Dell EMC VxFlex Ready Node - Preface; Related documentation; Typographical conventions

Console operations (KVM access)
Ensure that you have either a VGA tool kit to allow console connection from a laptop computer to a server, or a
computer screen and keyboard connection to the rack.
Disk prerequisites
For R640 and R740xd systems only, if an H730p/H740p controller card is installed on the server, install the PERCCLI
disk utility.
iDRAC Service Module
If an NVMe device is installed on the server, install the iDRAC Service Module (iSM), as described later in this guide.
openIPMI (Linux servers only)
For the iDRAC Service Module package to install properly on a Linux server, ensure that openIPMI is installed and
operational on the node. You can install openIPMI via yum package manager.
Required packages for NVDIMM
When NVDIMM acceleration devices are installed in the system, the following Linux packages are required:
l
ndctl – NVDIMM control utility, version 62 or above
l
libpmem – persistent memory library, version 1.4.3
l
jq – Command-line JSON processor, version 1.5
For nodes running on RHEL 7.6 or higher, ensure that kmod-redhat-nfit-3.10.0_957-1.el7_6.x86_64.rpm is
installed.
Supported hardware configurations
Supported hardware configurations are listed in the EMC Simple Support Matrix (ESSM) for your software version.
Download the ESSM from https://elabnavigator.emc.com/eln/elnhome. Click Simple Support Matrices > Storage
and select the desired product and version.
Additional equipment and network resource requirements
Ensure that you have the following equipment and network resources and available before installing VxFlex Ready Node
servers.
Boot drive
All configurations have two 120/240 GB BOSS boot drives (configured as RAID 1).
Switch requirements
One 10/25 GbE switch is required. Two or more 10/25GbE switches may be used for high availability and load balancing
purposes. Separate (one or more) 1 GbE switches may be used for the management network.
Before you begin connecting the switches, ensure that they are installed and configured.
CAUTION
Do not connect the switches to your organization's network until all installation and configuration
activities are complete.
Each node has at least four 10GbE or two 25 GbE ports. Two are used for internal network communications. The other
two ports are used for client network traffic. On ESXi nodes, they are also used for VMware high availability and DRS.
VxFlex Ready Node deployment overview
VxFlex Ready Node Operating System Installation Guide for Linux 15