Administrator Guide
The proper steps for purging data in a LAB environment only are:
1. Using VMware vCenter — Delete all respective VVols VMs
2. Using Storage Center—Perform Purge
In the event the order is reversed (by accident), VVols metadata lingers in the database even if Storage Manager is uninstalled. This
metadata must be deleted to ensure a robust operating environment if a new lab environment is to be set up and intended to use
VVols. Failure to do so results in failures to some VVols VM operations to reference incorrect metadata.
If the order is reversed, contact Dell Technical Support to work through the purge process.
VMware Virtual Volume Concepts
The following gure shows the virtual volumes (VVols) model dened by VMware.
The VVol framework introduces these components:
• VASA provider — A VASA provider (VP) is a software component that acts as a storage awareness service for vSphere. Storage
vendors develop VASA providers to work with their specic storage arrays.
• Protocol endpoint (PE) — A protocol endpoint is the connection used for VVol storage, and the means by which you can access
VVol storage containers. The protocol endpoint is also where access controls are placed and initiators are queried to ensure that
they are permitted access to the storage containers and virtual volumes. Protocol endpoints are created and presented by
Storage Manager when a VMware ESXi 6.0 server type is created in Storage Manager.
vSphere recognizes them as protocol endpoints after the VASA provider is registered and a Storage Container is created using
Storage ManagerStorage Manager.
• Storage container — A storage container is a quantity of storage made available for the placement of virtual volumes-based
VMs. Each array has at least one storage container. Each storage container has one or more protocol endpoints associated with
it.
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Managing Virtual Volumes With Storage Manager