Fujitsu Fast Track for Microsoft Private Cloud
In today's article we will tell you about a joint program of Fujitsu and Microsoft, called the Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track . But before turning to the story about it, we briefly recall the concepts of virtualization and clouds associated with today's topic.
In simple terms, virtualization is the possibility of parallel (simultaneous) running of several operating system instances independent of each other on the same physical hardware, so that the OS “considers” that it runs on different hardware. In addition, each of these virtual machines is not tied to the physical equipment, but may have different operating systems and a set of installed applications. This allows you to manage virtual machines independently of each other and move them between different physical servers with different hardware configurations. Thus, virtualization allows you to consolidate existing server roles and services for which different physical servers are responsible for fewer hardware servers, or to increase the efficiency of using the existing server fleet, redistributing the load between servers by quickly migrating virtual machines from an overloaded server to an underloaded one.
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The standard virtualization scheme involves the use of a hypervisor and running virtual machines in it. A hypervisor is an operating system installed on a physical server or computer. This can be either a hypervisor, aimed solely at using as the primary OS on a host (Microsoft Hyper-V Server), or a hypervisor with a license for a full-fledged OS (Microsoft Windows Server with Hyper-V). By purchasing the latter, you get the opportunity to use virtual machines running Windows Server, as well as a convenient graphical shell for managing virtual machines.
The use of virtualization in the company's infrastructure, in addition to the obvious benefits of increasing server utilization efficiency, also saves: on the servers themselves (a smaller number is required for the same tasks), on software, on the network infrastructure, on the cost of electricity consumed, to significantly save space for equipment requiring less units, racks and square meters. At the same time, the resiliency of the entire infrastructure and the efficiency of server utilization increase, since using virtualization allows you to flexibly manage their load and easily migrate the necessary services and virtual machines from one physical server to another.
If everything is clear with virtualization, then the clouds of many uninitiated are still confused. Although almost all Internet users use them for a long time. Well-known examples of cloud services are mail services, social networks and forums, photo and file hosting. So what is the cloud?
In fact, in the examples voiced above, the cloud is a service (application) that can be accessed everywhere using the Internet. This model of service provision is usually called SaaS (Software as a Service - software as a service).
A similar approach is used in other service models: PaaS (Platform as a Service - platform as a service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service - infrastructure as a service).
In the case of PaaS, we get the opportunity to deploy our applications on the platform provided to us by the cloud provider, which may include, for example, the operating system and the database we need (DBMS).
In the case of IaaS, we actually get the opportunity to deploy and run our own operating systems (virtual machines) with the necessary set of software. The operator of the cloud service in this case is responsible for managing the physical infrastructure and its virtualized representation for the IaaS consumer.
In addition to the service model, cloud type is important. Usually, private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud are distinguished. They can be distinguished as follows: private ones are intended for use by one organization, public ones by the general public, while the hybrid is a combination of several different clouds that are formally independent of each other, but using the same resources or a part of them.
Now that we have remembered the main points, we can move on to the main theme of today's narration. Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track is a joint program of Microsoft Corporation and Fujitsu to develop a reference architecture for building a private cloud. The goal of this program is to create various flexible and easily scalable solutions based on Fujitsu equipment and technologies and Microsoft software.
These solutions use specially tested Fujitsu hardware, such as servers and data storage systems, special Fujitsu software solutions for them, as well as Microsoft Windows Server 2012 operating systems with Microsoft Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center 2012 technologies.
Microsoft's private cloud, implemented as part of the Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track, demonstrates the approach to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and provides:
• efficient management of server resources, networks and data warehouses;
• self-service portal that allows you to provide IT services quickly and easily;
• hundreds of virtual machines per physical chassis, scalable on demand;
• placement of data on local and remote resources, both of the organization itself and of the service provider.
Naturally, such a solution cannot be implemented on a single server; this requires at least two servers with a storage system. Often, in such cases, solutions based on blade servers ( Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX400 ) or servers with several computational nodes ( Fujitsu PRIMERGY CX420 ) are used. These servers are usually considered as a cluster-in-a-box (cluster-in-a-box), they are the hardware basis in the joint program of Microsoft and Fujitsu.
Another important component of the hardware platform is storage servers, without which rapid migration of virtual machines from one physical server to another is impossible. An excellent solution in this case are Fujitsu ETERNUS DX series disk storage systems, where you can find a suitable solution for any task: from entry-level systems to high-loaded systems of High-End class.
The third component of Fujitsu for Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track is Fujitsu software development:
• ServerView Suite , which provides more efficient management when using Microsoft System Center.
• Fujitsu self-service portal, which is provided by the ServerView Resource Orchestrator and allows you to easily and quickly manage IT services.
• Special software for storage systems ETERNUS SF , which allows flexible and convenient management of storage resources.
Thus, Fujitsu has a complex of 3 important components of a cluster system for the cloud: servers, storage systems and specialized software. Complementing these components with Microsoft software, we get a ready-made working system, which is left only to be connected to the organization's infrastructure.
To create a private Microsoft cloud, it is not necessary to use multi-mode systems with multiple compute nodes. Often, standard rack-mounted servers of a standard architecture are sufficient for it; moreover, sometimes their use becomes necessary. For example, if your tasks and applications require the use of special coprocessor cards (nVidia Tesla, Intel Xeon Phi), which have already proved their effectiveness in highly parallel data processing and complex mathematical calculations in the energy, industry, finance, scientific calculations, including medicine and biology. Such devices are widely used in weather forecasting and creating high-quality animation in the film industry.
The development of parallel computing and virtualization resulted in the emergence of VDI cards (nVidia GRID), which also require a full-size PCIe x16 slot, respectively, cannot be installed in a blade system - this means that they will also require a classic server solution. The abbreviation VDI stands for virtual desktop infrastructure, the use of such VDI cards allows you to distribute video card resources among different users as if they work with a real discrete video adapter, thereby reducing delays and increasing the performance of remote displays.
To create a test bench at Microsoft Technology Center, 2 Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX350 servers (2 Intel Xeon E5 processors, 128 GB RAM, 24 disks) and 3 Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 servers (2 Intel Xeon E5 processors, 128 GB RAM, 8 disks) were used. ). The uniqueness of the Fujitsu Primergy RX350 servers is the ability to install up to two computing accelerators, such as nVidia Tesla, Intel Xeon Phi or nVidia GRID, each of which can have up to 12 GB of memory.
This booth is designed to familiarize customers with the Microsoft private cloud. And if your company is really interested in using such solutions in your organization, then you can contact your Microsoft sales representative to request your own specialized test drive. During it, the activities and tasks of your company and the possibility of using the frequent Microsoft cloud in it will be considered, and your specialists will gain practical experience in working with a private cloud.
Virtualization
In simple terms, virtualization is the possibility of parallel (simultaneous) running of several operating system instances independent of each other on the same physical hardware, so that the OS “considers” that it runs on different hardware. In addition, each of these virtual machines is not tied to the physical equipment, but may have different operating systems and a set of installed applications. This allows you to manage virtual machines independently of each other and move them between different physical servers with different hardware configurations. Thus, virtualization allows you to consolidate existing server roles and services for which different physical servers are responsible for fewer hardware servers, or to increase the efficiency of using the existing server fleet, redistributing the load between servers by quickly migrating virtual machines from an overloaded server to an underloaded one.
')
The standard virtualization scheme involves the use of a hypervisor and running virtual machines in it. A hypervisor is an operating system installed on a physical server or computer. This can be either a hypervisor, aimed solely at using as the primary OS on a host (Microsoft Hyper-V Server), or a hypervisor with a license for a full-fledged OS (Microsoft Windows Server with Hyper-V). By purchasing the latter, you get the opportunity to use virtual machines running Windows Server, as well as a convenient graphical shell for managing virtual machines.
The use of virtualization in the company's infrastructure, in addition to the obvious benefits of increasing server utilization efficiency, also saves: on the servers themselves (a smaller number is required for the same tasks), on software, on the network infrastructure, on the cost of electricity consumed, to significantly save space for equipment requiring less units, racks and square meters. At the same time, the resiliency of the entire infrastructure and the efficiency of server utilization increase, since using virtualization allows you to flexibly manage their load and easily migrate the necessary services and virtual machines from one physical server to another.
Clouds
If everything is clear with virtualization, then the clouds of many uninitiated are still confused. Although almost all Internet users use them for a long time. Well-known examples of cloud services are mail services, social networks and forums, photo and file hosting. So what is the cloud?
In fact, in the examples voiced above, the cloud is a service (application) that can be accessed everywhere using the Internet. This model of service provision is usually called SaaS (Software as a Service - software as a service).
A similar approach is used in other service models: PaaS (Platform as a Service - platform as a service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service - infrastructure as a service).
In the case of PaaS, we get the opportunity to deploy our applications on the platform provided to us by the cloud provider, which may include, for example, the operating system and the database we need (DBMS).
In the case of IaaS, we actually get the opportunity to deploy and run our own operating systems (virtual machines) with the necessary set of software. The operator of the cloud service in this case is responsible for managing the physical infrastructure and its virtualized representation for the IaaS consumer.
In addition to the service model, cloud type is important. Usually, private cloud, public cloud and hybrid cloud are distinguished. They can be distinguished as follows: private ones are intended for use by one organization, public ones by the general public, while the hybrid is a combination of several different clouds that are formally independent of each other, but using the same resources or a part of them.
Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track
Now that we have remembered the main points, we can move on to the main theme of today's narration. Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track is a joint program of Microsoft Corporation and Fujitsu to develop a reference architecture for building a private cloud. The goal of this program is to create various flexible and easily scalable solutions based on Fujitsu equipment and technologies and Microsoft software.
These solutions use specially tested Fujitsu hardware, such as servers and data storage systems, special Fujitsu software solutions for them, as well as Microsoft Windows Server 2012 operating systems with Microsoft Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center 2012 technologies.
Microsoft's private cloud, implemented as part of the Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track, demonstrates the approach to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and provides:
• efficient management of server resources, networks and data warehouses;
• self-service portal that allows you to provide IT services quickly and easily;
• hundreds of virtual machines per physical chassis, scalable on demand;
• placement of data on local and remote resources, both of the organization itself and of the service provider.
Naturally, such a solution cannot be implemented on a single server; this requires at least two servers with a storage system. Often, in such cases, solutions based on blade servers ( Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX400 ) or servers with several computational nodes ( Fujitsu PRIMERGY CX420 ) are used. These servers are usually considered as a cluster-in-a-box (cluster-in-a-box), they are the hardware basis in the joint program of Microsoft and Fujitsu.
Another important component of the hardware platform is storage servers, without which rapid migration of virtual machines from one physical server to another is impossible. An excellent solution in this case are Fujitsu ETERNUS DX series disk storage systems, where you can find a suitable solution for any task: from entry-level systems to high-loaded systems of High-End class.
The third component of Fujitsu for Microsoft Fujitsu Private Cloud Fast Track is Fujitsu software development:
• ServerView Suite , which provides more efficient management when using Microsoft System Center.
• Fujitsu self-service portal, which is provided by the ServerView Resource Orchestrator and allows you to easily and quickly manage IT services.
• Special software for storage systems ETERNUS SF , which allows flexible and convenient management of storage resources.
Thus, Fujitsu has a complex of 3 important components of a cluster system for the cloud: servers, storage systems and specialized software. Complementing these components with Microsoft software, we get a ready-made working system, which is left only to be connected to the organization's infrastructure.
Microsoft Private Cloud Test Drive
To create a private Microsoft cloud, it is not necessary to use multi-mode systems with multiple compute nodes. Often, standard rack-mounted servers of a standard architecture are sufficient for it; moreover, sometimes their use becomes necessary. For example, if your tasks and applications require the use of special coprocessor cards (nVidia Tesla, Intel Xeon Phi), which have already proved their effectiveness in highly parallel data processing and complex mathematical calculations in the energy, industry, finance, scientific calculations, including medicine and biology. Such devices are widely used in weather forecasting and creating high-quality animation in the film industry.
The development of parallel computing and virtualization resulted in the emergence of VDI cards (nVidia GRID), which also require a full-size PCIe x16 slot, respectively, cannot be installed in a blade system - this means that they will also require a classic server solution. The abbreviation VDI stands for virtual desktop infrastructure, the use of such VDI cards allows you to distribute video card resources among different users as if they work with a real discrete video adapter, thereby reducing delays and increasing the performance of remote displays.
To create a test bench at Microsoft Technology Center, 2 Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX350 servers (2 Intel Xeon E5 processors, 128 GB RAM, 24 disks) and 3 Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 servers (2 Intel Xeon E5 processors, 128 GB RAM, 8 disks) were used. ). The uniqueness of the Fujitsu Primergy RX350 servers is the ability to install up to two computing accelerators, such as nVidia Tesla, Intel Xeon Phi or nVidia GRID, each of which can have up to 12 GB of memory.
This booth is designed to familiarize customers with the Microsoft private cloud. And if your company is really interested in using such solutions in your organization, then you can contact your Microsoft sales representative to request your own specialized test drive. During it, the activities and tasks of your company and the possibility of using the frequent Microsoft cloud in it will be considered, and your specialists will gain practical experience in working with a private cloud.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/237245/
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