Technical Report EqualLogic Virtual Storage Manager: Installation Considerations and Datastores Manager Abstract This technical report discusses the features of the VSM Datastores Manager and VASA Provider and focuses on a number of concepts that a user should consider prior to installation. TR1067 v1.
Copyright © 2012 Dell Inc. All Rights Reserved. EqualLogic is a registered trademark of Dell Inc. Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Dell Inc. will not be held liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information in this document is subject to change.
Preface PS Series arrays optimize resources by automating performance and network load balancing. Additionally, PS Series arrays offer all-inclusive array management software, host software, and free firmware updates. Audience The information in this guide is intended for VMware vCenter administrators and PS Series SAN administrators.
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Table of Contents Revision Information ............................................................................................................................ vi Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................1 Installation Considerations: .........
Revision Information The following table describes the release history of this Technical Report. Report Date Document Revision 1.0 January 2012 Initial Release The following table shows the software and firmware used for the preparation of this Technical Report. Vendor Model Software Revision Dell PS Series SAN 5.2 or higher, 6.x VMware vSphere vCenter 5.0 and 5.1 VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi 4.1 , 5.0 and 5.1 Dell Virtual Storage Manager 3.5 1 1 Note: vSphere ESX/ESXi 4.
Executive Summary This technical report is aimed at VMware™ and Dell™ EqualLogic™ PS Series SAN administrators to guide them on the installation and usage of the Dell Virtual Storage Manager v3.5. This technical report will focus on understanding considerations around installation of VSM, and highlighting the functionality that is provided by the Datastores Manager component of the VSM plugin. Additional technical reports will cover the other feature of VSM.
Installation Considerations: While the installation process for Virtual Storage Management v3.5 is straightforward, to insure a smooth installation, there are a few considerations that should be taken into account, and prerequisite that should be completed. vCenter Server Managed IP requirement The installation process for Virtual Storage Management v3.5 has been significantly streamlined over prior versions, with most of the configuration been done during the import of the VSM virtual appliance.
Protecting the VSM virtual appliance Care should be exercised when selecting which datastore to host the virtual machine that is the Virtual Storage Management appliance. While VSM can be placed on a datastore that is being replicated or snapshotted by the array, it should not be placed on a datastore whose replication is being managed by VSM or that is being Smart Copied by VSM.
Connecting to the Storage Network Virtual Storage Manager must communicate with vCenter and the EqualLogic PS Series array, and if using the VDI tool, also with the VMware View server. The default method for communicating with an EqualLogic PS Series array is the Group IP; however the Group IP exists on the iSCSI network, which is often kept isolated from the rest of the networking environment. There are three options for enabling communications with the EqualLogic group: 1.
Installation The Dell EqualLogic Virtual Storage Manager v3.5 is delivered as a virtual appliance packaged in an OVA (Open Virtual Machine Format - Archive). The installation process is similar to that of other virtual appliances, with administrator entering typical information such as Name and Location; several additional properties are also requested that simplify and minimize the postinstall configuration of VSM. During the installation process a number of key pieces of information are required.
Network Mapping The VM network to connect the VSM’s network interface to. Host Name The network name by which the VSM virtual appliance is to be known by. Time Zone The time zone of the environment in which the VSM virtual appliance is located. NTP Servers Comma-separated list of NTP servers that can be synched with. vCenter username The username of the account with which VSM will communicate with vCenter. vCenter password Password for the above user account.
Installation Process 1. From the vSphere Client file menu select File, and then Deploy OVF Template. 2. Click on the Browse button, and using the Windows Explorer window browse to the location when the OVA was downloaded or copied to. Select the VSM OVA file and click Open. With the VSM OVA selected, click Next to continue.
3. The OVF Template Details page displays additional information of the VSM virtual appliance. Click Next to continue. 4. The End User License Agreement, or EULA, is two pages long, with the first pages been utilized to remind administrators of the requirement to have the vCenter Server Managed IP field populated in vCenter Server Settings. Click Accept to continue. The second EULA page contains the End User License Agreement for the Dell EqualLogic Virtual Storage Manager. Click Accept to continue.
5. Specify a name for the VSM virtual appliance; this is the vCenter display name, and not the network hostname. Also specify the inventory location, which datacenter and which inventory folder, for the VSM virtual appliance. 6. Select the Cluster that the VSM virtual appliance will be located in. Depending upon the cluster’s DRS setting it may be necessary to select an individual host. 7.
8. Select a suitable datastore where the VSM files will be located. Refer to Datastore considerations and protecting the VSM virtual appliance for considerations that should be taken into account when selecting a suitable datastore. Depending upon the environment, business needs, and license availability, there may be an option to assign a VM Storage Profile to the virtual appliance. Click the drop down and select the appropriate Storage Profile. Click Next to continue. 9. Select the Disk Format.
10. Select the appropriate VM network for the VSM virtual appliance to connect to. If the network in the environment is configured so that the EqualLogic array is isolated from this VM network, a second network interface can be added later. See the section Adding a second NIC to the VSM for more details. Click Next to continue.
11. On this page most of the settings that VSM will require are configured. Refer to the Table XX for an explanation of each of the individual fields. Complete the ones that are necessary for this environment and click Next to continue.
12. This final page will display a summary of the settings chosen though the OVF/OVA import process. Check the Power on after deployment checkbox to have the virtual appliance power up once the import process is complete. Click Finish to start the import process. 13. The import process will take several minutes to complete, depending upon the network connection speed. Once the import is complete the VSM virtual appliance will power on.
14. Once this has been completed the plugin can be enabled by selecting Plug-ins from the vSphere Client file menu, click Manage Plug-ins, and then right click on the EqualLogic Virtual Storage Manage entry and select Enable from the context menu. Post-install Configuration The above process of importing the VSM virtual appliance into vCenter requests the majority of the configuration information; however, the VASA Provider cannot be configured as part of the import process.
6. Then enter a password for this account, press Enter, and then re-enter the password for verification. Enter y to proceed with these settings. 7. The VSM VASA provider will then communicate with the VASA service on the vCenter server, and the VASA service will register with the EqualLogic VASA Provider on the VSM. This process will take approximately 2 minutes. Once complete the EqualLogic VASA Provider will be listed under Storage Providers. 8.
Changing the root account password It is strongly recommended to change the root password from the default. To do so follow the following steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. From the Configuration menu enter 4 to select Change root password. At the prompt enter the new password, and then press Enter. Re-enter the password to verify, and then press Enter. The password will now be changed, press Enter to return to the main setup menu.
4. Click on the Storage Network tab, and populate the following fields: a. Check the Enabled checkbox. b. From the Network Connection dropdown menu, select the appropriate VM Network for communicating with the EqualLogic array. c. If using DHCP check the Use DHCP checkbox, otherwise, enter in the static IP Address and appropriate Netmask. Note: Depending on how the network is configured, some environments may require the use of an Additional Route or a Gateway IP address. Click OK to continue. 5.
Virtual Storage Manager Overview This section will discuss the features that are provided by the Datastores Manager part of Virtual Storage Manager, as well as the EqualLogic VASA Provider. For information on protecting your virtual environment with Smart Copies or Replication see TR1076 Virtual Machine Protection with Dell EqualLogic Virtual Storage Manager v3.5.
Launching VSM Once the VSM appliance is installed and running in the environment there will be a new icon under the Solutions and Applications area from the Home screen in the vCenter Client. This will launch a login dialog box. Log into VSM with credentials that have vCenter administrative access privileges.
Once logged into the VSM the main landing page is presented. From this screen all of the tools and features within VSM can be accessed. 1 2 3 4 5 6 List of commonly used toolbar shortcut icons. Main object pane for the particular VSM tool currently in use. Tool buttons to launch any of the management tools inside VSM. These can be minimized to small icon buttons. The VSM Recent Tasks pane.
Connecting to EqualLogic storage Once the installation and configuration of VSM is completed, it needs to be connected to the EqualLogic storage supporting the virtualized environment. VSM v3.5 supports managing multiple EqualLogic groups. This capability enables additional capabilities such as: End to end management of SAN based replication Storage Recovery Replica Low cost disaster recovery The steps for connecting to an EqualLogic group or multiple groups are covered below. 1.
Create a datastore or multiple datastores Creating a new datastore and its associated volume can be initiated either from the Host and Clusters view by right clicking on a particular cluster or host in the datacenter, or by clicking on the Create Datastores icon in VSM. Right clicking on a particular cluster or host skips the Target Hardware Resource step in the wizard. 1. From the EqualLogic VSM screen, click on the Create Datastore icon. 2.
3. In step 2, select the File System to be used; VMFS-3, VMFS-5 or NFS. If VMFS-3 is select, the option to select the File System Block Size will be presented. 4. In step 3, select the cluster or individual host the datastore is to be associated with.
5. In step 4, select from the dropdowns into which EqualLogic PS Series group and pool the volume(s) should be created. Enter the number of datastores to be created as well as their size. With vSphere 5.0 datastores greater that 2TB can be created, without the use of extents. Note: The maximum EqualLogic volume size is 15TB. Select if the datastores are to be thin provisioned, and if so, whether the VMware VAAI primitive Thin Provision Stun is to be enabled.
6. In step 5 the Access Control List (ACL) for the datastore volume is set. The ACL is what is used to control which initiators can access the datastore volume. There are two options here for assigning the ACL: the first option is to have VSM auto-generate the ACL using the iSCSI IQN for all the initiators selected in Step 3 of the wizard. However, as an EqualLogic ACL list is limited to 16 entries, this may not be sufficient in some environments. The second option is to use the ACL Policy Manager.
7. Step 6 provides the opportunity to configure replication based data protection for the datastore. This topic is covered in detail in EqualLogic technical report TR1076 Virtual Machine Protection with Dell EqualLogic Virtual Storage Manager v3.5. 8. Step 7 is the final step in the Create Datastore wizard, and it displays a summary of the options chosen. Click Finish to initiate the task for VSM to create the datastores and the volumes backing the datastores. 9.
Increase the size of a datastore Virtual environments are in continuous flux, reflecting the ever-changing demands of the businesses they support. What is expected from storage often shifts from day to day, and the EqualLogic PS Series array architecture is designed to continuously balance the workload among several arrays. For more information on the EqualLogic load balancers see TR1070: EqualLogic PS Series Architecture: Load Balancers.
3. At this stage a warning message dialog box will be displayed. It is recommended that prior to performing a resize operation that a Smart Copy of the datastore be created. This enable returning to the original datastore size in the future if the wrong datastore was selected, or should anything negative occur during the operation. To create the Smart Copy click Yes once the Smart Copy has been completed, run the Resize Datastore wizard again. To continue with the Resize Datastore operation click No. 4.
Deleting a datastore Occasionally, datastores need to be deleted from the virtual infrastructure. Typically this involves a number of steps in vCenter, followed by some steps on the array. VSM reduces this to just a few clicks from within vCenter. 1. From the VSM datastore screen, right click on the datastore to be deleted and select Delete Datastore from the context menu. If there are any virtual machines registered on that volume, the option to delete the datastore will be grayed out, and unavailable. 2.
Creating an ACL policy Access to iSCSI volumes is restricted through the use of an Access Control List or ACL for short. An ACL record entry consists of a CHAP user, an IP address, or an iSCSI initiator’s IQN string. Depending on the ACL type chosen, the configuration of the environment and the number of hosts accessing the volume, more than one ACL record maybe required.
Creating a new ACL policy 1. Click on the Manage ACL Policy button in the VSM toolbar. 2. Click on the Create button. 3. Provide a suitable name for the new ACL Policy, and then click Add. 4. Enter the appropriate ACL record, and click OK. 5. If the ACL Policy requires multiple ACL records, click Add again and repeat steps 3 and 4, until the policy has all the ACL records required.
6. Once the ACL Policy is complete click Save. 7. To exit the ACL Policy Manager click on the X in the top right corner of the dialog. Creating an ACL policy from an existing datastore volume In an existing environment there is likely to be existing datastore volumes that have a suitable ACL that an ACL Policy can be copied. 1. From the VSM datastore screen, right click on the datastore with the suitable ACL, and select Create ACL from Volume.
2. Provide a suitable name for the ACL Policy, and then click Ok. Existing ACL Policies can be edited and deleted from the Manage ACL Policy page. However, editing or deleting an ACL Policy does not alter the ACLs on datastore volumes that used that ACL Policy. Only newly created datastore volumes will receive the changed ACL Policy. Changing the ACL on an existing datastore 1. From the VSM datastore screen, right click on the datastore with the suitable ACL, and select Change ACL Policy.
2. Select the desired new ACL Policy from the drop down menu. The details of the ACL Policy are displayed. Click Next to continue. 3. On the Summary page, review the setting changes, and click Finish. Note: Care should be taken when changing the ACL on an existing datastore volume. An error in the new ACL would lead to hosts no longer having login rights to the volume.
VASA Provider Included with the EqualLogic VSM virtual appliance is the EqualLogic VASA Provider. VASA (VMware APIs for Storage Awareness) is a set of APIs that enable vCenter to communicate with the virtual environment’s underlying storage. This non-SCSI communication with the EqualLogic array enables vSphere to learn the capabilities of each datastore volume presented to the virtual environment.
the right datastore, and quickly ensure that virtual machines continue to reside on a datastore that meet their needs. Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler, (“Storage DRS”) applies VMware’s CPU and memory resource management concept and applies them to datastores. Similar to VMware’s traditional DRS capability, Storage DRS groups datastores with like performance characteristics into a Datastore Cluster.
specific virtual machine’s VMDKs on separate datastores within the datastore cluster. Finally, there is the “VM anti-affinity rule” which prevents certain virtual machines from sharing the same datastore.
Appendix Appendix A: Upgrading HIT/VE 3.1 to VSM 3.5 For customers with an existing install of EqualLogic Host Integration Toolkit for VMware (HIT/VE) the precursor to Virtual Storage Manager 3.5, these upgrade steps cover the process of upgrading from HIT/VE to VSM while maintaining the history and schedules of snapshots and replication. Prior to starting the upgrade process, verify that no scheduled tasks are planned to run.
d. Select option 9, Unregister Plug-in from VMware vCenter, from the menu, and click Enter to continue. 2. While it is not a required part of the upgrade process, it is recommended that a VMware snapshot be created of the virtual appliance. a. Right click on the HIT/VE virtual appliance, from the context menu select Snapshot, and then Take Snapshot. b. Provide a logical name and optionally a description for the snapshot and click OK. c.
3. Mount the VSM 3.5 upgrade ISO in the virtual appliance’s CD-ROM drive, ensuring to check the Connect checkbox. a. Return to the HIT/VE virtual appliance console, and from the main menu select option 15: Update appliance. b. From the Update appliance menu select option 2: Check for updates. This will analyze the mounted ISO and verify that it contains a valid upgrade. Press Enter to return to the Update appliance menu c. From the Update appliance menu select option 3: Install update.
4. With the upgrade completed, the summary tab of the VSM virtual appliance the following information: 5. Once the upgrade has been verified as successful, re-enable any scheduled tasks that we’re disabled, and remove the VMware snapshot of the VM that was created.
Technical Support and Customer Service Dell support service is available to answer your questions about PS Series SAN arrays. Contacting Dell 1. If you have an Express Service Code, have it ready. The code helps the Dell automated support telephone system direct your call more efficiently. 2. If you are a customer in the United States or Canada in need of technical support, call 1-800-945-3355. If not, go to Step 3. 3. Visit support.dell.com/equallogic. 4.
