ........................................................................ 91 Sample Vblock 320 (5500) maximized CS 3 cabinet ..................................................................... 91 Sample Vblock 320 (5500) maximized CS 4 cabinet ..................................................................... 92

Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 ............................................................................................................... 93 Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 overview ........................................................................................... 93 Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum configuration ...................................................... 94 Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum CNS cabinet ....................................................... 96 Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum S cabinet ............................................................ 97

Additional references ............................................................................................................................... 98 References overview ............................................................................................................................ 98 Virtualization components .................................................................................................................... 98 Compute components .......................................................................................................................... 99 Network components ............................................................................................................................ 99 Storage components .......................................................................................................................... 100


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 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 320 is an enterprise and service provider ready system in the Vblock System 300 family, designed to address a wide spectrum of virtual machines (VMs), users, and applications. It is ideally suited to achieve the scale required in both private and public cloud environments. The Vblock 320 has been engineered for greater scalability and performance to support large enterprise deployments of mission-critical applications, cloud services, VDI, mixed workloads and application development and testing. The Vblock 320 delivers greater configuration choices, 2X performance and scale from prior generations, flexible storage options, denser compute, five 9s of availability, and converged network and support for a new virtualization platform that accelerates time to service and reduces operations costs. Every Vblock 320 is available with the market-leading EMC VNX storage arrays.

The target audience for this document includes sales engineers, field consultants, advanced services specialists, and customers who want to deploy a virtualized infrastructure by using a Vblock 320.

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:%20ArchOverviewSystem320Please%20provide%20your%20comments:


Accessing VCE documentation VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 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.

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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=331

http://www.vceportal.com/solutions/68580567.html

http://www.vceview.com/solutions/products/

http://vblockproductdocs.ent.vce.com/


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Overview

Overview

Vblock™ System 320 overview

The Vblock System 320 has the following features:

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

• Common power solution across all Vblock 320 cabinets with three North American and two non-North American options

• Block (SAN) and unified storage options (SAN and NAS)

• Support for multiple features of the EMC operating environment for EMC VNX arrays

• Base configurations with fewer drives, fewer blades, and more granular flexibility on the configuration

• Granular, but optimized compute and storage growth by adding predefined kits and packs

• VMware vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) enablement

• Advanced Management Pod (AMP) models for value and high availability requirements

• Unified network architecture provides the option to leverage Cisco Nexus switches to support IP and SAN without the use of Cisco MDS switches.


Overview VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Each Vblock 320 contains the following key hardware and software components:

Resource Components

Compute • Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis • Cisco UCS B-Series Blades

– Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card 1240 - supported on the Cisco UCS B200 M3 Blade Server

– Cisco UCSB-MLOM-PT-01 - Port Expander for 1240 VIC – Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card 1280– supported on all Cisco UCS B-Series M2 Blade

Servers except the Cisco UCS B250 Blade Server (shipped with an optional port expander) • Cisco UCS 2208XP Fabric Extenders or Cisco UCS 2204XP Fabric Extenders • Cisco UCS 2208XP Fabric Extenders with FET Optics or Cisco UCS 2204XP Fabric Extenders

with FET Optics • Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects or Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects

Network • Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches • Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches • Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch

Storage • EMC VNX Series array running the VNX Operating Environment • EMC Unisphere • (Optional) EMC RecoverPoint • (Optional) EMC unified storage (NAS)

Virtualization • VMware vSphere ESXi • VMware vCenter Server

Management • EMC PowerPath/VE • Cisco UCS Manager • (Optional) EMC Ionix UIM • EMC Unisphere Manager • EMC VNX Local Protection Suite • EMC VNX Remote Protection Suite • EMC VNX Application Protection Suite • EMC VNX Fast Suite • EMC VNX Security and Compliance Suite • EMC Secure Remote Support (ESRS) on Windows • VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus



The following illustration provides a high-level overview of the components in the Vblock 320 architecture:

The VCE Vblock System Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of components for Vblock 320. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

Each Vblock 320 has a different scale point based on compute and storage options. Each Vblock 320 can support block or unified storage protocols. Refer to EMC VNX Series storage arrays.



Base configurations and scaling

For each Vblock System, there is a base configuration, which is a minimum set of compute and storage components, as well as fixed network resources. These components are integrated within one or more 19-inch 42U cabinets.

Within the base configuration, the following hardware aspects can be customized:

Hardware How it can be customized

Compute blades Cisco UCS B-series blade types include all supported VCE blade configurations. Compute chassis Cisco UCS Server Chassis

16 chassis maximum for Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 and Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 Eight maximum for the Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 Two maximum for the Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300

Storage hardware Drive flexibility for up to three tiers of storage per pool, drive quantities in each tier, the RAID protection for each pool, and the number of disk array enclosures (DAEs).

Storage EMC VNX storage Refer to EMC VNX Series storage arrays.

Supported disk drives 100/200 GB EFD, 300/600 GB 15K SAS, 300/600/900 GB 10K SAS, 1/2/3TB 7.2K NL-SAS

Supported RAID types Tier 1: RAID 1/0 (4+4), RAID 5 (4+1) or (8+1) Tier 2: RAID 1/0 (4+4), RAID 5 (4+1) or (8+1), RAID 6 (6+2) or (14+2) Tier 3: RAID 1/0 (4+4), RAID 5 (4+1) or (8+1), RAID 6 (6+2) or (14+2) Refer to Scaling up storage resources for more information.

Management hardware options

An Advanced Management Pod (AMP) centralizes management of Vblock System components. Optionally, a high-availability version of the AMP can be substituted. Refer to Management hardware components.

EMC RecoverPoint Appliances (RPAs)

Two to eight clustered appliances that facilitate storage replication and rapid disaster recovery. Refer to Replication.

Data Mover enclosure (DME) packs

Available on all Vblock Systems. Additional enclosure packs can be added for additional X-Blades on Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500, Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700, or Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500.

Together, the components offer balanced CPU, I/O bandwidth, and storage capacity relative to the compute and storage arrays in the system. All components have N+N 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. To scale up compute resources, add blade packs and chassis activation kits. Refer to Scaling up compute resources.

To scale up storage resources, add RAID packs, DME packs, and DAE packs. Optionally, expansion cabinets with additional resources can be added. Refer to Scaling up storage resources.

Vblock Systems are designed to keep hardware changes to a minimum should the customer decide to change the storage protocol after installation (for example, from block storage to unified storage). Cabinet space is reserved for all components that are needed for each storage configuration (Cisco MDS switches, X-Blades, etc.) All network and power cabling for these components is in place.



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 a Vblock System. The Cisco UCS blade servers, chassis, and fabric interconnects belong to this layer.

Storage Contains the EMC VNX storage component. Network Contains the components that provide switching between the compute and storage layers within a

Vblock System, and between a Vblock System and the customer network. Cisco MDS switches and the Cisco Nexus switches belong to this layer. Refer to Segregated network architecture and Unified network architecture.

All components incorporate redundancy into the design.

Segregated network architecture and unified network architecture

In the segregated network architecture, LAN and SAN connectivity is segregated into separate switches within a Vblock System. LAN switching uses the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch or the Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch. SAN switching uses the Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch.

In the unified network architecture, LAN and SAN switching is consolidated onto a single network device (Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches) within the Vblock System. This removes the need for a Cisco MDS SAN switch.

The following topics contain connectivity configurations for Vblock 320:

• Segregated network architecture

• Unified network architecture

The VCE Vblock System 320 Gen 3.0 Port Assignments Reference provides information about the assigned use for each port in the Vblock System. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.



Segregated network architecture

This topic shows Vblock 320 segregated network architecture for block, SAN boot, and unified storage.

Block storage configuration

The following illustration shows a block-only storage configuration for Vblock 320 with the X-Blades absent from the cabinets. However, space can be reserved in the cabinets for these components (including optional EMC RecoverPoint appliances). This design makes it easier to add the components later if the customer upgrades to unified storage.



SAN boot storage configuration

In all Vblock 320 configurations, the VMware vSphere ESXi blades boot over the Fibre Channel (FC) SAN. In block-only configurations, block storage devices (boot and data) are presented over FC through the Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch. In a unified storage configuration, the boot devices are presented over FC and data service can be either block devices (SAN) or presented as NFS datastores (NFS). In a file-only configuration, the boot devices are presented over FC and data devices are through NFS shares. Storage can also be presented directly to the virtual machines as CIFS shares.

The following illustration shows the components (highlighted in a red, dotted line) that are leveraged to support SAN booting in Vblock 320:



Unified storage configuration

In a unified storage configuration, the storage processors also connect to X-Blades over FC. The X-Blades connect to the Cisco Nexus switches within the network layer over 10 GbE, as shown in the following illustration:



Unified network architecture

With unified network architecture, all EMC VNX block and file access use a Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch or Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch for LAN and SAN connectivity.

Block storage configuration

The following illustration shows a block-only storage configuration in Vblock 320:

The X-Blades are absent from the cabinets. However, space can be reserved in the cabinets for these components (including the optional EMC RecoverPoint). This design makes it easier to add the components later if the customer upgrades to unified storage.

In a unified storage configuration for block and file, the storage processors also connect to X-Blades over Fibre Channel (FC). The X-Blades connect to the Cisco Nexus switches within the network layer over 10 GbE.



SAN boot storage configuration

In all Vblock 320 configurations, VMware vSphere ESXi blades boot over the FC SAN. In block-only configurations, block storage devices (boot and data) are presented over FC through the Cisco Nexus Unified switch. In a unified storage configuration, the boot devices are presented over FC and data devices can be either block devices (SAN) or presented as NFS datastores (NAS). In a file-only configuration, boot devices are presented over FC, and data devices over NFS shares. The remainder of the storage can be presented either as NFS or as VMFS datastores. Storage can also be presented directly to the virtual machines as CIFS shares.

The following illustration shows the components that are leveraged to support SAN booting in Vblock 320:



Unified storage configuration

In a unified storage configuration, the storage processors also connect to X-Blades over FC. The X Blades connect to the Cisco Nexus switches within the network layer over 10 GbE.

The following illustration shows a unified storage configuration for Vblock 320:



Aggregating multiple Vblock Systems

Multiple Vblock Systems can be connected into a common network at a high level to support common services. The following illustration shows a segregated architecture where two Vblock Systems are aggregated:



The UCS domain, SAN, and storage on each Vblock System are maintained separately. The SANs within the Vblock Systems share common services, such as migration and backup/data recovery, within an aggregated Cisco MDS 9500 Series Director. However, no resources are shared between the Vblock 320 SANs.

LAN and SAN switching is consolidated in a single network device within the Vblock System, removing the need for a Cisco MDS SAN switch. The following illustration shows how LAN and SAN switching is consolidated in unified network architecture:



Aggregation common services

The VCE aggregation solution supports the connection of multiple Vblock Systems in a single physical environment to shared disaster recovery, replication, and backup services. It also provides cross-Vblock System IP connectivity and facilitates data movement both into and out of the Vblock System from the customer environment. The aggregation solution also delivers a standardization of connections into the Vblock System which provides clarity for support personnel, and expansion flexibility.

The following aggregation topologies are available:

• SAN only

• Ethernet only

• Mixed SAN and Ethernet

These topologies have various scaling points using different Cisco MDS and Cisco Nexus solutions to provide the required connectivity among the Vblock System, customer network, and external common services appliances.



The following illustration shows the incorporation of the unified network layer:


Compute layer hardware VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Compute layer hardware

Compute overview

Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) B-Series blades provide the computing power within a Vblock System. The blades are installed in Cisco UCS chassis.

Fabric extenders (FEX) within the Cisco UCS chassis connect to Cisco fabric interconnects over converged Ethernet. Up to eight 10 GbE ports on each FEX connect northbound to the fabric interconnects regardless of the number of blades in the chassis. These connections carry IP and storage traffic and can be configured as port channels.

Each fabric interconnect has multiple ports reserved by VCE for 10 GbE ports. VCE has reserved some of these ports to connect to upstream access switches within the Vblock System. These connections are formed into a port channel to the Cisco Nexus switch and carry IP traffic destined for the customer network 10 GbE links. In a unified storage configuration, this port channel can also carry IP traffic to the X-Blades within the storage layer.

Each fabric interconnect also has multiple ports reserved by VCE for FC ports. These ports connect to Cisco MDS storage switches. These connections carry FC traffic between the compute layer and the storage layer. In a unified storage configuration, port channels carry IP traffic to the X-Blades for NAS connectivity. For SAN connectivity, optional SAN port channels are supported between the fabric interconnects and upstream Cisco MDS or Nexus switches. With LAN connectivity, optional SAN port channels are supported between the fabric interconnects and upstream Cisco MDS or Cisco Nexus switches

Another option for uplinks to customer networks is the disjoint layer 2 configuration. In this configuration, traffic is routed to different networks at the fabric interconnect to support two or more discrete Ethernet clouds, connected by the Cisco UCS servers. Upstream disjoint layer-2 networks (disjoint L2 networks) allow two or more Ethernet clouds that never connect, to be accessed by servers or virtual machines located in the same Cisco UCS domain.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Compute layer hardware

The following illustration shows a representation of how to implement disjoint layer 2 networking into a Cisco UCS domain:

Virtual port channels (VPCs) 101 and 102 are production uplinks that connect to the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch or the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch. Virtual port channels 105 and 106 are customer uplinks that connect to customer-owned switches.

If you use Ethernet performance port channels (PC 103 and 104 by default), port channels 101 through 104 are assigned to the same VLANs.

Cisco Unified Computing System

The Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) data center platform unites compute, network, and storage access. Optimized for virtualization, the Cisco UCS integrates a low-latency, lossless 10 GB Ethernet unified network fabric with enterprise-class, x86-based servers (Cisco B-Series).

Vblock Systems contain a number of Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis. Each chassis can contain up to eight half-width Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers or four full-width blades. In Vblock Systems, each chassis also includes Cisco UCS fabric extenders and Cisco UCS B-Series converged network adapters.



The VCE Vblock System 320 Gen 3.0 Port Assignments Reference provides information about the assigned use for each port in the Vblock System. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

Vblock systems powered by Cisco UCS feature:

• 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

The VCE Vblock System Blade Pack Reference provides a list of supported Cisco UCS blades in Vblock Systems. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.

Cisco UCS fabric interconnects

The Cisco UCS fabric interconnects provide network connectivity and management capabilities to the Cisco UCS blades and chassis. The Cisco UCS fabric interconnects offer line-rate, low-latency, lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) functions.

The fabric interconnects provide the management and communication backbone for the blades and chassis, and facilitate LAN and SAN connectivity for all blades within their domain.

Vblock 320 uses either Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects or Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects.

Single domain uplinks of 2, 4, or 8 between the fabric interconnects and the chassis are provided with the Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects. Single domain uplinks of 4 or 8 between the fabric interconnects and the chassis are provided with the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects.



Scaling up compute resources

To scale up compute resources, you can add uplinks, blade packs, and chassis activation kits to enhance Ethernet and Fibre Channel (FC) bandwidth either when Vblock Systems are built, or after they are deployed.

Ethernet and FC I/O bandwidth enhancement

For Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500, Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700, and Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500, Ethernet I/O bandwidth enhancement increases the number of Ethernet uplinks from the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects to the network layer to reduce oversubscription. Ethernet I/O bandwidth performance can be enhanced by increasing the uplinks between the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects and the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch for segregated networking, or the Cisco Nexus 5596UP switch for unified networking.

FC I/O bandwidth enhancement increases the number of FC links between the Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects or Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects and the SAN switch, and from the SAN switch to the EMC VNX storage array. Single domain uplinks of two or four for the Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects, and up to eight for the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects between the fabric interconnects and the chassis are provided. The FC I/O bandwidth enhancement feature is supported on Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 and Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500. Implementing the FC I/O bandwidth enhancement feature results in a block only array configuration.

Blade packs

Cisco UCS blades are sold in packs of two and include:

• Two identical Cisco UCS blades

• Two fabric interconnect port licenses

The base configuration of each Vblock System includes two blade packs. The maximum number of blade packs depends on the type of Vblock 320. Each blade type must have a minimum of two blade packs as a base configuration and then can be increased in single blade pack increments thereafter.

Each blade pack is added along with the following license packs:

• VMware vSphere ESXi

• Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches

• EMC PowerPath/VE

Note: License packs for VMware vSphere ESXi, Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches, and EMC PowerPath are not available for bare metal blades.

The VCE Vblock System Blade Pack Reference provides a list of supported Cisco UCS blades. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.



Chassis activation kits

The power supplies and fabric extenders for all chassis are populated and cabled, and all required Twinax cables and transceivers are populated. However, in a base Vblock System configuration, only two of the Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis are licensed for fabric interconnect ports. This licensing limit reduces the entry cost for Vblock Systems.

As more blades are added and additional chassis are required, chassis activation kits (CAK) are automatically added 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. At the customer's discretion, chassis activation kits can be added up-front to allow for flexibility in the field or to initially spread the blades across a larger number of chassis.



VCE bare metal support policy

Since many applications cannot be virtualized due to technical and commercial reasons, Vblock Systems support bare metal deployments, such as non-virtualized operating systems and applications as described in this topic. However, 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 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Storage layer hardware

Storage overview

The storage layer within Vblock 320 consists of an EMC VNX storage array. The storage array consists of a number of disk array enclosures (DAEs) that contain disk drives. These connect to dual storage processors (SPs) over six GB four-lane serial attached SCSI (SAS). Fibre Channel (FC) expansion cards within the storage processors connect to the Cisco MDS switches or Cisco Nexus unified network switches within the network layer over FC.

Refer to Storage features support.

EMC VNX series storage arrays

EMC VNX series are fourth-generation storage platforms that deliver industry-leading capabilities. They offer a unique combination of flexible, scalable hardware design and advanced software capabilities that enable them to meet the diverse needs of today’s organizations.

EMC VNX series platforms support block and unified storage. The platforms are optimized for VMware virtualized applications. They feature flash drives for extendable cache and high performance in the virtual storage pools. Automation features include self-optimized storage tiering, and application-centric replication.

Regardless of the storage protocol implemented at startup (block or unified), Vblock 320 can include cabinet space, cabling, and power to support the hardware for all of these storage protocols. This arrangement makes it easier to move from block storage to unified storage with minimal hardware changes.

The following list shows the Vblock 320 in order from largest capacity to smallest:

• Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500




Note: Within Vblock 320, all EMC VNX components are installed within VCE cabinets in VCE-specific layouts.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Storage layer hardware

Replication

For block storage configurations, Vblock 320 can be upgraded to include EMC RecoverPoint. This replication technology provides continuous data protection and continuous remote replication for on-demand protection and recovery to any point in time. EMC RecoverPoint advanced capabilities include policy-based management, application integration, and bandwidth reduction. RecoverPoint is included in the EMC Local Protection Suite and EMC Remote Protection Suite.

To implement EMC RecoverPoint within a Vblock System, add two or more EMC RecoverPoint Appliances (RPA) in a cluster to the Vblock System. This cluster can accommodate approximately 80 MB/s sustained throughput through each RPA.

To ensure proper sizing and performance of an EMC RecoverPoint solution, VCE works with an EMC Technical Consultant and the customer. They collect information about the data to be replicated, as well as data change rates, data growth rates, network speeds, and other information that is needed to ensure that all business requirements are met.

Scaling up storage resources

To scale up storage resources, you can:

• Expand block I/O bandwidth between the compute and storage resources

• Add RAID packs

• Add disk array enclosure (DAE) packs

I/O bandwidth and packs can be added when Vblock Systems are built and after they are deployed.

I/O bandwidth expansion

Fibre channel (FC) bandwidth can be optionally doubled with four to eight additional FC ports in Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 and Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700. The ports are between the Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects or Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects or between the Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch (segregated network architecture) or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch (unified network architecture). This configuration requires the use of four storage array ports per storage processor that are normally reserved for unified connectivity of the X-Blades. This option is available for environments that require high bandwidth, block-only configurations.



RAID packs

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

The number and types of RAID packs to include in a Vblock System is based upon the following:

• The number of storage pools that are needed.

• The storage tiers that each pool contains, and the speed and capacity of the drives in each tier. The following table lists tiers, supported drive types, and supported speeds and capacities.

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

Tier Drive type Supported speeds and capacities

1 Solid-state Enterprise Flash drives (EFD) 100 GB 200 GB

2 Serial attached SCSI (SAS) 300 GB 10K RPM 600 GB 10K RPM 900 GB 10K RPM 300 GB 15K RPM 600 GB 15K RPM

3 Nearline SAS 1 TB 7.2K RPM 2 TB 7.2K RPM 3 TB 7.2K RPM



• The RAID protection level for the tiers in each pool. The following table describes each supported RAID protection level. The RAID protection level for the different pools can vary.

RAID protection level

Description

RAID 1/0 • A set of mirrored drives. • Offers the best overall performance of the three supported RAID protection levels. • Offers robust protection. Can sustain double-drive failures that are not in the same mirror

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

raw capacity.

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

• Offers the best mix of performance, protection, and economy. • Has a higher write performance penalty than RAID 1/0 because multiple I/Os are required to

perform a single write. • With single parity, can sustain a single drive failure with no data loss. Vulnerable to data loss

or unrecoverable read errors on a track during a drive rebuild. • Highest economy of the three supported RAID levels. Usable capacity is 80% of raw

capacity.

RAID 6 • Block-level striping with two parity blocks, distributed across all of the drives in the set. • Offers increased protection and read performance comparable to RAID 5. • Has a significant write performance penalty because multiple I/Os are required to perform a

single write. • Economy is very good. Usable capacity is 75% of raw capacity or better. • EMC best practice for SATA and NL-SAS drives.

There are RAID packs for each RAID protection level/tier type combination. The RAID levels dictate the number of drives that are included in the packs. RAID 5 or RAID 1/0 is for performance and extreme performance tiers and RAID 6 is for the capacity tier. The following table lists RAID protection levels and the number of drives in the pack for each level:

RAID protection level Number of drives per RAID pack

RAID 1/0 8 (4 data + 4 mirrors) RAID 5 5 (4 data + 1 parity) or 9 (8 data + 1 parity) RAID-6 8 (6 data + 2 parity) or 16 (14 data + 2 parity)



Disk array enclosure packs

If the number of RAID packs in a Vblock System is expanded, more disk array enclosures (DAEs) might be required. DAEs are added in packs. The number of DAEs in each pack is equivalent to the number of back-end buses in the EMC VNX array in the Vblock System. The following table lists the number of buses in the array and the number of DAEs in the pack for each Vblock 320:

Vblock 320 Number of buses in the array Number of DAEs in the DAE pack

Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 8 8 Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 4 4 Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 2 2 (base includes DPE as the first DAE) Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 2 2 (base includes DPE as the first DAE)

There are two types of DAEs: a 15 drive 3U enclosure for 3 ½ inch form factor drives, and a 25 drive 3U enclosure for 2 ½ inch form factor drives. A DAE pack can contain a mix of DAE sizes, as long as the total DAEs in the pack equals the number of buses. To ensure that the loads are balanced, physical disk will be spread across the DAEs in accordance with best practice guidelines.

Storage features support

This topic presents additional storage features available on Vblock 320.

Support for array hardware or capabilities

The VNX operating environment provides support for new array hardware or capabilities. The following table details these features:

Feature Description

NFS Virtual X-Blades – VDM (Multi-LDAP Support)

Provides security and segregation for service provider environmental clients.

vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) enhancement

NFS snap-on-snap of VMDK files to one level of depth. For example, fast clone of a fast clone that is a second level clone of a base image of a virtual machine.

Data-in-place block compression

When compression is enabled, thick LUNs are converted to thin and compressed in place (RAID group LUNs are migrated into a pool during compression). There is no need for additional space to start compression. Decompression temporarily requires additional space, since it is a migration, and not an in-place decompression.

Compression for file/display compression capacity savings

Two available types of file compression are: • Fast compression (default) • Deep compression (up to 30% more space efficient, but slower and with higher CPU

usage) Display capacity savings due to compression, so that users can do a cost/benefit comparison (space savings versus performance impact).



Hardware features

VCE supports the following hardware features:

• Option to expand storage processor memory to 48 GB for EMC VNX 7500

• Dual 10 GE Optical/Active Twinax IP IO/SLIC for X-Blades

• 2 ½ inch vault drives

• 2 ½ inch DAEs and drive form factors

VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration

Vblock 320 supports VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI). This technology improves overall storage performance by offloading various host resource-intensive tasks to the SAN hardware.

VAAI is supported for block protocols only. Within a Vblock System with VNX OE for Block 05.31 and VMware vSphere ESX(i) 5.0, VAAI is automatically enabled. The following features are supported:

• Full copy offload

• Block zeroing (Copy Same)

• Hardware assisted lock management

• Thin provisioning (TP)

File deduplication

File deduplication is supported, but is not enabled by default. Enabling this feature requires thorough knowledge of capacity and storage requirements.

Block compression

Block compression is supported but is not enabled by default. Enabling this feature requires thorough knowledge of capacity and storage requirements.



External NFS and CIFS access

Vblock Systems can present CIFS and NFS shares to external clients provided that these provisions are followed:

• Requires dedicated X-Blades for access by hosts outside of Vblock Systems

• Vblock System shares cannot be mounted internally by Vblock System hosts and external to the Vblock System at the same time

• In a configuration with two X-Blades, mixed internal and external access is not supported. The following configurations are supported:

– External NFS and external CIFS only

– Internal NFS and internal CIFS only

• In a configuration with more than two X-Blades, external NFS and CIFS access runs on one or more X-Blades that are physically separate from the X-Blades serving VMFS datastores to the Vblock System compute layer

Snapshotting

For block storage snapshotting, EMC SnapView is supported. This software provides local block replication using snaps and clones without the extra cost of the optional EMC RecoverPoint Appliances. This software is included in the EMC VNX Local Protection Suite.

For NAS file system snapshotting, EMC SnapSure is supported. It is included in the EMC VNX Local Protection Suite.

Replicas

For Vblock System NAS configurations, EMC VNX Replicator is supported. This software can create local clones (full copies) and replicate file systems asynchronously across IP networks. EMC VNX Replicator is included in the EMX VNX Remote Protection Suite.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Network layer hardware

Network layer hardware

Network overview

The Cisco Nexus 5500 series switches in the network layer provide 10 GbE IP connectivity between the Vblock System and the outside world. In unified storage architecture, the switches also connect the fabric interconnects in the compute layer to the X-Blades in the storage layer. The switches also provide connectivity to the Advanced Management Pod (AMP) through redundant connections to the Cisco Catalyst 3560X Ethernet switch or switches in the AMP. Refer to Management hardware components for information about the AMP.

In segregated architecture, the Cisco MDS 9000 series switches in the network layer provide Fibre Channel (FC) links between the Cisco fabric interconnects and the EMC VNX array. These FC connections provide block level devices to blades in the compute layer. In unified network architecture, there are no Cisco MDS series storage switches. FC connectivity is provided by the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches.

Ports are reserved or identified for special Vblock System services such as backup, replication, or aggregation uplink connectivity.

IP network components

Vblock 320 includes two Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches to provide 10 GbE connectivity:

• Between the Vblock System internal components

• To the site network

• To the Advanced Management Pod (AMP) through redundant connections to the Cisco Catalyst 3200 Ethernet switches in the AMP

To support the Ethernet and SAN requirements in the traditional segregated network architecture, two Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide Ethernet connectivity and a pair of Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switches provide Fibre Channel (FC) connectivity.


Network layer hardware VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

The two Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches used by the Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 support low latency line-rate 10 GB Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity on up to 32 ports. A unified port expansion module provides an extra 16 ports of 10 GbE or FC connectivity. The ports are licensed in packs of eight in an on-demand basis.

A pair of Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches are available for Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500, Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700, and Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Network layer hardware

Storage switching components

Each Vblock 320 includes two Cisco fabric switches. In a segregated networking model, there are two Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switches. In a unified networking model, Fibre Channel (FC) based features are provided by the two Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches.

In the Vblock System, these switches provide:

• FC connectivity between the compute layer components and the storage layer components

• Connectivity for backup, business continuity (EMC RecoverPoint), and storage federation requirements when configured.

Note: Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) to customer's existing SAN are not permitted.

The Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch provides from 16 to 48 line-rate ports for non-blocking 8 Gbps throughput. The port groups are enabled on an as needed basis.

The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide a number of line-rate ports for non-blocking 8 Gbps throughput. Expansion modules can be added to the Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch that provide 16 additional ports operating at line-rate. Refer to IP network components for more information.


Virtualization components VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Virtualization components

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 32 nodes 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.

VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi

The VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi runs in the AMP and in a 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 ESXi does not contain a console operating system. VMware vSphere ESXi is booted from a dedicated SAN volume to provide stateless computing within a Vblock 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 32 hosts. Clusters can support thousands of virtual machines.

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

Note: Some advanced CPU functionality might be unavailable if more than one blade model is running in a given cluster.

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.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Virtualization components

Virtual networks

Virtual networking in the AMP uses the vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). Virtual networking in Vblock Systems is managed by the Cisco Nexus 1000V distributed virtual switch. 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 virtual machine during live migration. This provides persistent network, security, and storage compliance.

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.

The AMP and the Vblock System each have a unified 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. Each of these systems resides in the AMP.

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. Vblock Systems also support the use of Oracle databases for vCenter and VUM databases. The SQL Server service requires a dedicated service account.


Virtualization components VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Authentication

Vblock Systems support the integration of client-side Active Directory for authentication. This may be implemented by the customer, according to VMware best practices, and based on the individual needs of the customer’s security and directory services environments.

Technical Support assistance for Active Directory (AD) is provided by the AD vendor. VCE does not provide assistance with Active Directory.

VCE supported features

VCE supports the following VMware vCenter Server features:

• vSphere high availability

• DRS

• Fault Tolerance

• VMware vMotion

• VMware Storage vMotion

• Raw Device Maps

• Resource Pools

• Storage DRS (capacity only)

• VMware vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) (except TP reclaim primitive)

• 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


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Management components

Management components

Management hardware components

Vblock Systems include an AMP. The AMP provides a single management point for Vblock Systems to enable the following benefits:

• Monitors and manages Vblock System health, performance, and capacity

• Provides fault isolation for management

• Eliminates resource overhead on Vblock Systems

• Provides a clear demarcation point for remote operations

The following table describes the AMPs:

AMP Description

Mini • One Cisco UCS C220 server • Two Cisco Catalyst 3560X Ethernet switches

High-availability (HA) • Two Cisco UCS C220 servers • Two Cisco Catalyst 3560X Ethernet switches • One EMC VNXe3150

In a Vblock System configuration with a mini-AMP, space is reserved in the compute/storage base (CSB) cabinet for the additional HA AMP components to make it easy to upgrade to the HA AMP later.

In Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300, the AMP is not installed in the base cabinet. The AMP must be installed within an external storage expansion (SE) cabinet, network cabinet, or customer-provided cabinet. The mini-AMP occupies three rack units (RUs). The HA AMP occupies six RUs.

Cisco UCS C220 server Cisco Catalyst 3560X Ethernet switch

EMC VNXe3150


Management components VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Management software tools

This topic lists the management software tools available on Vblock 320.

AMP software tools

Each AMP is delivered pre-configured with the following software tools:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard R2 x64 (six licenses per Cisco UCS Blade)

• VMware vSphere Server Enterprise Plus

• VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi, vCenter Server, vCenter Database using Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard, vCenter Update Manager, vCenter client

• Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch

• EMC PowerPath/VE License Management Server

• EMC Secure Remote Support (ESRS)

• Array management modules, including but not limited to, EMC Unisphere Client and Server, EMC Unisphere Service Manager, EMC VNX Initialization Utility, EMC VNX Startup Tool

• Cisco Device Manager and Cisco Data Center Network Manager

• System administration utilities such as PuTTY, TFTP Server, Java, etc.

• (Optional) EMC Ionix UIM/P

• (Optional) EMC RecoverPoint management software that includes EMC RecoverPoint Management Application and EMC RecoverPoint Deployment Manager

• (Optional) Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS)


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Data protection

Data protection

Vblock Data Protection overview

This topic presents the following information:

• Defines data protection

• Describes the optional VCE Vblock Data Protection capabilities

• Illustrates and describes the typical, standard data protection configurations for backup and recovery

• Illustrates and describes the typical, standard data protection configurations for business continuity and workload mobility

The information in this section assumes prior knowledge of EMC Avamar, EMC Data Domain, and EMC VPLEX.

Data protection defined

Data protection encompasses a wide range of different technologies, techniques and methodologies used to ensure the integrity, availability, and currency of both the data and the underlying delivery systems in an IT environment. For Vblock Systems, data protection is defined as:

• Backup and recovery: Minimum required data insurance.

– Provides protection against data corruption, accidental data deletion, storage component failure, and site disaster.

– Ensures backups are fully recoverable, point-in-time copies of data that are typically done once per day.

• Replication of data snapshots: Additional data insurance.

– Provides additional level of data protection on top of daily backups since replication cannot always protect against data corruption.

– Takes multiple snapshots, or nearly continuous snapshots, throughout the day to reduce worst case data loss from 24 hours to time of last snapshot.

• Business continuity: Application availability insurance

– Ensures zero data loss and near-zero recovery time for business-critical data.

– Provides additional level of data protection on top of daily backups since replication cannot always protect against data corruption.


Data protection VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

• Workload mobility:

– Moves workload to another site in anticipation of a disaster.

– Moves workload for balancing sites or systems.

• Archive:

– Provides long-term copy of data that is typically done for legal compliance reasons whose retention period spans multiple years.

Refer to the VCE Vblock Data Protection white paper for more information about VCE data protection strategies and solutions. Consult with a VCE vArchitect or VCE Partner about data protection requirements and determine what type of solution is best for your environment.

Vblock Data Protection capabilities

The optional VCE Vblock Data Protection ensures continuous availability of the IT infrastructure, applications, and workloads running within VCE virtualized and cloud computing environments. The Vblock Data Protection family of solutions allows a choice of streamlined backup and recovery, data replication, business continuity, and workload mobility to deliver reliable, predictable, and cost-effective availability for Vblock Systems.

Vblock Data Protection scales from one to many Vblock Systems within and across data centers to provide the necessary data protection. The following table describes how Vblock Data Protection solutions provide data protection for the Vblock System:

Capability Solution Solution description

Deduplication backup software and system

EMC Avamar Provides highly efficient, variable-length deduplication, with tight integration to EMC purpose-built, backup appliances. Enables fast, complete daily backups of virtualized environments including the IT infrastructure, enterprise applications, and data. Deduplication on the client side reduces ESX contention and network traffic by sending only changed blocks to the backup target. This shortens backup times while keeping full backups available for rapid, single-step restores.

Deduplication backup software and system, and deduplication storage systems

EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain

Client-side and target-based deduplication backup and recovery. Leverages high speed technology to reduce the backup data storage footprint at the target device by 10 times to 30 times.

Business continuity (disaster avoidance) and workload mobility

EMC VPLEX Shares, protects, or load-balances infrastructure resources across multiple Vblock Systems in the same data center or in different data centers within a campus or metro area. Moves live virtual machines between locations to avoid planned downtime. Handles unplanned events automatically with zero data-loss and zero to near-zero application recovery time.

Replication with continuous data protection and consistency groups

EMC RecoverPoint

Replication solution that can be rolled back to any point in time using snapshots that can be seconds apart to quickly restore critical applications and data. Migrates data from one virtualized Vblock System to another.

Vblock Data Protection solutions are extensions of the Vblock System and are contained in VCE cabinets. The solutions contain standardized components and are designed to be fully scalable.

http://www.vce.com/products/auxiliary-products/data-protection



Vblock Data Protection solutions are individually sized for each customer based on specific customer requirements and based on the results of the EMC sizing tool. The EMC sizing tool assessment must be completed by personnel who have been trained and certified by EMC.

Backup and recovery

The Vblock Data Protection solution for backup and recovery is available in the following VCE configurations:

• One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar

• Multiple VCE cabinets that contain EMC Avamar

• One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain 670 Controller

• One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and another VCE cabinet that contains EMC Data Domain 890 Controller

• One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and multiple cabinets that contain EMC Data Domain 890 Controller

Refer to the Vblock Systems Backup and Recovery Best Practices white paper for more information about the Vblock Data Protection solution for backup and recovery.

One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar

This solution is best used when the EMC sizing tool determines that an EMC Avamar-only deployment is the most effective solution.

The VCE backup and recovery solution that contains EMC Avamar in one VCE cabinet contains EMC Avamar switches, Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches, EMC Avamar data nodes, and utility nodes with built-in networking, and two external connection cables to the Vblock System. The minimum configuration has three data nodes and one utility node. Expansion space is provided in the cabinet for up to 13 additional nodes in any combination of spare node, data nodes (16 total maximum), and NDMP accelerator nodes. The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches connect the data protection cabinet to the Vblock System. When you add additional components in the available expansion area, add components starting from the bottom of the expansion area.

http://www.vce.com/asset/documents/avamar-data-domain-whitepaper.pdf



The following illustration shows the rear view of the VCE data protection cabinet with EMC Avamar solution:



Multiple VCE cabinets that contain EMC Avamar

When the Vblock System to be backed up requires more than one EMC Avamar instance, the solution scales up by simply adding additional EMC Avamar instances.

The following illustration shows the rear view of the multiple VCE data protection cabinets with EMC Avamar:

One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain 670 Controller

This solution is best used when the Vblock System will not require more than one cabinet of EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain components to meet the backup requirements (single cabinet excluding the backup replication system).

The VCE backup and recovery solution that contains EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain 670 Controller in one VCE cabinet has EMC Avamar switches, Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches, a minimum of one EMC Data Domain 670 Controller, one EMC ES30 expansion (storage) shelf, three EMC Avamar data nodes, and one EMC Avamar utility node. This solution includes built-in networking and two external connection cables to the Vblock System. It contains three expansion spaces providing room for an additional head unit, an additional storage unit, and an additional ten nodes in any combinations of data notes and accelerator nodes. The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch connects the data protection cabinet to the Vblock System. When you add additional components in the available expansion area, add components starting from the bottom of the cabinet.

Note: If backing up multiple Vblock Systems to one VCE Vblock Data Protection cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain, each Vblock System must be connected to a group of dedicated uplink ports from the data protection cabinet.



The following illustration shows the rear view of the VCE data protection cabinet with EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain 670 Controller:

One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and another VCE cabinet that contains EMC Data Domain 890 Controller

This solution is best used when the EMC sizing tool determines that an EMC Avamar with EMC Data Domain 890 deployment is the most effective solution. This solution provides a single instance backup deployment that is highly scalable.



The first VCE cabinet is identical to the VCE data protection cabinet that contains EMC Avamar only, with the addition of inter-cabinet connections for connection of VCE cabinets containing EMC Data Domain 890 systems.

The second cabinet contains one EMC Data Domain 890 Controller, up to 12 EMC ES30 expansion (storage) shelves with 2 TB drives, and 2U space for a future head unit upgrade.

Note: If backing up multiple Vblock Systems to one VCE Vblock Data Protection cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain, each Vblock System must be connected to a group of dedicated uplink ports from the data protection cabinet.

The following illustration shows the rear view of the minimum configuration for the combination of the VCE data protection cabinet with EMC Avamar and the VCE cabinet with EMC Data Domain 890Controller:



One VCE cabinet that contains EMC Avamar and multiple cabinets that contain EMC Data Domain 890 Controller

The following illustration shows the rear view of the VCE data protection scaled-up solution with EMC Avamar in one VCE cabinet and EMC Data Domain 890 Controller in multiple cabinets.

This solution includes one cabinet that contains EMC Avamar components and can scale beyond two cabinets with EMC Data Domain components.

Business continuity and workload mobility

The Vblock Data Protection solution addresses the two most common use cases:

• Business continuity (disaster avoidance) that keeps the critical business applications operational, even after a disaster

• Workload mobility is the ability to identify and migrate a workload without disruption to the most appropriate platform at that point in time



EMC VPLEX

EMC VPLEX is an enterprise-class, storage federation technology that aggregates and manages pools of Vblock System storage within and among data centers. EMC VPLEX resides between the virtual machine servers and the FC attached storage. It presents local and distributed volumes to hosts.

EMC VPLEX enables dynamic workload mobility and continuous availability within and between Vblock Systems over distance. It provides simultaneous access to storage devices at two sites through the creation of EMC VPLEX Distributed Virtual Volumes, supported on each side by an EMC VPLEX cluster.

The EMC VPLEX data protection solution for Vblock Systems uses the following hardware and software components and technologies:

• Vblock Systems

• VMware vCenter Server

• VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat

• VMware vSphere High Availability

• VMware vMotion

Refer to the Vblock Data Protection: Best Practices for EMC VPLEX with Vblock Systems white paper for more information about the business continuity and workload mobility solution. Refer to the EMC VPLEX Architecture Guide for more information about EMC VPLEX.

Cluster configurations

A single Vblock 320 can be connected to a single engine or a dual engine EMC VPLEX cluster. It cannot be connected to a quad engine EMC VPLEX cluster. The Vblock 320 has only 16 ports available for EMC VPLEX front-end and back-end connections.

http://www.vce.com/asset/documents/vplex-metro-solutions-whitepaper.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8232-vplex-architecture-wp.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8232-vplex-architecture-wp.pdf



Recommended configurations

The recommended configurations for the Vblock Data Protection solution for business continuity and workload mobility are:

Configuration Description

Non cross-cluster connect

• Delivers zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO) in all single failures including that of an entire site

• Delivers zero Recovery Time Objective (RTO) in the event of a storage array failure • For a server domain failure or EMC VPLEX failure, limits RTO to the application restart time • Requires a ping round-trip time of less than five milliseconds

Cross-cluster connect

Servers in cross-cluster connect configuration can access data from the EMC VPLEX cabinet at either site. Cross-cluster connect is suitable for deploying within a campus, or in multiple isolated zones within a single data center. This configuration eliminates the need to do server failover when an entire storage cluster (EMC VPLEX) or the storage behind it) goes down. A cross-cluster configuration: • Delivers zero RPO in all single failures including that of an entire site • Delivers zero RTO in the event of a storage domain failure • For a server domain failure, limits RTO to the application restart time • Requires a ping round-trip time of less than one millisecond



Single engine

The following illustration shows the single engine configuration:



Dual engine

The following illustration shows the dual engine configuration:


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Vblock 320 Components

Vblock 320 Components

Vblock 320 System descriptions

The following table compares the architecture of Vblock 320:

Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500




Storage access Block or unified Block or unified Block or unified Block or unified

Fabric interconnect model

Cisco UCS 6248UP or Cisco UCS 6296UP



Cisco UCS 6248UP

Cisco B-series blade chassis

16 maximum (requires Cisco UCS 6296UP)

16 maximum (requires Cisco UCS 6296UP)

8 maximum 2 maximum

B-series blades (maximum)

Half-width = 128 Full-width = 64




IP switches Cisco Nexus 5548UP or Cisco Nexus 5596UP

Cisco Nexus 5548UP or Cisco Nexus 5596UP

Cisco Nexus 5548UP or Cisco Nexus 5596UP

Cisco Nexus 5548UP

SAN switches (for segregated architecture only)

Cisco MDS 9148 (segregated)




Array EMC VNX 7500 EMC VNX 5700 EMC VNX 5500 EMC VNX 5300

Back-end SAS buses 8 4 2 2

Storage protocol Block = FC Unified = NFS, FC, and CIFS

Block = FC Unified = NFS, FC, and CIFS



Datastore type Block = VMFS Unified = NFS and VMFS

Block = VMFS Unified = NFS and VMFS



X-Blades (unified only) Minimum = 2 Maximum = 8

Minimum = 2 Maximum = 4



Boot path SAN SAN SAN SAN

Disk drives Minimum = 18 Maximum = 1000





Vblock 320 Components VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Cabinets overview

Within each Vblock 320, the compute, storage, and network layer components are distributed within two or more 19-inch 42U cabinets. Distributing the components in this manner balances out the power draw and reduces the size of the power outlet units (POUs) that are required. Refer to Power options.

Note: The Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 configuration is installed in a single 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.

Vblock System cabinets are designed to be installed next to one another within the data center (that is, contiguously). If a customer requires the base and expansion cabinets to be physically separated, customized cabling is needed, which incurs additional cost and delivery delays.

Note: The cable length is NOT the same as distance between cabinets. The cable must route through the cabinets and through the cable channels overhead or in the floor.



Cabinet types

This topic describes the different cabinet types for Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500, Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700, Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500, and the Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300.

Compute/network/storage cabinets

Compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinets contain the compute, storage, and networking components. Vblock 320 (7500), Vblock 320 (5700), and Vblock 320 (5500) have two CNS cabinets: CNS 1 and CNS 2. Vblock 320 (5300) has one CNS cabinet: CNS 1.

The CNS 1 and CNS 2 cabinets each contain the following set of components:

• Two Cisco UCS blade chassis, each containing up to four full-width blades or eight half-width blades

• One Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switch

• One Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch (segregated network)

• One Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnect or Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnect

The CNS 1 cabinet contains these additional components:

• (Unified storage configurations) EMC VNX array storage processors, control stations, and X-Blades.

• Up to four DAEs (optional)

The CNS 2 cabinet contains these additional components:

• Mini Advanced Management Pod (mini AMP)

• Up to four DAEs (optional)

Compute/storage cabinets

If a Vblock System expands beyond its compute/storage (CS) cabinets, up to two CS cabinets can be added to contain the additional components. Each CS cabinet can contain these components:

• Up to two Cisco UCS blade chassis, each containing up to four full-width blades or eight half-width blades (if the capacity limitations of the given Vblock System permit more blades than can fit in the base cabinet)

• Up to nine DAEs, if the capacity limitations of a given Vblock System permit this many DAEs

The CS cabinet is added only if a Vblock System expands beyond its CS base cabinets. An additional CS cabinet is added only if a Vblock System expands beyond the CS cabinet.

Space is reserved in each cabinet for the blade chassis and the DAEs, even if they are not all installed. This design makes it easier to add this hardware later, if necessary.


Vblock 320 Components VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Storage cabinets

If a Vblock System requires more DAEs than the CNS and CS cabinets can contain, a storage (S) cabinet is added. Each cabinet can contain up to 14 DAEs, if the capacity limitations of a given Vblock 320 permit this many DAEs. Storage cabinets are numbered from 1 to 3.

Storage cabinets are added only after all of the reserved DAE space in the CNS and CS cabinets is filled.

Storage cabinets contain the following components:

• The AMP (Vblock 320 (5300) only)

• (Optional) EMC RecoverPoint Appliances (RPAs)

Network cabinets

If additional space is required for networking or storage switching components, one or more network cabinets is added.

Network cabinets serve as aggregation points for:

• IP networking components for cross-Vblock System communication and customer access points

• The core portion of core-edge block fabrics to support shared replication and fabric services

• AMP IP management connectivity consolidation

Network cabinets contain the following components:

• A centralized AMP for large Vblock System environments

• Shared (optional) EMC RecoverPoint Appliances (RPAs)



Power options

Vblock 320 supports several 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. The NEMA POU is standard; other POUs add time to Vblock System assembly and delivery.

POU Power specifications

NEMA L15-30P 3-phase delta / 30A / 208 V IEC 60309 EC 309 3P4W Splashproof 460P9S

3-phase delta / 60A / 208 V

IEC 60309 IEC309 2P3W Splashproof 360P6S

Single phase / 60A / 208 V

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

Power options outside of North America

The following table lists the POUs that are available for Vblock Systems outside of North America. The IEC 309 POU is standard; other POUs add time to Vblock System assembly and delivery.

POU Power specifications

IEC 309 32A 3P+N+PE IEC 309 4P5W Splashproof 532P6S

3-phase wye / 32A / 230 / 400 V

IEC 60309 3P+N+ E IEC 309 4P5W Splashproof 516P6S

3-phase wye / 16A / 230 / 400 V

IEC 60309 2P+E IEC 309 2P3W Splashproof 332P6S

Single phase / 32A / 230 V

The VCE Vblock System 320 Gen 3.0 Physical Planning Guide provides more information about power requirements. Refer to Accessing VCE documentation.


Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview


Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 overview

Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 can support the highest compute and storage capacity of all Vblock System 320: The Vblock 320 (7500) has the following features:

• Compute capacity is expandable from 4 blades to 128 half-width blades or 64 full-width blades.

• Vblock 320 (7500) storage capacity is expandable up to 64 DAEs/1000 drives, depending upon drive type mixture and DAE model.

• To support Ethernet and SAN requirements in a unified network architecture, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide network connectivity.

– In a segregated network architecture, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide Ethernet connectivity and a pair of Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switches provide Fibre Channel (FC) connectivity.

– In a unified networking architecture, the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide Ethernet and FC connectivity.


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum configuration

To add compute blades or DAEs beyond the capacity of the compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinets, add up to six compute/storage (CS) cabinets. To add DAEs beyond this capacity, add up to three storage (S) cabinets. The following illustration shows the front view of a sample maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500:



The following illustration shows the rear view of a sample maximized Vblock 320 (7500):

Expanding Vblock 320 (7500) compute layer

Vblock 320 (7500) compute layer can expand to include up to 16 Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis. Blade packs can be added up to 64 full-width or 128 half-width blades. To add blades beyond the four chassis, add CS cabinets.

To activate the chassis within the CS cabinets, you must purchase chassis activation kits. Each kit contains eight fabric interconnect port licenses to connect the FEXs in the chassis to the two Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects. Refer to Chassis activation kits (CAK).



Expanding the Vblock 320 (7500) storage layer

Vblock 320 (7500) storage capacity can be expanded in any of the following ways:

• Add VMware vSphere ESX or bare metal boot LUN RAID groups (five drives per RAID group) to upgrade the boot capacity. Each boot LUN RAID group accommodates 32 VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.

• Upgrade EMC FAST Cache from 100 GB to 2000 GB, in mirrored pairs of EFD drives.

• Add RAID packs to one or more tiers.

The EMC VNX 7500 maximum growth is 64 DAEs/1000 drives.

• Add DAEs in multiples of eight, with the same number of back-end buses.

• In a unified storage configuration, as storage capacity grows, add X-Blades and DMEs, with NFS/CIFS licensing. X-Blades are supplied in DME packs (two X-Blades per pack), including NFS/CIFS licensing. A Vblock 320 (7500) configuration can expand to up to eight X-Blades in a 7+1 active-standby cluster configuration. The expansion DMEs and X-Blades are installed in the storage cabinets.

For information about the components contained in these cabinets, refer to Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum CNS cabinets, Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum CS cabinets, and Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum S cabinet.

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum CNS cabinets

This section shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinet with the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnect. A Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnect is also available.



Sample Vblock 320 (7500) CNS 1 cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 (7500) CNS 1 cabinet:





The location of the EMC RecoverPoint appliances (RPAs) depends on the Vblock System configuration. If there are more than two EMC RPAs in the cluster, the EMC RPAs are not located in the CS cabinet. The EMC RPAs are located in the last CS or S cabinet with available space.



Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum CS cabinets

This topic shows the components in sample maximized sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 compute/storage (CS) cabinets.

Sample Vblock 320 (7500) maximized CS 3 cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 (7500) CS 3 cabinet:























Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 maximum S cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500 storage (S) 9 cabinet:





The Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 is a slightly smaller version of the Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 7500, with identical compute capacity but a different storage array. The Vblock 320 (5700) has the following features:

• Compute capacity is expandable from four blades to 128 half-width blades or 64 full-width blades.



– In a segregated network architecture, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches are used for Ethernet connectivity and a pair of Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switches provide FC connectivity.

– In a unified networking architecture, the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide both Ethernet and FC connectivity.

– In a unified storage configuration, a Vblock 320 (5700) can expand to up to four X-Blades in a 3+1 active-standby cluster configuration.




To add compute blades or DAEs beyond the capacity of the compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinets; add up to two compute/storage cabinets (CS 3 and CS 4). To add DAEs beyond this capacity, add one storage cabinet. The following illustration shows the front view of a sample maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700:




Expanding the Vblock 320 (5700) compute layer

The Vblock 320 (5700) compute layer can be expanded with up to sixteen Cisco UCS 5108 chassis. Blade packs can be added for up to 64 full-width or 128 half-width blades. To add blades beyond the four chassis in the base configuration, add compute/storage expansion cabinets. To activate the chassis within the compute/storage expansion cabinets, purchase chassis activation kits. Each kit contains eight fabric interconnect port licenses to connect the FEXs in the chassis to the two Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnects. Expanding to 16 chassis requires upgrading to the Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects. Refer to Chassis activation kits (CAK).


The Vblock 320 (5700) storage capacity can be expanded in any of the following ways:

• Add VMware vSphere ESXi or bare metal Boot LUN RAID groups (5 drives per RAID group) to upgrade the boot capacity. Each Boot LUN RAID group accommodates 32 VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.

• Upgrade FAST Cache from 100 GB to 1500 GB, in mirrored pairs of EFD drives.


The EMC VNX 5700 maximum growth is 32 DAEs/500 drives.



• In a unified configuration, as storage capacity grows, add another X-Blade enclosure pack that contains two X-Blades, including NFS/CIFS licensing. The X-Blades are configured in a 3+1 active-standby cluster.

For information about the components contained in these cabinets, refer to Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 maximum CNS cabinet and Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 CS cabinets.

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 maximum CNS cabinets

This topic shows the components in samples of maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 compute/network/storage 1 (CNS 1) and compute/network/storage 2 (CNS 2) cabinets with the Cisco UCS 6248UP Series Fabric Interconnect. A Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnect is also available.







The location of the EMC RecoverPoint appliances (RPAs) depends on the Vblock System configuration. If there are more than two EMC RPAs in the cluster, the EMC RPAs are not located in the CS cabinet. The EMC RPAs are located in the last CS or storage (S) cabinet with available space.

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 CS cabinets

This section shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700 compute/storage 3 (CS 3) through compute/storage 7 (CS 7) cabinets.















Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized C 6 cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 (5700) compute 6 (C 6) cabinet:



Sample Vblock 320 (5700) maximized C 7 cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 (5700) C 7 cabinet:





The Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 is a slightly smaller version of the Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5700, with less compute capacity and a different storage array. The Vblock 320 (5500) has the following features:

• Compute capacity is expandable from four blades to 64 half-width blades or 32 full-width blades.



– In a segregated network architecture, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide Ethernet connectivity and a pair of Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switches provide FC connectivity.

– In a unified networking architecture, the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches or Cisco Nexus 5596UP Switches provide both Ethernet and FC connectivity.

– In a unified storage configuration, a Vblock 320 (5500) can expand to up to four X-Blades in a 3+1 active-standby cluster configuration.




To add blades and DAEs beyond the capacity of the compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinets; add compute/storage (CS) cabinets. The following illustration shows the front view of a sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500:




Expanding the Vblock 320 (5500) compute layer

The Vblock 320 (5500) compute layer can be expanded to up to eight Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis. Blade packs can be added for up to 32 full-width or 64 half-width blades. To add blades beyond the four chassis, add CS cabinets. To activate the chassis within the CS cabinets, the customer must purchase chassis activation kits. Each kit contains eight fabric interconnect port licenses, to connect the FEXs to either the two Cisco UCS 6248UP or Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnects. Refer to Chassis activation kits (CAK).


The Vblock 320 (5500) storage capacity can be expanded in any of the following ways:

• Add VMware vSphere ESXi or bare metal Boot LUN RAID groups (five drives per RAID group) to upgrade the boot capacity. Each RAID group accommodates 32 VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.

• Upgrade FAST cache from 100 GB to 1000 GB, in mirrored pairs of EFD drives.




The EMC VNX 5500 maximum growth is about 16 DAEs/250 drives.

• In a unified configuration, as storage capacity grows, add another X-Blade, including NFS/CIFS licensing. The X-Blades are configured in a 2+1 active-standby cluster.

For information about the components contained in these cabinets, refer to Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 maximum CNS cabinets and Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 CS cabinets.



Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 maximum compute/network/storage cabinets

This topic shows the components in a sample of a fully maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 compute/network/storage 1 and compute/network/storage 2 cabinet with the Cisco UCS 6248UP Series Fabric Interconnect. A Cisco UCS 6296UP Fabric Interconnect is also available.

Sample Vblock 320 (5500) compute/network/storage 1 cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 (5500) compute/network/ storage 1 cabinet:



Sample Vblock 320 (5500) compute/network/storage 2 cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 (5500) compute/network/storage 2 cabinet:

The location of the EMC RecoverPoint appliances (RPAs) depends on the Vblock System configuration. If there are more than two EMC RPAs in the cluster, the EMC RPAs are not located in the compute/storage cabinet. The EMC RPAs are located in the last compute/storage expansion or storage expansion cabinet with space available.



Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 CS cabinets

This topic shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5500 compute/storage 3 (CS 3) cabinet and a compute/storage 4 (CS 4) cabinet.











The Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 is an entry-level Vblock System in a single compute/storage base cabinet. The Vblock 320 (5300) has the following features:

• Compute capacity is expandable from four blades to 16 half-width blades or eight full-width blades.

• Includes an EMC VNX 5300 storage array. Vblock 320 (5300)storage capacity is expandable up to eight DAEs/120 drives (including the DPE), depending upon drive type mixture.

• Does not include an AMP within the compute/storage base cabinet. The AMP must be installed within an external SE cabinet, aggregation cabinet, or customer-provided cabinet. The standard AMP occupies three rack units (RUs). The HA AMP occupies six RUs.

• To support Ethernet and SAN requirements in a unified network architecture, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches provide network connectivity.

– In a segregated network architecture, a pair of Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches provide Ethernet connectivity and a pair of Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switches provide FC connectivity.

– In a unified networking architecture, the Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches provide both Ethernet and FC connectivity.




To add DAEs beyond the capacity of the compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinets; add a storage cabinet. The following illustration shows the front view of a sample maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300:




Blade packs can be added for up to eight full-width or 16 half-width blades.

Vblock 320 (5300) storage capacity can be expanded in any of the following ways:

• Add VMware vSphere ESXi or bare metal boot LUN RAID groups (five drives per RAID group) to upgrade the boot capacity. Each RAID group accommodates 32 VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.

• Upgrade FAST cache from 100 GB to 500 GB, in mirrored pairs of EFD drives.




The EMC VNX 5300 maximum growth is eight DAEs (including the DPE)/120 drives.

For information about the components contained in these cabinets, refer to Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum CNS cabinet and Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum S cabinet.

Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum CNS cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in sample of a maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 compute/network/storage (CNS) cabinet with the Cisco UCS 6248UP Fabric Interconnect.



Sample Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 maximum S cabinet

The following illustration shows the components in a sample of a maximized Vblock 320 with EMC VNX 5300 storage 2 (S2) cabinet:


Additional references VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Additional references

References overview

Use the following links to access documentation provided by Cisco, EMC, and VMware 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/

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

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

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


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview Additional references

Compute components


Cisco UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects

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

www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11544/index.html

Cisco UCS 5100 Series Server Chassis

Chassis that supports up to eight blade servers and up to two fabric extenders in a six rack unit (RU) enclosure


Cisco UCS 2200 Fabric Extenders

Bring unified fabric into the blade-server chassis, providing up to four 10 Gbps connections each between blade servers and the fabric interconnect

www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10276 /data_sheet_c78-675243.html

Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers

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


Cisco UCS Manager Centralized management capabilities for the Cisco Unified Computing System


Network components


Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches

A software switch on a server that delivers Cisco VN-Link services to virtual machines hosted on that server


Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Directors

Provides industry-leading availability, scalability, security, and management. The Cisco MDS 9000 family allows deployment of high-performance SANs with the lowest TCO.


Cisco MDS 9148 Multilayer Fabric Switch

Provides 48 line-rate 8 Gbps ports and offers cost-effective scalability through on-demand activation of ports


Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switches

Simplifies data center transformation by enabling a standards-based, high-performance unified fabric


Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches

A single end-to-end platform designed around infrastructure scalability, operational continuity, and transport flexibility


http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11544/index.html


http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/ps10265/ps10276/data_sheet_c78-675243.html











Additional references VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 Architecture Overview

Storage components


EMC VNX 7500, 5700, 5500, 5300 storage arrays

High-performing unified storage with unsurpassed simplicity and efficiency, optimized for virtual applications

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

http://www.emc.com/products/series/vnx-series.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/series/vnx-series.htm


VCE Vblock™ System 320 Gen 3.0 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.

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