HP 3PAR VMware ESX Implementation Guide

Table Of Contents

8 Allocating Storage for Access by the ESX Host

This chapter describes the basic procedures that are required to create and export virtual volumes

so they can be utilized by the VMware ESX host. For complete details on creating and managing

storage on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage, consult the appropriate HP 3PAR documentation.

Creating Storage On the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage

This section describes the general recommendations and restrictions for exporting storage from the

HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage to an ESX host.

For complete details about creating virtual volumes for a given HP 3PAR OS, see the HP 3PAR

Management Console Users Guide and the HP 3PAR Command Line Interface Reference.

To obtain a copy of this documentation, see the HP SC website:

HP Support Center

In addition, for a detailed discussion on using thinly-provisioned virtual volumes and strategies for

creating VLUNs, see 3PAR Utility Storage with VMware vSphere, available on the following website:

3PAR Utility Storage with VMware vSphere

NOTE: To create thinly-provisioned virtual volumes, an HP 3PAR Thin Provisioning license is

required.

Creating Virtual Volumes for HP 3PAR OS 2.3.1 and Later

After devising a plan for allocating space for the ESX host, you need to create the required virtual

volumes on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage. Volumes can be fully provisioned from a Common

Provisioning Group (CPG) or can be thinly provisioned.

Using the HP 3PAR Management Console:

1. From the Menu bar, select:

Actions→Provisioning→Virtual Volume→Create Virtual Volumes

2. Use the Create Virtual Volume wizard to create a base volume.

3. Select one of the following options from the Allocation list:

• Fully Provisioned

• Thinly Provisioned

Using the HP 3PAR OS CLI:

To create a fully-provisioned or thinly-provisioned virtual volume, issue the following HP 3PAR

OS CLI command:

# createvv [options] <usr_CPG> <VV_name> [.<index>] <size>[g|G|t|T]

Here is an example:

# createvv -tpvv -cnt 5 TESTLUNs 5g

Exporting LUNs to an ESX Host

This section explains how to export virtual volumes created on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage as

VLUNs for the ESX host.

76 Allocating Storage for Access by the ESX Host