Dell EMC PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Guide Version 2.x July 2021 Rev.
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Contents Additional Resources.....................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................. 6 Purpose.................................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Audience.............................
Using vVols across multiple vCenter Servers.............................................................................................................29 vSphere host profiles....................................................................................................................................................... 29 Internal PowerStore X model cluster components visible in vCenter.................................................................. 29 Block access for LUNs.........................
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 service provider 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 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 of the PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Topics: • • • • PowerStore virtualization terminology Virtualization architecture and configuration Network configuration for PowerStore X model appliances Hypervisor configuration for PowerStore X model appliances PowerStore virtualization terminology PowerStore clusters use a specific implementation of virtualization concepts that are based in a VMware vSphere framework.
VMs on external ESXi hosts to use the VMFS storage on PowerStore clusters. However, support for the NVMEoFC protocol does not enable VMs on external hosts to use vVol storage on PowerStore clusters. A PowerStore X model cluster can consist of four PowerStore X model appliances. A single PowerStore X model appliance contains two internal nodes with the ESXi hypervisors that are installed on each node. The ESXi host on each node is provisioned with a controller VM that runs the PowerStore OS.
For more information, see Storage containers overview on page 9. Storage Policy Based Management vVols use Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) to ensure that VMs have the appropriate storage capabilities through their entire life cycle. Storage QoS policies can be created in vCenter after the storage provider is registered. NOTE: The name of storage type to use when creating storage QoS policies for a PowerStore cluster is DELLEMC.POWERSTORE.VVOL.
Figure 1. Storage containers spanning appliances in a PowerStore cluster Multitenancy 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. ISOs vVol During PowerStore X model cluster initialization, a 500 GB config-vVol that is named ISOs is created in the default storage container.
Virtualization architecture and configuration PowerStore T model configuration The PowerStore OS runs directly on the PowerStore hardware of a PowerStore T model cluster. A connection to a vCenter Server is optional, and can be set up during initial system configuration or later in PowerStore Manager. Using vVol-based VMs on a PowerStore T model cluster requires registering the PowerStore VASA provider in vCenter.
Virtual network configuration Networking on a PowerStore X model appliance is controlled by ESXi, which uses a virtual switch to share network devices with the controller VM. As a part of cluster creation, a vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) is set up to manage network traffic. The vDS enables features such as advanced QoS priority configuration with Network I/O Control (NIOC). In general, this configuration does not impact the management of a PowerStore X model appliance.
Table 3. Port group configurations (continued) Name NIC teaming VLAN type VLAN ID PG_MGMT Active: Uplink1, Uplink2 Standby: Uplink3, Uplink4 VLAN trunking (VGT) 0-4094 PG_MGMT_ESXi Active: Uplink1, Uplink2 Standby: Uplink3, Uplink4 PV_MGMT_ESXi can be configured to use VLAN (VST) and a unique VLAN ID, or it can be configured as None (0). PG_Storage_INIT1 Active: Uplink1 Standby: None PV_Storage_INIT1 can be configured to use VLAN (VST) and a unique VLAN ID, or it can be configured as None (0).
Table 5. VMkernel adapter settings (continued) Device Label Switch TCP/IP Stack Management vmk1 Storage_INIT1 DVS Default Disabled vmk2 Storage_INIT2 DVS Default Disabled vmk3 vMotion1 DVS vMotion Disabled vmk10 Internal_ESX vSwitch_Internal Default Disabled All the other VMkernel adapter settings are set to Disabled by default. VMware licensing vSphere licensing The appliances in a PowerStore X model cluster contain embedded instances of VMware vSphere 6.
vCenter Server requirements PowerStore X model appliances require an external vCenter Server instance running vCenter 6.7 or later with a Standard edition license. If an external vCenter Server instance is connected to a PowerStore T model cluster, the vCenter Server instance must be running vCenter 6.0 Update 2 (Build: 3634793) or later with a Standard edition license.
Table 9. vSphere HA Admission Control for a cluster with appliances that are the same models Default vSphere value Recommended PowerStore value Notes NOTE: Enabling HA Admission Control might prevent the PowerStore OS VMs from powering on. To 1. 2. 3. 4. configure vSphere HA Admission Control for a PowerStore X model cluster: In the vSphere Client, browse to the vSphere HA cluster and select the Configure tab Select vSphere Availability and select Edit to configure vSphere HA.
Table 13. Path selection policy for a Protocol Endpoint (PE) Default vSphere value Recommended PowerStore value Notes ○ 256, if the first two ports on the embedded 4-port card are mapped Table 14. 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.
3 Virtualization configuration in PowerStore appliances Topics: • • • • • • Managing virtualization components in the PowerStore Manager Configure a vCenter Server connection Updating internal ESXi hosts on PowerStore X model appliances Adding an external ESXi host to a PowerStore X model vSphere cluster Using an external ESXi host with a PowerStore cluster Additional VMware software and configuration Managing virtualization components in the PowerStore Manager You can monitor and manage basic properties
To view more details about a VM, select the name of the VM . You can monitor and manage the VM properties available on the following cards: ● Capacity This card displays interactive line charts with storage usage history for the VM. You can view data for the past two years, month, or 24 hours and print or download the chart data as an image or CSV file. ● Compute Performance This card displays interactive line charts with CPU usage, memory usage, and system uptime history for the VM.
Monitoring and managing storage containers The Storage > Storage Containers page in the PowerStore Manager displays essential information about all storage containers in a centralized location. The main view shows the name of each storage container, any current alerts, and capacity details. The table can be filtered, sorted, refreshed to show changes, and exported to a spreadsheet. You can perform the following actions on a storage container: ● Create a storage container on page 20.
To remove the quota on a storage container, clear the Enable storage container capacity quota checkbox on the Properties panel for that storage container. Monitoring ESXi hosts When a PowerStore cluster is connected to a vCenter Server, the cluster becomes aware of ESXi hosts and associates PowerStore hosts with ESXi hosts.
2. Select Compute > vCenter Server Connection. 3. Select Connect. The vCenter Server Configuration slide-out panel is displayed. a. Type the IP address, username, and password of the vCenter Server. b. To register the VASA provider, type the username and password of the VM Administrator user account that was created in step 1. c. Select Connect. If the connection to the vCenter Server is successful, the status of the connection updates and new options become available on the vCenter Server Connection page.
Change a vCenter Server connection To change the vCenter Server that your PowerStore T model cluster is connected to, you must first remove the existing connection and then register a new vCenter Server connection. Prerequisites Ensure that you have the IP address, username, and password for the new vCenter Server. About this task NOTE: The vCenter Server that a PowerStore X model cluster is connected to cannot be changed using these steps.
Adding an external ESXi host to a PowerStore X model vSphere cluster During the initialization of a PowerStore X model cluster, the system creates a vSphere cluster under a new or existing data center in vCenter. The vSphere cluster contains the internal ESXi nodes of the appliances in the PowerStore cluster. Adding an external ESXi host to the vSphere cluster enables additional compute resources, VM load balancing, and high availability within the cluster.
4 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.
5 Best practices and limitations Topics: • • • • • • • • • Performance best practices for PowerStore X model clusters Creating VM clones Using vVols across multiple vCenter Servers vSphere host profiles Internal PowerStore X model cluster components visible in vCenter Block access for LUNs Service and recovery PowerStore limitations vSphere limitations Performance best practices for PowerStore X model clusters During the initial configuration of a PowerStore X model cluster, best practice settings can be
To configure these groups and rules in vCenter, select the PowerStore X model ESXi cluster and select the Configure tab. The VM/Host Groups and VM/Host Rules are located under Configuration on the Configure tab. To co-locate storage and compute for performance benefits, add VMs to the VM Group that corresponds to the location of the VM storage for the appliance. To determine the PowerStore X model appliance on which the storage for a VM is located: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Distribute VM clones across an existing PowerStore T model cluster To create VM clones on a PowerStore T model cluster with multiple appliances, create a base VM on each appliance, migrate the vVols for each base VM to the appropriate appliance, then create VM clones from the base VMs. Steps 1. Use vSphere to create a base VM on each appliance in the cluster. Use a name for the base VM that reflects the appliance on which the base VM is located.
3. To display vSphere host names and the appliances on which vVols are located, select Show/Hide Columns, then select vSphere Host Name and Appliance to display those columns in the Virtual Volumes card. 4. Select the vVol to migrate and select Migrate. The Migrate slide-out panel is displayed. 5. Select an appliance that best meets the requirements for the vVol that you are migrating. 6. Select Next. A migration session with a status of Pending is created in the background. 7. Select Finish.
● Default vVol datastore (Storage container) NOTE: All other changes to the internal components are considered unsupported and must be requested using a Request for Production Qualification (RPQ) before making a change. Internal datastores For each node in the cluster, the vSphere Client displays and enables modification of the internal datastore that the PowerStore X model controller VM uses. Do not create VMs on internal datastore, or otherwise modify it.
PowerStore X model appliances can also be used as external block storage using Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI, or NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMeoFC). The block storage can be formatted as VMFS datastores and be presented to external servers and VMs running outside of the internal PowerStore X model nodes. Service and recovery The PowerStore virtualization configuration affects some of the troubleshooting processes that an experienced virtualization administrator may be familiar with.
VMware snapshot limitations vSphere allows a maximum snapshot tree depth of 31 for a VM. Scheduled and manual snapshots interact with this limit in different ways. Scheduled snapshots When you create a VM snapshot schedule as a part of a protection policy, you can set a retention policy specifying how long to keep snapshots. Snapshots older than the age that the retention policy specifies are deleted. This policy helps keep the total number of snapshots below the limit.
