A first look at the new Dell PowerEdge shared infrastructure solution optimized for offices

Glenn Whitford Enterprise Technologist

An Unresolved Need: Office IT Critical pain points and unmet needs

PowerEdge VRTX—Making the complex simple A simple, economical, right-sized solution

• Experience greater simplicity – Save space with servers, storage and networking

converged – Use what you know; familiar platforms and

technologies

• Realize improved efficiency – Save time with unified and simplified systems

management – Reduce CapEx and OpEx with consolidation and

virtualization

• Discover greater versatility – Office power profile & desk-side acoustics – Extensive scalability – Support for future PowerEdge 13G servers protects IT

investment

There is a Solution – Meet PowerEdge VRTX

PowerEdge VRTX – front & rear views

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LCD Display Panel

Up to 4 PowerEdge M-Series Servers Running Microsoft Windows or VMware ESXi

Internal Low Latency, Fast Storage

Shared Storage 25 2.5” or 12 3.5”

8 External PCIe Slots

Hot Plug Redundant

Blowers & PSUs 8 External RJ45 Ports

Remote Management

Ports

Locking Front Cover Shared

DVD

KVM/USB Ports

VRTX shared storage

Creating a Virtual Disk – select RAID level, and disks

• Comprehensive agent-free inventory, monitoring, and updates for server nodes – No dependency on the presence, state,

or version of operating systems or hypervisors

• Configuration backup logs speed

reconfiguration of replaced parts – Reduces service downtime

• Embedded tools simplify and automate

server configuration & OS deployment – No additional media needed

12G OpenManage systems management story continues

Flexible and familiar management tools for VRTX

• VRTX-level management with embedded Chassis Management Controller (CMC)

– Single, intuitive, easy-to-use GUI – Comprehensive management of server

nodes, storage, networking

• Remote management of dispersed VRTX platforms and components

– OpenManage Essentials with Geographic View discovers, inventories, monitors, and maps VRTX systems across the globe

• Management with 3rd Party Consoles – Integrations with Microsoft System

Center and VMware vCenter

VRTX Chassis Management Controller (CMC)

• GUI similar to that in M1000e – Graphical status at a glance – Clicking the graphic changes

context information displayed and provides quick link actions without leaving the page

– Monitors and manages server, storage and networking elements within VRTX

• Global health – Agent-free, out-of-band

health status

Chassis Management Controller multi-chassis monitoring

• CMC for VRTX is embedded and requires no additional installation of management software

• CMC displays at-a-glance status for up to 9 VRTX platforms

• Special note – Cannot monitor a mix of

M1000e & VRTX platforms – 1:Many update is within a single

chassis only

Chassis Management Controller power management

• Set maximum power – Helps prevent

tripping a circuit breaker

• Set server priority – Pre-define which

servers get larger portion of available power

• Power supplies and configuration dictate maximum and available power

• Option with CMC Enterprise License

• CMC reads current versions

• Admin can select one or all components to deploy to one or all servers

Agent-free, out-of-band server updates from CMC

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• Enhanced Enterprise Messaging Initiative (EEMI)

– Simplified messaging designed to assist customers in delivering fast diagnosis & remediation

– New SNMP OID

• Filtering based on selection of events and actions

– By severity: critical and/or warning

– By category: health, storage, audit, configuration, update

– Actions: email, SNMP alert, or syslog entry

CMC health status alerts and messaging

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• Features in VRTX that are not available in M1000e – Shared PERC & Storage control – PCIe Slot mapping – Option for reduced-feature, reduced-cost CMC Express

License

• Features in M1000e that are not included in VRTX – All settings server configuration profile capture and replication – Chassis configuration replication – Profile export and import

• Multi-chassis grouping

– Up to 9 chassis status view but can’t mix M1000e & VRTX – One to many update & configuration only within a chassis

Differences between CMC for M1000e & CMC for VRTX

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• VRTX server node management is similar to managing Dell blades

– PowerEdge M520 and M620 at RTS – Embedded iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller technology – Specific VRTX mezzanine adapter for PCIe connectivity

• Deployment tools

– Server Build & Update Utility (SBUU) DVD or the Lifecycle Controller GUI

– Boot from PXE or virtual media ISO – Agent-free, out-of-band via iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller

• Monitoring tools

– In-band via OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) – Agent-free, out-of-band via embedded iDRAC7 with Lifecycle

Controller

• Update tools – In-band via Dell Update Packs (DUPs) – Agent-free, out-of-band via iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller

OpenManage tools to manage VRTX server nodes

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• iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller – Delivers agent-free lifecycle management for server

deployment, update, monitoring and maintenance

– Integrates with VMware vCenter and Microsoft System Center

• OpenManage Essentials (OME) Console – Available as a no-charge software download from

support.dell.com

– Installs in hours & provides a modern, intuitive interface

– Discovers, inventories, monitors, and updates distributed PowerEdge systems

– Monitors Dell servers, storage, network devices and business clients

– Integrates with Dell ProSupport SupportAssist for proactive warranty support, notification and resolution of potential hardware issues

Other key OpenManage portfolio tools for VRTX

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OpenManage Essentials

• Maps locations of geographically dispersed VRTX systems, across town or globally • Requires no additional configuration operations for VRTX systems; all map locations are entered and

managed through the OpenManage Essentials (OME) console • Provides two options to define and map the locations of VRTX systems:

– Pin each VRTX system to the map by entering the address in the console manually – Pin all VRTX systems in a single process by importing a list of their addresses in a CSV file

Note: Geographic View is available only for enterprise-licensed VRTX systems

OpenManage Essentials v1.2 with VRTX Geographic View

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• New default group was created to identify VRTX systems as Modular Systems • VRTX server nodes (up to four nodes) are grouped under each VRTX system • VRTX Chassis Management Controller (CMC) is listed under the VRTX chassis • OME utilizes the WS-MAN protocol to discover the VRTX CMC • VRTX server nodes are discovered, inventoried and updated similar to a rack server

Managing VRTX within OpenManage Essentials v1.2

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OpenManage Essentials with SupportAssist

OpenManage Essentials

HW Inventory

HW Updates

HW Health Status

HW Monitoring

Storage Networking

Dell SupportAssist

• Includes diagnostics and logs

• Available to Dell ProSupport customers

•

ProSupport Remote Services at Dell

• Auto-case creation • Data analysis

IT Admin

• Remote remediation • Part dispatch

Customer Premise

* Available with OpenManage Essentials (OME) Servers

Dell Support

• Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter v1.7

– Current features provide support for viewing and configuring servers

• Dell Server Deployment Pack v2.0 for System Center ConfigMgr (SCCM)

– Discover and configure VRTX server nodes

– Deploy supported OSes to server nodes

• Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration v2.0.1 (DLCI) for ConfigMgr*

– Agent-free discovery and configuration of VRTX server nodes, deploy OSes – Agent-free update of server nodes via iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller

• Dell Server Update Catalogs (integration via SCUP/SCCM)

– Update server nodes via the Operating System layer (in-band OS-based updates)

• Dell Server Management Pack Suite v5.0.1 for System Center OpsMgr

– Discover and inventory VRTX server nodes

– Health status and alert monitoring of server nodes

* VRTX discovery with the server node/Chassis Management Controller correlation feature will be available with the first release of DLCI following VRTX RTS

Management of VRTX with 3rd party management consoles and OpenManage integration tools

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For More Information

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www.dell.com/vrtx

Thank you!

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