Technical Community - Background Reading



Chat Transcript

Dell-KongY Today's chat is on the Dell PowerEdge M710HD.
Dell-KongY http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/b/inside-enterprise-it/archive/2010/06/09/dell-bolsters-blade-offerings-with-new-poweredge-m610x-and-m710hd.aspx
Dell-KongY Without further ado, I'll pass it to Dell-chrisc.
Dell-ChrisC The Dell PowerEdge M710HD is a half height blade that packs all the memory and processing power of the Dell PowerEdge M710.
Dell-ChrisC With 18 DIMMs and 2 Processors, you get a very dense processing blade platform.
Dell-ScottH Are there any special considerations or planning if I pack a Dell PowerEdge M1000e full of these? Can it handle a full chassis?
Dell-ChrisC There shouldn’t be any issues as far as power and cooling. The Dell PowerEdge M1000e is capable of supporting the requisite thermals and wattage draws for the Dense blades.
Shawn Wow, I wish I would have seen this yesterday, I just purchased 2 More Dell PowerEdge R710's today.
Dell-ChrisC The Dell PowerEdge M710HD is differentiated from the M710 in another important way.
Dell-ChrisC Since the Dell PowerEdge M710 is a full height blade, it has redundant I/O fabrics.
Dell-ChrisC The Dell PowerEdge M710HD benefits from the Dell PowerEdge 1st Modular LOM (LAN on Motherboards) or Network Daughter Card (NDC).
erson Is this only available NDC on release a 4x1Gbit Broadcom 5709?
Dell-ChrisC Erson. Correct!
erson What will be released in H2?
erson I would like to see Intel-based options.
Dell-ChrisC The modular LOMs true power will be fully realized later in the year with a dual port CAN (Converged Network Adapter) release.
ceri How does that NDC work? Which fabrics does a single 4x1gb NDC connect to?
erson With regard to Microsoft Hyper-V, Intel really has the upper hand with the VMDq (Virtual Machine Devices Queues) support.
Dell-ChrisC NDC/LOM is Fabric A.
erson Ceri. It connects to fabric A, which is a dual 2-lane connection.
Jammrock Full Intel Xeon Processor 5600-series support? Hex-core all the up to X5680?
Dell-ChrisC Yes, 6-core.
Dell-ScottH How do you think a Dell PowerEdge M710HD would do with Exchange 2010 - 2 sockets - 18 DIMMs lots of I/O. What do you think, Todd?
Shawn Are you guys going to have this on the show floor at VMworld? Do I need to check it out when I am there?
erson Dell-chrisc. So no Intel-based 4x1 Gbit planned?
erson I would have liked 4x1 Gbit Intel ICH Fabric A+b and the dual port 10Gbe on C.
Dell-ChrisC Shawn. I’m not sure what the equipment drag will be at VMworld. At EMC world we had a Dell PowerEdge R810, Dell PowerEdge C6100, and a Dell PowerEdge M910 with chassis.
Jammrock CAN. Is that a switch or pass-through IOM?
shanfont I'm planning a migration to Microsoft Exchange 2010 soon. Dell PowerEdge M710HD or Dell PowerEdge M610? This is for 500 mailboxes.
Dell-ChrisC I am trying to get on the team to represent Dell at VMworld. If I am selected I will pass along your request for a Dell PowerEdge M710HD.
virtualTodd I was able to run 8000 users at about 50% utilization on the Dell PowerEdge R710. It would be awesome to see on this new Dell PowerEdge M710HD.
erson Jammrock: That depends on whether you’re going Ethernet or FCoE (Fiber Channel over Ethernet). If the latter, then you go pass-through.
erson Unless there is a new blade switch being released?
Dell-ChrisC Shanfont. Dell PowerEdge M710HD would give you more flexibility and throughput.
erson So an Emulex dual-port 10Gbe CNA.
Jammrock Chrisc mentions something about a CNA coming out later to release the full 4 Gb potential.
ceri I don't understand how a half-height blade can use 4 interfaces on Fabric A.
Dell-ChrisC Jammrock. The CNA will most likely iterate itself in the form of a 2-port 10Gbe card.
Jammrock CNA = Cisco Network Accessory?
erson Ceri: Check the architecture paper. Fabric A has dual 2-lane midplane connection on every server slot.
Dell-ScottH Erson. Link to paper?
Dell-KongY CNA = Converged Network Adapter.
erson So they could use 10gbase-kr to run 10Gbit over one lane?
ceri Erson. But there are no switches that have ports there?
Dell-ChrisC Erson. Correct.
Jammrock Will there be a switch IOM update to handle four ports in fabric A?
erson Ceri. No problem, you just need to put 10Gbe pass-through module or the Dell PowerConnect M8024 as IOM A1 and A2.
erson Jammrock. No need, you can use the Dell PowerConnect M6348 to handle quad gigabit.
ceri Erson. A Dell PowerConnect M8024 is one port per fabric though.
Jammrock I had not seen the Dell PowerConnect M6348 yet. Nice switch.
erson http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/pedge_m1000e_white_paper.pdf
Dell-ChrisC The Dell PowerEdge M710HD is also the 2nd blade to have redundant embedded hypervisors.
erson Ceri. Yes, but fabric A has two lanes for each fabric. It will use one lane with 10gbase-kr to A1 and one to A2.
Dell-ChrisC Two SD card slots protect from corruption or dislodgement.
erson Chrisc. In the YouTube video you show where the dual flash slots are, but where is the vFlash slot?
ceri Erson. For a dual port card, that makes sense. You mentioned a four port card, didn't you?
Dell-ChrisC The platform can hold a total of 2 SD cards.
erson Ok, so if dual hypervisor then no vFlash.
Dell-ChrisC Correct
erson Now I remember, that was the option on the Dell PowerEdge M910 as well.
ceri Dell-chrisc. Are those SD cards mirrored, do you mean?
erson Ceri. Think RAID1.
ceri Check.
erson In the architecture white paper I pasted above, on page 20 it says that the midplane for fabric A only supports 4x1gbit. That was never true then.
erson The midplane support dual 2-lanes for Fabric A and each lane is tested for 10gbase-kr (which is 10Gbit over one lane). On the dual port 10Gbe mezzanine, they are using 10gbase-kx4, which uses 4 lanes for a single 10gbit connection. Each mezzanine slot has access to dual 4-lanes.
erson Chrisc. What are the controller options?
erson Chrisc. Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H200 and Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H700. Is there something else?
Dell-ChrisC In addition to throughput, the Dell PowerEdge M710HDs 18 DIMM slots help drive less expensive, more option-rich memory configurations for VM deployments.
Dell-ChrisC PERC H200, since there is a max of 2 drives.
Jammrock 72 Gb for half the cost of 96GB in a Dell PowerEdge M610, yay!
ceri Let me reword my fabric question. I have a Dell PowerEdge M710HD, with a 4 x 1Gb NDC card. Those ports connect to: 1 x A1, 1 x A2, and what?
erson Ok, so no SAS6, CERC6 or PERC6 then?
Dell-ChrisC Erson. Correct.
erson Ceri. Two of those four ports connect to A1 and two to A2. You need a Dell PowerConnect M6348 to be able to utilize all four. If you have pass-through or M6220 (or a Cisco switch) you only get access to one gigabit on A1 and one on A2.
ceri Erson. Ding, ding, you win a prize, thanks. Is the Dell PowerConnect M6348 new?
erson Released 4Q 2009, if I remember correctly. It could have been Q3.
Dell-ChrisC Ceri. 2 go to A1, 2 go to A2.
Dell-ChrisC Ceri.You only get ports if you use the Dell PowerConnect M6348.
erson Chrisc. Are you sure the PERC H700 isn't supported?
Dell-ChrisC dell-erson. Thanks for the backup = )
ceri Erson, dell-chrisc: That makes sense now, thanks. Think the Dell PowerConnect M6348 was the key.
erson It’s battery backed, which the PERC H200 is not. And the dual drive Dell PowerEdge M910 has support for both PERC H200 and PERC H700.
ceri Think I have SAS6 in my Dell PowerEdge M610s, wrt controllers.
Jammrock I didn't think any of the blades support the battery backup.
erson They sure do.
erson The Dell PowerEdge M710 supports both PERC H200 and PERC H700. In the beginning it just supported SAS6 and CERC6.
Dell-ChrisC Erson. I did not see it on the engineering diagrams. The Dell PowerEdge M710HD has Only 2 HDs.
erson Chrisc. So does the Dell PowerEdge M910.
Dell-ChrisC Providing a controller that can do R5 would be pointless.
erson Yes, but PERC H700 is battery backed, which the PERC H200 is not..
erson Just check the Dell PowerEdge M910 configuration to see for yourself.
Dell-ChrisC Erson. Agreed
Jammrock Where would you even put the battery with a blade this packed?
erson Chrisc. So you are only confirming that a dual port 10gbe CNA will be released later on this year?
erson Jammrock. Below the hard drives.
Dell-KC If you look at Dell PowerEdge M710HD and Dell PowerEdge M610, the spot the Dell PowerEdge M610 had the battery has DIMMs now.
Dell-ChrisC From a competitive perspective, the ability to have hotswap HDs, RAID was more important when space got tight.
Dell-ChrisC Jammrock. Correct, that server is packed.
Jammrock Kind of a related question: 16GB memory modules in blades. 1. Are they possible, 2. When?
erson I have no clue whether a PERC H700 is supported. I'm just hoping it is. Battery packed RAID controller gives you the ability for a safe write-back cache policy instead of just having the option (could maybe be forced?) of a write-through policy.
ceri Any idea when the Dell PowerEdge M710HD will be on premier.dell.co.uk?
erson Jammrock. They are possible right now, but really, really expensive.
Jammrock I talked to my sales guy today and his release chart shows the Dell PowerEdge 710HD has been pushed back to early Q3 now. So are the 8GB modules. Double the price per Gb vs 4Gb/2Gb/1Gb.
Dell-ChrisC Erson. I hear you, the redundant simultaneous writes to the disks in a R1 should provide fault tolerance.
erson 4GB has the best price/performance still. 8GB is within reach, but is typically 2-4 times more expensive per GB than the 4GB.
Dell-ChrisC Jammrock. The Dell PowerEdge M710hd should RTS July 7th.
Dell-ChrisC Erson. That is the whole point of 18 DIMMs, being able to drive less expensive Memory options
erson Chrisc. Of course, that's why I purchased the Dell PowerEdge M710s.
erson 16GB is only support on twelve slots as well
Dell-ChrisC Erson. You still have the ranking restrictions with the Intel/memory Chipset.
erson Yes. The same as for the Dell PowerEdge M610/710.
Jammrock Dell PowerEdge M710's just don't have enough RAM to make up for the density loss. The M710HD will be a sweet product, price to density wise.
Dell-ChrisC Jammrock. The Dell PowerEdge M710 will be an I/O play, giving you choice.
erson I would appreciate it if you guys could get the documentation guys to update the quad port paper with specifications for these new blades (and for the Dell PowerEdge M910). It’s in the bottom of the M1000e documentation page.
Dell-ChrisC Some customers will want the dual redundant fabrics. Others will want the density.
Jammrock I've been using Dell PowerEdge M610s with 96 Gb RAM, but those will be replaced by the Dell PowerEdge M710HD for sure.
erson An update to the I/O guide with the new blades wouldn’t hurt either. That I/O guide is really good, btw.
Dell-ChrisC The Dell PowerEdge M710HD and Dell PowerEdge M1000e Chassis: Who says being dense and having a small footprint can’t be cool!
erson Jammrock. Why replace? Why not just add?
Jammrock Replace for new purchases. The Dell PowerEdge M610's aren't going away.
Dell-ChrisC Erson. The update is forthcoming.
Jammrock Just won't buy them until/unless 8GB modules come in-line, price wise.
Dell-ChrisC Jammrock. The Dell PowerEdge M160 is one of our most popular blades!
erson Yeah, the Dell PowerEdge M710 is pretty pointless unless you really need two mezzanines per fabric.
Dell-ChrisC And soon it will be complemented with a PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) expansion chassis capable of housing even the most powerful Card solutions like the Fusion-io cards!
Jammrock With clustering, I've never understood the need for the extra fabric I/Os. But then I work for a web host that really doesn’t need much Io.
wnichols Does anyone know if you can replace a tape drive in a Dell PowerVault 124t to go from LTO3 to LTO4 or 5?
erson Chrisc. But the Dell PowerEdge M610x feels like a niche blade.
Dell-ScottH http://www.fusionio.com/
erson HPCs that have the use for GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) processing will be happy though.
Jammrock Io-drives, rule!!!! We have a couple of servers with io-drives in a RAID 1. They are so fast, but way out of the layman's price range.
erson I see the Dell PowerEdge M610x going to HPC (High Performance Computing) mostly with dual Nvidia Tesla cards.
erson They are dual width right now, but apparently a single slot version is being launched shortly.
ceri Remotefx support as well, presumably?
Dell-ChrisC Erson. Flexibility is important. With some of the Fusion-io cards you can up to 5TBs of data accessed at 800,000 IOPs straight to the Apps in memory.
erson Handily enough, they need the exact amount of power that the Dell PowerEdge M610x provides per slot (225w).
Jammrock Dual Nvidia? There's like two single slot Nvidia cards in the universe. It will likely be a single GPGPU.
erson Jammrock. The Dell PowerEdge M610x has two PCIe x16 slots, so you could fit two Tesla single slot GFX cards.
erson Is Dell going to sell Fusion-io?
Jammrock Remotefx uses the Host GPU, not the remote GPU, so putting a GPU in a server won't help.
Dell-ChrisC Yes. 2x250watt cards of 1x300watt card.
Dell-ChrisC PCIe Gen2 x16. Very powerful and very flexible.
Dell-ChrisC And now back to our regularly scheduled M710hd weblog..
erson http://bladesmadesimple.com/2010/06/dell-announces-new-blade-servers-m710hd-and-m610x/
erson Chrisc. Is there anything about the Dell PowerEdge M710HD that we haven't covered?
erson In the video you said SAS and SSD support. No SATA?
Jammrock Price comparable to the Dell PowerEdge M610? A little more?
Dell-ChrisC Erson. SSD and SAS.
Jammrock SAS is required to be SATA compatible.
ceri Jammrock. I thought RemoteFX used a server-side GPU for VDI, is that right?
Dell-ChrisC There are more DIMMs in the Dell PowerEdge M710HD vs Dell PowerEdge M610 so pricing could vary greatly per configuration.
Jammrock True, but base blade price is what I was looking for.
Dell-ChrisC You could configure a Dell PowerEdge M710HD exactly like a Dell PowerEdge M610 and pricing should be similar.
Dell-KongY Before we conclude, I want to thank Chris Christian and everyone for joining us today.
erson Chris. Great work!
Dell-ChrisC This has been a lot of fun. I would love to come back and cover the Dell PowerEdge M610x in more detail
erson And congrats for best intro in a dell video so far.
Dell-KongY Absolutely Chris. You are welcome to join us and talk about blades anytime!
erson Is there any more information to gain about the upcoming NdDCs if I wave my NDA?
Jammrock Looks like there is host-rendering in RemoteFX. http://blogs.msdn.com/b/rds/archive/2010/03/26/microsoft-remotefx-the-problem-we-are-solving.aspx
Dell-ChrisC Erson. Yes!
Jammrock That would be a good Dell PowerEdge M610x use after all.
Dell-ChrisC Absolutely.
Dell-JeffS Thanks for attending everyone. Join us next week for the Scott show – Dell PowerVault MD3200/ Doubletake/ VMware.