Compute nodes are x86 servers that run ESXi and consume the HPE SimpliVity datastores for storage. They provide additional CPU and memory resources to the environment without requiring additional SimpliVity licenses. However, they must reside in the same cluster as HPE SimpliVity nodes, as this is a requirement for the SimpliVity Data Virtualization Platform (DVP) to function properly. The number of compute nodes that can be connected per SimpliVity node is not limited to 5, but depends on the available network bandwidth and storage capacity. Additional license is not required to connect ESXi nodes to SimpliVity datastores, as this is a native capability of the SimpliVity DVP. Connecting ESXi compute nodes is not possible only when VMFS datastores are configured at SimpliVity Federation level, as this is not a prerequisite for the SimpliVity DVP. References: Using HPE SimpliVity Official Certification Study Guide, page 29, section 2.2. Preparing Compute Nodes to Use SimpliVity DVP, section “Preparing Compute Nodes to Use SimpliVity DVP”. HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node, section “Features”.

• Register External Store …1

This option allows you to register an HPE StoreOnce Catalyst Store as an external backup target for HPE SimpliVity. This enables you to store VM backups on an HPEStoreOnce system, which is a disk-based backup solution that offers deduplication, compression, encryption, remote replication, and direct application-managed integration2.

To use this option, you need to have an HPE StoreOnce appliance connected to your HPE SimpliVity cluster, and configure a Catalyst Store on it. Then, you can select the All HPE SimpliVity Actions menu, and click Register External Store. You will be prompted to enter the following information:

• The name of the external store
• The IP address or hostname of the HPE StoreOnce appliance
• The name of the Catalyst Store
• The credentials of the Catalyst Store

After you enter the required information, click OK to register the external store1.

The best way to migrate virtual machines from the existing infrastructure to HPE SimpliVity is to share HPE SimpliVity datastores with standard ESXi hosts, and migrate the virtual machines using VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion®1. This method allows the virtual machines to be moved to the HPE SimpliVity datastores without any downtime or impact on the performance. The HPE SimpliVity datastores are automatically created and managed by the HPE SimpliVity Virtual Controller, and they can be shared with any ESXi host that is in the same vCenter Server® as the HPE SimpliVity cluster2. Connecting VMFS datastores holding the virtual machine files to HPE SimpliVity nodes, and migrating the virtual machines (option A) is not a supported method, as the HPE SimpliVity nodes do not have direct access to the VMFS datastores, and they can only use the HPE SimpliVity datastores3. Mapping VMFS datastores holding the virtual machine files as an RDM to HPE SimpliVity nodes, and migrating the virtual machines (option C) is not a supported method, as the HPE SimpliVity nodes do not support RDM devices, and they can only use the HPE SimpliVity datastores4. Adding ESXi system to the HPE SimpliVity cluster, and migrating the virtual machines to HPE SimpliVity datastores (option D) is not a recommended method, as it requires the ESXi system to be converted to an HPE SimpliVity node, which involves installing the HPE OmniStack software and the HPE SimpliVity Virtual Controller, and reconfiguring the network settings. This method may cause downtime and data loss, and it is only advised for specific scenarios, such as replacing a failed node or expanding the cluster. References:

• 1: Using HPE SimpliVity Official Certification Study Guide (HPE2-K45), HPE Press, 2019, p. 29.
• 2: HPE SimpliVity OmniStack Interoperability Guide 4.2.0, HPE, 2021, p. 8.
• 3: HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node Data sheet, HPE, 2019, p. 5.
• 4: HPE SimpliVity OmniStack Interoperability Guide 4.2.0, HPE, 2021, p. 9.
• [5]: HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node Installation and Startup Service, HPE, 2019, p. 3.

To use this option, you need to select the backup from which you want to restore the files, then click Backup Actions > Restore Files. You will be prompted to enter the following information:

• The name of the virtual machine where you want to restore the files
• The path of the folder where you want to restore the files
• The path of the folder that you want to restore from the backup
• The credentials of the virtual machine where you want to restore the files

After you enter the required information, click OK to start the restore process3.

• HPE SimpliVity Hyperconverged Infrastructure for VMware vSphere 3.7.10 Administration Guide, page 97
• HPE SimpliVity Hyperconverged Infrastructure for VMware vSphere 3.7.10 Best Practices Guide, page 20
• Restore files from a backup - techhub.hpe.com

The correct answer is A. All VMs on the node restart in a node where the replica resides. This is because HPE SimpliVity uses a replication factor (RF) of 2 or 3 to ensure that each virtual machine (VM) has one or two copies of its data on different nodes in the cluster. If an HPE OmniStack Virtual Controller (VC) fails, the VMs on that node lose access to their primary data, but they can still access their replica data on another node. The vSphere HA feature detects the VC failure and restarts the VMs on the node where the replica resides, ensuring data availability and continuity1.

The other options are not correct. Option B is incorrect because HPE SimpliVity Intelligent Workload Optimizer (IWO) is a feature that balances the VMs across the cluster based on CPU and memory utilization, not on VC failures2. Option C is incorrect because the IP address of the VC does not fail over to another node, but remains associated with the failed node. The VMs on the failed node are restarted on another node with a different VC IP address3. Option D is incorrect because the VMs on the node do not go on standby mode, but are restarted on another node to resume their operations.

References: 1: HPE SimpliVity frequently asked questions 2: HPE SimpliVity Intelligent Workload Optimizer 3: HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node User Guide

 According to the HPE InfoSight for HPE SimpliVity Getting Started document1, HPE InfoSight provides the following functionality for HPE SimpliVity:

• Monitoring of cluster, node, and virtual machine performance, capacity, and health
• Reporting of system configuration, inventory, and compliance
• Analysis of trends, anomalies, and root causes
• Prediction of future resource needs and potential issues
• Recommendation of best practices and optimization actions

One of the key features of HPE InfoSight is the ability to monitor the latency of virtual machines, which is the time it takes for a request to be processed by the system. Latency is an important indicator of the performance and efficiency of the system, and HPE InfoSight provides detailed and granular data on the latency of each virtual machine, as well as the breakdown of the latency components, such as CPU, memory, network, and storage. HPE InfoSight also provides alerts and notifications when the latency exceedsthe predefined thresholds, and helps to identify and resolve the root causes of the latency issues.

Therefore, the correct answer is D. monitoring of virtual machine latency, as this is one of the functionality that HPE InfoSight provides for HPE SimpliVity. References:

• 1: HPE InfoSight for HPE SimpliVity Getting Started, https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/api/document/a00089726en_us?docLocale=en_US

• HPE SimpliVity is a hyperconverged infrastructure solution that combines compute, storage, networking, and data services in a single platform. HPE SimpliVity integrates with HPE StoreOnce, a disk-based backup appliance, to provide efficient and reliable data protection and disaster recovery for distributed edge sites12.
• HPE SimpliVity uses HPE StoreOnce Catalyst, a deduplication protocol, to replicate data from HPE SimpliVity clusters to HPE StoreOnce appliances. HPE SimpliVity leverages its global deduplication and compression capabilities to send only the unique data blocks to HPE StoreOnce, reducing the bandwidth and storage requirements34.
• To optimize the replication performance, the design aspects that need to be evaluated are the number of the HPE SimpliVity clusters and Catalyst stores used. According to the HPE SimpliVity with HPE StoreOnce Reference Architecture document, the following best practices are recommended:
• The other options are not relevant for optimizing the replication performance. The performance optimization features provided by VMFS datastores compared to NFS datastores are not applicable for HPE SimpliVity, as it uses its own file system and data virtualization platform. The intelligent workload optimizer settings are not related to the replication performance, but to the VM placement and load balancing within the HPE SimpliVity cluster. The HPE SimpliVity model used does not affect the replication performance, as long as it meets the minimum requirements for the HPE StoreOnce integration.

References:

1: SimpliVity Hyperconverged | HPE 2: Expand backups to secondary storage with HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged infrastructure and HPE StoreOnce 3: HPE SimpliVity with HPE StoreOnce 4: HPE SimpliVity with HPE StoreOnce: A better together story : [HPE SimpliVitywith HPE StoreOnce Reference Architecture] : [HPE SimpliVity Data Virtualization Platform] : [HPE SimpliVity Intelligent Workload Optimizer]

According to the HPE SimpliVity documents and learning resources, each datastore in an HPE SimpliVity cluster is presented to the HPE SimpliVity nodes as a VMFS datastore. A VMFS datastore is a VMware-specific file system that allows multiple ESXi hosts to access the same storage device concurrently. HPE SimpliVity uses VMFS datastores to store virtual machine files and provide shared storage to all virtual machines on the hosts. HPE SimpliVity does not use vSAN, NFS, or vVol as the datastore type. References: Using HPE SimpliVity Official Certification Study Guide, page 41; SimpliVity Video - How to Create a HPE SimpliVity Datastore

The Total Data Stored metric in HPE InfoSight for HPE SimpliVity represents the total amount of data that is stored on the HPE SimpliVity cluster for a given VM. This includes the VM data, which is the actual size of the VM on the datastore, as well as the local backups and remote backups, which are the copies of the VM data that are stored on the same or different clusters for data protection purposes1. The Total Data Stored metric is calculated before deduplication and compression, which are the data efficiency features of HPE SimpliVity that reduce the physical storage consumption2.

The VM Storage Usage metric in vCenter represents the amount of storage space that is allocated to a VM on a datastore. This metric does not include the backups of the VM data, as they are not visible to vCenter. The VM Storage Usage metric is also calculated after deduplication and compression, which means that it reflects the actual storage consumption of the VM data on the datastore3.

Therefore, the Total Data Stored metric is significantly higher than the VM Storage Usage metric because it includes more data elements and it does not account for the data efficiency features of HPE SimpliVity.

References: 1: HPE SimpliVity frequently asked questions 2: The technology enabling HPE SimpliVity data efficiency 3: [VMware vSphere Documentation]