HPE2-K45 Using HPE SimpliVity Questions and Answers

HPE SimpliVity provides storage HA by creating two copies of each virtual machine data across different nodes in a cluster. This ensures that the virtual machines can continue to run even if one node fails. However, this also consumes twice the storage capacity for each virtual machine. For development virtual machines that do not require storage HA, the customer can save storage capacity by creating a single-replica datastore for these virtual machines. A single-replica datastore is a datastore that has only one copy of the virtual machine data on one node. This reduces the storage consumption by 50%, but also increases the risk of data loss and unavailability in case of node failure. Therefore, the customer should carefully weigh the trade-offs between storage efficiency and data protection when using a single-replica datastore. References: HPE SimpliVity Data Virtualization Platform; HPE SimpliVity User Guide

Hyper Protected is one of the four pillars of HPE SimpliVity’s value proposition, along with Hyper Simple, Hyper Efficient, and Hyper Manageable. Hyper Protected refers to the ability of HPE SimpliVity to provide built-in data protection and disaster recovery for virtual machines (VMs) with unprecedented speed and efficiency. HPE SimpliVity can backup or restore 1TB VM in less than 1 minute, thanks to its unique data architecture that deduplicates, compresses, and optimizes data at inception, and its global federated management that enables policy-based automation across multiple sites. Restoring individual files from a VM backup, defining a storage policy using RAID 6 or RAID 60 to protect the VM, and integrating with Veeam to provide an external backup solution are not specific to HPE SimpliVity’s Hyper Protected capability, and can be done by other solutions as well. References: Using HPE SimpliVity Official Certification Study Guide, page 11, section 1.2. SimpliVity Hyperconverged, section “Hyper Protected”. HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node, section “Features”. SimpliVity HyperGuarantee, section “Remain online and recoverable — always”.

 According to the HPE SimpliVity Solution Design Guide1, Lanamark is a cloud-based service that collects and analyzes data from customer environments to support the solution design process. Lanamark can collect data from various sources, such as vCenter Server, Hyper-V, XenServer, physical servers, and storage arrays. However, if the customer environment is not connected to the internet, Lanamark Snap can be used to collect the data offline and then upload it manually to the Lanamark portal. Lanamark Snap is a portable tool that can be downloaded from the Lanamark portal and run on any Windows workstation that has access to the customer environment. Lanamark Snap can connect to the vCenter Server and collect the performance data from the ESXi hosts and virtual machines. Lanamark Snap can also collect data from other sources, such as physical servers and storage arrays, by using agents or scripts. Lanamark Snap saves the collected data in a compressed file that can be uploaded to the Lanamark portal for analysis and reporting.

Therefore, the correct answer is D. Download Lanamark Snap and use it to collect the data, and then upload manually to the Lanamark portal, as this is the best option to collect data from an ESXi infrastructure that is not connected to the internet. References:

• 1: HPE SimpliVity Solution Design Guide, https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getdocument.aspx?docname=a00019351enw, page 15-16

• A stretched cluster is a configuration that allows two or more HPE SimpliVity clusters to span across different physical locations, while maintaining a single logical cluster and asingle management interface. A stretched cluster provides high availability, disaster recovery, and workload mobility for the virtual machines (VMs) running on the HPE SimpliVity platform12.
• A VDI infrastructure is a virtualization solution that delivers desktops and applications to end users from a centralized data center. VDI infrastructure can use different types of VMs, such as linked clones or full clones, to provide the desktops and applications to the end users. Linked clones are VMs that share a common base image and consume less storage space, while full clones are VMs that have their own independent copies of the base image and consume more storage space34.
• According to the HPE Reference Architecture for VMware Horizon on HPE SimpliVity document, both linked clones and full clones are supported on a stretched cluster. The document states that "HPE SimpliVity supports both linked clones and full clones on a stretched cluster. Linked clones are recommended for better storage efficiency and performance. Full clones can be used for persistent desktops that require more customization and personalization."5 The document also provides the design considerations and best practices for deploying VDI infrastructure on HPE SimpliVity stretched cluster, such as the network requirements, the VM placement, the backup and restore policies, and the failover and failback scenarios.

References:

1: HPE SimpliVity Stretched Cluster Guide 2: HPE SimpliVity Stretched Cluster 3: What is VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)? - VMware 4: What is a Linked Clone? - Definition from Techopedia 5: HPE Reference Architecture for VMware Horizon on HPE SimpliVity : [HPE SimpliVity Data Virtualization Platform] : [HPE SimpliVity Intelligent Workload Optimizer] : [HPE SimpliVity Federation Design and Scaling Guide]

 HPE Storence Management Console is a web-based management interface for HPE StoreOnce Systems, which are backup appliances that provide deduplication and replication capabilities. One of the features that can be configured using HPE Storence Management Console is the Catalyst store, which is a logical container for backup data that supports Catalyst protocol. Catalyst protocol is a proprietary protocol that enables source-side deduplication, low-bandwidth replication, and direct backup from application servers. Backup policy, storage policy, and deduplication ratio are not specific to HPE Storence Management Console, and can be configured using other tools or interfaces. References: HPE StoreOnce system software, section “Software Details”. The StoreOnce System Management Console, section “The StoreOnce System GUI and CLI together make up the Management Console”. HPE StoreOnce Catalyst User Guide, section “Introduction to HPE StoreOnce Catalyst”.

 HPE SimpliVity allows customers to connect ESXi compute nodes to HPE SimpliVity datastores without additional license or configuration. This enables customers to leverage the data efficiency and protection features of HPE SimpliVity for their compute-intensive workloads. However, the compute nodes must reside in the same cluster as HPE SimpliVity nodes, and they must be authorized by HPE SimpliVity to access the NFS datastores. The number of compute nodes per cluster is limited by the maximum number of hosts supported by VMware vSphere. References: HPE SimpliVity User Guide; HPE SimpliVity Compute Node Software Installation and Startup Service

• HPE SimpliVity RapidDR is a disaster recovery orchestration tool that automates and simplifies the recovery process of VMs protected by HPE SimpliVity backups. It can be used in the event of disaster to efficiently restore VMs across the primary and secondary sites, which consist of multiple HPE SimpliVity nodes12.
• HPE SimpliVity RapidDR requires VMware vCenter Server, a centralized management platform for VMware vSphere environments, to perform the recovery operations. VMware vCenter Server is licensed per instance, which means that each vCenter Server installation requires a separate license3 .
• To reduce the vCenter Server license cost, a customer can use only a single vCenter Server instance to manage the HPE SimpliVity federation, which is a group of HPE SimpliVity clusters that share the same configuration and policies. This deployment scenario is possible when the federation is managed centrally, which means that all the HPE SimpliVity nodes are registered to the same vCenter Server instance, regardless of their physical location .
• The other options are not valid for reducing the vCenter Server license cost. The number of VMs covered by a single recovery plan does not affect the vCenter Server license requirement, as long as the VMs are managed by the same vCenter Server instance. Enabling Enhanced Linked Mode for vCenter allows multiple vCenter Server instances to share information and provide a single pane of glass view, but it does not eliminate the need for separate licenses for each vCenter Server instance. Disabling Intelligent Workload Optimizer, a feature that balances the VM workload across the HPE SimpliVity cluster, has no impact on the vCenter Server license requirement.

References:

1: HPE SimpliVity RapidDR 2: HPE SimpliVity RapidDR - Starter License - 25 VMs - CDW 3: VMware vCenter Server - VMware : VMware vCenter Server Licensing, Pricing and Packaging : [HPE SimpliVity Federation Design and Scaling Guide] : [HPE SimpliVity with HPE StoreOnce Reference Architecture] : [HPE SimpliVity Data Virtualization Platform] : [HPE SimpliVity Intelligent Workload Optimizer] : [HPE SimpliVity Stretched Cluster Guide] : [HPE SimpliVity Remote RapidDR Software Installation and Startup Service]

HPE SimpliVity 2600 is a compact solution optimized for edge and remote office, branch office (ROBO) environments. It is available on HPE Apollo 2000 servers, which are designed for high-density computing and can fit up to four nodes in a 2U chassis. HPE SimpliVity 2600 provides enterprise-grade data protection and resiliency for virtualized workloads, as well as simplified management and scalability. It is ideal for customers who have very limited rack space and need a hyperconverged solution that can deliver high performance and efficiency. References: HPE SimpliVity 2600 - Product Information Reference, HPE SimpliVity 2600 | HPE Store US, Introducing Our New High-Density Hyperconverged Solution: HPE SimpliVity 2600

Compute nodes are x86 servers that run ESXi and consume the HPE SimpliVity datastores for storage. They provide additional CPU and memory resources to the environment without requiring additional SimpliVity licenses. However, they must reside in the same cluster as HPE SimpliVity nodes, as this is a requirement for the SimpliVity Data Virtualization Platform (DVP) to function properly. The number of compute nodes that can be connected per SimpliVity node is not limited to 5, but depends on the available network bandwidth and storage capacity. Additional license is not required to connect ESXi nodes to SimpliVity datastores, as this is a native capability of the SimpliVity DVP. Connecting ESXi compute nodes is not possible only when VMFS datastores are configured at SimpliVity Federation level, as this is not a prerequisite for the SimpliVity DVP. References: Using HPE SimpliVity Official Certification Study Guide, page 29, section 2.2. Preparing Compute Nodes to Use SimpliVity DVP, section “Preparing Compute Nodes to Use SimpliVity DVP”. HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node, section “Features”.