This document provides an overview of the VMware EVO:RAIL product. It begins with a disclaimer noting that features discussed are under development and subject to change. It then introduces EVO:RAIL as a converged infrastructure product that simplifies the deployment, configuration, and management of a software-defined datacenter through an appliance-based model. Key features highlighted include its use of trusted VMware technologies, prescribed 2U/4N hardware platform, automated scale-out capabilities, rapid time to value of deploying the first virtual machine, and non-disruptive upgrade process. Primary use cases are listed as remote/branch office, virtual desktop infrastructure, and private cloud. The document then discusses the origins and development of

2. Disclaimer
• This presentation may contain product features that are currently under development.
• This overview of new technology represents no commitment from VMware to deliver these
features in any generally available product.
• Features are subject to change, and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders, or
sales agreements of any kind.
• Technical feasibility and market demand will affect final delivery.
• Pricing and packaging for any new technologies or features discussed or presented have not
been determined.
2

3. SOFTWARE-DEFINED DATACENTER
IS THE FUTURE OF IT
Software-Defined Data
Center (SDDC) Components
Virtualized Compute, Network, Storage and Management

4. WHAT IS EVO:RAIL?
A N I N T R O D U C T I O N

5. VMware EVO:RAIL
• EVO:RAIL software with vSphere and Virtual SAN technology is the key enabler
• Single SKU procurement model creates design and price predictability
• Simple, streamlined deployment and ongoing SDDC lifecycle management
• One support call
Simplify How You Buy, Deploy and Operate Your SDDC

6. Simply Deploy, Configuration and Management
Physical
EVO:RAIL
appliance
deployment
Basic appliance
configuration:
Hostnames, IP
Address Pools,
Globals, and
Passwords
EVO:RAIL Engine
configures vCenter,
ESXi, Virtual SAN,
and Log Insight
1. Rack
2. Cable
3. Power On
Ready for VMs!
Time to Value to first VM in 15 minutes from power on, once the EVO:RAIL appliance is
racked and cabled into a configured TOR network switch

7. S O F T W A R E – D E F I N E D D A T A C E N T E R
“Build Your Own” Converged Infrastructure
Hyper-converged
Infrastructure
Hardware components (e.g. compute,
storage, networking) procured
separately.
Traditional datacenter components (e.g.
shared storage hardware, servers,
switches) integrated and sold in a single
chassis.
Integration of hardware (compute,
storage, and networking) with software
that provides a single point of entry for
SDDC lifecycle management.

8. KEY FEATURES
WHY IS IT AWESOME?

9. TRUSTED TECHNOLOGY
vCenter Server Virtual SAN Log Insight EVO:RAIL
Engine
ESXi

10. PRESCRIBED 2U/4N PLATFORM
FROM QEP (QUALIFIED
EVO:RAIL PARTNERS)

11. AUTOMATED SCALE OUT
UP TO 4 HCIAs
Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Appliance
(HCIA)
x1
x2
x3
x4
TOR Switch

12. TIME TO VALUE
TO FIRST VM AS
LITTLE AS 15M I N U T E S

13. NON-DISTRUPTIVE
PATCHING AND UPGRADING!

14. PRIMARY USE CASES
ROBO
Virtual
Private CloudVDI

15. HOW IT CAME TO EXISTENCE
WHERE IT STARTED AND HOW IT EVO:LVED

16. 2013
MARCH
The First Pitch to Bogomil Balkansky - With VSAN on the horizon, we now
have all the core components – virtualized compute, network and storage
to build a 100% VMware powered appliance that can deliver time to value
to first VM in minutes. It can be as simple as setting up a Tivo box
“
”Mornay Van Der Walt
Sounds interesting, lets start with a prototype
“ ”Bogomil Balkansky

17. The next 10 months – prototype, iterate, validate – all as a one man army!
Get Started
Marvin
Welcome
Configure?
Hostnames Networking Passwords Global Services
Review Configuration Start Engine
Yes
Just Go
Extract DB Creds
from vCSA
Create DNS DB
Copy DB SQL to
vCSA
Create DB Schema
and import data
Copy DNS Server
to vCSA
Locate hosts via
API, create
references in app.
Configure
Management
Network IP
Configure vSAN
Network IP
Configure vMotion
Network IP
Configure
Management
Subnet
Configure vSAN
Subnet
Configure vMotion
Subnet
Configure VM
Network Subnet
Configure
Portgroup gateway
Configure
Hostname
Configure DNS
zone for host
Reload DNS Zone
Configure
Management VLAN
Configure vMotion
VLAN
Configure VSAN
VLAN
Configure VM
Network VLAN
Configure NTP
Server
Configure
Timezone
Connect to
Individual Host
Change Password
Configure vCSA
Management IP
Configure vCSA
Mangement Subnet
Configure vCSA
Management
Gateway
Configure vCSA
Syslog
Remove temp
Network on Host 1
Restart vCSA
networking services
Connect to vCSA
Reconfigure DB
Allow remote
connection
Reconfigure DB
Allow local user to
access remote
Restart DB
Remove temp
Network on Host 2
Remove temp
Network on Host 3
Remove temp
Network on Host 4
Completed Display Error On UI
Repeating Process Per Host
Error?
* * * *
* * * * *
Parse and modify
DNS Server config
*Copy parsed DNS
Config to vCSA
*Unpack & run DNS
Server
*Connect to DB
*
* * * * *
Configure vCSA
NTP
Restart vCSA
Syslog Services
* *
Show NGC Access
*
Remote Mode Only
Data Service operations
Shell / Non API Actions
Yes
Engine
UI
MARVIN Engine Configure Workflow
Reset Appliance
Marvin Admin
UI
Full Reset Or
Customize
Delete VM's Reset Stoage?
Reset
Networking?
Reset
Passwords?
Start Reset
Customize
Just Reset
Everything
Load default config
into memory
Stop All VM's
Reset vCSA
Management IP,
Subnet & Gateway
Reset vCSA Syslog
Create temp
Network on Host 1
Restart vCSA
networking services
Create temp
Network on Host 2
Create temp
Network on Host 3
Create temp
Network on Host 4
* *
Configure vCSA
NTP
Restart vCSA
Syslog Services
*
Engine
UI
MARVIN Engine Reset Workflow
Reset Syslog? Reset DNS? Reset VC?
Select Hosts to
apply reset to
Are You Sure?
Yes
No
Delete VM's Delete non Factory
VM's
Cleanup Other non
Factory VM Files
Reset Storage
Reset
Networking
Reset
Passwords?
Reset Syslog?
Reset DNS?
Reset VC?
Are VM's
Running
Delete All Files from
all volumes
Do VM's
Exist?
Delete Non factory
datastores
Reset factory
datastores
Connect to
individual host
Reset Password
Reset Management
IP, Subnet, VLAN &
Gateway
Reset vMotion IP,
Subnet, VLAN &
Gateway
Reset vSAN IP,
Subnet, VLAN &
Gateway
Reset VM VLAN
Reset HostnameReset Syslog
Reset VC
Password?
*
*
Yes Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
NoNo
Reset StorageDo VM's
Exist?
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Present Marvin
Config UI
No
No
No
Yes
*
*
Reset
DNS?
Restore DB
SQL
No
Yes
Repeating Process Per Selected Host
HOST 1 HOST 3
HOST 4HOST 2 Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
vCSA
MARVIN Engine
VPXD / Supporting Services NGC
DNS ME VCPostgres
vCSA
MARVIN Engine
MARVIN APPLIANCE
Disk
Disk
Disk
HOST 1 HOST 3
HOST 4HOST 2 Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
Disk
vCSA
MARVIN Engine
VPXD / Supporting Services NGC
DNS ME VCPostgres
vCSA
MARVIN Engine
MARVIN APPLIANCE
Disk
Disk
Disk

18. The next 10 months – prototype, iterate, validate – all as a one man army!

19. Some prototypes were instantly scrapped, they were bad!

20. Both the UI and Platform went through many revisions!

21. PLATFORM ARCHITECTURE
AND TECHNOLOGY STACK
HOW DOES EVO:RAIL REALLY WORK?

22. CORE TECHNOLOGY
HTML5 CSS3 JAVASCRIP
T

23. CORE TECHNOLOGY
JAVA SPRING
PLATFORM
PYTHON
LOUDMOUTH
& SCRIPTS
BASH
SCRIPTS

24. CORE TECHNOLOGY
BACKBONE.JS jQUERY

25. CORE TECHNOLOGY
WEBSOCKETS
Currently Atmosphere
Drive server based messaging so the UI can respond to
events fired by long running tasks or alerts.

26. BROWSER SUPPORT
CHROME FIREFOX INTERNET
EXPLORER
10+

27. STRIPPED AWAY HEAVYWEIGHT FEATURES
TO MAKE WAY FOR SIMPLE VM AND APPLIANCE
MANAGEMENT

28. BUILT FROM THE GROUND UP
From scratch using a blend of best in class open source and
VMware proprietary technologies.

29. MINIMAL MOVING PARTS
No separate VM’s to maintain, no additional databases
or user management systems, EVO:RAIL is integrated
directly into the core VMware vSphere stack.

32. LOUDMOUTH & ZEROCONF
ESXi CAN CHAT TO ITS FRIENDS NOW!

34. mDNS and DNS-SD
Zeroconf.org

35. LOUDMOUTH
mDNSResponder PROTOTYPING
Python

36. EVO:RAIL INTEGRATION
NODE SPECIFIC TAGGING
EVO:RAIL SERVICE

37. USER EXPERIENCE
A SIMPLE, ENJOYABLE JOURNEY

38. MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

39. CUT FEATURES
NOT
CORNERS

40. Configuration UI Experience

41. Configuration Workflow

42. While Configuring

43. When Done

44. VM Management Made Easy

45. Health Monitoring Made Simple

46. Even When Detailed

47. Configuring Additional Services

48. That is probably the slickest thing I have
ever seen in IT.... Ever
“
”@edhoppitt

49. Learning about EVO in the hang space. Impressed
with the UI. Would love to see similar through the
stack
“
”@virtualCanadian

50. EVO:RAIL VM sizing uses simple S/M/L interface.
Nice mix of technical depth and ease of use. Steve
Jobs would be pleased.
“
”@davidbuffo

51. Will be teaching my 11 year old to do #EVO:RAIL
deployments. Great after school job, bye bye paper
route and lemonade stand. Simplicity !!
“
”@luken7

52. The EVO products could be an iPhone moment for
enterprise use of cloud computing
“
”JP Morgan

53. How can I see and monitor all my appliances and
clusters with a single pane of glass?
“
”EAP Customer
WHAT NOW?

54. How can we integrate our tools and services into our
own EVO:RAIL offering?
“
”Qualified EVO:RAIL Partners
WHAT NOW?

55. How can I integrate this into my existing VMware
infrastructure?
“
”Early Customers
WHAT NOW?

56. THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS?