Faster Time to Value with FlexPod Reference Bundles for VDI
Ketan Mota
Our current challenging environment has resulted in a sudden increased need for employees to work from home and for students to learn remotely. In response, governments and corporations are looking to deploy new virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments or to expand their existing VDI environments to provide fast and secure remote access to their users.
FlexPod Reference Bundles for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
How does an organization get to a reliable VDI architectural design quickly? Cisco and NetApp have partnered for years to provide a proven compute, network, and storage platform in FlexPod®, with several iterations of Cisco Validated Designs around VDI architectures. To make the process of deploying the platform easier than ever, Cisco and NetApp are using those designs to create a few quick reference bundles to help our customers rapidly deploy a solid framework for their VDI requirements.Cisco has developed a UCS quick ship program to simplify the sizing, configuration, and ordering of UCS component bundles and to reduce the lead time for these components. The following figure shows the program highlights.
To create a complete FlexPod solution, the UCS quick ship packs need to be combined with NetApp® storage and Cisco Nexus networking components. Our channel partners can take advantage of the following FlexPod VDI reference bundles, which are modeled based on our latest 6,700-seat FlexPod CVD for VMware Horizon.
Customers can order these reference bundles though our channel partners. Every company has unique requirements, so infrastructure needs can vary. These reference bundles can also be used as a starting point for a sizing conversation with customers. The NetApp storage arrays support NAS and SAN from the same array and can be individually scaled up or down in capacity as needed to meet the customer’s requirements. As a reference architecture, the components of FlexPod do not need to be purchased all at once, and they can leverage existing components in the customer’s environment.
Once our customers experience the flexibility and versatility of FlexPod, they tend to consolidate, standardize, and modernize their infrastructure with FlexPod. Although customers may start with these bundles, they will eventually want to deploy additional workloads on FlexPod. And with the broadest solution portfolio in the industry, it’s easy to help our customers with their journey all while protecting their initial investments.
The following table shows some example use cases.
Cisco and NetApp have an outstanding 10-year partnership and history of innovation. Thriving over the past decade,with more than 9,500 customers, it’s no surprise that IT Central Station rated FlexPod the #1 most trusted converged infrastructure stack.
Here are a couple of case studies from our large VDI customer installed base.
Case Study 1: CannonDesign
CannonDesign, a well-known architectural and design firm, benefited significantly from a FlexPod VDI solution for 3D graphics with NVIDIA GPU. Among other benefits, they were able to significantly reduce their data center footprint and enhance their user experience. They no longer need expensive high-powered workstations for their power users. Read the CannonDesign case study.
Case Study 2: LCMC Health
Another example shows how customers in the healthcare industry can benefit by standardizing with FlexPod. LCMC Health in New Orleans deployed 3,000 virtual desktops and deployed 200+ other applications, including mission-critical applications like Epic EHR. Read the LCMC Health case study.
Learn more about FlexPod:
If you are a FlexPod channel partner, you can access additional information on NetApp and Cisco partner resources.
Ketan Mota
Ketan is a solutions product manager at NetApp managing a broad portfolio of FlexPod converged infrastructure solutions in partnership with Cisco. His focus areas include Enterprise Databases, AI/ML, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Healthcare offerings. He has been in the Hi-Tech industry for 20+ years focusing on the cloud, storage and security technology domains. His diverse professional career includes Software Engineering, Professional Services and Product Management experience.
