VXRAIL: All You Need to Know About Dell Technologies' VxRail

Dell EMC VxRail is a hyper-converged appliance. a jointly engineered hyper-converged infrastructure from Dell EMC and VMware. It is the only fully integrated, pre-configured, and tested HCI system optimized for VMware vSAN software-defined storage and the VMware vSphere ESXi hypervisor. It is also the only one with full VMware Cloud Foundation integration, delivering a complete and automated hybrid cloud platform.

Managed through the VMware vCenter interface, VxRail provides existing VMware customers with a consistent and familiar operating experience. VxRail is the only jointly engineered HCI system

Like VSPEX Blue — the Dell EMC product that it replaced — and other hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems, VxRail includes computing, storage, networking, and virtualization resources in a single device. Specifically, it packages the VMware vSphere vSAN hypervisor and VMware vCenter software on branded Dell servers.

Dell Technologies acquired VMware through its 2014 merger with EMC Corp. Since then, Dell has dominated the market for HCI hardware sales, largely on the strength of VxRail, and VMware leads in HCI software revenue.

The VxRail flagship product is a key component of VMware Cloud on Dell EMC and VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail. Those Dell cloud services streamline on-premises deployment of VMware infrastructure, offering public cloud-like performance at a lower cost.

The evolution of VxRail

VMware and EMC went back to the drawing board, this time without the other manufacturers, and co-developed a new iteration of EVO:RAIL called VxRail. Unlike the prior iteration, this solution is a focused effort of EMC, VCE, and VMware and is not expected to include any other partners.

As this develops, VMware will continue to develop vSAN and EMC will provide the hardware platform and management software. One of the benefits of this new relationship is tighter integration between development teams, which should result in a faster release schedule of new features.

VxRail is quantified in terms of appliances and nodes. Through 2016, a minimum VxRail configuration will require 4 nodes sold as a single appliance. Each appliance composes of a 2RU chassis with shared power supplies and 4 slots for nodes. However, customers will now be able to grow VxRail clusters in increments of 1 node at a time (assuming that they already own 1 appliance that contains 4 nodes).

How does VxRail work?

VxRail nodes are enclosed in a 1U single-server system, with each node having up to four multicore processors. Users can configure the nodes with SSDs or with a hybrid mix of SSDs and hard disk drives (HDDs). However, Dell requires all nodes within a VxRail cluster to use the same storage configuration.

Also, while VxRail models support Ethernet speeds up to 1 GbE, scaling all-flash configuration beyond eight nodes requires at least 10 GbE.

Customers can start with a minimum of two VxRail nodes and cluster up to 64 nodes. Depending on the use, Dell EMC may recommend starting with a three-node VxRail building block for failover.

Notable Dell EMC VxRail features

VxRail offers two major node types: hybrid and all-flash. The hybrid nodes have (1) SSD for read/write cache and between 3 to 5 SAS drives and the all-flash nodes have (1) SSD for write cache along with 3 to 5 SSD for the capacity tier.

It also reflects Dell EMC’s growing reliance on VMware, particularly vSAN, to support enterprise multi-cloud environments. Other features include the following:

Agentless backup and recovery with vSphere Data Protection.
High availability vSAN architecture via active/active stretch clustering and RAID levels.
Capability to offload CPU processing of smart network interface cards.
Enhanced VxRail Manager functionality via automation to manage and schedule VxRail node deployments.
Multiple hardware configurations for application programming interface-driven automation on Dell servers.
Integrated storage and data management using the whole VMware tool set.
End-to-end lifecycle management.

Models in the lineup

The various configurations include the following:

E Series

These entry-level nodes include hybrid VxRail E560 and all-flash E560F models. E Series appliances have one node per 1U chassis and excel in limited workspaces.

D Series

These are for use in ruggedized environments.

G Series

These are dense 2U four-node systems designed for maximum computing power in limited spaces.

P Series. These high-performance nodes include the P570F all-flash and P570 hybrid models.

S Series

These 2U appliances are available as hybrid storage for high-capacity workloads, such as AI, data analytics, and edge computing.

V Series

These are designed for graphics-intensive workloads, VDI and 3D visualization. They are available in all-flash or hybrid configurations.

In 2021, Dell EMC introduced compute-only VxRail nodes with VMware HCI Mesh software. These nodes let customers scale compute and storage independently and share vSAN storage across clusters.

VxRail applications

HCI was the first technology to emerge that supported VDI environments, server virtualization, and augmentation of a traditional storage area network. In addition to those early applications, Dell EMC claims VxRail HCI supports the following uses:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning projects.
Application development and testing.
Big data applications.
Data center modernization.
Distributed SMEs.
Enterprise database applications.
Hybrid and multi-cloud implementations.
Kubernetes automation.
Remote/branch offices.
Workload consolidation.

Is VxRail a server or storage system?

In a VxRail cluster, a physical Dell PowerEdge server is the host for VMware’s ESXi hypervisor. As of April 2023, VxRail products are based on 15th-generation PowerEdge technology.

The storage within each ESXi host is aggregated as a single pool of usable storage. VSAN’s policy-driven automation handles tasks for storage management, availability and performance levels, compression, data protection, deduplication, and RAID striping.

Authorized users manage virtual machines with vCenter Server. VMware vRealize Operations and vRealize Automation integrate VxRail HCI with existing IT infrastructure.

According to Dell, each VxRail server node is equipped with the following, with some variations:

Single, dual, or quad Xeon Scalable processors, each supporting 40 processor cores, or a single AMD Epyc processor that supports 64 cores.
Up to 48 double data rate dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs). Depending on the VxRail appliance model, the DIMMs provide from 64 gigabytes to 8,182 GB of capacity per node.
A Peripheral Component Interconnect Express disk controller capable of supporting 12 gigabits per second Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface data transfer.
Two mirrored M.2 Serial Advanced Technology Attachment cards to boot ESXi directly on VxRail.
A daughter card for 10 Gigabit Ethernet to 25 GbE networking.

Is Dell EMC VxRail hardware or software?

HCI technology is considered a building block for enterprise clouds because it separates computing and storage resources. This arrangement lets data center admins add physical storage nodes or servers to existing clusters when they need to expand either computer or storage capacity.

VxRail turnkey appliances are designed for VMware enterprise environments. Each node provides access to the system’s drive bays for direct-attached storage. The VxRail appliances combine Dell’s networking, server, and storage products with VMware storage and virtualization software.

The technology behind VxRail appliances includes Dell PowerEdge storage servers with Intel Xeon processors.

Other options are available for non-volatile memory express flash, solid-state drives (SSDs), and hybrid storage, as well as VMware vSAN SDDC, VMware vSphere hypervisor, and VMware NSX software-defined networking. VxRail HCI System Software functionality includes enhanced automation, extended lifecycle management, and storage pooling across virtualization clusters.

Benefits of adopting VxRail

Powerful performance for any application

It ensures performance, reliability, and flexibility for a wide range of workloads and applications. These range from business-critical (SAP, SQL, Oracle) to next-gen workloads (PKS, containers, NoSQL).

Accelerates data center modernization

VxRail will help you drive your IT transformation and data center modernization with its combination of advanced infrastructure technologies, automation, and orchestration of operational processes, as well as full lifecycle management offerings.

Hybrid-cloud ready

You can start your hybrid cloud journey with VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail. This solution integrates the hyperconverged infrastructure layer with VMware SDDC software stack for one complete, automated, turnkey, on-premises experience.

Consistent Management and Operations

You can also drive operational efficiencies with full-stack integration and automated lifecycle management in order to deliver a consistent operations experience from core to edge to cloud.

Integrates with your existing environment

VxRail also grants you access to a seamless VMware experience with the only fully integrated, preconfigured, and pre-tested hyper-converged infrastructure appliance. Powered by the leading software for hyper-converged infrastructure, you can manage complexity, cost, and risk with full vSAN integration.

How to configure VxRail manager

The VxRail Manager IP address and VLAN use the ESXi Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) to configure for remote deployment on the External Management network.

Before proceeding, ensure you connect all of the nodes planned for the VxRail initial build to the leaf before switching and powering it on. Allow a few minutes for the VxRail primary node election to complete.

In a browser, connect to the iDRAC of the VxRail primary node and launch the iDRAC virtual console. Note: It selects the node with the lowest PSNT value by default as the primary node.
In the ESXi DCUI, press F2 to log in to the VxRail node as root. The VxRail default password is Passw0rd!
Select Troubleshooting Options > Enable ESXi Shell and press Enter to enable the shell.
Press Esc twice to return to the main DCUI screen.
Press Alt+F1 to access the ESXi shell. Log in as root.
Verify the VxRail Manager VM is running on this node by running the command esxcli network vm list.

Configure the VxRail Manager IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and External Management network VLAN using the following command: vxrail-primary --config --vxrail-address 172.18.11.72 --vxrail-netmask 255.255.255.0 --vxrail-gateway 172.18.11.254 --vlan 1811.
The command completes and the following success message displays:

Confirm the VLANs are configured correctly by running the esxcli network vswitch standard portgroup list command.
The Management Network and VM Network should now be in the External Management VLAN specified in the previous command, 1811 in this example. The Private Management Network and Private VM Network remain in VLAN 3939.

Confirm you can ping the VxRail manager IP address, 172.18.11.72 in this example, from the remote deployment workstation.
Type exit to log out of the shell.
In a browser on the remote deployment workstation, connect to the IP address configured on the VxRail Manager, 172.18.11.72 in this example. The Dell EMC VxRail Deployment Wizard displays.

Competitors to Dell EMC VxRail

VMware also licenses vSAN on competing HCI systems. And while Dell leads the market, other vendor HCI products include the following:

Cisco HyperFlex: Working off Cisco Unified Computing System servers, HyperFlex uses HDDs for capacity and placing hot data in an SSD-based cache.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) SimpliVity: HPE picked up the SimpliVity HCI technology with its 2017 acquisition of that company.
Huawei FusionCube: This features Huawei’s distributed storage engine, virtualization, and tools for allocating cloud resources on demand.
Nutanix NX. These Nutanix appliances are based on the vendor’s Acropolis hypervisor.

Some vendors try to sell branded HCI software that users can install on commodity white box servers. However, enterprises generally avoid that implementation in favor of vendor-certified integrated HCI appliances.

Is VxRail a cloud?

Dell VxRail is the foundation for the APEX Hybrid Cloud. APEX Hybrid Cloud is a part of the Dell APEX Cloud Services portfolio that offers integrated compute, storage, networking, and virtualization resources that enable consistent, secure infrastructure and operations for workloads across public and private clouds.

References

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VXRAIL: All You Need to Know About Dell Technologies’ VxRail

Table of Contents Hide

The evolution of VxRail

How does VxRail work?

Notable Dell EMC VxRail features