• Dell and VMware continue to excel at integrating hardware and software
• New VxRail offers 50% faster all flash performance and 35% reduction in latency over past
• Hyper Converged is here to stay and VMware is leading the way

By Keith Petoske –   Recently, Future Tech hosted a training session on the newest Dell EMC line of storage with native VMware Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI). Attendees included senior IT leaders from some of Long Island’s largest companies and experts instructors from Dell-EMC and VMware.

Below, I’ve summarized the major points of the session. As you read, you’ll see why we believe that Hyper Converged is here to stay and how VMware is leading the industry.

A Simpler Solution

Right from the start, we saw how well VMware and Dell EMC have integrated hardware and software. This enables them to offer a Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) in what feels like an appliance. Using vCenter you can control the storage, networking, and compute. Even more impressive, the same vCenter can also control VMware on AWS.

For anyone who has deployed VMware on AWS, you’ll notice that the interfaces are similar.

New VxRail Much Faster that Predecessor

We did multiple demos on the new Generation 14 VxRail. It was easy to see the significant advantages it has over the predecessor, Gen 13 edition.

Specifically, new VxRail has a 50% faster all flash performance and 35% latency reduction over the previous Gen 13th model.

An in-kernal vSAN, allows you to control all aspects of storage and network maintenance in the VMware software.

You can bypass the latency you would have with separated HCI. Other manufacturers “offer” solutions with their software in-between but this is as close to a complete simple solution that we have seen.

A More Convenient, Streamlined Option

Working with the software tools it became apparent that a VMware administrator can allocate storage and configure network right through the VMware interface. In fact you couldn’t allocate resources without having storage and network resources available (nice warning windows popped up).

The new line of VxRail and VxRack from Dell EMC even ships preloaded with all VMware software ready to be configured out of the box. Support, upgrades and maintenance are all combined.

Through vCenter from VMware you can managed both your private Software Defined Data Center AND VMware on AWS. Use the tools and software your know. Move workloads as needed between both.

Final Thoughts

This is truly a Hyper Converged / SDDC solution. Using NSX, vSAN, vSphere, vCenter and now VxRail Manager (that is just a short list of the included VMware software) you can do just about everything you can do on VMware on AWS.

Most importantly since we are all HCI and SDDC with VMware you can move workloads between your on-prem to the AWS VMware instances as if they were just another VMware Data Center. I am excited to see what VMware is doing and anticipate additional functionalities such as HA to come shortly.

Everything else you know about VMware instances is technically possible. Also, VMware and AWS just announced in June support for Horizon View and VDI on AWS.

Hyper Converged is here to stay. And VMware is firmly seated at the head of the class.

I invite you to come check out Future Tech’s next VxRail demonstration to see for yourself, and check out this report from an independent research firm.

Keith Petoske is a data center and storage consultant for Future Tech Enterprise, Inc.

About Future Tech Enterprise, Inc.

Future Tech Enterprise, Inc. is an award-winning, IT solutions provider with capabilities in 170 countries. Future Tech serves leading companies and organizations in the aerospace, defense, education, energy, healthcare and manufacturing sectors. The company specializes in delivering cost-effective and customized IT solutions. Through its team of experts and offering of 700 manufacturer product lines, Future Tech helps companies solve their most demanding IT challenges, including: Security, Storage, Infrastructure, Collaboration, Disaster Prevention, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity, Power Solutions and Asset Life.

Contact Mark Savage at Future Tech Enterprise, Inc. for more information at 631-472-5500 or info@ftei.com.