Release Notes

Unmap Support for VVol Datastores
Unmap SCSI commands enable the EqualLogic array to reclaim the space in a thin volume. Starting with PS Series firmware
v10.0, Unmap supports multiple LUNs under a single Protocol Endpoint (PE) target. In a VMware environment, whenever files
are deleted or space optimization utilities are run, the guest operating system on Virtual Volume datastores issues the unmap
SCSI commands. Blocks that are not used by the operating system are reclaimed.
NOTE:
● Unmap for Virtual Volume datastores requires ESXi v6.5 or later.
● Unmap is not reported as an available function for Virtual Volumes until all members in the group are updated to PS
Series v10.0.
Limitations
Unmap support requires the use of the command line utility esxcli in order to perform unmap operations on VMFS
Datastores. This requirement includes ESXi v6.5 Datastores. ESXi does not support unmap with PS series arrays in the following
three cases:
● The EQL volume is replicated. (SYNC or ASYNC) This restriction is true for all operating systems supporting unmap.
● The VMFS Datastore was updated from VMFS v3.x to VMFS v5.0. It must be formatted at VMFS v5+ in order to support
unmap.
● ESXi v6.5 offers VMFS automatic unmap on VMFS v6.x Datastores. However, VMware requires that the unmap granularity
be 1 MB or less. PS Series arrays use an unmap granularity of 15 MB.
● ESXi v6.7 update 2 adds support for VMFS6 automatic unmap processing on storage arrays and devices that report to ESXi
hosts an unmap granularity value greater than 1 MB. On arrays that report granularity of 1 MB and less, the unmap operation
is supported if the granularity is a factor of 1 MB.
XCopy Support for VVol Datastores
SCSI Extended Copy (XCopy) now supports VVol-based datastores. This feature is typically used in live migration of VMs by the
ESXi server. XCopy enables the storage arrays to make full copies of data within the array without having the host read and
write the data. This operation reduces the time and network load when cloning virtual machines, provisioning from a template, or
migrating with vMotion.
NOTE:
The following requirements apply to XCopy for Virtual Volume datastores:
● ESXi issues the XCopy only when the VM is powered on.
● To use XCopy, the members must be part of the same group.
● The data mover supports VAAI offload using XCopy for migrations from VMFS to Virtual Volumes but does not support
migrations from Virtual Volumes to VMFS.
The XCopy feature is enabled by default. To disable XCopy, use the following ESXi CLI command: esxcli system
settings advanced set --int-value 0 --option /DataMover/HardwareAcceleratedMove.
Active Directory Search Path Optimization
PS Series v10.0 provides the option to disconnect the Base DN from search paths and adds two search paths, group-
search-dn and user-search-dn. These two options enable Active Directory to perform recursive object search within a
specified path. If you do not specify either of these two new parameters, the behavior of this command is the same as earlier
releases.
Deprecated Features
SHA-1 – The SHA-1 hash algorithm is no longer secure for certificates and certain other digital signatures. SHA-1 has been
disabled in PS Series v10.0 and later.
SSLv2 – The SSLv2 protocol is no longer supported, starting with PS Series v10.0.
Java on Mac OS – Group Manager applet is no longer supported in the macOS environment due to the operating system
updated security preferences.
Workaround: To make the Group Manager applet work in a Mac operating system environment, open the Java Control panel,
Java Security Settings, and add the Group IP address from which the Group Manager is being accessed (downloaded) to the
list of trusted sites. Adding wildcard entries (like 100.84.*.*) does not work in this case, specific IP address must be added
separately. The MAC operating system Gatekeeper must be bypassed to open the Group Manager applet itself. This requirement
can be done by clicking the downloaded Group Manager applet while holding the CTRL key (or right-clicking the icon) and
choosing open > open anyway.
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