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VCE™ Shared Management Platform
Architecture Overview
Document revision 1.0
February 2015
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Revision history
Revision history
Date
Document revision
Description of changes
February 2015
1.0
Initial release
2
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Contents
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 5
Accessing VCE documentation.................................................................................................................6
Overview......................................................................................................................................................7
Shared Management Platform overview................................................................................................ 7
System overview.................................................................................................................................... 7
SMP layers.......................................................................................................................................7
Hardware......................................................................................................................................... 8
Hypervisor........................................................................................................................................8
Management workload.....................................................................................................................9
Application....................................................................................................................................... 9
Compute components.............................................................................................................................. 11
Storage components................................................................................................................................ 12
Block and file disk pools....................................................................................................................... 12
Network components............................................................................................................................... 13
Network overview................................................................................................................................. 13
Network design.....................................................................................................................................13
In-band management networking.........................................................................................................14
Out-of-band management networking..................................................................................................14
Inter-Vblock system networking........................................................................................................... 14
Inter-Vblock system connectivity use cases.........................................................................................17
Virtual networking.................................................................................................................................19
VMware standard and distributed switch design.................................................................................. 19
VMware standard switch design...........................................................................................................21
VMware distributed switch design........................................................................................................ 22
Virtual machine placement................................................................................................................... 23
Management components........................................................................................................................24
AMP-2 overview................................................................................................................................... 24
AMP-2P network connectivity...............................................................................................................24
Virtual machine network placement within AMP-2P.............................................................................25
Management workload......................................................................................................................... 25
Core management workload..........................................................................................................25
Optional management workload.................................................................................................... 26
Ecosystem management workload................................................................................................ 27
Virtualization............................................................................................................................................. 28
Production vCenter server....................................................................................................................28
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3
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Contents
Local vCenter server............................................................................................................................ 28
Additional references............................................................................................................................... 31
References overview............................................................................................................................31
Virtualization components.................................................................................................................... 31
Compute components.......................................................................................................................... 31
Network components............................................................................................................................32
Storage components............................................................................................................................ 32
4
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Introduction
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Introduction
This document describes the high-level design of the VCE™ Shared Management Platform (SMP). This
document also describes configuration options available for the SMP.
The SMP resides on a Vblock System 240 and can manage multiple Vblock Systems.
The target audience for this document includes the customer's technical management team, the
customer's technical team, the VCE vArchitects/Pre-Sales, VCE Support and other VCE teams not
directly related to SMP.
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
[email protected]. Include the name of the topic to which your feedback applies.
Related information
Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)
© 2015 VCE Company, LLC.
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5
Shared Management Platform 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
VMware employee
portal.vce.com
VCE employee
sales.vce.com/saleslibrary
or
vblockproductdocs.ent.vce.com
Related information
Introduction (see page 5)
Network overview (see page 13)
6
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Overview
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Overview
Shared Management Platform overview
Shared Management Platform enables customers to manage multiple Vblock Systems from a single
shared management platform. SMP is equipped with management workloads (Core, VCE Optional,
and/or Ecosystem) and additional network, storage, virtualization, and compute components.
Note: The initial release of SMP is based on the Vblock System 240 as the host system.
SMP includes the following components:
•
Local management
•
Production Vblock System management
•
Management software to install and operate the components in a Vblock System
The SMP has the ability to:
•
Rapidly adapt and respond to growing and changing management capabilities supported by VCE
•
Manage multiple Vblock System management platforms
•
Leverage a standard Vblock System that meets the requirements for SMP outlined in this
document
System overview
SMP layers
The SMP consists of four layers as shown in the following illustration: Hardware, Hypervisor,
Management Workload, and Application.
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7
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Overview
Hardware
The hardware layer consists of standard Vblock System hardware components.
The SMP requires a physical AMP-2. The single server option of the AMP-2 (AMP-2P) is recommended
for the Shared Management Platform. For more information about AMP-2, refer to the architecture
overview manual for your Vblock System.
Hypervisor
VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus is the default hypervisor on the Vblock System hosting the SMP.
The following hypervisor features are required:
•
VMware High Availability (VMware HA)
•
VMware vMotion
•
VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduling (VMware DRS)
•
VMware CPU and Memory Resource Pools
This lightweight hypervisor requires less than 6 GB of storage to install and has minimal management
overhead.
VMware vSphere ESXi does not contain a console operating system. On the AMP-2P, the VMware
vSphere Hypervisor ESXi boots from the Cisco FlexFlash (SD card). For the remaining Cisco UCS
8
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Overview
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
production servers, the VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi boots from SAN or from Cisco FlexFlash (SD
Card). The stateless hypervisor is not supported.
Management workload
The Management Workload layer is where all the workloads are divided appropriately between local and
production management. These workloads enhance the scalability of the production hardware on the
SMP.
The following table describes the different types of management workloads:
Management workload
Description
Core
Components required to install, operate and support a
Vblock System
VCE Optional
Non-Core Management Workloads that are supported
and installed by VCE. These workloads manage
components within the Vblock System.
Ecosystem
Management workloads other than Core or VCE
Optional whose purpose is to manage or support one or
more Vblock Systems.
Application
The Application layer contains the software components in the SMP. The following table describes the
key software components for the SMP:
Workloads
Component
Core management
•
•
•
•
•
VCE Optional
management
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Hypervisor Management
Element Managers
Virtual network components (VMware VDS)
Fabric Manager
VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations and the support resources required to install,
operate, and support a Vblock System
This list is inclusive, but not limited to the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Data Protection, Security or Storage management tools
EMC Unisphere
EMC RecoverPoint or EMC VPLEX
EMC Avamar Administrator
EMC InsightIQ for Isilon
VMware vCloud Network and Security appliances (vShield Edge / Manager)
VMware vCenter Operations Manager
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Overview
Workloads
Component
Ecosystem
management
This list is inclusive, but not limited to the following:
•
•
•
•
VMware vCloud Director
VMware View
Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud
EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager (UIM)
On the SMP, AMP-2P supports the required components to install and support normal management
operations. Alternately, the Local Management workload within the Shared Management Platform can be
migrated from the AMP-2P over to the Core Management Workload resource pool within the Vblock
System compute hosts. This move has the benefit of providing high availability and redundancy, which
the AMP-2P does not provide.
The following table provides a list of the software management components that belong in the Local
Management Workload and SMP:
Management infrastructure
Virtual machines
AMP-2 or Vblock System
Local AMP management workload
•
VCE Vision Intelligent
Operations
AMP-2P
Local element manager
SMP workload
•
•
Hypervisor management (local
Vblock System on which SMP
resides)
•
•
•
Hypervisor management
•
Fabric manager
Vblock System
SMP element managers
Virtual networking components
(Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch)
All other compute components and configuration tasks consist of a standard Vblock System build. Refer
to the architecture overview document related to your Vblock System for more information.
10
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Compute components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Compute components
The compute portion requires a minimum of four servers with the following minimum configurations for the
Core Management Workload and Optional Workloads.
The SMP requires a physical AMP-2. The single server option of the AMP-2 (AMP-2P) is recommended
for the Shared Management Platform.
•
Memory (minimum): 128 GB of RAM
•
CPU (minimum): 2x E5-2600 v2 series CPUs with 6 cores each
A minimum of six servers with the following minimum configurations Core, VCE Optional and Ecosystem
workloads:
•
Memory (minimum): 128 GB of RAM
•
CPU (minimum): 2x E5-2600 v2 series CPUs with 6 cores each
All other compute components and configuration tasks consist of a standard Vblock System build. Refer
to the architecture overview document for your Vblock System for more information.
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11
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Storage components
Storage components
Block and file disk pools
Sizing of the block and file disk pools depends on the Core Workload, the VCE Optional Workload, and
the Ecosystem Workload Applications that are deployed and on the number of hosts and VMs that are
managed. The standard SMP consists of the following block and file disk pools.
Specifications
Block disk pool - core enabled
cluster
Block disk pool – non-core
enabled cluster
File disk pool
Memory: 12.5 TB minimum usable (70% threshold)
Memory: 3TB minimum usable
Storage tiers:
•
10K SAS minimum or NL-SAS
with Fast VP
•
RAID 6
•
•
•
Tier 1 - 200GB SSD RAID-5 (4+1)
Tier 2 - 600GB SAS 10k RAID-5 (4+1)
Tier 3 - 2TB NL-SAS 7.2k RAID-6 (6+2)
Storage feature recommendations
The SMP has the following additional storage features:
•
FAST VP with flash disks (recommended for heavily utilized VMware vCenter and VMware
vCenter Operations Manager environments)
•
FAST (recommended for SMP storage environments where available)
All other compute components and configuration tasks consist of a standard Vblock System build. Refer
to the architecture overview document for your Vblock System for more information.
12
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Network components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Network components
Network overview
The SMP network architecture is based on a standard Vblock System with the following major
differences:
•
In a standard Vblock System, most of the network connectivity between components is internal to
the Vblock System. In an SMP, the management network(s) connectivity is accessible to any
Vblock System that is managed by SMP.
•
Layer 3 connectivity is configured between specific hosts and VLANs to enable management
functionality. These routing configurations are implemented in customer-provided network
infrastructure. For Layer 2 option, the SMP Core VLANs are extended through the customer-core
network into the Vblock System that is managed by SMP.
•
The SMP environment uses a hybrid switch design that utilizes both the VMware Standard and
Distributed Switches as its standard virtual networking switch (consistent with a standard VDSbased Vblock System). The option to use Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches is not supported
on a standard SMP at this time.
•
The SMP utilizes the AMP-2P solution for its local management.
The logical network design for a SMP reduces impact from network outages and optimizes the
environment for advanced security implementations, such as VCE secure administrative access and
trusted multi-tenancy solutions. The VLAN design is similar to a standard Vblock System.
Related information
Accessing VCE documentation (see page 6)
Network design
The SMP network architecture uses the following types of networking, which are explained in the
following sections:
•
In-band management networking
•
Out-of-band management networking
•
Inter-Vblock System networking
•
Virtual networking
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Network components
In-band management networking
The in-band management network traverses the production network switches in the Vblock System on
which the SMP software resides. The following VLANs carry management traffic that is local to the Vblock
System on which the SMP resides.
VLAN name
Purpose
vblock_esx_mgmt
Local VMware management and applications that may impact production
vblock_esx_vmotion
vMotion traffic between SMP ESXi hosts
vblock_esx_ft
VMware fault tolerance traffic between SMP ESXi hosts
vblock_nfs
NFS traffic internal to SMP
vblock_esx_build
Automated deployment of ESXi hosts
vblock_brs_data
Backup/recovery with VCE Data Protection solution
vblock_nfs_routed
NFS exports accessible by managed Vblock Systems
vblock_cifs_internal
CIFS traffic internal to VMs in SMP
fcoe_fabric_a
FCOE A VLAN for UCS connectivity
fcoe_fabric_b
FCOE B VLAN for UCS connectivity
Out-of-band management networking
The following networks are considered out of band and do not impact production use of the Vblock
System. They also may not be leveraged for any production data.
VLAN name
Purpose
vblock_oob_mgmt
VMs and device ports are used for control plane only No data on this VLAN
Inter-Vblock system networking
The following VLANs provide network connectivity to the Vblock Systems being managed by the SMP or
to the customer management and production networks for consumption. For Layer 2 option, the SMP
VLANs extend through the customer-core network into the Vblock Systems that are managed by SMP.
VLAN name
Purposes
smp_oob_mgmt
Control plane only - No data on this VLAN
smp_esx_mgmt
VMware management and applications that may impact production
smp_vceopt_mgmt
VCE Optional Management Workload Virtual Machines (may be collapsed into Core)
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Network components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
VLAN name
Purposes
smp_eco_mgmt
Ecosystem Management Workload Virtual Machines
The following illustration shows VLAN requirements and usage.
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15
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Network components
The following table provides descriptions of the production and management VLANs:
VLAN name
Description
smp_esx_mgmt
Carries inter-Vblock System management traffic to and from the “SMP
_Vblock_Central_Prod” management workload. Consider the following specifications for
this VLAN:
smp_oob_mgmt
smp_vceopt_mgmt
smp_eco_mgmt
•
If L2 network connectivity is required, then the assigned subnet must be a /22 subnet
or bigger to accommodate for IP addressing of a minimum of 650 (up to 1000) ESXi
hosts.
•
If L3 network connectivity is required, then the assigned subnet must be sized
according to the number of virtual machines that are required to support the external
Vblock Systems being managed. Each vCenter instance requires four VMs and each
common virtual machines (such as element manager and fabric manager) requires
six VMs.
•
Must have L2 or L3 connectivity through the customer-provided network to establish
management functionality between the SMP and managed Vblock Systems.
Carries inter-Vblock System management traffic to and from the virtual machines in the
“SMP _Vblock_COMMON_Prod” management workload. Consider the following
specifications for this VLAN:
•
If L2 network connectivity is required, then the assigned subnet must be a /22 subnet
or bigger to accommodate for IP addressing of a minimum of 650 (up to 1000) ESXi
hosts.
•
If L3 network connectivity is required, then the assigned subnet must be sized to
accommodate less than 30 virtual machines, thus /27 should be sufficient.
•
Must have L2 or L3 connectivity through the customer-provided network to establish
management functionality between the SMP and managed Vblock Systems.
Carries inter-Vblock System management traffic to and from the virtual machines in the
“Optional Management Workload” VMware vSphere cluster resource pool. Consider the
following specifications for this VLAN:
•
If L2 network connectivity is required, then the assigned subnet must be a /22 subnet
or bigger to accommodate for IP addressing of a minimum of 650 (up to 1000) ESXi
Hosts and the necessary VCE Optional management workload virtual machines.
•
If L3 network connectivity is required, then the assigned subnet should be sized to
accommodate the required number of virtual machines to support the VCE Optional
management workload virtual machines to be installed.
•
Must have L2 or L3 connectivity through the customer-provided network to establish
management functionality between the SMP and managed Vblock Systems.
Carries inter-Vblock System management traffic to and from the virtual machines in the
“Ecosystem Management Workload” VMware vSphere cluster resource pool beneath the
V2SMP-ECO VMware vSphere Cluster. Consider the following specifications for this
VLAN:
•
IP address and subnet allocations for L2 and/or L3 network connectivity are client
specified to meet the Ecosystem management workload application requirements.
•
Must have L2 or L3 connectivity through the customer-provided network to establish
management functionality between the SMP and managed Vblock Systems.
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Network components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Note: The vblock_esx_vmotion and vblock_esx_nfs VLANs remain local (and internal) to each of the
managed Vblock Systems and are not routed through the core network.
Inter-Vblock system connectivity use cases
The Vblock System Shared Management Platform network architecture allows for multiple scenarios to
establish inter-Vblock connectivity. This section provides use cases, requirements, and caveats.
The Vblock System Shared Management Platform must be in the same data center or within a metro 10
milliseconds R/T latency distance of the Vblock Systems being managed.
Use Case 1: Inter-Vblock System connectivity using L3 capability
Description: This option uses L3 routing between the SMP core vlans and the external Vblock System
vlans for management traffic.
Requirements: The following in-band management networks residing on the external Vblock System as
well as the SMP core management VLANs must have L3 routing configuration implemented through the
customer-core network.
•
vblock_esx_mgmt
•
vblock_n1kl3_control (only when using the Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch as the external Vblock
virtual networking switch)
•
vblock_oob_mgmt
•
psmp_core_mgmt
•
psmp_oob_mgmt
This enables management functionality between the Shared Management Platform and the managed
Vblock Systems.
Note: The vblock_oob_mgmt VLAN may require L3 routing to access applications running on
management virtual machines that reside on the out-of-band network. vblock_esx_vmotion and
vblock_nfs vlans will remain local (and internal) to each of the managed Vblocks and will not be
routed through the core network.
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Network components
The following illustration is an example of L3 enabled customer-provided network to establish inter-Vblock
System connectivity. It shows the SMP VLANs and provides sample L3 routing configurations required on
the core network layer.
Use Case 2: Inter-Vblock connectivity using L2 capability
Description: This option uses the SMP core vlan as L2 VLAN that will be extended into the Vblock
Systems for management traffic.
Note: This option requires management networks for external Vblock Systems to move into the same
Layer 2 domain as the SMP core vlans. ESXi hosts on external Vblock Systems may require a
reconfiguration of the network settings.
Note: Regardless of the VLAN design, SMP requires the Cisco Nexus 1000v Switch to be implemented
in L3 mode if present.
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Network components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Requirements: The following SMP vlan must be extended through the customer-provided network into
each of the external Vblock Systems for in-band management traffic.
•
smp_esx_mgmt
•
smp_n1kl3_control (only when using the Cisco Nexus 1000V as the external Vblock virtual
networking switch)
•
smp_oob_mgmt
This enables management functionality between the Shared Management Platform and the managed
Vblock Systems.
Note: The vblock_vmotion and vblock_nfs VLANs will remain local (and internal) to each of the managed
Vblock Systems and will not be extended through the core network.
Virtual networking
The SMP has a standard option for Virtual Networking, allowing each virtual machine to connect to the
physical network. SMP uses the following switches in a hybrid design for virtual networking:
•
VMware Standard Switch (vSS)
•
VMware Distributed Switch (vDS)
Regardless of the virtual networking technology, the SMP does not support virtual networking capabilities
with non-SMP VMware hosts or clusters. SMP can use a different virtual networking solution than the
Vblock Systems it manages. Furthermore, multiple Vblock Systems managed by a single SMP may use
different virtual networking solutions. For example, Vblock System A can use Cicso Nexus 1000v Switch
with Advanced Edition while Vblock System B can use a Cisco Nexus 1000v Switch with Essentials, and
the SMP that is managing the two Vblock Systems can use a VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS).
Note: If the Cisco Nexus 1000v Essentials or the Cisco Nexus 1000V Advanced is selected for virtual
networking on systems managed by SMP, enable L3 mode on each Vblock System that is being
managed. If the existing Vblock System uses L2 mode, modify the VLAN to shift to L3 mode for
the Cisco Nexus 1000v Switch.
Deploy the virtual networking components on the SMP and place them in a manner to support a
maximum level of redundancy (where choices are available.)
VMware standard and distributed switch design
The SMP environment uses a hybrid switch design that utilizes both the VMware vSphere Standard and
VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) solution (which is consistent with a standard VMware vSphere
VDS-based Vblock System).
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Network components
Each VMware ESXi host has vmkernel port groups, vMotion, and NFS (If used) configured on the
VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). The remaining port groups reside on the VMware vSphere
Standard Switch. These ESXi hosts are managed by the local SMP VMware vCenter Server that resides
in the “Local Management Workload” pool.
You can host your existing vCenter Server environment from an external Vblock System on the SMP
Vblock System or individual Vblock System compute hosts in the SMP centralized vCenter instance.
Consider the following:
•
The SMP Vblock System and individual Vblock compute hosts must be within the same data
center and must adhere to the 10 ms RTT latency limitations of SMP.
•
The Cisco Nexus 1000V must be in L3 Mode. VCE recommends that the L3 control traffic be
placed on the esx_mgmt VLAN.
•
Any Vblock system being managed by SMP must be at a supported RCM.
•
Any vCenter resources from a different vCenter instance running on SMP cannot be used.
To accommodate hosting the external Vblock System vCenter Services, a dedicated child pool is created
specifically for each external Vblock System under the “Production Management Workload” pool. The
virtual machines connect to the appropriate VM distributed port group within the VMware vSphere
Distributed Switch (VDS). In this case, two VM distributed port groups are created on the VMware
vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) used for server management and Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch Layer 3
control VM (if needed).
Use the following naming convention for each VM and VMK distributed port group created within the
VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) contains a prefix and a suffix to identify the external Vblock
System and indicate whether it is a vm or a vmk port group. The only vmkernel distributed port group
created will be for esx vmotion for the local SMP ESXi hosts. If NFS (local to SMP) exists then it will also
be on the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) as well.
For example:
V2VB220A – This prefix identifies the external Vblock being managed
vm – This suffix identifies the type of port group. (Vm represents VM distributed port group.)
The naming scheme for the VMware Distributed Switch is DVswitchSMP-1.
20
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Network components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
VMware standard switch design
The following illustration maps out how the VMware Standard Switch is configured on the SMP.
This illustration reflects the connections between the devices, not the quantity of these connections.
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21
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Network components
VMware distributed switch design
The following illustration shows how the VMware Distributed Switch is configured on the SMP.
This illustration reflects the connections between the devices, not the quantity of these connections.
22
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Network components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Virtual machine placement and VLAN assignment
The following illustration shows the placement of each virtual machine within the SMP Vblock System
along with its corresponding VLAN.
Note: The Local Management workload, except for Element Manager and VCE Vision, is migrated to the
Core Management Workload resource pool to provide high availability and redundancy which the
AMP-2P does not provide.
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Management components
Management components
AMP-2 overview
AMP-2P is supported with the SMP.
AMP-2P provides a single and dedicated server running the VCE Vision™ Intelligent Operations and
Element Manager virtual machines using its own resources, not customer resources.
AMP-2P network connectivity
The right half of the following illustration shows the AMP-2P management connectivity:
Note: Both vblock_oob_mgmt and vblock_oob_mgmt_vmk are on VLAN 101.
24
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Management components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Note: This illustration reflects the connections between the devices, not the quantity of these
connections.
Virtual machine network placement within AMP-2P
The following illustration shows each virtual machine along with its corresponding VLAN.
Note: The Element Manager within the AMP-2P (not within SMP) is dual homed..
Management workload
The purpose of dedicated cluster system resource pools is to segregate the required resources needed to
run efficiently and provide good performance without hindering other workloads.
There are three different types of workloads and each described in details:
•
Core Management Workload
•
VCE Optional Management Workload
•
Ecosystem Management Workload
Core management workload
The Core Management Workload consists of the Local Management vCenter Server that contains both
the Local Management and Production Shared Management workloads.
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Management components
Both workloads are split up into the following VMware vSphere System Resource Pools under the
V2SMP-CORE cluster:
•
Local Management Workload: Manages the components that are local to the SMP. The local
management workload provides the local workloads for the VMware vSphere management
components that run the SMP. The pools allow you to shape the resource management as
required.
•
Production Shared Management Workload: Manages all external Vblock Systems. The
Production shared managmenet workload provides the “central/shared” workloads for the
VMware vSphere management components and the “common” components such as Cisco
Element Manager, EMC ESRS, Cisco Fabric Manager, and EMC PowerPath. The pools allow
you to shape the resource management as required.
The “central/shared” and “common” workloads are configured separately as children of the “Production
Shared Management Workload”.
The following table lists the servers that belong in the Local and Production Shared Management
Workload.
This workload …
Includes these components …
And manages these resources
Local management workload -+
Local database server
Local Vblock System components
Local vCenter server
Local update manager
Production shared management
workload
Production database server
Production VMware vCenter server
Managed vblock resources (including
storage*, compute, virtualization, and
network)
Production update manager
Production Cisco Element Manager
Production Cisco Fabric Manager
Production EMC ESRS appliance
All Vblock resources (including
storage*, compute, virtualization, and
network)
Production EMC PowerPath license
server
* The local element manager manages EMC VMAX storage on the SMP.
Optional management workload
The VCE Optional Management Workload consists of all the VCE Optional software components. It is
shared with the Core Management Workload VMware vSphere Cluster, V2SMP-CORE.
A single VMware vSphere system resource pool is created:
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Management components
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Optional Management Workload: This VMware vSphere system resource pool provides all the Data
Protection software components that VCE offers. The pools enable the administrator to shape the
resource management as required.
Ecosystem management workload
The Ecosystem Management Workload consists of non-VCE supported Management tools from Cisco,
EMC, and VMware as well as software that is certified as Vblock Ready such as VMware vRealize Suite,
VMware Horizon View, Cisco UCS Director, EMC Ionix Unified Infrastructure Manager (UIM/P and
UIM/O), VMware VMTurbo, and BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management.
A single VMware vSphere system resource pool is created under the VMware vSphere Cluster, V2SMPECO:
Ecosystem Management Workload: Ecosystem Management Workload enables you to shape the
resource management as required.
The red boxes within the following illustration show how the management and ecosystem VMware
vSphere System Resource Pool workloads appear within the local VMware vCenter Server.
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Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Virtualization
Virtualization
Production vCenter server
The vCenter Server includes the following components.
•
•
Virtual Network Switch: vCenter Server uses a Cisco Nexus 1000V Switch or a VMware Virtual
Distributed switch for virtual networking.
—
Cisco Nexus 1000V: A single pair of Virtual Supervisor Modules (VSMs) can support up to
128 Virtual Ethernet Modules (VEMs) or hosts.
—
VMware Virtual Distributed Switch: A single VMware VDS switch can support up to 1000
VMware ESXi hosts.
Resource Pool: Varies by the customer depending on the type of workloads running in the
environment.
Local vCenter server
The SMP Local Management workload resides on the Vblock System that hosts SMP.
This local vCenter Server manages the SMP.
The following list describes the components of the vCenter Server:
•
Virtual Network Switch: VMware vCenter Server uses the VMware Distributed Switch by
default.
•
Datacenter: The datacenter includes two datacenter instances:
—
V2SMPAMP: Supports all the Advanced Management Pod workloads from all the external
Vblock Systems.
—
V2SMPDC: Supports all the workloads within the SMP
•
VMware vSphere Cluster: Two VMware vSphere clusters within the VMware vCenter Server
accommodate the SMP Core and SMP ECO workloads. No cluster is created for the AMP-2P
because it uses a single Cisco UCS Server.
•
vAPP: A vAPP is assigned to each type of workload. The following workloads have vAPPs:
—
V2SMP-Core-vAPP – Provides the VMs for VCE Vision and Element Manager (Local).
—
SMPprod-1 – Provides the Production Shared Management VMware vCenter Server
workload.
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Virtualization
•
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
—
SMPprod-2 – Provides an additional Production Shared Management vCenter Server
workload .
—
SMPcmn-1 – Provides the Shared Managed VMs that support SMP Element Manager,
ESRS, Fabric Manage and PowerPath.
Resource Pool: For the best performance and efficiency resources pools are assigned to each
type of workload. The following diagram illustrates how they appear in the VMware vCenter
Server:
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29
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Virtualization
Local Management Workload: After a standard logical build for a Vblock System 240, the Local
Management Workload (SQL Server, vCenter Server, Updated Manager) is migrated from the AMP-2P
host over to the Local Management Workload pool under the VSMP-CORE cluster.
Related information
Management workload (see page 25)
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Additional references
Shared Management Platform 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
Server
Provides a scalable and extensible platform that forms the www.vmware.com/solutions/
virtualization-management/
foundation for virtualization management.
VMware vSphere
ESXi
Virtualized infrastructure for Vblock Systems. Virtualizes
all application servers and provides VMware High
Availability (HA) and Dynamic Resource Scheduling
(DRS). (This is available if VMware vSphere Enterprise
Plus is licensed on all ESXi hosts inside a cluster.)
www.vmware.com/products/
vsphere/
VMware Single SignOn (SSO) Service
Provides VMware-specific authentication services.
blogs.vmware.com/kb/2012/10/
vsphere-sso-resources.html
EMC PowerPath/VE
Provides automated data path management and loadbalancing capabilities for server, network, and storage
deployed in virtual and physical environments.
www.emc.com/storage/
powerpath/powerpath.htm
Compute components
Product
Description
Link to documentation
Cisco UCS C220
server
High-density, rack-mount server for
production-level network infrastructure, web
services, and maintenance data center,
branch, and remote office applications.
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12369/
index.html
Cisco UCS Virtual
FCoE PCIe adapter used with Cisco UCS
Interface Card (VIC) C220 servers. Used for converged
1225
networking.
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31
www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/
modules/ps10277/ps12571/
data_sheet_c78-708295.html
Shared Management Platform Architecture Overview
Additional references
Network components
Product
Description
Link to documentation
Cisco Nexus 1000V
Series Switches
A software switch on a server that delivers Cisco VN-Link
services to virtual machines hosted on that server.
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/
ps9902/index.html
VMware Virtual
Distributed Switch
(VDS)
A VMware vCenter-managed software switch that delivers http://www.vmware.com/
advanced network services to virtual machines hosted on products/vsphere/featuresthat server.
distributed-switch
Cisco Nexus 3048
Switch
Provides wire speed layer 2 and 3 switching for data
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/
center top of rack deployments. These switches deliver
ps11541/index.html
flexible port densities, low power, and programmability on
a data-center-class, Cisco Nexus operating system (Cisco
NX-OS).
Cisco Nexus
5548UP Switch
Simplifies data center transformation by enabling a
standards-based, high-performance unified fabric.
www.cisco.com/en/US/products/
ps11681/index.html
Storage components
Product
Description
Link to documentation
EMC VNX5300 storage array High-performing unified storage with
EMC VNX5200 storage array unsurpassed simplicity and efficiency,
optimized for virtual applications.
32
www.emc.com/products/series/vnxseries.htm
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www.vce.com
About VCE
VCE accelerates the adoption of converged infrastructure and cloud-based computing models that dramatically reduce the
cost of IT while improving time to market for enterprises and service providers globally. Through its leading Vblock
Systems, VCE delivers the industry's only true converged infrastructure, leveraging Cisco compute and network
technology, EMC storage and data protection, and VMware virtualization and virtualization management. VCE solutions
are available through an extensive partner network and cover horizontal applications, vertical industry offerings and
application development environments, enabling customers to focus on business innovation instead of integrating,
validating, and managing IT infrastructure.
For more information, go to http://www.vce.com.
©
2015 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.
33
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