Module 3: Modern Data Center Environment (Compute + Applications) Flashcards
What is a compute system?
device that runs business applications
What are the physical components of a compute system?
memory
internal storage
processors
I/O devices
What are the logical components of a compute system?
OS
device drivers
logical volume manager
file system
What are modern apps deployed on?
compute clusters
What is a compute cluster?
group of two or more compute systems that function together - logically viewed as single system
What are the benefits of a compute cluster?
high availability + balancing workloads
What are the types of compute systems?
Tower
Rack
Blade
What are the characteristics of a tower system?
similar to desktop cabinet - typically have individual endpoints and take up a lot of floor space/complex cables
What are the characteristics of a rack system?
multiple enclosures in a single rack - stacked vertically with simple cabling and reduced floor space
What are the characteristics of a blade system?
several blade servers installed in a single chassis - also called modular servers - minimizes floor space and increases system density/scalability - more energy efficient
What is a blade server?
printed circuit board with core processing parts - memory, network controller, storage drive, IO card/ports, memory
What is virtualization?
allows creation of virtual compute systems called VMs - achieved through a hypervisor (virtualization software)
What is the point of a hypervisor?
allocates virtual hardware resources to all the VMs - enables multiple OS to run on single compute system by abstracting physical resources from the OS/apps
What is a VM?
a logical entity that appears to OS as a single physical compute system with its own hardware components - all VMs share same underlying physical hardware of server
What are the characteristics of VM?
VMs are all isolated from each other - apps running on different VMs don’t clash w/ each other - also helps w/ fault tolerance
What is a virtual machine manager (VMM)
abstracts physical hardware and presents it to the VM - each VM is assigned a VMM
What is a compute system that has a hypervisor running on it called?
a host machine
What is a VM running on a host machine called?
a guest machine
What is the OS installed on a guest machine called?
a guest OS
What is a configuration file in the context of a VM?
store the VMs configuration data (VM name, location, CPU size, etc.)
What is a virtual disk file in the context of a VM?
store the content of the VM’s disk drive (VM can have multiple VD files - each appears as separate disk to VM)
What is a memory state file in the context of a VM?
stores the memory contents of a VM - used to resume VM in a suspended state
What is a log file in the context of a VM?
used to keep record of VM’s activity - often used for troubleshooting
What are the typical virtual components of a VM?
USB Controller
GPU
RAM
Storage
Peripherals
HBA
Processor
What is containerization?
OS level virtualization that simplifies app deployment - requires fewer resources than VM
What are the benefits of containerization?
delivers microservices with portable/isolated virtual environments for apps
can run app microservices without interference
bundles apps w/ software libraries they depend on which makes apps portable
defines deployment standard for modern cloud apps
What are the main characteristics of containers?
shared OS
Small image footprint (MB)
quick start times
stateless
easily transportable
What are the main characteristics of VMs versus containers?
separate OS
large image footprint (GB)
full boots
stateful
not easily portable
What is desktop virtualization?
technology that decouples OS/apps/user state from physical computer to create VDI environment to be accessed from different client devices
What are the benefits of desktop virtualization?
simplified desktop infrastructure management
improved data protection and compliance
flexibility of access
What is a traditional application?
designed for desktop first than extended to other devices - often require separate interfaces based on device types - monolithic with tightly coupled code in a single package - very manual management
How do traditional applications scale?
through stateful design approach - monolithic architecture that is vertically scaled
What are the availabilty requirements for traditional apps?
rely on highly available infrastructure with redundant components and automated recovery
What are cloud native applications?
consist of business parts known as microservices - assembled w/ specific rules and best practices - require modern infrastructure platform
What are the benefits of cloud native applications?
enable delivery of services in hours not weeks
support predictive algorithms and can dynamically scale out
What is application virtualization?
decouples application from underlying compute OS and hardware - enables app to be used on server without installation
What are the benefits of application virtualization?
simplified app deployment and management
eliminate OS modifications
resolve app conflicts and compatibility issues
simplified OS image management
flexibility of app access
