Learn About the Latest VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1.1 on Dell VxRail 8.0.210 Release
Tue, 26 Mar 2024 18:47:52 -0000
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The latest VCF on VxRail release delivers GenAI-ready infrastructure, runs more demanding workloads, and is an excellent choice for supporting hardware tech refreshes and achieving higher consolidation ratios.
VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1.1 on VxRail 8.0.210 is a minor release from the perspective of versioning and new functionality but is significant in terms of support for the latest VxRail hardware platforms. This new release is based on the latest software bill of materials (BOM) featuring vSphere 8.0 U2b, vSAN 8.0 U2b, and NSX 4.1.2.3. Read on for more details…
VxRail hardware platform updates
16th generation VxRail VE-660 and VP-760 hardware platform support
Cloud Foundation on VxRail customers can now benefit from the latest, more scalable, and robust 16th generation hardware platforms. This includes a full spectrum of hybrid, all-flash, and all NVMe options that have been qualified to run VxRail 8.0.210 software. This is fantastic news as these new hardware options bring many technical innovations, which my colleagues discussed in detail in previous blogs.
These new hardware platforms are based on Intel® 4th Generation Xeon® Scalable processors, which increase VxRail core density per socket to 56 (112 max per node). They also come with built-in Intel® AMX accelerators (Advanced Matrix Extensions) that support AI and HPC workloads without the need for additional drivers or hardware.
VxRail on the 16th generation hardware supports deployments with either vSAN Original Storage Architecture (OSA) or vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA). The VP-760 and VE-660 can take advantage of vSAN ESA’s single-tier storage architecture, which enables RAID-5 resiliency and capacity with RAID-1 performance.
This table summarizes the configurations of the newly added platforms:
To learn more about the VE-660 and VP-760 platforms, please check Mike Athanasiou’s VxRail’s Latest Hardware Evolution blog. To learn more about Intel® AMX capability set, make sure to check out the VxRail and Intel® AMX, Bringing AI Everywhere blog, authored by Una O’Herlihy.
VCF on VxRail LCM updates
Support upgrades to VCF 5.1.1 from existing VCF 4.4.x and higher environments (N-3 upgrade support)
Customers who already upgraded to VCF 5.x are already familiar with the concept of the skip-level upgrade, which allows them to upgrade directly to the latest 5.x release without the need to perform upgrades to the interim versions. It significantly reduces the time required to perform the upgrade and enhances the overall upgrade experience. VCF 5.1.1 introduces so-called “N-3” upgrade support (as illustrated on the following diagram), which supports the skip-level upgrade for VCF 4.4.x. This means they can now perform a direct LCM upgrade operation from VCF 4.4.x, 4.5.x, 5.0.x, and 5.1.0 to VCF 5.1.1.
VCF licensing changes
Simplified licensing using a single solution license key
Starting with VCF 5.1.1, vCenter Server, ESXi, and TKG component licenses are now entered using a single “VCF Solution License” key. This helps to simplify the licensing by minimizing the number of individual component keys that require separate management. VMware NSX Networking, HCX, and VMware Aria Suite components are automatically entitled from the vCenter Server post-deployment. The single licensing key and existing keyed licenses will continue to work in parallel.
Removal of VCF+ cloud-connected subscriptions as a supported VCF licensing type
The other significant licensing change is the deprecation of VCF+ licensing, which the new subscription model has replaced.
Support for deploying or expanding VCF instances using Evaluation Mode
VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1.1 allows deploying a new VCF instance in evaluation mode without needing to enter license keys. An administrator has 60 days to enter licensing for the deployment, and SDDC Manager is fully functional at this time. The workflows for expanding a cluster, adding a new cluster, or creating a VI workload domain also provide an option to license later within a 60 day timeframe.
For more comprehensive information about changes in VCF licensing, please consult the VMware website.
Core VxRail enhancements
Support for remote vCenter plug-in
One of the notable enhancements in VxRail 8.0.210 is adopting the vSphere Client remote plugin architecture. It showcases adopting the latest vSphere architecture guidelines, as the local plug-ins are deprecated in vSphere 8.0 and won’t be supported in vSphere 9.0. The vSphere Client remote plug-in architecture allows plug-in functionality integration without running inside a vCenter Server. It’s a more robust architecture that separates vCenter Server from plug-ins and provides more security, flexibility, and scalability when choosing the programming frameworks and introducing new features. Starting with 8.0.210, a new VxRail Manager remote plug-in is deployed in the VxRail Manager Appliance.
LCM enhancements, including improved VxRail pre-checks and self-remediation of iDRAC issues.
VxRail 8.0.210 also comes with several small features based on Customer feedback that combine to improve the LCM experience's reliability. These include:
- VxRail Manager root disk space precheck prevents the upgrade errors related to lack of disk space (for rpm-based upgrades).
- Self-remediation of iDRAC issues during LCM upgrades provides a more reliable firmware upgrade experience. By clearing the iDRAC job queue and resetting the iDRAC, the process may recover from a firmware update failure.
Serviceability enhancements, including improved expansion pre-checks, external storage reporting, and improved troubleshooting capabilities.
Another group of features contributes to overall improved serviceability and visibility into the system:
- The UI now implements new errors and warnings for incompatible disks when the user tries to add an incompatible disk during the disk addition process (see the following figure)
- The improved hardware views report on storage capacity and utilization for dynamic nodes, improving the overall visibility for the external storage attached to dynamic nodes directly from the vSphere Client.
- VxRail cluster troubleshooting efficiency has improved thanks to better standardization of log format and event grooming for disk exhaustion.
- The improved node-add health checks reduce the risk of successfully adding a faulty or mismatched node to a VxRail cluster.
VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA
With VCF 5.1.1, VMware introduces VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA as Initial Access. Dell Technologies Engineering intends to validate this feature when it is generally available.
This solution aims to enable enterprise customers to adopt Generative AI capabilities more easily and securely by providing enterprises with a cost-effective, high-performance, and secure environment for delivering business value from Large Language Models (LLMs) using their private data.
Summary
The new VCF 5.1.1 on VxRail 8.0.210 release is an excellent option for customers looking for a hardware refresh, Gen AI-ready infrastructure to run more demanding workloads, or to achieve higher consolidation ratios. Additional enhancements introduced in the core VxRail functionality improve the overall LCM experience, serviceability, and visibility into the system.
Thank you for your time, and please check the additional resources if you like to learn more.
Resources
- VxRail’s Latest Hardware Evolution blog
- VxRail and Intel® AMX, Bringing AI Everywhere
- VxRail product page
- VxRail Infohub page
- VxRail Videos
- VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell VxRail Release Notes
- VCF on VxRail Interactive Demo
- VMware Product Lifecycle Matrix
Author: Karol Boguniewicz
Twitter: @cl0udguide