Well-managed companies are always looking for new ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs while maintaining excellence in the quality of their products and services. Hence, IT departments and service providers look at the cloud and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) as the enablers for automation, driving efficiency, consistency, and cost-savings.

This blog will help you get started with VxRail API by grouping in one place the most useful VxRail API resources available from various public sources. This list of resources will be updated every few months with new material, so consider bookmarking it for your reference as a useful map to help you navigate this topic.

Before jumping into the list, I think it's essential to answer some of the most obvious questions:

What is VxRail API?

VxRail API is a feature of VxRail HCI System Software that exposes management functions with a RESTful application programming interface. It’s designed for ease of use by VxRail customers and ecosystem partners who would like to better integrate third party products with VxRail systems. VxRail API is:

• Simple to use – Thanks to Swagger and PowerShell integration, you can consume the API very easily using a supported web browser or from a familiar command-line interface for Windows and VMware vSphere admins.
• Powerful – VxRail offers dozens of API calls for essential operations such as automated lifecycle management (LCM), and its capabilities are growing with every new release.
• Extensible – This API is designed to complement REST APIs from VMware (such as vSphere Automation API, PowerCLI, VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail API), offering a familiar look and feel and vast capabilities.

 Why is it relevant?

VxRail API enables you to leverage the full power of automation and orchestration services across your data center. This extensibility enables you to build and operate infrastructure with cloud-like scale and agility. It also streamlines the integration of the infrastructure into your IT environment and processes. Instead of manually managing your environment through the graphical user interface, repeatable operations can be triggered and executed programmatically by software.

More and more customers are embracing DevOps and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) models as they need reliable and repeatable processes to configure the underlying infrastructure resources required for applications. IaC leverages APIs to store configurations in code, making operations repeatable and greatly reducing errors.

 How can I start? Where can I find more information?

To help you navigate through all the resources available, I've grouped them by their level of technical difficulty, starting with 101 (the simplest, explaining the basics, use cases, and value proposition), through 201, up to 301 (the most in-depth technical level).

 101 level

• Solution Brief: Dell EMC VxRail API – Solution Brief – this is a very concise (three page) brochure that briefly explains on a high-level what VxRail API is, the typical use cases, and where you can find additional resources for a quick start. I would highly recommend starting your exploration from this resource.
   
• Infographic: Dell EMC VxRail HCI System Software RESTful API – one of the infographics that brings together quick facts about VxRail HCI System Software differentiation, this specific one explains the value of VxRail API.
  
  
• Blog Post: Take VxRail automation to the next level by leveraging APIs – this is my first blog post focused on VxRail API. It touches on some of the challenges related to managing a farm of VxRail clusters and how VxRail API can fit as a solution. It also covers the enhancements introduced in VxRail HCI System Software 4.7.300, such as Swagger and PowerShell integration.
   
• Blog Post: Protecting VxRail from Power Disturbances – my second API-related blog post, where I explain an exciting use case by Eaton, our ecosystem partner, and the first UPS vendor who integrated their power management solution with VxRail using VxRail API.
   
• Demo: VxRail API – Overview – this is our first VxRail API demo published on the official Dell EMC YouTube channel. It was recorded using VxRail HCI System Software 4.7.300, explains VxRail API basics, API enhancements introduced in this version, and how you can explore the API using Swagger UI.
   
• Demo: VxRail API – PowerShell Package – a continuation of the API overview demo referenced above, focused on PowerShell integration. It was recorded using VxRail HCI System Software 4.7.300.

201 level

• Interactive Demo: VxRail 7.0 – this updated VxRail 7.0 Interactive Demo contains a dedicated section “VxRail 7.0 API” focused on the API. It includes three modules:
  
  
  1. Getting Started – explains how you can interact with Swagger-based documentation and the Developer Center available from vCenter with a couple of practical examples, such as getting information about the VxRail cluster, collecting inventory, exporting a log bundle, and creating a VM from a template. 
  2. Day 1 – Bring Up – explains the API-driven deployment of the VxRail cluster using PowerShell. Note that when using the Day 1 API for the VxRail cluster deployment, Professional Services are still required at this time to provide the best customer experience. 
  3. Day 2 – Operations and Extensibility – discusses some of the "day 2" operations and extensibility with API cookbook examples, the VxRail PowerShell Modules package, VMware PowerCLI, and Ansible.

 The VxRail 7.0 Interactive Demo is a very recent asset prepared by our team for the Dell Technologies World 2020 virtual conference. I would highly recommend it. It was recorded with VxRail HCI System Software version 7.0.010, which introduced Day 1 API for VxRail cluster deployment.

• Manual: Dell EMC VxRail RESTful API Cookbook – this is a handy resource for anyone who would like to jumpstart their VxRail API journey by using code samples documented and tested by our Engineering team for three automation frameworks: CURL for shell/CLI available for various operating systems, PowerShell, and Ansible. Dell Technologies Support portal access is required.
• vBrownBag session: vSphere and VxRail REST API: Get Started in an Easy Way – this is a recent vBrownBag community session that took place at a VMworld 2020 TechTalks Live event - no slides, no “marketing fluff”, but an extensive demo showing the following: 
  1. how you can begin your API journey by leveraging interactive, web-based API documentation
  2. how you can use these APIs from different frameworks (such as scripting with PowerShell in Windows environments) and configuration management tools (such as Ansible on Linux)
  3. how you can consume these APIs virtually from ANY application in ANY programming language.

This very recent asset was prepared at the VMworld 2020 virtual conference, and recorded with VxRail HCI System Software version 7.0.0. 

301 level

• Manual: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance – API User Guide – this is an official reference manual for VxRail API. It provides a detailed description of each available API function, support information for specific VxRail HCI System Software versions, request parameters and possible response codes, successful call response data models, and example values returned. Dell Technologies Support portal access is required.
   
• PowerShell Package: VxRail API PowerShell Modules – a package with VxRail.API PowerShell Modules which allow simplified access to the VxRail API, using dedicated PowerShell commands and built-in help. This version supports VxRail HCI System Software 7.0.010 or higher. Dell Technologies Support portal access is required.
  
  
• API Reference: vSphere Automation API – an official vSphere REST API Reference that provides API documentation, request/response samples, and usage descriptions of the vSphere services.
  
  
• API Reference: VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail API Reference Guide – an official VCF on VxRail REST API Reference that provides API documentation, request/response samples, and usage descriptions of the VCF on VxRail services.
  
  
• Blog Post: Deployment of Workload Domains on VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0 on Dell EMC VxRail using Public API – this is a blog post from VMware explaining how you can deploy a workload domain on VCF on VxRail using the API with the CURL shell command.

I hope you’ve found this list useful. If that’s the case, don’t forget to bookmark this blog post for your reference. I’m going to update it over time to include the latest collateral.

Enjoy your Infrastructure as Code journey with VxRail API! 

Author: Karol Boguniewicz, Senior Principal Engineer, VxRail Technical Marketing 

Twitter: @cl0udguide  

HCI networking made easy (again!). Now even more powerful with multi-rack support.

The Challenge

Network infrastructure is a critical component of HCI. In contrast to legacy 3-tier architectures, which typically have a dedicated storage and storage network, HCI architecture is more integrated and simplified. Its design allows you to share the same network infrastructure used for workload-related traffic and inter-cluster communication with the software-defined storage. Reliability and the proper setup of this network infrastructure not only determines the accessibility of the running workloads (from the external network), it also determines the performance and availability of the storage, and as a result, the whole HCI system.

Unfortunately, in most cases, setting up this critical component properly is complex and error-prone. Why? Because of the disconnect between the responsible teams. Typically configuring a physical network requires expert network knowledge which is quite rare among HCI admins. The reverse is also true: network admins typically have a limited knowledge of HCI systems, because this is not their area of expertise and responsibility.

The situation gets even more challenging when you think about increasingly complex deployments, when you go beyond just a pair of ToR switches and beyond a single-rack system. This scenario is becoming more common, as HCI is becoming a mainstream architecture within the data center, thanks to its maturity, simplicity, and being recognized as a perfect infrastructure foundation for the digital transformation and VDI/End User Computing (EUC) initiatives. You need much more computing power and storage capacity to handle increased workload requirements.

At the same time, with the broader adoption of HCI, customers are looking for ways to connect their existing infrastructure to the same fabric, in order to simplify the migration process to the new architecture or to leverage dedicated external NAS systems, such as Isilon, to store files and application or user data.

A brief history of SmartFabric Services for VxRail

Here at Dell Technologies we recognize these challenges. That’s why we introduced SmartFabric Services (SFS) for VxRail. SFS for VxRail is built into Dell EMC Networking SmartFabric OS10 Enterprise Edition software that is built into the Dell EMC PowerSwitch networking switches portfolio. We announced the first version of SFS for VxRail at VMworld 2018. With this functionality, customers can quickly and easily deploy and automate data center fabrics for VxRail, while at the same time reduce risk of misconfiguration.

Since that time, Dell has expanded the capabilities of SFS for VxRail. The initial release of SFS for VxRail allowed VxRail to fully configure the switch fabric to support the VxRail cluster (as part of the VxRail 4.7.0 release back in Dec 2018). The following release included automated discovery of nodes added to a VxRail cluster (as part of VxRail 4.7.100 in Jan 2019).

The new solution

This week we are excited to introduce a major new release of SFS for VxRail as a part of Dell EMC SmartFabric OS 10.5.0.5 and VxRail 4.7.410.

So, what are the main enhancements?

• Automation at scale
   Customers can easily scale their VxRail deployments, starting with a single rack with two ToR leaf switches, and expand to multi-rack, multi-cluster VxRail deployments with up to 20 switches in a leaf-spine network architecture at a single site. SFS now automates over 99% (!) of the network configuration steps^* for leaf and spine fabrics across multiple racks, significantly simplifying complex multi-rack deployments.
• Improved usability
   An updated version of the OpenManage Network Integration (OMNI) plugin provides a single pane for “day 2” fabric management and operations through vCenter (the main management interface used by VxRail and vSphere admins), and a new embedded SFS UI simplifying “day 1” setup of the fabric.
• Greater expandability
   Customers can now connect non-VxRail devices, such as additional PowerEdge servers or NAS systems, to the same fabric. The onboarding can be performed as a “day 2” operation from the OMNI plugin. In this way, customers can reduce the cost of additional switching infrastructure when building more sophisticated solutions with VxRail.

Figure 1. Comparison of a multi-rack VxRail deployment, without and with SFS

Solution components

In order to take advantage of this solution, you need the following components:

• At a minimum a pair of supported Dell EMC PowerSwitch Data Center Switches. For an up-to-date list of supported hardware and software components, please consult the latest VxRail Support Matrix. At the time of writing this post, the following models are supported: S4100 (10GbE) and S5200 (25GbE) series for the leaf and Z9200 series or S5232 for the spine layer. To learn more about the Dell EMC PowerSwitch product portfolio, please visit the PowerSwitch website.
• Dell EMC Networking SmartFabric OS10 Enterprise Edition (version 10.5.0.5 or later). This operating system is available for the Dell EMC PowerSwitch Data Center Switches, and implements SFS functionality. To learn more, please visit the OS10 website.
• A VxRail cluster consisting of 10GbE or 25GbE nodes, with software version 4.7.410 or later.
• OpenManage Network Integration (OMNI) for VMware vCenter version 1.2.30 or later.

How does the multi-rack feature work?

The multi-rack feature is done through the use of the Hardware VTEP functionality in Dell EMC PowerSwitches and the automated creation of a VxLAN tunnel network across the switch fabric in multiple racks.

VxLAN (Virtual Extensible Local Area Network) is an overlay technology that allows you to extend a Layer 2 “overlay” network over a Layer 3 (L3) “underlay” network by adding a VxLAN header to the original Ethernet frame and encapsulating it. This encapsulation occurs by adding a VxLAN header to the original Layer 2 (L2) Ethernet frame, and placing it into an IP/UDP packet to be transported across the L3 underlay network.

By default, all VxRail networks are configured as L2. With the configuration of this VxLAN tunnel, the L2 network is “stretched” across multiple racks with VxRail nodes. This allows for the scalability of L3 networks with the VM mobility benefits of an L2 network. For example, the nodes in a VxRail cluster can reside on any rack within the SmartFabric network, and VMs can be migrated within the same VxRail cluster to any other node without manual network configuration.

Figure 2. Overview of the VLAN and VxLAN VxRail traffic with SFS for multi-rack VxRail

This new functionality is enabled by the new L3 Fabric personality, available as of OS 10.5.0.5, that automates configuration of a leaf-spine fabric in a single-rack or multi-rack fabric and supports both L2 and L3 upstream connectivity. What is this fabric personality? SFS personality is a setting that enables the functionality and supported configuration of the switch fabric.

To see how simple it is to configure the fabric and to deploy a VxRail multi-rack cluster with SFS, please see the following demo: Dell EMC Networking SFS Deployment with VxRail - L3 Uplinks.

Single pane for management and “day 2” operations

SFS not only automates the initial deployment (“day 1” fabric setup), but greatly simplifies the ongoing management and operations on the fabric. This is done in a familiar interface for VxRail / vSphere admins – vCenter, through the OMNI plugin, distributed as a virtual appliance.

It’s powerful! From this “VMware admin-friendly” interface you can:

• Add a SmartFabric instance to be managed (OMNI supports multiple fabrics to be managed from the same vCenter / OMNI plugin).
• Get visibility into the configured fabric – domain, fabric nodes, rack, switches, and so on.
• Visualize the fabric and the configured connections between the fabric elements with a “live” diagram that allows “drill-down” to get more specific information (Figure 3).
• Manage breakout ports and jump ports, as well as on-board additional servers or non-VxRail devices.
• Configure L2 or L3 fabric uplinks, allowing more flexibility and support of multiple fabric topologies.
• Create, edit, and delete VxLAN and VLAN-based networks, to customize the network setup for specific business needs.
• Create a host-centric network inventory that provides a clear mapping between configured virtual and physical components (interfaces, switches, networks, and VMs). For instance, you can inspect virtual and physical network configuration from the same host monitoring view in vCenter (Figure 4). This is extremely useful for troubleshooting potential network connectivity issues.
• Upgrade SmartFabric OS on the physical switches in the fabric and replace a switch that simplifies the lifecycle management of the fabric.

Figure 3. Sample view from the OMNI vCenter plugin showing a fabric topology

To see how simple it is to deploy the OMNI plugin and to get familiar with some of the options available from its interface, please see the following demo: Dell EMC OpenManage Network Integration for VMware vCenter.

OMNI also monitors the VMware virtual networks for changes (such as to portgroups in vSS and vDS VMware virtual switches) and as necessary, reconfigures the underlying physical fabric.

Figure 4. OMNI – monitor virtual and physical network configuration from a single view

Thanks to OMNI, managing the physical network for VxRail becomes much simpler, less error-prone, and can be done by the VxRail admin directly from a familiar management interface, without having to log into the console of the physical switches that are part of the fabric.

Supported topologies

This new SFS release is very flexible and supports multiple fabric topologies. Due to the limited size of this post, I will only list them by name:

• Single-Rack – just a pair of leaf switches in a single rack, supports both L2 and L3 upstream connectivity / uplinks – the equivalent of the previous SFS functionality
• (New) Single-Rack to Multi-Rack – starts with a pair of switches, expands to multi-rack by adding spine switches and additional racks with leaf switches
• (New) Multi-Rack with Leaf Border – adds upstream connectivity via the pair of leaf switches; this supports both L2 or L3 uplinks
• (New) Multi-Rack with Spine Border - adds upstream connectivity via the pair of leaf spine; this supports L3 uplinks
• (New) Multi-Rack with Dedicated Leaf Border - adds upstream connectivity via the dedicated pair of border switches above the spine layer; this supports L3 uplinks

For detailed information on these topologies, please consult Dell EMC VxRail with SmartFabric Network Services Planning and Preparation Guide.

Note, that SFS for VxRail does not currently support NSX-T and VCF on VxRail.

Final thoughts

This latest version of SmartFabric Services for VxRail takes HCI network automation to the next level and solves now much bigger network complexity problem in a multi-rack environment, compared to much simpler, single-rack, dual switch configuration. With SFS, customers can:

• Reduce the CAPEX and OPEX related to HCI network infrastructure, thanks to automation (reducing over 99% of required configuration steps^* when setting up a multi-rack fabric), and a reduced infrastructure footprint
• Accelerate the deployment of essential IT infrastructure for their business initiatives
• Reduce the risk related to the error-prone configuration of complex multi-rack, multi-cluster HCI deployments
• Increase the availability and performance of hosted applications
• Use a familiar management console (vSphere Client / vCenter) to drive additional automation of day 2 operations
• Rapidly perform any necessary changes to the physical network, in an automated way, without requiring highly-skilled network personnel

Additional resources:

VxRail Support Matrix

Dell EMC VxRail with SmartFabric Network Services Planning and Preparation Guide

Dell EMC Networking SmartFabric Services Deployment with VxRail

SmartFabric Services for OpenManage Network Integration User Guide Release 1.2

Demo: Dell EMC OpenManage Network Integration for VMware vCenter

Demo: Expand SmartFabric and VxRail to Multi-Rack

Demo: Dell EMC Networking SFS Deployment with VxRail - L2 Uplinks

Demo: Dell EMC Networking SFS Deployment with VxRail - L3 Uplinks

Author: Karol Boguniewicz, Senior Principal Engineer, VxRail Technical Marketing

Twitter: @cl0udguide 

*Disclaimer: Based on internal analysis comparing SmartFabric to manual network configuration, Oct 2019.  Actual results will vary.