HP Insight Virtualization Manager with Logical Server Management 6.1 User Guide

6 Defining storage for logical servers
This chapter presents underlying concepts to provide a better understanding of how a given
storage definition maps into the physical Virtual Connect environment, and explains how to
define storage entries and storage pool entries for a logical server.
NOTE: For more information about logical server and Insight Orchestration storage, including
integrating with non-HP servers and HP rack mount servers, see the following white papers at
www.hp.com/go/insightdynamics/docs:
Logical Server Management Best Practices
Insight Dynamics — Automated Storage Provisioning: “Static” SAN volume automation via multi-initiator
NPIV
The logical server storage requirements specified in a storage pool entry are fulfilled by storage
volumes created by the storage administrator. Detailed information about those volumes can be
provided using the following methods:
• Specify storage information directly into the logical server storage entry and storage pool
entry screens. See “Logical server storage”.
• Use the Storage Provisioning Manager to retrieve candidate matching entries from the SPM
storage catalog. Details are automatically populated into the logical server storage pool entry
when the appropriate entry is chosen. See “Storage Provisioning Manager”.
• Use LSMUTIL to export storage requirements into an XML file, share the XML file with the
storage administrator who supplies details of the provisioned volumes, and import a modified
XML file to populate the resulting information into storage pool entries. See “Using LSMUTIL
with logical server storage”.
The Virtual Connect environment
One of the many benefits of a Virtual Connect (VC) environment is that it allows many server
blades to share a small set of connections for network and fibre channel (FC) communication.
Blades plug into slots within a housing called an enclosure. The enclosure then handles all
communication on behalf of the blades plugged into it. Using the blade’s associated Virtual
Connect profile, the enclosure takes on the persona of a blade while communicating for that
blade. The VC profile includes all network MAC addresses and FC port world wide names
(WWNs) associated with that blade.
Figure 6-1 Server blades in a BladeSystem c-Class enclosure
The FC and network connections within an enclosure are hardwired through a midplane which
physically maps the blade’s FC and network ports to the enclosure’s connection bays on its
backplane. (For detailed information on this mapping, see the HP BladeSystem c-Class Enclosures
documentation.)
The Virtual Connect environment 69