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| What you'll need to build your cloud |
Hardware Specifications
Overview
Extility can run on a wide range of hardware of varying specifications and capacities. The hardware required depends on the Edition you wish to run, the size of deployment you need, and the manner of installation.
Foundation Edition
Foundation Edition is designed to run on a single management server. In addition to this, you will need compute nodes (the nodes hosting your VMs), and a Nexenta Stor capable storage device. You will also need a switch to connect them up, and an upstream router that the compute nodes can communicate with to direct traffic appropriately.
Service Provider Edition
Service Provider Edition can be installed in two ways.
- Single server install: this is the simplest and most lightweight method. In this method, Extility Service Provider Edition is run on a single management server.
- Multiple server install: this is the most flexible and most scalable method. In this method, the services are installed in virtual machines on two or more management stack boxes. As the platform grows, VMs can be live migrated off to new physical hardware.
In either case, in addition to the above, you will need compute nodes (the nodes hosting your VMs), and storage device. You will also need a switch to connect them up, and an upstream router that the compute nodes can communicate with to direct traffic appropriately. If you are using Public VLAN mode, you will also need one or more router nodes.
Management Stack Hardware Requirements
The table below sets out our recommended specification for the management stack for each version.
| Hardware | Foundation Edition | Service Provider Edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | Single Server | Multiple Server | |
| Management | ||||
| Number Required | One1 | One1 | One1 | Two1 |
| CPU | One quad core | Two quad core | Two quad core | Two 6/8 cores |
| Memory | 8GB | 16GB | 16GB | 32GB |
| Disk | 1 x 160GB SATA | 2 x 146GB SAS Raid 1 | 2 x 146GB SAS Raid 1 | 2 x 300GB SAS Raid 1 |
| Network | 2 x 1GbE NIC | 2 x 1GbE NIC | 2 x 1GbE NIC | 4 x 1GbE NIC |
| Firewall | ||||
| Number Required | N/A | N/A | N/A | Two1 |
| CPU | N/A | N/A | N/A | Quad core 2.6GHz |
| Memory | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8GB |
| Disk | N/A | N/A | N/A | Two 146GB SAS Raid 1 |
| Network | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 x 1GbE NIC |
Other Hardware Requirements
The table below sets out what additional hardware you will need to build your cloud.
| Hardware | Foundation Edition | Service Provider Edition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KVM/Xen | VMware | |||
| Minimum | Recommended | Recommended | Recommended | |
| Compute Nodes | ||||
| Number Required | One1 | Two or more1 | Five or more1 | Five or more, as per VMware hardware recommendations2 |
| CPU | 1 x quad core | 2 x 4/6/8 cores | 2 x 6/8 cores | |
| Memory | 8GB | 16GB | 32GB | |
| Disk | None | None | None | |
| Network | 2 x 1GbE NIC | 2 x 1GbE NIC | 2 x 1GbE NIC | |
| Router Nodes | ||||
| Number Required | N/A | N/A | One or more pairs1,4 | One or more pairs1,4 |
| CPU | N/A | N/A | Quad core 2.6GHz | Quad core 2.6GHz |
| Memory | N/A | N/A | 8GB | 8GB |
| Disk | N/A | N/A | None | None |
| Network | N/A | N/A | 2 x 1GbE NIC | 2 x 1GbE NIC |
| vSphere Server | ||||
| Requirement | N/A | N/A | N/A | At least one, as per VMware hardware recommendations |
| Storage Bridge/Head/SAN | ||||
| Number Required | One3 | One3 | Dependent on customer requirements | As per VMware hardware recommendations |
| CPU | 1 x dual core7 | 1 x 4/6/8 cores7 | ||
| Memory | 16GB | 32GB | ||
| Disk | 1 x 500GB SATA | 2 x 500GB SATA, 2x 100GB write biased SSDs | ||
| Network | 1 x 2 port 1GbE NIC | 1 x 2 port 1GbE NIC6 | ||
| Minimum storage | 150GB | 150GB | 150GB | 150GB |
| Switch | ||||
| Number Required | One 12 port layer 2 switch5 | Two 24 port layer 2 switches switch with ability to manage VLANs5 | Two 24 port layer 2 switches switch with ability to manage VLANs5 | Two 24 port layer 2 switches switch with ability to manage VLANs5 |
| Upstream Router | ||||
| Number Required | One, BGP or OSPF support | Two, BGP or OSPF support | Two, BGP or OSPF support | Two, BGP or OSPF support |
Notes
- ‘Ubuntu compatible’ means x86 Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid) compatible with VT Support.
- ‘VMware compatible’ means compatible as per the VMware guidelines for Hardware Compatability.
- NexentaStor compatible.
- Only required if Public VLAN mode is used.
- Enough switch ports must be available to handle all devices. Switch sizing thus depends on the size of the deployment.
- Deployments of significant size will benefit from moving to 10GigE for storage.
- Nexenta strongly recommends an Intel chipset is used.