Dell offers tested and supported configurations of both legacy and current DellTM PowerEdgeTM Servers. Dell further tests PowerEdge servers with Dell/EMC® storage products, VMware ESX ServerTM virtualization software, VirtualCenter virtual machine management software, and VMotionTM virtual machine migration technology.
Click here for an in-depth review of Dell's Virtualization Reference Architecture 
Deployment Options
There are three levels of quality assurance and support available today on combined Dell, Dell/EMC, and VMware configurations.
Level 1: VMware Compatibility Guides
- These documents are VMware's matrices of supported hardware technologies and operating systems. These guides are owned by VMware and define the boundaries of what hardware platforms, guest operating systems, and peripherals VMware has tested and certified to run with its virtualization environment.
- Customers who choose to rely only on the VMware Compatibility Guides will need to check the relevant VMware Compatibility Guide for each component in the environment (server, storage, controller cards, and switches) to determine if the components are supported for a virtualization environment. Since this can be a complex task, Dell recommends a vendor tested configuration where a known matrix of supported components is available. These configurations are referred to in level 3 below.
- The platforms listed on the VMware compatibility guide have been tested by VMware, but are not necessarily tested by EMC or Dell.
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Level 2: The EMC Support Matrix (ESM)
- Beyond the VMware Compatibility Guides, EMC maintains a support matrix for their solutions called the EMC Support Matrix. Published monthly, the EMC Support Matrix lists the components tested and supported by EMC for VMware. The list includes Dell PowerEdge servers, the number of nodes, operating system versions, drivers, host bus adapters, VMware software version, and other important components / exceptions.
- This deployment model is suitable where customers require a virtualization environment that is listed on the ESM but not a best practices configuration (level 3) based on the Dell support matrix.
- Dell recommends at a minimum that customers follow the ESM matrix requirements, in order to validate support for the environment from a VMware and EMC perspective. However, the best deployment model for VMware is the Dell Best Practices Configurations (level 3, below).
- The platforms listed on the EMC ESM have been tested by VMware and EMC but are not necessarily Dell tested.
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Level 3: Dell Tested and Supported Best Practices Configurations
- The "Dell tested and supported configurations" correspond to specific components for server, storage, peripherals, software versions, etc. that have been tested by Dell.
- Dell recommends this deployment model. We believe this model will be the most successful for small to large organizations looking for the best virtualization solution for overall performance and reliability.
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Dell recommends specific configurations for VMware due to the high quantity of components and the sophistication of the systems. Dell's Virtualization Solutions Engineering team tests and validates the individual server components such as RAID, NIC's, HBA's, etc. and also the larger topology which includes servers, storage and Dell OpenManage - to ensure that the solution has been tested holistically.
For seamless support between Dell, EMC and VMware, Dell recommends the Best Practices Configurations for VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 as described in the Deployment Guides posted under Support Documents
Alternative deployment recommendations are available based on VMware's overall support matrix. Refer to the "Level 1" and "Level 2" Deployment Options sections above for additional information on other options.
Please contact your Dell Account Specialist for more information or visit Solutions for Virtualizations and Dell Enterprise Support Services
