vSAN ReadyLabs have been certifying new vSAN ReadyNode when a new platform becomes available from our OEM partners. We strive to be ready on the first day of the launch for a new platform so that our mutual customers can reap the benefits of it. We are glad to add newer platform with “AMD EPYC™” processors in vSAN ReadyNode family. Dell PowerEdge servers “R6415”, “R7415” and “R7425” based on AMD EPYC processors are the first one which are now certified and listed in vSAN HCL.
vSAN ReadyNode – PowerEdge servers based on AMD EPYC processors
We will continue listing other OEM platforms as it becomes available.
In short, AMD EPYC is the latest CPU family from AMD and is aimed at data center server market for use cases such as HCI (Hyper-Converged Infrastructure), HPC (High Performance Computing) and Big Data.
Benefits of these PowerEdge vSAN ReadyNode
PowerEdge servers based on AMD EPYC can have up to 32 cores per CPU and can go up to 128 PCIe Gen3 lane which is especially useful in NVMe based systems. This means you no longer require extra hardware to accommodate more PCIe devices.
From user scenario perspective; it can run different existing and new workloads but a few scenarios are more pertinent to vSAN with these platforms.
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Choice of Platform
When we consider PowerEdge servers based on AMD EPYC processors, there are quite a few unique platforms which are not available in other generations. These unique platforms are primarily NVMe based meaning more NVMe devices, more processing core and denser configuration. For our customers, it means they can now run more compute intense or storage heavy workloads with lesser server footprint.
NVMe is the next generation storage and these platforms empower our customers running more performance orientated and mission-critical application in vSAN environment.
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Edge Computing
As we embark on Digital Transformation journey, edge computing plays an important role. It brings the data processing at the edge of the network, near the source of data so that real time decision making process can be made. It cannot wait for data generated by IoT sensors to be sent to central location (On-Prem Data Center and Cloud), processed and sent back to edge again. In most cases, the source of data generated by sensors are in TB if not in PB and require fast computing. Not only that, the compute and storage entities are not static in such environment. In most circumstances, it is hard to predict their growth consideration as well.
Indeed, it demands a mini data center at the edge which can grow flexibly. Also, it requires smaller footprint keeping edge deployment in mind.
Edge/Distributed Computing
For example, PowerEdge 6415 1U provides storage flexibility with up to 10 PCIe NVMe drives in each server. It can have up to 32 cores per CPU. This high core count provides high performance and delivers a dense configuration. As the data or compute growth needs occur, you can scale-out by adding R6415 in the existing solution to accommodate the need.
For customers, they do not require planned growth for storage and compute and provide scale-out distributed computing with dense storage. Additionally, by bringing it to edge, they can reduce the data transfer cost for computing in central location improving further the TCO story of the deployment.
How to find AMD EPYC™ based vSAN ReadyNode?
If you got to vSAN HCL and select “Gen3 – AMD-EPYC” under “vSAN ReadyNode Generation:” and click on “Update and View Results”, you will see all the vSAN ReadyNode certified for AMD EPYC.
Selection of AMD EPYC vSAN ReadyNode
Conclusion
To conclude, these servers are not limited to above scenarios. There are other use cases such as server consolidation, business critical applications, management clusters etc. can take advantage of it. Dell PowerEdge AMD EPYC™ based servers with next generation storage and compute capability will help adopt new enterprise and edge workloads in vSAN environment in addition to the existing workloads.
For any questions on vSAN hardware, please reach out to vSAN Hardware PM [email protected].
To learn more about vSAN, visit VMware vSAN
