What are the Dell SmartFabric™ Products?
Mon, 26 Jun 2023 14:09:10 -0000
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This blog aims to clarify the range of Dell Technologies’ SmartFabric branded products available today. We are always innovating here at Dell, so look out for more to come!
Here are four solutions that use the SmartFabric brand:
The following table provides links to further documentation, products that are interoperable with the solution, and how an administrator can access the product.
| Product | What does it do? | Related products | User Interface |
1 | SmartFabric OS10 | Operates Dell PowerSwitch switches as the network operating system. OS10 can run in “Full switch mode” or “SmartFabric mode.” | Dell PowerSwitch switches listed in the SmartFabric OS10 Hardware Compatibility List. |
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2 | SmartFabric Services (SFS) for Leaf and Spine | Automates configuration of Dell PowerSwitch switches that run SmartFabric OS10 in SmartFabric mode. Applies to SFS on Spine/Leaf and Top of Rack (ToR) switches. | Dell PowerSwitch switches Visit the Networking Support & Interoperability Matrix, and then select this icon: |
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3 | SmartFabric Services (SFS) for PowerEdge MX | Automates configuration of SmartFabric OS10 operating system on the Ethernet switches (IOMs) in the PowerEdge MX Platform. | Dell PowerEdge MX |
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4 | SmartFabric Storage Software (SFSS) | Provides zoning and autodiscovery of hosts and storage in NVMe over TCP SANs. | Server and Storage Operating Systems Visit the Networking Support & Interoperability Matrix, and then select this icon: |
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OpenManage Network Integration (OMNI)
OMNI is a vCenter plug-in that brings the user interface of the SmartFabric product into your vCenter UI, making vCenter a single pane of glass.
Here is an example of the OMNI vCenter plug-in facilitating access to a SmartFabric Services instance, and two SmartFabric Storage Software instances:
If you are interested in exploring any of the SmartFabric products further, browse the links above or reach out to Dell Technologies sales team.
Related Blog Posts
Introduction to Ansible Network Collection for Dell SmartFabric Services
Wed, 19 Oct 2022 18:54:48 -0000
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SFS Ansible collection
With Dell OS10.5.4.0, the OS10 Ansible automation journey continues. Ansible helps DevOps and NetOps reduce time and effort when designing, managing, and monitoring OS10 networks in enterprise IT environments. Updates to Ansible collections provide new automation benefits for increased operational efficiencies. This blog provides a quick introduction to the Ansible network collection for Dell SmartFabric Services (SFS).
The Ansible network collection for SFS allows you to provision and manage OS10 network switches in SmartFabric Services mode. The collection includes core modules and plugins and supports network_cli and httpapi connections. Supported versions include Ansible 2.10 or later. Sample playbooks and documentation are also included to show how you can use the collection.
With this introduction, there are now additional SFS automation choices. The following table lists some examples of the included modules:
Module Name | Module Description |
---|---|
sfs_setup | Manage configuration of L3 Fabric setup |
sfs_backup_restore | Manage backup restore configuration |
sfs_virtual_network | Manage virtual network configuration |
sfs_preferred_master | Manage preferred master configuration |
sfs_nodes | Manage nodes configuration |
More SFS automation choices
The SmartFabric OS10 SFS feature provides network fabric automation. The SFS leaf and spine personality is integrated with systems including VxRail and PowerStore. SFS delivers autonomous fabric deployment, expansion, and life cycle management. SFS automatically configures leaf and spine fabrics. SFS for leaf and spine is supported on S-series and Z-series Dell PowerSwitches. See the Support matrix for a complete list of supported platforms. For more details see Dell SmartFabric Services User Guide, Release 10.5.4.
You can access the collection by searching for dellemc.sfs on the Ansible Galaxy website. For more information, see the Dell OS10 SmartFabric Services Ansible collection.
Resources
Build your own NVMe/TCP Sandbox
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 13:29:07 -0000
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Whether your summer is at an end in the North, or just getting started in the South, there is always time to play in a sandbox - an NVMe/TCP SANdbox that is…
Here are three ways to try NVMe/TCP:
- Hardware: Build a physical lab.
- No hardware: Contrary to the idiom, you can “build sandcastles in the sky” using the SANdbox Github repo for AWS cloud platform!
- Hardware, but no setup: Contact Dell or a Dell Partner for access to our Hands on Lab which is running ESXi 8.x and PowerStore 3.x with SFSS.
- No setup at all: You can experience the deployment process by using the Dell Technologies Interactive Demo.
Build a physical lab
You can leave the bucket and spade behind; here’s what you’ll need:
- A server running Linux or ESXi. Choose a version listed in the NVMe/TCP Host/Storage Interoperability Matrix
- A switch or two; the list of interoperable switches includes, but is not limited to, the NVMe/TCP Switch Interoperability Matrix. Note the KB article for non-validated switches.
- A storage array from the NVMe/TCP Host/Storage Interoperability Matrix.
- SmartFabric Storage Software (Optional, good for large solutions).
- See The NVMe/TCP Dating App blog.
- This software is free to try.
- See the SFSS Interoperability Matrix for compatible OSs.
Your lab setup will depend on what you want to learn from it. Below are four common reasons for building a sandbox. You can deploy according to best practices or minimise configuration depending on your use case and components of most interest to you.
Attribute | How to deploy using best practices | How to configure and verify connectivity | Performance | Behaviour during failure scenarios |
Bandwidth | Minimum of 25Gbps end to end | 10Gbps will suffice. | Minimum of 25Gbps. | 10Gbps will suffice. |
Physical architecture | Resiliency or redundancy across the solution. SFSS shouldn’t be installed on a host it controls. | One of each device will suffice. | One of each device will suffice. | Two of each component is needed. |
Number of switches | Two |
| Two, if switch performance is part of the test. Otherwise, one will suffice. | Two, because switch failure/reboot should be tested. |
Port Usage 1 | Dedicated ports for SAN traffic. Two on the host, two on PowerMax, or four on PowerStore. | A single SAN would achieve this purpose, i.e. one VLAN. | Ensure SAN traffic is not contending with LAN traffic. | Emulate your production design. |
Number of SmartFabric Storage Software VMs (Optional) | Two, with a Centralized Discovery Controller (CDC) each. It’s free to download and will have full functionality for 90 days. | Two, with a CDC instance in each, is recommended. It’s free to download and will have full functionality for 90 days. If there are limited resources, one will suffice. | One, with two CDC instances, will suffice since SFSS is not in the data plane. | Try using two, with a CDC in each. It’s free to download and will have full functionality for 90 days. |
1. On ESXi, configuring teaming on uplinks won’t enable failover of paths from one vmhba to the other.
The high-level steps are:
- Configure the switch(es) with two IP SAN VLANs. Set flow control to transmit off/receive off. IPv6 solutions should disable MLD snooping.
- Configure the virtual network interfaces on the host and storage array.
- Connect the host to the subsystem.
- To use a centralized discovery controller, install SFSS using the Deployment Guide.
- Or, for direct discovery, connect to the storage subsystems directly from the host using the instructions in the Host Connectivity Guides.
- Provision storage and deploy guest VMs (if not bare metal Linux).
- Complete your selected tests, take the rest of the day off, and head to the beach!
For the configuration steps to deploy NVMe/TCP lab with SFSS, see the SmartFabric Storage Software Deployment Guide.
For the steps to deploy NVMe/TCP on ESXi and Linux without SFSS, see the Host Connectivity Guides.
For the steps to deploy NVMe/TCP on PowerStore without SFSS, using direct discovery only, see the PowerStore Host Configuration Guide.
For a white paper on NVMe/TCP, see the NVMe, NVMe/TCP, and Dell SmartFabric Storage Software Overview - IP SAN Solution Primer.
Build a virtual lab in AWS
This solution will help you become comfortable with SAN automation without the need for hardware. Primarily focused on SmartFabric Storage Software, SANdbox is a GitHub repo that provides access to the resources you will need when automating your NVMe IP-Based SAN.
It includes:
- Links to relevant documentation
- Centralized Discovery Controller (CDC) downloads
- Sample scripts that automate configuration steps
- Instructions for creating a virtual lab in AWS
Set up a free AWS account if you don’t already have one. Then follow the instructions on the BrassTacks blog, which provides details on how to configure this lab option:
- Let’s play in an AWS based NVMe/TCP SANdbox!
- Let’s play in an AWS based SANdbox – Part 2 Setting up your AWS VPC and networks
Hands on Labs
The following hands on labs are available in Dell’s Demo Center:
Interactive Demos
Experience the configuration steps by going to the Dell Demo Center’s SmartFabric Storage Software Interactive Demo. You can do all of the modules or select the ones that are most interesting to you.
- SFSS for NVMe/TCP (with ESXi 8.0 and PowerStoreOS 3.x)
- SFSS for NVMe/TCP (with ESXi 7.0 and PowerStoreOS 2.1.x)
We hope that this is a helpful step in your journey towards an NVMe/TCP solution.
Resources
NVMe/TCP
- NVMe IP SAN Solution Brief
- NVMe IP SAN on dell.com
- PowerStore and PowerStore Networking Documentation
- Host connectivity guides
SmartFabric Storage Software
- SmartFabric Storage Software on InfoHub
Deployment Guide, White Paper, Videos, Support & Interoperability Matrix - SmartFabric Storage Software on Dell Support
User Guide, Troubleshooting Guide, API Guide, Release Notes, Security Configuration Guide - Interactive Demo
- SFSS on Dell Technologies
Solution Brief, Top 5 Reasons, Spec Sheet