What is VCE and Vblock?

The Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition is a collaborative effort between Cisco, EMC, and VMware to deliver a complete IT infrastructure that integrates best-of-breed virtualization, networking, compute, storage, security, and management technologies. The concept is wrapped around VCE's Vblock Infrastructure Packages, composed of the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), EMC storage, and VMware vSphere. The result is a reference architecture jointly created by EMC, VMware, and Cisco to create a modular building block architecture for cloud computing.

There are three Vblock Reference Architectures:

Vblock 0 (300 – 800 VMs): An entry-level configuration to meet the IT needs of small datacenters; test/development platform for Partners and customers.

1-2 Blade Chassis

6-30 ½-height Blades + 2 Management
32-128 Cores
48-GB Server Memory per Blade
46+ TB Storage Capacity
SATA drives
NAS, iSCSI, and SAN
1 Rack

Vblock 1 (800 – 3,000 VMs): A mid-sized configuration to deliver a broad range of IT capabilities to organizations of all sizes.

2-4 Blade Chassis
16-32 Blades
128-256 Cores
960-1,920-GB Server Memory
38-64-TB Storage Capacity
FC, SATA, & EFD drives
SAN, iSCSI, and optionally NAS
2 racks (min) or 3 racks (max)

Vblock 2 (3,000 – 6,000+ VMs): A high-end configuration that is completely extensible to meet the most demanding IT needs of large enterprises or service providers.

3,000-6,000 VMs
4-8 Blade Chassis
32-64 Blades
256-512 Cores
3-7TB Server Memory
96-146TB Storage Capacity
FC, SATA, & EFD drives
SAN, iSCSI, and optionally NAS
4 racks (min) or 5 racks (max)

WWT and Vblock

As Cisco largest UCS and Federal partner, WWT has successfully deployed the Vblock solutions a number of customers. For example, VCE was deployed for one customer to performance issues for their existing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution. After implementation, overall performance in creating and starting virtual machines was enhanced by 50% or more. Having reads from “delta” disks on SSD drives eliminated I/O issues. PCoIP was proven to display audio and video well enough to meet their needs.

Cisco & The Private Cloud

In my previous post, I briefly discussed Cisco and Citrix Teaming up on the Desktop. While I suggested this was an exciting development, I failed to put the announcement in proper context of the overall evolving Private Cloud initiatives that I foresee on the horizon. First, let’s define Cloud Computing, based on NIST’s version 15 definition:

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.”

NIST then defines three service models:

1. Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)
2. Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)
3. Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

To a certain extent, many Federal Agencies have already dipped their toes in some or all three of these services models. For example, the Department of Homeland Security is in the process of developing their own Private Cloud and offering email-as-a service to many of its various sub-agencies. But, what other SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS are available for consideration?

For example, perhaps deploying a Cisco Unified Communications Solution on the Cisco UCS platform in a virtual datacenter type of environment, providing true collaborative UC options across multiple agencies? How about thin client and VDI solutions on iPad and Android tablet devices, as I alluded to in my previous post, with imbedded VTC capabilities? Most importantly, how do you build out the virtual storage and cloud infrastructure to support these concepts and infinitives?

In upcoming posts I’ll touch on two other Cisco partnerships to support the Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the Cisco/EMC/VMware Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) initiative and the Cisco/NetApp/VMware Secure Multi-Tenancy (SMT) concept.