Enhancing Satellite Node Management at Scale
Tue, 15 Mar 2022 20:30:40 -0000
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Satellite nodes are a great addition to the VxRail portfolio, empowering users at the edge, as described in David Glynn’s blog Satellite Nodes: Because sometimes even a 2-node cluster is too much. Although satellite nodes are still new, we’ve been working hard and have already started making improvements. Dell’s latest VxRail 7.0.350 release has a number of new VxRail enhancements and in this blog we’ll focus on these new satellite node features:
- Improved life cycle management (LCM)
- New APIs
- Improved security
Improved LCM
The first way we’ve improved satellite nodes is by reducing the required maintenance window. To do this, the satellite node update process has now been split in two. Instead of staging the recovery bundle and performing the update in one step, you can now stage the recovery bundle and perform the update separately.
Staging the bundle in advance is great because we know bandwidth can be limited at the edge and this allows ample time to transfer the bundle in advance to ensure your update happens during your scheduled maintenance window. Once your bundles are staged, it’s as simple as scheduling the updates and letting VxRail execute the node update. This improvement ensures that you can complete the update within the expected timeframe to minimize downtime. Satellite nodes sit outside the cluster and, as a result, workloads will go offline while the node is updated.
New APIs
Do you have a large number of edge locations that could use satellite nodes and need an easier way to manage at scale? Good news! These new APIs are perfect for making edge life at scale easier.
The new APIs include:
- Satellite node LCM
- Add a satellite node to a managed folder
- Remove a satellite node from a managed folder
The introductory release of VxRail satellite nodes featured LCM operations through the VxRail Manager plug-in, which could be quite time consuming if you are managing a large number of satellite nodes. We saw room for improvement so now administrators can use VxRail APIs to add, update, and remove satellite nodes to simplify and speed up operations.
You can use the satellite node LCM API to adjust configuration settings that benefit management at scale, such as adjusting the number of satellite nodes you want to update in parallel. For example, although the default is to update 20 nodes in parallel, you can initiate updates for up to 30 satellite nodes in parallel, as needed.
There is also a failure rate feature that will set a condition to exit from an LCM operation. For example, if you are updating multiple satellite nodes at one time and nodes are failing to update, the failure rate setting is a way to abort the operation altogether if the rate surpasses a set threshold. The default threshold is 20% but can be set anywhere from 1% to 100%. Using the VxRail API, you can adjust settings like this that are not available in the VxRail Manager.
These new APIs are great for users with a large number of VxRail satellite nodes. Adding, removing, and updating satellite nodes can now be automated through the new APIs, saving you precious time across your edge locations.
Improved Security
VxRail satellite nodes can now use Secure Enterprise Key Management (SEKM), made available through the Dell PowerEdge servers that VxRail is built on. What is SEKM you might ask? Well, SEKM gives you the ability to secure drive access using encryption keys stored on a central key management server (not on the satellite node).
SEKM is great for many reasons. First, an edge location might be more exposed and have less physical security than your typical data center but that doesn’t mean securing your data is any less important. SEKM keeps your data drives locked even if the entire server is stolen. When paired with self-encrypting drives, you can secure the data even further. Second, the encryption keys are stored in a centralized location, making it easier to manage the security of large numbers of satellite nodes instead of having to manage each satellite node individually.
In this blog we’ve highlighted some exciting new satellite node features, including an improved update process, new APIs, and enhanced security, all of which enhance managing the edge at scale. Check out the full VxRail 7.0.350 release and see the full list of enhancements by clicking the link below.
Thanks for reading!
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Author: Stephen Graham, VxRail Tech Marketing