The prerequisites for setting up a vSAN 2-node cluster on XR4000z are:
- Mounting and installing: See the PowerEdge XR4000z install manuals that describe how to install a chassis, its server sleds, and witness sled.
- VMware vCenter 7.x to manage the server nodes and witness sled because, by default, Dell ships Dell customized VMware ESXi 7.x builds on the server sleds and witness if opted by the customerDell plans to offer Dell customized VMware 8.x builds starting Dec’23.
- DNS server in the network which helps to forward and reverse lookup to resolve hostnames and IP addresses.
- A DHCP server
- Designate or establish an NTP source.
- The XR4520c server sleds and XR4000w witness sleds that are shipped from the Dell factory are pre-installed with Dell customized VMware ESXi. If “no OS” is chosen while ordering the systems, you must manually install the supported version of VMware ESXi on the server sleds and witness sled. For specifics, see the section OS deployment and pre-vSAN cluster configuration in this guide.
- Dell pre-configures vSAN witness appliance for vSphere ESXi 7.x releases of VMware ESXi on the witness sled ESXi for the servers pre-installed from the factory. For details, see the section “witness host: ESXi” in the XR4000w installation manual. Customers can use the witness appliance pre-configured as is for a 2-node vSAN cluster. The steps are detailed in the following sections.