Vblock
Vblock are a manufactured converged infrastructure product of VCE (company) designed to be deterministic units of power, weight, cooling, and geometry for data center planning purposes[1].
History and Models
Vblock currently comes in two series and each series has models. All are based on the following compositional elements[2][3]:
- EMC provides storage and provisioning
- VNX
- VMAX
- Ionix UIM/P
- Cisco provides compute and networking
- UCS
- Nexus
- VMware provides virtualization
- vSphere
- with vDS provided via Cisco Nexus 1000V
- with MPIO provided via EMC PowerPath/VE
Vblock naming conventions have undergone branding changes since their inception[4]. In 2009, the term Vblock Infrastructure Packages was referenced in the initial announcements from then Acadia, the Virtual Computing Environment coalition, as well as their primary investors. In late 2010 and continuing through 2011, the term Packages was replaced with Platforms. By mid 2012, the term, Infrastructure Platforms was replaced with Systems in wider circulation to arrive at, simply, Vblock™ Systems[5]. Meanwhile, during this window of time there have been refinements to the constituent elements and technology utilized in the Vblock that coincide with enhancements and upgrades to the product lines from Cisco, EMC, and VMware.[6]
Infrastructure Packages
Originally based upon a reference architecture, these were made possible by taking a reference architecture combined with a sizable term physical and logical build initially at a customer data center or colocation data center and later within a pre-manufacturing environment for shipment to a customer data center or colocation data center. Options and choices were more limited during the time these were marketed and sold. The 0, 1, 1U, and 2 are now end of sale with the introduction of the new series and models naming conventions.
The 0 (zero)
This was the original development and testing file personality model of Vblock using EMC NS-120 storage and a fixed configuration of 4 types Cisco UCS blade selections.
The 1 (one)
This was the original mid-range block personality model of Vblock using EMC CX4-480 storage and an expandable configuration of 4 types Cisco UCS blade selections.
The 1U (one U)
This was the original mid-range file and block (unified) personality model of Vblock using EMC NS-960 storage and an expandable configuration of 4 types Cisco UCS blade selections.
The 2 (two)
This was the original high end block personality model of Vblock using EMC VMAX storage and an expandable configuration of 4 types Cisco UCS blade selections as well as performance oriented selections for SAN and Layer 2 networking.
Series
300
This series offers a larger number of choices based on the performance envelope required as well as the capacity desired. In contrast to the 0, 1, 1U these are VCE manufactured products that are produced in global manufacturing centers that are then deployed and installed within a customer data center or colocation data center by a VCE partner and/or VCE professional services team.
EX
This model utilizes EMC VNX 5300 storage arrays and a fixed expansion configuration of matched Cisco UCS blade selections.
FX
This model utilizes EMC VNX 5500 storage arrays and a variety of expansion options with matched Cisco UCS blade selections.
GX
This model utilizes EMC VNX 5700 storage arrays and a variety of expansion options with matched Cisco UCS blade selections.
HX
This model utilizes EMC VNX 7500 storage arrays and a variety of expansion options with matched Cisco UCS blade selections.
700
This series offers an even larger number of options for functionality, performance, and capacity. Also, in contrast to the 2 these are VCE manufactured products that are produced in global manufacturing centers that are then deployed and installed within a customer data center or colocation data center by a VCE partner and/or VCE professional services team.
LX
This model utilizes EMC VMAXe storage arrays and a variety of expansion options with matched Cisco UCS blade selections.
MX
This model utilizes EMC VMAX storage arrays and a variety of expansion options with matched Cisco UCS blade selections.
Customers
It is believed that Vblock are widely deployed globally in both enterprise and service provider environments but no confirmed numbers are announced publicly by VCE or its investors[7]. Because of the lack of a manufactured physical and logical build on an actual manufacturing floor, previous deployments of what were called or referred to as Vblock (often with various use of upper and lower case spelling) are not considered to be Vblock by some pundits and infrastructure professionals [8] since these so-called reference architures (meant to describe the using now dated reference architectures) varied greatly from project to project when compared to late 2010 manufactured Vblock. Anecdotally, institutions and companies using Vblock have been involved in published testimonials[9][10].
See also
References
- ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/21/vce_acadia_ramp/
- ^ http://vmackem.co.uk/?p=553
- ^ http://www.lightreading.com/video.asp?doc_id=216883
- ^ http://siliconangle.com/blog/2011/08/17/is-vce-a-flailing-startup-a-study-of-snark-in-new-media/
- ^ http://vdi-virtual-desktop-infrastructure.tmcnet.com/articles/295096-vce-fastpath-platform-simplifies-vdi-vblock-systems.htm
- ^ http://www.telegram.com/article/20111211/NEWS/112119983/1002/business
- ^ http://www.crn.com/news/networking/240004002/vce-taps-cisco-veteran-as-new-ceo.htm
- ^ http://www.bythebell.com/2010/10/customers-embracing-vblocks-but-vce-sales-harmony-a-work-in-progress.html
- ^ http://www.ventech.com/2012/07/vblock-video-success-story-ms-community-college-board/
- ^ http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/09/15/taking-college-it-out-of-the-hardware-business.aspx