Category Celerra

Hi guys! You’ve seen me produce videos in the past I’m sure, although it is not that often that *I* am actually IN the videos where you can see me, if even for a moment.  (You let me know if you like that, or not ;))

Through a series of events, I ended up recording this video.  For your reference: This IS a first draft, in an infinite style of regularly updating my style for delivery.  [This was done using a little camera and a tiny mount on not a whole lot of space on a whiteboard… if I went Pro for the next one… you’ll be all OMFG :)]

Initially, I had drawn up some notes of how I’d present this.. so in the effort of WTF and Full disclosure (You know me all too well ;)) These are those preliminary whiteboard/notes.

I did have some other pictures which showed bits and pieces.. but I’m sure you get the gist of it!  So what exactly am I saying with this video, with these whiteboards.. with this.. you know, whatever it is I’m doing here. :)

Three things actually.   One of the cool things about the VNX is that it provides you with:

• Ease of Use – With simplicity of management using Unisphere, vCenter Integration, Single Pane for all arrays
• Maximum Efficiency – With FAST-VP, You can go Thin, and use the right tier at the right time with auto-tiering
• Consistent Performance – The magic of EFDs, QOS, FAST Cache, Wide-Striping, Consolidate and guarantee SLAs

I know what you’re saying “OMFG CHRISTOPHER, ARE YOU IN MARKETING?” No. And I usually stand by that, because I get things done ;).  Yes, I intentionally chose fitting points which happen to coincide with the acronym EMC, you know why? Because for one thing it’s easier to remember. :)  Not to mention, things should truly be easy to work with, and enjoyable; all the while providing an accurate picture of the story at hand!

Look forward to some future series where I actually go into the guts of the system and show you (from my perspective) the how’s and the why’s of these things [Time permitting ofcourse ;)]

So, for now, I leave you with this video.  Take it with a grain of salt, it IS a first-draft cutting room floor version.  As soon as I get my new mbp (April 1st?!) You should see some far better *Perhaps Annoying* videos coming from me ;)

And I know that some of you love me in videos sometimes… so for those of you who want to see me unplugged in an off-the-cuff impromptu interview (No, I’m not drunk), here is the infamous “I’m CXI, I’m from the Internets!” video!

I hope you enjoyed that.   Now, I’d love to hear your feedback. Where you say “Wow, I never thought of it that way” Or, “OMG You’re a total tool!” Yea, I’m game for either of those – Whatever you have to offer up, constructive or otherwise!

Oh, and I also submitted this for an internal contest (Which if I win.. will give me a sweet wrap-around terrace suite at EMC World [Yes, you can all come hang out in my room ;)] So, support away in every way possible! :)

Watch this space for more stupidity, err I mean great content in the future!

I’m sure by now you’ve read the VERY good articles about the VNXe such as:

• VNXe: Cherry Bomb! (StorageZilla Mark Twomey)
• Introducing The VNX Family (Chuck Hollis)
• VNXe (Steve Todd)
• VNXe = incredible things.. in tiny, transformer-like packages! (Chad Sakac)

Well, as typically promised.. here is my EXPOSE’ Or however you want to look at it, because I try to see these things through your ever careful eyes to wonder behind the scenes just EXACTLY what may be going on!

Disclaimer: I’m not sure how much of this I’m supposed to share, so I’ll deal with the fall-out and you enjoy the content :)

Let’s Get Physical [Physical Specifications]

This looks pretty straight forward – It’s VERY clear on exactly what is going on with these systems (Well, sort of)  I want to draw your attention to a few things so we’ll all be on the same page!  

• Note the different drive enclosures between the VNXe3100 and the VNXe3300 – 12×3.5” in 2U and 15×3.5” in 3U
• The CPU/Memory is PER Controller with each model able to support up to 2 controllers [VNXe3300 is 2 controllers by default]
• It’s not covered in these Physical Specifications; but I feel it important to call out Max # of drives and DAEs
  • VNXe3100 Single Controller 48 drives, VNXe3100 Dual Controller 96 drives; VNXe3300 120 drives

Are you Flexible? [FLEX IO Module Options]

Also fairly straight forward right! – Only thing I’d like to point out is the support for 10GBe on the VNXe3300!

It’s a DISK DAE! [Supported disk Add-on Enclosures (DAES) – Supported Disk Drives]

Here it breaks it down for you, the differences between the DAEs available (You’ll note that these are all 15K or 7.2K [other than the Flash] – The VNX has a 2.5” DAE which supports 10K drives but not in the VNXe – Just so you don’t go “whoa! Where are the 10Ks at?!” :))   – There are more details and more located in the Specification Sheet: EMC VNXe Series Unified Storage Systems

Save More with Packaging! [EMC VNXe Series Software Packs]

I spent some time last week going through simulations on cost benefit analysis (blah blah blah) of building configurations with the Suites (and packs) and with simply requesting each item on their own – to see what the pricing would look like: Truth be told; OMG THE PACKAGES WORK – It’s actually EASIER to simply choose a suite than it is to play games and say “I’d only like the potatoes but please leave out the application protection suite”  So, make it easier on yourself and try to build the full package into your future instead of trying to piecemeal together a configuration and a solution, your data will be happier for it! :)   There are more details on these packages in the Data Sheet: EMC VNXe Series Software Packs

Hopefully this helps you get a better understanding of some of the details you frankly REALLY want to know when it comes to understanding this platform a little better.    If you’re looking to go even deeper, let me know and I’ll take the conversation there in a future blog post!    Thanks! Hope you find this useful!

Here are some rocking VNXe documents!   (Powerlink required – If any links do not work… Yea, I wasn’t supposed to share that then :))

• Data Sheet: EMC VNXe Series
• Data Sheet: EMC VNXe Series Software Packs
• Data Sheet: EMC VNX Series Total Efficiency Pack
• Specification Sheet: EMC VNXe Series Unified Storage Systems
• Customer Presentation: EMC VNXe Series
• Top 10 Reasons Why Customers Deploy Microsoft Applications with Hyper-V on EMC VNXe
• Top 10 Reasons Why Customers Deploy Microsoft Applications with VMware vSphere Essentials on EMC VNXe

Today I was cleaning up my mailbox when I came across some BLASPHEMY about Exchange! Okay, not blasphemy per se, but I continually hear from folks who are being incorrectly told “Exchange cannot be virtualized”.  I’m not exactly sure who started this ‘trend’ but that’s neither here nor there!   So I did a little digging [and you know, digging for me tends to turn into a blog post ;)]  And I came across not only some AMAZING Material! But I also want to make sure you’re following up on regularly posted updates from a Rockstar who’s clear focus is on Exchange!

These are two very SHORT and to the point, giving you the high-lights letting you know what is required to kick things off and something you can hand up to mgmt! So it’s great to not spend a lot of time trying to figure out what it’s saying!

One thing I’d like to bring particular attention on these papers is that these are not EMC Papers, but are in fact co-branded collaborations by Microsoft, EMC and others (the one below was Microsoft, Cisco and EMC, and some of the others involve Dell and Brocade) but either way, Microsoft was directly involved in their creation as opposed to ‘slap a tag on it’

STOP THE PRESS! (vicki vale!) – Check out this paper though!  It is definitely longer! 84 pages!  Filled with raw technical example, use cases, all that jazz! Great must read paper and not just words! Lots of pretty pictures!  Yes it is Hyper-V but that cmon, this was co-branded Microsoft.. :)  And note: Published October 2010! So Vicki Vale did get one thing right!

Okay fine! Here is another paper! This one is a little older but I know you wouldn’t let me get away without giving you some VMware love! So here is one, with less pretty pictures!

Alright, one more then! This one was from August – not a whitepaper only a basic Reference Architecture, but I found it to be pretty damn cool looking!

Okay, enough of these (albeit amazing papers!) With no further adieu I’d like to introduce you to Dustin Smith! I’d tell you all about him, but Brian interviewed him here so you can find out all about how he’s an MVP, MCM and so many other things!

So, Dustin has his own blog where he talks almost exclusively about Exchange (okay, I think it’s all about Exchange, but whatever! this is MY BLOG! ;))

Exchange In the Private Cloud is definitely a must check out blog if you care anything about Exchange, or have to deal with it!

I’d like to highlight a few of his blog posts here for you to check out:

• Yes, Exchange Server is being virtualized!
  • Within EMC, our entire 40,000+ user infrastructure is virtualized on Exchange Server and the organization as a whole is moving towards virtualization of most all applications. Most all of the infrastructures we design and showcase within our Proven Solutions are geared toward virtualization, either with VMWare vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V. See my previous blog post on what we recently did with the Tested Exchange Solutions Program case with Cisco and Microsoft where we showcased 34,000 users on Microsoft Hyper-V with Cisco UCS blade servers and EMC Unified Storage.
• EMC Whitepaper, Exchange Tested Solutions Program
  • What we are showcasing in this whitepaper is a result of our joint solution development with Microsoft and Cisco that was deployed and tested in Microsoft EEC labs in Redmond. In the whitepaper you will find the reference architecture for 32,400 users across a three site Exchange DAG scenario leveraging Microsoft Hyper-V, EMC NS480 Unified Storage, and Cisco UCS B-series blade servers along with analysis of testing results and key best practices on virtualizing Exchange Server 2010 on Hyper -V on EMC Unified storage and Cisco Unified Computing System.
• Exchange 2010 Backups? I don’t need any stinkin backups?!?
  • I think overall, the backupless/Exchange Native Data Protection option certainly brings a new element to the Exchange 2010 architecture discussions and different options for providing recovery when bad things happen. VSS based options (hardware and software based) are  still heavily used options to protect Exchange data that have been popular since the Exchange 2003 days and have increased with features and functionality into Exchange 2010.
• Getting Exchange Server 2010 into the Private Cloud
• Yes, EMC can do Exchange for SMB too

So, there are some teasers there of just some of the content that Dustin is putting out (There is obviously more.. but I’ll let you do the reading up on it! It’s definitely worth reading! – How so though, I just discovered Dustin TODAY and I’m sharing him with you a few hours after that point, So, yea I consider that to be pretty compelling :))

I want to leave you with links to all of the resources I mentioned above, so you can forth to gain access to the WP’s I mentioned and others I didn’t include pictures for!

• Virtualizing Microsoft Exchange 2010 with Confidence
• Business Continuity for Microsoft Exchange 2010 Enabled by EMC Unified Storage, Cisco Unified Computing System, and Microsoft Hyper-V
• Microsoft Exchange 2010: Zero-Data Loss Virtualization and Replication
• Microsoft Exchange 2010 Efficiency, Flexibility, Performance, and Availability at Scale Enabled by EMC Symmetrix VMAX, Virtual Provisioning and VMware vSphere
• EMC Virtual Infrastructure for Microsoft Exchange 2010 Enabled by EMC Symmetrix VMAX, VMware vsphere 4, and Replication Manager
• 15-Minute Guide – Extending the Capabilities of Microsoft Exchange Server

There are so many more than just these links alone – I actually was surprised on how much content there was at www.emc.com/exchange ! – So check it out, and as always let me know if I can help you in a particular way :)

I recently was given insight into something which was up and coming (and well, clearly out at this point :)) The EMC Unified Storage Community!

What is this community though?  This is the mother load so to speak, YOUR source for Information in the Unified… and it’s available without a login! (Although I encourage a login so you can partake in questions, answers and more!)   So, let’s take this opportunity to take a little tour!

If you look at this massive page with so much to offer… it happens to break it ALL down for you with one key point to start with! – Notice on the right side of the screen..

Wow, does this take all of the effort out of it! Making it so you can get started quick and easy! here are some details!

Getting Started in the Unified Storage community

VERSION 7 

Created on: Aug 16, 2010 3:51 PM by cornwk – Last Modified:  Sep 1, 2010 10:30 AM by cornwk

Thank you for visiting the Unified Storage community.

We hope you will be an active, participating member. But if you just want to view information only, that’s OK too.

Here are some suggestions for how you can get started in this community:

1. To make sure that you can fully participate in this community, be sure to Login (or Register if this is your first visit to ECN).
   Click Login/Register at the top of the screen in the area that looks like this:
   
2. In the Unified Storage community, visit Breaking the Ice and tell us a little bit about yourself.
3. Scan the current discussions and jump in – post a new discussion of your own or respond to somebody else’s question.
4. Have fun!

If this is your first venture into ECN, visit the Quick Tour and learn how to put the communities to work for you!

75 Views Tags: midrange_storage , community , getting_started , welcome

What I particularly like about this Community though, is the fact that is it organic… driven by the community FOR the community!   It’s young right now (hey, it just launched!) and it will only continue to mature!   And I particularly want to thank the infamous  @kcornwall for everything she did to make this a reality and to continue driving this forward!

Now, while it may all be relative because content changes regularly… the current threads out there are WOW ON TARGET! To things I see come up in meetings practically every day  – so I wanted to bring specific light and clarity to them!

Every time I sit down with folks and we discuss Celerra, CLARiiON, and the whole of the Unified stack… they say “I want to know more information about….” and the …. is ALL of these threads!

So, without further adieu, here are some of the hot links here in the community to get you going!

• FAST/FAST Cache – Start Here
• Unisphere – Start Here
• VMware & Unified Storage – Start Here
• Capacity Optimization – Start Here
• Initial data placement when using FAST
• Replication  – Start Here
• Virtual Provisioning – Start Here
• Demo: Using Unisphere to Manage Block Storage
• Demo: Using Unisphere to Manage File Storage

Obviously I advise you to defer to the actual community for new content and more! but I thought I’d high-light what are often heavily discussed items where people say “Hey! I want more info on this!” Not that I’m saying anyone in particular (hi mike! :)) Should check these out, but if you find these useful, and/or your name is Mike… Definitely check it out!

Oh, and if you’re looking into downloading the UBER VSA which I’ve referenced in the past … Definitely here is the link to v3.2! Your best friend in virtualization!

Play it again, Sam: Celerra UBER v3.2

Thanks guys, check out the community… grow, and learn, question and learn…. and communitize yourselves!

You heard it here! Time to cut your blood pressure in half! (I apologize for those of you who already have low blood pressure.. this may put you over the top!)

UBERTastic : Celerra UBER VSA v3 – Unisphere -  Be sure to click this link here to get to the download links to pull down the OVA or Workstation version!

So, Roxanne… what is new in this version of the VSA? As it appears that I’m practically stealing Nick’s entire post (which I’m cool with… ;))

• DART is now 6.0.36.4
• Unisphere management console (rocks!)
• The Celerra VSA is now 64 bit! This means you can throw RAM at it for bigger setups and it will use it. Over 8GB becomes less beneficial without code changes to simulation services. Future updates will fix this from the Celerra VSA engineering teams.
• The biggest and most difficult change to construct is that the configuration is now adaptive depending on the virtual machine setup. This version is now intelligent in seeing how many resources you have given it.
• The new Celerra UBER VSA uses this intelligence to now allow *Thin* mode. If you give the VSA under 2GB of RAM it will automatically size the memory limits, processes, and management interface settings to allow it to run with as low as 1024MB of RAM. You won’t do replication or host a ton of VM’s but you can use this mode to host a few and fully demonstrate/test the new Unisphere interface on even a 2GB laptop.
• The new VSA also uses this intelligence to automatically allow the configuration of single or dual Data Mover version based on the memory assigned. If you give the VSA more than 4GB of memory you will be given the option to enable an additional Data Mover for use as a standby or load balancing experimentation. This means this single appliance can be a small lightweight NFS unit at 1024MB of RAM or can be a 2 Data Mover powerhouse at 8GB of RAM. All automatically configured on first boot through the wizard.
• Automatic VMDK/Storage additions have been adjusted for new 64 bit OS. This means this still works. Shutoff the VM, add VMDK(s), turn on and you have more space. Automagic
• Since automagic is so cool, I have changed the Data Mover Ethernet binding to be automatic also. The VM starts with 1 interface for management and 1 interface for the Data Movers. If you want more for the DM(s), just shutoff the VM, add NIC cards (up to 6 additional), and turn back on. It will automatically bind the Data Mover (yes it works with the 2 DM mode also) to the new interfaces and virtual slots. Just go back into Unisphere and assign away. This allows scale up for the bigger 2 Data Mover 8GB of RAM versions easily.
• Configuration is now Perl/Bash based instead of just Bash to keep things cleaner and slicker and allow for some coolness later on
• NTP from the configuration portion of the wizard works correctly. It sets both the Control Station and all Data Movers and enables NTP as a running service. Make sure your NTP server is valid.

So let’s summarize:

1. New Unisphere
2. 64 Bit
3. Automatic sizing
4. Thin Mode
5. Optional 2 Data Mover mode
6. Automatic Data Mover Ethernet adding (along with fixed Storage [VMDK] adding)
7. NTP works now

Wow! That’s a whole lot! Where do I sign up to download?!?  UBERTastic : Celerra UBER VSA v3 – Unisphere – No signup required, just go click and download!  Because Nick has so many other vital details about the differences of THIS Uber VSA compared to Uber VSA’s in the past, I am referring you to his page so you can read the ‘technical’ details and stuff!  So go download the UBER VSA TODAY! (I am downloading it right now, literally.. )

I look forward to your feedback… and enjoyment of this tool, I know I’ve been waiting for some time for this myself!