VxRail Question
I hope this isn't a stupid question but I'm a bit confused.
Dell says this:
Dell VxRail is a turnkey, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) appliance jointly engineered with VMware. It combines Dell PowerEdge server hardware, software-defined storage (vSAN), and virtualization software (ESXi) into a single, pre-configured unit managed as a single system.
What is VxRail?
VxRail is designed to simplify data center infrastructure. Key aspects include: [1]
Fully Integrated: It comes pre-installed with VMware vSphere (ESXi), vSAN, and VxRail Manager.
Simplified Management: Managed directly through the VMware vCenter interface.
Automated Lifecycle Management (LCM): VxRail Manager ensures that updates, patches, and node additions are non-disruptive and automatically validated for the entire stack.
Scalability: You can start with as few as two nodes and scale up to 64 nodes in a cluster.
Do I Still Need to Buy ESXi Hosts?
Yes, but you do not buy them separately. VxRail nodes are ESXi hosts. [1]
Included Software: When you buy a VxRail appliance, VMware vSphere ESXi and VMware vSAN are included as part of the appliance software bundle.
Licensing: While pre-installed, you must still supply vSphere and vSAN licenses to activate the software. You can purchase these licenses directly through Dell OEM or bring your own existing VMware licenses.
Hardware: You are buying Dell PowerEdge servers configured specifically to run as VMware ESXi nodes. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
In summary: You are buying a complete, pre-built, and supported "box" (VxRail) that includes all the necessary VMware software (ESXi + vSAN) pre-installed. You do not need to purchase separate bare-metal servers and then install ESXi yourself, but you must license the software that comes on the nodes. [1, 2]
VxRail Key Benefits vs. Traditional Hosts
Faster Deployment: Because it is pre-integrated, it is significantly faster to deploy than building an HCI cluster from scratch.
Single Support Point: Dell provides support for the entire stack—hardware and software.
Lifecycle Management: Automated testing and updating of firmware, ESXi, and vSAN, preventing compatibility issues.
So what I am reading is:
Each VxRail blade is equal to 1 ESXi host with all the compute, memory, & storage (vSan). So you need 3 VxRails at a minimum to make 1 cluster.