1. Storage
Module 6

2. Introduction to VMware Virtualization Installing VMware ESX and ESXi
You Are Here
vSphere Environment
Operations
Introduction to VMware Virtualization
Access Control
VMware ESX and ESXi
Resource Monitoring
VMware vCenter Server
Data Protection
Networking
Scalability
Storage
High Availability
Virtual Machines
Patch Management
Installing VMware ESX and ESXi
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3. Importance
Storage options give you the flexibility to set up your storage based on your cost, performance, and manageability requirements. Shared storage is useful for disaster recovery, high availability, and moving virtual machines between hosts.
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4. Module Lessons Lesson 1: Storage Concepts
Lesson 2: IP Storage: iSCSI and NAS/NFS
Lesson 3: Fibre Channel SAN Storage
Lesson 4: VMFS Datastores
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5. Lesson 1: Storage Concepts
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6. Lesson Objectives
Describe VMware vSphere™ storage technologies and datastores
Describe the storage device naming convention
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7. Storage Overview VMware® vStorage VMFS NFS datastore types
Locally Attached
Fibre Channel
iSCSI
NAS
storage
technology
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8. Storage Technology Overview
Locally attached storage – Internal or external storage disks or arrays attached to the host through a direct connection
Fibre Channel – A high-speed SCSI transport protocol used for storage area networking (SAN):
Fibre Channel switches interconnect multiple nodes to form the “fabric” in a Fibre Channel SAN.
iSCSI – A SCSI transport protocol, enabling access to storage devices over standard TCP/IP networks:
iSCSI maps SCSI block-oriented storage over TCP/IP.
Network-attached storage (NAS) – Storage shared over the network at the file system level
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9. Datastores
A datastore is a logical storage unit that can use disk space on one physical device or one disk partition, or span several physical devices.
Types of datastores:
VMFS
Network File System (NFS)
Datastores are used to hold virtual machines, templates, and ISO images.
A VMFS datastore can also hold a raw device mapping (RDM), which is used to access raw data.
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10. VMFS VMFS: Allows concurrent access to shared storage
Can be dynamically expanded
Can use an 8MB block size, good for storing large virtual disk files
Uses subblock addressing, good for storing small files
Provides on-disk, block- level locking
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11. NFS NFS: Is storage shared over the network at the file system level
Supports NFS version 3 over TCP/IP
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12. RDM
An RDM is a mapping file in a VMFS volume that acts as a proxy for a raw physical device.
A raw disk can be used for existing data, virtual machine clustering, and storage array snapshots.
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13. vStorage Virtual Disk Thin Provisioning
Virtual machine disks consume only the amount of capacity needed.
A virtual machine sees the full allocated disk size at all times.
You can mix thick and thin formats.
Full reporting and alerts help manage allocations and capacity.
More efficient storage utilization:
Virtual disk allocation GB
Available datastore capacity 100GB
Used storage capacity GB
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14. Uses of Local and Shared Storage
Uses of local storage:
Location for installing VMware ESX™ and ESXi Installable
Ideal for small environments
Uses of shared storage:
Central repository, accessible from multiple hosts
Scalable and recoverable implementations
Clustering of virtual machines across physical hosts
Using VMware vMotion™ to migrate virtual machines
Data replication
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15. Storage Device Naming Conventions
Storage devices are identified in several ways:
SCSI ID – Unique SCSI identifier
Canonical name – The Network Address Authority (NAA) ID is a unique LUN identifier, guaranteed to be unique across reboots.
In addition to NAA IDs, devices can also be identified with mpx or t10 identifiers.
Runtime name – Uses the convention vmhbaN:C:T:L. This name is not persistent through reboots.
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16. Physical Storage Considerations
Discuss vSphere storage needs with your storage administration team, such as:
LUN sizes
I/O bandwidth
Disk cache parameters
Zoning and masking
Identical LUN presentation to each ESX/ESXi host
Active-active or active-passive arrays
Export properties for NFS datastores
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17. Lesson Summary Describe vSphere storage technologies and datastores
Describe the storage device naming convention
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18. Lesson 2: IP Storage: iSCSI and NAS/NFS
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19. Lesson Objectives Describe uses of IP storage with ESX/ESXi
Describe iSCSI components and addressing
Configure iSCSI initiators
Describe NFS components and addressing
Create an NFS datastore
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20. Using IP Storage with ESX/ESXi
ESX/ESXi supports two types of IP storage:
iSCSI – Used to hold one or more VMFS datastores
NAS – Used to hold one or more NFS datastores
iSCSI and NFS datastores:
Are used to hold virtual machines, ISO images, and templates
Support vSphere features like vMotion, VMware High Availability, and VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)
ESX/ESXi supports:
Up to 64 NFS volumes
iSCSI or NFS over a 10GbE interface
iSCSI or NFS in an IPv6 environment (experimental only)
ESX/ESXi supports booting from an iSCSI SAN:
ESX hosts: From independent hardware iSCSI
ESXi hosts: From software iSCSI and dependent hardware iSCSI
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21. iSCSI Components
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22. iSCSI Addressing iSCSI target name:
iqn com.mycompany:stor1-47cf3c25 or eui.fedcba
iSCSI alias: stor1
IP address:
iSCSI initiator name:
iqn com.vmware:train1-64ad4c29 or eui abcdef
iSCSI alias: train1
IP address:
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23. iSCSI Initiators
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24. Configuring Software iSCSI
To configure the iSCSI software initiator:
Configure a VMkernel port for accessing IP storage.
Enable the iSCSI software adapter.
Configure iSCSI target addresses.
Configure iSCSI security (Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol).
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25. ESX/ESXi Network Configuration for IP Storage
A VMkernel port must be created for ESX/ESXi to access software iSCSI.
The same port can be used to access NAS/NFS storage.
To optimize your vSphere networking setup:
Separate iSCSI networks from NAS/NFS networks.
Physical separation is preferred.
If that is not possible, use VLANs.
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26. iSCSI Target-Discovery Methods
Two discovery methods are supported:
Static
Dynamic (also known as SendTargets)
SendTargets response returns iSCSI qualified name and all available IP addresses.
:3260
SendTargets
request
SendTargets
response
iSCSI target
:3260
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27. iSCSI Security: CHAP
Software iSCSI properties > General tab
iSCSI initiators use CHAP for authentication purposes.
By default, CHAP is not configured.
ESX/ESXi supports two types of CHAP authentication:
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
Software iSCSI only
ESX/ESXi also supports per- target CHAP authentication.
Different credentials for each target
Target authenticates host.
Host authenticates target.
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28. Configuring Hardware iSCSI
To configure the iSCSI hardware initiator:
Install the iSCSI hardware adapter.
Modify the iSCSI name and configure the iSCSI alias.
Configure iSCSI target addresses.
Configure iSCSI security (CHAP).
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29. NFS Components NAS device or a server with storage
directory to share with the ESX/ESXi host over the network
ESX/ESXi host with NIC mapped to virtual switch
VMkernel port defined on virtual switch
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30. Addressing and Access Control with NFS
VMkernel port configured with IP address
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31. Configuring an NFS Datastore
Create a VMkernel port:
For better performance and security, separate it from the iSCSI network.
Provide the following information:
NFS server name (or IP address)
Folder on the NFS server, for example, /nfs4/Classes/vSICM41A
Whether to mount the NFS file system read-only:
If holding an ISO image library, mount read-only.
If holding virtual machines, mount read/write (default).
NFS datastore name
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32. Viewing IP Storage Information
Hosts and Clusters view > Configuration tab > Storage link
Datastores view > Storage Views tab
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33. Unmounting an NFS Datastore
Click the Storage link in the Configuration tab to unmount an NFS datastore.
Unmounting an NFS datastore makes the files in the shared folder inaccessible to the host.
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34. Lab 6
In this lab, you will configure access to an iSCSI and NFS datastore.
Create a VMkernel port on a standard virtual switch.
Configure the iSCSI software adapter.
Configure access to an NFS datastore.
View iSCSI and NFS storage information.
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35. Lesson Summary Describe uses of IP storage with ESX/ESXi
Describe iSCSI components and addressing
Configure iSCSI initiators
Describe NFS components and addressing
Create an NFS datastore
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36. Lesson 3: Fibre Channel SAN Storage
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37. Lesson Objectives Describe uses of Fibre Channel with ESX/ESXi
Describe Fibre Channel components and addressing
Access Fibre Channel storage
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38. Using Fibre Channel with ESX/ESXi
Fibre Channel SAN LUNs:
Are used for VMFS datastores to hold virtual machines, ISO images, and templates
Are used for holding RDMs, which point to a virtual machine’s raw data
Are used for remote booting of ESX/ESXi
Support vSphere features like vMotion, VMware HA, and DRS
ESX/ESXi supports:
8Gb Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
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39. Fibre Channel SAN Components
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40. Fibre Channel Addressing and Access Control
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41. Accessing Fibre Channel Storage
Install one or more Fibre Channel adapters on the ESX/ESXi host.
The Fibre Channel adapters are recognized by the host during the boot sequence.
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42. Viewing Fibre Channel Storage Information
The Storage Views tab provides information about all SCSI adapters and NAS mounts.
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43. Viewing Fibre Channel Storage Maps
HBA
target
LUN
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44. Lesson Summary Describe uses of Fibre Channel with ESX/ESXi
Describe Fibre Channel components and addressing
Access Fibre Channel storage
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45. Lesson 4: VMFS Datastores
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46. Lesson Objectives Create a VMFS datastore
Increase the size of a VMFS datastore
Delete a VMFS datastore
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47. Using a VMFS Datastore with ESX/ESXi
Use VMFS datastores whenever possible:
VMFS is optimized for storing and accessing large files.
A VMFS can have a maximum volume size of 64TB.
NFS datastores are great for storing virtual machines. But some functions are not supported.
Use RDMs if your virtual machine:
Is performing SAN snapshotting
Is clustered to a physical machine using Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)
Has large amounts of data that you do not want to convert into a virtual disk
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48. Creating a VMFS Datastore
To create a VMFS datastore, use the Add Storage wizard:
Select the storage type, Disk/LUN.
Select an available LUN.
Specify a datastore name.
Specify the datastore size: use full or partial LUN.
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49. Viewing VMFS Datastores
Storage link in the Configuration tab
Storage Views tab
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50. Browsing Datastore Contents
Right-click the datastore in the host’s Summary tab or click the Storage link in the Configuration tab.
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51. Managing Overcommitted Datastores
An overcommitted datastore occurs when there are many thin-provisioned virtual disks that use close to their maximum allotted disk space.
Actively monitor your datastore capacity:
Alarms assist through notifications:
Datastore disk overallocation
Virtual machine disk usage
Use reporting to view space usage.
Actively manage your datastore capacity:
Increase datastore capacity when necessary.
Use VMware Storage vMotion to mitigate space usage issues on a particular datastore.
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52. Increasing the Size of a VMFS Datastore
Increase a VMFS datastore’s size to give it more space or possibly to improve performance.
Two ways to dynamically increase the size of a VMFS datastore:
Add an extent (LUN).
Expand the datastore within its extent.
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53. Comparing Methods for Increasing VMFS Datastore Size
Add an extent to the datastore
Expand the datastore within the extent
Virtual machine power state On
Newly provisioned LUN
Yes No
SAN administrator tasks
Add one or more LUNs (extents).
Increase the size of the LUN.
Limits
A datastore can have up to 32 LUNs (extents), each up to 2TB.
A LUN can be expanded any number of times, up to 2TB.
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54. Before Increasing the Size of a VMFS Datastore
In general, before making any changes to your storage allocation:
Perform a rescan to ensure that your host sees the most current storage.
Quiesce I/O on all disks involved.
Note the unique identifier (for example, the NAA ID) of the volume that you want to expand.
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55. Deleting a VMFS Datastore
Deleting a VMFS datastore permanently deletes the pointers to the files on the datastore, so the files cannot be retrieved.
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56. Multipathing with Fibre Channel
Multipathing allows continued access to SAN LUNs in the event of hardware failure. It also provides load balancing.
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57. Multipathing with iSCSI Storage
Hardware iSCSI:
Use two or more hardware iSCSI adapters.
Software or dependent hardware iSCSI:
Use multiple NICs.
Connect each NIC to a separate VMkernel port.
Associate VMkernel ports with iSCSI initiator.
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58. Managing Multiple Storage Paths
Multiple paths can exist to a datastore on the host.
To modify storage path information, click the datastore’s Properties link.
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59. Configuring Storage Load Balancing
Path selection policies exist for:
Scalability:
Round Robin – A multipathing policy that performs load balancing across paths.
Availability:
MRU and Fixed
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60. Pluggable Storage Architecture
For unique performance and fault-tolerant behavior
To accommodate specific storage arrays
For more complex I/O load-balancing algorithms
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61. Lab 7 In this lab, you will work with VMFS datastores.
Review your shared storage configuration.
View VMFS datastore information.
Change the name of a VMFS datastore.
Create a VMFS datastore.
Expand a VMFS datastore to consume unused space on a LUN.
Remove a VMFS datastore.
Extend a VMFS datastore.
Ask your instructor which LUNs contain VMFS datastores that should not be removed or reformatted.
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62. Lesson Summary Create a VMFS datastore
Increase the size of a VMFS datastore
Delete a VMFS datastore
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63. Key Points Use VMFS datastores to hold virtual machine files.
NFS datastores are useful as a repository for ISO images.
Shared storage is integral to vSphere features like vMotion, VMware HA, and DRS.
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