From Dell EMC: VxRail Goes “Beyond Exceptional,” Said IDC Study

By Nancy Hurley, senior manager CI/HCI product marketing, Dell Technologies, Inc.

Last month IDC released a study The Business Value of Dell EMC VxRail and VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail ⁽¹⁾, that shows how VxRail makes the exceptional expected.

Since the launch of VxRail almost five years ago, Dell has innovated the platform, rapidly releasing new functionality and platform enhancements, improving serviceability, and supporting new use cases to deliver the most value to you – whether in the core, at the edge, or in the cloud. We’re introducing new VxRail updates that continue our commitment to bring the platform beyond exceptional.

Growing possibilities with new VxRail hardware configurations
One of the more astounding findings from the IDC study is that customers are able to increase the number of new application features by up to 73%. Thousands of possible VxRail platform configurations and native VMware integration are key to enabling customers to continuously innovate at this level. In other words, VxRail can be configured for any workload while also providing a simplified and reliable operating environment, enabling organizations to spend less time managing infrastructure and more time focused on business initiatives.

In June of last year, we added to our configuration possibilities with AMD EPYC processors on VxRail E Series – our low profile, cost-effective platform for space-constrained locations. In our efforts to go beyond exceptional, we asked ourselves, why stop at the E Series. That’s why we are announcing a new 2U platform, VxRail P675F and P675N, based on 2 second gen AMD EPYC processors offering additional choice and flexibility when selecting compute. VxRail P675F and P675N are part of the VxRail P Series, our most performance-intensive platform for business-critical workloads like SQL or Oracle database applications. Compared to the 1U E Series with AMD processors, the AMD 2U P Series has multiple, larger PSU options. This allows for a broader range of CPU offerings, larger memory configurations, and additional PCIe cards (NICs or FC HBAs).

The P675F and P675N configurations also include additional graphic options with the Nvidia Tesla T4 and Nvidia Tesla V100S GPU. These GPUs provide enhanced performance for graphics intensive workloads like AI, data analytics, deep learning, and HPC.

Finally, we have further expanded use case possibilities with the introduction of the Intel x710 NIC Enhanced Network Stack (ENS) driver support. ENS is a networking stack mode that provides improved network operations by dynamically prioritizing network traffic to support demanding workloads that require higher levels of performance. Imagine a popular streaming service is set to debut the latest big blockbuster movie. Since opening day will likely strain networking resources, service providers will want to dynamically prioritize their network infrastructure for these eager viewers waiting to catch the first glimpse of the movie.

Adding exceptional value with new VxRail HCI system software
The IDC study talks about how our customers have experienced 68% more efficient IT infrastructure teams, in part due to the extensive automation built into VxRail HCI System Software. VxRail HCI System Software delivers extensive automation, orchestration and lifecycle management to streamline operations.

VxRail continues to build on providing a customer lifecycle management experience with the latest release of VxRail 7.0.130. With this release, we expand the LCM ecosystem to support the ENS drivers for the Intel x710 NIC. We also introduce a new health check feature that allows users to run the latest set of health checks so that you can to take advantage of improved and enhanced health checks as soon as they are available. You can run this outside of the upgrade window, so you’re ready when it’s time to upgrade. Together, these enhancements expand the automation of the LCM and simplify the planning and scheduling of upgrades.

This release also includes a support procedure to expand a 2-node ROBO to a 3-or-more-node cluster. As more and more business happens at the edge, organizations need IT solutions with greater performance and more storage in order to meet the requirements of these data intensive applications. The ability to grow your ROBO VxRail clusters allows you to rapidly innovate to respond to changing IT initiatives and expand workload possibilities.

What’s next?
This year will bring a number of new announcements for VxRail that will further our commitment to go beyond exceptional. Is infinite exceptionalism a thing? We say, ‘Challenge accepted’? IDC Business Value White Paper, sponsored by Dell Technologies and Intel, The Business Value of Dell EMC VxRail and VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail,’December 2020. Actual results will vary.

⁽¹⁾ IDC Business Value White Paper, sponsored by Dell Technologies and Intel, The Business Value of Dell EMC VxRail and VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail, December 2020. Actual results will vary.