STO4650-QT - Five Common Customer Use Cases for Virtual SAN

Duncan Epping – Chief TechnologistLee Dilworth – Principal SE

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Agenda• Introduction (Duncan)

• Five Common Customer Use Cases for Virtual SAN1. Production (Lee)2. Management Cluster (Duncan)3. ROBO Deployment (Lee)4. DMZ / Isolation (Duncan)5. Development Platform (Lee)

• Q&A (if time permits)

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We need to transform storage the way we transformed compute

Fast and Simple Provisioning Application-Centric Control Memory

CPU

Memory

CPU

Automated Self-Tuning

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The hypervisor is best positioned

(1) Gartner Market Trends: x86 Server Virtualization, Worldwide, 2013

Why the Hypervisor:

• Over 70% of x86 server workloads are virtualized1

• It’s inherently app-aware

• Sits directly in the I/O path

• Has global view of underlying storage resources

• It’s hardware agnostic

vSphere

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VMware Virtual SAN

• Storage scale out architecture built into the hypervisor– 3 node minimum

• Aggregates locally attached storage from each ESXi host in a cluster– Flash + Magnetic Disk or Flash + Flash

• Dynamic capacity and performance scalability

• Flash optimized storage solution

• Fully integrated with vSphere and interoperable:• vMotion, DRS, HA, VDP, VR …

• VM-centric data operations

vSphere + Virtual SAN

…

Magnetic Devices

Flash Devices

Magnetic Devices

Flash Devices

Magnetic Devices

Flash Devices

Virtual SAN Datastore

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Two Ways to Implement VMware Hyper-Converged Infrastructure

• 50+ validated server configurations

• Jointly recommended by VMware and Server OEM

• Ready for Virtual SAN deployment

• Build your own SDDC by adding VMware software components

Virtual SAN Ready Node / BYO

Certified Hardware

Flexibility Ease of Use

• Pre-integrated and pre-configured software with certified partner H/W

• Software to simplify deployment, configuration and lifecycle management

• vSphere, Virtual SAN and management software included

EVO Family

Integrated Systems

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Yes… really simple!Virtual SAN is a cluster level feature similar to:

– vSphere DRS– vSphere HA– Virtual SAN

Deployed, configured and manage from vCenter through the vSphere Web Client– Radically simple

• Configure VMkernel interface for Virtual SAN• Enable Virtual SAN by clicking Turn On

Use Case 1: Production

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Production• VSAN isn’t just for VDI or Test/Dev

• Most of our customers run Production and even Mission Critical workloads on VSAN– MS Exchange / SQL– Oracle– SAP– Billing Systems (6-7 million customers!)

• Physical system runs for 22 hours• Virtual system on traditional storage 14 hours • Virtual system on VSAN 3 hours!

• Growth pattern unknown? VSAN scales up and out!

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Production – Typical Design• In production most used is a 2U server platform

• 256 / 384GB and 2 x 10 core Intel (v3) CPU

• Two disk groups is typical per server

• Per disk group:– Disk controller SAS Expander– 400GB flash for read/write cache– 6 magnetic disks per disk group

• Most customers use SAS

• Note, more than 8 disks? SAS Expander!• Those who use NL-SAS buy more flash!

• 2 x 10GbE

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Many customers run production workloads on Virtual SAN

Use Case 2: Management Cluster

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Management Cluster• Typical 1U form factor, or 2U / 4 Node

• Perfect fit for VSAN

• “Externally” hosted Management Cluster– Not running on components you are managing

• Typically small clusters of 3 or 4 hosts

• Use of single CPU hosts not uncommon– Reduces cost

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Management Cluster• Typically small clusters of 3 or 4 hosts

– Take maintenance mode in to account!

• Use of single CPU hosts not uncommon– Reduces cost (not just hardware, but also licenses!)

• 64GB / 96GB memory

• Single disk group– 200GB Flash– 5 x 1TB (NL-SAS)

• 2 x 10GbE

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But how do I run vCenter on VSAN before I have vCenter?• Bootstrapping method 1

– Local VMFS move to VSAN using Storage vMotion

• Bootstrapping method 2– Create VSAN using esxcli

• Change the default VSAN policy to set “Force Provisioning” to 1• Tag all the local devices accordingly (Is Local: true / Is SSD: true / false)• Create a new VSAN cluster using “esxcli vsan cluster new”• Add disks to the cluster using “esxcli vsan storage add”• Deploy vCenter to VSAN using the C# Client

Read all about it on VirtuallyGhetto.com: http://bit.ly/1m3cO5o

Use Case 3: ROBO Deployments

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ROBO Deployments• Virtual SAN very popular for ROBO

• No need for dedicated storage appliance, leverage local disk slots– Lowers overall power and cooling requirements

• Easy to manage, no special skills required

• Can be managed centrally!– You are not stretching the cluster, just managing remotely

• Virtual SAN can run “headless”, network down to main site does not impact workload!

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ROBO Deployments• Typically small clusters of 3 hosts

• Use of single CPU hosts not uncommon– Reduces cost

• 64GB / 96GB

• Single disk group– 200GB Flash– 3-5 x 1TB (NL-SAS)

• 4 x 1GbE– Create multiple VMkernel interfaces for VSAN or..– Use IP-Hash (requires specific switch configuration!)

Use Case 4: DMZ / Isolation

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DMZ / Isolation• Customers today typically run fully isolated except shared storage

• Buying a separate array for just DMZ is too expensive

• Smaller arrays do simply often not offer same performance or features

• Very common use case for VSAN, as it will offer full isolation!

• Examples: Mini data center on Trains, Oil Platforms, Boats…

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DMZ / Isolation• 1U or 2U/4 Node systems

• Configuration greatly varies depending on VM requirements

• Interesting configuration I’ve seen:– All-flash VSAN

• Lower power consumption• Minimize moving parts• And a great performance…• Dell FX2 System with FC430 Compute and FD332 Storage Blades

– Networking, 10GbE switch, in the box!

Use Case 5: Development Platform

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Development Platform• Programmatically accessed

• Differentiate through policies instead of tiers

• Fast provisioning, agile, and no impact on production

• Running next to the traditional infrastructure

• Extend existing platform to meet “different” needs

• Front-end VSAN/vSphere with VIO, vCloud Director, vRealize Automation

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