HP StorageWorks SAN Virtualization Services Platform administrator guide (5697-8056, March 2009)

• Make sure that both VSM virtual disks that include the source and destination DATASTORE have
permissions and are assigned to the ESX servers.
Using VSS with Windows 2003 SP2 running on a virtual machine
Using the Microsoft Virtual Shadow Copy Service (VSS) with Windows 2003 SP2 running on VMware
Virtual Machines is supported with ESX 3.5 update 2 or higher and ESXi 3.5 update 2 or higher.
Generally this service is needed when there is a need for a synchronized snapshot (also known as
consistent quiescent). With VMware virtual machines, the VSS is used to either take synchronized
snapshots of virtual disks that serve applications running on the virtual machine (like Exchange,
MS-SQL, and others) or synchronized snapshots of the virtual machine itself.
Creating synchronized snapshots of application volumes
• Virtual machines with the Windows OS and their associated virtual disks serving the application
must be created on raw devices and not on DATASTORE/vmfs file system devices.
• Install the HP SVSP VSS hardware provider within the Windows OS running on the virtual machine.
For more information on the SVSP VSS hardware provider, see “Installing the SVSP VSS hardware
provider on the host server” on page 34.
Creating a synchronized snapshot of the virtual machine
• Verify the VMware VSS hardware provider is installed as part of the VMware tools. If you upgrade
from update 1 to update 2, a manual installation is needed.
• In this scenario, a virtual machine can be created on a DATASTORE/vmfs file system device.
• Follow VMware instructions on how to use the VMware VSS hardware provider with VMware
Consolidated Backup (VCB).
N-port ID virtualization (NPIV)
This is not currently supported.
Microsoft cluster
• Supported only by VMware with the ESX V3.5 update 1 or higher, but not supported with VMware
DRS and HA.
• Follow VMware instructions on how to install a Microsoft cluster on VMware virtual machines. See
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_mscs.pdf.
• The quorum disk must be created from a raw device based on a dedicated SVSP virtual disk as-
signed to all ESX servers that will serve Microsoft cluster virtual machines (nodes).
• SVSP thin provisioned virtual disks cannot serve as the quorum disk.
Installing and booting an VMware ESX server from the SAN
The following procedure, which must be done in order, allows you to configure a VMware ESX server
to boot from a LUN on the SAN.
Deploying VMware ESX Server with SVSP104