Implementing a VersaStack Solution by Cisco and IBM with IBM FlashSystem 5030, Cisco UCS Mini, Hyper-V, and SQL Server

Implementing a VersaStack Solution by Cisco and IBM with IBM FlashSystem 5030, Cisco UCS Mini, Hyper-V, and SQL Server

by David Green, Jordan Fincher, Kiran Ghag, Lee J Cockrell, Nitin D Thorve, Paulo Tomiyoshi Takeda, Sreeni Edula, Vasfi Gucer
Released February 2020
Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
ISBN: 9780738442785

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Book description

VersaStack, an IBM® and Cisco integrated infrastructure solution, combines computing, networking, and storage into a single integrated system. It combines the Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS) Integrated Infrastructure with IBM Spectrum Virtualize™, which includes IBM FlashSystem® storage offerings, for quick deployment and rapid time to value for the implementation of modern infrastructures.

This IBM Redbooks® publication covers the preferred practices for implementing a VersaStack Solution with IBM FlashSystem 5030, Cisco UCS Mini, Hyper-V 2016, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Cisco UCS Mini is optimized for branch and remote offices, point-of-sale locations, and smaller IT environments. It is the ideal solution for customers who need fewer servers but still want the comprehensive management capabilities provided by Cisco UCS Manager.

The IBM FlashSystem 5030 delivers efficient, entry-level configurations that are designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses. Designed to provide organizations with the ability to consolidate and share data at an affordable price, the IBM FlashSystem 5030 offers advanced software capabilities such as clustering, IBM Easy Tier®, replication and snapshots that are found in more expensive systems.

This book is intended for pre-sales and post-sales technical support professionals and storage administrators who are tasked with deploying a VersaStack solution with Hyper-V 2016 and Microsoft SQL Server.

Table of contents

  1. Front cover
  2. Notices
    1. Trademarks
  3. Preface
    1. Authors
    2. Now you can become a published author, too!
    3. Comments welcome
    4. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  4. Chapter 1. Introduction
    1. 1.1 Overview
    2. 1.2 The VersaStack solution described in this book
    3. 1.3 VersaStack synopsis
    4. 1.4 Common VersaStack use cases
      1. 1.4.1 Remote and branch office
      2. 1.4.2 Data center
      3. 1.4.3 Private cloud
      4. 1.4.4 Hybrid cloud
    5. 1.5 Optional and complementary products
      1. 1.5.1 Cisco application centric infrastructure
      2. 1.5.2 IBM Spectrum Control Storage Insights
      3. 1.5.3 IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
      4. 1.5.4 IBM Spectrum Copy Data Management
    6. 1.6 Assumptions made in this book
    7. 1.7 For more information
  5. Chapter 2. Architecture of the solution
    1. 2.1 VersaStack architecture
      1. 2.1.1 Physical topology
    2. 2.2 Software versions
    3. 2.3 Configuration guidelines
      1. 2.3.1 List of tables
      2. 2.3.2 VersaStack build process
    4. 2.4 VersaStack cabling
    5. 2.5 Microsoft SQL Server on the VersaStack architecture
  6. Chapter 3. Design considerations for Microsoft Hyper-V and SQL Server
    1. 3.1 Microsoft Hyper-V considerations
      1. 3.1.1 Root partition considerations
      2. 3.1.2 Child partition considerations
    2. 3.2 Microsoft SQL Server design considerations
      1. 3.2.1 Sizing and design planning for Microsoft SQL Server
      2. 3.2.2 Database applications and workload
      3. 3.2.3 Storage, RAID type and disk selection
      4. 3.2.4 IOPS requirements for Microsoft SQL Server
      5. 3.2.5 Server virtualization
      6. 3.2.6 Database availability
      7. 3.2.7 Quality of service and network segregation
      8. 3.2.8 Network availability and topology requirements
  7. Chapter 4. VersaStack Cisco Nexus 9000 network configuration
    1. 4.1 Initial terminal connection
    2. 4.2 Configuring the Cisco Nexus switch A
    3. 4.3 Configuring the Cisco Nexus switch B
    4. 4.4 Enabling the Cisco Nexus 9000 features and settings
    5. 4.5 Creating the VLANs for the VersaStack traffic
    6. 4.6 Configuring the Virtual PortChannel domain
      1. 4.6.1 Configure the vPC for the Cisco Nexus switch A
      2. 4.6.2 Configure the vPC for the Cisco Nexus switch B
    7. 4.7 Configuring the network interfaces for the vPC peer links
      1. 4.7.1 Configure the network interface for the Cisco Nexus switch A
      2. 4.7.2 Configure the network interface for the Cisco Nexus switch B
    8. 4.8 Configuring network interfaces to the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects
      1. 4.8.1 Configure the Cisco Nexus switch A to FI-A
      2. 4.8.2 Configure the Cisco Nexus switch B to FI-B
  8. Chapter 5. The Cisco Unified Computing System Mini configuration
    1. 5.1 Completing the initial setup of the Cisco UCS 6324 Fabric Interconnects
      1. 5.1.1 Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 6324 A
      2. 5.1.2 Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 6324 B
    2. 5.2 VersaStack Cisco UCS base setup
      1. 5.2.1 Logging in to the Cisco UCS Manager
      2. 5.2.2 Adding a block of IP addresses for access to a kernel-based virtual machine console
      3. 5.2.3 Synchronizing the Cisco UCS Mini chassis to NTP
      4. 5.2.4 Configuring the UCS Servers discovery policy
      5. 5.2.5 Acknowledging the Cisco UCS Mini chassis
    3. 5.3 Enabling the server and uplink ports in the Fabric Interconnects
      1. 5.3.1 Creating an UUID suffix pool
      2. 5.3.2 Creating a server pool
      3. 5.3.3 Creating a host firmware package
      4. 5.3.4 Creating a local disk configuration policy
      5. 5.3.5 Creating a power control policy
      6. 5.3.6 Creating a server pool qualification policy (optional)
      7. 5.3.7 Creating a Server BIOS policy
      8. 5.3.8 Creating a vNIC/vHBA placement policy for the VM infrastructure hosts
      9. 5.3.9 Updating the default Maintenance Policy
    4. 5.4 Configuring UCS SAN connectivity
      1. 5.4.1 Configuring unified ports
      2. 5.4.2 Configure Fabric Interconnects in FC switching mode
      3. 5.4.3 Creating storage virtual storage area networks
      4. 5.4.4 Configuring the FC storage ports
      5. 5.4.5 Creating WWNN pools
      6. 5.4.6 Creating WWPN pools
      7. 5.4.7 Creating virtual HBA templates for Fabric A and Fabric B
      8. 5.4.8 Creating boot policies
    5. 5.5 Configuring UCS LAN connectivity
      1. 5.5.1 Creating uplink port channels to Cisco Nexus switches
      2. 5.5.2 Creating MAC address pools
      3. 5.5.3 Creating a virtual local area network
      4. 5.5.4 Setting jumbo frames in Cisco UCS Fabric
      5. 5.5.5 Creating a network control policy for Cisco discovery protocol
      6. 5.5.6 Creating virtual network interface card templates
      7. 5.5.7 Creating LAN connectivity policy
      8. 5.5.8 Creating service profile templates
      9. 5.5.9 Creating service profiles
    6. 5.6 Back up the Cisco UCS Manager configuration
  9. Chapter 6. SAN Boot in a Cisco UCS Mini environment
    1. 6.1 Overview of a SAN Boot using Cisco UCS Mini
    2. 6.2 Preparing the SAN Boot for Windows Server 2016
      1. 6.2.1 Boot policy
      2. 6.2.2 Unified Extensible Firmware Interface boot mode
      3. 6.2.3 UEFI secure boot
    3. 6.3 Preparing and performing SAN Boot
    4. 6.4 Provisioning IBM LUN as a SAN Boot volume
    5. 6.5 Setting up Microsoft Windows Server 2016
      1. 6.5.1 Installing Intel chipset and Cisco eNIC drivers for Microsoft Windows
      2. 6.5.2 Cloning an OS volume
  10. Chapter 7. Failover cluster and Hyper-V configuration
    1. 7.1 Introduction to Hyper-V Cluster for high availability
    2. 7.2 Physical topology for Hyper-V
    3. 7.3 Microsoft Windows 2016 Failover Clustering feature requirements
    4. 7.4 Configuring features and tools for failover cluster nodes
      1. 7.4.1 Installing Data Center Bridging and multipath I/O
      2. 7.4.2 Installing the IBM SDDDSM multipathing software
    5. 7.5 Creating a host attachment in IBM FlashSystem 5030
    6. 7.6 Creating a host cluster in the IBM FlashSystem 5030
    7. 7.7 Provisioning IBM Storwize Volume for Cluster Shared Volumes
    8. 7.8 Rescanning and assigning the cluster shared volumes
    9. 7.9 Configuring the Failover Clustering feature
    10. 7.10 Adding the Hyper-V feature
    11. 7.11 Microsoft Virtual Machine Manager
    12. 7.12 Configuring the Hyper-V virtual network using Microsoft Virtual Machine Manager
      1. 7.12.1 Network settings
      2. 7.12.2 Configuring Run As account
      3. 7.12.3 Host group containers
      4. 7.12.4 Adding the Hyper-V Cluster to host groups
      5. 7.12.5 Hyper-V networking
      6. 7.12.6 Adding the IBM FlashSystem 5030 to VMM
      7. 7.12.7 Storage classifications
      8. 7.12.8 Configuring virtual switches on Hyper-V hosts
    13. 7.13 Hardware profiles
    14. 7.14 Creating virtual machines using hardware profiles
  11. Chapter 8. Microsoft SQL Server setup and failover cluster implementation
    1. 8.1 Before you begin
      1. 8.1.1 Review the virtual machine configuration
      2. 8.1.2 Review the OS configuration
    2. 8.2 Provisioning storage volumes for Hyper-V cluster nodes
      1. 8.2.1 Creating easy-tiered volumes on the IBM Storwize V5000 for data files, quorum, and system files
      2. 8.2.2 Creating volumes on the V5030 for the tempdb and log files
      3. 8.2.3 Mapping volumes to Hyper-V cluster nodes
    3. 8.3 Creating CSV on a Hyper-V cluster
      1. 8.3.1 Initializing disks using the Disk Management facility
      2. 8.3.2 Create a file system volume on the disks
      3. 8.3.3 Adding disks into the Hyper-V cluster
    4. 8.4 Assigning the V5030 volumes as shared drives to SQL VMs
      1. 8.4.1 Creating shared drives and assigning them to first SQL VM
      2. 8.4.2 Assigning shared drives to a second SQL VM
    5. 8.5 Preparing the Cluster Shared Volumes on SQL VMs for Windows Failover Cluster
      1. 8.5.1 Initializing disks using the Disk Management facility
      2. 8.5.2 Creating a file system volume on the disks
    6. 8.6 Installing the Windows Failover Clustering feature on SQL virtual machines
    7. 8.7 Installing a Microsoft SQL Server failover cluster
      1. 8.7.1 Installing the Microsoft SQL Server on the first SQL VM
      2. 8.7.2 Adding a second node to the SQL Server Failover Cluster instance
      3. 8.7.3 Installing SQL Server Management Studio
      4. 8.7.4 Connecting to SQL Server using SSMS
    8. 8.8 Creating a sample database
    9. 8.9 Configure Hyper-V level redundancy for SQL VMs
      1. 8.9.1 Setting Preferred Owner and Possible Owner for VMs
    10. 8.10 Database tuning
  12. Chapter 9. The IBM FlashSystem 5030 advanced functions
    1. 9.1 IBM Easy Tier
      1. 9.1.1 IBM Easy Tier overview
      2. 9.1.2 Easy Tier limitations and requirements
    2. 9.2 IBM HyperSwap
    3. 9.3 Remote copy
    4. 9.4 IBM FlashCopy
    5. 9.5 Encryption
    6. 9.6 Volume mirroring
    7. 9.7 Thin provisioning
    8. 9.8 IBM Real Time Compression
    9. 9.9 Microsoft offloaded data transfer
  13. Chapter 10. Managing the VersaStack solution
    1. 10.1 Management application integration
      1. 10.1.1 Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager
      2. 10.1.2 Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
    2. 10.2 The IBM FlashSystem 5030 Manager
      1. 10.2.1 Accessing the management software
      2. 10.2.2 Monitoring
      3. 10.2.3 Pools
      4. 10.2.4 Volumes
      5. 10.2.5 Hosts
      6. 10.2.6 Copy Services
      7. 10.2.7 Access
      8. 10.2.8 Settings
    3. 10.3 The Cisco UCS GUI manager
      1. 10.3.1 Equipment management
      2. 10.3.2 Server management
      3. 10.3.3 LAN management
      4. 10.3.4 SAN management
    4. 10.4 Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager
      1. 10.4.1 SCVMM VMs and services
      2. 10.4.2 SCVMM fabric management
      3. 10.4.3 SCVMM library management
  14. Chapter 11. Validation testing
    1. 11.1 IBM FlashSystem 5030 node failure
      1. 11.1.1 Fibre Channel cable failure
      2. 11.1.2 Node failure
    2. 11.2 Fabric Interconnect failure
    3. 11.3 Microsoft WSFC and Microsoft SQL Server AlwaysOn FCI validation
      1. 11.3.1 Test procedure
      2. 11.3.2 Test observations
    4. 11.4 Cisco Nexus Virtual PortChannel peer switch failure
      1. 11.4.1 Test procedure
      2. 11.4.2 Test observation
    5. 11.5 Cisco UCS service profile migration validation
      1. 11.5.1 Test procedure
      2. 11.5.2 Test observations
    6. 11.6 Hyper-V virtual machine failover
  15. Related publications
    1. IBM Redbooks
    2. Online resources
    3. Help from IBM
  16. Back cover

Product information

  • Title: Implementing a VersaStack Solution by Cisco and IBM with IBM FlashSystem 5030, Cisco UCS Mini, Hyper-V, and SQL Server
  • Author(s): David Green, Jordan Fincher, Kiran Ghag, Lee J Cockrell, Nitin D Thorve, Paulo Tomiyoshi Takeda, Sreeni Edula, Vasfi Gucer
  • Release date: February 2020
  • Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
  • ISBN: 9780738442785