VMware vSphere on EMC VNXe Deployment Guide

VMware vSphere 4.1 on EMC VNXe Series

Deployment Guide h8167.2

VMware vSphere 4.1 on EMC VNXe Series Deployment Guide

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Copyright 2011 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Published September, 2011

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VMware vSphere 4.1 on EMC VNXe Series

Deployment Guide

h8167.2


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Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction to EMC VNXe Series .................................. 15

EMC VNXe Series overview ............................................................................. 16 Software suites available ................................................................................ 16 Software packs available ................................................................................ 16

VNXe application awareness.......................................................................... 16 Advantages of the VNXe platform..................................................................... 17

VNXe storage pools ........................................................................................ 18 Default storage pools ..................................................................................... 18 Custom storage pools ..................................................................................... 19

Application-based provisioning overview ...................................................... 19

EMC VNXe benefits for VMware ...................................................................... 20

Provisioning overview .................................................................................... 20

Initial setup of EMC VNXe storage .................................................................. 21 Connection options ........................................................................................ 21 Virtual disk files ............................................................................................. 21 RDM .............................................................................................................. 21 iSCSI direct within the guest operating system .................................................. 21 Capacity planning .......................................................................................... 22 Performance planning..................................................................................... 23

Chapter 2 VMware Integration with VNXe ..................................... 25

VMware integration with VNXe ....................................................................... 26 Create storage pools for VMware ..................................................................... 29 Extend a storage pool ..................................................................................... 32 Configure a hot spare ..................................................................................... 33 Delete a VMware storage pool ......................................................................... 34 Create a VMware datastore ............................................................................. 35

Chapter 3 VNXe Performance Scaling .......................................... 41

VNXe performance overview........................................................................... 42 Use case overview .......................................................................................... 42

Contents


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Test methodology........................................................................................... 42 Test results .................................................................................................... 43

Chapter 4 VMware Virtual Machine Migration to VNXe ..................... 45

Migration overview ......................................................................................... 46

Chapter 5 Protection of VMware Environments .............................. 51

Overview ........................................................................................................ 52 Protection storage considerations.................................................................... 52 VNXe snapshots ............................................................................................. 52 Manage protection ......................................................................................... 52 Scheduled snapshots ..................................................................................... 52 Manual on-demand snapshots ........................................................................ 58 Snapshot use cases ....................................................................................... 59

Chapter 6 Backup and Restore .................................................. 63

Overview ........................................................................................................ 64

Backup strategy ............................................................................................. 64

Backup ........................................................................................................... 65

Deploy and configure a VDR appliance .......................................................... 65

Backup destination provisioning in VNXe ...................................................... 65 Back up the selected virtual machines ............................................................. 66

Restore the required virtual machines ........................................................... 68

Chapter 7 VNXe Replication ...................................................... 73

Overview ........................................................................................................ 74

NFS replication ............................................................................................... 75 Create destination storage for remote replication .............................................. 77 Configure a replication session........................................................................ 79 Failback......................................................................................................... 82

VMFS replication ............................................................................................ 83 Create a replication source.............................................................................. 84 Create a replication destination ....................................................................... 84 Add ESX 4.1 hosts to Replication Manager........................................................ 85 Create an application set ................................................................................ 88 Create a replication job ................................................................................... 89 Run a Replication Manager job ........................................................................ 92 Mount the Replication Manager replica ............................................................ 96 Replication failover......................................................................................... 96 Promote replica.............................................................................................. 98

Contents


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Appendix A Shared Folder Server Configuration ............................... 101

Configure Shared Folder............................................................................... 102

Appendix B VNXe iSCSI Server Target Setup .................................... 107

Configure VNXe for iSCSI connectivity .......................................................... 108

Appendix C System Comparison and Limits .................................... 111

Model components and limits...................................................................... 112

Software configuration limits ....................................................................... 112

Appendix D VNXe System Monitoring ............................................ 113

Overview ...................................................................................................... 114 System utilization ........................................................................................ 114 Monitor system health .................................................................................. 115 Performance ................................................................................................ 117 Alerts .......................................................................................................... 118 System logs ................................................................................................. 119

Contents


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Figures

Figure 1. VNXe management dashboard ........................................................ 19 Figure 2. VNXe VMware vSphere storage provisioning flowchart ...................... 20 Figure 3. VNXe connection options for VMware .............................................. 22 Figure 4. EMC Unisphere .............................................................................. 27 Figure 5. Add ESX Hosts: Welcome to the Add ESX Hosts Wizard...................... 27 Figure 6. Enter Credentials for vCenter/ESX Host dialog box ............................ 28 Figure 7. Add ESX Hosts: Discover vCenters/ESX Hosts ................................... 28 Figure 8. Storage Pools link in Unisphere....................................................... 29 Figure 9. Configure Disks ............................................................................. 30 Figure 10. Disk Configuration Wizard: Select Configuration Mode ...................... 31 Figure 11. Disk Configuration Wizard: Select Configuration Mode ...................... 33 Figure 12. Disk Configuration Wizard: Select Amount of Storage........................ 33 Figure 13. Disk Configuration Wizard: Configure Spares.................................... 34 Figure 14. Recycle Disks ................................................................................ 34 Figure 15. Recycle Disks ................................................................................ 35 Figure 16. VMware Storage Wizard: Specify Name ............................................ 35 Figure 17. VMware Storage Wizard: Specify File System Type ............................ 36 Figure 18. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Storage ...................................... 36 Figure 19. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Protection .................................. 37 Figure 20. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Protection Storage Size ............... 38 Figure 21. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Host Access (for the VMware VMFS

datastore) ..................................................................................... 39 Figure 22. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Host Access (for VMware NFS

datastore) ..................................................................................... 40 Figure 23. Use case reference architecture ...................................................... 42 Figure 24. VMware vSphere 4.1 performance test results .................................. 43 Figure 25. Migrate Virtual Machine: Select Migration Type ................................ 47 Figure 26. Migrate Virtual Machine: Select Destination ..................................... 47 Figure 27. Migrate Virtual Machine: Select Datastore........................................ 48 Figure 28. Migrate Virtual Machine: Ready to Complete .................................... 48 Figure 29. Summary ...................................................................................... 49 Figure 30. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Protection .................................. 53 Figure 31. Customize Schedule ...................................................................... 54 Figure 32. Modify Protection Schedule/Size: Modify Protection Schedule .......... 54 Figure 33. Add Schedule Rule......................................................................... 55 Figure 34. Modify Schedule Rule..................................................................... 55 Figure 35. Modify Protection Schedule/Size: Summary ..................................... 56 Figure 36. Modify Protection Schedule/Size: Results ........................................ 56 Figure 37. Snapshot details ........................................................................... 57

Figures


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Figure 38. Take manual snapshots ................................................................. 58 Figure 39. Take Snapshot Now ....................................................................... 58 Figure 40. Snapshot details ........................................................................... 59 Figure 41. VNXe snapshot promotion process .................................................. 60 Figure 42. Snapshot promote ......................................................................... 61 Figure 43. VMware Data Recovery user interface .............................................. 66 Figure 44. Backup Job: Virtual Machines ......................................................... 66 Figure 45. Backup destination provisioned by VNXe ......................................... 67 Figure 46. Backup Job: Backup Window .......................................................... 67 Figure 47. Backup Job: Retention Policy .......................................................... 68 Figure 48. Select virtual machines and VMDK virtual disks for restore ................ 69 Figure 49. Destination Selection ..................................................................... 69 Figure 50. Ready to Complete Restore operation .............................................. 70 Figure 51. Restoration process status ............................................................. 70 Figure 52. Virtual machine restored by VDR ..................................................... 71 Figure 53. VNXe VMware NFS datastore replication flowchart ............................ 75 Figure 54. Add Replication Connection button ................................................. 76 Figure 55. Add Replication Connection Wizard: Specify System Information ....... 77 Figure 56. Unisphere Launch dialog box .......................................................... 78 Figure 57. VMware Storage Wizard: Specify Name ............................................ 78 Figure 58. VMware Storage Wizard: Specify Replication Source ......................... 79 Figure 59. Configure Replication to a Remote System ....................................... 79 Figure 60. Create Session Wizard: Configure Synchronization ........................... 80 Figure 61. Create Session Wizard: Replication Path .......................................... 81 Figure 62. Replication session details ............................................................. 81 Figure 63. Failover operation .......................................................................... 82 Figure 64. Initiation of replication failback from the destination ........................ 83 Figure 65. VNXe VMFS replication using RM flowchart....................................... 84 Figure 66. Generic iSCSI Storage..................................................................... 85 Figure 67. Right-click Hosts ............................................................................ 86 Figure 68. Register New Host .......................................................................... 87 Figure 69. Host registration progress .............................................................. 87 Figure 70. Application Set Wizard page ........................................................... 88 Figure 71. Application Set Name and Objects page .......................................... 88 Figure 72. Application Set Validation dialog box .............................................. 89 Figure 73. Job Wizard..................................................................................... 90 Figure 74. Job Name and Setting page............................................................. 91 Figure 75. Target replication storage page ....................................................... 91 Figure 76. Mount Options page ...................................................................... 92 Figure 77. Starting the Job.............................................................................. 93 Figure 78. Users to be Notified page ............................................................... 93 Figure 79. Completing the Job Wizard.............................................................. 94 Figure 80. Confirm dialog box......................................................................... 94 Figure 81. Run Job process ............................................................................. 95 Figure 82. Snapshots taken by Replication Manager......................................... 95 Figure 83. Failover dialog box ......................................................................... 96 Figure 84. Confirm dialog box......................................................................... 97 Figure 85. Failover dialog box ......................................................................... 97 Figure 86. Changed LUN number .................................................................... 98 Figure 87. Promote Replica dialog box ............................................................ 98 Figure 88. Changed LUN number of the replica................................................. 99

Figures


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Figure 89. Shared Folder Server Settings location........................................... 102 Figure 90. Add Shared Folder Server location................................................. 103 Figure 91. Shared Folder Server page ............................................................ 104 Figure 92. Shared Folder Types page............................................................. 104 Figure 93. Add iSCSI Server .......................................................................... 108 Figure 94. iSCSI Server Configuration ............................................................ 109 Figure 95. System Capacity Storage Resource View ..................................... 114 Figure 96. System Capacity Utilization History View ..................................... 115 Figure 97. System Health ............................................................................. 116 Figure 98. Storage Resource Health .............................................................. 117 Figure 99. CPU utilization ............................................................................. 117 Figure 100. System Alerts .............................................................................. 118 Figure 101. System logs................................................................................. 119

Figures


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Tables

Table 1. Default storage pools ..................................................................... 18 Table 2. Storage protection recommendations .............................................. 22 Table 3. Ratings for various disk types for VMware Storage Database........... 31 Table 4. Ratings for various disk types for VMware Storage Datastore .......... 32 Table 5. Protection size recommendations for VMFS and NFS datastores......... 38 Table 6. VNXe model components and limits .............................................. 112 Table 7. VNXe operating system limits........................................................ 112 Table 8. Health status icons ...................................................................... 116 Table 9. Alert severity icons....................................................................... 118 Table 10. Logging standard icons ................................................................ 119

Tables


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About this Document

This document provides an overview of the deployment options for VMware vSphere 4.1 with EMC VNXe series storage arrays developed by the EMC Solutions Group.

Purpose This document describes how to use the VNXe wizard-driven provisioning interface to create storage for VMware vSphere4.1. It covers common storage administrative questions and provides easy-to-use sizing guidelines for such a deployment.

Audience This document is intended for EMC personnel, EMC partners, and customers. It is assumed that the reader has a general knowledge of VMware and networking.

Scope This guide describes the considerations one should take into account when planning to deploy the VMware technology on EMC VNXe series arrays and provides installation and configuration details that will help deploy VMware successfully. The following areas are covered:

Preparation and planning

Storage provisioning

Server configuration

Data protection

Data recovery

About this Document


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Related documents The following documents, located on Powerlink.com, provide additional, relevant information. Access to these documents is based on your login credentials. If you do not have access to the content listed below, contact your EMC representative:

Using EMC Celerra Storage with VMware vSphere and VMware InfrastructureTechBook

VMware Infrastructure Deployment with EMC Celerra Unified StorageApplied Best Practices


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Chapter 1 Introduction to EMC VNXe Series

This chapter presents the following topics:

EMC VNXe Series overview ............................................................ 16

VNXe application awareness ......................................................... 16

VNXe storage pools ..................................................................... 18

Application-based provisioning overview .......................................... 19

EMC VNXe benefits for VMware ...................................................... 20

Provisioning overview .................................................................. 20

Initial setup of EMC VNXe storage ................................................... 21

Introduction to EMC VNXe Series


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EMC VNXe Series overview The EMC VNXe series delivers exceptional flexibility for the small-to-medium business user, combining a unique, application-driven management environment with a complete consolidation for all IP storage needs.

Customers can benefit from the new VNXe features such as:

Next-generation unified storage, optimized for virtualized applications.

Capacity optimization features including file deduplication and compression, thin provisioning, and application-consistent snapshots and replicas (only available for VNXe for file).

High availability, designed to deliver five 9s availability.

Multiprotocol support for file and block.

Simplified management with EMC Unisphere for a single management interface for all file, block, and replication needs.

The VNXe series includes four new software suites and two new software packs, making it easier and simpler to protect your data.

Software suites available VNXe Local Protection Suite Practices safe data protection and

repurposing.

VNXe Remote Protection Suite Protects data against localized failures, outages, and disasters.

VNXe Application Protection Suite Automates application copies and proves compliance.

VNXe Security and Compliance Suite Keeps data safe from changes, deletions, and malicious activity.

Software packs available VNXe Total Protection Pack Includes local, remote, and application

protection suites.

VNXe Total Value Pack Includes all three protection software suites and the Security and Compliance Suite (the VNXe3100 exclusively supports this package).

VNXe application awareness The VNXe platform features a simplified user interface that is designed for IT generalists rather than for storage specialists. Storage is a key component in the implementation of business-critical applications. Making the deployment and management of storage straightforward while automatically incorporating best practices reduces the time required to set up an environment and reduces costly mistakes.

At the time of publication, application support is provided for:



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Microsoft Exchange

VMware datastores

Network file system (NFS) VMware vStorage Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) and Raw Device

Mapping (RDM) using iSCSI

Hyper-V datastores using iSCSI

Shared folders Common Internet File System (CIFS) for Windows NFS for UNIX or Linux

Generic application storage using iSCSI

When combined with simple wizard-driven installation and storage provisioning, along with EMCs proven track record for reliability and high availability, the VNXe platform provides a low-cost entry point into the EMC storage family.

Advantages of the VNXe platform This section covers the major advantages of the VNXe platform.

Accessibility The VNXe platform provides consolidated access to stored data from multiple hosts, users, and applications by using existing Internet Protocol (IP) network connectivity and industry-standard protocols, including CIFS, NFS, and iSCSI.

Ease of management A simple-to-use, web-based user interface controls the VNXe platform operations, including tools to manage, monitor, and configure storage and system settings.

High-performance and high-density storage The platform has the ability to store data using high-speed SAS and high-capacity near-line (NL) SAS storage disk drives. These disk drives accommodate most of the organizational and application requirements.

Expandable capacity and flexible upgrades The platform provides SAS and NL-SAS drives to store and protect files, folders, and application data. These drives can be expanded to accommodate a variety of application, host, or organization requirements.

Compliance with application storage best practices The platform has built-in best practices to provision and manage application data such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Windows Hyper-V, VMware, generic iSCSI, and shared folder storage.

Automatic or manual data protection The platform has built-in tools to protect valuable data by using snapshot schedules to create point-in-time images of the data from which data can be restored. Snapshots can be created manually or by using standard snapshot schedules and custom schedules.



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High availability Redundant disks and processors ensure that the failure of a single component of the system will not cause a prolonged disruption to the environment. Failed components can be easily replaced and brought online without affecting users or applications.

Security Secure system management is provided through HTTPS communication, manageable system accounts and authentication, and user roles. Secure access to VNXe storage resources is provided through Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) for iSCSI storage and compliance with NFS and CIFS access controls for storage resource security.

Antivirus support VNXe supports VEE Common Anti-Virus Agent (CAVA). CAVA is a component of the VNX Event Enabler (VEE) 4.5.1, which is part of the Security and Compliance Suite. CAVA provides an antivirus solution to clients using the VNXe platform. CAVA uses third-party antivirus software to identify and eliminate known viruses before they infect files on the VNXe platform.

File-level retention The VNX File-Level Retention (FLR) feature provides a way to set file-based permissions to limit write access to the files for a specific period of time. FLR can ensure the integrity of data during that period by creating an unalterable set of files and directories. On VNXe, the FLR feature can be enabled for shared folders and VMware NFS datastores. FLR for VNX is available as part of the Security and Compliance Suite.

VNXe storage pools The VNXe platform does not provision storage by using a traditional model, where users build a RAID group and then build logical disk units in that group. Instead, VNXe platform creates pools of storage. All the members of this pool have similar characteristics. Application-based storage provisioning is possible by using this approach.

Default storage pools Even though the RAID group and the LUN groupings are not exposed to the user, the array is still using those mechanisms behind the scenes to ensure that data is properly protected.

Table 1 lists the three default storage pools that are available by default on VNXe platforms and it also describes their characteristics.

Table 1. Default storage pools

Pool name Disk type RAID type Available capacities

High performance SAS RAID 10 (3+3) 300 GB

600 GB



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Pool name Disk type RAID type Available capacities

Balanced performance /Capacity

SAS RAID 5 (6+1) VNXe3300

RAID 5 (4+1) VNXe3100

300 GB

600 GB

Capacity pool NL-SAS RAID 6 (4+2) 1 TB

2 TB

Custom storage pools The default storage pools can be augmented with custom, user-defined storage pools. In general, use custom pools for performance-sensitive applications such as Exchange because the custom pool mechanism enables precise control on the number of disks used in the pool and prevents other applications from sharing the disks without explicitly provisioning application storage from the custom pool.

Application-based provisioning overview The key difference between VNXe and other storage platforms is its awareness of what applications are using storage and embedding the best practices for those applications into the provisioning and management process.

Figure 1 shows the first page of the Unisphere Management interface.

Figure 1. VNXe management dashboard

The dashboard not only displays the usable capacity of the array in terms of the applications using it, but it also provides wizard-driven mechanisms to create additional application storage using best practices. This guide focuses on provisioning for Microsoft Exchange.

The provisioning process has three main steps:

1. Create a storage pool 2. Configure host connectivity 3. Use the application-provisioning wizard

The first two steps are independent and can be performed in any order. The third step requires the first two steps to be completed. Chapter 4 VMware Virtual Machine Migration to VNXe provides more information.



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EMC VNXe benefits for VMware EMC VNXe benefits VMware environments in many ways, including:

Simplifies the storage provisioning process for VMware. The application-aware storage pool wizard understands VMware requirements and builds storage pools optimized for VMware deployments automatically.

End-to-end discovery of VNXe-provided storage, including details about virtual machines and their virtual disks.

End-to-end creation and management of VMware NFS and VMFS over iSCSI datastores.

Asynchronously replicates VMware storage either to a separate location within the same storage array (local replication), or to a different storage array (remote replication) using an IP network (additional licensing required).

Provisioning overview The VNXe platform for VMware results in a highly available, protected environment with simplified management. It enables administrators to create, configure, and manage storage for VMware virtual machines. Easy-to-use wizards automate the storage provisioning for VMware virtual machines by using embedded best practices. The VMware administrator with little or no storage expertise can easily deploy and manage storage resources to meet their business requirements. Figure 2 shows the steps involved in deploying VMware environments by using VNXe storage.

Figure 2. VNXe VMware vSphere storage provisioning flowchart



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Initial setup of EMC VNXe storage Configuration of the VNXe storage system refers to the hardware setup, cabling, software installation, and activation of the required licenses. It is assumed that the VNXe platform is in a healthy state with proper network connectivity and with an IP address assigned to the management port. The initial installation steps of the VNXe platform are not discussed in this document. You can access the GUI of the VNXe platform by using the management IP or hostname of the VNXe platform.

EMC VNXe supports multiple connectivity options (by using 1 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10 GbE) for greatest flexibility for a specific VMware deployment.

Connection options Storage provisioning to ESX servers and virtual machines can be done using the following protocols:

NFS

iSCSI

VMFS datastores

RDM

iSCSI direct to the guest operating system using a software initiator

Virtual disk files Virtual disk files store contents of the virtual machine's hard disk drive. A virtual disk consists of one or more .vmdk files that reside on the native host file system of the ESX server and supports other file systems recognized and accessible by ESX. EMC VNXe iSCSI storage is available as VMFS datastores in the ESX server and as NFS datastores in a network-attached storage (NAS) system.

RDM RDM enables virtual machines to have direct access to the physical disk. RDM is applicable only to block devices such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel (FC). The VNXe platform supports RDM using the generic iSCSI storage profile.

iSCSI direct within the guest operating system Disks can be directly exposed to the guest operating system by using a software iSCSI initiator within the guest operating system. The iSCSI direct model is used to manage the iSCSI targets in context of the guest application in the same way it is done in a physical environment.



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Figure 3. VNXe connection options for VMware

Capacity planning Identify the storage space required for NFS or VMFS datastores. Calculate the capacity required for the storage pool. Consider the additional storage space required for protection storage (for replication and snapshots). The recommended amount of storage protection depends on the snapshot schedule chosen.

Table 2 lists the storage protection recommendations for VMware datastores.

Table 2. Storage protection recommendations

Protection schedule Create snapshots every Keep for

Recommended protection size

None N/A N/A 105% of primary storage

Default Day at 03:00 7 days 135% of primary storage

More Protection Day at 03:00 and 11:00

14 days 135% of primary storage

Less Protection Day at 03:00 3 days 135% of primary storage



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Performance planning The VNXe platform has predefined storage pools that can be utilized based on performance requirements and drives in the system. EFDs provide the greatest performance, followed by 15k rpm SAS drives. Drives of 7,200 rpm NL-SAS should not be used for performance-sensitive applications. NL-SAS drives are primarily used for high-capacity storage requirements.

VMware VMkernel ports must be placed on the same virtual local area network (VLAN) or local area network (LAN) segment and IP subnet as the VNXe iSCSI target ports. This configuration reduces the risk of switch and interconnect oversubscription. One GbE or 10 GbE ports must be used for maximum speed.



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Chapter 2 VMware Integration with VNXe

This chapter presents the following topic:

VMware integration with VNXe ....................................................... 26

VMware Integration with VNXe


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VMware integration with VNXe With earlier models of EMC storage systems, storage provisioning for VMware environments was limited to configuring permissions for a given VMware datastore. Users were required to manually mount NFS datastores on ESX servers by using the IP address and the path information of the Shared Folder Server. With iSCSI datastores, users had to set up an iSCSI initiator, add the storage system connectivity information, discover the new LUN, and then create the VMFS datastore.

VNXe offers VMware integration with the following additional features:

End-to-end discovery of VNXe-provided storage, including details about virtual machines and their virtual disks.

End-to-end creation and management of VMware NFS and VMFS over iSCSI datastores.

VNXe performs the required virtual center or ESX server actions for both NFS and VMFS datastores (actions such as granting host access and mounting datastores on ESX servers). In addition, VNXe uses the VMware application programming interface (API) and performs the following:

Synchronizes the changes made to the datastore name between VNXe and VMware. This enables users to modify the datastore name using either interface.

Makes changes to the datastore size. This results in additional storage being provisioned. Datastores use all the LUNs presented to VMware.

Cleans up the initiator configurations for ESX servers when datastores are deleted, and removes VNXe iSCSI targets if no additional storage is exposed to the ESX server.

Changes made to the host access for a datastore on the VNXe will be reflected on the host immediately.



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To integrate virtual infrastructure with VNXe for storage provisioning, complete the following steps:

Note: It is assumed that the reader has a general knowledge of the VMware infrastructure.

1. In Unisphere, select Hosts > VMware. The VMware page appears.

Figure 4. EMC Unisphere

2. Click Find ESX Hosts. The Add ESX Hosts wizard appears.

Figure 5. Add ESX Hosts: Welcome to the Add ESX Hosts Wizard

3. Click Next. The Discover vCenters/ESX Hosts page appears. 4. Select Other (vCenter or ESX Host) and type the IP address of the VMware

vCenterTM server.

5. Click Find. The Enter Credentials for vCenter/ESX Host dialog box appears.



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6. In the User Name field, type the user name. 7. In the Password field, type the password.

Figure 6. Enter Credentials for vCenter/ESX Host dialog box

8. Click OK. The list of ESX hosts appears. 9. Select the ESX host.

Figure 7. Add ESX Hosts: Discover vCenters/ESX Hosts

10. Click Next. The Summary page appears.



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11. Confirm the selected ESX hosts and click Finish.

Create storage pools for VMware A storage pool is an aggregation of storage disk resources that are configured with a particular storage profile. The storage profile defines the type of disks that are used to provide storage and the RAID configuration of the component disks. The storage pool configuration defines the number of disks and the quantity of storage associated with the pool. When multiple pools are available, choose which pool to use to create new storage resources. If only one storage pool is available, it is automatically assigned to the new storage resources.

To create a storage pool, complete the following steps.

1. Select System > Storage Pools. The Storage Pools page appears.

Figure 8. Storage Pools link in Unisphere

Note: Configure at least one storage pool and allocate disks to that pool before creating VNXe storage resources. Storage pools are usually configured to optimize the available storage for a particular set of applications or conditions.



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2. Click Configure Disks. The Disk Configuration Wizard appears.

Figure 9. Configure Disks

Storage pools can be automatically configured. This consumes all disks on the system in a generic fashion. Storage pools can also be created as required with different drive characteristics per pool. Pools can be specifically created for VMware. By default, three types of VMware application-specific profiles are available:

VMware storage for a database

VMware storage for a datastore

VMware storage for general purpose



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3. Select Manually create a new pool and then select the application-specific profile in for VMware Storage Datastore list box.

Figure 10. Disk Configuration Wizard: Select Configuration Mode

4. Click Next. The Specify Pool Name page appears. 5. In the Name field, type a name and a description for the storage pool. 6. Click Next. The Select Storage Type page appears. The VNXe platform provides

a list of disk type recommendations that is ranked according to the application chosen.

7. Choose the one that best fits the intended use.

Table 3 and Table 4 list the disk types and their ratings for all three VMware applications.

VMware Storage Database Table 3 lists the disk types and their ratings when VMware Storage Database is selected as the storage pool.

Table 3. Ratings for various disk types for VMware Storage Database

Rating Disk type Storage profile Underlying RAID configuration

*** EFD Best Performance RAID 5 (4+1)

** SAS High Performance RAID 10 (3+3)

* SAS Balanced Performance/Capacity

RAID 5 (6+1)

NL-SAS High Capacity RAID 6 (4+2)



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A rating of three stars is the best disk type, and a rating of zero stars is the least preferred disk type. The Disk Configuration Wizard shows the space available for each storage profile, based on unassigned drives in the array.

VMware Storage Datastore Table 4 lists the disk types and their ratings when VMware Storage Datastore is selected as the storage pool.

Table 4. Ratings for various disk types for VMware Storage Datastore

Rating Disk type Storage profile Underlying RAID configuration

EFD Best Performance RAID 5 (4+1)

* SAS High Performance RAID 10 (3+3)

*** SAS Balanced Performance/Capacity RAID 5 (6+1)

** NL-SAS High Capacity RAID 6 (4+2)

8. Click Next. The Select Amount of Storage page appears. 9. Select the number of disks to add to the storage pool. The options depend on

the RAID type associated with the storage profile. Disks can be selected only in multiples of the number of drives present in the base RAID group.

10. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 11. Review the details and click Finish to complete the storage pool creation.

Extend a storage pool The VNXe platform supports extension of system-defined pools and custom pools. Add disks to the existing storage pool in the same RAID format that was used while creating the pool.

To extend the storage pool, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select System > Storage Pools > Configure Disks. The Disk Configuration Wizard appears.

2. Select Manually add disks to an existing pool and then select the pool to extend in the Select pool list box.



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Figure 11. Disk Configuration Wizard: Select Configuration Mode

3. Click Next. The Select Amount of Storage page appears.

4. Select the number of drives. The drives can be selected only in multiples of the base RAID group configuration. For example, if the existing pool has a RAID 5 (4+1) configuration, the number of drives can be selected only in multiples of five as shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Disk Configuration Wizard: Select Amount of Storage

5. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 6. Review the details and click Finish.

Configure a hot spare Users can manually add or remove hot spares to the configuration. The Configure Spares page in the Disk Configuration wizard, as given in Figure 13, shows the current number of spares and the recommended number of spares. Users can select the number of spares based on the disk type and capacity.



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Figure 13. Disk Configuration Wizard: Configure Spares

The VNXe platform supports automatic hot spare configuration for EFDs and SAS drives. All three drive types support custom hot spare configuration.

Delete a VMware storage pool A storage pool can be deleted if the storage resources within the pool are no longer required. After a storage pool is deleted, the drives are classified as unconfigured disks and can be used for other applications.

To delete a storage pool, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select System > Storage Pools. The Storage Pools page appears.

Figure 14. Recycle Disks

2. Click Recycle Disks. The Recycle Disks dialog box appears displaying the drives to recycle.



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Figure 15. Recycle Disks

3. Click Recycle. The drives are recycled and added to the list of unconfigured disks.

4. Click Close. Note: Recycle Disks is activated only when a pool is empty. All storage

resources within a pool must be deleted before deleting a pool.

Create a VMware datastore To create a VMware datastore on iSCSI storage on a VNXe platform, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select Storage > VMware. The VMware page appears. 2. Click Create. The VMware Storage Wizard appears. 3. In the Name field, type the name for the VMware storage resource. 4. In the Description field, type the description.

Figure 16. VMware Storage Wizard: Specify Name



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5. Click Next. The Specify File System Type page appears. 6. Select Network File System (NFS) in Datastore Type.

Note: To enable deduplication and compression features for NFS datastores, select Enable Deduplication and Compression.

Figure 17. VMware Storage Wizard: Specify File System Type

7. Click Next. The Configure Storage page appears. 8. Perform the following:

a. Select the storage pool based on the performance requirements. b. In the Size field, type the desired size for the VMware datastore.

Note: To enable thin provisioning, select Enabled. This creates a VMware datastore of 10 GB. The size of the datastore increases linearly.

Figure 18. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Storage



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9. Click Next. The Configure Protection page appears. 10. Select one of the following options:

Do not configure protection storage for this storage resource. Configure protection storage, do not configure a snapshot protection

schedule.

Configure protection storage, protect data using snapshot schedule. Snapshots allow the array to maintain a point-in-time view of the storage. This is useful for various recovery options. VNXe enables users to configure a protection size and schedule snapshots, and also suggests the storage configuration accordingly. In this example, Configure protection storage, do not configure a snapshot protection schedule is selected.

Figure 19. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Protection

11. Click Next. The Configure Protection Storage Size page appears. 12. Configure the protection storage size.



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Figure 20. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Protection Storage Size

13. Click Next. The Configure Host Access page appears. Table 5 lists the protection storage size for various scenarios.

Table 5. Protection size recommendations for VMFS and NFS datastores

Datastore type

Virtual Provisioning

Protection size (No protection)

Protection size configure protection (No snapshot schedule)

Protection size configure protection (Snapshot schedule configured)

Maximum protection size

Minimum or Default

Minimum Default or Recommended

Minimum Default or Recommended

VMFS Enabled 0% 105% 105% 105% 135% 14 TB

VMFS Disabled 0% 5% 5% 5% 35% 14 TB

NFS Enabled 0% 5% 5% 5% 35% 16 TB

Disabled

Exceptions Production volume is 64 MB to 20 GB. The minimum protection volume is the same as production volume.

Production volume is greater than 20 GB. The minimum protection volume is 20 GB.

14. Configure the vCenter Server/ESX server host access for the VMware

datastore.



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VNXe provides four levels of access for VMware VMFS datastore, as shown in Figure 21.

No Access Does not permit the host to access the storage. Datastore Permits the host to access storage but not the snapshots. Snapshot Permits the host to access promoted snapshots but not the

primary storage.

Datastore and Snapshot Permits the host to access the primary storage and promoted snapshots.

Figure 21. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Host Access (for the VMware VMFS datastore)

VNXe provides four levels of access for the VMware NFS datastore, as shown in Figure 22.

Read-Only Permits the user to view the contents of the NFS datastore, but not to write to it.

Read/Write Permits the user to view and write to the NFS datastore, but not to set permissions.

Read/Write, allow Root Permits the user to read and write on the storage resource and to grant and revoke access permissions (for example, permission to read, modify, and execute specific files and directories) for other login accounts that access the storage.

No Access No access to the NFS datastore.



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Figure 22. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Host Access (for VMware NFS datastore)

15. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 16. Verify the details and click Finish.


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Chapter 3 VNXe Performance Scaling


VNXe performance overview .......................................................... 42

VNXe Performance Scaling


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VNXe performance overview This chapter describes the use case that was developed to test the performance of the VNXe storage platform in a VMware environment. The objective of this use case was to showcase the performance of VNXe in the VMware environment when scaling virtual machines and servers.

Use case overview The use case was designed to analyze the performance of the VNXe platform with VMware vSphere 4.1 when scaling virtual machines and an ESX 4.1 server. The IOmeter tool was used to generate the load and to analyze the performance under a realtime workload.

A VMware application-specific storage pool was created with twenty-eight 600 GB SAS drives in four RAID 5 (6+1) groups. Two VMware datastores were created on this application-specific pool.

Figure 23. Use case reference architecture

Test methodology Twenty-five VMware virtual machines were created on the VNXe VMware datastores. Each virtual machine had an operating system drive and an application drive. The load was generated on some portion of the application drive on each virtual machine by using IOmeter. Initially, the performance was analyzed when the virtual machines were scaled from one to five (which were on a single ESX 4.1 server) by running IOmeter tests. A test conducted later scaled the ESX servers from one to five.



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Test results It was observed that the IOPS increased linearly when the VNXe platform with virtual machines and VMware ESX 4.1 server scaling were used. The results were obtained from IOmeter test runs by using 8 KB I/Os, 70 percent reads, and a 100 percent random profile. The IOPS increased by five times when the virtual machines were scaled from 5 to 25 as shown in Figure 24.

Figure 24. VMware vSphere 4.1 performance test results



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Chapter 4 VMware Virtual Machine Migration to VNXe


Migration overview ..................................................................... 46

VMware Virtual Machine Migration to VNXe


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Migration overview This chapter explains the migration process of a virtual machine from a storage location to the existing VNXe. This chapter also outlines the steps involved for a successful migration of virtual machines with VMware Storage vMotion. The migration considerations are beyond the scope of this document.

Virtual machines are migrated under the following circumstances:

Storage maintenance and reconfiguration

Relocation of datastores between storage systems

Optimization of performance and redistribution of the storage load

VMware Storage vMotion is a component of VMware vSphere that provides an interface for live migration of virtual machine disk files within and across storage arrays. Storage vMotion relocates virtual machine disk files from one shared storage location to another shared storage location. It enables organizations to perform proactive storage migrations and to simplify array migrations. It is fully integrated with VMware vCenter Server for easy migration and monitoring.

This chapter explains how to move a virtual machine from one datastore to another datastore on the same VNXe. The VNXe should have access to both source and target datastores. It must also have sufficient resources to support two instances of the virtual machine running concurrently.

To move a virtual machine, complete the following steps:

1. In the VMware vSphere Client interface, select Hosts and Clusters. The Hosts and Clusters page appears.

2. Right-click on the virtual machine and select Migrate. The Migrate Virtual Machine wizard appears.

3. In Select Migration Type page, select Change datastore. This option is applicable only when a virtual machine is powered on.



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Figure 25. Migrate Virtual Machine: Select Migration Type

4. Click Next. The Select Destination page appears. 5. Select the destination host

Figure 26. Migrate Virtual Machine: Select Destination



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6. Click Next. The Select Datastore page appears. 7. Select the destination datastore.

Note: Both VMFS and NFS datastores are valid migration destinations.

Figure 27. Migrate Virtual Machine: Select Datastore

8. Click Next. The Ready to Complete page appears. 9. Review the summary and click Finish to complete the migration process.

Figure 28. Migrate Virtual Machine: Ready to Complete



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10. After the migration is complete, verify the virtual machine status on the Summary tab of the vSphere Client interface.

Figure 29. Summary



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Chapter 5 Protection of VMware Environments


Overview ............................................................................ 52

Protection of VMware Environments


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Overview There are four methods of data protection for the VNXesnapshots, VNXe user data backup, replication, and backup to VNXe over the LAN as a backup-to-disk target. This chapter describes VNXe snapshot protection for VMware environments.

Protection storage considerations In addition to planning storage requirements for VMware virtual environments, the administrator also must consider the capacity reserved for storage protection. The amount of resources that a snapshot schedule consumes primarily depends upon the frequency of scheduled snapshot operations and the period of time the snapshots are retained. When creating a storage resource on VNXe, it is safe to use at least the recommended amount of storage protection capacity. Depleted protection resources can lead to data loss. To use the snapshot data for testing or debugging purposes, EMC recommends manual snapshots.

VNXe snapshots The VNXe platform protects VMware datastores by creating virtual copies with snapshot technology. A snapshot creates a point-in-time, read-only virtual copy of the VMware storage. It protects the entire datastore, VMware virtual disks, and files and data on virtual disks. The VNXe platform allows a maximum of 96 snapshots for all NFS datastores and 2,000 snapshots for all VMFS datastores on the system.

Manage protection Careful planning is required when you reserve capacity for storage protection. The minimum size of the reserved storage protection capacity is 5 percent of the space allocated for the primary storage resource. For example, if you specify 100 MB for the primary storage, the VNXe platform allocates a minimum of 5 MB for storage protection, resulting in an allocation of 105 MB for the storage resource.

The reserved storage can be increased, but cannot be decreased from its minimum size. The reserved capacity can also be automatically adjusted whenever the primary storage size is adjusted. With auto-adjust enabled, if the primary storage size is increased from 100 MB to 200 MB and the reserved protection storage is 5 percent, the total amount of storage allocated for the resource increases automatically from 105 MB to 210 MB.

Scheduled snapshots Snapshots can become outdated based on the rate of change in the data. The VNXe platform provides tools to select and customize snapshot schedules. These tools provide a way to change the intervals, times, days, and dates when snapshot operations must occur. A collection of rules within the schedule specify the interval, frequency, and time when the snapshots are taken.

If protection is not configured when creating the datastore, it can be configured later from the Modify Protection Schedule page of the Modify Protection Schedule/Size wizard.

The existing snapshot schedule can also be modified from the Modify Protection Schedule page.



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When provisioning storage for a VMware datastore, the VMware Storage wizard provides an option to configure protection with snapshots. You can either choose to retain the default schedule to create snapshots of the datastore, or customize the schedule.

The three predefined protection schedules are Default Protection, More Protection, and Less Protection. Default Protection schedules the snapshot once every day and keeps it for seven days. More Protection schedules snapshots twice every day and keeps them for 14 days. Less Protection schedules the snapshot once every day and keeps it for three days.

Customize the snapshot protection schedule To customize the protection schedule, complete the following steps:

1. Perform steps 18 as described in Create a VMware datastore on page 35.

2. Select Configure protection storage, protect data using snapshot schedule, and then select Default Protection in the list box.

Figure 30. VMware Storage Wizard: Configure Protection



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3. Click Customize Schedule. The Customize Schedule dialog box appears.

Figure 31. Customize Schedule

4. Click No. The Modify Protection Schedule/Size wizard appears.

Figure 32. Modify Protection Schedule/Size: Modify Protection Schedule

Note: By default, the wizard displays two rules that can either be modified or removed.

5. Click Add a New Rule. The Add Schedule Rule dialog box appears.



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6. In the Type of Rule list box, select the rule type.

Figure 33. Add Schedule Rule

Note: Allow at least 15 minutes between each snapshot to ensure each snapshot completes successfully. The snapshot protection schedule can be paused initially and resumed later by selecting Create Storage with Schedule Initially Paused in the VMware Storage Wizard. After creating or modifying the snapshot protection schedule, discard the changes and click Revert to Previously Defined Schedule in the Modify Protection Schedule wizard to go to the previous schedule.

7. Click Add Rule. The Modify Schedule Rule dialog box appears. 8. In the Rule Details area, select the required details.

Figure 34. Modify Schedule Rule



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9. Click Modify Rule. The Summary page appears.

Figure 35. Modify Protection Schedule/Size: Summary

10. Verify the details and click Finish. The Results page appears.

This page displays the progress of each step involved in creating a protection schedule for the selected snapshot.

Figure 36. Modify Protection Schedule/Size: Results



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The new schedule is available in Unisphere at Storage > VMware > VMware Details as shown in Figure 37. The Taken By column lists the schedule for which the snapshots are taken.

Figure 37. Snapshot details



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Manual on-demand snapshots VNXe enables administrators to manually initiate a snapshot of the VMware datastore.

To initiate a manual on-demand snapshot, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select Storage > VMware > VMware Details. The VMware Details page appears.

Figure 38. Take manual snapshots

2. Click Take Snapshot Now. The Take Snapshot Now dialog box appears. 3. Specify a name and duration for which the snapshots must be stored in the

protection storage.

a. In the Name field, type a name. b. In the Keep for list box, select the duration.

Figure 39. Take Snapshot Now



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4. Click OK. Note: After the snapshot completes the specified time, it will be deleted

automatically.

The snapshot can be taken immediately and can be viewed in the snapshots list. Manual snapshots can be distinguished from scheduled snapshots from the entry in the Taken By column. The entry in the Taken By column for manual snapshots is admin.

Figure 40. Snapshot details

Snapshot use cases The snapshots can be used for several purposes in VMware environments. The following sections describe them in detail.

Snapshot for backup and recovery Snapshots can be used for logical backup of virtual machines that reside on VMFS or NFS datastores. In case of data loss due to accidental deletion or corruption of data or files, the virtual machines can be quickly recovered from VNXe snapshots. However the loss of the production shared folder or LUN would render the snapshots unusable. If multiple virtual machines share the same VMFS or NFS datastore, the crash-consistent virtual machine images can be backed up and recovered together in one operation. The VNXe snapshots work at the LUN or shared folder file system level. For a successful recovery, it is important to keep all the virtual machine files on the same VNXe datastore. Restoring from a snapshot can be quick depending on the amount of change in the data. This dramatically reduces the mean time to recovery. After successfully restoring a snapshot, all the snapshots created after the restore copy are deleted because the system is back to its previous state.



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Snapshots for individual virtual machine recovery Access to the contents of a VMware NFS datastore snapshot is determined by the permissions assigned to the snapshot contents. The snapshots for a VMware NFS datastore are in the hidden .ckpt_ directories in the datastore. Figure 41 shows the end-to-end path from the mounted NFS datastore on the virtual machine to the shared folder with the datastore, and further to the shared folder snapshots in the hidden .ckpt_directories. To access the snapshots of the NFS datastore, the user must navigate to the .ckpt_ directories in the NFS datastore and copy the required files to recover an individual virtual machine, or a VMDK file.

Access to the contents of a VMware VMFS datastore snapshot is determined by the ESX host access to the snapshot. To access a VMware VMFS datastore snapshot, first promote the snapshot to assign a LUN ID to the VMware datastore so that the virtual disk is available to the ESX iSCSI initiators. Then, mount the VMware datastore on the ESX host to explore and recover files for an individual virtual machine. Figure 41shows the end-to-end path from the mounted network drive on the ESX host to the VMFS datastore (LUN 52). In accordance with the snapshot schedule, the VNXe platform makes a copy of the datastore every weekday at 1 A.M. A user promotes the snapshot created on Monday. During the promotion, the VMware datastore for this snapshot receives LUN ID 130, which makes it accessible to any ESX host with snapshot access. The user mounts the snapshot (LUN 130) and can now explore and recover files from the snapshot.

Figure 41. VNXe snapshot promotion process



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Test or development environment VMware datastores can be promoted to ESX. The promoted virtual machines can be used for testing or development purposes instead of creating a new environment. It saves the time and effort involved in creating similar environments because promoting snapshots is spontaneous.

To promote a snapshot of VMware datastore, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select Storage > VMware. The VMware page appears. 2. Select the datastore and click Details. The Details page appears. 3. Select the Snapshots tab. 4. Select the snapshot to promote.

Figure 42. Snapshot promote

5. Click Promote. A confirmation message appears.

6. Click Yes. After the snapshot is promoted successfully, the status of the snapshot in the Promoted column changes to Yes.



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63

Chapter 6 Backup and Restore


Overview ............................................................................ 64

Backup strategy ......................................................................... 64

Backup ............................................................................ 65

Deploy and configure a VDR appliance ............................................. 65

Backup destination provisioning in VNXe.......................................... 65

Restore the required virtual machines .............................................. 68

Backup and Restore


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Overview Protecting data is one of the most challenging tasks in any business. Backup is a copy of the production data that is maintained to recover the data in case data is deleted or corrupted. Different backup strategies are implemented based on the organizational recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO). Several factors must be considered when developing a backup and recovery strategy for a VMware virtualized server environment:

The different types of backups that can be taken,-

The state of the virtual machine-

The type of storage provisioning (VMFS and NFS datastores, RDM and iSCSI direct within the guest operating system) for the virtual machines

Backup strategy The backup strategy can be logical or physical. A logical backup does not provide a physically independent copy of the production data. It offers a view of the VMware datastore as of a certain point in time. A logical backup can occur very rapidly and requires very little space to store. Therefore, a logical backup can be taken very frequently. Restoring from a logical backup can be quick and depends on the amount of change in the data. This dramatically reduces the mean time to recovery. However, a logical backup cannot replace a physical backup. The logical backup protects against logical corruption of VMware datastores, accidental file deletion in the virtual machines, and other similar human errors. It does not protect the data from hardware failures. The logical backup can be provided by the VNXe snapshot. If multiple virtual machines share the same VMware datastore, they can be backed up and restored together in one operation. But the loss of the production datastore LUN or shared folder file system would render the snapshots unusable.

A physical backup makes a full and complete copy of the VMware datastore on different physical media. Although the backup and recovery time may be longer, a physical backup protects data against hardware failures. These snapshots may be mounted or promoted directly on different ESX servers and can be backed up on any or all virtual machines to a different destination datastore. This exempts the production host from having to participate in the backup. However, the administrator has to consider the performance impact that may incur due to spindle contention when reading from the snapshots.

Backup and Restore


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Backup VMware Data Recovery (VDR) is a disk-based backup and recovery solution. It is built on the VMware vStorage API for data protection and uses a VDR appliance and a client plug-in to manage and restore backups. It can be used to protect any kind of operating system. VDR creates full and incremental backups of virtual machine images (their VMDK files) and file-level backups for Windows virtual machines. It uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) that is natively available in Windows to quiesce virtual machines and their installed applications to ensure consistent backups. It incorporates capabilities such as block-based data deduplication, and performs only incremental backups after the first full backup to maximize storage efficiency. VNXe-based shared folder file system and iSCSI storage can be used as destination storage for VDR. All backed up virtual machines are stored on a target disk in a deduplicated store. The following steps are included in a successful backup and recovery:

1. Deploy and configure a VDR appliance. 2. Back up destination provisioning in VNXe. 3. Back up the selected virtual machines. 4. Restore the required virtual machines.

Deploy and configure a VDR appliance Install the required VDR plug-in and enable it in the vSphere Client. This plug-in does not install the VDR appliance. To deploy the VDR appliance, use the vSphere Client and the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) template from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) file so the OVF template is deployed as a virtual machine. The procedure to deploy and configure the VDR appliance is beyond the scope of this document.

Backup destination provisioning in VNXe VNXe-based shared folder file systems and iSCSI storage are supported as destination storage for VDR. A shared folder file system through NFS is supported only if the mount is presented by an ESX server and the VMDK is assigned to the VDR appliance. NFS mounts cannot be directly mapped to the VDR appliance. When an RDM disk is used as a backup destination, it is better to use virtual compatibility mode because the VNXe snapshots can be used to protect the backed up data.

Backup and Restore


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Back up the selected virtual machines To back up the selected virtual machines, complete the following steps:

1. Connect to the VDR appliance.

Figure 43. VMware Data Recovery user interface

2. Click Create a backup job. The Backup Job 1 Backup Wizard appears. 3. Select the virtual machines to back up.

Note: Any virtual machine that resides on VMFS and NFS datastores can be backed up. Backup of virtual machines with RDM can be performed only when RDM is running in virtual compatibility mode.

Figure 44. Backup Job: Virtual Machines

Backup and Restore


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4. Click Next. The VMware Data Recovery page appears. 5. From the Configuration tab, select the destination for the backup.

Note: To realize greater space savings, ensure that similar virtual machines are backed up to the same destination. Because VDR performs data deduplication within and across virtual machines, the virtual machines with the same operating system will have only one copy of the operating system data stored.

Figure 45. Backup destination provisioned by VNXe

6. Click Next. The Backup Job: Backup Window page appears. 7. Set the schedule for the backup.

Note: VDR backs up the virtual machine in the specified duration.

Figure 46. Backup Job: Backup Window

Backup and Restore


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8. Click Next. The Backup Job: Retention Policy page appears. 9. Edit the retention policy based on the requirements.

Figure 47. Backup Job: Retention Policy

10. Click Next. The Ready to Complete page appears.

Restore the required virtual machines You can choose to restore a virtual machine or to do a restore rehearsal. Restoring a virtual machine will replace the selected virtual machine. A restore rehearsal will create another copy of the virtual machine, and will not replace the original. Restore rehearsals are a good way to test whether the backup is working in the expected manner, and that the virtual machines can be restored when required.

Backup and Restore


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To restore virtual machines, complete the following steps:

1. From the Restore tab of the VMware Data Recovery user interface, select the virtual machines or specific VMDK virtual disks that need to be restored through VDR.

Figure 48. Select virtual machines and VMDK virtual disks for restore

2. Click Next. The Destination Selection page appears. 3. Click Next. The selected virtual machines and VMDK virtual disks appear in

bold.

Figure 49. Destination Selection

Backup and Restore


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4. Click Next. The Ready to Complete Restore operation page appears. Note: This page provides the total number of virtual machines, virtual disks,

and the total size of the VMDKs to be restored.

Figure 50. Ready to Complete Restore operation

5. Click Restore. The Reports page appears. This page provides the details about the progress of the restore process by percentage, and the status of the process.

Figure 51. Restoration process status

Backup and Restore


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The restored virtual machine is available in the left navigation pane. After the process is complete, the virtual machine powers on automatically.

Figure 52. Virtual machine restored by VDR

Backup and Restore


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73

Chapter 7 VNXe Replication


Overview ............................................................................ 74

NFS replication .......................................................................... 75

VMFS replication ........................................................................ 83

VNXe Replication


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Overview Replication is a key data protection strategy for enterprises of all sizes. Replication protects critical enterprise data by copying data either locally or remotely for higher levels of protection and availability. Replication can be used to ensure business continuity and data repurposing for development, quality assurance, and business intelligence. VNXe storage system and EMC Replication Manager address the various challenges involved in a successful disaster recovery process. The VNXe platform replicates VMware datastores by either using NFS or VMFS replication.

Remote replication can occur between two VNXe platforms or between a VNXe platform and a Celerra system or a VNX platform. Replication automatically maintains another copy of the VMware datastore on the local system or a remote system. This replication copy is a complete copy of the data on the VMware datastore unlike a snapshot of the VMware datastore that only captures the changes since the snapshot was taken.

Replication methods The VNXe platform supports three types of replication methods.

Loopback replication Replication of a storage resource on a single VNXe platform with the source and destination storage resources on different Shared Folder Servers located in the same storage processor (SP).

Local replication Replication of a storage resource on a single VNXe platform with the source and destination storage resources on different Shared Folder Servers located in different SPs.

Note: VNXe3100 does not support local replication because it has only one SP.

Remote replication Replication of a storage resource from one VNXe platform to another VNXe or VNX platform or a Celerra system. The source storage resource resides on a different storage system from the destination storage resource.

Prerequisites for replication The prerequisites for a successful replication are:

The source and destination systems must be able to communicate over WAN for remote replication.

The destination system must have enough space to hold the source storage resource and allow for future expansion.

The source storage resource must be created using the VMware tab on the source array. Create a VMware datastore on page 35 provides more information on how to provision NFS datastore using a VNXe storage resource. Create a replication source on page 84 provides more information on how to create a replication source.

VNXe Replication


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NFS replication To replicate a VNXe VMware NFS datastore, complete the following steps:

1. Create a replication connection between source and destination arrays. 2. Create replication destination storage. 3. Set up and manage replication sessions. 4. Fail over to the destination. 5. Connect destination storage to the server.

Figure 53 shows the NFS datastore replication flowchart.

Figure 53. VNXe VMware NFS datastore replication flowchart

Create replication connection between source and destination arrays The replication destination can be a local VNXe, a remote VNXe, a remote VNX, or a remote Celerra system. Replication to the local VNXe platform does not require any replication connection. Prior to remote replication of a VMware datastore, a replication connection should be established between the two storage systems.

To establish a connection between the two storage systems, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select Hosts > Replication Connections. The Replication Connections page appears as shown in Figure 54.

VNXe Replication


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Figure 54. Add Replication Connection button

2. Click Add Replication Connection. The Add Replication Connection Wizard appears as shown in Figure 55.

3. Perform the following steps: a. In the System Type list box, select the remote storage system type. b. Select and type the Network Name or IP Address of the remote system. c. In the User Name field, type the username. d. In the Password field, type the password. e. In the Confirm Password field, type the password for confirmation. Note: If the remote system is a Celerra system or a VNX, type the system name

in the System Name field. In the Passphrase and Confirm Passphrase fields, type the passphrase. The local and remote systems communicate with each other by using the passphrase.

VNXe Replication


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Figure 55. Add Replication Connection Wizard: Specify System Information

4. Click Next. The Summary page appears. 5. Review the details and click Finish. The Results page appears.

Create destination storage for remote replication For replicating the source data to the destination, a storage resource of the same size as the source must be created on the destination system. This operation can be accomplished from the source system.

To create a destination storage for remote replication, complete the following steps:

1. In Unisphere, select Storage > VMware > VMware Details > Replication and click Configure Replication to a Remote System. The Create Session Wizard appears.

2. Click Create Destination. The Unisphere Launch dialog box appears as shown in Figure 56.

VNXe Replication


VMware vSphere on EMC VNXe Deployment Guide

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