Cloud Foundation on VxRail is Even More “Dynamic” and “Power”-ful
Mon, 29 Apr 2024 14:06:49 -0000
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Dell Technologies and VMware are happy to announce the availability of VMware Cloud Foundation 4.3.1 on Dell EMC VxRail 7.0.241. This new release extends flexible VxRail platform principal storage options with Dell EMC Fibre Channel storage, new VxRail storage integration enhancements, new VxRail dynamic node and 15th generation hardware platform support, new LCM enhancements, and security and deployment updates. Read on for details!
Cloud Foundation on VxRail: Storage Enhancements
VMFS on FC Principal Storage with Dell EMC PowerMax, PowerStore, and Unity XT Storage, and 14th Generation VxRail Dynamic Nodes
More co-engineered goodness makes its way into this release with new support for VMFS on FC Principal storage options for VI Workload Domains.
First, VxRail 7.0.241 supports deploying clusters using VMFS over FC storage as its principal storage instead of vSAN when using new 14th Generation VxRail dynamic nodes. Customers of Dell EMC PowerMax, Dell EMC Powerstore-T, and Dell EMC Unity XT can now leverage their existing storage array investments for VxRail environments. They can also take advantage of the benefits of the VxRail HCI System Software cluster validation, automation, and life cycle management for the compute, hardware, and software infrastructure components.
This principal FC storage support also extends into use cases for Cloud Foundation on VxRail. VCF 4.3.1 now provides updated SDDC Manager awareness of these new types of VMFS on FC principal storage-based 14th Generation VxRail dynamic node clusters. In addition, we have also updated SDDC Manager workflows to support adding either VMFS on FC principal storage-based 14th Generation VxRail dynamic node clusters or vSAN based principal storage VxRail HCI node clusters into VI Workload Domains.
With this latest enhancement VCF on VxRail delivers even more storage flexibility to best meet your workload requirements. The figure below illustrates the different ways in which storage can be leveraged in VCF on VxRail deployments across workload domain types and across principal and supplemental storage use cases. (Note that external storage, including remote vSAN HCI Mesh datastores, were already supported with VCF on VxRail but as supplemental storage prior to this latest release.)
Figure 1: Cloud Foundation on VxRail Supported Storage Options
To get some hands on with creating a new VxRail VI workload domain using VMFS on FC principal storage and VxRail dynamic nodes with PowerStore-T, check out this new interactive demo that walks you through the process.
Cloud Foundation on VxRail LCM Enhancements
SDDC Manager LCM Precheck and Cluster Operation Workflows Integrated with VxRail Health Check API
SDDC Manager has always enabled VCF administrators to perform ad hoc LCM prechecks. These prechecks are used to validate the VCF environment health and configuration status of workload domains, to avoid running into issues while executing LCM and cluster management related workflows.
This latest release includes more co-engineered enhancements to these prechecks by integrating them with native VxRail Health Check APIs. As a result, SDDC Manager ad hoc precheck, LCM, and cluster management related workflows will call on these VxRail APIs to obtain detailed VxRail system-specific cluster health and configuration checks. This brings administrators a more turnkey platform experience that now factors in underlying HCI system HW/SW delivered by VxRail, all within the native SDDC Manager administration experience.
Figure 2: Integrated VxRail Health Check API with SDDC Manager LCM precheck
VxRail Hardware Platform Enhancements
Intel-based 15th Generation VxRail HCI Nodes and 14th Generation VxRail Dynamic Nodes
The VxRail 7.0.241 release brings about new HW platform support with Intel-based 15th Generation VxRail HCI nodes and new 14th Generation VxRail dynamic nodes. For more information on the latest VxRail hardware platforms, check out these blogs:
- Our fastest and biggest launch ever! - We’ve also made it simpler
- It’s Been a Dell EMC VxRail Filled Summer
- Learn more about the latest major VxRail software update: VxRail 7.0.240
Cloud Foundation on VxRail Deployment Enhancements
New VxRail First Run Options to Set Network MTU and Setting Multiple VxRail System VDS via UI
As part of the management cluster prep for VCF on VxRail deployments, the network MTU size of the management cluster system network must be configured before Cloud Builder executes the VCF Bring up. This ensures that the management cluster can support the prerequisites for the deployment and installation of NSX-T, and to align it with the required VCF best practice design architecture.
Prior to this release, these network settings would have needed to be manually configured. Now, they are set as part of the standard VxRail First Run cluster deployment automation process. Doing this streamlines prerequisite management cluster configuration for VCF and speeds up VCF on VxRail deployments, to bring about a faster Time-To-Value (TTV) for customers.
One can now also use the VxRail Manager First Run UI Deployment Wizard to deploy VxRail clusters with Multiple System VDS configured. In previous versions of VxRail, this was only available when using the VxRail API. This wizard allows you to configure this and other cluster settings to simplify cluster deployments, while delivering on more flexible cluster configurations options.
Cloud Foundation on VxRail Security Enhancements
ESXi Lockdown Mode For VxRail Clusters
No blog post is complete without calling out new security feature enhancements. And VCF 4.3.1 on VxRail 7.0.241 delivers. Introduced in this release is new support for ESXi lockdown mode for VxRail clusters.
After a workload domain and a corresponding VxRail cluster have been created, a user can use the vSphere Web Client to configure lockdown mode on a given VxRail host. VCF also allows you to enable or disable lockdown mode for a workload domain or cluster by using the SOS command line utility. Using the SOS command automates the process of enabling or disabling this feature over several hosts quickly. (Important: VCF currently only supports the implementation of normal lockdown mode. It is the SOS utility that configures this lockdown mode. ‘Strict’ lockdown mode is currently not supported.)
Well there you have it. Tons of new VCF on VxRail goodies to ponder for now. As always, for more information on VxRail and VCF on VxRail, please check out the links at the end of this blog and other VxRail related blogs here on the InfoHub.
Additional Resources
VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail Release Notes
VxRail page on DellTechnologies.com
VCF on VxRail Interactive Demos
Author Information
Author: Jason Marques
Twitter - @vWhipperSnapper