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