Dell EMC Best Practices for Running VMware ESXi 6.5 or Later Clusters on XC Series Appliances and XC Core Systems Abstract This best practice guidance is aimed XC Series Appliances and XC Core Systems configured to boot VMware ESXi nodes from either a SATADOM or a Boot Optimized Server Storage (BOSS) card boot device. This document provides recommendations for maintaining the stability and performance of the platform and workloads, while also preserving the operational lifetime of the boot device.
Revisions Revisions Date Description June 2020 Updated the Configuring DRS section. August 2018 Updated content to include XC Core. March 2018 Updated for second release to add appliances. November 2017 Initial release The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Table of contents Table of contents Revisions............................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Table of contents ................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Preface .....................................................................................................
Preface Preface NOTE: The information in this document applies to both Dell EMC XC Series Appliances, as well as the Dell EMC XC Core System offering. Sections or information that apply to only one of the offerings (XC Series or XC Core) will be called out explicitly. The Dell EMC XC Series Appliances and XC Core Systems are optimized to host scalable compute, storage, networking, and virtualization workloads. The design focus provides a simplified and scalable approach for handling workloads.
Boot devices 1 Boot devices The Dell EMC XC Series Appliances and XC Core Systems support either SATADOM or BOSS (PCIe cards M.2 Drive) as its boot device. The boot device depends on the generation of your appliance. The 13th generation appliances use SATADOM, and the 14th generation appliances use BOSS. Use Table 1 to determine which boot device is on your appliance. Associated boot drives per appliance 1.
Boot devices NOTE: The Nutanix Cluster Checker (NCC) v. 2.2.2 and later will monitor for VMs running on the boot device. IMPORTANT: A common cause for VMs being run from the boot device is misconfiguration during any addnode or redeployment operation. When adding or redeploying an ESXi node to the cluster, ensure that the Virtual Hard Disks (VMDKs) and Virtual Machines locations are configured so that they are directed to the Nutanix Cluster Container location.
Configuring VMware vSphere vCenter Server 2 Configuring VMware vSphere vCenter Server 2.1 vSphere Server Registration under Prism VMware vSphere vCenter Server should have the following minimum settings defined in a Nutanix environment. In this section, we will outline the steps necessary to properly configure a VMware cluster for a Nutanix environment. With the release of AOS 5.0, you can now perform common vCenter Server operations directly from the Prism UI.
Configuring VMware vSphere vCenter Server 2.2.1 Configuring DRS Use the following steps to configure DRS. 1. Disable automation on all CVMs. 2. Under vSphere Availability, disable or turn off Power Management. 8 Dell EMC Best Practices for Running VMware ESXi 6.
Configuring VMware vSphere vCenter Server 3. Configure DRS by navigating to Configure > vSphere DRS and click Edit. 4. Click the vSphere DRS check box to enable. 5. From the DRS Automation drop-down menu, leave the default migration threshold at 3 (this the default configuration) in a fully automated configuration as it is recommended for the Nutanix deployments.
Configuring VMware vSphere vCenter Server vSphere HA settings Known datastore issue When configured with a single datastore, an error message in vCenter Server appears stating insufficient datastore defined in the cluster. Work around To address this, add an exception as follows: 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Log in to vCenter Server. Right-click cluster and click Settings. Click vSphere HA > Edit > Advanced Options. Under Option, add an entry for das.ignorInsufficientHbDatastore. Under Value, type true. 8.
Configuring VMware vSphere vCenter Server 2.4 Enabling VMware EVC settings Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) simplifies vMotion compatibility issues across CPU generations. Dell EMC recommends enabling EVC so that you can add nodes with newer generation CPUs to existing clusters. To enable EVC in the cluster, perform the following steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. Log in to vCenter Server. Right-click the cluster and click Settings. Click VMware EVC > EDIT.
Applying updates in a VMware vSphere environment 3 Applying updates in a VMware vSphere environment 3.1 VMware Update Manager You may use VMware Update Manager (VUM) to apply incremental updates in a Nutanix environment. Nutanix supports the ability to patch upgrade ESXi hosts with versions that are greater than or released after the Nutanix qualified version, but Nutanix might not have qualified those releases.
Applying updates in a VMware vSphere environment 3.2.1 13 Performing the upgrade: 1. Within Prism, click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the interface and select Upgrade Software. Dell EMC Best Practices for Running VMware ESXi 6.
Applying updates in a VMware vSphere environment 2. On the Hypervisor tab, upload the JSON file, and the ESXi bundle and click Upload Now. 3. Pre-upgrade is an optional process to validate the configuration on the CVM on which you are connected to before proceeding. These checks also run as part of the upgrade procedure. 14 Dell EMC Best Practices for Running VMware ESXi 6.
Applying updates in a VMware vSphere environment 4. When the upload process completes, click Upgrade > Upgrade Now, then click Yes to confirm. 5. Enter in the VMware vCenter Server credentials when prompted and click Upgrade. The Upgrade Software dialog box shows the progress of your selection, including status of preinstallation checks and uploads, through the Progress Monitor. All VMs running on the node will be migrated to another node in the cluster before the node is placed into maintenance mode.
Deployment best practices 4 Deployment best practices 4.1 Virtual disk provisioning Dell EMC recommends using thin provisioning disks in an XC Series environment, as thick eager-zero virtual disks offer no performance benefits over a thin virtual disk. For further information, see Nutanix KB 1591 [Log in Required] 4.
Additional resources and references 5 Additional resources and references 5.1 Referenced or recommended Dell EMC publications 5.2 17 Support.dell.com is focused on meeting your needs with proven services and support. For Dell EMC XC Series Appliances and XC Core Systems product documentation, go to Dell.com/xcseriesmanuals. Referenced or recommended Nutanix publications Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) 2.2.
