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vStart 100 and 200 VMware vSphere Reference Architecture

Dell Inc 4

1 Introduction

The vStart solution is a virtualization infrastructure solution that has been designed and validated by

Dell Engineering. It is delivered racked, cabled, and ready to be integrated into your datacenter. The

vStart VMware vSphere

is offered as two configurations: vStart 100 and 200. The vStart 100 and 200

configurations include Dell

PowerEdge

R720 servers running VMware

ESXi

, Dell EqualLogic

PS6100 iSCSI storage, Dell PowerConnect

switches, and a Dell PowerEdge R620 server that manages

the solution by hosting VMware vCenter™ Server. VMware ESXi versions 4.1 Update 2 and 5.0 are both

supported. The solution can either be configured with PowerConnect 6248 or PowerConnect 7048

switches.

The configurations also include Dell Management and Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for VMware

Edition (HIT/VE) Plug-ins for VMware vCenter. The two vStart configurations discussed in this paper

vary based upon the number of R720 servers and EqualLogic PS6100 storage arrays required to meet the

customer’s resource needs.

The following documents are available to describe the various aspects of the solution. Customers can

contact their Dell Sales teams to get the latest version of these documents

 vStart 100 and 200 VMware vSphere Reference Architecture (This document) – Provides a

solution overview and reference architecture for the solution.

 vStart 100 and 200 VMware vSphere Solution Overview – Provides a solution overview, including

various components, and how the solution is delivered.

 vStart 100 and 200 VMware vSphere Solution Specification – Provides a detailed specification of

various components included in the solution.

 vStart 100 and 200 VMware vSphere Solution Design Guide – Provides a detailed architectural

solution design.

2 Audience

This document provides an overview of the vStart solution. Customers, including CTOs and IT managers,

can use this document to understand the overview and scope of the solution. IT administrators and

managers can use this document to understand the solution architecture.

3 Solution Overview

The solution discussed in this whitepaper is powered by Dell PowerEdge servers, Dell EqualLogic iSCSI

storage, Dell PowerConnect networking, and VMware vSphere. The solution implements Dell and

VMware best practices and utilizes the latest Dell-developed vSphere integration offerings that provide

management enhancements. Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter and Dell EqualLogic HIT/VE

Plug-in for vCenter are included in the solution, which provides integration of Dell hardware

management and storage configuration with vCenter. EqualLogic SAN HeadQuarters (SAN HQ) is

included in the solution for storage array management and monitoring. The solution also includes the

rack, power distribution units (PDU), and an optional uninterruptible power supply (UPS), KMM

(Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse), and management server.

The solution is offered in two main configurations: vStart 100 and 200. The variations between the two

configurations are the number of PowerEdge R720 servers in the ESXi cluster and the number of

EqualLogic arrays. vStart 100 includes three PowerEdge R720 servers and one EqualLogic array. vStart