Product overview THE OPEN DATA CENTER FABRIC FOR THE CLOUD The Open Data Center Fabric for the Cloud The Xsigo Data Center Fabric revolutionizes data center economics by creating an agile, highly efficient infrastructure that is built on the hardware and software you choose. This open, elegantly simple architecture lets you dynamically connect servers, networks, and storage. You create networks and connections entirely in software to enable secure, isolated services that support your business processes and priorities. With the Xsigo Data Center Fabric, all traffic types, including Ethernet and Fibre Channel, traverse a converged infrastructure, resulting in a dramatically simpler, more efficient, wire-once environment and the industry s most flexible connectivity. SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING The Xsigo Data Center Fabric incorporates a software-defined network architecture that lets you create the ideal platform for a private cloud or for a public cloud service provider. From a single management screen you can quickly create isolated pools of resources entirely under software control. Deploy isolated networks and virtual connections among servers, networks and storage on-demand. Highlights The industry s fastest fabric, delivering the highest throughput and lowest latency Up to 112Gbps of bandwidth per server Simplicity Converged infrastructure combines Ethernet and Fibre Channel on a single fabric 70% fewer switches, server cards and cables Agility Software-defined network makes it fast and easy to connect servers, networks, and storage devices Provision new services and reconfigure resources in minutes Within this flat infrastructure, traffic is automatically routed over the fastest path without the need to specify switch ports or routing paths. Inefficient routing schemes such as Spanning Tree Protocol are eliminated. In the event of a path failure, traffic is immediately directed around the failed link with no interruption of service.
Benefits KEY FEATURES Open architecture Connect any X86 server to any storage and any networking resource for more vendor choice and no vendor lock-in. Deliver up to 112Gbps bandwidth to every server, so you can run more VM s per server, accelerate your most I/O-intensive enterprise applications and deliver a more responsive user experience. Converged infrastructure Supports multiple protocols, including Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand, over a single physical infrastructure. Secure multi-tenancy Create fully isolated connections and isolated compute environments within a shared infrastructure, without reliance on VLANs or other Layer 2 Ethernet features. Xsigo lets you dynamically create isolated resource pools on the fly. Software-defined networks Connect servers and virtual machines to anything in the data center in seconds. With Xsigo s software-defined network, you gain a flat architecture in which data is automatically routed across the most efficient path and re-routed in the event of failure. Predictable application performance Xsigo s hardware-enforced QoS controls guarantee both Ethernet and Fibre Channel bandwidth to critical applications to help ensure predictable performance. Cost savings Xsigo reduces CAPEX by 50% or more thanks to a simpler physical infrastructure with 70% fewer switch ports, cards, and cables. OPEX savings result as well from greater management simplicity and reduced power, space and cooling. Xsigo enabled 50% more throughput on our virtual machines, and saved us $15,000 per blade chassis deployed. Russ Donnen, CIO Kroll Factual Data PERFORMANCE With today s faster processors, I/O bottlenecks can limit performance and virtual machine density. Xsigo ensures optimal application performance with up to 112Gbps bandwidth per server and a low latency fabric that minimizes delays. Dynamically share bandwidth among applications and utilities Up to 19X faster vmotion, 30X faster backup, and 12X faster database queries SIMPLICITY Virtualization can significantly increase connectivity complexity, which adds cost and reduces manageability and reliability. Xsigo consolidates server connections to a single fabric that eliminates unnecessary tiers of network switches. The result is reduced management complexity, a simpler, wire-once infrastructure, and 70% fewer switches, cards and cables. Xsigo s network isolation minimizes reliance on VLANs, further reducing complexity. AGILITY Xsigo s software-defined network makes it fast and easy to connect any server, network, and storage device, provision new services, and reconfigure resources. Add new connections and migrate I/O from one server to another, all without incurring downtime. Create new services, isolated networks, and connectivity in minutes Quickly integrate new network and storage technologies with Xsigo s modular architecture ABOUT XSIGO Hundreds of enterprise, government, and cloud provider IT organizations worldwide rely on Xsigo data center fabrics to provide the most cost effective, easily managed platform for their mission critical applications.
How it works THE CONNECTIVITY FABRIC OF THE DATA CENTER The Xsigo Data Center Fabric lets you connect any server or virtual machine to anything else in the data center in seconds. Connect servers to storage, networks, virtual machines and other servers, across multiple vendor s platforms. Xsigo presents industry-standard interfaces that are interoperable with all X86 servers and blades, and with all major hypervisors and operating systems. VIRTUAL HOST ADAPTERS Within each server, Xsigo presents virtual NICs and virtual HBAs that behave exactly as their physical counterparts. Up to 64 virtual resources can be deployed to each server. For highavailability, virtual resources can be deployed in pairs with data routed through physically separate paths. Start with a small number of servers and grow as your data center evolves. It s the simplest, least disruptive path to a fully virtualized data center. FLEXIBILITY, SECURITY, AND PERFORMANCE With Xsigo you can create standalone Layer 2 networks on demand, without server downtime. Get the security and assured performance of a physically separate network together with the agility of virtualized resources. With Xsigo, we can create whatever networking and storage connections we need, on any blade. And Xsigo is fast. We get 40Gb of bandwidth that is dynamically allocated to maximize network utilization. Daniel Smith, Senior DBA CARFAX WIRE-ONCE INFRASTRUCTURE A single off-the-shelf host adapter card (or two for redundancy) connects each server to the Xsigo Fabric. Choose either a 40G or 56G InfiniBand fabric or 10G Ethernet. Once the server is connected to the fabric, you never touch the connections again. START SMALL AND GROW TO 1,000 SERVERS Unlike some solutions that demand an all-or-nothing commitment, Xsigo lets you integrate seamlessly with the core Ethernet and Fiber Channel switches you already have. Create isolated Layer 2 networks within the Xsigo fabric. Connect servers, virtual machines, and virtual appliances without reliance on VLANs. FUTURE PROOF Uplinks to the LAN and SAN are provided by I/O modules that can be added to the Fabric Director at any time. When new connectivity is required, simply add the I/O Module. The new connectivity is immediately available to all attached servers. ASSURED APPLICATION PERFORMANCE Get end-to-end performance control with Xsigo s integrated QoS features. Both storage and network bandwidth can be controlled via fine-grained traffic policing with committed and peak bandwidth guarantees for each isolated network connection. This helps ensure that critical applications deliver the performance you expect.
Products XSIGO FABRIC DIRECTOR The Xsigo Fabric Director is the core of the solution. Available in two models, the 2U-high VP560 and the 4U-high VP780, the Fabric Director connects to servers via 40G InfiniBand or 10G Ethernet ports. Optional Expansion Switches let you connect up to 256 servers to each Fabric Director pair. The Fabric Director then connects to the LAN and SAN via Ethernet and Fibre Channel I/O Modules. The VP780 includes 15 I/O Module slots, while the VP560 includes four I/O Module slots. XSIGO FABRIC MANAGER The Xsigo Fabric Manager lets you create, monitor and manage network and storage connections across all your servers. From a single pane of glass you can create and manage connectivity, monitor performance, and apply rapidly repeatable configurations to any number of servers. The Fabric Manager is intuitive, letting you manage virtual connections between servers, networks and storage as though they were physical links. But unlike physical connections, you ll never again pull a cable or configure I/O cards. Connectivity can be changed at any time, in seconds, even on live servers. XSIGO FABRIC ACCELERATOR Boost application performance and management flexibility with the Xsigo Fabric Accelerator. Connect virtual machines in seconds to other data center resources and gain the performance benefits of 56Gbps Ethernet server-to-server throughput. See up to 19X faster vmotion, 12X faster database queries, 30X faster backups. With the fast and flexible Xsigo Fabric Accelerator, jobs get done in record time. The heart of the solution is the Private Virtual Interconnect, a software-defined link between resources. Each Private Virtual Interconnect is a standalone network connection with up to 56Gbps bandwidth, the industry s fastest server connection. Deploy isolated connections without configuring VLANs or consuming IP address space. XSIGO Fabric PERFORMANCE Monitor Gain a consolidated view of I/O usage across all server, storage and networking resources with the Xsigo Fabric Monitor. For the first time, you can view real-time and historical performance data for both Ethernet and Fibre Channel traffic across all I/O resources on a single screen. Quickly find and fix bottlenecks and identify critical usage trends so you can optimize resource loading, increase efficiency and accelerate the user experience.
Benefits ISOLATED CONNECTIVITY For multi-tenancy environments, Xsigo lets you create multiple isolated virtual networks over a single connection and provide the same isolation as a physically separate network. Create multiple isolated Layer 2 networks within a shared infrastructure Support data isolation and compliance requirements without reliance on VLANs Configure secure, multi-tenancy environments entirely in software VENDOR-NEUTRAL PLATFORM Built on open standards hardware and proven interoperable across systems from all leading vendors, Xsigo integrates easily with most X86 servers, networks, and SANs. Achieve infrastructure convergence without vendor lock-in Protect existing investments and keep your future options open Supports VMware, Microsoft, Oracle, Citrix, RedHat, and most other OS and hypervisor platforms Xsigo streamlines management. It s a huge benefit not having to physically provision servers. I can t imagine doing without it now. David Zacharias, IT Manager HiFX Create the equivalent of physically isolated connections in seconds to satisfy security and network isolation requirements. FIBRE CHANNEL / ETHERNET CONVERGENCE The Xsigo Data Center Fabric delivers virtualized connectivity between servers, storage, and networks over a converged, high-performance physical infrastructure. Reduce Fibre Channel switch ports by 70% Leverage the interoperability of industry-standard Fibre Channel silicon Proven in hundreds of mission-critical production deployments SOLUTIONS FOR CLOUD, VDI, DATABASE Xsigo s performance, agility, and simplicity optimizes both virtualized and bare-metal deployments across a range of IT initiatives: Virtualization: Faster vmotion, greater VM density VDI: Eliminates the boot storm, 50% less infrastructure cost Database: Oracle Exadata performance at 1/3 the cost Cloud: Service flexibility, virtual private data centers Without Xsigo With Xsigo Traditional networking creates multiple tiers for aggregation. Additional requirements, such as Fibre Channel networks and connectivity for appliances, add cost and complexity. Xsigo flattens the infrastructure and converges Ethernet and Fibre Channel on a single high-speed fabric. Private Virtual Interconnects let you create isolated Layer 2 networks on demand.
Xsigo Data Center Fabric Specifications OVERVIEW I/O Port Consolidation Scaling Software Defined Network Multi-tenancy and Segregation Servers, Networks, Storage Operating Systems Xsigo Fabric Director Form Factor Ports Supports up to 3840 virtual NICs and virtual HBAs per Fabric Director. Up to 8 Fabric Directors per fabric, supporting up to 1000 servers total Throughput up to 112 Gbps to a single server Massively scalable SDN with up to 64,000 private connections on a single fabric Up to 32 private, physically isolated networks per host; support for 4096 VLANs per host Support for all x86 servers, 1G & 10G Ethernet switches, 4G & 8G Fibre Channel switches* Supports VMware ESXi, Microsoft Windows & Hyper-V, Red Hat Enterprise Linux & Enterprise Virtualization, Citrix XenServer, Oracle VM* Available in 2U height (VP560) and 4U height (VP780) 20 ports non-blocking QDR (40 Gbps) InfiniBand, or 32 ports 10Gb Ethernet; both are scalable with optional expansion switches QSFP ports (InfiniBand), or SFP+ ports (Ethernet) Interconnect Speed 40 Gbps per port full-duplex (InfiniBand), or 10 Gbps per port, full-duplex (Ethernet) Module Slots Scalability 4 I/O module slots (VP560) or 15 I/O module slots (VP780) Up to a maximum of 256 physical servers per HA pair of Fabric Directors 4-Port 10 GIGABIT ETHERNET I/O MODULE: Virtual Interfaces Up to 256 virtual NICs (vnics) per module Up to 3840 vnics per I/O Director IPv4, IPv6 Power Consumption 70 watts maximum 2-Port 8-GIGABIT FIBRE CHANNEL I/O MODULE: Virtual Interfaces Up to 128 virtual HBAs (vhbas) per I/O module Up to 1,920 vhbas per I/O Director FC-AL, FCP (SCSI-FCP) Power Consumption 54 watts maximum 10-PORT GIGABIT ETHERNET I/O MODULE: Virtual Interfaces Up to 160 virtual NICs (vnics) per module Up to 2,400 vnics per I/O Director IPv4, IPv6 Power Consumption 70 watts maximum Xsigo Fabric Manager Server Templates IO Profiles Network Clouds Storage Clouds Topology View Multi-tenant Resource Management Device Management Xsigo Fabric Accelerator Create templates for fabric connectivity to networking and storage - deploy templates to create specific fabric connectivity profiles on each server Dynamically manage server connectivity between servers and to external networks and storage with no downtime Create virtual network profiles and policies Create storage connectivity profiles and policies View end to end connectivity across the fabric for both physical and virtual resources Partition physical and logical fabric resources into logical domains and manage through Role Based Access Control Configure and manage pools of Fabric Directors Scalability Up to 64,000 Private Virtual Interconnects Per Server Up to 32 PVI vnics Up to 56Gbps bandwidth available per PVI vnic IPv4 Operating Systems ESXi 5.0, ESXi 4.1, Windows 2K8 R2, RHEL 6.x Fabric Monitor Devices Monitored Historical Data Data Display Fabric Directors, I/O Clouds, I/O Module Ports, vnics, vhbas, Servers Up to one year Ethernet and Fiber Channel virtual and physical performance statistics *For current compatibility information, please refer to www.xsigo.com. About Xsigo Systems Xsigo Data Center Fabric products virtualize the data center infrastructure to maximize efficiency and agility while dramatically reducing capital and operational costs. Headquarters: Xsigo Systems, Inc San Jose, California, USA Tel: 408-329-5600 www.xsigo.com Japan: Xsigo Systems Japan K.K. Tokyo, Japan Tel: +81-3-6202-7484 www.xsigo.co.jp Europe: Xsigo Systems Ltd. London, United Kingdom Tel: +44-(0)-7917-763156 San Jose, CA 95134 Tel: 408-329-5600 Fax: 408-329-5611 info@xsigo.com www.xsigo.com 2012 Xsigo Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Xsigo, Fabric Director, IS36 Expansion Switch, and the Xsigo logo are trademarks of Xsigo Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. DSXD-0712