Published by Cisco Press (June 15, 2021) © 2020
Jalpa Patel | Manuel Velasco | Avinash ShuklaCisco’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 you need to successfully deploy Cisco HyperFlex technologies in your environment.
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