SmartFabric / V8

Hello Martin_O,

It is best to open a support case so that we can explain what is needed to be done.

I have been trying to log a ticket, submitted one, but Dell just sent me an invoice to answer the question. It's a simple question that should be covered under the current next day warranty we have.

Support is pretty useless from our experience, either taking a few days to respond, or now not even accepting the ticket.

Is this something you can help with?

Hello Martin_O,

If you can send me a private message & can send me your serial# and need to know the company in which the system is registered to? Also which country the system is located? Also, which country the system is located? I can look into seeing why you are not able to open a support case.

PM Sent.

Support said they must have misread the warranty expiry date, and informed support would action ASAP, but another 24 hours later, I'm still waiting for a response.

Seems like there is a lot of confusion around vxrail support, as I'm hearing from others similar stories.

Turns out you can't upgrade until March!

This is what support said.

The procedure to decouple SFS from VxRail is not out as of now. and it is scheduled in march, kindly wait for the procedure until then please.

I think maybe Dell needs to update the KB and guides, to make it a little more obvious.

Hello Martin_O,

If you can send me the link to the release notes where you saw this, I can get this corrected.

Dell VxRail™ 8.0.x Release Notes | Dell UK

Under Key Differences, you will see the line

If you are running SmartFabric Services (SFS) with VxRail, you should not upgrade to VxRail 8.0.000 prior to de-coupling SFS.

I would have thought that most VxRail systems use SmartFabric switches, so so seems odd that this is the case, although support didn't seem 100% either on what the issue would be.  I presume it's the OMIN manager?

Hello Martin_O,

Thankyou for the link. I will submit for this to be corrected.

@DELL-Sam L  still trying to get an update on when a supported version 8 will be out, for customers with Dell Switches.

It should have been this month, but the latest version still says "If you are running SmartFabric Services (SFS) with VxRail, do not upgrade to VxRail 8.0.020"

I submitted a ticket again, only to be presensed with an invoice for them to answer the question. Can you assist, as it's a simple question, that should not need payment to answer, when we are in support!

@DELL-Josh Cr Does this mean, we can update to V8, but we just can't auto add new nodes?

I'm a little confsued, the blog post seems to say they we can update, we just can't add new nodes, whcih is not an issues, can you confirm if this is the case?

I'm more frustrated with support, refusing to asnwer my question and wanting payment to discuss it with them.

Hi,

Thanks for your question. This is the latest update that I have found. https://dell.to/3ZXn6cW

It looks like we are still recommending waiting for the update, I don’t have a specific date for that, but it probably will work if you don’t add nodes. There is a solve procedure for it. https://dell.to/3l4WAjh

So, how long do we have to wait for an update?  Until we get hacked? This is out of hand, 1 year later and still no update when vsphere is also a Dell product and reps convinced us vxrail would be better for us.  Very dissatisfied with Dell support of it's own products.

Hi,

Thanks for your question.

8 should work fine but decoupling SFS is still required.

https://dell.to/4asSENM

¹For new VxRail deployments (not upgrades) using VxRail 7.0.400-7.0.411, see this article: New Deployment Option for SmartFabric Services with VxRail.
²Before upgrading to VxRail 8.x, or VxRail 7.0.450 or later, SFS with VxRail installations that were originally deployed with VxRail versions https://dell.to/41uXExj or 7.0.000-7.0.3xx require decoupling. SFS with VxRail installations that were originally deployed with VxRail versions 7.0.400-7.0.411 will require decoupling only if Automated VxRail Switch Configuration was set to Enabled during deployment. (If this was set to Disabled during deployment, decoupling is not required. Refer to New Deployment Option for SmartFabric Services with VxRail for information about this setting). Decoupling procedures are available on SolVe Online under VxRail Procedures > Miscellaneous > ‘How To’ Procedures > Change other VxRail cluster settings.
³A VCF on VxRail deployment is a Dell Technologies Services engagement only. Please contact your Dell Technologies sales representative for more information. VCF is only supported with VxRail 7.0.400 or later, including 8.x. If VxRail 7.0.400-7.0.411 is used, Automated VxRail Switch Configuration must be set to Disabled during initial VxRail deployment as shown in New Deployment Option for SmartFabric Services with VxRail. For supported VCF/VxRail combinations, see Supported versions of VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail.
⁴Two-node VxRail clusters and VxRail vSAN stretched clusters are only supported with VxRail 7.0.400 or later, including 8.x. If VxRail 7.0.400-7.0.411 is used, Automated VxRail Switch Configuration must be set to Disabled during initial VxRail deployment as shown in New Deployment Option for SmartFabric Services with VxRail.

Let us know if you have any additional questions.

Can anyone confirm if there will be any impact in production after decoupling of SFS  and what are the issues may arise after the activity? 

I have vxrail environment where OMNI is also integrated and i am planning to follow the procedure mentioned by dell in document for decoupling.