System information

A Principled Technologies test report 3
Dell PowerEdge VRTX and M-series compute nodes configuration study
Our test scenario simulates setting up a high-availability cluster at a remote site
with functionality similar to what the Dell PowerEdge VRTX can provide. We compare
this with a legacy hardware solution that used a variety of repurposed hardware to
meet a similar goal. Implementing the legacy hardware approach required us to
configure and troubleshoot each server using either its Web browser-based GUI or
native physical console for the interface, set up and configure the managed switch using
its dedicated browser-based management GUI, and configure the iSCSI shared storage
system in yet another dedicated browser-based management GUI. Each of these tools
required separate credentials to manage.
Appendix A provides detailed hardware configuration information. Appendix B
provides detailed configuration information for the Dell PowerEdge VRTX solution we
tested. Appendix C provides information on how we configured the traditional
environment.
QUICKER AND EASIER TO CONFIGURE
As Figure 2 shows, configuring the Dell PowerEdge VRTX solution for use in a
VMware vSphere High Availability (HA) cluster was quick, requiring only 52 minutes, 36
seconds of total setup time. We completed all infrastructure configuration steps
through the Dell Chassis Management Controller (CMC). The CMC is a Web-based
management tool that provides a single graphical user interface for all of the
components contained within the Dell PowerEdge VRTX chassis. In comparison, our
traditional environment with mixed models and vendors required 4 hours, 5 minutes, 8
seconds to complete, without even considering the time it would take to locate and pull
together all of the hardware necessary to implement a solution.
Figure 2: The Dell PowerEdge VRTX
solution reduced setup time by 78.5
percent compared to the legacy
hardware solution.
0:52:36
4:05:08
1:00
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
Dell PowerEdge VRTX
solution
Legacy hardware
solution
Time (hours:minutes)
Time to set up
(lower numbers are better)