I’ve been waiting and looking forward to this moment for some time now; the Dell FX2 server platform is now officially listed in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Customers are now able easily to choose from a list of available ready nodes one of the most powerful converge server platforms currently available today.
I have used the FX2 server platform for a number Virtual SAN projects and use cases ranging from VDI, Management Cluster, DMZ, Business Critical Application (Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Oracle), and multi-site Stretched Cluster deployments and the platform has delivered the goods every single time.
The Dell’s FX2 server platform is an ideal solutions for VMware’s hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) with VMware Virtual SAN. The FX2 value proposition complements with the principal values of Virtual SAN around simplicity, ease of management, scalability, and cost effectiveness.
The Dell FX2 Virtual SAN Ready Nodes are now available in the following models and configurations:
The Dell FX2 converged 2U rack chassis allows customers to incrementally add or swap compact, modular building blocks including servers, storage and IO, to fit any Virtual SAN environment. Much like Virtual SAN, Dell’s FX2 it is designed to deliver more choice, less complexity and simplify building and management by bringing advanced management technologies to converged infrastructure. Customers can also easily and rapidly scale the resources for any workload and business requirements.
The shared cooling, power, networking, management and PCIe expansion slots in the FX2 chassis service a wide range of server/storage combinations, enabling higher granularity and greater efficiency in your IT resource management.
The flexible multi-fabric IO design allows FX servers to efficiently handle all types of storage traffic with a design optimized for the Virtual SAN storage environments. The FX2 chassis also features a distinctive Dell PCIe fabric that can free customers from proprietary limitations and enable you to accelerate performance.
The FX2 is a solid and proven server platform for Virtual SAN as it was featured and demonstrated in three of the top rated storage and hyper-converged sessions in VMworld 2015:
- Building a Stretched Cluster Using Virtual SAN 6.1
- Building SQL Server Geographically Distributed Clusters with Virtual SAN Stretched Clusters
- Using VMware Virtual SAN to Maximized Database Performance
Overall the Dell FX2 is a robust platform and definitely one of my favorite converged server platforms for Virtual SAN. For more information on the FX2 visit the Dell website and for the latest and greatest Virtual SAN Ready Node permutations continue to check the VMware Compatibility Guide.
Take a look at a demonstration of the Dell FX2 Ready Node in action as features in the official announcement and release of Virtual SAN 6.1 Stretched Cluster feature in one my VMworld sessions below:
Once again, I want to thank David K Nguyen from Dell for providing me with all the FX2 server platform gear.
– Enjoy
For future updates on Virtual SAN (VSAN), vSphere Virtual Volumes (VVol) and other Storage and Availability technologies, as well as vSphere Integrated OpenStack (VIO), and Cloud-Native Apps (CNA) be sure to follow me on Twitter: @PunchingClouds
