Version 4.4.3 was launched a couple of weeks in this Runecast Analyzer 4.4.3 and Pure Storage a quick review, we will check their new version. We will also look at the new feature that includes best practices for Pure Storage Flash Array VMware configuration launched in version 4.4.2.
Runecast CEO Stanimir Markov stated, “Runecast’s Partnership with Pure Storage is a remarkable alliance. Both organizations share a common ethos and commitment to stable, scalable, and available IT operations, with a mission to harness the potential of AI in order to deliver value.”
First, let have a look at what did change since the last review that I did for Runecast Analyzer v4.3.2.
- Runecast Analyzer 4.4.3.0 – Released August 25, 2020
- Fixed a problem to upgrade to 4.4.2.0 when Active Directory was configured.
- Knowledge definition updates.
- Runecast Analyzer 4.4.2.0 Released August 13, 2020
- Update of vSphere 6.5 DISA STIG to version 1, release 4.
- Added official best practices for Pure Storage Flash Array.
- Knowledge definition updates.
- Runecast Analyzer 4.4.1.0 Released July 17, 2020
- Improvements to the analysis algorithm to support the latest knowledge definitions.
- Knowledge definition updates.
- Runecast Analyzer 4.4.0.0 Released July 10, 2020
- VMware Hardware Compatibility: New override functionality enables that particular hardware can be marked manually as compatible, and the information will be applicable in all areas of Runecast Analyzer.
- UI redesign of the Hardware Compatibility feature for increased usability, readability, and accessibility.
- Knowledge definition update.
- Runecast Analyzer 4.3.3.0 Released June 3, 2020
- HW Compatibility: Added smarter evaluation of socket configurations for servers.
- Enterprise Console: Added new public API endpoint for group management. Added search/filter functionality for connected systems. Increased loading speed of local systems by 70%.
- Knowledge definition update.
So as we can see above, there were a lot of changes since my latest review in June. It is great work from Runecast if we understand the COVID times that we live in today. They continue to work to improve their product and more features and systems to analyze, like Pure Storage.
How to check your Pure Storage Best Practices?
It is straightforward, and you don’t need to do any configurations or changes in your Runecast Analyzer, or even in your Pure Storage.
Just add a vCenter and ESXi hosts that use a Pure Storage for their Datastores, and Runecast Analyzer will automatically recognize the Pure Storage Array system and start analyzing the Best Practices for your VMware environment.
In the next case, I just added my vCenter with Pure Storage connection to the Runecast Analyzer and click Analyze Now (when you add a new vCenter, the analysis is automatic).
Just adding two examples of what Runecast integrated with Pure Storage Arrays can do for your systems.
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Best Practices – Pure Storage Arrays.
I will show two examples of vCenter, ESXi hosts that have Pure Storage Arrays and different configurations.
In the first example, as we can see in the next image, all configurations are green, and this system is using all the Pure Storage VMware Best Practices.
In this second example, we see a different scenario. Some of the configurations are read, and this system is not using all the Pure Storage VMware Best Practices.
Some of the examples of configurations that should be changed:
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- Disable DelayAck for FlashArray iSCSI targets.
- Set iSCSI Login Timeout for FlashArray targets at least 30 seconds.
For the above settings, you can get more information here in the Pure Storage guide.
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- Use ParaVirtual SCSI Adapter.
“PVSCSI adapters are high-performance storage adapters that can result in greater throughput and lower CPU utilization. PVSCSI adapters are best for environments, especially SAN environments, where hardware or applications drive a very high amount of I/O throughput. The VMware PVSCSI adapter driver is also compatible with the Windows Storport storage driver. PVSCSI adapters are not suitable for DAS environments.”
Check VMware KB for ParaVirtual SCSI adapters.
As we can check in the above images, this is an excellent feature from Runecast to improve our performance in Pure Storage Arrays and have the VMware configurations set for Pure Storage guide Best Practices.
Next, let check one feature that I did not talk about it deep in my latest reviews, which is hardware compatibly. The hw compatibility will scan your hardware with VMware HCL and list all the devices that are compatible or not with the different versions of vSphere.
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HW Compatibility
In this first example, we have a Blade System that as all devices compatible with ESXi 6.7 U3, but one device is not supported (we can still use it, but is not supported). This was an NVMe SDD controller that is not supported to run in that ESXi version.
You can check information by the Server and also more in detail using the I/O Devices tab.
In this second example is a more old server where most of the devices are not supported in the newest ESXi version. As we can check, only old ESXi versions are compatible to run this Network Cards.
Note: All compatible devices are listed in the VMware HCL list that Runecast always has and is updated (you can check the image in the top left corner the date of the VMware HCL).
In my opinion, besides the number of useful features that have, this feature is one of the best and most useful. With just a couple of clicks, we have all the information, and we do not need to check the VMware HCL list manually. Here we get all the information.
I also brought this feature to this blog post, not only that I did not talk in detail about it, but I needed to check some devices in one of my Cluster (in this case, Dell servers) if they were compatible with vSAN. I have some doubts about a controller H330 Mini and want to know if it was possible to use it with vSAN.
Well, this information we could get with Runecast if vSAN was enabled in the vCenter, but since it is not, we cannot use it. So that is why I propose to Runecast to create this option in future versions. I think this option will be very, very useful.
A customer has a vSAN, NSX, or other product that Runecast scans and want to know if their hardware is compatible with those systems before we installed and without the need to look in the VMWare HCL manually.
Since all this information is already in Runecast, I don’t think it will be very difficult or many changes to enable this feature. They promise that they will look into it. Thanks Runecast!
I hope this information was useful, and you learn a bit more about Runecast Analyzer 4.4.3 and Pure Storage a quick review. With Runecast integrated with Pure Storage Arrays and also more details about Hardware Compatibility.
You can try Runecast Analyzer with Analyzer-online-demo.
Runecast is scheduling many VMUGs online meetings and Webinars HERE, check them out.
Download and register for a trial HERE.
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