There are several options for a PowerFlex appliance deployment.
PowerFlex appliance nodes use PowerFlex to operate storage and tie in workloads. PowerFlex appliance uses these PowerFlex features:
- Storage Data Client (SDC) , which consumes storage from the PowerFlex appliance .
- Storage Data Server (SDS) , which contributes node storage to PowerFlex appliance .
- PowerFlex Metadata Manager (MDM) , which manages the storage blocks and tracks data location across the system.
- Storage Data Replication (SDR), which enables native asynchronous replication on PowerFlex nodes .
PowerFlex enables flexible deployment options by allowing the separation of SDC and SDS components. It addresses data center workload requirements through the following PowerFlex appliance deployment options:
Deployment type | Description |
Hyperconverged | Metadata Manager, compute, and storage reside within the same server. SDR is supported on PowerFlex hyperconverged nodes . |
Two-layer | Separates compute resources from storage resources, allowing the independent expansion of compute or storage resources. Consists of PowerFlex compute-only nodes (supporting the SDC ) and PowerFlex storage-only nodes (connected to and managed by the SDS ). PowerFlex compute-only nodes host end-user applications. PowerFlex storage-only nodes contribute storage to the system pool. PowerFlex Metadata Manager (MDM) runs on PowerFlex storage-only nodes . |
Hybrid hyperconverged | Consists of PowerFlex hyperconverged nodes , PowerFlex compute-only nodes , and PowerFlex storage-only nodes . Some nodes contribute both compute resources and storage resources ( PowerFlex hyperconverged nodes ), some contribute only compute resources ( PowerFlex compute-only nodes ), and some contribute only storage resources ( PowerFlex storage-only nodes ). PowerFlex Metadata Manager (MDM) runs either on PowerFlex hyperconverged nodes or PowerFlex storage-only nodes . |
PowerFlex compute-only nodes | Consists of PowerFlex compute-only nodes (supporting the SDC ) on Microsoft Windows, VMware ESXi, CentOS, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux . PowerFlex compute-only nodes hosts end-user applications.
Note: Windows compute-only nodes must be deployed manually instead of using
PowerFlex Manager .
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PowerFlex storage-only nodes | Consists of embedded operating system nodes which contribute storage resources to the virtual environment. The back-end traffic shares the same PowerFlex data networks. No SDC components are installed on this node. PowerFlex Metadata Manager (MDM) runs on PowerFlex storage-only nodes . SDR is supported on PowerFlex storage-only nodes with a dual CPU. |
PowerFlex storage-only nodes two-layer deployments use the same four PowerFlex data networks for both SDC and SDS communications. Two-layer deployment allows the rebooting of PowerFlex compute-only nodes without PowerFlex ramifications.
When designing initial deployment or specifying later growth, use PowerFlex hyperconverged nodes . You can add PowerFlex compute-only nodes , or PowerFlex storage-only nodes as needed.
- PowerFlex hyperconverged nodes
- PowerFlex compute-only nodes
- PowerFlex storage-only nodes
When hyperconverged nodes are mixed with PowerFlex compute-only nodes or PowerFlex storage-only nodes , it creates a hybrid deployment.