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Implementing Cisco HyperFlex Solutions, 1st edition

Published by Cisco Press (July 2, 2020) © 2020

  • Jalpa Patel
  • Manuel Velasco
  • Avinash Shukla
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Cisco’s HyperFlex HCI solutions enable exceptional datacenter efficiency, agility, and resiliency by tightly integrating core infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, and system management), increasing automation, and simplifying lifecycle management. In this authoritative and comprehensive guide, Cisco experts bring together all the knowledge, detailed configuration options, and real-world case studies students need to successfully deploy Cisco HyperFlex technologies. 
This guide’s key features include:
  • Concise, easy-to-understand overviews of underlying concepts and how each HyperFlex technology applies them
  • Detailed reference examples for implementing each key feature, with topologies, configurations, and verifications
  • Thorough Intersight coverage to illuminate operations in cloud-based environments
  • Do’s and don’ts for successful, high-efficiency HyperFlex design
  • Best practice recommendations, guidelines, and caveats for avoiding pitfalls, streamlining deployment, and maximizing value
Preface     xix

Introduction     1

Introduction to HCI     3

Cisco's HCI Solution: HyperFlex Overview     4

Deployment Options of Cisco HyperFlex     6

Cisco HyperFlex Advantages     7

Chapter 1  Overview of Data Center Products     15

Cisco Unified Computing System     15

    UCS-B Series Products     16

    Cisco UCS Manager (UCSM)     20

    UCS-C Series Products     22

    UCS-S Series Products     23

Cisco Intersight Cloud-Based Management (SaaS Solution)     23

HyperFlex Data Platform     24

    HyperFlex Hybrid Nodes     25

    HyperFlex All Flash Nodes     26

    HyperFlex Edge for Remote and Branch Offices     27

    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System Management Components     28

Cisco MDS 9000 Multilayer Director SAN Switches     29

    Cisco MDS 9700 Series Multilayer Director     30

    Cisco MDS 9500 Series Multilayer Director     31

Network Switches     31

    Nexus 5000 Series Products     31

    Nexus 9000 Series Products     33

Hypervisors     36

    VMWare vSphere Hypervisor     37

    Microsoft Hyper-V     38

Summary     39

Chapter 2  HyperFlex Architecture     41

HyperFlex Architecture Components     42

    Storage Controller Virtual Machine     42

    HX Services     43

    IO Visor     44

    Log Structure File System     44

    Data Optimization     45

    HyperFlex Cleaner     45

    Cluster Resource Manager (CRM)     46

    Zookeeper     46

HyperFlex HX-Series Node Overview     47

    HX220 M5/M4 Series     47

    HX240 M5/M4 Series     49

    HXAF220c-M5N All-NVMe     51

    All Flash, Hybrid, and All-NVMe     51

    Cisco HyperFlex Compute-Only Nodes     52

Physical Installation     52

    Supported Media     54

Physical Topology     58

    HyperFlex Standard Cluster/HyperFlex Extended Cluster Topology     58

    HyperFlex Stretch Cluster Topology     63

    HyperFlex Edge Cluster Topology     64

Summary     73

Chapter 3  Installing HyperFlex     75

Installation Prerequisites     76

    Cisco HyperFlex HX-Series System Components     77

    Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects (FIs)     78

    Cisco Nexus Switches     78

    HyperFlex Software Versions     78

    Host Requirements     79

    Disk Requirements     79

    Browser Recommendations     81

    Port Requirements     81

    HyperFlex External Connections     87

    UCS/Fabric Interconnect Network Provisioning     88

    Configuration for HyperFlex 3.5     88

    Network Settings     91

    VLAN and vSwitch Requirements     91

    Cisco UCS Requirements     92

    Hypervisor Requirements     93

    Storage Cluster Requirements     94

    vCenter Configuration Requirements     95

    System Services Requirements     96

    CPU Resource Reservation for Controller VMs     96

    Memory Resource Reservation for Controller Virtual Machines     97

    Controller VM Locations     97

    Auto-Support Requirements     100

    Single Sign-On Requirements     101

Installing Cisco HyperFlex System Servers     101

    Physical Connectivity Illustrations for Direct Connect Mode Cluster Setup     101

    Installation Workflow     103

    Deploy the HX Data Platform Installer OVA by Using the vSphere Web Client     104

    Configuring and Deploying a Standard HyperFlex Cluster     107

Installing HyperFlex Edge/Robo Cluster (ESXi, 3 Node)     120

    HyperFlex Edge Deployment Options     121

    Installation Overview     121

    Configuring and Deploying a HyperFlex Edge Cluster (Gigabit Ethernet Only)     123

    Configuring and Deploying a HyperFlex Edge Cluster (10 Gigabit Ethernet Only)     128

    HyperFlex Edge Postinstallation Tasks     129

Installing a HyperFlex Stretch Cluster (ESXi)     130

    Preinstallation Checklist     130

    Deploying the Witness Node     134

    HyperFlex Stretch Cluster Network IP Addressing     136

    HyperFlex Stretch Cluster Guidelines     138

    HyperFlex Stretch Cluster Limitations     138

    HyperFlex Stretch Cluster Installation     139

    HyperFlex Stretch Cluster Postinstallation     150

Summary     150

Chapter 4  Managing HyperFlex     151

Logging in to HyperFlex Connect     151

    Local Access     151

    Role-Based Access Control     152

    Dashboard Page     154

    Settings Page     155

    Alarms Page     160

    Events Page     162

    Activity Page     163

    Performance Page     164

    System Information Page     165

    Datastores Page     169

    Virtual Machines Page     171

    Upgrade Page     172

    Web CLI Page     174

Replication     175

    Replication Pairing     176

Encryption     177

Summary     181

Chapter 5  Maintaining HyperFlex     183

HyperFlex Licensing     184

    Registering a Cluster with Smart Licensing     184

    Registering a Cluster with Smart Software Licensing Through a Controller VM     188

Virtual Machine Management     189

    HX Data Platform Native Snapshots Overview     190

    ReadyClones     199

    Datastores     205

Scaling HyperFlex Clusters     207

    Node Expansion     207

    Expanding a Stretch Cluster     213

    Removing Nodes     217

    Increasing Storage Capacity by Adding Drives     225

Hardware (Disk) Replacement     225

    Replacing SSDs     225

    Replacing or Adding HDDs     229

Upgrading HyperFlex Software     230

    Upgrading HyperFlex     230

    Pre-Upgrade Workflow     231

    Downloading UCS Infra, B-Series, C-Series, and Storfs Bundles     232

    Verifying the Pre-Upgrade UCS Server Firmware (C-Bundle) Version     234

    Pre-Upgrade Validation     235

        Hypercheck Utility     242

    Upgrading UCS Infrastructure Firmware     248

    Upgrade Procedure     252

    Post-Upgrade Check     261

Summary     261

Chapter 6  Advanced Features     263

Data Protection     263

Replication Overview     265

    Port Requirements for Replication     265

    Replication Considerations     266

    Recovery Considerations     267

Replication Networking Overview     267

    Replication Network Considerations     269

    M*N Connectivity Between Clusters     269

    Configuring a Replication Network in HX Connect     270

Replication Pair Overview     273

    Procedure for Creating Replication Pair     274

    Protecting Virtual Machines     276

    Creating Protection Groups     277

    Protecting Virtual Machines     279

Disaster Recovery Overview     281

    Compatibility Matrix for Disaster Recovery Operations     281

    Testing Virtual Machine Recovery     282

    Recovering Virtual Machines     284

    Plan Migration     285

HyperFlex Backup     286

    Veeam Availability Suite     286

    Changed Block Tracking     288

Cohesity     289

    Cohesity Protection     289

    Cohesity Recovery     290

Commvault     290

Summary     291

Chapter 7  Deploying HyperFlex Anywhere with Cisco Intersight     293

Cloud-Based Management     293

    HyperFlex Cluster Policies in Intersight     296

Cisco HyperFlex Edge Cluster Deployment     297

    Intersight Arbitrator Overview for 2-Node     298

    Physical Topology     299

    Cisco HyperFlex Edge Single-Switch Configuration     299

    Cisco HyperFlex Edge Dual-Switch Configuration     300

    Logical Topology     301

    Installing Cisco HyperFlex Edge with the Cisco Intersight Platform     304

Standard UCSM Managed HyperFlex Cluster Deployment     321

Summary     322

Index     323

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