Nimble and Nimble dHCI differences

[Lucavmw]

Hi everyone, could someone please explain to me the differences between Nimble and Nimble dHCI? From what I know Simplivity is true HCI, so the storage is provided by local disks by the DL380 servers and exposed to the other servers through a virtual machine in a VMware environment. With Nimble dHCI instead the DL380 servers use the storage provided by Nimble via iSCSI protocol ... so I don't understand what HCI has to do with it since there are no local disks. Initially I thought VVOLs were involved, but VVOLs are also supported by Nimble or Primera ... i.e. they are not a unique feature of dHCI ... so I don't understand ...

[SprinkleJames]

Hi @Lucavmw,

The idea with dHCI is that it is like HCI, except with the added flexibility of the storage being "disaggregated" and not tied to your server hosts.

So, as compared to non-dHCI Nimble or Alletra 6000 storage, you get added benefits such as the following:

• single support call to Nimble Storage Support for the whole stack (servers/storage/switches)
• easy server host management (additions/configuration, removals, updates) via the dHCI vCenter plugin
• server hosts added into InfoSight without the need for iLO Amplifier Pack

[mamatadesaiNim]

In addition to what @SprinkleJames said:
Unified updates across the stack: Nimble OS, ESXi HPE image, SPP, iLo firmware

[Lucavmw]

Thank you James and Nim, for sure I will have to study and deepen the dHCI, but I would like to take the opportunity to clarify some important points:
- "single support call": let me understand: if I buy a DL380G10 and a Nimble, the support is different than a dHCI (which from the hardware point of view would be the same thing?)
- "dHCI vCenter plugin": this is interesting and I will deepen it!
- "InfoSight": I don't know exactly what the "iLO Amplifier Pack" is but I suppose it is necessary for a Nimble or Alletra if I want to integrate them with Infosight? Is it?
- If I buy a Nimble and DL380 (single components and not bundled dHCI) I could use the Nimble with any physical Hypervisor and server, while in the dHCI version I can only use them with VMware, am I right?

[SprinkleJames · Accepted solution]

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Hi @Lucavmw,

- "single support call": let me understand: if I buy a DL380G10 and a Nimble, the support is different than a dHCI (which from the hardware point of view would be the same thing?)

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If you buy a DL380 Gen10 and a Nimble, and, for example, something in your server fails, you have to open a case with regular HPE support as per your warranty or contract. With dHCI, if that server is part of the dHCI cluster, you have the option to open the case with the Nimble Support group and they would be able to handle it. I would prefer the Nimble Support, as it's often a better experience in general.

- "InfoSight": I don't know exactly what the "iLO Amplifier Pack" is but I suppose it is necessary for a Nimble or Alletra if I want to integrate them with Infosight? Is it?

iLO Amplifier Pack is a free virtual appliance which is intended to help automate server firmware management, among other things. It collects the health data from your servers and sends it to InfoSight, and is necessary if you want to integrate your non-dHCI servers with InfoSight. iLO Amplifier Pack is not needed for the storage arrays, and it's also not needed for the servers that are part of your dHCI cluster because the dHCI storage array handles the InfoSight integration for those servers.

- If I buy a Nimble and DL380 (single components and not bundled dHCI) I could use the Nimble with any physical Hypervisor and server, while in the dHCI version I can only use them with VMware, am I right?

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dHCI requires the storage array and at least two servers running VMware to form the dHCI cluster. Once you have that intially set up and running, you can do anything else with the Nimble that you could with a non-dHCI Nimble, such as attaching other servers that are outside of your dHCI cluster.

[Lucavmw]

Thank you very much!

[Emil Velez_2]

no a DHCI array can still have ISCSI and FC hosts that are not part of vmware environment.   A DHCI array can do anything a standard nimble/alletra 5/6k can but has integration with vcenter and the whole DHCI environment can be upgraded with 1 click.