Vblock 100 PDF

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VCE Vblock® System 100

Gen 2.3
Architecture Overview
Document revision 2.6

November 2014
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Revision history
Revision history
Date Vblock System Document revision Description of changes
November 2014 Gen 2.3 2.6 Added the Cisco Nexus

3064-T Switch
May 2014 Gen 2.2 2.5 Added Cisco Ivy Bridge

Processors information.
Added local boot
information.
November 2013 Gen 2.1 2.4 Added Cisco Trusted

Platform Module
information.
Added VMware vSphere
Standard Edition (version
5.1 and later) information.
July 2013 Gen 2.1 2.3 Updated the networking

components information as
follows:
For the VCE Vblock
System 100 model BX,
customer uplinks are
reserved from the 24 GbE
pool.
For the VCE Vblock
System 100 model DX,
customer uplinks are
reserved from the 48 GbE
pool.
May 2013 Gen 2.1 2.2 Updated storage

information as follows:
• Vblock 100 DX - 6 TB
of usable space
• Vblock 100 BX - 4 TB
of usable space
April 2013 Gen 2.1 2.1 • Added VCE Vision™

Intelligent Operations
• Updated VMware
vSphere information
• Integrated into Gen
2.1 release
February 2013 Gen 2.0 2.0 Gen 2.0 release
2
© 2013, 2014 VCE Company, LLC.
All Rights Reserved.
Contents VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 5
Accessing VCE documentation.................................................................................................................6
Overview......................................................................................................................................................7
Vblock® System 100 overview............................................................................................................... 7
Base configurations and scaling.............................................................................................................8
Connectivity overview.............................................................................................................................9
Virtualization............................................................................................................................................. 11
Virtualization overview..........................................................................................................................11
VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi.......................................................................................................11
VMware vCenter Server....................................................................................................................... 12
Storage features........................................................................................................................................14
Data protection software...................................................................................................................... 14
Storage features support......................................................................................................................14
EMC Secure Remote Support..............................................................................................................15
Compute layer hardware.......................................................................................................................... 16

Cisco UCS C220 server....................................................................................................................... 16
Cisco Trusted Platform Module............................................................................................................ 16
Scaling up compute resources............................................................................................................. 17
Bare metal support............................................................................................................................... 17
Storage layer hardware............................................................................................................................ 19

EMC VNXe Series storage arrays........................................................................................................19
Disk array enclosures (DAE)................................................................................................................ 20
Network layer hardware........................................................................................................................... 22

Networking components.......................................................................................................................22
Vblock System 100................................................................................................................................... 23

Vblock System 100 model comparison................................................................................................ 23
Cabinets............................................................................................................................................... 24
Vblock 100 DX......................................................................................................................................24
Vblock 100 BX......................................................................................................................................32
Power options.......................................................................................................................................36
Additional references............................................................................................................................... 37
References overview............................................................................................................................37
Virtualization components.................................................................................................................... 37
3
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Contents
Compute components.......................................................................................................................... 37
Network components............................................................................................................................37
Storage components............................................................................................................................ 38
4
Introduction VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Introduction
®
This document describes the high-level design of Vblock System 100. This document also describes the
hardware and software components that VCE includes in Vblock 100.
The target audience for this document includes sales engineers, field consultants, advanced services
specialists, and customers who want to deploy a virtualized infrastructure using Vblock 100.
The VCE Glossary provides terms, definitions, and acronyms that are related to Vblock Systems.
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.
Related information
Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)
5
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Accessing VCE documentation
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. Click VCE Download Center to access the
technical documentation.
VCE Partner partner.vce.com

A valid username and password are required.
Cisco, EMC, VCE, or portal.vce.com

VMware employee
VCE employee sales.vce.com/saleslibrary

or
vblockproductdocs.ent.vce.com
Related information
Bare metal support (see page 17)
6
Overview VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Overview
®
Vblock System 100 overview
Each Vblock System 100 model contains the following key hardware and software components:
Resource Components
Vblock System management VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations that consists of:
• VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations System Library
• VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations VCE Vision™ Plug-in for vCenter
• VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations VCE Vision™ Compliance Checker
• VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations API for System Library
• VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations API for Compliance Checker
Virtualization and management • EMC VNXe Unisphere

• EMC Local Protection Suite
• EMC VNXe Connection Utility
• EMC ESRS
• Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC)
• VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service (version 5.1 and higher)
• EMC Unisphere Manager
• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware Update Manager
• VMware vSphere Infrastructure Client
• VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus
• VMware vSphere Standard Edition (version 5.1 and higher)
Compute Cisco UCS C220 Server
Network Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switch
Storage EMC VNXe3300 or EMC VNXe3150
7
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Overview
The following illustration provides a high-level overview of the components in the Vblock System 100
architecture:
The VCE Vblock System Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of
components for Vblock 100. For information about Vblock System management, refer to the VCE Vision™
Intelligent Operations Intelligent Operations Technical Overview.
Related information
Base configurations and scaling

Vblock System 100 is available in two models: Vblock System 100 model DX and Vblock System 100
model BX.
8
Overview VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Vblock System 100 model DX is available in six standard configurations. Vblock System 100 model BX is
available in two standard configurations. Each configuration within the model provides a different level of
compute and storage capacity based upon the components contained in the Vblock System. These
components are contained in a 19-inch 42U cabinet (Vblock 100 DX) or a 19-inch 24U cabinet (Vblock
100 BX). Together, the components offer balanced I/O, bandwidth, and storage capacity relative to the
compute and storage arrays in the Vblock System. All components have 1+1 or N+1 redundancy. These
resources can be scaled up as necessary to meet increasingly stringent requirements. The maximum
supported configuration differs from model to model.
Each model includes a different EMC VNXe storage array model, which is the major differentiator that
dictates the capacity of the Vblock System. The storage hardware can be customized. Cabinet space is
reserved for all components that are needed for each storage configuration.
The number of Cisco UCS C220 servers can also be increased.
Related information
Disk array enclosures (DAE) (see page 20)
Scaling up compute resources (see page 17)
Vblock System 100 model comparison (see page 23)
Connectivity overview
Components and interconnectivity in Vblock Systems are conceptually subdivided into three layers:
Layer Description
Compute Contains the components that provide the computing power within the Vblock System and host the
virtual machines. The Cisco UCS C220 servers belong in this layer.
Network Contains the components that provide switching and routing between the compute and storage layers
within a Vblock System, and between the Vblock System and the customer network. The Cisco Nexus
3064-T Switch belongs in this layer.
Storage Consists of an EMC VNXe storage array. The Vblock System 100 model DX includes an EMC
VNXe3300 storage array. The Vblock System 100 model BX includes an EMC VNXe3150 storage array.
The storage array consists of a number of disk array enclosures (DAEs) that contain disk drives.
All components incorporate redundancy into the design.
9
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Overview
The following illustration provides a high level overview of the components with redundant network
connectivity:
Note: All Vblock 100 models boot from mirrored Cisco SD FlexFlash cards.
Related information
Cisco UCS C220 server (see page 16)
Networking components (see page 22)
10
Virtualization VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Virtualization
Virtualization overview
VMware vSphere is the virtualization platform that provides the foundation for the private cloud. The core
VMware vSphere components are the VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi and VMware vCenter Server for
management.
The hypervisors are deployed in a cluster configuration and can scale up to eight nodes for the Vblock
100 DX per cluster and up to four nodes for the Vblock 100 BX per cluster. The cluster allows dynamic
allocation of resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage. The cluster also provides workload mobility
and flexibility with the use of VMware vMotion and Storage vMotion technology.
For Vblock 100 DX, licenses for three to eight physical hosts are provided for VMware vSphere ESXi in
the base configuration. For Vblock 100 BX, licenses for three to four physical hosts are provided for
VMware vSphere ESXi in the base configuration.
VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi

This topic describes the function of VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi (ESXi) in the Vblock 100.
This lightweight hypervisor runs in the Vblock 100, requires very little space to run (less than 6 GB of
storage required to install), and has minimal management overhead. ESXi does not contain a console
operating system. The ESXi boots from mirrored Cisco FlexFlash SD cards.
Cluster configuration
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 scale up to
a maximum of eight hosts for Vblock 100 DX and up to a maximum of four hosts for Vblock 100 BX. The
clusters support a large number of virtual machines.
Datastores
Vblock Systems support a mixture of datastore types: block level storage using VMFS or file level storage
using NFS.
The maximum size per VMFS5 volume is 64 TB (50 TB VMFS3 @ 1 MB). Each host/cluster supports a
maximum of 255 volumes.
VCE optimizes the advanced settings for 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.
11
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Virtualization
Virtual networks
Virtual networking uses the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) when the Vblock System 100 is
deployed with VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus. If the Vblock 100 uses any other VMware vSphere
product, the Standard VMware Switch is used for virtual networking.
VMware vCenter Server

VMware vCenter Server is a central management point for the hypervisors and virtual machines. VMware
vCenter is installed on a 64-bit Windows Server and runs as a service.
VMware vCenter Server is located in the management infrastructure within the Vblock System. The
Vblock System has a dedicated VMware vCenter Server instance as well as an accompanying instance
of VMware Update Manager to assist with upgrades and host patch management. VMware Update
Manager is installed on a separate Windows Server and runs as a Windows service.
VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:
• Cloning of virtual machines
• Creating templates
• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion
• VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS)
• Initial configuration of Dynamic Resource Schedule (DRS) Cluster
Note: Dynamic Resource Scheduling and VMware VDS are available only if VMware vSphere
Enterprise Plus is licensed on all ESXi hosts.
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, host health, inventory, and performance
• Datastore health and capacity
• Virtual machine usage, performance, and health
• Virtual network usage and health
Databases
The backend database that supports VMware vCenter Server and VMware Update Manager (VUM) is
remote Microsoft SQL Server 2008. The SQL Server service requires a dedicated service account.
12
Virtualization VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Authentication
Vblock Systems support the VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service capable of the integration of multiple
identity sources including Active Directory, Open LDAP, and local accounts for authentication. VMware
SSO is available in VMware vSphere 5.1 and higher. VMware vCenter Server, Inventory, Web Client,
SSO, and Update Manager run as separate Windows services. Each service is configured to use a
dedicated service account, depending on the customer's security and directory services requirements.
VCE supported features
VCE supports the following VMware vCenter Server features with VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus
(version 5.1 and later):
• VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service (version 5.1 and higher)
• VMware vSphere Web Client (used with VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations Intelligent
Operations)
• VMware vSphere High Availability (when used with shared storage)
• DRS (available if VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus is licensed on all ESXi hosts inside a cluster)
• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion
• VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS)
• Resource Pools
• Storage DRS (capacity only) (available if VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus is licensed on all ESXi
hosts inside a cluster)
• Storage Driven Profiles (user-defined only) (available if VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus is
licensed on all ESXi hosts inside a cluster)
• VMware Syslog Service
• VMware Core Dump Collector
• VMware vCenter Web Services
13
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Storage features
Storage features
Data protection software

This topic describes the data protection software that is installed on Vblock System 100.
Refer to the EMC VNXe Data Protection white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/

h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdf for information about data protection on an EMC VNXe.
The following table lists the data protection software and the software that can be purchased separately:
Software Vblock System 100 BX Vblock System 100 DX
EMC Unisphere Manager (includes EMC Secure Remote Installed Installed

Support)
EMC VNXe Local Protection Suite Installed Installed
EMC VNXe Remote Protection Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately
EMC VNXe Application Protection Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately
EMC VNXe Security and Compliance Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately
Refer to the EMC VNXe Series Software Packs white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/software/data-
sheet/h8510-vnxe-software-ds.pdf.
The VCE Vblock System Release Certification Matrix provides a list of the certified versions of
components for Vblock 100.
Related information
EMC Secure Remote Support (see page 15)
Storage features support

The EMC VNXe File Deduplication and Compression feature is used with a Vblock System 100 to
increase the efficiency for how NAS data is stored. This feature allows you to increase storage efficiency
by reducing space usage and reducing the cost of storing data.
Refer to the EMC VNXe File Deduplication and Compression white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/
hardware/white-papers/h10579-vnxe-deduplication.pdf.
14
Storage features VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
File deduplication
Deduplication saves space on a storage resource by compressing redundant data. If multiple files have
the same data, the storage resource stores one copy of the data, and shares that data between the
multiple files. It is not CPU-intensive and does not require a large amount of memory resources.
Compression
Compression alters the way that data is stored to improve storage efficiency. It is a variable, bit-level,
intra-object deduplication. It is CPU intensive and requires minimal memory resources.
Compression is efficient in capacity reduction, but it does impact a storage array's CPU usage during
compression. Compression affects the disk-read performance depending on the efficiency of the
decompression. Due to the performance cost, best practice states that compression be disabled.
Snapshot
Snapshot is a read-only, point-in-time copy of data stored on the storage system. Administrators recover
files and folders from snapshots.
Refer to the EMC VNXe Data Protection white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/

h8219-vnxe-data-protection-wp.pdf.
EMC Secure Remote Support

This topic describes how EMC Secure Remote Support (ESRS) monitors the health of EMC VNX storage
arrays .
ESRS allows EMC personnel to remotely monitor the health of EMC VNX storage arrays in the Vblock
System, and perform support and maintenance functions. ESRS serves as the conduit for all
communications between EMC and the EMC VNX storage arrays. ESRS monitors the health of multiple
EMC VNX storage arrays in Vblock Systems and elsewhere. EMC ESRS is integrated into the EMC VNX
base software suite.
Detailed information about ESRS is available at support.emc.com.
Related information
Data protection software (see page 14)
15
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Compute layer hardware
Compute layer hardware
Cisco UCS C220 server

The Cisco UCS C220 server is a high-density, two-socket, one rack unit (RU) rack-mount server that is
built for production-level network infrastructure, web services, and mainstream data center, branch, and
remote-office applications.
Vblock 100 DX standard configurations contain three, six, or eight Cisco UCS C220 servers.
Vblock 100 BX standard configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220 servers.
The Cisco UCS C220 server provides:
• 96 GB of memory for Vblock 100 DX and 64 GB of memory for Vblock 100 BX
• 2x 2.00GHz 8 core E5-2640V2 processors
• Flexible I/O and storage options
• Virtualization optimization
The VCE Vblock System 100 Port Assignments Reference provides information about the assigned use
for each port in the Vblock System.
Related information
Vblock 100 BX (see page 32)
Vblock 100 DX (see page 24)
Cisco Trusted Platform Module

The Cisco Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a computer chip that securely stores artifacts such as
measurements, passwords, certificates, or encryption keys, that are used to authenticate the Vblock
System. The Cisco TPM provides authentication and attestation services that enable safer computing in
all environments.
The Cisco TPM is available by default in Vblock Systems as a component within some Cisco UCS Blade
Servers and is shipped disabled. For more information, refer to the VCE Vblock Systems Blade Packs
Reference.
VCE supports Cisco TPM hardware but does not support the Cisco TPM functionality. Using Cisco TPM
features involves using a software stack from a vendor with significant domain experience in trusted
16
Compute layer hardware VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
computing. Consult your software stack vendor for configuration and operational considerations relating
to the Cisco TPMs.
Scaling up compute resources

This topic lists the Vblock 100 standard configurations.
Vblock 100 DX standard configurations contain three, six, or eight Cisco UCS C220 servers:
Vblock 100 DX configuration Number of Cisco UCS C220 servers (96 GB)
Vblock 100 DX-3P 3
Vblock 100 DX-3G 3
Vblock 100 DX-6P 6
Vblock 100 DX-6G 6
Vblock 100 DX-8P 8
Vblock 100 DX-8G 8
In Vblock 100 DX, you can add Cisco UCS C220 servers (96 GB) as needed with a minimum of three
servers and a maximum of eight servers. The servers must be added one at a time.
Vblock 100 BX standard configurations (Vblock 100 BX-3P and Vblock 100 BX-3G) contain three Cisco
UCS C220 servers (64 GB). You can add one Cisco UCS C220 server to the Vblock 100 BX.
Vblock 100 BX configuration Number of Cisco UCS C220 servers (96 GB)
Vblock 100 BX-3P 3
Vblock 100 BX-3G 3
Bare metal support

This topic describes the VCE bare metal support policy.
If applications cannot be virtualized due to technical or commercial reasons, Vblock 100 DX (only) servers
are deployed bare metal; that is, with non-virtualized operating system and application configurations.
Vblock 100 DX has the capacity to house a minimal configuration of three VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.
The maximum configuration has the cabinet, power, and cabling capability to house an additional five
VMware vSphere ESXi hosts (total of eight). Vblock 100 DX standard configurations contain three, six, or
eight Cisco UCS C220 servers. Only 50 percent of additional servers can be slated for bare-metal
installation.
17
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Compute layer hardware
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 provides only 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.
• 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 provided only 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.
Bare metal workloads require separate physical disk drives, disk groups, and storage pools to ensure that
bare metal workloads do not adversely impact Vblock System workloads.
Related information
18
Storage layer hardware VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Storage layer hardware
EMC VNXe Series storage arrays

An EMC VNXe series storage array is a unified storage platform that provides application-ready storage
with solution-focused software to manage, provision, and protect data. The EMC VNXe delivers unified IP
storage for NAS and iSCSI while simplifying operations and reducing management overhead. Application-
centric management and provisioning wizards result in immediate familiarity for users, while integration of
snapshot and replication with storage management workflow results in streamlined operations and
uniform data protection coverage.
EMC VNXe series includes:
• Compact storage platforms
• Simple capacity management and growth
• Advanced storage efficiency
The following table lists the EMC VNXe Series storage array and the Vblock System where the storage
array is used:
Vblock System 100 model Storage array model
Vblock 100 DX EMC VNXe3300
Vblock 100 BX EMC VNXe3150
Note: Within Vblock 100 models, all EMC VNXe components are installed within VCE cabinets in VCE-
specific layouts.
Windows 2008
Windows 2008 requires a minimum of 32 GB of space and between 10 - 20 IOPS to operate properly.
Vblock 100 DX supports 100 - 200 virtual machines which require a total of 3.2 TB of usable space and
approximately 2000 IOPS. Vblock 100 BX supports 50 - 100 virtual machines which require a total of
1.6 TB of usable space and approximately 1000 IOPS.
Scaling up storage resources
To scale up storage resources, disk array enclosure (DAE) packs can be added.
19
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Storage layer hardware
Related information
Disk array enclosures (DAE)

This topic describes the DAEs that are shipped in the Vblock 100 standard configurations.
Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX standard configurations are shipped with different numbers and types
of EMC VNXe capacity and performance DAEs.
Capacity and performance DAEs
The following table describes the capacity DAEs and the performance DAEs:
DAE type Description
Capacity 2 TB, 7.2k RPM NL-SAS disk drives. NL-SAS drives are approximately three times the size of SAS
drives that allow for higher density per drive slot. (The larger the disk, the slower the data rate
transfer and seek time.) This disk array enclosure is for capacity-intensive, sequential reads.
Performance 600 GB, 15k RPM SAS disk drives that allow for higher data rate transfers. SAS drives are smaller in
size to reduce the amount of seek time. This disk array enclosure is for performance-intensive,
random reads.
Number of DAEs in the Vblock System
The following table lists Vblock 100 DX and Vblock 100 BX configurations, the number of each type of
DPE and DAE, and storage capacity for each standard configuration. The DPE is counted as a
performance DAE. The raw TB calculations do not include hot spares.
Standard DPE DAE DAE capacity Storage capacity (TB raw)

configuration performance performance
Total SAS capacity NL-SAS capacity
Vblock 100 DX
Vblock 100 DX-3P 1 0 0 8 8 0
Vblock 100 DX-3G 1 0 1 32 8 24
Vblock 100 DX-6P 1 1 0 16 16 0
Vblock 100 DX-6G 1 1 1 40 16 24
20
Storage layer hardware VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Standard DPE DAE DAE capacity Storage capacity (TB raw)

configuration performance performance
Vblock 100 DX-8P 1 4 0 40 40 0
Vblock 100 DX-8G 1 3 2 80 32 48
Vblock 100 BX
Vblock 100 BX-3P 1 0 0 6 6 0
Vblock 100 BX-3G 1 0 1 30 6 24
You can upgrade the base configurations to a maximum of five DAEs for the Vblock 100 DX and to a
maximum of four DAEs for the Vblock 100 BX, with no more than two capacity DAEs.
Related information
21
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Network layer hardware
Network layer hardware
Networking components
This topic describes the function of the Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches in the Vblock 100.
Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches in the network layer provide IP connectivity between compute layer
components and storage layer components. They also provide IP connectivity to the site network.
Both the Vblock 100 DX and the Vblock 100 BX configurations include two Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches.
These switches provide configuration flexibility with one (per switch) hot-swappable 10 GbE network
modules, LAN base, IP base, and IP services software. The switches utilize power redundancy and
network redundancy provided by the Cisco StackWise and StackWise Plus Technology.
Vblock System 100 uses a 10 GbE network module to connect to the VNXe storage processors.
In Vblock 100, the expansion ports in the switches that can be hot swapped must be populated with the
10 GbE modules to enable 10 GbE network links to the EMC VNXe storage processors.
For the VCE Vblock 100 BX, customer uplinks are reserved from the 24 GbE pool.
For the VCE Vblock 100 DX, customer uplinks are reserved from the 48 GbE pool.
To facilitate the required level of redundancy and throughput, the customer network uplink device must
support port aggregation.
Related information
22
Vblock System 100 VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Vblock System 100
Vblock System 100 model comparison

The following table compares the architecture of the Vblock System 100 models:
Vblock 100 DX Vblock 100 BX
Cabinets One 42 U One 24 U
Virtual machines 100 - 200 50 - 100
Compute Three - eight Cisco UCS C220 Three or four Cisco UCS C220
servers (96 GB) servers (64 GB)
Network switches Two Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches Two Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches
Array EMC VNXe3300 DPE with dual EMC VNXe3150 DPE with dual
storage processors storage processors
Storage expansion Maximum configuration: Maximum configuration:

• One DPE • One DPE
• Five DAEs • Four DAEs
Storage protocol File = NFS File = NFS

Block = iSCSI Block = iSCSI
Disk drives 3.5" SAS = 600 GB 3.5" SAS = 600 GB

3.5" NL SAS = 2 TB 3.5" NL SAS = 2 TB
System size LUNs / LUN size = 512 / 2 TB LUNs / LUN size = 256 / 2 TB
File system / File system size = 512 / File system / File system size = 256 /
16 TB 16 TB
Related information
Cabinets (see page 24)
Cisco UCS C220 server (see page 16)
EMC VNXe Series storage arrays (see page 19)
Networking components (see page 22)
23
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Vblock System 100
Cabinets
This topic describes the Vblock 100 cabinets.
The compute, storage, and network layer components of a Vblock System 100 are contained in a 19"
wide cabinet. Vblock 100 DX is contained in a 42U cabinet and Vblock 100 BX is contained in a 24U
cabinet. Each cabinet conforms to a standard predefined layout. Space is reserved for specific
components even if they are not present or required for the customer configuration. This design makes it
easier to upgrade or expand each Vblock System as capacity needs increase. VCE preinstalls all wiring
based on the predefined layouts.
Related information
Vblock 100 DX
Vblock 100 DX is available in six standard configurations.
Vblock 100 DX configurations
The six standard Vblock 100 DX configurations contain:
• Two 48 port Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches
• One EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure (DPE) that is included as a performance DAE
• Space reserved for Vblock System 100 expansion
The difference among the six standard configurations is the number of Cisco UCS C220 96 GB servers
and the number and type of EMC disk array enclosures (DAE). The following table summarizes the
differences in Vblock 100 DX configurations:
Vblock 100 DX configuration Number of Cisco Number of DPEs Number of DAEs

UCS C220 Servers
Vblock 100 DX-3P 3 1 performance None
Vblock 100 DX-3G 3 1 performance One capacity DAE
Vblock 100 DX-6P 6 1 performance One additional performance DAE
Vblock 100 DX-6G 6 1 performance One additional performance DAE and

one capacity DAE
Vblock 100 DX-8P 8 1 performance Four additional performance DAEs
24
Vblock 100 DX configuration Number of Cisco Number of DPEs Number of DAEs

UCS C220 Servers
Vblock 100 DX-8G 8 1 performance Three additional performance DAEs and

two capacity DAEs
Vblock 100 DX storage
The Vblock 100 DX storage layer consists of an EMC VNXe3300 storage array, with a disk processor
enclosure (DPE) and various disk array enclosures (DAE).
The DPE contains a different number of disks depending on the RAID configuration:
• RAID 5 (6 + 1): 15 600 GB, 15K SAS disks providing 6 TB of usable space, and approximately
2520 IOPS
• RAID 6 (4+2): 13 2TB NL-SAS disks providing 14 TB of usable space, and approximately 1080
IOPS
Additional IOPS are provided by the 24 GB cache that is available in the EMC VNXe3300. Usable space
and IOPS scale, based on the DAE type (SAS/performance or NL-SAS/capacity) per available
configuration.
Vblock 100 DX disk shelf configurations
The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 DX for the EMC
VNXe3300 performance DPE - SAS (8 TB raw, 6 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.
VNXe3300 performance DAE - SAS (8 TB raw, 6 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.
25
VNXe3300 capacity DAE - NL-SAS (24 TB raw, 16 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.
Vblock 100 DX storage layer base configuration
The configuration for the Vblock 100 DX storage layer consists of an EMC VNXe3300 storage array. The
storage array is configured as follows:
• Disk processor enclosure (DPE)
— Dual storage processors. Each storage processor has a four-core 1.6 GHz Intel Westmere
CPU and 12 GB cache. Each storage processor has two 6 GB BE 4-lane SAS buses.
— Dual standby power supplies (SPS).
— Drives for storage, and for Vault and RAID groups.
• Disk array enclosures (DAE) - Drives for storage, configured as RAID groups
• Licenses for optional software
26
100DX-3P configuration
As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-3P configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220
Servers and one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure):
27
100DX-3G configuration
As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-3G configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220
Servers, one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure), and one
capacity DAE:
28
As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-6P configuration contains six Cisco UCS C220 Servers
and two performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor
enclosure):
29
As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-6G configuration contains six Cisco UCS C220 Servers,
two performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor enclosure),
and one capacity DAE:
30
As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-8P configuration contains eight Cisco UCS C220
Servers and five performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor
enclosure):
31
As shown in the following illustration, the 100DX-8G configuration contains eight Cisco UCS C220
Servers, four performance DAEs (one of the performance DAEs is the EMC VNXe3300 disk processor
enclosure), and two capacity DAEs:
Related information
Vblock 100 BX
Vblock 100 BX is available in two standard configurations.
32
Vblock 100 BX configurations
The two Vblock 100 BX standard configurations contain:
• Two 48 port Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switches
• One EMC VNXe3150 disk processor enclosure (DPE) that is included as a performance DAE
• Space reserved for Vblock System 100 expansion
The difference between the two Vblock 100 BX configurations is the number of Cisco UCS C220 64 GB
servers and the number and type of EMC disk array enclosures (DAE). The following table summarizes
the differences in the Vblock 100 BX configurations:
Vblock 100 BX configuration Number of Cisco UCS C220 Servers Number of DPEs Number of DAEs
Vblock 100 BX-3P 3 1 performance None
Vblock 100 BX-3G 3 1 performance One capacity DAE
You can scale up to four Cisco UCS C220 servers in the Vblock 100 BX.
Vblock 100 BX storage
The Vblock 100 BX storage layer consists of an EMC VNXe3150 storage array. In the Vblock 100 BX, the
minimum number of disks for primary storage is 10 600 GB, 15K SAS drives plus 1 600 GB SAS hot
spare, plus 1 2TB hot spare.
The DPE contains a different number of disks depending on the RAID configuration:
• RAID 5 (4+1): 10 600 GB, 15K SAS drives plus 1 600 GB SAS hot spare, plus 1 2TB hot spare,
providing 4 TB of usable space, and approximately 1800 IOPS
• RAID 6 (4+2): 12 2TB NL-SAS disks, providing 14TB of usable space, and approximately 1080
IOPS.
Additional IOPS are provided by the 8 GB cache that is in the EMC VNXe3150. Usable space and IOPS
scale, based on the DAE type (SAS/performance or NL-SAS/capacity) per available configuration.
The storage array is configured as follows:
• Disk processor enclosure (DPE)
— Dual storage processors. Each storage processor has a four-core 1.6 GHz Intel Westmere
CPU and 8 GB cache. Each storage processor has two 6 GB BE 4-lane SAS buses.
— Dual standby power supplies (SPS).
— Drives for storage, and for Vault and RAID groups.
• Disk array enclosures (DAE) - Drives for storage, configured as RAID groups
33
• Licenses for optional software
Vblock 100 BX disk shelf configurations
The following illustration shows the disk shelf configuration available on the Vblock 100 BX for the EMC
VNXe3150 performance DPE - SAS (6 TB raw, 4 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.
VNXe3150 performance DAE - SAS (6 TB raw, 4 TB usable). HS indicates a hot spare.
VNXe3150 capacity DAE - NL-SAS (24 TB raw, 16 TB usable):
34
100BX-3P configuration
As shown in the following illustration, the 100BX-3P configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220
Servers and one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3150 disk processor enclosure):
100BX-3G configuration
As shown in the following illustration, the 100BX-3G configuration contains three Cisco UCS C220
Servers, one performance DAE (which is the EMC VNXe3150 disk processor enclosure), and one
capacity DAE:
35
Related information
Power options
Vblock System 100 supports power outlet unit (POU) options inside and outside of North America. The
following table lists the POUs.
Location POU Power specification Number per cabinet
North America NEMA L6-30P Single phase / 30A / 208V 2
Outside of North America IEC 60309 - 2P+E pin in sleeve Single phase / 32A / 230V 2
connector
Japan JIS C8303 L6-30P Single phase / 30A / 208V 2
The VCE Vblock System 100 Physical Planning Guide provides more information about power
requirements.
Related information
36
Additional references VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview
Additional references
References overview
The following sections list documentation provided by Cisco, EMC, and VMware for each of the product
lines that are discussed in this document.
Virtualization components
Product Description Link to documentation
VMware vCenter Provides a scalable and extensible platform that forms the www.vmware.com/solutions/
Server foundation for virtualization management. virtualization-management/
VMware vSphere Virtualized infrastructure for Vblock Systems. Virtualizes www.vmware.com/products/

ESXi all application servers and provides VMware High vsphere/
Availability (HA) and Dynamic Resource Scheduling
(DRS). (This is available if VMware vSphere Enterprise
Plus is licensed on all ESXi hosts inside a cluster.)
VMware Single Provides VMware-specific authentication services. blogs.vmware.com/kb/2012/10/

Sign-On (SSO) vsphere-sso-resources.html
Service
Compute components
Cisco UCS C220 High-density, rack-mount server for production-level www.cisco.com/en/US/products/

server network infrastructure, web services, and maintenance ps12369/index.html
data center, branch, and remote office applications.
Network components
Cisco Nexus Next generation Layer 3 Fast Ethernet http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/

3064-T Switch stackable switches that manage power nexus-3064-t-switch/model.html
consumption. Reduces energy cost and
carbon footprint.
37
VCE Vblock® System 100 Gen 2.3 Architecture Overview Additional references
Cisco StackWise Technology that utilizes the capabilities www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/

and StackWise of a stack of switches. Individual ps5718/ps5023/
Plus Technology switches join to create a single prod_white_paper09186a00801b096a.html
switching unit with a 32 Gbps switching
stack interconnect. Configuration and
routing information is shared by every
switch, creating a single switching unit.
Storage components
EMC VNXe3300 and EMC Unified storage platform that provides www.emc.com/products/series/
VNXe3150 storage arrays automated, application-ready storage with vnxe-series.htm
solution-focused software.
38
www.vce.com
About VCE
VCE, formed by Cisco and EMC with investments from VMware and Intel, accelerates the adoption of converged
infrastructure and cloud-based computing models that dramatically reduce the cost of IT while improving time to market for
our customers. VCE, through Vblock Systems, delivers the industry's only fully integrated and fully virtualized cloud
infrastructure system. VCE solutions are available through an extensive partner network, and cover horizontal applications,
vertical industry offerings, and application development environments, allowing customers to focus on business innovation
instead of integrating, validating, and managing IT infrastructure.
For more information, go to http://www.vce.com.
© 2013, 2014 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.
39

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VCE Vblock® System 100

Document revision 2.6

November 2014 Gen 2.3 2.6 Added the Cisco Nexus

May 2014 Gen 2.2 2.5 Added Cisco Ivy Bridge

November 2013 Gen 2.1 2.4 Added Cisco Trusted

July 2013 Gen 2.1 2.3 Updated the networking

May 2013 Gen 2.1 2.2 Updated storage

April 2013 Gen 2.1 2.1 • Added VCE Vision™

February 2013 Gen 2.0 2.0 Gen 2.0 release

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

Compute layer hardware.......................................................................................................................... 16

Storage layer hardware............................................................................................................................ 19

Network layer hardware........................................................................................................................... 22

Vblock System 100................................................................................................................................... 23

Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)

Accessing VCE documentation

VCE Partner partner.vce.com

Cisco, EMC, VCE, or portal.vce.com

VCE employee sales.vce.com/saleslibrary

Bare metal support (see page 17)

Virtualization and management • EMC VNXe Unisphere

Compute Cisco UCS C220 Server

Network Cisco Nexus 3064-T Switch

Storage EMC VNXe3300 or EMC VNXe3150

Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)

Base configurations and scaling

The number of Cisco UCS C220 servers can also be increased.

Disk array enclosures (DAE) (see page 20)

Scaling up compute resources (see page 17)

Vblock System 100 model comparison (see page 23)

All components incorporate redundancy into the design.

Cisco UCS C220 server (see page 16)

Disk array enclosures (DAE) (see page 20)

Networking components (see page 22)

VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi

VMware vCenter Server

VMware vCenter Server provides the following functionality:

• Cloning of virtual machines

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS)

• Initial configuration of Dynamic Resource Schedule (DRS) Cluster

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

• Datastore health and capacity

• Virtual machine usage, performance, and health

• Virtual network usage and health

VCE supported features

• VMware Single Sign-On (SSO) Service (version 5.1 and higher)

• VMware vSphere High Availability (when used with shared storage)

• VMware vMotion and VMware Storage vMotion

• VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS)

• VMware Syslog Service

• VMware Core Dump Collector

• VMware vCenter Web Services

Data protection software

Refer to the EMC VNXe Data Protection white paper at www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/

Software Vblock System 100 BX Vblock System 100 DX

EMC Unisphere Manager (includes EMC Secure Remote Installed Installed

EMC VNXe Local Protection Suite Installed Installed

EMC VNXe Remote Protection Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately

EMC VNXe Application Protection Suite Purchase separately Purchase separately

Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)

EMC Secure Remote Support (see page 15)