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Dell Networking SmartFabric Services with VxRail vSAN Stretched Cluster Reference Architecture
Introduction Topology Deployment planning
Deployment planning
Minimum requirements
Networks and IP addresses
SFS default fabric settings
DNS server records
Switch configuration Other infrastructure Deploy VxRail Configure VxRail vSAN stretched cluster Deploy OMNI Validated components Support and Feedback

Minimum requirements

Home > Integrated Products > VxRail > Guides > Dell Networking SmartFabric Services with VxRail vSAN Stretched Cluster Reference Architecture > Minimum requirements

Minimum requirements

  • Minimum requirements for an SFS with VxRail vSAN stretched cluster deployment include the following:

    • At least four Dell PowerSwitch systems listed on the Networking Support & Interoperability Matrix are required as leaf switches. At least one leaf pair must be in Site 1, and at least one leaf pair must be in Site 2. Each leaf pair must use the same model.
    • Dell PowerSwitch systems in each SmartFabric must be running SmartFabric OS10.5.4.5 or a later version listed on the Networking Support & Interoperability Matrix.
    • One or more external switches used as data center interconnects (DCI) are required. The DCI switches used must support industry Layer 2 and Layer 3 standards including BGP. The DCI switches must also support port speeds compatible with the switches they are connected to. Dell Technologies recommends these switches support a maximum transmission unit (MTU) size of 9216 bytes for best performance. DCI switches must also meet the stretched cluster latency requirements specified in the Dell VxRail 7.0 vSAN Stretched Cluster Planning Guide.
    • At least one 1 GbE BASE-T, also referred to as 1000BASE-T, switch is required for OOB management connections. Dell Technologies recommends using one PowerSwitch N3248TE-ON or one PowerSwitch S3048-ON per rack.
    • At least three VxRail nodes with VxRail 7.x or VxRail 8.x software are required. If VxRail 7.x is used, it must be at version 7.0.400 or a later version listed on the Networking Support & Interoperability Matrix.
    • VxRail nodes must meet the hardware and software requirements that are listed in the Dell VxRail7.x or8.x support matrices.
    • Onboard NICs in VxRail nodes must be 10 GbE, 25 GbE, or 100 GbE.
    • One witness host running ESXi is required. It must use the same ESXi version as the VxRail nodes and cannot be part of any vSAN-enabled cluster. It requires one flash drive available for the vSAN cache tier and one or more additional drives available for the vSAN capacity tier.
    • One ESXi host, separate from the witness host, is required for the OMNI VM. The host requires connections to the External Management and OOB Management networks. Allow 80 GB of storage space for the OMNI VM.
    • At least one DNS server reachable from the VxRail External Management network with host records added for this deployment. As an option, the DNS server can be a VM on the same ESXi host used by the OMNI VM. DNS hostnames and IP addresses shows the DNS host records used in this deployment.