Dell EMC PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Guide Version 1.x January 2021 Rev.
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Contents Additional Resources.....................................................................................................................4 Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................. 5 Purpose.................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 Audience.............................
Preface As part of an improvement effort, revisions of the software and hardware are periodically released. Some functions that are described in this document are not supported by all versions of the software or hardware currently in use. The product release notes provide the most up-to-date information about product features. Contact your technical support professional if a product does not function properly or does not function as described in this document.
1 Introduction Topics: • • Purpose Audience Purpose This document provides an overview of how virtualization is implemented on PowerStore clusters. This document contains the following information: ● ● ● ● ● Hypervisor configuration for a PowerStore X model cluster. How to manage virtualization components in PowerStore Manager. How to add an external ESXi host to a PowerStore cluster in vCenter Server. How to add the ESXi hosts in a PowerStore X model cluster to VMware NSX-V.
2 Overview Topics: • • • PowerStore virtualization terminology Virtualization architecture and configuration Working with virtual resources PowerStore virtualization terminology PowerStore clusters use a specific implementation of virtualization concepts that are based in a VMware vSphere framework. PowerStore T model and PowerStore X model clusters are both designed to be integrated with VMware vSphere.
Virtual Volumes Virtual Volumes (vVols) are an object type that corresponds to VM disks. vVols are supported on a PowerStore cluster using the VASA protocol. vVols reside in vVols datastores that are known as storage containers. A VM can consist of multiple vVols depending on its configuration and status. The different types of vVol objects are ConfigvVol, Data-vVol (equivalent to VMDK), Memory-vVol, and Swap-vVol. For more information, see Virtual volumes overview on page 7.
Table 1. Types of vVols Management action vVols created Create a VM ● Data-vVol (.vmdk) ● Config-vVol Power on a VM Swap-vVol (.vswp) Create a snapshot of a VM ● Data-vVol (.vmdk) ● Memory-vVol (.vmem) Clone a VM ● Data-vVol (.vmdk)—Shown as type Clone in PowerStore Manager ● Config-vVol Add a virtual disk ● Data-vVol (.
Figure 1. Storage containers spanning appliances in a PowerStore T model cluster Figure 2. Storage containers on one appliance in a PowerStore X model cluster Multitenancy All PowerStore appliances support multiple storage containers on a cluster. To support multitenancy requirements, multiple storage containers can be created allowing the separation of VMs and associated vVols from one tenant to another.
PowerStore Manager operations For information about managing storage containers in PowerStore Manager, see Monitoring and managing storage containers on page 22. Storage containers for ESXi hosts During the initial PowerStore X model appliance configuration, a default storage container that is named (PowerStore ) is automatically provisioned on the cluster. The default storage container on PowerStore X model appliance is mounted to the internal ESXi hosts during initial configuration.
Working with virtual resources The PowerStore Manager provides detailed monitoring capabilities for connected VMs. To manage VMs, you can launch the vSphere Web Client from PowerStore Manager. PowerStore Manager operations From the Compute > Virtual Machines page in the PowerStore Manager, you can view performance details, alerts, and connections for the VMs that are using vVol storage from your PowerStore cluster. You can also view and manage data protection policies.
Figure 4.
3 Getting started Topics: • • • • Network configuration for PowerStore X model appliances Hypervisor configuration for PowerStore X model appliances Adding an external ESXi host to a PowerStore X model ESXi cluster in vCenter Server Using an external ESXi host with a PowerStore cluster Network configuration for PowerStore X model appliances Plan your network configuration before setting up your PowerStore X model appliance.
Hypervisor configuration for PowerStore X model appliances CPU and memory settings for PowerStore X model controller VMs The following table displays the default CPU and memory reservations for PowerStore X model controller VMs on each appliance model: Table 2.
Table 3. Default distributed port group configurations (continued) Name NIC teaming VLAN type VLAN ID PG_Storage_TGT4 Active: Uplink4 Standby: Uplink1, Uplink2, Uplink3 VLAN trunking (VGT) 0-4094 PG_vMotion1 Active: Uplink3 Standby: Uplink1, Uplink2, Uplink4 VLAN (VST) Unique ID Network I/O Control (NIOC) is enabled by default on the vDS. The following table displays the default settings for traffic types on a PowerStore X model appliance: Table 4.
However, the following features are not supported by vSphere ROBO Enterprise and vSphere ROBO Advanced licenses: ● vSphere ROBO Advanced does not support DRS, and vSphere ROBO Enterprise only supports DRS for entering maintenance mode. NOTE: DRS is enabled by default on PowerStore X model appliances, and it must be manually disabled before applying a vSphere ROBO license to a system.
Table 6. vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) policy Default vSphere value Recommended PowerStore value Notes Automated. However, a user can disable DRS if needed, such as using a vSphere ROBO license. Table 7. vSphere High Availability (HA) Default vSphere value Recommended PowerStore value Notes Disabled Enabled If a user disables vSphere HA, user VMs are not protected from ESXi host failures. Table 8.
Table 12. LLDP for virtual switches (vSS or vDS) Default vSphere value Recommended PowerStore value Notes Disabled Disabled To prevent networking problems, do not change this setting. Performance best practices for PowerStore X model appliances During the initial configuration of a PowerStore X model appliance, best practice settings can be automatically applied to the appliance to enable maximum performance.
b. Log in to the vCenter Server using the vSphere Web Client. c. Open the dialog to add a storage provider. ● The Name can be any name that you choose. ● The URL must be in the format: https://:8443/version.xml, where is the management IP address of the PowerStore T model cluster.
Adding an external ESXi host to a PowerStore X model ESXi cluster in vCenter Server During the initialization of a PowerStore X model appliance, the system creates an ESXi cluster which contains the two PowerStore ESXi nodes. The ESXi cluster is created under a new or existing virtual data center in vCenter Server. External ESXi hosts can be added to the PowerStore X model ESXi cluster in vCenter Server.
4 Virtualization configuration in PowerStore appliances Topics: • • • • Managing virtualization components in the PowerStore Manager Change a vCenter Server connection Additional VMware software and configuration Updating internal ESXi hosts on PowerStore X model appliances Managing virtualization components in the PowerStore Manager You can monitor and manage basic properties of VMs, vVols, and storage containers from the PowerStore Manager.
● Virtual Volumes This card displays the vVols associated with the VM. The table can be filtered, sorted, refreshed to show changes, and exported to a spreadsheet. To view more details, click the name of the vVol you are interested in. Monitoring and managing vVols You can use PowerStore Manager to view essential information about vVols through the storage container or VM to which they are connected. ● From the Storage > Storage Containers page, click the storage container name.
2. Click Create. 3. Enter a name for the storage container. 4. Optionally, select the Enable storage container capacity quota checkbox to specify a capacity quota for the storage container. 5. Click Create. Results For PowerStore X model appliances, a datastore is automatically created with the same name as the storage container. For PowerStore T model clusters, the user must create a datastore from the storage container in vCenter.
4. Register the VASA provider for the new vCenter Server connection. 5. On the vCenter Server Connection screen of the PowerStore Manager, click Connect. 6. Type the IP address, username, and password for the new vCenter Server, then click Connect. Additional VMware software and configuration VMware integration You can use many VMware products with PowerStore the same way you would in your existing VMware environment.
5 VMware NSX-V Topics: • • VMware NSX-V introduction Add internal ESXi hosts to an existing NSX-V deployment VMware NSX-V introduction PowerStore X model appliances include support for VMware NSX Data Center for vSphere (NSX-V). NSX-V is a network virtualization and security platform that enables the implementation of virtual networks on a physical network.
6 Best practices and limitations Topics: • • • • • Internal components visible in vCenter Server Block access for LUNs Service and recovery vSphere limitations Other limitations Internal components visible in vCenter Server Some system components are visible as manageable objects in the vSphere Web Client, but modifying them can cause data loss or unavailability.
● The ESXi hosts may be placed in a user-created host group. ● User-created VMs may be placed in a user-created VM group. Block access for LUNs VMs running on internal PowerStore X model nodes can only use vVol based storage. VMFS-based storage is not supported for VMs running on internal PowerStore X model nodes. However, PowerStore X model appliances can also be used as external block storage using iSCSI or Fibre Channel.
Manual snapshots Manual snapshots that are created with PowerStore Manager or vSphere cannot have a retention policy and are never deleted without user action. If the maximum number of snapshots is reached, no more can be created unless you delete snapshots to make room. Other limitations The following limitations apply to this release of PowerStore: ● PowerStore X model supports only single appliance clusters. ● PowerStore clusters support up to 50 storage containers.
