Cisco UCS C240 M6SN for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Data Sheet

 

Cisco UCS C240 M6SN Rack Server with Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 Switch

Overview

Cisco UCS^® for Microsoft Azure HCI offers highly available and scalable software-defined hyperconverged and storage systems based on Microsoft Azure Stack HCI operating system technology.

If you run your business on Microsoft software, you need a solution that uses hardware designed specifically for Microsoft HCI. Look no further. Cisco and Microsoft have partnered to deliver a solution that accelerates access to data, provides comprehensive data management tools, and is powered by the latest 3^rd Gen Intel^® Xeon^® Scalable processors to set a new standard of excellence.

Main benefits

Cisco UCS for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI offers these main benefits:

●    Cloud-based management: Cisco Intersight^™ provides complete end-to-end system management and offers the ability to help you manage workloads whether located on premises or in a cloud. Intersight is cloud-based and enables Microsoft Azure Stack HCI systems to easily integrate with your broader Intersight-based infrastructure. Server Profiles help ensure consistent server setup. They integrate with Microsoft System Center and PowerShell toolkit and, when combined with the Cisco Intersight solution, enable cloud-management expansion to meet future requirements.

●    Delivers fault tolerance: Built-in resiliency handles storage, server, and switch failures with continuous availability. Larger deployments can also be configured for chassis and rack fault tolerance. When hardware fails, just swap it out; the software heals itself, with no complicated management steps.

●    All NVMe storage: Help ensure high performance of your applications, databases, and hybrid-cloud initiatives by using a NVMe based single storage tier reducing complexity and cost associated with multitiered Cache/Capacity designs.

●    Reduces Operating Expenses (OpEx): Integrated storage with enterprise-class performance, reliability, and capabilities allows one team to manage your entire Microsoft environment.

●    Provides enterprise-class performance: The Cisco UCS C240 M6SN Rack Server (Figure 1) uses the latest 3^rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor technology. With a random memory access configuration of up to 4 TB per server and up to 16 servers, the system infrastructure can accommodate enterprise-class workloads. The solution uses 100 Gigabit Ethernet from end to end to help ensure enough bandwidth for large workloads. It uses RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) to enable Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) to help ensure that performance requirements are met.

●    Offers true scalability: Start with from 1 to 16 servers in increments of 1, configure 16 to 80 Intel processor cores per server, configure 256 GB to 4 TB of system memory per server, up to 182 TB of Non-Volatile Memory express (NVMe) storage to help ensure enterprise-class performance. To scale out, simply add drives or servers; Storage Spaces Direct will automatically configure and begin using the new drives. As a result, storage efficiency and performance improve predictably at scale.

●    Get exceptional availability: Users of Azure Stack HCI will benefit because the system does not have a single point of failure. If a server fails, Cisco Intersight can assign the server profile for the workload to another server in the cluster that may be running a lower-priority workload. The profile is reassigned, and another server can replace the failed node, all without the user taking any action. Also, if a top-of-rack Cisco Nexus^® switch fails, its partner Nexus switch maintains a copy of its configuration. Therefore, a replacement switch can be cabled in with switch configuration restored from its partner.

●    Azure Stack HCI operating system automatically updated: Once the system is set up in your data center, simply access Microsoft Azure to license and download the Microsoft Azure Stack HCI operating system. Over time, Azure will automatically send security and other updates directly to your Cisco Azure Stack HCI system so you do not have to be concerned that your system is not up to date and your data is not secured.

●    Range of Nexus Choices: While the N9K-9336C-FX2 switch was validated for Azure Stack HCI and documented in Cisco Validated Design. There are other Cisco switches which may be used as the Top of Rack switch. To qualify they must be listed on this Microsoft webpage: Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Physical Networking Switch https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/concepts/physical-network-requirements?tabs=22H2%2C20-21H2reqs.

●    Global world-class support: Enjoy the support capabilities of two world-class support organizations. While most support issues clearly dictate which support team to initiate a conversation, for those times when it is unclear Cisco and Microsoft will work to help ensure that your team is not caught in the middle. Optionally, you can order Cisco Solutions Support which provides the ability for Cisco to monitor all support requests and keep you updated so you can spend your time focused on other tasks.

●    Cisco Validated Design: The complete system was tested by Cisco using the Microsoft provided test kit. The results were reviewed and approved by Microsoft. Every system element no matter how small is completely documented.

●    Customer Installable: The CVD provides a complete set of instructions to enable your team to install the system without additional time and expense.

●    Maintain System Rack Standard: The Cisco system installs into your system racks thus we support and maintain your standard for system racks in your data center.

Cisco UCS C240 M6SN Rack Server

Solution example

Table 1 and Figure 2 show a sample configuration.

Table 1.        Sample configuration components

 

 

 

Sample 4-node Configuration

Ordering information

Table 2 lists the part numbers for the solution. The solution has a 1-node minimum configuration and is expandable to 16 nodes – UCS-MAH-B00R00-M6 - Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Bundle.

Table 2.        Part numbers for Cisco UCS C240 M6SN Rack Server with Cisco Nexus 9336C-FX2 Switch

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Why choose Cisco?

For 10 years Cisco, with the Cisco Unified Computing System^™ (Cisco UCS), has partnered with Microsoft to deliver system infrastructures that provide leading performance, availability, security, and ease of management. Our new M6 design is built upon the lessons learned in our previous M5 designs with lowered total cost of ownership and complexity the result with out sacrificing performance. Through Cisco Intersight, workloads do not need to be tied to individual servers. Thus, each server is configured exactly the same, a new server can be added in minutes, and servers can easily be repurposed if needed.

Note that configurations must adhere to the specifications provided in Cisco Validated Designs to be fully supported by Microsoft and Cisco.

For more information

For more information on Cisco UCS for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI solutions, visit: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/microsoft-applications-on-cisco-ucs/microsoft-azure-stack-hci.html.

For more information about Cisco UCS C240 M6SNRack Servers, visit https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/servers-unified-computing/ucs-c-series-rack-servers/ucs-c240-m6-rack-server-ds.html.

For more information on Cisco Solutions posted to the Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Validated Solutions list, visit: https://azurestackhcisolutions.azure.microsoft.com/#/catalog?Manufacturer=Cisco.

For more information on Microsoft Azure Stack HCI, visit: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/overview.

For more information about Cisco UCS and Microsoft, visit https://www.cisco.com/go/microsoft.