Home > Storage > PowerMax and VMAX > Storage Admin > Design Guide—VMware IaaS with Big Cloud Fabric on PowerEdge MX Servers and PowerMax Storage > Design configurations and specifications
This Ready Stack offers flexibility to address various virtualization use cases and workloads. Sizing a physical infrastructure for all virtualized workloads in a specific environment requires knowledge of all the individual workloads and related compute, memory, storage, and network performance requirements. After you have created one or more VM profiles that meet the Ready Stack requirements, you can approximate the physical infrastructure that is required to support VMs while also accounting for expected future growth. When finalizing sizing, ensure that you also consider server and storage maintenance requirements and virtualization features such as high availability. Conduct a site survey in cases where an approximation is not sufficient.
The following table details the small, medium, and large sample configurations of this Ready Stack. The configurations are based on a balanced VM profile of 2 vCPUs, 6 GB of memory, a 60 GB virtual disk, and 50 IOPS.
Table 3. Ready Stack sample configurations
Configuration |
Number of VMs |
Number of vCPUs |
vRAM size |
vDisk size |
IOPS |
Enterprise Small |
80 |
160 |
480 GB |
4.8 TB |
4,000 |
Enterprise Medium |
240 |
480 |
1.44 TB |
14.4 TB |
12,000 |
Enterprise Large |
400 |
800 |
2.4 TB |
24 TB |
20,000 |
The balanced VM profile totals in the table are based on distributing loads across cores and a 2:1 virtual-to-physical CPU utilization ratio. Depending on VM profile requirements, the compute resource totals might be different from the values that are shown in the table. For more information about tuning Ready Stack to meet infrastructure needs, consult your Dell EMC Sales and Professional Services teams.
The following table lists the recommended components for each of the sample configurations, although you may substitute compatible components. For more details about the recommended components, see Table 5, Table 6, and Table 7.
Table 4. Ready Stack sample configurations: Recommended components
Component |
Enterprise Small |
Enterprise Medium |
Enterprise Large |
Compute sled in MX7000 blade chassis |
MX740c |
MX740c or MX840c |
MX740c or MX840c |
SAN fabric |
|
|
|
Storage |
PowerMax 2000:
|
PowerMax 2000 or PowerMax 8000:
|
PowerMax 2000 or PowerMax 8000:
|
Fabric Switching Engine (FSE) |
MX9116n |
MX9116n |
MX9116n |
Fabric Expander Module (FEM) |
MX7116n |
MX7116n |
MX7116n |
S4148T-ON |
S4148T-ON |
S4148T-ON |
|
Leaf switch |
S5248F-ON |
S5248F-ON |
S5248F-ON |
Chassis management modules
|
2 x MX9002m |
2 x MX9002m |
2 x MX9002m |
Hypervisor |
ESXi 6.7 |
ESXi 6.7 |
ESXi 6.7 |
*16 Gb FC is also supported.
The following table lists the component specifications for the Enterprise Small configuration.
Table 5. Enterprise Small component specifications
Category |
Component |
Specifications |
Management hosts |
Dell EMC PowerEdge R640 servers |
3 x 2.5-in. chassis with up to 8 hard drives and 3 PCIe slots |
Processors |
2 Intel Xeon Gold 6212 Family |
|
Processor cores |
24 physical |
|
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
4 x 32 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
PCIe riser |
Dell EMC Riser Config 2, 3 x 16 LP |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 240 GB SSDs in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
6 x 1.92 SSD SATA read-intensive 6 Gb/s 512n 2.5-in. hot-plug |
|
RAID |
Dell EMC PERC H330 Mini-Card |
|
Network |
Mellanox ConnectX-4 LX 2 Port 25 GbE SFP28 Low Profile |
|
HBA |
QLogic 2692 Dual Port FC PCIe Card |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Modular chassis |
Chassis |
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 |
Chassis management |
Redundant management module |
|
Power |
6 x 3,000 W (3+3) PowerEdge MX7000 redundant power supplies |
|
FSE |
2 Dell EMC MX9116n |
|
FEM |
Dell EMC MX7116n |
|
Platform controller hosts |
Dell EMC MX740c |
4 x 2.5-in. chassis with up to 6 hard drives
|
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Silver 4210 Family |
|
Processor cores |
10 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
16 x 16 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
I/O card for Fabric A or B |
QLogic FastLinQ 41262 dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card with storage offloads |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
Optional |
|
RAID |
Optional |
|
Embedded systems management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise with OpenManage Enterprise server configuration management |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Compute hosts |
Dell EMC MX740c |
4 x 2.5 in. chassis with up to 6 hard drives |
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Silver 4210 Family Core count, cache size, and frequency can be adjusted based on unique workload profiles and requirements. |
|
Processor cores |
10 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
16 x 16 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
I/O card for Fabric A or B |
QLogic FastLinQ 41262 dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card with storage offloads |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
Optional |
|
RAID |
Optional |
|
Embedded systems management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise with OpenManage Enterprise server configuration management |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Storage |
Dell EMC PowerMax 2000 |
1 or more bricks, depending on workload requirements Consult Dell EMC Sales and Professional Services teams. |
Networking |
OOB management |
Dell EMC PowerSwitch S4148T-ON switch |
Edge switches |
2 Dell EMC Networking S5248F-ON switches (stand-alone or part of BCF) |
|
SAN fabric |
|
|
Licenses |
A single standard license supports 10 vCenter servers. Beyond 10 servers, an additional license per server is required. For licensing details and options, consult the Dell EMC Sales team.
|
|
Cable requirements |
Consult Dell EMC Sales team. |
The following table lists the component specifications for the Enterprise Medium configuration.
Table 6. Enterprise Medium component specifications
Category |
Component |
Specifications |
Management hosts |
Dell EMC PowerEdge R640 server |
3 x 2.5 in. chassis with up to 8 hard drives and 3 PCIe slots |
|
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Gold 6212 Family |
|
Processor cores |
24 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
4 x 32 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
PCIe riser |
Dell EMC Riser Config 2, 3x16 LP |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
6 x 1.92 SSD SATA read-intensive 6 Gb/s 512n 2.5-in. hot-plug |
|
RAID |
Dell EMC PERC H330 Mini-Card |
|
Network |
Mellanox ConnectX-4 LX 2 Port 25 GbE SFP28 Low Profile |
|
HBA |
QLogic 2692 Dual Port FC PCIe Card |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Modular chassis |
Chassis |
2 Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 |
Chassis management |
Redundant management modules, 2 per chassis |
|
Power |
6 x 3,000 W (3+3) PowerEdge MX7000 redundant power supplies, 1 per chassis |
|
FSE |
2 Dell EMC MX9116n: 1 in chassis 1, slot A1 1 in chassis 2, slot A2 |
|
FEM |
2 Dell EMC MX7116n: 1 in chassis 1, slot A2 1 in chassis 2, slot A1 |
|
Platform controller hosts |
Dell EMC MX740c |
4 x 2.5 in. chassis with up to 6 hard drives |
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Silver 4210 Family |
|
Processor cores |
10 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
16 x 16 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
I/O card for Fabric A or B |
QLogic FastLinQ 41262 dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card with storage offloads |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
Optional |
|
RAID |
Optional |
|
Embedded systems management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise with OpenManage Enterprise server configuration management |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
Compute hosts |
Dell EMC MX740c |
12 x 2.5 in. chassis with up to 6 hard drives:
The MX7000 chassis can support up to 8 MX740c blade servers. |
Processor |
2 x Intel Xeon Silver 4210 Family Core count, cache size, and frequency can be adjusted based on unique workload profiles and requirements.
|
|
Processor cores |
10 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
16 x 16 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s RDIMM capacity or quantity can be adjusted based on unique workload profiles and requirements. |
|
I/O card for Fabric A or B |
QLogic FastLinQ 41262 dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card with storage offloads |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
Optional |
|
RAID |
Optional |
|
Embedded systems management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise with OpenManage Enterprise server configuration management |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Storage |
Dell EMC PowerMax 2000 or PowerMax 8000 |
1 or more bricks or disk array enclosures (DAEs), depending on workload requirements Consult Dell EMC Sales and Professional Services teams. |
Networking |
OOB management |
Dell EMC PowerSwitch S4148T-ON switch |
Edge switches |
2 Dell EMC PowerSwitch S5248F-ON (stand-alone or part of BCF) |
|
SAN fabric |
Core switch: Dell EMC Connectrix MDS-97xx Edge switch: Dell EMC Connectrix MDS-9148T |
|
Licenses |
A single standard license supports 10 vCenter servers. Beyond 10 servers, an additional license per server is required. For licensing details and options, consult the Dell EMC Sales team.
|
|
Cable requirements |
Consult the Dell EMC Sales team. |
The following table lists the component specifications for the Enterprise Large configuration.
Table 7. Enterprise Large component specifications
Category |
Component |
Specifications |
Management hosts |
Dell EMC PowerEdge R640 server |
3 x 2.5 in. chassis with up to 8 hard drives and 3PCIe slots |
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Gold 6212 Family |
|
Processor cores |
24 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
4 x 32 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
PCIe riser |
Dell EMC Riser Config 2, 3 x 16 LP |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
6 x 1.92 SSD SATA read-intensive 6 Gb/s 512n 2.5-in. hot-plug |
|
RAID |
Dell EMC PERC H330 RAID Mini-Card |
|
Network |
Mellanox ConnectX-4 LX dual-port 25 GbE SFP28 Low Profile |
|
HBA |
QLogic 2692 Dual Port FC PCIe Card |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
Modular chassis |
Chassis |
3 Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 |
Chassis management |
Redundant management module for PowerEdge MX7000 chassis, 2 per chassis |
|
Power |
Dell EMC PowerEdge MX7000 redundant power supply 6 x 3,000 W (3+3), 1 per chassis |
|
FSE |
2 Dell EMC MX9116n:
|
|
FEM |
4 Dell EMC MX7116n:
|
|
Platform controller hosts |
Dell EMC MX740c |
4 x 2.5 in. chassis with up to 6 hard drives |
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Silver 4210 Family |
|
Processor cores |
10 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
16 x 16 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
I/O card for Fabric A or B |
QLogic FastLinQ 41262 dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card with storage offloads |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSD 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
Optional |
|
RAID |
Optional |
|
Embedded systems management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise with OpenManage Enterprise server configuration management |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Compute hosts |
Dell EMC MX740c |
20 x 2.5-in. chassis with up to 6 hard drives:
The MX7000 chassis can support up to 8 MX740c blade servers. |
Processor |
2 Intel Xeon Silver 4210 Family Core count, cache size, and frequency can be adjusted based on unique workload profiles and requirements. |
|
Processor cores |
10 physical |
|
TPM chips |
2 |
|
OOB management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise |
|
Memory |
16 x 16 GB RDIMMs, 2,933 MT/s |
|
I/O card for Fabric A or B |
QLogic FastLinQ 41262 dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card with storage offloads |
|
Operating system boot drive |
Dell EMC BOSS controller card + 2 x M.2 SSDs 240 GB in RAID 1 |
|
Storage |
Optional |
|
RAID |
Optional |
|
Embedded systems management |
Dell EMC iDRAC9 Enterprise with OpenManage Enterprise server configuration management |
|
Hypervisor |
VMware vSphere 6.7 |
|
Storage |
Dell EMC PowerMax 2000 or PowerMax 8000 |
1 or more bricks or DAEs, depending on workload requirements Consult Dell EMC Sales and Professional Services teams. |
Networking |
OOB management |
Dell EMC PowerSwitch S4148T-ON switch |
Edge |
2 Dell EMC PowerSwitch S5248F-ON switches |
|
SAN fabric |
|
|
Licenses |
A single standard license supports 10 vCenter servers. Beyond 10 servers, an additional license per server is required. For licensing details and options, consult the Dell EMC Sales team.
|
|
Cable requirements |
Consult Dell EMC Sales team. |