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ThinkAgile CP Overview

This product overview provides technical information on the Lenovo ThinkAgile CP Series cloud platform, its key features and specifications, components and options, and configuration guidelines.

Lenovo ThinkAgile CP Series is an all-in-one, composable cloud with an integrated application marketplace (Lenovo Cloud Marketplace) and end-to-end automation, delivering a turn-key cloud experience in your own data center. The ThinkAgile CP Series uses modular compute, storage, and networking components paired with the cloud virtualization software to create pools of IT resources, independently scaling and allocating capacity, and automatically configuring resources to fulfill application requirements.

Due to its software-defined modular architecture, the ThinkAgile CP Series platform can be scaled easily by adding more compute and storage resources independently of each other as your needs grow. Suggested workloads for the ThinkAgile CP Series include web services, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), enterprise applications, OLTP and OLAP databases, data analytics, application development, cost-optimized virtualization, containers, and other back-office applications.

Key Features​

Lenovo ThinkAgile CP Series offers the following key features:

  • Modular and scalable ThinkAgile CP Series configurations of an on-premises cloud platform featuring the second generation of the Intel Xeon Processor Scalable Family that are designed to optimize your workload’s performance and provide the IT agility for your business demands.

  • Factory-preloaded ready-to-go cloud platform that is delivered with all the infrastructure you need for your workloads: Modular and scalable physical and virtual compute, network, and storage resources, and the cloud software.

  • Lenovo deployment services that are included with the platform help get customers up and running quickly.

  • The cloud software provides a scalable software-defined infrastructure (SDI) that simplifies cloud deployments with integrated compute, storage, networking, security, and management services that manage application infrastructure and automate and orchestrate workload provisioning.

  • Extensive security features, such as data at rest encryption, virtualized network and VM-level firewalls, and two-factor authentication help customers meet the most stringent security requirements.

  • Centralized cloud-based management automates discovery, deployment, and configuration of cloud resources, and provides automated, non-disruptive software updates.

  • Lenovo ThinkAgile Advantage provides a single point of contact for all support issues and integrates support chat and virtual technical assistance into your management interface.

Components​

The ThinkAgile CP Series consists of the following components:

  • Storage Blocks

    A Storage Block is a 2U storage enclosure with up to 24 PCIe NVMe SSDs and two controllers for high availability and redundancy. A storage block runs the cloud software that delivers data storage layer to the cloud. It simplifies storage management, provides enterprise-class storage functionality, and enables linear performance and capacity scaling.

    Figure 1. Storage block
    Image showing ThinkAgile CP Series Storage Block front and rear views

  • Compute Blocks

    A Compute Block is a modular 2U enclosure that contains up to four nodes, and it delivers processor and memory resources to the cloud. The compute nodes run the cloud hypervisor that combines open KVM-based virtualization software, hardware integration, and automation to orchestrate and deliver an end-to-end compute platform.

    Figure 2. Compute block
    Image showing ThinkAgile CP Series Compute Block front and rear views

  • CP Interconnect

    The Interconnect centralizes connectivity of your on-premises infrastructure to the Cloud Controller and acts as the entry point into your existing network, which connects the Cloud Controller to your environment. The CP Interconnect consists of one or two high-density, ultra-low-latency 10/40 GbE network devices and use specialized cloud software which provides the fabric for your composable environment, automating discovery, onboarding, and device management. Integrated network virtualization secures virtual data center and applications.

    Figure 3. CP Interconnect
    Image showing ThinkAgile CP Series Interconnect switch

  • Management Switch

    The 1 GbE management switch is required to provide out-of-band (OOB) management for the Interconnect, Compute Blocks, and Storage Blocks. The switch can be supplied by Lenovo (ThinkSystem NE0152T RackSwitch), or customers may provide their own switch.

    Figure 4. Management switch
    Image showing Lenovo ThinkSystem NE0152T RackSwitchfor ThinkAgile CP6000 Series

  • Cloud Controller

    Cloud Controller orchestrates and manages the on-premises infrastructure and workloads; however, it resides in the cloud. It automates and orchestrates infrastructure provisioning in real time to achieve complete and secure vertical hardware, software and workload integration. It federates and abstracts all physical hardware into a private cloud service.

    Cloud Controller provides a single point of management across an unlimited number of ThinkAgile CP stacks with role-based access control, two-factor authentication, and secure HTML and RESTful API interfaces.