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In the ATC: Intel® Select Solutions for VMware vSAN

Very recently, we installed yet another leading-edge innovation in the WWT Advanced Technology Center: we are one of the first technology solution providers to offer this configuration of the latest VMware vSAN 6.7 solution on Hewlett Packard Enterprise servers with Intel Xeon Gold processors. With it up and running in the ATC, customers are invited to come verify workload performance metrics for themselves.

Two innovations make this deployment stand out: first, its hardware and software stack are derived from Intel Select Solutions for VMware vSAN – proven configurations that can reduce the time spent to evaluate, select, purchase and deploy solutions with confidence. And second, it features a new class of storage, Intel Optane SSDs data center series with NVMe, in the caching tier for dramatically enhanced performance.

Intel software solutions: A verified foundation for hyper-converged infrastructure

Intel Select Solutions are the most popular verified hardware and software stacks that are optimized for specific software workloads across compute, storage and network. Previously, an IT team deploying VMware vSAN might spend days or weeks researching the ideal configuration from an array of vendors, and then dedicate additional hours to fine-tuning their system for optimal performance. Intel Select Solutions simplifies the job by narrowing down those deployment choices to a short list of pre-verified, balanced and optimized choices all the way up the stack allowing WWT and customers to focus on higher-level applications and critical business outcomes.

Accelerating the cache with Intel Optane SSDS

VMware vSAN delivers its best performance when the cache tier is served by high-speed SSDs. We are one of the first to offer a VMware vSAN solution with Intel Optane SSDs to power the cache tier. According to research conducted by Intel, which we'll be validating, a system using Intel Xeon Scalable processors connected to Intel Optane SSDs in the caching tier and Intel 3D NAND SSDs in the bulk storage tier can enjoy immediate and powerful advantages, including an impressive 10x performance increase, and a 9x TCO reduction.

Always working on the cutting edge

Beyond Intel Optane SSDs, we're positioned to start incorporating Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory onto the DDR4 memory bus. These new persistent memory modules will be initially available in capacities up to 512GB per module. These are just a few of the emerging and evolving technologies for the software-defined data center you're likely to see first in the ATC, applicable for workloads in a range of real-world use cases that encompass Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), data analytics and pattern recognition.

As we introduce our own flavors of VMware vSAN hyper-converged solutions, we can speed deployments with confidence as a certified provider of Intel Select Solutions. Those VMware vSAN solutions on HPE systems running Intel Xeon Scalable processors deliver a performance of greater magnitude when paired with Intel Optane SSDs for the cache tier.

If you have an IT infrastructure challenge that might benefit from a totally different, software-defined technology, you're invited to bring it to us – and experience a hands-on demonstration of WWT's unique approach using the ATC ecosystem, or as we like to call it, "Silicon Valley in St. Louis."

Technologies