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Enablingyoutomakethebesttechnologydecisions
2013EvaluatorGroup,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP) p.1
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LeahSchoeb
Table of Contents
ExecutiveSummary ....................................................................................................... 2
EnterpriseSystemManagementChallengeswithVirtualInfrastructures....................... 3
HitachiUnifiedComputePlatformOverview ................................................................. 4
Orchestration............................................................................................................................ 4
Hardware .................................................................................................................................. 5
SoftwareHitachiUnifiedComputePlatformDirectorandConsole....................................... 7
ValidationOverview&Objectives ............................................................................... 11
EvaluationFindings...................................................................................................... 11
MonitoringwithHitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)Director .............................................. 11
ProvisioningphysicalserversandESXiservers ............................................................................... 12
ImageManagementandDeployment ............................................................................................ 13
StorageProvisioning ....................................................................................................................... 14
ConfiguringVLANs........................................................................................................................... 15
EvaluationSummary.................................................................................................... 16
References................................................................................................................... 18
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HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP) p.2
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Executive Summary
ServervirtualizationhasbecomeacommonpartoftodaysITdatacenters.Oneofthemajorbenefitsof
servervirtualizationistheabilitytoconsolidatehundredstothousandsofvirtualizedserversinafew
physicalserversintoasinglevirtualinfrastructure.ThisconsolidationcansignificantlyreduceITrelated
CAPEXandOPEX.Therapiddeploymentofvirtualizedinfrastructureshasbeenmaturingandgrowingin
sizewhichhasmadeinfrastructuremanagementmorecomplex.HitachiDataSystemsrecently
introducedaconvergedsolutiontonotonlysimplifythedeploymentofavirtualinfrastructurebutalso
simplifythemanagementofthatinfrastructure.
ConvergedinfrastructuresolutionscanreduceOPEXbyminimizinganadministratorstimewith
provisioningresources,managing,monitoringandtroubleshootingthedatacenterinfrastructurewith
centralizedmanagement.Inturn,thiswillminimizesystemdowntimethereforereducingtheimpacton
SLAs.Thesetypesofconvergedsolutionsaregoodforrapiddeploymentofprivatecloudenvironments
withthenecessarysecuritybuiltin.
HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)ProforVMwarevSphereisthenextgenerationin
infrastructuremanagementandispartoftheHitachisolutionforbuildingandmanagingvirtual
infrastructuresasaconsolidatedbusinessresourcepool.UCPProforVMwarevSpherearchitectureis
designedtoenablerapiddeploymentandsimplifiedmanagementofenterpriseclassvirtual
infrastructures.UCPProforVMwarevSpherefullyintegratesandsupportsbothphysicalandvirtual
componentsoftheinfrastructureandsupportssimpleautomationandorchestrationthroughitsHitachi
UnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)Directorsoftware,whichisintegrateddirectlyintoVMwarevCenter.
Minimalphysicalinstallationisrequiredsinceallcomponents(servers,networkingandstorage)are
alreadycabledandintegratedtogetheratthefactorytocreateareadymadedatacenter.TheseHitachi
brandedcomponentsincludeIntelXeonprocessorbasedHitachiCB500bladechassisandachoiceof
HitachiVirtualStoragePlatform(VSP),HitachiUnifiedStorageVM(HUSVM),orHitachiUnifiedStorage
150(HUS150).IntelhasrearchitectedtheXeonfamilytoaddthespecificcapabilitiesneededfor
todaysITstorageproblems,enablingtheenergyefficientperformance,dataprotectionandscalability
toaddresstheexplosionofdata,improvedatacenterefficiencyandprepareforemergentusagemodels
atthesamepowerenvelopeinanintelligententerprise.VMwarevSphere5.1andtheintegratedUCP
Directormanagementsoftwareisalsopreinstalled,reducinginstallationandconfigurationtimeand
cost,whichcaninturnminimizeongoingmaintenancecosts.UsingUCPDirectorstandardtemplatesto
deployESXihosts,theuseralwaysstartsfromtheexactsameknownstate.Thisallowsforfaster
deploymenttimeandlowercostofoperations.
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ArchitectedproductslikeUCPProforVMwarevSpherefulfillarequirementforthosewhoneedto
rapidlydeployandmanageanenterprisevirtualinfrastructureand/orprivatecloud.Thisconverged
solutionfromHDSisbuilttoorder,pretestedandpreconfiguredtocustomerrequirementsbeforeit
reachesitsdestinationinthedatacenter.TheunifiedmanagementandtheuseofRESTfulpublicAPI
and/orCLIintegratedintoVMwarevCentergivestheadministratortheabilitytovisualizethecomplete
virtualandphysicalinfrastructurefromVMwarevCenter.Inaddition,unifiedorchestration,monitoring
andtroubleshootingofferstheabilitytoprovision,configure,andcorrelatephysicalandvirtualalertsfor
fastertroubleshooting.
VMwarevSphereisthefirstofseveralhypervisorsandnativetier1applications(likeMicrosoftHyperV,
OracleDatabase,MicrosoftExchange,etc)UCPProforVMwarevSpherewillsupport.
EvaluatorGroupassessedtheUCPProforVMwarevSpherehardwarearchitectureandsoftware
systemsmanagementinDecember2012.WereviewedtheUCPDirectorsoftwareintegratedwithin
VMwarevCenterandvalidateditsfunctionality.
ImagemanagementManagingupdates,changingdefaultimagesandmaintainingactive
imagesforeachhost(ESXiServer)canbetimeconsumingandattimesdifficulttomanagein
largerenvironments.Keepingtrackofnewupdatesandpatches,alongwithcreatingnewimages
andmodifyingautodeployrulescanbecometedious.
MonitoringItcanbedifficulttomonitoravirtualizedinfrastructurewhenthereisnosingle
interfacetomonitorboththephysicalandvirtualcomponents.Alertsofpendinghardware
failurescanbemissedorgoundetected.Withouttheholisticpictureinasinglemanagement
systemthiscouldcauselongertroubleshootingtimes.
Provisioning
o Host(ConfiguringahostanddeployinganESXiimage)Performingthisprocessmanually
raisesthepossibilityofmakingerrorsalongtheway.Findingtherightimagesanddrivers
onlinecanbetimeconsuming.
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o Storage(CreatingandattachingvolumesorLUNs)Inmanycases,thewayorganizations
arestructuredcanaffectthetimeneededtocreateandattachstoragevolumesandLUNs.
Thesetaskscansometimesaddweekstotheprocess.Atypicalscenariocanlooklikethe
following:
Oncetheadministratorputsinarequestforstoragetothestorageadministrator,
he/shehastoidentifyspaceandlocationtocreatethevolumeorLUNandaddit
totheinfrastructure.
WhenthevolumeorLUNhasbeenadded,theSANadministratorneedsto
identifytheWWNsforthehostandarrayportsandcreatethezonesinthe
appropriatefabric.
AtthispointtheVIadministratorcanmountthenewstoragevolume,thencreate
andformatpartitions,andcreatetheneededdatastores.
o Network(ConfiguringaVLAN)Performingthisprocessmanuallycanbeerrorprone,
timeconsumingandcomplextoo.IdentifyingallofthehostsinaclustertocollectVLAN
information,determiningportconnectionsfromeachhost,andconfiguringallswitch
portsconnectedtotheclustermanuallyincreasesadministrativetimerequirements.
AprimaryvalueoftheHitachiUCPProforVMwarevSphereistheeliminationofthetimespentonthese
commontasks.Thehardwareandsoftwarearepreinstalledandpreconfiguredbyproductexpertsand
developers.Thisoffersahighdegreeofintegration.
ConsolidatedmanagementTheabilitytoconsolidatemanagementfrommultiplesitesmakesit
easiertoperformupdatesfromacorporatelevelandallowsforasingleteamtomanageSLAsvia
centralizedtemplates.
CostCentralizingwithinasingleconsolecansavetimeandmoneyinsimplifiedmanagement,
lowertheriskofhumanerrorwithautomatedtasks,andprovidetheabilitytocoordinate
workflow.
FlexibilityandAgilityRapiddeploymentallowstheadministratortorespondquicklyto
requestsandeffectivelymeetSLAs.Thisconsolidatedapproachmakesactivitieslikechargeback
andreportingeasierandlesstimeconsuming.
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ApplicationAlignedInfrastructureBusinessstrategyandprocessescanbealignedwith
chargebackandSLAs.ApplicationscanbescaledtotherequiredsizetomeetSLAsandoptimize
theuseofresources.
Figure1UCPOrchestration
(HCSM=HitachiComputeSystemManager,HDvM=HitachiDeviceManager,VSP=VirtualStorage
Platform,HUSVM=HitachiUnifiedStorageVM,HUS=HitachiUnifiedStorage)
Hardware
Thehardwareconfiguration(Storage,Server,EthernetandFibreChannelNetworks,andmanagement
console)comespreconfiguredandbuilttoorder.Figure2showsthebaseconfigurationwhichcanbe
expandedtoanadditionalcomputerackwithuptofourmorecomputeblocks(upto32servers),
additionalsupportingpower,and2additional8GBFCswitches.Inadditionthestoragecanbe
expandedwithanadditionalstoragerackofHitachiVirtualStoragePlatform(VSP)FCstorageorany
supported3rdpartystorage(seereferences).
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Computeblockseachcomputeblockiscomprisedofa6UCB500chassiswithupto8internal
bladeserversbasedonthelatestgenerationIntelXeonprocessorsbuilttoespeciallysupport
virtualizedenvironments.Hitachihasdesignedthesebladeserverstotakeadvantageofthe
IntelXeonarchitectureforperformanceandcapacityinahighlydenseformfactor.Key
IntelligentstoragebenefitsenabledbyIntelincludedatadeduplication,datacompression,
intelligenttieringandthinprovisioning.Additionalcomputeblockscanbeaddedasneededfor
growth.
NetworkBrocadeEthernetandSANswitchesarepreinstalledandconfiguredtoassistinrapid
deploymentofVLANsandSANprovisioning
Storage
o HitachiVirtualStoragePlatform(VSP)ispreinstalledandoffersstoragevirtualization,
provisioning,andautomatictieringforconvenience.VSPsupportsvirtualizingthirdparty
storagearrays(seereferences)behindtheVSP.
o HitachiUnifiedStorage150(HUS150)consolidatesfile,blockandobjectstorageneeds.
o HitachiUnifiedStorageVM(HUSVM)consolidatesfile,blockandobjectstorageneeds
especiallyforvirtualizedinfrastructures.
Hitachistoragesolutions,utilizingIntelsXeonprocessorscanhelprelievebottlenecks,allowingdata
toflowmorefreely.Virtualizedapplicationscanbefullyutilized,thegrowingvolumeofdatacanbe
quicklycapturedandusersdemandforcontentandrealtimedataaccesscanbeeasilyandquickly
supported.
ManagementThereareredundantmanagementservers(CR210H)thathostVMwarevCenter,
HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)Director,andallotherinfrastructuremanagementtools.
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Figure2HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)Hardware
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UCPDirectorintegratesfourmainfunctionsintoVMwarevCenter:
Inventoryofhardware
Monitorhardwarerelatedevents
Manageimagestoindividualserversandservertypes
AutomateEthernetandFibreChannelconfiguration
Figure3ThickClientUCPDirectorConsole
InUCPProforVMwarevSpherev2.1,HitachidevelopedarichwebbasedclientversionoftheirUCP
Directorsoftware.TheUCPDirectorwebclientofferscrossplatformsupportandcanberunusingany
standardwebbrowser.Additionalfeaturessuchasinventorylists,relatedobjectsandportletsoffera
morecomprehensiveviewofthedatacentertothevCenteradministrator.Likethethickorserver
basedversion(figure3),thewebclientversionofUCPDirectoristightlyintegratedwithinVMware
vCenteranditsgraphicaluserinterface.DevelopingawebclientversionofUCPDirectorisinkeeping
withVMwaresstrategyofdevelopingwebbasedclientversionsofalltheirmajorapplicationsand
managementtools.ThewebclientversionofUCPDirectoroffersallthefeaturesandfunctionalityof
thethickserverbasedversionofthesoftwareandevenextendsfunctionalityintostandardpartsof
VMwarevCenter.
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Figure4v2.1ThinClientUCPDirectorIntegratedinVMwarevCenter
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Figure5vSphereWebClientViewUCPphysicalinfrastructureinventory
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ProvisionphysicalserversandESXiservers
ImageManagementandDeployment
StorageProvisioning
ConfiguringVLANs
EaseofuseandfeelofinventorywithUCPProforVMwarevSphere
Evaluation Findings
Monitoring with Hitachi Unified Compute Platform (UCP) Director
UCPProforVMwarevSphereshowsacompletehardwareinventory(computechassis,servers,storage,
EthernetandFCswitches).Scansareperformedregularlytokeephardwaredetailsuptodate.The
followingtablesnotonlyshowedinventoryinformationbutalsostatusandhealth(greenorred)ofthe
hardware.ThishardwareinformationcoupledwiththevCenterinformationaboutthevirtual
infrastructuregivestheadministratoranendtoendviewtohelpwithmonitoringforSLAsand
troubleshootingforissues.
ComputeChassistableTherewasgooddetailofthecomputechassis,includingdetailsofeach
bladesconfiguration.Therearetwowaystoviewthephysicalserverinventory.
StoragetableDetailsoftheHitachiVirtualStoragePlatform(VSP)storagearraywaseasyto
findonthestoragepage.ThetoplevelstoragepageshowstabsforwhichPools,Volumesand
Portsareavailableandthepageshowshardwaredetails,suchasserialnumber,microcode
version,capacityandID.Detailsaboutavailable,reservedallocatedorunallocatedcapacitywas
alsoinformationeasilyfound.
FibreChannelSwitchestableThistableshowedtheportID,state(online,nolight,nosync),
status,WWNconnection,andthedevicetheportisconnectedto.Wedrilleddowntothe
CredentialsandIPaddresstabandwereabletogettheusername,passworddetectionand
managementIPaddress.
EthernetswitchestableNetworkingmappingcanbeviewedthroughserverdetails.VLANIDs,
portsandEthernetdevicesconnectedtoaredisplayed.Thistabledisplayedswitchname,status
(active,unreachable,unsupported,initializing),serialnumber,type,makeandmodel,firmware
version,managementIPaddressandID.
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Figure5PhysicalServerDetails
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Figure6ImageManagement
Storage Provisioning
HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)DirectoristightlyintegratedwithHitachiVirtualStorage
Platform(VSP)StorageArraybywayoftheHitachiDataManager(HDM)andisabletousetheHitachi
VSPfeatureslikeHitachiDynamicProvisioning(HDP),HitachiDynamicTiering(HDT)andHitachi
UniversalVolumeManager(UVM).TheHitachiDeviceManager(HDM)isusedfirsttocreatethe
storagepools.Thesestoragepoolscreatedfromphysicalparitygroupscanbestripedwideandenable
thinprovisioningtominimizeoverprovisioning.Inaddition,ifatieredstorageapproachisneededto
prioritizeperformancecharacteristics,HDTcanhaveSSD,SASandSATAdrivesinthesamestoragepool.
ThenUCPDirectorusestheHitachiDeviceManager(HDvM)asastorageelementtoprovisionstorage
volumes.WeobservedavolumebeingcreatedontheHitachiVSPthroughthisintegratedstorage
managementandthenbepresentedinvCenterinventoryasavailablespaceforthecluster.This
demonstratedastorageprovisioningworkflow.
OncestoragepoolswerecreatedtheywereviewedviathePoolsTableshowninfigure7below.The
poolstableshowedinformationlikethestatus,thetotalphysicalcapacity,thetypeofpool(HDPorHDT),
physicalutilizationandID.Wedrilleddownfurtherintothepooldetailsandobserveddrivetype,the
availablecapacity(GB)andpercentallocated.InadditiontheVolumetabshowedusthevolumesand
eachvolumesdetailintheselectedpool.WenotonlyobservedtheLDEV,nameandtheassociated
poolID,butalsothemappinginformationshowingthephysicalserver(s)thatthevolumeisattachedto
anditsutilizationinformation.Foradditionalmappinginformationwelookedattheportstable.The
porttableshowedthenameofthearrayport,theWWN,thespeed,thetype(Fibre,iSCSI,orFCoE),and
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theattributes(target,initiator,orexternal).Toconfigureahost(ESXiserver)orclusterstorageweused
theserverstabletocreate,addanddeleteahostvolume.
Storage Provisioning
Figure7CreateNewVolumes
Configuring VLANs
HitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)DirectoractsasaninterfacetotheEthernetswitchinside
vCenterandisabletoreporthardwareeventsandautomateVLANconfigurationsforanyEthernet
switch.WeobservedthatthetwoEthernetswitchesusedinthevalidationwerealreadyaddedtoUCP
Directorinventoryandwereavailabletobeconfigured.WeobservedthisintheEthernetSwitchestable
whichshowedtheswitchnames,thestatusofeachswitch,theserialnumberofeachswitch,switch
type,makeandmodel,firmwareversion,IPaddressandID.
OnceEthernetswitcheshavebeenaddedVLANscanbecreatedforthevirtualmachinenetwork.Thisis
normallycreatedmanuallywithinvCenter.OnceVLANsontheESXiservershavebeendefinedthrough
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vCenter,UCPProforVMwarevCentercanconfigurethem.ThedefaultVLANswereconfiguredforall
managedports.WealsoobservedthatdifferentVLANswereconfiguredonindividualhostsand/or
clusters.
Network Provisioning
Figure7CreateaVLAN
Evaluation Summary
TheEvaluatorGroupfoundthatHitachiUnifiedComputePlatform(UCP)ProforVMwarevSphereisan
easysolutionforITorganizationsneedingtorapidlydeployandmanageaVMwarevSphere
infrastructureordeployaprivatecloud.TheunifiedmanagementwiththetightintegrationoftheUCP
DirectorwithinvCenterdoesgivetheadministratoranendtoendviewfromvCentertoorchestrate,
monitor,andtroubleshoottheirinfrastructuretomeetandkeepSLAs.Thisconvergedsolutioncan
maximizetheuseofanadministratorstimeandshowsahighdegreeofflexibilityindeployingand
managingtheenvironment.DaysandsometimesweeksofinstallationtimearesavedsinceUCPProfor
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VMwarevSphereispreinstalled,preintegrated,preconfigured,andpretestedspecificallyincluding
customerrequirementsbeforedelivery.WiththecombinationofIntelXeonbasedHDSservers,HDS
storage,builtinnetworkingandVMwarevSphere,UCPProforVMwarevSpherecanreducetheinitial
investment(CAPEX)requiredtoprocure,integrate,andimplementaninfrastructuresolutionfor
virtualizedenvironments.UCPProalsoreducesongoingoperationalcost(OPEX)throughasimplified
managementprocessandautomationoftasksthatmightotherwiserequiretheinvolvementofmultiple
departmentsandmanymanualsteps.
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References
Supported 3rd party storage - http://www.hds.com/products/storagesystems/specifications/supported-external-storage.html
2013EvaluatorGroup,Inc.Allrightsreserved.Reproductionofthispublicationinanyform
withoutpriorwrittenpermissionisprohibited.