Chapter 1. Overview

- Introduction

- Installation Prerequisites

- Access HyperFlex Sizer

- HyperFlex Sizer Home Page

Introduction

Cisco HyperFlex Sizer is a web-based application that helps in sizing different workloads and matching them with appropriate Cisco Hyperconverged Systems.

The HyperFlex Sizer supports the following workloads:

- Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

- General Server Virtualized Environment (VSI)

- Microsoft SQL database

- Oracle

- Microsoft Exchange Server

- Compute and Capacity Sizer (RAW)

- HX Edge (ROBO)

Installation Prerequisites

Supported Browsers

Browser

Version

Chrome

65 or higher

Firefox

59 or higher

Access HyperFlex Sizer

HyperFlex Sizer is hosted on the Cisco Lightweight Application Environment (LAE) infrastructure. You can access the HyperFlex Sizer using the following link:

https://hyperflexsizer.cloudapps.cisco.com

Enter your Cisco user credentials.

User Name

Cisco user ID

Password

Cisco password

Click Log In.

HyperFlex Sizer Home Page

The HyperFlex Sizer home page displays a list of all the scenarios previously created by you, if any. This is the first page you see when you log in to HyperFlex Sizer.

UI Element

Description

Add Scenario button

If there are no scenarios, you can click the Add Scenario button to create a new scenario.

If there are any previously created scenarios, the Add Scenario button is on the top-right corner.

My Scenario tab

Displays a list of all scenarios previously created by you, if any.

Shared with me tab

Displays a list of all the shared scenarios by other users, if any.

Sizing Calculator button

Provides a link to the sizing calculator, which is a tool that calculates the effective resources available after reserve and overhead reductions for a given node configuration.

Download HX Tools button

Provides links to download the OVA files for HxBench and HxProfiler.

Getting Started button

Provides training materials for HxSizer, HxBench, and HxProfiler.

What's New button

Provides information on what's new in the various HyperFlex Sizer releases.

Send Feedback button

Click the Envelope icon to send feedback and/or queries, if any.

Chapter 2. Scenarios

- Add a Scenario

- Scenarios Page with Workloads

- Scenario Tasks

- Modify VM/Desktop Counts

- View Clusterwise Workload Results

- Customize Options for Sizing

Add a Scenario

Procedure

The following steps describe how to add a Scenario:

The following steps describe how to add a Scenario:

Step 1

In the HyperFlex Sizer home page, click the Add Scenario button. The Add Scenario window appears, shown as follows:

Step 2

In the Add Scenario window, complete the following fields:

Field Name

Description

Name

Enter a name for the sizing Scenario. Use the following guidelines to create the name:

- The Scenario name must begin with an alphabetic character.

- Use alphanumeric characters only. An underscore, hyphen, or plus symbol can be used as a separator.

- Special characters are not allowed.

- The Scenario name must be unique.

Account

(Optional)

SFDC Deal Id

(Optional)

Step 3

Click Save.

You are now redirected to the Scenario details page.

Scenarios Page with Workloads

The HyperFlex Sizer Scenario details page displays a list of all the Workloads created by you, if any.

You can size different workloads on the Scenario details page by using the various options provided on the HyperFlex Sizer web application. You can choose between All- Flash and Lowest Cost sizing options to view the recommended sizing configurations that you can use in your HyperFlex cluster.

The node and parts for sizing are chosen based on CPU normalization.

Normalized cores:

The performance of a core in one processor is different from that of another processor. The performance of a CPU varies across generations of processors of the same type. The HyperFlex Sizer computes the effective core for a node by using the SpecInt and CFP values, and normalizes this to the SpecInt/CFP values of Intel E5-2630 v4.

Resize button—The Resize button helps to resize the Scenario to the latest version in case of a version mismatch for older Scenarios.

Note

Cisco recommends using the All-Flash option as it gives high performance and optimal sizing options for your HyperFlex cluster.

The fields described in this section are displayed under both the All-Flash tab and the Lowest_Cost tab, shown as follows:

Scenario Details Page

UI Element

Description

Threshold check box

Set the sizing threshold to one of the following:

- Standard—Default

- Conservative

- Aggressive

Node Choice check box

Choose the type of node for which you want to calculate sizing:

- HyperFlex & Compute—Default

- HyperFlex Only

Aggregate Summary column

Displays the recommended number of Clusters, Nodes, and Rack Units for a given number of workloads.

Utilization column

Displays the expected hardware resource utilization, namely CPU, RAM, Storage Capacity, and Storage IOPS for a workload.

There are three different components under utilization:

- With no failures—For workloads that have replication enabled, the resource utilization includes the replication overhead.

- With local failures—The number of failures matches the sizing parameter used for specifying the Performance Headroom parameter. For workloads that have replication enabled, resource utilization includes the replication overhead.

- Unused / Free—Applicable only if the workload has replication enabled. Shows the resource utilization when the DR partner cluster has failed and workloads running on the cluster have moved over.

Node Results column

You can view the combined Node Results for all clusters or for the individual clusters. The following results are displayed:

- Cluster—Name of the HX cluster

- Settings—Specific settings for the HX cluster, for instance, the Replication Factor that is set

- Part—Part number

- Type—Type of node

- Description—Properties of the node

- Count—Number of nodes

Customize Button

Click Customize to custom select the type for HX cluster workload for sizing and click Apply. You can create customized sizing for the workload using the following options:

UI Element

Description

Threshold button

Set the sizing threshold to one of the following:

- Standard—Default

- Conservative

- Aggressive

Include Software Cost button

- Yes

- No

Node Choice button

Choose the type of node for which you want to size:

- HyperFlex & Compute—Default

- HyperFlex Only

Sizing Option button

- Bundle Only—Size the bundle only.

- Bundle & CTO—Size both bundle and Configure to Order bundle.

Server Type button

Choose the type of server for which you want to size:

- All

- M4 Server

- M5 Server

Disk Option button

Select the type of disk:

- All

- SED Only (Self-Encrypting Drive Only)

- NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)

Modular LAN button

- All

- 40G VIC

You can customize HyperFlex Nodes, Compute Nodes, CPU, RAM Slots, Disk Options, and Modular LANs.

Download Button

You can download the sizing reports from the HxSizer in two formats:

Download Sizing Report

You can view all details of the sizing input, proposed sizing configurations, workload summary, aggregate workload requirements, and utilization of resources for the chosen option. Click the Download button in the top-right corner of the Scenario page (shown as follows), then click Download Sizing Report.

Download BOM for All-Flash and Lowest_Cost

A detailed Bill of Materials (BOM) is available separately for the All-Flash and Lowest Cost options as an Excel spreadsheet. This Excel sheet can be directly loaded to your Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW).

Fixed Configuration (Reverse Sizing)

In the Fixed Configuration (also referred to as "Reverse Sizing"), the workflow starts with a fixed HX configuration and helps validate whether a given set of workloads will run on it or not. Whereas in Regular Sizing, the workflow helps identify the cost-optimal HX configuration for a set of workloads. See Fixed (Reverse) Configuration Sizing for more information.

Scenario Tasks

To view the existing Scenarios, navigate to the My Scenarios tab in HyperFlex Sizer. You can perform the following tasks with existing Scenarios.

Clone a Scenario

Click the Clone icon of an existing Scenario to create a copy of the Scenario and complete the following fields.

Field Name

Description

Name

Enter a name for the sizing Scenario. Use the following guidelines to create the name:

- The Scenario name must begin with an alphabetic character.

- Use alphanumeric characters only. An underscore, hyphen, or plus symbol can be used as a separator.

- Special characters are not allowed.

- The Scenario name must be unique.

Account

(Optional)

SFDC Deal Id

(Optional)

Edit a Scenario

Click the Edit icon of an existing Scenario to edit the Scenario name, Account, or SFDC Deal ID.

Share a Scenario

To share a Scenario with an existing user or a new user, follow these steps:

1. Click the Share icon of an existing Scenario to share the Scenario.

2. Click the Select User drop-down list, to add user(s) from the populated list.

3. You can set the following access privileges to users:

- Read-only access—Users can only access the Scenario, they cannot modify it.

- Read and write access—Users have privileges to modify the Scenario, add new workloads, and modify existing workloads.

If username is not available in the populated list, provide a valid User ID under the User Name field and press Enter.

4. Click Save.

You can find the list of Scenarios shared with you under the Shared with me tab. You can find details about the owner of the Scenario and the users with whom the Scenario is shared on the Shared Scenarios page.

Delete a Scenario

Click the Delete icon of an existing Scenario to delete the Scenario.

Modify VM/Desktop Counts

To change the default values, click Customize.

Attention

The recommended values are based on performance tests and should be changed with caution.

To modify the number of desktops/VMs:

Procedure

Step 1

Change the value in the Workloads List for any workload in the Count box (shown as follows).

Step 2

Click Save.

View Clusterwise Workload Results

To view clusterwise Workload results :

Procedure

Step 1

Click Cluster 1 under Node Results to see all the Workloads that belong to Cluster 1. The Summary and Utilization details are displayed based on Cluster 1.

Step 2

Click Cluster 2 under Node Results to view the Cluster 2 details.

Customize Options for Sizing

To customize options for sizing:

Procedure

Step 1

Using the Customize button on the top-right screen, customize the Hyperflex Nodes, Compute Nodes, CPU, RAM Slots, and RAM options (shown as follows):

Step 2

You can also choose to customize the Threshold, Node Choice, Sizing Option, and Disk Option. The Disk Option allows you to select Storage Encrypted Disks, NVMe, or Coldstream.

Step 3

Click Apply. The changed options are saved and the new result can be viewed from the Scenario Page.

Chapter 3. Workloads

- Workloads Pane

- Add VDI Workload

- Add General Server VSI Workload

- Add Microsoft SQL Workload

- Add Oracle Workload

- Add Microsoft Exchange Server Workload

- Add Compute and Capacity Sizer (RAW) Workloads

- Add HyperFlex Edge (ROBO) Workload

- Fixed (Reverse) Configuration Sizing

- Sizing Calculator

Workloads Pane

Clone Workload

You can complete the following actions from the Workloads Pane:

Click the Clone icon of an existing Workload to create a copy of the Workload and complete the following fields.

Edit Workload

Click the Edit icon of an existing Workload to edit the Workload profile.

Delete Workload

Click the Delete icon of an existing Workload to delete the Workload.

Modify Virtual Machine or Desktop Count

To modify the number of desktops or VMs for a Workload, change the value in the Count box. Click Save.

Add VDI Workload

To change the default values, click Customize.

Attention

The recommended values are based on performance tests and should be changed with care.

To add a VDI Workload:

Procedure

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type page, select VDI, (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the Desktop Profile page (shown as follows), complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Workload Name field

Name of the Workload

User Type drop-down list

Choose from a list of predefined resource consumption values:

- Task Worker

- Knowledge Worker

- Power User

- Custom User—If the predefined resource consumption values in the templates listed do not meet your requirements, select the Custom User option to manually enter the Desktop Compute Profile and Desktop Storage Profile values.

Provisioning Type drop-down list

You have the following options for data retention:

- Persistent Desktops—Retains data on the desktop.

- Pooled Desktops—Does not retain on the desktop.

OS Type drop-down list

- Windows 7

- Windows 10

Number of Desktops field

Enter the total number of desktops.

The limit is 1 - 30,000 desktops.

Concurrency (%) field

Enter percentage relevant to the total number of desktops that should remain powered on concurrently.

Do the desktops require GPU?

Indicate if the desktops need to use GPUs.

Desktop Compute Profile

Depending on the User Type you choose, the recommended values will change.

vCPUs field

- Task Worker—1 vCPU

- Knowledge Worker—2 VCPUs

- Power User—2 VCPUs

Clock (MHz) field

- Task Worker—325 MHz

- Knowledge Worker—400 MHz

- Power User—400 MHz

RAM (GB) field

- Task Worker—1 GB

- Knowledge Worker—2 GB

- Power User—2 GB

Desktop Storage Profile

Average Storage IOPS field

Depending on the User Type you choose, the recommended values will change.

- Task Worker—6 IOPs

- Knowledge Worker—8 IOPs

- Power User—10 IOPs

User / Application Data Size (GB) field

Recommended is 0 GB

OS Image Size (GB) field

Recommended is 20 GB

Number of Snapshots field

Recommended is 0 GB

Working Set Size (%) field

Recommended is 10%

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page (shown as follows), complete the following fields.

UI Element

Description

Data Replication Factor drop-down list

RF3 is recommended for data redundancy.

Performance Headroom (nodes) drop-down list

Enter the number of nodes used for Fault Tolerance. Recommended is 1 node.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of a node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

Recommended is 10%

Deduplication Settings (%) field

Recommended is 30%

Step 5

Click Save.

Add General Server VSI Workload

To change the default values, click Customize.

Attention

The recommended values are based on performance tests and should be changed with care.

To add a General Server Virtualized Environment (VSI) Workload:

Procedure

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type page, select General Server Virtualized Environment (VSI) (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the VM Profile page, complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Workload Name field

Enter a name for the Workload.

VM Type drop-down list

Choose from a list of predefined resource consumptions values:

- Small

- Medium

- Large

- Custom—If the predefined resource consumption values in the templates listed do not meet the requirements, select Custom option to enter profile values on the Infrastructure Configuration page.

Number of VMs field

Enter the number of VMs.

VM Compute Profile

Depending on the VM Type you choose, the recommended values will change.

vCPUs field

- Small—2 vCPUs

- Medium—4 vCPUs

- Large—8 vCPUs

vCPU Overprovisioning Ratio field

Recommended value for all VM Types is 4 vCPUs.

The total number of vCPUs that can be packed per core.

RAM (GB) field

- Small—8 GB

- Medium—16 GB

- Large—32 GB

VM Storage Profile

Depending on the VM Type you choose, the recommended values will change.

Average 8K Storage IOPS field

- Small—50 IOPS

- Medium—100 IOPS

- Large—200 IOPS

User / Application Data Size (GB) field

- Small—50 GB

- Medium—200 GB

- Large—750 GB

OS Image Size (GB) field

Recommended is 20 GB.

Size of the OS image for the VM.

Number of Snapshots field

Recommended is 5 snapshots.

Working Set Size (%) field

Recommended is 10%

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page, complete the following fields.

UI Element

Description

Cluster Type button

- Normal

- Stretch - The Stretch Cluster provides a high-availability cluster for data of high importance. This cluster is spread across two geographic regions and will be available even if one site goes down completely for any reason, such as a natural disaster.

Data Replication Factor drop-down list

RF2 is recommended for better availability.

Performance Headroom (nodes) drop-down list

Enter the number of nodes used for Fault Tolerance. Recommended is 1 node.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of a node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

Recommended is 20%

Deduplication Savings (%) field

Recommended is 10%

Enable Remote Replication?

Choose to enable remote replication. You can now set Workload placement and site failure protection as follows:

Primary Workload Placement drop-down list

- Site A

- Site B

Site Failure Protection (% Workload)—Recommended is 100.

Step 5

Click Save.

Add Microsoft SQL Workload

To change the default values, click Customize.

Attention

The recommended values are based on performance tests and should be changed with care.

To add a Microsoft SQL Workload:

Procedure

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type page, select Microsoft SQL (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the Database Profile page, complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Workload Name field

Enter a name of the Workload.

Database Type drop-down list

You can choose OLTP or OLAP database type.

- OLTP—Represents transactional workloads. The Sizer assigns a workload that consists of 8K 70% read, 30% write; 100% random, when sizing for the specified number of IOPS for OLTP.

- OLAP—Represents query, reporting, or analytics workloads. The Sizer assigns a workload that consists of large sequential reads when sizing for the specified throughput for OLAP.

Database Profile drop-down list

Choose from a list of predefined Database Profile values:

- Small

- Medium

- Large

- Custom—If the predefined values in the templates listed do not meet your requirements, select the Custom option to manually enter Compute Profile and Storage Profile values.

Number of Databases field

Enter the total number of databases.

Compute Profile

Depending on the Database Profile you choose, the recommended values will change.

vCPUs field

- Small—2 vCPUs

- Medium—4 vCPUs

- Large—8 vCPUs

vCPU Provisioning Ratio field

Recommended is 2 vCPUs.

RAM (GB) field

- Small—8 GB

- Medium—16 GB

- Large—32 GB

Storage Profile

Depending on the Database Profile you choose, the recommended values will change.

Database Size (GB) field

- Small—400 GB

- Medium—1000 GB

- Large—4000 GB

IOPS field

IOPS changes based on the Database Type you choose.

For OLTP Database Type, the following values are recommended:

- Small—1000 IOPS

- Medium—3000 IOPS

- Large—10000 IOPS

For OLAP Database Type, the following values are recommended:

- Small—100 MB/s

- Medium—200 MB/s

- Large—800 MB/s

Database Overhead (%) field

- Small—45%

- Medium—40%

- Large—30%

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page, complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Cluster Type button

- Normal

- Stretch - The Stretch Cluster provides a high-availability cluster for data of high importance. This cluster is spread across two geographic regions and will be available even if one site goes down completely for any reason, such as a natural disaster.

Data Replication Factor drop-down list

RF3 is recommended for data redundancy.

Performance Headroom (nodes) drop-down list

Enter the number of nodes used for Fault Tolerance. Recommended is 1 node.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of a node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

Recommended is 30%

Deduplication Settings (%) field

Recommended is 0%

Enable Remote Replication? check box

Choose to enable remote replication. You can now set Workload placement and site failure protection as follows:

Primary Workload Placement drop-down list

- Site A

- Site B

Site Failure Protection (% Workload)—Recommended is 100%

Step 5

Click Save.

Add Oracle Workload

To change the default values, click Customize.

Attention

The recommended values are based on performance tests and should be changed with caution.

Procedure

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type page, select Oracle (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the Database Profile page, complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Workload Name field

Enter a name of the Workload.

Database Type drop-down list

You can choose OLTP or OLAP database type.

- OLTP—Represents transactional workloads. The Sizer assigns a Workload that consists of 8K 70% read, 30% write; 100% random, when sizing for the specified number of IOPS for OLTP.

- OLAP—Represents query, reporting, or analytics workloads. Sizer assigns a workload that consists of large sequential reads, when sizing for the specified throughput for OLAP.

Database Profile drop-down list

Choose from a list of predefined Database Profile values:

- Small

- Medium

- Large

- Custom—If the predefined values in the templates listed do not meet your requirements, select the Custom option to manually enter Compute Profile and Storage Profile values.

Number of Databases field

Enter the total number of databases.

Compute Profile

Depending on the Database Profile you choose, the recommended values will change.

vCPUs field

- Small—4 vCPUs

- Medium—8 vCPUs

- Large—16 vCPUs

vCPU Provisioning Ratio field

Recommended is 2 vCPUs.

RAM (GB) field

- Small—16 GB

- Medium—64 GB

- Large—96 GB

Storage Profile

Depending on the Database Profile you choose, the recommended values will change.

Database Size (GB) field

- Small—400 GB

- Medium—1000 GB

- Large—4000 GB

IOPS field

IOPS changes based on the Database Type you choose.

For OLTP Database Type, the following values are recommended:

- Small—6000 IOPS

- Medium—10000 IOPS

- Large—30000 IOPS

For OLAP Database Type, the following values are recommended:

- Small—200 MB/s

- Medium—400 MB/s

- Large—1000 MB/s

Database Overhead (%) field

- Small—45%

- Medium—40%

- Large—30%

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page, complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Cluster Type button

- Normal

- Stretch - The Stretch Cluster provides a high-availability cluster for data of high importance. This cluster is spread across two geographic regions and will be available even if one site goes down completely for any reason, such as a natural disaster.

Data Replication Factor drop-down list

RF3 is recommended for data redundancy.

Performance Headroom (nodes) drop-down list

Enter the number of nodes used for Fault Tolerance. Recommended is 1 node.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of a node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

Recommended is 30%

Deduplication Settings (%) field

Recommended is 0%

Enable Remote Replication? check box

Choose to enable remote replication. You can now set Workload placement, and site failure protection as follows:

Primary Workload Placement drop-down list

- Site A

- Site B

Site Failure Protection (% Workload)—Recommended is 100.

Step 5

Click Save.

Add Microsoft Exchange Server Workload

Procedure

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type page, select Microsoft Exchange Server (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the Workload Profile page, you can choose to enter the values manually or you can import them from a file.

UI Element

Essential Information

Workload Name field

Enter a name for the Workload.

Workload Input Type

Download the Microsoft Exchange Workload modeling spreadsheet from Microsoft Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator.

Important

Ensure that the Microsoft Exchange 2013 Sizing Calculator is filled out properly, refer to the Configure the Microsoft Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator.

Upload the completed .XLSM spreadsheet to process workload inputs.

vCPUs field

Total number of cores required for all the MS Exchange Servers after accounting for system overhead. Intel E5-2630 v4 is used as the reference CPU for core count.

vCPU Overprovisioning Ratio field

Total number of vCPUs that can be packed per core.

Total RAM (GB) field

The total RAM required for all guest VMs, after accounting for system overhead.

Effective User Capacity (GB) field

This value depends on the Dedupe or Compression savings. You can change the Deduplication and compression savings on the Infrastructure Configuration Page.

DB IOPS field

Average 16KB IOPS, with 100% random 60/40 read/write ratio.

Log IOPS field

Average 32KB IOPS, with 100% random 60/40 read/write ratio.

Maintenance IOPS field

Average 64KB IOPS, with 100% random 60/40 read/write ratio.

Future Growth (%) field

Specify percentage to allow for future growth of the environment for Physical Cores, RAM, and Effective User Capacity.

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page, complete the following fields.

UI Element

Essential Information

Cluster Type button

- Normal

- Stretch - The Stretch Cluster provides a high-availability cluster for data of high importance. This cluster is spread across two geographic regions and will be available even if one site goes down completely for any reason, such as a natural disaster.

Data Replication Factor field

RF3 is recommended for better availability.

Performance Headroom (# of nodes) field

Number of nodes of Fault Tolerance.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

By default is set to 15%.

The allowed range is 0-50%

Deduplication Settings (%) field

By default is set to 15%.

The allowed range is 0-70%

Step 5

Click Save.

Add Compute and Capacity Sizer (RAW) Workloads

Procedure

To add the Compute and Capacity Sizer Workloads:

To add the Compute and Capacity Sizer Workloads:

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type tab, select Compute and Capacity Sizer (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the Workload Profile page, you can choose to enter the values manually or you can import them from a file.

UI Element

Description

Workload Name field

Enter a name for the Workload.

Workload Input Type button

- Manual—To use default values, choose this option.

- File—You can import the values from a CSV file. The CSV file can be downloaded from the HxProfiler.

The File option provides users with the following options:

- 30-day summary from the HX Profiler tool. (The CSV file can be downloaded from the HX Profiler tool for a 30-day duration period.)

- RV Tools Output

CPU Unit field

- Cores by default

- Clock

Total vCPUs field

Default is 2 vCPUs.

The total number of cores required for all the guest VMs after accounting for system overhead.

CPU Overprovisioning Ratio field

Default is 1 vCPU.

The total number of vCPUs that can be packed per core.

Total RAM (GB) field

Default is 128 GB.

The total RAM required for all guest VMs after accounting for system overhead.

Effective User Capacity (GB) field

Default is 1000 GB.

This value depends on the dedupe or compression savings. You can change the deduplication and compression savings on the Infrastructure Configuration page.

Future Growth (%) field

Specify the percentage to allow for future growth of the environment for Physical Cores, RAM, and Effective User Capacity.

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page, complete the following fields.

UI Element

Description

Cluster Type button

- Normal

- Stretch - The Stretch Cluster provides a high-availability cluster for data of high importance. This cluster is spread across two geographic regions and will be available even if one site goes down completely for any reason, such as a natural disaster.

Data Replication Factor field

RF3 is recommended for better availability.

Performance Headroom (# of nodes) field

Number of nodes of Fault Tolerance.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of a node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

By default set to 0%.

The allowed range is 0-50%.

Deduplication Settings (%) field

By default set to 0%.

The allowed range is 0-70%.

Step 5

Click Save.

Add HyperFlex Edge (ROBO) Workload

To change the default values, click Customize.

Attention

The recommended values are based on performance tests and should be changed with care.

To add a HyperFlex Edge (ROBO) Workload:

Procedure

Step 1

Click the + icon under Workloads.

Step 2

On the Workload Type page, select HX Edge (ROBO) (shown as follows). Click Next.

Step 3

On the Edge Profile page, complete the following fields:

UI Element

Description

Workload Name field

Enter a name for the Workload.

VM Type drop-down list

Choose from a list of predefined resource consumptions values:

- Small

- Medium

- Large

- Custom—If the predefined resource consumption values in the templates listed do not meet the requirements, select the Custom option to enter profile values on the Infrastructure Configuration page.

Number of VMs field

Enter the number of VMs.

VM Compute Profile

Depending on the VM Type you choose, the recommended values will change.

vCPUs field

- Small—2 vCPUs

- Medium—4 vCPUs

- Large—8 vCPUs

vCPU Overprovisioning Ratio field

Recommended value for all VM Types is 4.

The total number of vCPUs that can be packed per core.

RAM (GB) field

- Small—8 GB

- Medium—16 GB

- Large—32 GB

VM Storage Profile

Depending on the VM Type you choose, the recommended values will change.

Average 8K Storage IOPS field

- Small—50 IOPS

- Medium—100 IOPS

- Large—200 IOPS

User / Application Data Size (GB) field

- Small—50 GB

- Medium—100 GB

- Large—750 GB

OS Image Size (GB) field

Recommended is 20 GB.

Size of the OS image for the VM.

Number of Snapshots field

Recommended is 5 snapshots

Working Set Size (%) field

Recommended is 10%

Click Next.

Step 4

On the Infrastructure Configuration page, complete the following fields.

UI Element

Description

Data Replication Factor drop-down list

Caution

Edge workload is supported only with RF 2.

Performance Headroom (nodes) drop-down list

Enter the number of nodes used for Fault Tolerance. Recommended is 1 node.

Setting Performance Headroom adds additional nodes to the cluster to ensure that there is enough performance bandwidth in case of a node failure.

Compression Savings (%) field

Recommended is 20%

Deduplication Savings (%) field

Recommended is 10%

Step 5

Click Save.

Fixed (Reverse) Configuration Sizing

Fixed Sizing (also referred to as "Reverse Sizing") is a workflow that starts with a fixed configuration and helps validate whether a given set of Workloads will run on it or not. In the case of Regular Sizing, the workflow helps identify the cost-optimal HX configuration for a set of Workloads.

To add a Fixed Configuration Sizing workflow:

Procedure

Step 1

Create a new Scenario, then click I have fixed config (aka "Reverse Sizing"). Click Yes to confirm (shown as follows).

Note

Once you have changed to a fixed configuration (Fixed Sizing), you cannot revert back to Regular Sizing.

Step 2

The Fixed Config Sizing tab appears with options to select the HyperFlex node and the Compute node (shown as follows). Make your selections, then click Apply. The Scenario page reloads.

Step 3

Click the + icon under Workloads, which prompts a dialogue box with the various Workload types supported (shown as follows). Any greyed-out Workloads are not supported for the chosed fixed configuration. This setting can be changed by selecting the Customize button on the Scenario page.

The other Workloads can be added to the Fixed Configuration Sizing based on the clustering of those Workloads that can be placed into one cluster. The standard clustering formats include:

[VDI], [VSI, DB, ORACLE], [RAW], [EXCHANGE], [ROBO]

Note

For Fixed Configuration Sizing, the Stretch Cluster and Replication are not supported.

Sizing Calculator

The Sizing Calculator is a tool that calculates the effective resources available after reserve and overhead reductions for a given node configuration.

To use the Sizing Calculator:

Procedure

Step 1

Select the required configurations and click the Calculate button, shown as follows.

Step 2

Click Download Report (shown as follows) if you want to download the Sizing Calculator report.

Chapter 4. Configure Microsoft Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator

- Configure the Microsoft Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator

- Troubleshooting

Configure the Microsoft Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator

Overview

Download the Microsoft Exchange Workload modeling spreadsheet from Microsoft Exchange 2013 Server Role Requirements Calculator. Read the Microsoft Exchange Calculator Readme file for comprehensive guidance on using the calculator.

Cisco HyperFlex Sizer provides the BOM for the primary datacenter only. This section provides the parameters that should be configured on the Input Tab of the Microsoft Exchange Calculator. Customers who plan to deploy in multiple datacenters and stretch the Database Availability Group (DAG) must complete the input for the secondary datacenter under Site Resilience Configuration. Completing this input ensures that the primary datacenter Compute and Storage requirements are properly sized to handle all users in the event that the secondary datacenter is down.

Exchange Environment Configuration

Configuration Settings

Value

Exchange Server Version

2016

Global Catalog Server Architecture

64-bit

Server Role Virtualization

Yes

High Availability Deployment

Yes

If a DAG is planned, ensure that High Availability Deployment is set to Yesand that the proper number of database copy instances are selected for each site.

Tier-1 [2,3,4] User Mailbox Configuration

Ensure that the user mailbox tiers are set to the appropriate initial and maximum mailbox sizes. With HyperFlex, adding additional persistent tier disks or adding converged nodes to the cluster expands the usable storage on the cluster automatically. Adding additional databases, expanding the HyperFlex datastore, or expanding the Windows LUN where an online database is located, is instant and can occur without any downtime.

Configuration Settings

Value

User Mailbox Configuration Settings

Number of Days in a Work Week field

5 days

Tier-1 User Mailbox Configuration field

Total Number of Tier-1 User Mailboxes / Environment field

10000 Tier-1 User Mailboxes/Environment

Projected Mailbox Number Growth Percentage field

0%

Total Send/Receive Capability / Mailbox / Day field

200 messages

Average Message Size (KB) field

75 KB

Initial Mailbox Size (MB) field

2048 MB

Mailbox Size Limit (MB) field

10240 MB

Backup Configuration

Configuration Settings

Value

Backup Methodology field

Backup Methodology can have a sizing impact. The recommended methodology is to utilize the Cisco HyperFlex native snapshot, along with a third-party backup application that will keep a copy of the backup off the cluster, typically in a backup repository.

The following backup methodology options are available:

- (Recommended) Hardware VSS Backup/Restore—Requires the smallest amount of capacity to restore LUNs.

- Software VSS Backup/Restore—Requires a larger capacity to restore LUNs.

- Exchange Native Data Protection—Requires a larger capacity to restore LUNs.

- VMware redo-log snapshots—Large restore LUNs must be provisioned on each Exchange Server to provide enough space to pull a copy of the backup and then enable roll forward recovery.

- Exchange Native Data Protection with lagged database copies—Large restore LUNs must be provisioned on each Exchange Server to provide enough space to pull a copy of the backup and then enable roll forward recovery.

Backup Frequency field

Weekly Full or Daily Incremental

Backup/Truncation Failure Tolerance field

3

Network Failure Tolerance (Days) field

0 days

Storage Options

Configuration Settings

Value

Automatically Calculate Number of Exchange Database Volumes Required

Yes

If set to No, carefully size and ensure that enough Exchange Data Volumes are selected so that the databases fit on the server. If they do not fit, you will be unable to upload the spreadsheet into the Cisco HyperFlex Sizer, and a warning will appear on cell G216 on the Role Requirements tab.

Number of AutoReseed Volumes per Server

1 AutoReseed Volumes

Server Configuration

The Microsoft Exchange Calculator is based on a particular baseline CPU. To properly calculate the megacycle to actual CPU consumption, enter both the number of vCPUs for the Microsoft Exchange Server VM in Processor Cores / Server, and the SPECint2006 Rate Value for the Cisco HyperFlex Server. For example values, refer to SPEC CINT2006 Result.

Server Configuration

Processor Cores / Server

SPECint2006 Rate Value

Primary Datacenter Mailbox Servers

16

2330

Secondary Datacenter Mailbox Servers

16

2330

Troubleshooting

Error Message

Recommended Solution

One or more workloads have exceeded the maximum CPU limits.

Toggle to HX+Compute, or include All-Flash options if not already set. Split the Workload into smaller Workloads.

No SmartPlay hyperconverged nodes have been chosen, due to filters. Please change the filters.

For All-Flash Option, select SmartPlay Hyperconverged Nodes from the Customize option.

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