Hyperconverged clusters: compute and storage in the same nodes

Hyperconverged infrastructure puts the drives in the servers and lets software (vSAN, Nutanix, Azure Local, Ceph and others) pool them into shared storage. There is no separate array or SAN: every node connects to a pair of Ethernet switches, and storage replication between nodes runs over that network. The network becomes the storage fabric, so it needs low latency and enough bandwidth for rebuilds.

Cabling: DAC or optics with fibre.

What to check

• Plan at least two 25GbE ports per node to two switches; all-NVMe clusters often move to 100GbE.
• Three nodes is the usual minimum; four or more lets a node fail during maintenance without losing redundancy.
• Drives, controllers and NICs must be on the HCI software's hardware list, so check before you mix used parts.

Hardware for this setup

Every model and part in the reference that fits this path, by role and brand. Open one to see what it connects to.

HCI nodes (2)

Lenovo

• Lenovo ThinkAgile HX3320 1U rack
• Lenovo ThinkAgile VX650 V2 2U rack

Server adapters (44)

Broadcom

• BCM957414A4142CC Broadcom NetXtreme-E BCM57414 Dual-Port 25GbE SFP28 PCIe 3.0 Ethernet Network Adapter
• BCM957416A4160C Broadcom NetXtreme-E BCM57416 Dual-Port 10GBASE-T PCIe 3.0 Ethernet Network Adapter
• BCM957504A5041CC Broadcom NetXtreme-E BCM57504 Quad-Port 100GbE QSFP56 PCIe 4.0 Ethernet Network Adapter

Dell

• 540-BBGN Dell Broadcom 57412 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe Adapter
• 540-BBGO Dell Broadcom 57416 Dual Port 10GBASE-T RJ45 PCIe Adapter
• 540-BBGP Dell Broadcom 57416 Dual Port 10GBASE-T RJ45 OCP 3.0 Adapter
• 540-BBGY Dell Broadcom 57414 Dual Port 10/25GbE SFP28 PCIe Low Profile Network Adapter
• 540-BBHB Dell Broadcom 57414 Dual Port 10/25GbE SFP28 OCP 3.0 Mezzanine Network Adapter
• 540-BBHG Dell Intel X520/I350 2x10GbE SFP+ + 2x1GbE BASE-T Network Daughter Card (rNDC)
• 540-BBHH Dell Intel X540/I350 2x10GBASE-T + 2x1GbE BASE-T Network Daughter Card (rNDC)
• 540-BBIU Dell Broadcom 57416/5720 2x10GBASE-T + 2x1GbE Network Daughter Card (rNDC)
• 540-BBIV Dell Broadcom 57412/5720 2x10GbE SFP+ + 2x1GbE Network Daughter Card (rNDC)
• 540-BBJL Dell Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx Dual Port 25GbE SFP28 Network Daughter Card (rNDC)
• 540-BBOZ Dell Intel X550 Dual Port 10GBASE-T RJ45 PCIe Adapter
• 540-BBPA Dell Intel X550 Dual Port 10GBASE-T RJ45 OCP 3.0 Adapter
• 540-BBRL Dell Intel X710 Quad Port 10GbE SFP+ Full-Height PCIe Adapter
• 540-BBRM Dell Intel X710 Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ OCP 3.0 Adapter
• 540-BCND Dell Mellanox ConnectX-6 Lx Dual Port 25GbE SFP28 PCIe Adapter
• 540-BCOS Dell Mellanox ConnectX-5 Dual Port 25GbE SFP28 PCIe Adapter
• 540-BCOT Dell Mellanox ConnectX-5 Dual Port 25GbE SFP28 OCP 3.0 Adapter
• 540-BCOW Dell Intel E810-XXV Dual Port 10/25GbE SFP28 OCP 3.0 Network Adapter
• 540-BDBX Dell NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx Dual Port 100GbE QSFP56 PCIe Adapter
• 540-BDCE Dell Intel E810-XXV Dual Port 25GbE SFP28 PCIe Gen4 Adapter
• 540-BDCF Dell Intel E810-CQDA2 Dual Port 100GbE QSFP28 PCIe Gen4 Adapter
• 540-BDCP Dell Broadcom 57508 Dual Port 100GbE QSFP56 PCIe Gen4 Adapter
• 540-BDCQ Dell Broadcom 57508 Dual Port 100GbE QSFP56 OCP 3.0 Adapter
• 540-BDDF Dell Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx Dual Port 100GbE QSFP56 OCP 3.0 Adapter
• 540-BDDO Dell NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx Dual Port 100GbE QSFP56 PCIe Adapter

HPE

• P26256-B21 HPE Broadcom BCM57412 Ethernet 10Gb 2-port SFP+ OCP3 Adapter

Intel

• E10G42BTDA Intel Ethernet Server Adapter X520-DA2 Dual-Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 2.0 x8 NIC
• E810CQDA2 Intel Ethernet Network Adapter E810-CQDA2 Dual-Port 100GbE QSFP28 PCIe 4.0 x16 NIC
• E810XXVDA2 Intel Ethernet Network Adapter E810-XXVDA2 Dual-Port 25GbE SFP28 PCIe 4.0 x8 NIC
• X550T2 Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X550-T2 Dual-Port 10GBASE-T Copper PCIe 3.0 x4 NIC
• X710DA2 Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA2 Dual-Port 10GbE SFP+ PCIe 3.0 x8 NIC
• X710DA4FH Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA4 Quad-Port 10GbE SFP+ Full-Height PCIe 3.0 x8 NIC

Lenovo

• 4XC7A08238 ThinkSystem Broadcom 57414 10/25GbE SFP28 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter
• 4XC7A08248 Lenovo ThinkSystem Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx 100GbE QSFP56 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter
• 4XC7A08295 ThinkSystem Intel E810-DA2 10/25GbE SFP28 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter
• 7XC7A05523 Lenovo ThinkSystem Intel X710-DA2 PCIe 10Gb 2-Port SFP+ Ethernet Adapter
• 7XC7A05525 Lenovo ThinkSystem Broadcom 57416 10GBASE-T 2-Port PCIe Ethernet Adapter

NVIDIA

• MBF2H516C-CESCOT NVIDIA BlueField-2 DPU Dual-Port 25GbE SFP28 16GB Arm Crypto PCIe 4.0 x8 Data Processing Unit
• MCX512A-ACAT NVIDIA ConnectX-5 EN Dual-Port 25GbE SFP28 PCIe 3.0 x8 Low-Profile Ethernet Network Adapter
• MCX623105AN-VDAT NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx EN Dual-Port 25GbE SFP56 PCIe 4.0 x16 Ethernet Network Adapter
• MCX623106AN-CDAT NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx EN Dual-Port 100GbE QSFP56 PCIe 4.0 x16 Ethernet Network Adapter

Switches (6)

Dell

• Dell PowerSwitch S4128F-ON 1U rack
• Dell PowerSwitch S4148F-ON 1U rack
• Dell PowerSwitch S5212F-ON 1U rack
• Dell PowerSwitch S5224F-ON 1U rack
• Dell PowerSwitch S5248F-ON 1U rack
• Dell PowerSwitch S5296F-ON 2U rack

Optics (5)

Dell

• 407-BBOU Dell 10GbE SFP+ SR Optical Transceiver (850nm, 300m MMF)
• 407-BBOY Dell 100GbE QSFP28 SR4 Optical Transceiver (850nm, 100m MPO-12)
• 407-BCBF Dell 25GbE SFP28 SR Optical Transceiver (850nm, 100m MMF)

Lenovo

• 46C3447 Lenovo ThinkSystem 10Gb SFP+ SR Optical Transceiver
• 7G17A03537 Lenovo ThinkSystem 25Gb SFP28 SR Optical Transceiver

Plan and size it

• Draw this setup in the topology planner mrplanb.com
• Add up rack power and space rack-density.com
• Hypervisor advisor: which platform fits you mrplanb.com
• VM platform Ledger: hypervisors scored mrplanb.com
• Virtualization storage Ledger: scored storage platforms mrplanb.com

Other ways to connect

• Fibre Channel SAN
• iSCSI and NVMe/TCP over Ethernet
• Direct-attached SAS
• File storage (NFS and SMB)
• GPU cluster fabric

FAQ