{"id":262,"date":"2020-03-19T18:54:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T16:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/?p=262"},"modified":"2020-03-19T18:54:55","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T16:54:55","slug":"what-is-intel-rack-scale-design-and-how-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/what-is-intel-rack-scale-design-and-how-does-it-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Intel Rack Scale Design and how does it work?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Find out what Intel’s Rack Scale Design architecture is and how its reference code and APIs enable Intel-partner products to compose on-demand virtual servers for specific workloads.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Robert Sheldon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributor – SearchSQLServer<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t\n\t\n\tPublished: 14 Feb 2020<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intel Rack Scale Design is a reference architecture, or blueprint, \nfor building a composable disaggregated infrastructure that utilizes \nsoftware-defined technologies to deliver a hyperscale data center \nenvironment. The infrastructure is made up of rack-based hardware \nresources and software components based on Intel’s Rack Scale Design \nreference code and API specifications, which make it possible to compose\n operating environments on demand to support specific workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing Intel Rack Scale Design<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Intel Rack Scale Design infrastructure separates the physical \ncompute, storage and network resources within a rack into logical \nresources that administrators can access through management APIs, which \nprovide interfaces for discovering, composing and monitoring resources. \nThe infrastructure employs a high-speed interconnect fabric that links \nthe disaggregated resources and makes it possible to compose them into virtual servers<\/a> within seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intel Rack Scale Design assembles the logical components into \nresource pools accessible to the APIs to compose nodes. A node is a \ngrouping of logical system elements — such as CPUs, memory modules, \nstorage components or network switches — optimized for specific \nworkloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, a workload might require a node that includes a \nfour-socket compute module, a 64 GB memory module and an 8 TB \nsolid-state drive. Once the node has been created, the workload can use \nits resources to carry out operations. When the workload no longer needs\n the node, its components are released back to the resource pools and \nmade available for other workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rack Scale Design can help save on hardware costs because IT teams \nbuy only the equipment they need when they need it. The composable \ninfrastructure can also increase resource utilization<\/a>,\n and it can reduce administrative overhead because many operations are \nautomated and components are faster and easier to refresh and scale out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Intel Rack Scale Design is based on industry standards, \norganizations can choose the hardware components that best fit their \ncircumstances and budgets, which can, ideally, help them avoid vendor \nlock-in and the costs that sometimes come with it. The composable architecture<\/a> also offers more flexibility for supporting today’s fluctuating and varying workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intel Rack Scale Design components<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An Intel Rack Scale Design environment is made up of both hardware \nand software components that together create a composable infrastructure\n that can span multiple racks to deliver a hyperscale data center<\/a>. The following figure provides an overview of a typical Intel Rack Scale Design implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
A typical Intel Rack Scale Design implementation contains multiple drawers that house the physical resources and a software component to interface with those resources. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of the infrastructure is the rack and its components. \nEach rack is made up of multiple drawers that house the physical \nresources. A drawer normally contains a blade, module or other element, \nwhich, in turn, contains the compute, storage or network components. The\n exact approach to housing the hardware can vary, but conceptually, the \nresources are generally presented in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intel’s Rack Scale Design infrastructure utilizes a software \ncomponent called the Pooled System Management Engine (PSME) to interface\n with the physical resources. The PSME provides information about the \navailability of resources, and it exposes a set of APIs to higher levels\n in the management stack. In a common Intel Rack Scale Design \nconfiguration, each drawer is associated with a PSME instance — \nalthough the PSME can also run at the blade, module or rack level. The \nIntel Rack Scale Design vendor partner, which sells products using the \ncomposable architecture, determines how the PSME is implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each rack also includes a software component known as the Rack \nManager Module (RMM), which communicates with the PSMEs and handles \nrack-level functions, such as managing power, reporting environmental \nstatus or distributing security certificates to the PSMEs. As with the \nPSMEs, vendors determine how the RMM is implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a typical Intel Rack Scale Design configuration, each rack also \nsupports both a data network and a management network. The networks are \nbased on networking technologies<\/a>\n such as 100 Gigabit Ethernet, InfiniBand or optical interconnects. In \naddition, the rack includes a top-of-rack switch that facilitates \ncommunications with other systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The top-of-rack switch also connects racks into a pod, a common \nmanagement framework for scaling the infrastructure beyond a single \nrack. Integral to this framework is the Pod Manager (PODM), a software \ncomponent for managing functions within and across the racks that make \nup the pod. For example, the PODM can power-on modules, initiate \nprovisioning, discover resources or compose nodes using resources from \nany of the racks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PODM also communicates with orchestration software, which can \nrequest the PODM to carry out management operations. The orchestration \nsoftware sits outside of the Rack Scale Design infrastructure, utilizing\n the APIs exposed by the PODM to perform and automate operations — most\n notably composing infrastructure nodes on demand<\/a> to meet the needs of specific workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All Intel Rack Scale Design-related communications on the management\n network rely on the APIs exposed by the PSME, RMM and PODM software \ncomponents to carry out operations. Intel based the APIs on the Redfish \nRESTful framework, an open standard for data center management. The Distributed Management Task Force<\/a>\n (DMTF), a group of organizations that create open manageability \nstandards for new and traditional IT infrastructures, defined the \nRedfish framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today’s Intel Rack Scale Design implementations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A number of vendors now offer composable products based on the \nIntel’s Rack Scale Design architecture, including American Megatrends, \nCanonical, Dell EMC, Inspur, Supermicro and several others, with each \nvendor putting its own spin on the infrastructure. For example, the \nSupermicro Rack Scale Design offering includes the PODM, RMM and PSME \nsoftware components, as well as a pooled NVMe controller and web-based \nuser interface. The software is part of a complete Intel Rack Scale \nDesign infrastructure product built from Supermicro server, storage and \nswitch hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations considering Intel’s Rack Scale Design infrastructure \nshould carefully review and compare different products based on the \ncomposable reference architecture before making any decisions. Intel \ngives vendors a great deal of latitude when building Rack Scale Design systems<\/a>,\n so products can vary widely. At the same time, keep in mind that it is a\n relatively young technology. Although Intel designed the infrastructure\n to be hardware-agnostic, options remain limited, and so the potential \nfor vendor lock-in continues in spite of the reference architecture’s \noverall potential to avoid such a scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intel Rack Scale Design has been gaining steady traction, however, \nwhich will likely lead to more options and advancements in the \ntechnology. This will benefit enterprises ready to embrace the \ncomposable infrastructure reference platform going forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>Find out what Intel’s Rack Scale Design architecture is and how its reference code and APIs enable Intel-partner products to compose on-demand virtual servers for specific workloads. By Robert Sheldon Contributor – SearchSQLServer Published: 14 Feb 2020 Intel Rack Scale Design is a reference architecture, or blueprint, for building a composable disaggregated infrastructure that utilizes software-defined technologies to deliver a<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,30,16,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engage-the-experts","category-expert-advise-and-opinion","category-how-tos-and-other-useful-tips-and-tricks","category-tekmart-enterprise-hardware-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":263,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}