> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.vergeos-demo.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.vergeos-demo.com/learn-the-platform/module-2-sizing-and-design/lab.md).

# Lab: Sizing & Design Exercise

## Objective

Given a fictional customer scenario, you will evaluate requirements, select an appropriate VergeOS topology, size the hardware, and produce a deployment diagram.

## Prerequisites

* Completed Module 1: Architecture Fundamentals
* Completed Module 2 reading (Hardware Requirements, Reference Architectures, Customer Scoping)
* Access to VergeOS reference architecture documentation

## Difficulty

**Beginner** -- Step-by-step guidance provided

## Estimated Time

**1 hour**

## Steps

### Part 1: Requirements Gathering

Review the following customer scenario and extract the key sizing inputs.

> **Scenario**: A mid-size logistics company needs to consolidate 3 aging VMware clusters (40 VMs total) onto VergeOS. They run a mix of Windows Server (AD, file services, SQL Server) and Linux (web apps, monitoring). Peak memory usage across all VMs is \~384 GB. Total storage consumed is 12 TB with 20% annual growth expected. They have a single datacenter with one network rack and want high availability.

**Questions to answer:**

1. What is the total vCPU, memory, and storage requirement?
2. What growth runway should you plan for (1-year, 3-year)?
3. What availability requirements exist?
4. Are there any workloads that need special consideration (e.g., SQL Server IOPS)?

### Part 2: Topology Selection

Based on your requirements analysis:

1. Should this be an HCI or UCI deployment? Why?
2. How many nodes do you recommend?
3. What node roles are needed (controller, scale-out, storage-only, compute-only)?
4. Which reference architecture is the closest starting point?

### Part 3: Hardware Sizing

Produce a bill of materials for each node:

1. CPU model and core count
2. Memory per node
3. Storage configuration (boot drive, performance tier (e.g., NVMe for Tier 1), capacity tier (e.g., HDD for Tier 4), Tier 0 metadata NVMe on controller nodes (3 DWPD or equivalent; 1 minimum, 2 recommended))
4. Network interfaces (how many, what speed)

### Part 4: Diagram

Draw or describe a topology diagram showing:

1. Node layout (which nodes, which roles)
2. Network connections (core fabric, external)
3. Storage tiers
4. How HA is achieved

## Verification

Your design is complete when you can answer **yes** to all of the following:

* [ ] Total resources meet or exceed the customer's current usage + growth plan
* [ ] The topology provides high availability (no single point of failure)
* [ ] Network design includes redundant core fabric connections
* [ ] Storage is sized with appropriate tier separation (fast tier for performance-sensitive workloads, capacity tier for archive/snapshots)
* [ ] Controller nodes include Tier 0 metadata NVMe (3 DWPD or equivalent; 1 minimum, 2 recommended)
* [ ] You can justify your HCI vs UCI decision with specific customer requirements


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