Hyperflex Cluster and vCenter Cluster

[SIMMN]

Looking for suggestion here.

I have a customer looking to re-use some M5 C240 servers as the compute-only nodes to an existing Hyperflex M6 cluster. I can help them expand the Hyperflex cluster to include the M5 servers but I am trying to figure out the options about the node placement in vCenter datacenter. 

Should I put the M5 compute-only nodes under the same cluster within vCenter as the existing HX M6 nodes? Or should I do a dedicated vCenter cluster for the M5 compute-only nodes?

• If I put them all in one cluster in vCenter, I might need to dial down the compatibility in EVC to cover the M5 which might not be desired;
• If I put them in a different clusters in vCenter, I am not sure what would be the impact from HX perspective...for example, will this impact the upgrade process (HX DP, ESXi and Firmware) from the HX connect perspective?

Suggestions?

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

HX cluster software will expect them to be within the same cluster object.

The expansion will force you to put them together.

Moving them back out after the fact, will lead to problems on future upgrades.

You will need to enable EVC prior to expanding cluster.

Kirk..