Introducing Hyperconvergence and

Cisco HyperFlex

Speaker name
Speaker title
March 2021
Session Agenda

Need for Hyperconvergence

What is Hyperconvergence Key Take Away

• Understand Hyperconvergence,
features, and benefits of Cisco
Solution overview HyperFlex

Describe features and benefits

of HyperFlex

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Evolution of datacenters
Traditional
Converged Hyperconverged
(Non-Converged)

Network

Server Server

Network Fiber Channel Network and

Switch Switch Storage Switch

Storage and Server

Storage
(combined)

Storage

Traditional Infrastructure Converged Infrastructure Hyperconverged Infrastructure

(since 1995) (since 2011) (since 2014)

Acquired as discrete parts; Acquired as single entity; IT Agility

hard to deploy faster deployment Moves storage as part of server
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Traditional data center design
• A typical data center today consists of:
• Servers LAN
Ethernet
• Centralized storage Fibre Channel

• SAN switching LAN

Switches
• LAN switching
• Typically, 2-4 teams are needed to deploy and
maintain different components of the data
center solution

Servers SAN Switches Centralized

Storage

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Traditional converged solutions
• Cisco collaborated with different storage
vendors to create a pre-validated data
center platform:
• Server, LAN and SAN switching from
Cisco
• Storage from third-party vendors
Servers SAN Switches
• Based on Cisco validated design, these Centralized
Storage
simplify and streamline deployment based
on validated designs:
• Reduction in infrastructure costs Pure Storage
Dell EMC
• Less time spent on maintaining IBM
NetApp
• Less unplanned downtime
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Traditional converged solutions (cont.)
FlashStack is an integrated VxBlock integrates compute,
infrastructure solution by network and storage
Cisco and Pure Storage technologies from Cisco, EMC
and VMware

FlexPod is an integrated VersaStack combines Cisco

infrastructure solution UCS Integrated Infrastructure
developed by Cisco and with IBM Storwize storage
NetApp

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New IT operations models: rise of public cloud

Moving at Operationalizing CFOs Expect a

the Speed of Speed and Cloud
Business Simplicity Economics
On-Premise
APPS

Consumption of Proliferation of solutions Expectation of pay-as-you-go

infrastructure adds time, cost creating silos that economics with scaling
and inefficiency complicates operations on-demand

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Requirements for NextGen Hyperconvergence

Next-Gen Convergence on a
Complete
Data Platform Common Platform
Compute, Storage, and Advanced File Integrating into
Network with System existing and
Unified Management future infrastructures

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What is Hyperconvergence?
• Hyperconvergence technologies demand tried-and- Communication between HCI SW
tested x86 servers with:
• CPU, Memory, Server 1 Server 2 Server 3
• Local disks CPU HCI CPU HCI CPU HCI
MEM Hyper MEM Hyper MEM Hyper
• Hypervisor on each server
DISK DISK DISK
(ex. VMware ESXi)
DISK DISK DISK
• Servers that are only connected to LAN ... ... ...
DISK DISK DISK
• Also, each server has “hyperconverged” software:
• Most vendors use controller VMs (CVMs), but
there are other implementations
LAN

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Motivation for Hyperconvergence
• No LUN configuration
• No zoning or masking configuration In In
Deployment Operations
• No device alias configuration

Simplicity
• Wizard-based deployment and expansions
• Cluster behaves similarly to one giant server in In
In
terms of resources Enabling
Scaling
Multicloud
• Can be deployed as your private cloud that
works together with your public cloud
Pay-as-you-grow economics

Start with 3 nodes, expand quickly

and easily when needed
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Disadvantages of a Mixed Solution
There are disadvantages when using a mixed but validated solution:

• Validated hardware does not mean smooth performance

• Software only HCI solutions do not have control over the hardware used by the
customer

• Software only HCI solutions may be simple to install, but maintenance and
configuration of hardware could be a problem

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Cisco HyperFlex (Standard Cluster)

Pair of Fabric
Interconnects (FIs)

3-32 HX Servers

Optional: Up to 32 Compute Nodes

HyperFlex is a complete hyperconverged solution with Software and Hardware from

One Vendor (Cisco) and not a Mixed Solution
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Cisco HyperFlex – physical topology
Servers
• HX-Series are connected to Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects using 2 Twinax cables per server
• Max: 64 Nodes (32 HX + 32 Compute) with the standard vSphere-based HX cluster

Fabric Interconnects
• Cisco UCS generation 2, 3 or 4 of Fabric Interconnects
deployed in a clustered pair
• Provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity and
server-level orchestration

ToR Switches
• Not part of the HyperFlex bundle
• 10G or 40G/100G connectivity and jumbo maximum
transmission unit (MTU) is required
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Cisco HyperFlex – part of the Cisco UCS family
Automated install process
• Installation is wizard-based/also via Intersight
• Complexities are hidden from end users

Small learning curve:

• The same Fabric Interconnects and Cisco UCS Manager with
which people are familiar
• HX-Series servers are simply C-Series servers with a different
PID and different front bezel
• ESXi and vCenter, or Hyper-V and Hyper-V Manager/SCVMM VMware | ESX | vSphere
and HX Application Platform (HXAP) for containers
Microsoft Hyper-V
• Intersight (Cloud Operations Model) for deployment,
management, monitoring and orchestration HXAP/Containers

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What do we mean by network pre-configuration?
Switch
Config Pre-
Required Switch Config

Appliance 1

Appliance 2

Appliance 3

Appliance based Products Cisco HyperFlex

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Independent scaling of compute and storage capacity

• Utilize existing blades/rack-

servers for compute
• Add more blades/rack-
servers for compute

Data Platform
HX
• Add hyperconverged
servers for storage B200 M4/M5
Blades
(or C-Series
FIs Rack Servers)
• Start with hyperconverged
servers (compute + storage
capacity)
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HyperFlex Data Platform (HXDP) benefits

Adaptive Infrastructure Dynamic Data Distribution

Predictable, Pay-as-You-Grow Efficiency Highly Available/Self-Healing
Integrates with existing CI Balanced Space Utilization
Enables On-Premise, Cloud and Hybrid Greater Performance

Pointer-Based Snapshots Integrated into vCenter

Inline dedupe and compression Robust Reporting and Analytics
Data-At-Rest Encryption SaaS based management with Intersight
Data Replication for Disaster Recovery Single Button Non-Disruptive Rolling Upgrades

Enterprise Resiliency Features Integrated Management

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 HyperFlex Adaptability

Integrate Existing Support Enterprise Support Extend to Extend to

Infrastructure Apps Containerized Apps the Edge the Cloud

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HyperFlex Scalability Options
Scale Scale compute-only Scale CI and SAN
Scale nodes blades or rack
within nodes GPU-only integration

Distribute and rebalance data automatically

High performance Resilient shared data storage Flexible scalability

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Cisco HyperFlex for Multicloud
Cisco HyperFlex solves Multicloud challenges by having integration with:

• AppDynamics: Application performance monitoring

• Cisco Workload Optimization Manager: Application placement, datacenter optimization

• Cisco CloudCenter: Cisco CloudCenter provides Workload Mobility between HX, Public and
Private Clouds

• Cisco Container Platform: On-premise container platform

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Questions?

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