TCO Study: Dell EMC VxRail vs. DIY HCI Using vSAN ... · PDF fileTCO Study: Dell EMC VxRail vs. DIY HCI Using vSAN ReadyNodes Configuration Silverton Consulting, Inc. StorInt™ Briefing

TCO Study: Dell EMC VxRail vs. DIY HCI Using vSAN ReadyNodes Configuration SilvertonConsulting,Inc.StorInt™Briefing

R2.0 TCO STUDY: DELL EMC VXRAIL VS. DIY HCI PAGE 2 OF 21

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ExecutiveSummary1Thispaperpresentstheresultsofathree-yeartotalcostofownership(TCO)studycomparingDellEMC™VxRail™appliancesandanequivalentdo-it-yourself(DIY)solutionofstandaloneserverhardwareandsoftwarefromtheVMwarevSANReadyNode™(hardwarecompatibilitylist)configurations.Forbothoptions,wemodeledtotalhardwarecapitalexpense,totalsoftwarecapitalexpenseandoperationalexpenseforsmall,mediumandlargeclustersoverathree-yearperiod.Infact,ourTCOmodelshowsVxRailconfigurations

• Havea~21%to~30%lowerTCOoverathree-yearperiod;• Havesubstantiallylowerserviceabilitycostsoverathree-yearperiod;and• Havenosoftwarelicensingandmaintenancecosts.

TheresultsrevealthatVxRailappliancehardwarecostsarehigherthanDIYalternatives.However,becauseVxRailcomesbundledwithVMwarevSAN™andotherDellEMCsoftware,DIYserversoftwareandmaintenancecostsaresignificantlyhigherthanVxRail,whichincludesthematnoadditionalcost.Inaddition,operationalexpensesfortheDIYorstandalonealternativesaremuchhigherprimarilyduetoVxRail’sserviceorganization,VxRail’sout-of-boxexperience,VxRailManager’supgradeandinstallationorchestrationcapabilitiesandotherfactors.

Together,thehighersoftwarecostsandoperationalexpensesfortheDIYconfigurationmorethanoffsetthehighercostsfortheVxRailhardware.Foreachclustersize,theTCOishigherfortheDIYhyperconvergedinfrastructure(HCI)alternativethantheDellEMCVxRailsolution.Asthestudyshows,thethree-yearTCOfortheDIYsmallclusteris$70.5K(26.3%)higherthantheequivalentVxRailconfiguration,theDIYmediumclusteris$145.9K(34.3%)higherthantheequivalentVxRailconfigurationandtheDIYlargeclusteris$347.3K(42.0%)higherthantheequivalentVxRailconfiguration.Thiscorrelatestoa~20.8%,25.5%and~29.6%lowerTCOforVxRail.Finally,intheappendicesthatfollowthepaper,wediscusstheTCOfactorsthatmaketheVxRailhardwaremoreexpensive,theTCOfactorsthatmaketheDIYHCIsoftwaremoreexpensiveandthedifferencesincostandtimethatcausetheDIYHCIoperationalcoststobemoreexpensive. 1R2.0incudescorrectionstosomecalculationsfortotalTCOsummaryandsothattheAppendicesnowincludecalculationsforadditionalnodes.



IntroductionOverthelastdecade,convergedinfrastructure(CI)solutionshavebeenusedtoimplementvirtualizedinfrastructureoverathree-tierconfigurationthatispackaged,soldandsupportedasasingleentity.Inplaceofthreeseparatevendorssupplyingandsupportingthethreetiers,withCI,customersgainfasterordering,lessproblem-pronedeploymentandlessadministratorburden.Withtheadventofsoftware-definedstorage,vendorsbeganofferingHCI,whichcollapsestwoofthethreetiersintheCIofferingabove.DellEMChasbeenaclearleaderinCIsolutionssince2009whentheyintroducedtheirVblock®systemsfromVCE™,ajointventureundertakenwithEMC,CiscoSystems,IntelandEMCsubsidiaryVMware.VCEaddedVxRack™(ScaleIO®based)totheportfolioin2015.In2016,EMCannouncedtheVxRail,aVMwarevSANbasedHCIsolution.ThispaperdiscussestheDellEMCVxRailHCIproductfamily,alongwithhardwareandsoftwarethatcanbepurchasedasDIYorstandalonesolutions.ThispaperthendiscussesarecentTCOstudythatcomparesthesetwosolutions.

DellEMCVxRailsolutions

DellEMCcurrentlyoffersfiveseriesofVxRailappliancesthatcanbeorderedforHCI:

• GSeries–thisgeneral-purposeHCIapplianceisa2U/four-nodechassisthatsupportsbothall-flashandhybrid(disk-flash)storage.Itisbestsuitedforabroadrangeofapplicationactivities.

• VSeries–thisvirtualizeddesktopinfrastructure(VDI)-optimizedHCI

applianceisa2U/one-nodechassisthatsupportsoptionalgraphicsprocessingunit(GPU)accelerationforgraphics-intensivedesktopenvironments.

• SSeries–thisstorage-optimizedHCIapplianceisa2U/one-nodeapplianceforIO-demandingapplicationssuchasMicrosoftSharePoint,MicrosoftExchangeandbigdata/analytics.



• PSeries–thisperformance-optimizedHCIapplianceisa2U/one-nodechassisthatsupportsheavy,performance-sensitiveworkloadssuchasonlinetransactionprocessing(OLTP)databaseprocessing.

• ESeries–thisentry-levelHCIapplianceisa1U/one-nodechassisforsmall

tomidrangebusinessenvironments.AllVxRailHCIclustershaveaminimumof3nodes,whichcanbeincreasedto64nodes.CustomerscanusetheircurrentVMwarevSphere®licensesonVxRailappliances.AllVxRailappliancescomepre-installed,fullytested,configuredandvalidatedfromthefactorywithappropriateHCIsoftware,forexample,VMwarevSANforstorageandVMwarevRealizeLogInsight™.EachVxRailsinglenodeappliancealsoincludesintegratedsoftwarewitha5VMlicense(GSeriesappliancescomewith15VMlicense)forDellEMCRecoverPoint®datareplicationormirroringtosupportsitedisasterrecoveryrequirements.Further,eachVxRailapplianceincludesaDellEMCCloudArray®1TBlocalcache/10TBcloudbasedcapacitylicensetoextendVxRaildatastoragetopublicandprivateclouds.Inaddition,VxRailcomespre-installedwithVxRailManagersoftware.VxRailManagerprovidescluster-levelhardwareandsoftwaremanagementthroughacluster-widemanagementdashboardthatshowssystemhealthstatus,softwareupgradeavailabilityandstatus,clusterexpansionprogress,etc.WithVxRailManager,customeradminsgainaccesstotheVxRailwebcommunity,whichincludesrecentarticlesandothercontent,andaVxRailclustersupportdisplaythatshowslastheartbeatstatus,allowingadminstoopenandmonitorservicerequestsorchatonlinedirectlywithDellEMCVxRailsupport.VxRailManagersimplifiestheoperation,monitoringandupgradeofVxRailclusterhardwareandsoftwarebydeliveringamoreautomatedlifecycleexperience,anditisavailableonlywiththeVxRailappliance.

DIYHCIsolutionsForpointofcomparisonagainstVxRail,equivalentIntelX86serverhardwareandstoragecanbepurchasedfromothervendorsasaself-selected,DIYHCIsolution.IntheTCOcomparisonbelow,ourmaingoalistoensureconfigurationequivalencewiththeVxRailsolution.WeusedtheDellPowerEdgerackserverwebsite2toconfigureandpricetheserverhardware,service/warrantyandprofessionalservices(PS).

2See:http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/franchise/poweredge-rack-servers?~ck=mn



Inaddition,off-the-shelfvSANReadyNodes,availablefromDellEMCandmanyothervendors,areapossiblealternativetoDIYconfiguredservers.However,thesesolutionscouldnotbealteredmuchbeyondtheir“certified”standardconfigurationsnordotheyincludeanyoftheintegratedvalue-addedSW,automationandsinglesupportcapabilities.Assuch,off-the-shelfvSANReadyNodeswerenotusedinourTCOcomparison.Allclusterservers(VxRailandDIYconfigurations)haddualCPU,256GBofdynamicrandom-accessmemory(DRAM),2400GBsolid-statedrives(SSDs),23.8TBSSDs,dualhotpluggablepowersuppliesandenhanced(210GbE)Ethernetlinks.VxRailusedE460F,all-flashappliances.DIYserversusedequivalentlyconfiguredDellR630rackservers.AppendixAincludesdetailsonallmajorTCOexpenses.AppendixBincludesmoreinformationonthespecificsoftheVxRailandDIYserverconfigurationsusedintheTCOcomparison.ForourTCOcomparison,wemodeledthreedifferent-sizedclusters:

• Smallclusterconsistingof4nodes;• Mediumclusterconsistingof8nodes;and• Largeclusterconsistingof16nodes.

Theseweretheinitialnodeconfigurationsfortheclusters.However,overthethreeyearsintheTCOstudyweaddednodestotheseinitialconfigurationsforeveryyearofservicetorepresentcustomerapplication/workloadgrowth.Weaddedonenodeperyearforthesmallandmediumclustersandtwonodesperyearforthelargecluster.Thus,attheendofthethree-yearstudy,thesmallclusterhad7nodes,themediumclusterhad11nodesandthelargeclusterhad22nodes.LikeVxRail,weassumedthatthecustomeralreadyhasvSpherelicense(s)thatcanbeusedforthecluster.However,tomatchtheVxRailsoftwareofferings,aDIYcustomermustalsopurchaseanEnterprisevSANlicenseforeachCPUintheconfiguration,threeyearsofpremiumsupport,vSANPSandotherDellEMCvalue-addedsoftwareandsupport.WhilevSANPSmaynotbenecessary,VMwareserviceorcustomerexpertisewouldbeneededtoconfigurethevSANcluster.WeusevSANPSasastand-inforthisconfigurationactivity,butequivalentcustomeradmintimewouldalsosuffice.Asdiscussedabove,eachVxRailsinglenodeappliancealsocomeswitha5VMDellEMCRecoverPointlicenseandaDellEMCCloudArray1TBlocalcache/10TBcloudcapacitylicense.TomatchtheseVxRailsoftwarelicenses,DIYcustomerswouldneedtoeitherpurchasethesoftwarefromDellEMCorobtainequivalentfunctionalityelsewhere.InourTCOcomparison,forfournodesDIYcustomerscanpurchasea15VMDellEMCRecoverPointlicense(notequivalenttoVxRail’s5VMlicensepernodebuttheclosestincrementallicenseavailablefromDellEMC)anda3TBlocalcache/30TBcloudcapacityDellEMCCloudArray(alsonotequivalentto



VxRail’s1TBlocalcache/10TBcloudcapacitypernodelicensebuttheclosestavailable).DIYcustomersmustalsopurchasethree-year,premiumserviceandwarrantyforthisDellEMCsoftware.WhenpricingVxRail-equivalentservers,theDellrackserverwebsiteoffereda35%discountofflistpriceontheserver,storageandnetworkinghardwarebutnodiscountonsupport,warranty,orPS.Alternatively,DellEMCoffereda50%discountonVxRailserver,storageandnetworkinghardware;a50%discountontheVxRailpremiumsupportandwarranty;anda25%discountonthePS.Tobefair,weusedthesamediscountsfromlistfortheDIYhardware,warrantyandPSthatDellEMCprovidedforVxRailhardware,warrantyandPS.WehavenosimilarsourceforVMwarevSANdiscounting.However,givensimilardiscountingforthisclassofproduct,webelievethatvSANlicensescanbeobtainedata30%discountofflist;vSANthree-year,four-hourserviceandwarrantycanbepurchasedata15%discountofflist;andvSANPS(tostandupthevSANcluster)canbepurchasedata25%discountofflist.DellEMCRecoverPointandCloudArraysoftwarelicensesarebothavailablewitha40%discount,andthree-year,premiumfour-hourserviceisavailableata25%discountofflist.PleaserefertoAppendixBfordetailsonlistpricesforVxRailappliances;DIYDellservers;andVMwarevSANlicenses,supportandwarranty,andPS.Figure1showsthethree-yearTCOsummarywithhardwarecapitalexpense(Capex),softwareCapexandcombinedhardwareandsoftwareoperatingexpense(Opex)forboththeVxRailandDIYHCIsolutionsusingthesmall,mediumandlargeconfigurationsdiscussedpreviously.Below,wesummarizethemajorcostdifferencesbetweentheVxRailandDIYserverTCO.AppendixAincludesdetailsonallmajorTCOexpensesshowninFigure1.



VxRailvs.DIYTCOcomparison

Figure1VxRailvs.DIYthree-yearTCOsummary

ThefirstmajorcostdifferencebetweentheVxRailandDIYsolutionsisinhardwareCapex.HardwareCapexincludesVxRailapplianceandDIYserveracquisitioncosts;hardwarethree-year,premiumfour-hourservicecosts;andhardwarePScosts.HardwareCapexalsoincludesthecostfornodes,boththoseincludedintheinitialclusterconfigurationandthoseaddedoverthethree-yearperiod.TheVxRailE460Fappliancelistsfor$47.2K,andtheequivalentDIYDellR630serverlistsfor$33.1K.Thethree-year,premiumfour-hourserviceandwarrantylistsfor$14.5KpernodeforVxRailand$1.9KpernodefortheDIYalternative.ForPS,thereisnopureper-nodecostforVxRail,butafour-nodeclusterPSlistsfor$9.8K,andtheequivalentDIYalternativelistsfor$6.8K.Intotal,VxRailhardwarediscountedcostsare$216.6K,$341.0Kand$676.2Kforsmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively,whichweremuchhigherthantheDIYserverhardwarediscountedcostsof$129.3K,$207.2Kand$414.3K.Foreveryclustersize,theVxRailhardwareCapexishigherthanthatoftheDIYserversolution.



ThenextmajorTCOdifferenceisinSoftwareCapex,whichismuchmoreexpensivefortheDIYalternativethanforVxRail.RecallthatVxRailcomespre-equippedwithEnterpriseVMwarevSANlicensesandDellEMCRecoverPointandCloudArraylicensesforeachnode.Inaddition,vSAN,RecoverPointandCloudArrayserviceandwarrantycostsarebundledintotheVxRailapplianceserviceandwarrantycosts.Further,asvSANcomespre-installedandconfiguredwithVxRail,noadditionalPSoroperationalexpenseisneededtostandupthevSANcluster.RecoverPointandCloudArrayPScostswouldbethesameforVxRailandDIYclustersandwouldn’tchangetheTCOcomparisonbetweenthetwosolutions.Assuch,thesePScostsarenotincludedintheTCOstudy.TostandupthevSANclusterinsoftwareCapex,theDIYconfigurationmustincludecostsforEnterprisevSANlicenses;vSANthree-year,premiumfour-hourserviceandwarranty;andvSANPSorcustomerequivalent.AVMwarevSANEnterpriselicenselistsfor~$5.5KperCPU,vSANpremiumfour-hourservicelistsfor25%oflicensecostsperyearandvSANPSlistsfor$20Kpercluster.Foreachofthefour-clusternodesintheDIYsolution,a15VMDellEMCRecoverPointlicenselistsfor$18.6K,anda3TBDellEMCCloudArraycachelicenselistsfor$6.8K.DellEMCthree-year,premiumfour-hourserviceandwarrantyforthesetwosolutionslistsfor$13.1K.Asaresult,theDIYtotalsoftwarediscountedcostsare$130.7K,$223.7Kand$481.9Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclustersizes,respectively.ThesecostsaresignificantlyhigherthanVxRailsoftwarecosts,whichare$0K(nocost)forallclustersizes.ThefinalsignificantTCOdifferencebetweenVxRailandtheDIYalternativeisthethree-yearOpex.ThebulkoftheOpexcostsforbothsolutionsisinadminday-to-dayclustermonitoring.Thesecostsdon’tdiffersubstantiallybetweenthetwosolutions,asthehardwareandsoftwareforbotharesubstantiallythesame.ThenextcategoryofOpexisadminservicerequest(SR)callresolutiontime,whichdifferssignificantlybetweenthetwoalternatives.Indeed,inAppendixAbelowweshowthatVxRailhasa~42%overalllowercostforSRsthanDIYconfigurations.ThelastcategoryofOpexishardwareandsoftwareinstallationandupgradeadmintimes,whichalsodiffer.ThesedifferencesaremainlyduetoVxRail’ssingle-servicesolutionvs.multiplevendorsfortheDIYsolution,VxRail’sout-of-the-boxinstallationexperienceandVxRailManager’sorchestrationcapabilities.Asaresult,theOpexforVxRailisprojectedtobe$51.5K,$84.2Kand$149.8Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusterconfigurations.SimilarcostsfortheDIYenvironmentareprojectedtobe$78.5K,$140.2Kand$277.1K.Theseallrepresentdirectlaborcoststoanorganization–therearenodiscountsforadmintime-basedcosts.FormoreOpexinformation,pleaserefertoAppendixA.



InourTCOsummarywehavenotincludedcoststoincreasetheDIYserverDellEMCRecoverPointandCloudArraysoftwarelicensesorserviceandwarrantiesforthenodesaddedduringthethree-yearperiod.Noreadilyavailablelicensepricingwasavailableattheoneortwonodesaddedperyear.SuchcostswouldhaveincreasedthesoftwareCapexfortheDIYalternatives.Inourcostcomparison,thethree-yearTCOis$70.5K(26.3%)higherthantheequivalentVxRailconfigurationsfortheDIYsmallcluster,$145.9K(34.3%)higherfortheDIYmediumclusterand$347.3K(42.0%)higherfortheDIYlargecluster.

SummaryAsshownabove,theoverallTCOfortheVxRailconfigurationsissubstantiallylowerthanthatfortheDIYHCIconfigurations.ThisdifferenceisprimarilyduetothebundlingofVMwarevSAN,DellEMCRecoverPointandDellEMCCloudArrayintoVxRail,alongwiththeloweroperationalcostsinherentinVxRailpackagedappliances,VxRail’sout-of-the-boxexperience,VxRail’sservicesolutionandVxRailManager’sorchestrationcapabilities.AlthoughthehardwarecostsforVxRailwerehigherthanthosefortheDIYserverconfigurations,thesoftwarecostsandadditionaloperationalexpensesfortheDIYalternativesmorethanoffsetthesecosts.IfyouareconsideringbuyingDIYserverhardwareforHCI,thinkagain.OurTCOstudyprojectsthatyourtotalcostsforanHCIsolutionwillbemuchhigherwithaDIYsolutionthanwithanequivalentVxRailconfigurationoverathree-yearperiod.

Silverton Consulting, Inc., is a U.S.-based Storage, Strategy & Systems consulting firm offering products and services to the data storage community.



AppendixA–VxRailvs.DIYTCOdetails

HardwareandsoftwareCapexdetailsFigure2showstheCapexdetailsforeachalternative.Capexdetailsareexpressedinhardwareandsoftwarecomponents.AppendixBshowsVxRailapplianceandDIYserverlistpricing.

Figure2VxRailvs.DIYTCOCapexdetails

Hardware-orientedCapexiscomposedofthefollowingcosts:

• Servercosts–VxRailappliancehardwarediscountedcostsare$165.3K,$259.8Kand$519.6Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusterconfigurations,respectively.SimilardiscountedcostsfortheDIYsolutionare$115.8K,$181.9Kand$363.8K.RecallthatwithVxRail,DellEMCbundlesthecostofVMwarevSANandothersoftwarelicensesintoeachhardwareappliancepurchase.Thesecostsarediscounted50%offlist.PleaserefertoAppendixBtoviewlistpricingonbothVxRailandDIYhardware.



• Serverthree-yearpremiumserviceandwarrantycosts–VxRailthree-yearpremiumserviceandwarrantydiscountedcostsare$42.8K,$71.1Kand$142.3Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusterconfigurations,respectively.SimilardiscountedcostsfortheDIYsolutionare$4.7K,$8.4Kand$16.8K.RecallthatwithVxRail,DellEMCbundlesthecostofVMwarevSAN,DellEMCRecoverPointandCloudArrayserviceandwarrantyintoeachhardwareserviceandwarrantypurchase.Thesecostsarediscounted50%offlist.PleaserefertoAppendixBtoviewlistpricingonbothVxRailapplianceandDIYserverserviceandwarrantydetails.

• HardwarePScosts–VxRailPSdiscountedcostsare$8.5K,$10.1Kand

$14.4Kforsmall,mediumandlargeclusterconfigurations,respectively.SimilardiscountedcostsfortheDIYsolutionare$8.9K,$16.9Kand$33.8K.Thesecostsarediscounted25%offlist.VxRailPSchargeshaveaper-clusterandper-nodecomponent,whereastheDIYsolutionhasonlyaper-nodecost;assuch,theVxRailismoreexpensiveforthesmallandmediumclusterandlessexpensiveforthelargecluster.AppendixBshowsVxRailapplianceandDIYPSlistpricing.

Figure2alsoshowsthedetailsforsoftwareCapex.SoftwareCapexiscomposedofVMwarevSANlicensecosts,value-addedsoftwarelicensecosts,vSANserviceandwarrantycosts,value-addedsoftwareserviceandwarrantycostsandvSANPScosts.ThesecostsaremuchhigherfortheDIYoptionthanforVxRail.FormoreinformationonlistpricesforvSANsoftwareincludedinthisTCOstudy,pleaserefertoAppendixB.Totalsoftwarecostsaredetailedasfollows:

• VMwarevSANEnterpriselicense–costsarecomputedonaper-CPUbasisandlistat$5.5KperCPU.Afterdiscounts,thecostsare$56.0K,$89.0Kand$227.5Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeDIYserverclusters,respectively.BecausevSANlicensesarebundledwiththeVxRailappliance,VxRailcosts$0foreachclustersize.VMwarevSANEnterpriselicensepricesarediscounted30%offlist.

• Integratedvalue-addedsoftwarelicense–costsarecomputedona15VMRecoverPointand3TBlocalcache/30TBcloudcapacityCloudArraylicenseperfour-nodebasis.Thesoftwarelistsfor$18.6Kand$6.8K,respectively,andafterdiscountsruns$15.2K,$30.4Kand$60.8Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.RecallthatRecoverPointandCloudArraylicensesarediscounted40%offlist.BecauseofDellEMCVxRailsoftwarebundling,similarVxRailcosts$0forallclustersizes.

• VMwarevSANthree-yearpremiumserviceandwarranty–costsarecomputedonaper-licensebasisandlistat25%oftheassociatedvSAN



licenseperyear.Overthreeyears,afterdiscounts,thecostsare$34.6K,$69.6Kand$139.3Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeDIYclusters,respectively.Again,similarVxRailcostsare$0foreachclusterduetothebundlingofVMwarevSANserviceandwarrantycostsintoeveryDellEMCVxRailappliance.vSANserviceandwarrantypricesarediscounted15%offlist.

• DellEMCintegratedvalue-addedsoftwarethree-yearpremiumservice

andwarranty–thetwosoftwaresolutionsserviceandwarrantyperfournodeslistfor$13.1K(costsarepriceddirectlybyDellEMC).Afterdiscounts,thecostsare$9.8K,$19.7Kand$39.3K.Again,similarcostsforVxRailare$0forallclustersizesduetobundling.Value-addedsoftwareserviceandwarrantyarediscounted25%offlist.

• VMwarevSANPS–eachclusterlistsfor$20K.Asdiscussedearlier,wehave

discountedvSANPScostsby25%offlist;assuch,vSANPSruns$15Kforeachclustersize.AVMwarevSANclusterconfigurationcomespre-installedandvalidatedontheVxRailappliancesfromthefactory,sosimilarcostsforVxRailare$0foreachclustersize.



OpexdetailsOpexcostsaredividedintoadmintimetoresolveahardwareservicerequest(SR),admintimetoresolveasoftwareSR,admintimetoresolveinstallationandupgradeSRs,admintimeforday-to-dayclustermonitoringandadmintimetoperformhardwareandsoftwareinstallationsandupgrades.Figure3showstheOpexdetailsforeachalternative.

Figure3VxRailvs.DIYthree-yearTCO–Opexdetails

Weusedthesameadmincosts/hourforbothVxRailandDIYalternatives.AccordingtoGoogle,3the“ITadminaveragesalaryUSA”is$60.1K.Weadd30%ontopofthebasesalarytocomputethefullyburdened(FB)smallclusteradmincosttoabusiness.WeincreasethisFBadmincostby30%forthemediumclusterbecauseitislarger,morecomplexandhardertooperatethanasmallcluster.WeagainincreasethemediumclusterFBadmincostbyanother30%forthelargeclusterforsimilarreasons.Assuch,yearlyFBadmincostsare$78.1K,$101.5Kand$132.0Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.Wedividethesecostsby2,080

3Googlesearchon“ITadminaveragesalaryUSA”asofApril26,2017.



(52x40)tocomeupwithadmincosts/hour,whichare~$38/hour,~$49/hourand~$63/hourforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.Thesecostsremainedunchangedthroughoutthethree-yearTCOperiod.MediumandlargeclusterssizesaremanagedbymoreexperiencedITstaff,andthehardwareandsoftwareareessentiallythesameforboththeVxRailandDIYclusters.Assuch,wealsousethesamenumberofSRrequestsforboththeVxRailandDIYconfigurationsbasedoncallspernodepermonthof60%,50%and40%forthesmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.Weexpect2.4,4.0and6.4SRcalls/month,or108.0,162.0and259.2callsoverthreeyearsfortheinitialsmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.TounderstandhowmuchadmintimeSRstake,wedividedthesecallsintohardware,softwareandinstallation/upgradeSRs.WesplittheseSRsinto33%,33%and33%forthesmallcluster;40%,40%and20%forthemediumcluster;and50%,40%and10%forthelargecluster.Again,moreexperiencedITadminsshouldhaverelativelyfewerproblemsinstallingandupgradingtheclusters.Althoughallthetimesbelowrepresentdirectadmintime,SRcallssuchasthesecouldconceivablytakeplaceovermultipledaysorlonger.WeusedthefollowingadmintimeassumptionsforDellEMCVxRailSRcalls:

• AnaveragehardwarecallonVxRailtakesfivehoursofcustomeradmintimetoresolve.Thistimeincludesdiscoveringtheproblem,isolatingtheproblemtothecluster,callingsupport,explainingtheproblem,gatheringdiagnosticinformation,transmittinginformationtosupport,providingatestbedforpotentialfixesandimplementingthefinalfixtoresolvetheproblem.

• AnaveragesoftwarecallonVxRailtakes7.5hoursofcustomeradmintime

toresolve,whichis1.5timeslongerthanahardwarecallbecausethere’smoretodiscover,isolate,explain,diagnoseandfix.

• Anaverageinstallation/upgradeSRcallonVxRailtakes3.3hoursof

customeradmintimetoresolve,whichisabout66%ofthetimerequiredforahardwarecall.Withlessequipment/softwaretointeractwith,it’seasiertodiscover,isolateanddiagnoseerrors.

SinceDellEMCVxRailoffersasingle-servicesolutionandtheDIYsolutionhasmultiplevendors(Dellforserversandstorage,VMwareforvSphereandvSAN,DellEMCforRecoverPoint&CloudArray,etc.),itislogicaltoassumecustomeradmintimestoresolveanySRarelongerforDIYenvironments.Assuch,wemultipliedthetimetoresolveaVxRailSRby1.75XtodeterminethecustomeradmintimetoresolveaDIYSR.FortheDIYcluster,anaveragehardwareSRtakes8.8hours,asoftwareSRtakes13.1hoursandaninstall/upgradeSRtakes5.8hours.



Recallthatadmincostsforthemediumandlargeclustersizesarehigherthanthoseforthesmallclusterandthatadmincostsarenotdiscounted,astheyrepresentdirectorganizationalexpenses.AlltheforegoingresultsinthefollowingSRcosts:

• HardwareSRcostsinadmintimeoverthreeyearsforDellEMCVxRailconfigurationsareprojectedtobe$6.8K,$15.8Kand$41.1Kforsmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.SimilarcostsforDIYconfigurationsareprojectedtobe$11.2K,$26.9Kand$69.8K.

• SoftwareSRcostsinadmintimeoverthreeyearsforDellEMCVxRail

configurationsareprojectedtobe$10.1K,$23.7Kand$49.3Kforsmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.SimilarcostsforDIYconfigurationsareprojectedtobe$17.3K,$41.0Kand$85.3K.

• InstallationandupgradeSRcostsinadmintimeoverthreeyearsforDell

EMCVxRailclustersareprojectedtobe$4.5K,$5.3Kand$5.5Kforsmall,mediumandlargeclusterconfigurations,respectively.SimilarcostsforDIYconfigurationsareprojectedtobe$8.5K,$9.7Kand$10.0K.

Consequently,VxRailhas~42%lowerSRadmintimecostforallclustersizesthentheDIYconfigurations.ThenextcategoryofOpexishardwareandsoftwareinstallationandupgradeadmintime.Allclustersoftwarecomespre-installedonVxRailappliances,butforDIYservers,adminswillneedtodownload,installandconfigureallsoftwareoneachnodeinaconfiguration.WhenupgradingclustersoftwareforVxRail,customersreceiveonepackagedsetoffixes/updatesforallclustersoftware,withguaranteedcompatibilitywithVxRailhardwareratherthanseparateseriesofreleases/updatesforeveryinstalledsoftwarecomponent.Further,withVxRailManagersoftwareupgradestakejustasingleclickforthewholecluster.FortheDIYsolution,adminsmustcheckthesoftwarecomponentbeingupgradedagainstothersoftwareandhardwarecompatibilitymatricestoverifythatitcanbeusedwiththecurrentlyinstalledsystems.ThesoftwareupgradeprocessfortheDIYclusteralsodependsonthecomponentbeingupdated.Foranoperationalcluster,anadminmayneedtotakeaclusternodeoffline,installthesoftwareupdate,validateitandthenbringtheclusternodebackonline.Ifthiseffortisgoingtotakeaprotractedperiod,theadminmaywishtomigratedataandworkloadofftheclusternodeandthenmigrateitbackagainwhentheprocesscompletes.Finally,theadminwillagainhavetomanuallyrunthissamesoftwareupdateprocessagainsteverynodeinthecluster.



Anotheradmintimeconsiderationishardwareupgrades.Customersperiodicallyrunoutofclusterperformance,andtheonlywayforwardistoaddmorehardwaretothecluster,whichrequiresanotherorderprocess.ForVxRailconfigurations,adminscanjustordertheadditionalhardware,andDellEMCwillguaranteehardwareandsoftwarecompatibility.ForDIYconfigurations,adminswillneedtoonceagaincheckhardwareandsoftwarecompatibilityandwillneedtopurchaseadditionalVMwarevSANEnterprise,DellEMCRecoverPointandCloudArraycachelicensesandservicewarrantiesforthenewserversandsoftware.HardwareupgradesforVxRailandDIYconfigurationscomeintwotypes:addnodestotheclusteroraddstoragetonodesinthecluster.Weassumethatthereisonestoragecapacityupgradepernodeperyearforthesmallandmediumconfigurationsandtwostoragecapacityupgradespernodeperyearforthelargeconfiguration.Wealsoassumethereisonenodeaddedperclusterperyearforthesmallandmediumconfigurationandtwonodesaddedperclusterperyearforthelargeconfiguration.ForVxRailcapacityupgrades,weassumeittakesonaverage0.5hoursofadmintimeperupgradepernodeandVxRailclusternodeadditionstakeonaverage0.5hoursofadmintimepernode.Wealsoassumethattherearefoursoftwareupgradespernodeperyear.FortheVxRailcluster,webelieveeachsoftwareupgradewilltakeonaverage0.5hoursofadmintimepercluster(notethisisaperclusteradmintime,notapernodetimeforVxRail).ForDIYconfigurations,adminsneedtocheckhardwareandsoftwarecompatibilityforeachupgrade,orderthehardwareandsoftwarefromdifferentvendors,installandconfiguresoftwareforeachaddednode,initializethestoragemedia,etc.Assuch,wemultipliedalltheseadmintimesby2X.Inaddition,unlikeVxRailManager-orchestratedsoftwareupgrades,adminswillneedtorepeatthesoftwareupgradeprocessforeachnodeintheclusterforDIYconfigurationsoftwareupgrades.Assuch,wemultipliedtheVxRailadmintimebythenumberofnodesintheclustertocomputetheDIYsoftwareupgradetimes.Asaresult,thethree-yearhardwareandsoftwareinstallationandupgradeadmincostsfortheVxRailenvironmentareprojectedtobe$0.8K,$1.3Kand$4.4Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeclusters,respectively.SimilarcostsfortheDIYconfigurationwilllikelyrun$9.2K,$20.8Kand$57.5K.ThefinalcategoryofOpexisassociatedwithday-to-daymonitoringofthenodecluster.Webelievetheprocesswilltakeplaceonaverageeverybusinessdayacrossthethree-yeardurationofthisTCO.Wealsoassumethatthisactivitytakes0.5hours/day/clusterforsoftwaremonitoringand0.5hours/day/cluster/dayforhardwaremonitoringfortheVxRailenvironment.Wemultiplythesetimesby1.1XfortheDIYconfiguration,asthesystemsareessentiallythesameasVxRail,



providingamodestimprovementincluster-levelmanagementabovethebaselevelofsupportintheDIYservermanagementsoftware.Asaresult,theday-to-dayadminmonitoringtimecostsforVxRailareprojectedtobe$29.3K,$38.1Kand$49.5Kforthesmall,mediumandlargeconfigurations,respectively.SimilarcostsfortheDIYenvironmentsareprojectedtobe$32.2K,$41.9Kand$54.5K.Again,astheseareadmincosts,therearenodiscounts.



AppendixB–Hardwareandsoftwaredetailedcostinformation

DIYDellrackserverwebsitequote4ThefollowingscreenshotfromDell’sPowerEdgerackserverwebsiteshowsaquoteforthehardware,andserviceandwarrantycostsforthePowerEdgeR630rackserver.

4DellserverpricequoteobtainedApril26,2017,usingDellPowerEdgerackserver’sconfigurator,see:http://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetails/poweredge-r630/pe_r630_1337_a

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PowerEdge R630 Rack Server

Date & Time: April 26, 2017 3:45 PM CST SYSTEM COMPONENTS PowerEdge R630 Rack Server Qty 1

PowerEdge R630 Server Unit Price $36,200.00Limited-Time Offer: Save big on PowerEdge Server OS

and CALs. Expires Thursday, May 04, 2017 View Details

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Catalog Number: 4 PE_R630_1337_A

Module Description Show Details

PowerEdge R630 PowerEdge R630 Server

Trusted Platform Module(TPM) Trusted Platform Module 1.2 FIPS Common Criteria

Chassis Configuration Chassis with up to 10, 2.5" Hard Drives, 3 PCIe Slots

Shipping PowerEdge R630 Shipping - 10/24 Drive Chassis

Processor Intel® Xeon® E5-2620 v4 2.1GHz,20M Cache,8.0GT/s QPI,Turbo,HT,8C/16T (85W)Max Mem 2133MHz

Additional Processor Intel® Xeon® E5-2620 v4 2.1GHz,20M Cache,8.0GT/s QPI,Turbo,HT,8C/16T (85W)Max Mem 2133MHz

Processor ThermalConfiguration 2 CPU up to 120W

Memory DIMM Type andSpeed 2400MT/s RDIMMs

Memory ConfigurationType Performance Optimized

Memory Capacity (8) 32GB RDIMM, 2400MT/s, Dual Rank, x4 Data Width

RAID Configuration No RAID for H330/H730/H730P (1-24 HDDs or SSDs)

RAID Controller PERC H330 RAID Controller

Hard Drives (2) 400GB Solid State Drive SAS Write Intensive MLC 12Gbps 2.5in Hot-plug Drive,PX05SM

Hard Drives (2) 3.84TB Solid State Drive SAS Mix Use MLC 12Gbps 2.5in Hot-plug Drive,PX04SV

Embedded SystemsManagement iDRAC8 Express, integrated Dell Remote Access Controller, Express

Internal Optical Drive No Internal Optical Drive for 10 or 24 HDD Chassis

Rack Rails ReadyRails™ Sliding Rails With Cable Management Arm

Bezel Bezel 10/24 Drive Chassis

Power Management BIOS Power Saving Dell Active Power Controller

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Power Cords (2) NEMA 5-15P to C13 Wall Plug, 125 Volt, 15 AMP, 10 Feet (3m), Power Cord,North America

Power Supply Dual, Hot-plug, Redundant Power Supply (1+1), 1100W

System Documentation No Systems Documentation, No OpenManage DVD Kit

Operating System No Operating System

OS Media Kits No Media Required

Advanced SystemConfigurations UEFI BIOS Setting

Shipping Information US No Canada Ship Charge

Network Daughter Card Intel X520 DP 10Gb SR/SFP+, + I350 DP 1Gb Ethernet, Network Daughter Card, withSR Optics

Service ProSupport Plus: 3 Year Mission Critical 4Hr On-site Service

Deployment Services No Installation

Remote ConsultingServices Declined Remote Consulting Service

Server Accessories SFP+, SR, Optical Transceiver, Low Cost, 10Gb-1GbTOTAL: $23,666.80

Total PriceSub-total $23,666.80

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snCM14



VMwarevSANEnterpriselicensequoteforafour-nodeclusterwithtwoCPUspernodeThefollowingscreenshot5fromVMware’svSANTCOsizingtoolprovidesthebasisforthelicenseandserviceandwarrantycostsusedinthemodelfortheVMwarevSANsoftware.

5VMware’svSANTCOsizingtoolhomeisathttps://vsantco.vmware.com/vsan/SI/SIEV,buttheEnterpriselicensecostscanbefoundathttps://vsantco.vmware.com/vsan/TI/TILSasof6June2017.



DellEMCVxRailpricequoteThefollowingisaDellEMClistpricequoteforasingleE460FVxRailapplianceandenhancedthree-yearserviceandwarranty.

Page1

176 South Street HOPKINTON MA 01748 USA

Item Description Qty UOM Total List Price(USD)

SYSTEM VXRAIL 4.0 E460F ALL FLASH

SYS6301U1N10DAF VXRAIL E460F NODE 10X 2.5 DRIVE SLOTS ALL FLASH 1 EA

TPM1.2MODULE VXRAIL TPM 1.2 MODULE 1 EA

PRE52620V408C21 VXRAIL PROCESSOR E5-2620 V4 8 CORE 2.1GHZ (1ST) 1 EA

PRE52620V408C-2 VXRAIL PROCESSOR E5-2620 V4 8 CORE 2.1GHZ (2ND) 1 EA

MEMLDIMM32GB VXRAIL MEMORY 32GB 2400 MHZ RDIMM 8 EA

NIC2X1E2X10ESFP VXRAIL NIC 2X1GBE PLUS 2X10GBE SFP 1 EA

CAPSSD384TB1WPD VXRAIL CAPACITY SSD 3.84TB 1WPD 2 EA

SSD400GB10WPD25 VXRAIL CACHE SSD 400GB 10WPD 2.5 INCH 2 EA

M-EMDL-ENHHW-3Y ENHANCED HARDWARE SUPPORT 3 YEAR 1 EA

Hardware Sub-total $47,236.00

Hardware Warranty and Maintenance Sub-total $14,171.40

VXR-HCIA-MGR-DE-40 VXRAIL MANAGER V4.0 1 EA

456-111-959 RECOVERPOINT FOR VM FOR 1-NODE VXRAIL 1 EA

M-ENHSW-D3-001 ENHANCED SOFTWARE SUPPORT 1 EA

Software Sub-total $0.00

Software Warranty and Maintenance Sub-total $0.00

PS-BAS-RPVMGL RECOVERPOINT FOR VMS IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE 1 EA

PS-BAS-HCIAINS INSTALLATION FOR VXRAIL SINGLE APPLIANCE 1 EA

Services Sub-total $9,030.00

Hardware Sub-total $47,236.00

Software Sub-total $0.00

Prepaid HW Maintenance Sub-total $14,171.40

Prepaid SW Maintenance Sub-total $0.00

Services Sub-total $9,030.00

Configuration Total $70,437.40

Sold To: Bill To: Ship To:

SOUTH STHOPKINTON MA 01748 USA



CUST REQUEST CUST REQUEST CUST REQUEST

1003334795 1003334795 1003334795

Documents

TCO Study: Dell EMC VxRail vs. DIY HCI Using vSAN ... · PDF fileTCO Study: Dell EMC VxRail vs. DIY HCI Using vSAN ReadyNodes Configuration Silverton Consulting, Inc. StorInt™ Briefing