Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Vx Rail

Editor's Notes

• #3: So what makes Dell EMC a leader in the converged infrastructure market? Our systems are designed to deliver a turnkey customer experience. Whether it’s an appliance, a rack, or block, these systems are: Engineered as one – architectural standards and specs that are codified into a release certification matrix (RCM) Manufactured as one – delivered from factory ready to run applications Managed as one – single object view of converged infrastructure Supported as one – system in addition to components Sustained as one – provides lifecycle system assurance and integrity How are these different from other vendors that create mission critical core data center converged infrastructure? Engineered – no other company has hundreds of engineers that are standardizing data center architectural design, system design and complete lifecycle management to take the heavy burden of planning, integrating and sustaining converged infrastructure from the customer and making it simple and low risk for customers to deploy and operate over time. Manufactured – our state of the art manufacturing facilities in the US and EU to build our systems to exacting standards so they operate the same everywhere around the world. Managed – Dell EMC software (Vision Intelligent Operations) is the only software that codifies architecture standards, designs, and configurations into a real-time representation of a converged infrastructure, with validation for system health and life cycle status (release certification and security posture). Supported – Dell EMC support has full accountability for our converged infrastructure, with expertise on all facets of our systems and the integration of key components. Further, our support maintains accountability even through escalations to EMC, Cisco or VMware. Other vendors often have finger pointing between divisions of the same company. Sustained – No other vendor has this capability – and DELL EMC has this across our entire Dell EMC portfolio. For Vblock, VxBlock, and VxRack Systems, lifecycle assurance is delivered via a comprehensive set of architected, designed, validated, and documented standards called RCM (Release Certification Matrix). The RCM provides the highest levels of assurance that Dell EMC converged systems will simply work. Dell EMC has documented processes and procedures for evolving the RCM over time and for updating Dell EMC systems throughout their lifecycle. Similarly, Dell EMC VxRail Appliance and the XC Series offer lifecycle management via pre-tested/pre-validated single-click upgrades.
• #4: VxRail offers configure-to-order flexibility to meet any use case. I’ll talk about each of these use cases and the configurability in greater detail, but let’s talk about what is in a VxRail node. Each individual VxRail node contains compute complete with CPUs, DIMMs, and networking connectivity to top of rack switches (either 10 Gbps and/or 1 Gbps network interface ports). There is also redundant power and cooling to limit a single point of hardware failure. New for VxRail 4.0 is something many of you have been asking for, the ability to add GPU hardware to the appliance. The new V Series that I’ll highlight shortly delivers GPU hardware for 2D/3D VDI support. Finally, we continue to offer both all flash and hybrid disk packs.
• #5: Here you can see a full view of the portfolio. Across the top you can see the new series names as well as each form factor for the node. As I mentioned all of the CPUs have been updated with the latest Broadwell processors. Next you can see the storage type offered in the series. Both flash and hybrid nodes are available for all but the S series which is available in hybrid only. Next you can see the maximum capacity. Again this is on a per node basis. Even starting with a minimum of three nodes, there is excellent capacity for the cluster. Also, when you factor in deduplication, compression and, and erasure coding available on the all-flash nodes, the effective capacity greatly increases. With the 4.0 release we are offering more memory per node and additional network connectivity per node to give you even more flexibility for any of your use cases.
• #6: VxRail Appliances, the fastest growing hyper-converged systems worldwide, are the standard for transforming VMware infrastructures, dramatically simplifying IT operations while lowering overall capital and operational costs Compelling benefits Accelerates transformation and reduces risk with automated lifecycle management: 200 fewer steps to deploy than build your own (BYO), 1-click software and firmware updates after deployment, and common M&O tools. In addition, latest study from Silverton Consulting in July 2017 showed a 16X lower cost of install and upgrade admin cost versus DIY HCI built using vSAN Ready Nodes Drives operational efficiency for a 30% TCO advantage versus DIY HCI systems built using vSAN Ready Nodes – based on latest study from Silverton Consulting in July 2017 Unifies support for all VxRail hardware and software delivering 42% lower total cost of serviceability advantage versus DIY HCI systems built using vSAN Ready Nodes – based on latest study from Silverton Consulting in July 2017 Unique differentiators Only HCI appliance co-designed and developed with VMware to seamlessly integrate with the robust VMware ecosystem Engineered, manufactured, managed, supported, and sustained as ONE for single end-to-end lifecycle support Fully loaded with enterprise data services for built-in data protection, cloud storage, and disaster recovery
• #7: In addition to the quantifiable benefits as HCI, there is another big advantage of VxRail, and that is as a foundation for the future. Customers are increasingly looking to create scalable hybrid cloud platforms that help drive innovation and competitive differentiation, and most will not be able to successfully build their own. Fortunately, Enterprise Hybrid Cloud is the easy button for turnkey IT transformation and Native Hybrid Cloud is the easy button for turnkey Digital Transformation. Both EHC and NHC must run only on turnkey systems, and VxRail is the entry point. So in buying VxRail, customers are not only buying a flexible infrastructure that can be easily expanded and scaled, but a foundation that can support EHC and NHC. Lower EHC price point optimized for smaller deployments: Provides a cost-effective, smaller footprint with the flexibility to start small and scale out the platform as business requirements evolve. Simplified, automated installations: Supported on VxRail deployments, automated installation accelerates a customer’s time to value and reduces deployment time, costs and risk Subscription-based support: Provide life cycle management and maintenance. Simplified and cost-effective access to upgrades, patches, and support across Enterprise Hybrid Cloud with VxRail. And like all of our hybrid cloud platforms, it is turnkey providing simplified deployment and access to one call support, so that if customers have any issues in the holistic platform, they can simply call Dell EMC for assistance.
• #8: When we say that VxRail can plug into your standardized VMware environment, the central part of that ability comes from VxRail being powered by VMware Virtual SAN. It is really the heart and soul of VxRail. And through a seamless integration with vSphere, VxRail can offer the most compelling features and high performance of any hyper-converged appliance on the market. The other significant advantage of leveraging VSAN is the technology alignment with the entire VMware portfolio. Because it is so aligned with VMware it has the ability to support virtual machines just as you would any other host. So you can do everything leveraging VMware tools that you would and direct those policies to VSAN and VxRail. For example you can manage virtual machines instead of storage and when you do need to manage storage it's very simple to do with the existing tools. Additional capabilities such as enterprise availability for demanding business applications, configurable resiliency through software-defined policies, and the ability to automatically rebuild storage to align with their VM service policies make the VxRail appliance and VSAN a natural extension of your VMware environment.
• #10: When we say that VxRail can plug into your standardized VMware environment, the central part of that ability comes from VxRail being powered by VMware vSAN. It is really the heart and soul of VxRail. And through a seamless integration with vSphere, VxRail can offer the most compelling features and high performance of any hyper-converged appliance on the market. The other significant advantage of leveraging vSAN is the technology alignment with the entire VMware portfolio. Because it is so aligned with VMware it has the ability to support virtual machines just as you would any other host. So you can do everything leveraging VMware tools that you would and direct those policies to VSAN and VxRail. For example you can manage virtual machines instead of storage and when you do need to manage storage it's very simple to do with the existing tools. Additional capabilities such as enterprise availability for demanding business applications, configurable resiliency through software-defined policies, and the ability to automatically rebuild storage to align with their VM service policies make the VxRail appliance and VSAN a natural extension of your VMware environment. There are some significant enhancements in vSAN 6.6. Vmware calls it the largest advance in vSAN yet. Some of the enhancements that benefit VxRail, and you the customer, include: increased performace with 50% greater all-flash performance and a 35% reduction in latency. Because security is a must, vSAN now includes Data at Rest Encryption, or DARE. vSAN’s version of DARE is native to HCI and is set at the cluster level for broad protection. Continuing on the protection theme, enhanced stretched clusters now include local and site protection. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
• #12: Let’s talk in a little more detail about all of the software that is included in VxRail. When we said it comes fully loaded on the previous slide, we mean it. There are three key elements: the software defined storage powered by VSAN that we discussed a few slides ago, deployment and management tools, and data protection that’s included at no additional cost. Within the VSAN software defined storage component, there is VSAN enterprise, a vCenter Server instance for all VM management, and vRealize Log Insight for all activity logging. You can see it says vSphere ready at the bottom of that list. I’ll get to your vSphere options on the next slide. In the middle is VxRail Manager. This is your primary deployment and element manager interface. VxRail Manager is also where you add nodes to a cluster. And it’s where you can find key support information and tools, such as the knowledge base and SRS – the dial home functionality for proactive support. Last but not least, one of the huge advantages of VxRail is that it comes with excellent data protection options. These are included in the price of the appliance and can be activated in the VxRail Manager user interface. I’ll talk about each of these, RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines, CloudArray, vSphere Replication, and vSPhere Data protection shortly,
• #13: Recently, Gartner called out the hyper-converged market and new challenges stating that the concept of customers having to “rip and replace” everything they are used to just to get the economics of hyper-converged was not going to cut it. Well, with VxRail we will be eliminating the need for a forklift upgrade from now on… because the hyper-converged clusters are evergreen. If you have a cluster of appliances and you need to add one more – you simply add it to the cluster within 5 minutes in an automated manner. Vmotion, as customers know, will move the workload to the new appliance. And then remove the older appliance, if necessary. All of this is done non-disruptively – providing a TCO and operational promise to customers.
• #14: It’s VxRail’s complete lifecycle management approach for everything from the appliance hardware setup and service, to management and health of virtual machines is at the heart of simplifying and extending a VMware environment. Further up the stack, when managing across sites and the entire ecosystem, VxRail seamlessly integrates with vRealize Operations and vRealize Automation for a more in-depth IT and Cloud-centric view. Let’s take a look at the elements that make up this lifecycle management more closely, starting with the VxRail manager. The VxRail Manager provides a wizard-based, user-friendly dashboard interface to automate the appliance configuration, health and management. The dashboard health tab can be used to monitor the health of all individual appliances and nodes in the entire cluster. For expansion, VxRail manager is the interface to add new appliances to a cluster easily and non-disruptively, monitoring the appliance resource utilization, expediting diagnostics, and troubleshooting software problems. It can, for instance, guide systems administrators through the replacement of a failed disk without disrupting the appliance availability. VxRail manager leverages the underlying VMware vRealize Log Insight to capture events and provide real-time holistic notifications about the state of virtual applications, VMs, and appliance hardware. Log Insight also tracks alerts for hardware, software, and VMs. It delivers real time automated log management with log monitoring , intelligent grouping, and analytics to provide better troubleshooting at scale across VxRail physical, virtual, and cloud environments. Through VxRail Manager, users can access EMC services, including the knowledge base and user community forums. It also provides service integration and simplifies the appliance lifecycle management by delivering patch software and update notifications that can be automatically installed without interruption or downtime. Another feature within VxRail Manager is EMC Software Remote Service (ESRS), which enables appliances that are deployed offsite to have the same level of support and service as the devices deployed in the data center. ESRS also can be used for online chat support and EMC field-service assistance. Finally, users can access the VxRail Market through VxRail Manager for finding and downloading qualified, value-add VM applications such as CloudArray, RP4VMs and vSphere Data Protection. vCenter Server is included with VxRail as well. Customers also have the option to leverage the vCenter Server license included with their VxRail Appliance. Alternatively, customers can add VxRail as hosts to an existing vCenter Server instance. VMware vCenter Server provides a centralized platform for managing your VMware vSphere environments so you can automate and deliver a virtual infrastructure with confidence Administer your entire vSphere infrastructure from a single location. Allocate and optimize resources for maximum efficiency Administer your entire vSphere infrastructure from a single location. Use powerful tools to simplify management and extend your control, including leveraging the included vRealize Log Insight tool. VMware vRealize Operations for intelligent IT operations management, policy based automation, and unified IT management from applications to infrastructure across physical, virtual and cloud environments. Maximize capacity utilization and enable optimum performance and availability of applications and infrastructures. Proactively identify and solve emerging issues with predictive analytics and smart alerts as well as manage capacity and resolve resource contention with intelligent workload placement vRealize Automation for cloud automation and self-service. automates the delivery of personalized infrastructure, applications and custom IT services. This cloud automation software lets you deploy across a multi-vendor hybrid cloud infrastructure, giving you both flexibility and investment protection for current and future technology choices. Agility through Automation Begin the journey to DevOps by automating the end-to-end delivery and management of infrastructure and accelerating application deployment and releases. Choice through Flexibility Provision and manage multi-vendor, multi-cloud infrastructure and applications leveraging existing infrastructure tools and processes. Personalization through Governance Policies Ensure that users receive the right size resource or application at the appropriate service level for the jobs they need to perform. Efficiency through Cost Containment Provide consistent, automated delivery and management of IT services and reduce time-consuming, manual processes. Automated reclamation offers further savings by reclaiming inactive resources that can be reused.
• #15: I hope those slides and snapshots gave you a view into a day in the life of the management lifecycle and the tools available to manage your environment In closing the VxRail in action section, it’s important that we call out the available data protection options, and with VxRail you have a lot of options to protect your data, your VMs, etc. Best of all, many of these come at no additional cost with VxRail. And they’re all complementary to each other based on your users need and tolerance. Options include: Stretched clusters that deliver continuous availability across a campus or metro-based distance RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines where you can have replication for any point in time, from seconds to minutes. And each VxRail chassis comes with 15 RP4VM licenses included. Next is vSphere replication, with some similarities to RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines, but doesn’t deliver as granular replication Finally, each VxRail Appliance comes with 8TB of vSphere Data Protection for local backup and archiving.