Reference Architecture

Reference Architecture for Active System 800m with Hyper-V:
Dell Inc. 5
Embedded Management with Dell’s Lifecycle Controller: The Lifecycle Controller is the engine for
advanced embedded management and is delivered as part of iDRAC7 Enterprise in Dell PowerEdge 12
th
generation blade servers. For more information on Dell Lifecycle Controllers and blade servers, see
http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/dcsm-embedded-management and Dell.com/blades.
Dell PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator (I/OA): The Dell PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator is a flexible 1/10GbE
aggregation device that is automated and preconfigured for easy ―plug and play‖ deployment into
converged iSCSI and FCoE networks. The key feature of the PowerEdge M I/OA is that all VLANs are
allowed as a default setting. This allows the top-of-rack (ToR) managed switch to perform all VLAN
management related tasks. The external ports of the M I/OA are automatically all part of a single link
aggregation group (LAG), and thus there is no need for Spanning-Tree.
The M I/OA provides connectivity to the CNA/Network adapters internally and externally to upstream
network devices. Internally the M I/OA provides thirty-two (32) connections. The connections are 10
Gigabit Ethernet connections for basic Ethernet traffic, iSCSI storage traffic, or FCoE storage traffic. In
a typical PowerEdge M1000e configuration with 16 half-height blade server ports, 1-16 are used and 17-
32 are disabled. If quad port CNA/Network adapters or quarter-height blade servers are used, then
ports 17-32 are enabled.
The M I/OA includes two integrated 40Gb Ethernet ports on the base module. These ports are used in a
default configuration with a 4 X 10Gb breakout cable to provide four 10Gb links for network traffic.
Alternatively these ports can be used as 40Gb links for stacking. The M I/OA also supports three
different types of add-in expansion modules, which are called FlexIO Expansion modules. The modules
available are: 4-port 10Gbase-T FlexIO module, 4-port 10G SFP+ FlexIO module, and the 2-port 40G
QSFP+ FlexIO module. For more information on Dell PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator, see
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-m-io-aggregator/pd.
Dell Force10 S4810 Switches: The Dell Force10 S-Series S4810 is an ultra-low-latency 10/40 GbE top-
of-rack (ToR) switch. Leveraging a non-blocking, cut-through switching architecture, the Force10 S4810
switch delivers line-rate L2 and L3 forwarding capacity with ultra-low latency to maximize network
performance. The compact Force10 S4810 switch design provides 48 dual-speed 1/10 GbE (SFP+) ports
as well as four 40 GbE QSFP+ uplinks to conserve valuable rack space and simplify the migration to
40 Gbps in the data center core. Dell Force10 S4810 switch incorporates multiple architectural features
that optimize data center network flexibility, efficiency, and availability, including Force10’s stacking
technology, reversible front-to-back or back-to-front airflow for hot/cold aisle environments, and
redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans. For more information on Dell Force10 switches, see
Dell.com/force10.
Dell Force10 S55 Switches: Force10 S-Series S55 1/10 GbE Top-of-Rack switch leverages a non-
blocking architecture that delivers line-rate, low-latency L2 and L3 switching to eliminate network
bottlenecks. The Force10 S55 switch design provides 48 GbE access ports with up to four modular
10GbE uplinks in 1-RU to conserve valuable rack space. The Force10 S55 switch incorporates multiple
architectural features including reversible front-to-back or back-to-front airflow for hot/cold aisle
environments and redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans. For more information on Dell
Force10 switches, see Dell.com/force10.
Dell EqualLogic PS6110 Series Storage: EqualLogic PS6110X 10GbE arrays include Dual 10GbE
controllers, high-performance 2.5‖ SAS HDDs Cache-to-flash memory de-staging and up to 21.6TB of
capacity in a 2U chassis.