{"id":10753,"date":"2022-10-06T09:45:18","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T23:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/?p=10753"},"modified":"2022-10-07T10:31:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T00:31:59","slug":"vmware-cloud-on-aws-i4i-metal-a-few-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/vmware-cloud-on-aws-i4i-metal-a-few-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"VMware Cloud on AWS &#8211; I4i.metal &#8211; A Few Notes &#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/VMware-Logo-200x200-01-1024x1024.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8656 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/VMware-Logo-200x200-01-1024x1024-300x76.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"76\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/VMware-Logo-200x200-01-1024x1024-300x76.png 300w, https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/VMware-Logo-200x200-01-1024x1024-768x194.png 768w, https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/VMware-Logo-200x200-01-1024x1024.png 1012w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_0009.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10471 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_0009-300x154.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"154\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_0009-300x154.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_0009-768x395.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_0009.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At VMware Explore 2022 in the US, VMware <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.vmware.com\/cloud\/2022\/08\/30\/vmware-cloud-on-aws-whats-new-at-vmware-explore-2022\/\">announced a number of new offerings for VMware Cloud on AWS<\/a>, including a new bare-metal instance type: the I4i.metal. You can read the official blog post <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.vmware.com\/cloud\/2022\/08\/30\/announcing-a-new-instance-type-for-vmware-cloud-on-aws-i4i-metal\/\">here<\/a>. I thought it would be useful to provide some high-level details and cover some of the caveats that punters should be aware of.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>By The Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>What do you get from a specifications perspective?<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>The CPU is 3rd generation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intel.com.au\/content\/www\/au\/en\/products\/platforms\/details\/ice-lake-sp.html\">Intel Xeon Ice Lake<\/a> @ 2.4GHz \/ Turbo 3.5GHz<\/li>\n<li>64 physical cores, supporting 128 logical cores with Hyper Threading (HT)<\/li>\n<li>1024 GiB memory<\/li>\n<li>30 TiB NVMe (Raw local capacity)<\/li>\n<li>Up to 75 Gbps networking speed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>So, how does the I4i.metal compare with the i3.metal? You get roughly 2x compute, storage, and memory, with improved network speed as well.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em><a href=\"https:\/\/vmc.techzone.vmware.com\/resource\/vmware-cloud-aws-instance-i4i-faq\">FAQ<\/a> Highlights<\/em><\/div>\n<div>Can I use custom core counts?\u00a0Yep, the I4i\u00a0will support physical custom core counts of 8, 16, 24, 30, 36, 48, 64.<\/div>\n<div>Is there stretched cluster support? Yes, you can deploy these in stretched clusters (of the same host type).<\/div>\n<div>Can I do in-cluster conversions? Yes, read more about that <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.vmware.com\/en\/VMware-Cloud-on-AWS\/services\/com.vmware.vmc-aws-operations\/GUID-41A16A95-CFC5-4F02-8B92-1D294ADE3564.html\">here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>Other Considerations<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>Why does the <a href=\"https:\/\/vmc.vmware.com\/sizer\/home\">sizer<\/a> say 20 TiB useable for the I4i? Around 7 TiB is consumed by the cache tier at the moment, so you&#8217;ll see different numbers in the sizer. And your useable storage numbers will obviously be impacted by the usual constraints around failures to tolerate (FTT) and RAID settings.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-06-at-9.06.42-am.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10754\" src=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-06-at-9.06.42-am.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"495\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-06-at-9.06.42-am.png 495w, https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screen-Shot-2022-10-06-at-9.06.42-am-300x173.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>Region Support?<\/em><\/div>\n<div>The I4i.metal instances will be available in the following Regions (and Availability Zones):<\/div>\n<div>\n<dl class=\"styled\">\n<dd class=\"active\">\n<ul>\n<li>US East (N. Virginia) &#8211;\u00a0use1-az1, use1-az2, use1-az4, use1-az5, use1-az6<\/li>\n<li>US West (Oregon) &#8211;\u00a0usw2-az1, usw2-az2, usw2-az3, usw2-az4<\/li>\n<li>US West (N. California) &#8211;\u00a0usw1-az1, usw1-az3<\/li>\n<li>US East (Ohio) &#8211;\u00a0use2-az1, use2-az2, use2-az3<\/li>\n<li>Canada (Central) &#8211;\u00a0cac1-az1, cac1-az2<\/li>\n<li>Europe (Ireland) &#8211;\u00a0euw1-az1, euw1-az2, euw1-az3<\/li>\n<li>Europe (London) &#8211;\u00a0euw2-az1, euw2-az2, euw2-az3<\/li>\n<li>Europe (Frankfurt) &#8211;\u00a0euc1-az1, euc1-az2, euc1-az3<\/li>\n<li>Europe (Paris) &#8211; \u00a0euw3-az1, euw3-az2, euw3-az3<\/li>\n<li>Asia Pacific (Singapore) &#8211;\u00a0apse1-az1, apse1-az2, apse1-az3<\/li>\n<li data-stringify-border=\"0\" data-stringify-indent=\"0\">Asia Pacific (Sydney) &#8211;\u00a0apse2-az1, apse2-az2, apse2-az3<\/li>\n<li>Asia Pacific (Tokyo) &#8211;\u00a0apne1-az1, apne1-az2, apne1-az4<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<p>Other Regions will have availability over the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The i3.metal isn&#8217;t going anywhere, but it&#8217;s nice to have an option that supports more cores and it a bit more storage and RAM. The I4i.metal is great for SQL workloads and VDI deployments where core count can really make a difference. Coupled with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/vmware-cloud-on-aws-supplemental-storage-a-few-notes\/\">addition of supplemental storage<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vmware.com\/products\/vmc-flex-storage.html\">VMware Cloud Flex Storage<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/fsx\/netapp-ontap\/\">Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP<\/a>, there are some great options available to deal with the variety of workloads customers are looking to deploy on VMware Cloud on AWS.<\/p>\n<p>On another note, if you want to hear more about all the cloudy news from VMware Explore US, I&#8217;ll be presenting at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/brisbane-vmug-october-2022\/\">Brisbane VMUG meeting on October 12th<\/a>, and my colleague Ray will be doing something in <a href=\"https:\/\/my.vmug.com\/s\/community-event?id=a1Y4x0000002ktqEAA\">Sydney on October 19th<\/a>. If you&#8217;re in the area, come along.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At VMware Explore 2022 in the US, VMware announced a number of new offerings for VMware Cloud on AWS, including a new bare-metal instance type: the I4i.metal. You can read the official blog post here. I thought it would be useful to provide some high-level details and cover some of the caveats that punters should [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[874,1377,4,73],"tags":[520,1144,786,1383,1400,1028,796],"class_list":["post-10753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cloud","category-vmconaws","category-vmware","category-vmworld","tag-announcement","tag-vmconaws","tag-vmware","tag-vmware-cloud","tag-vmware-explore","tag-vmwonaws","tag-vmworld"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10753"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10760,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10753\/revisions\/10760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguinpunk.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}