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Revision history
Revision history
Date
Vblock System
Document revision
Description of changes
May 2015
Gen 2.1
1.5
Updated elevations
December 2014
August 2014
Gen 2.1
Gen 2.1
1.4
1.3
May 2014
Gen 2.1
1.2
April 2014
Gen 2.1
1.1
February 2014
Gen 2.1
1.0
Initial release
Contents
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 5
Accessing VCE documentation.................................................................................................................6
System overview.........................................................................................................................................7
System architecture and components ................................................................................................... 7
Business application...............................................................................................................................8
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure with EMC XtremIO............................................................................9
Connectivity overview...........................................................................................................................11
Compute layer...........................................................................................................................................14
Compute overview................................................................................................................................14
Cisco Unified Computing System.................................................................................................. 14
Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects....................................................................................................15
Storage layer............................................................................................................................................. 16
EMC XtremIO storage.......................................................................................................................... 16
EMC XtremIO configuration........................................................................................................... 17
EMC XtremIO performance........................................................................................................... 22
Network layer............................................................................................................................................ 23
Networking overview............................................................................................................................ 23
Virtualization layer....................................................................................................................................24
Virtualization components.................................................................................................................... 24
VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi................................................................................................ 24
VMware vCenter Server.................................................................................................................25
Management .............................................................................................................................................27
AMP for Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications.......................................................... 27
AMP for Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications components............................... 27
System infrastructure...............................................................................................................................29
Cabinets overview................................................................................................................................ 29
Power options.......................................................................................................................................29
Configuration descriptions...................................................................................................................... 31
Sample single cabinet configuration.....................................................................................................33
Sample dual cabinet configuration....................................................................................................... 33
Additional references............................................................................................................................... 41
Compute components.......................................................................................................................... 41
Contents
Network components............................................................................................................................42
Storage components............................................................................................................................ 42
Virtualization components.................................................................................................................... 43
Introduction
Introduction
This document describes the high-level design of Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications.
This document also describes the hardware and software components that VCE includes in each VSS
XAPP.
This document is intended for sales engineers, field consultants, advanced services specialists, and VCE
customers of the VSS XAPP.
The VCE Glossary provides terms, definitions, and acronyms that are related to Vblock Systems.
To suggest documentation changes and provide feedback on this book, send an e-mail to
docfeedback@vce.com. Include the name of the topic to which your feedback applies.
Resource
Customer
support.vce.com
A valid username and password are required. Click VCE Download Center to access the
technical documentation.
VCE Partner
partner.vce.com
A valid username and password are required.
portal.vce.com
VCE employee
sales.vce.com/saleslibrary
or
vblockproductdocs.ent.vce.com
System overview
System overview
System architecture and components
This topic provides an overview of the Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications architecture
and components.
VSS XAPP has a number of features including:
Virtual machines and applications with high levels of redundant data that benefit from the power
Each VSS XAPP contains the following key hardware and software components:
Resource
Components
Virtualization and
management
System overview
Resource
Components
Compute
Network
Storage
Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card 1240 and Cisco UCS Virtual Interface
Card 1280 - supported on the Cisco UCS B200 M3 Blade Server
Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card 1340 and Cisco UCS Virtual Interface
Card 1380 - supported on the Cisco UCS B200 M4 Blade Server
The VCE Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of components for VSS
XAPP. For information about Vblock System management, refer to the VCE Vision Intelligent
Operations Technical Overview.
Business application
This topic provides an overview of how the Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications adds
value in specific scenarios.
VSS XAPP provides power and flexibility specifically targeted to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
applications. In addition, VSS XAPP provides benefits to a variety of scenarios:
Scenario
Benefit
VDI
System overview
Scenario
Benefit
Description
Flexible deployments
System overview
Benefit
Description
Deduplication
Number of cabinets
Virtual desktops
EMC XtremIO
Usable storage
Small
1,750
1 (Starter)
3.6 TB
(21.5 TB with a 6:1
deduplication ratio)
Medium
3,500
7.5 TB
(35 TB with a 6:1
deduplication ratio)
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System overview
VDI deployment
size
Number of cabinets
Virtual desktops
EMC XtremIO
Usable storage
Large
7,000
15 TB
(70 TB with a 6:1
deduplication ratio)
Related information
EMC XtremIO configuration (see page 17)
Connectivity overview
This topic describes the components and interconnectivity in the Vblock System.
The components and connectivity are subdivided into the following layers:
Layer
Description
Compute
Contains the components that provide the computing power in a Vblock System. The Cisco UCS
blade servers, chassis, and fabric interconnects belong to this layer.
Storage
Network
Contains the components that provide switching between the compute and storage layers in a
Vblock System, and between a Vblock System and the external network. Cisco Nexus Switches
belong to this layer.
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System overview
12
System overview
13
Compute layer
Compute layer
Compute overview
This topic provides an overview of the Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications compute
components.
Cisco UCS B-Series Blades installed in the Cisco UCS chassis provide the computing power in a Vblock
System.
Fabric extenders (FEX) in the Cisco UCS Chassis connect to Cisco Fabric Interconnects over converged
Ethernet. Four 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.
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 in the VSS XAPP. These connections are formed
into a port channel to the Cisco Nexus switch and carry IP traffic destined for the customer network. This
port channel can also carry IP traffic to the storage layer. Each fabric interconnect also has multiple ports
reserved by VCE for Fibre Channel (FC) ports. These connections carry FC traffic between the compute
layer and the storage layer. These connections also enable storage area network (SAN) booting of the
UCS Blades.
Reduced cabling
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Compute layer
The VCE Vblock System Blade Packs Reference provides a list of supported Cisco UCS blades in Vblock
Systems. The Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications Blade Expansion Guide provides
guidelines for expanding compute components for the Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme
Applications after it is installed.
Related information
Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)
Network connectivity and management capabilities to the Cisco UCS blades and chassis
Offer line-rate, low-latency, lossless 10 GbE and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
Provide the management and communication backbone for the blades and chassis, and facilitate
LAN and SAN connectivity for all blades within their domain
Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications uses Cisco UCS 6248UP 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.
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Storage layer
Storage layer
EMC XtremIO storage
This topic describes the benefits of the EMC XtremIO flash storage.
Key attributes of the EMC XtremIO flash array are:
High levels of input/output (I/O) performance, particularly for random I/O workloads that are
typical in virtualized environments. These performance levels are achieved with low and
consistent latency.
Real-time inline data deduplication (the ability to remove redundant information in the data path
and only ever write unique data to the storage array, thus lowering the amount of capacity
required)
Data at Rest Encryption (DARE) - EMC XtremIO arrays securely encrypt all data stored on the
all-flash array delivering protection for regulated use cases in sensitive industries such as
healthcare, finance, and the government.
Note: All supported configurations support DARE.
EMC XtremIO automatically compresses data after all duplications are removed. This process
ensures that the compression is only performed for unique data blocks. Data compression is
performed in real time and not as a post-processing operation.
Active/Active operation
High availability
Thin provisioning
DARE
Scale-out design with additional performance and capacity added in a building block approach.
All building blocks form a single clustered system.
Complete integration to VMware vSphere through VAAI. All application programming interface
(API) commands are supported. This enables nearly instantaneous virtual machine provisioning
and cloning and the ability to use large volume sizes for management simplicity.
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Storage layer
No tuning or ongoing administration required to achieve and maintain high performance levels.
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Storage layer
The following illustration shows the front and rear views of how a single EMC XtremIO system is
configured:
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Storage layer
The following illustrations show how the front and rear views of a dual EMC XtremIO system is
configured:
19
Storage layer
20
Storage layer
Storage controllers
The EMC XtremIO storage controllers are Intel-based servers with the following specifications:
256 GB RAM
Integrated IPMI
2 X Micron P400m 200 GB SSDs (contain the Linux OS and journals dump)
2 X Hitachi Ultrastar 900 GB SAS2 Spinning Drives (contain data path input/output (IO) traces for
the last several hours)
Related information
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure deployments (see page 10)
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Storage layer
3.6 TB of deduplicated physical disk space (37 TB of hydrated logical disk space) for the Starter
EMC XtremIO
7.5 TB of deduplicated physical disk space (70 TB of hydrated logical disk space)
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Network layer
Network layer
Networking overview
This topic provides an overview of the network components for the Vblock Specialized Systems for
Extreme Applications.
The network infrastructure for the VSS XAPP includes Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches, fabric
interconnects, and Cisco Nexus 3064-T Ethernet Switches. The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches provide
10 GbE connectivity:
To the AMP for Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications through redundant
connections to the Cisco Nexus 3064-T Ethernet Switches in the AMP for VSS XAPP
The two Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches support low-latency line-rate 10 GbE and Fibre Channel over
Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity on up to 32 ports. The Cisco Nexus 5548UP switches have one expansion
slot that can be populated with a 16-port unified port expansion module. The FC ports are licensed in
packs of eight in an on-demand basis. The Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switch is the only network switch
supported for Vblock System data connectivity in the VSS XAPP.
Ports are reserved or identified for special Vblock System services such as backup, replication, or
aggregation uplink connectivity. Cisco Nexus 5548UP Switches provide a number of line-rate ports for
non-blocking 8 Gb/sec throughput.
Related information
AMP for Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications components (see page 27)
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Virtualization layer
Virtualization layer
Virtualization components
This topic provides an overview of the virtualization components.
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. VMware vSphere 5.5 includes a Single Sign-on (SSO) component.
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.
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Virtualization layer
Cloning of VMs
Template creation
Initial configuration of VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and VMware vSphere
high-availability clusters
VMware vCenter Server provides monitoring and alerting capabilities for hosts and VMs. Vblock System
administrators can create and apply the following alarms to all managed objects in VMware vCenter
Server:
Databases
The back-end database that supports VMware vCenter Server and VUM is remote Microsoft SQL 2012
(VMware vSphere 5.5). The SQL Server service requires a dedicated service account.
Authentication
Vblock Systems support the VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service which can integrate multiple identity
sources including Active Directory, Open LDAP, and local accounts for authentication. VMware vCenter
Server, Inventory, Web Client, SSO, and VUM run as separate Windows services. Each service can be
configured to use a dedicated service account depending on security and directory services
requirements.
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Virtualization layer
VMware vSphere Web Client (used with VCE Vision Intelligent Operations)
VMware DRS
VMware vMotion
Resource Pools
VMware vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) (except the TP reclaim primitive)
26
Management
Management
AMP for Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme
Applications
This topic describes the AMP for Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications components.
The Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications includes the AMP for VSS XAPP which
provides a single management point. The AMP for VSS XAPP provides these benefits:
Manages and monitors application management workloads such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI) applications
Description
27
Management
Component
Description
The AMP for VSS XAPP for the single cabinet solution
contains an EMC VNXe3150. The dual cabinet
configuration contains an EMC VNXe 3300.
Software components
Each AMP for VSS XAPP is delivered pre-configured with the following software components:
VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi, VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service (version 5.5),
vSphere Web Client, vCenter Server, vCenter Database using Microsoft SQL 2012 (vSphere 5.5),
vCenter Update Manager, vCenter Client
Array management modules, including but not limited to EMC XtremIO Management Server
(XMS), EMC Unisphere Client and Server, and EMC VNXe Initialization Utility
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System infrastructure
System infrastructure
Cabinets overview
This topic describes the VCE cabinets.
In each VCE System, the compute, storage, and network layer components are distributed within two or
more 42U cabinets. Distributing the components this way balances out the power draw and reduces the
size of the power outlet units (POUs) that are required.
Each cabinet conforms to a standard predefined layout. Space can be reserved for specific components
even if they are not present or required for the external configuration. This design makes it easier to
upgrade or expand each VCE System as capacity needs increase.
VCE 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 can increase delivery time.
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.
Power options
This topic describes the power outlet unit (POU) options for North America and regions outside of North
America.
Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications supports several POU options, inside and outside
of North America.
North America power options
The NEMA POU is standard; other POUs add time to VSS XAPP assembly and delivery. The following
table lists the POUs available for VSS XAPP systems in North America:
POU
Power specifications
NEMA L15-30P
IEC 60309
29
System infrastructure
Power specifications
The Vblock Specialized Systems for Extreme Applications Physical Planning Guide provides more
information about power requirements.
Related information
Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)
30
Configuration descriptions
Configuration descriptions
This topic provides information about the two cabinet configurations for the Vblock Specialized Systems
for Extreme Applications system.
The VSS XAPP has two configuration options: a single cabinet system and a dual cabinet system. These
configurations differ in the number of EMC XtremIO components and in their storage configuration.
System
Single-cabinet
configuration
Dual-cabinet
configuration
Usable storage
6 TB
7.5 TB
15 TB
1 x EMC VNXe3150
1 x EMC VNXe3150
1 x EMC VNXe3300
1 x 42RU cabinets
1 x 42RU cabinets
2 x 42RU cabinets
1 x EMC XtremIO
containing:
2 x EMC XtremIO
containing:
1 x EMC XtremIO
Disk Array Enclosure
25 x 400 GB Flash
Drives
2 x EMC XtremIO
Disk Array
Enclosures
2 x Battery Backup
Units
50 x 400 GB Flash
Drives
2 x Storage
Controllers
2 x Battery Backup
Units
4 x Storage
Controllers
2 x EMC XtremIO
Infiniband Switches
Compute and
network
Storage
31
System
Virtualization and
management
Vblock System
management
Configuration descriptions
Single-cabinet
configuration
Dual-cabinet
configuration
32
Configuration descriptions
33
Configuration descriptions
Cabinet elevations vary based on the specific configuration requirements. These are provided for sample
purposes only. For a specific VSS XAPP design, consult your vArchitect.
34
Configuration descriptions
35
Configuration descriptions
36
Configuration descriptions
37
Configuration descriptions
38
Configuration descriptions
39
Configuration descriptions
40
Additional references
Additional references
Compute components
This topic provides a description of the compute components.
Product
Description
Link to documentation
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11548/
Centralized management
capabilities for the Cisco
Unified Computing System.
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/
index.html
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10279/
index.html
41
Additional references
Network components
This topic provides a description of the network components.
Product
Description
Link to documentation
www.cisco.com/en/us/products/ps11681
Storage components
This topic provides a description of the storage components.
Product
Description
Link to documentation
www.emc.com/storage/xtremio/index.htm
www.emc.com/products/series/vnxe-series.htm
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Additional references
Virtualization components
This topic provides a description of the virtualization components.
Product
Description
Link to documentation
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/
vCenter/VMware-vCenter-Server-Datasheet.pdf
VMWare vSphere
www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/
Provides VMware-specific
authentication services.
http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/tag/singlesign-on
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www.vce.com
About VCE
VCE accelerates the adoption of converged infrastructure and cloud-based computing models that dramatically reduce the
cost of IT while improving time to market for enterprises and service providers globally. Through its leading Vblock
Systems, VCE delivers the industry's only true converged infrastructure, leveraging Cisco compute and network
technology, EMC storage and data protection, and VMware virtualization and virtualization management. VCE solutions
are available through an extensive partner network and cover horizontal applications, vertical industry offerings and
application development environments, enabling customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating,
validating, and managing IT infrastructure.
2014-2015 VCE Company, LLC. All rights reserved. VCE, Vblock, VCE Vision, 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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