Dell PowerVault MD3200i Series Bedienungsanleitung

DELL POWERVAULT

MD3200I /MD3600I

DEPLOYMENT GUIDE FOR VMWARE

ESX4.1 SERVER SOFTWARE

A Dell Technical White Paper

Version 1.7

PowerVault MD3200i and

MD3600i Storage Arrays

www.dell.com/MD3200i

www.dell.com/MD3600i

www.dell.com/pvresources

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 2

DISCLAIMER:

THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY

CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES.

THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED

WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

For more information, contact Dell.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

http://www.dell.com

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................ 3

TERMINOLOGY/GLOSSARY....................................................................................................................... 4

INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................... 5

New Features in vSphere4 Software iSCSI Initiator ..................................................................................... 5

SUPPORTED HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE................................................................................................ 6

Hardware Requirements....................................................................................................................... 6

Supported Operating Systems for MD3200i array............................................................................... 6

ARCHITECTURAL SETUP........................................................................................................................... 7

Considerations When Using iSCSI Software or Hardware Initiators for ESX4.1 on the MD3200i

Storage Array........................................................................................................................................ 8

Establishing Sessions to a SAN............................................................................................................ 9

CONFIGURE ISCSI STORAGE ON ESX4.1 SERVER -INSTALLATION STEPS............................................11

Connect to the ESX server/vCenter using VI Client and follow the steps below...............................12

Step1: Configure vSwitch & Enable Jumbo Frames..........................................................................12

Step2: Add iSCSI VMkernel Ports ......................................................................................................12

Step3: Assign Network Adapters .........................................................................................................15

Step4: Associate VMkernel Ports to Physical Adapters......................................................................17

Step5: add an MD3600i into the ESX rule set ....................................................................................21

Step6: Enable VMware iSCSI Software Initiator...............................................................................21

Step7: Binding VMkernel Ports to iSCSI Software Initiator .............................................................24

Step8: Connect to PowerVault MD3200i Storage...............................................................................26

Step9: PowerVault MD3200i Storage Setup and Configuration........................................................29

Step10: Perform rescan so VMware sees the virtual disk...................................................................43

Step11: Create VMFS Datastores........................................................................................................46

Step12: Configuring VMware Path Selection Policy..........................................................................54

CONTACT INFORMATION .........................................................................................................................55

APPENDIX A..............................................................................................................................................56

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 4

TERMINOLOGY/GLOSSARY

VD == virtual disk

VM == virtual machine

NIC == network interface card

MPIO == Multi-Path I/O

SAN == Storage Area Network

RDM == Raw Device Map

DVS == Distributed Virtual Switch

HA == high availability

DRS == Distributed Resource Scheduler

MRU == Most Recently Used

IQN == iSCSI Qualified Name

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 5

INTRODUCTION

These steps necessary to connect to an iSCSI SAN are documented in VMware’s iSCSI SAN

Configuration Guide which can be found on VMware’s website. This whitepaper goes into depth

with configuration examples for connecting to a Dell™ PowerVault™ iSCSI SAN utilizing the

software iSCSI initiator inside the VMware® ESX4.1 Server™. Additionally, Appendix A gives

details regarding configuring hardware initiators from within VMware® ESX4.1 Server™.

The Dell™ PowerVault™ MD3200i & MD3600i iSCSI SAN storage solution consists of either a

standard or high availability configuration. The standard (simplex) configuration has a single

controller with four 1GbE ports. It can be deployed to support up to 32 hosts non-redundantly.

The high availability (duplex) configuration has dual controllers with four 1GbE ports per

controller for a total of eight 1GbE ports. The dual controller option can also connect up to 32

fully redundant hosts

Provisioning of MD3200i storage in a VMware® ESX4.1 environment is a multi-step process

starting with establishing the iSCSI session, defining the server topology for host access, and

finally allocating storage to the individual virtual machines (VMs).

VMware® vSphere4™ offers many new and advanced enhancements over the iSCSI software

initiator in conjunction with iSCSI SAN connectivity. Many of these new features require

advanced configuration in order to work properly. Administrators who are familiar with ESX 3.5

iSCSI SAN configuration may find that their current configuration steps are not sufficient to

enable all of the advanced features offered in vSphere4.

NEW FEATURES IN VSPHERE4SOFTWARE ISCSI INITIATOR

VMware vSphere4 ESX4.1 has new support for various new advanced capabilities that

were not found in ESX 3.5. This whitepaper will cover the new features in the iSCSI

software initiator as well as how to configure them to connect to the SAN.

iSCSI Software Initiator – With ESX4.1, the iSCSI software initiator was re-written from

the ground up for better performance and functionality.

Jumbo Frames – With ESX 4.1 and vSphere4, Jumbo Frames can be enabled on the iSCSI

software initiator. Jumbo Frame support allows for larger packets to be transferred

between the ESX4.1 servers and the SAN for increased efficiency and performance.

Jumbo Frame Support can be enabled via the vSphere vCLI.

MPIO – With ESX4.1 and vSphere4, customers can benefit from Multi-Path I/O(MPIO)

from the ESX4.1 server and the SAN. This allows for multiple connections to be used to

allow for greater bandwidth. This is especially important for the PowerVault SAN as each

PowerVault member has multiple connections and now ESX4.1 can take full advantage

of these connections.

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 6

Third Party MPIO Support – With ESX4.1 and vSphere4, VMware has provided an

architecture that enables PowerVault platforms to provide new and advanced intelligent

integration.

SUPPORTED HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Refer to the following VMware website for a complete up-to-date list of the

prerequisites for installing VMware ESX server.

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_esx_server_config.pdf

SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR MD3200I ARRAY

ESX4.1 and ESXi5.0 are two of the supported VMware OSs for MD3200i. Please see the

MD Support Matrix at support.dell.com for a complete listing of supported VMware

OSs.

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 7

ARCHITECTURAL SETUP

As a best practice, Dell recommends using a separate Gigabit Ethernet network switch to handle

iSCSI storage traffic, see PowerVault MD32x0i IP SAN Best Practices. An IP SAN consists of one

or more hosts, connected to one or more storage arrays through an IP network, utilizing at least

one switch in the network infrastructure. Each switch in the configuration has a path to the

MD3200i via duplex quad-port controllers.

There are many ways to implement an IP SAN based on need, available resources and intended

application. Some general rules can be used when designing your IP SAN. For example, in order

to maximize the throughput of your storage arrays, all host ports should be utilized. Nothing

requires you to use all four ports for a given server. Figure 1 below shows the high level

connection details with all four controller paths utilized. However, there are no technical

architectural or functional features in the MD32x0i/36x0i that requires you to use all four ports

for a given server.

At the hypervisor level, there is no ESX-driven requirement, for either performance-related or

pathing-related implementation that requires multiple IP-address subnets. More specifically, all

iSCSI ports can reside on the same subnet. The ESX native multipathing (NMP) driver is able to

use all paths on the same subnet, so if you choose a RR pathing policy, these ports will all be

used for Round Robin. Depending upon the workload needs, as shown in Figure 1 below, you

certainly could only use two of the ports if that meets your IO <throughtput> requirements.

Later in this whitepaper we include an in-depth explanation regarding why one might want to

use multiple subnets.

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 8

FIGURE 1: HIGH-LEVEL CONNECTION DETAILS FOR BOTH MD3200I AND MD3600I

CONSIDERATIONS WHEN USING ISCSI SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE INITIATORS FOR ESX4.1

ON THE MD3200I STORAGE ARRAY

Taking advantage of new ESX4.1 features requires some new steps to be taken by ESX

administrators. Configuration is done via either the vSphere GUI or using vCLI. The

remainder of this whitepaper focuses on installation and configuration of an iSCSI

software initiator connection to a PowerVault Series SAN. Each of these commands can

be found inside the VMWARE ISCSI SAN CONFIGURATION Guide and where names and IP

Addresses are used, they will be different for each environment. This serves as an

example and demonstration of how to configure a new vSphere4 ESX4.1 server correctly

and connect it to the PowerVault SAN. The screenshots displayed in this whitepaper are

for reference only and may vary from site specific implementations.

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 9

ESTABLISHING SESSIONS TO A SAN

Before continuing the examples, we first must discuss how VMware ESX4.1 establishes

its connection to the SAN utilizing the vSphere4 iSCSI Software Adapter.

With previous versions of ESX, sessions were established using a single NIC path and any

additional NICs were there for failover only. With the improvements to vSphere4 and

MPIO, administrators can now take advantage of multiple paths to the SAN for greater

bandwidth and performance. This does require some additional configuration which is

discussed in detail in the sections below.

VMware uses VMkernel ports as the session initiators. Each VMkernel is bound to a

separate physical adapter. Depending on the environment this can create a single

session to an array or up to eight sessions (ESX4.1 maximum number of connections per

volume). For a typical deployment, it is recommended to use a one-to-one (1:1) ratio of

VMkernels to physical network cards. As shown in Figure 2 below, this means if there

are four physical NICs, you would establish one VMkernel per physical NIC and associate

a separate NIC with each VMkernel port.

This scheme can be expanded depending on the number of NICs you have in the system.

As the environment grows, you can establish multiple sessions to the SAN by

oversubscribing VMkernel ports to actual physical NICs. This establishes multiple

sessions to an array but still utilizes the same physical NICs as the means to get to the

storage. However, VMWare reports issues with oversubscribing VMkernel ports.

Consequently we recommend maintaining a 1:1 port binding.

Once these sessions to the SAN are initiated, the VMware NMP will take care of load

balancing and spreading the I/O across all available paths.

Note: Port binding requires that all target ports of the storage array must reside on

the same broadcast domain as the VMkernel ports because routing is not supported with port

binding. See VMware KB #2017084 here.

Dell PowerVault MD3200i/MD3600i Configuration Guide for VMware ESX4.1 Server Software

June 4, 2012 Page 10

Figure 2: Port Binding

The following assumptions are made for these examples:

1. Running ESX4.1

2. Running latest Dell PowerVault MD3200i firmware

3. More than one Network Interface Card (NIC) set aside for iSCSI traffic.

Andere Handbücher für PowerVault MD3200i Series

Dieses Handbuch passt für folgende Modelle

Andere Dell Server Handbücher

Dell

Dell PowerEdge M915 Kurzanleitung

Dell

Dell E75S001 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge 7150 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge 1750 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell XC6320 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge T20 Betriebsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge 2650 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell DSS 2500 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell External OEMR R710 Kurzanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R330 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell S5000 Series Bedienungs- und Montageanleitung

Dell

Dell S5000 Series Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge UPS 500T Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge 1655MC Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell EMC XC Core XC7525 Handbuch

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R200 Technisches Handbuch

Dell

Dell OptiPlex GX150 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R805 System Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R210 II Betriebsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R230 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R620 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge C6145 Bedienungsanleitung

Dell

Dell PowerEdge R330XL Technisches Handbuch

Dell

Dell PowerVault NX200 Bedienungsanleitung

Beliebte Server Handbücher anderer Marken

HP AlphaServer ES47 Bedienungsanleitung

PowerNAS

PowerNAS CMA Bedienungsanleitung

Supero

Supero FatTwin F617R3-FT Bedienungsanleitung

EtroVISION

EtroVISION EV3151 Bedienungsanleitung

HP ProLiant Gen9 Bedienungsanleitung

Compaq

Compaq ProLiant 3000 Handbuch

iRobo

iRobo IPC2U Bedienungsanleitung

Nortel

Nortel 1000 Con?guration guide Bedienungsanleitung

Asus

Asus AP7500 Bedienungs- und Wartungshandbuch

Avid Technology

Avid Technology AirSpeed 5000 Bedienungsanleitung

HP Integrity rx2600 Installationsanleitung

Milestone

Milestone Husky IVO 350T Bedienungsanleitung

Planet

Planet NAS-7410 Bedienungsanleitung

Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR635 V3 Bedienungsanleitung

Fujitsu

Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX900 Bedienungsanleitung

Asus

Asus RS700DA-E6 PS4 Bedienungsanleitung

Vertiv

Vertiv Avocent ACS6000 Montage- und Wartungsanleitung

A & T Internationale

A & T Internationale Xserve Service-Handbuch