VM /ETC

Posts Tagged ‘netapp’

I received notice that NetApp will be hosting an on-line community event focused on VDI this week. This post is just a quick attempt to encourage all VM /ETC readers to check it out. From what I have seen so far NetApp is providing access to VDI tools, documents, and support that would normally only be available through a NetApp NOW account available only to customers and partners.

It looks like NetApp may be experimenting with establishing a public community similar to VMware’s VMTN Communities or VMworld.com, and I am excited to see it!

The rest of this post is a copy of the email invitation I received explaining the event. Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Triantos of NetApp has posted some preview vSphere vStorage integration information about NetApp’s ESX Host Utilities. The next version of Host utilities will be available as a plugin for vCenter and will allow the centralized configuration and monitoring of all managed ESX hosts. The current version 5.0 requires running a acript on each ESX host for installation and utilities configuration. As Nick explains on his Storage Nuts and Bolts Blog:

“Thus far, the Host Utilities, including the current 5.0R2 release needed to be installed at the console of each ESX host. With the 6.0 release this will changes and a single vCenter plugin instance will manage all the ESX hosts in the Datacenter from a centralized management location.It will support both ESX and ESXi implementations as well as all protocols, FC, iSCSI, FCoE, NFS and you will be able to set all the necessary parameters for every ESX host in the cluster regardless of protocol implementation.”

If you’ve implemented NetApp filers for VMware Virtual Infrastructure then you know the importance of the NetApp Host Utilities. You can also recognize the immediate benefit of a centralized distribution and configuration feature. Installing the utilities on all your ESX hosts is not difficult, but it certainly is tedious and time consuming. The monitoring and status information in vCenter is “icing on the cake” for the Vmware admin because currently this information is only available via the NetApp Filer management interface.

Nick provides a video demonstration apparently from the VMware Europe 2009 booth in Cannes, France last week. The video is without sound but does provide some call out text to explain features and provide some narration. The video gets a little too fast for me in spots so I’ve taken some notes and listed them below. Read the rest of this entry »

For my project, 5 TB of raw disk space on a NetApp FAS3020 resulted in roughly 2.5 TB of usable NFS volumes. Sacrificing half the storage as overhead (for both ESX and NetApp) might seem like a big hit to take at first, but when you consider what you are able to do in the remaining useable space it can change your opinion. In my recent experience, after combining the features of Flexclones, VirtualCenter (VC) templates, deduplication, and NFS the remaining 2.5 TB enabled a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) storage solution for over 80 virtual machines (VMs). Your results may vary, but the concepts discussed in this post provide for a scalable and flexible design.

Although this post discusses NetApp, I imagine any NFS filer with similar features could be used in this same fashion. I’m curious for feedback on not only this solution, but the pros and cons of other vendor’s features in a similar scenario.

Here’s a logical diagram illustrating a NFS volume strategy followed by some high level details of each volume. Read the rest of this entry »

The problem surfaced from a ESX 3.5 U2 host fiber connected (FC) to a NetApp filer. An AutoSupport email was generated (NetApp’s filer “phone home” feature) with the following information:

This AutoSupport indicates that there is a configuration issue in the FCP partner path.

Information:
============

[hostname: scsitarget.partnerPath.misconfigured:error]: FCP Partner Path Misconfigured.
[hostname: scsitarget.partnerPath.misconfigured:error]: FCP Partner Path Misconfigured – Host I/O access through a non-primary and non-optimal path was detected.

The AutoSupport email even explained what causes the misconfigured path.

This message occurs when the system detects that host I/O access to logical units (LUNs) is not through a primary path. NetApp clustered storage controllers allow access to LUNs through primary, optimized paths, and secondary, non-optimized paths.  Secondary(non-primary) paths provide access to LUNs through the partner storage controller’s FCP target ports. Under normal operating conditions, a host should not perform I/O to LUNs using a non-primary path. Access through a non-primary path should only occur when a host’s MPIO software detects a failure of all primary paths.

The mystery for me was “what caused a failure of the primary path?“. Believe it or not, Read the rest of this entry »

This will be another live blog session. Look for updates to this post every 15 minutes. I’m curious if any new best practices or insights will be mentioned that compliment the new vNetworking and vStorage pieces of the VMware VDC-OS.

Well, starting the session with the same disclaimer about the forward looking statements confirms my hopes! On the other hand, the forward statements could be new NetApp technologies. Either case would be cool!

A disclaimer before you read my notes: I have limited storage administration experience. Take my notes for what they are and understand the source (me). Help me out if I state something wrong.

This talk will be primarily on the NFS storage protocol. “NFS might be the best kept secret for virtualization”. To support this claim the speaker is talking about areas to consider when comparing storage protocols. Performance, Ease of Management, and High Availability are the main categories to consider. Read the rest of this entry »

No table for press as promised, and the wireless connection is spotty so live blogging will be sketchy. I also forgot my Sprint card, DOH!, so this will probably be a delayed post. I will try to update this post every 10 to 15 minutes if I can.

Paul takes the stage and welcomes everyone. He began by discussing a disclaimer on the screen about the forward looking statements he is about to make. He then begins a time line summary of the achievements of VMware and virtualization. I believe he is setting up the new advances and visions he will be discussing today. Paul states that the sum of the parts are greater than the pieces of the virtual infrastructure solutions today which is the same conclusion I came to yesterday during the Sneak Peek Technical Deep Dive session on the VDC-OS post I posted yesterday.

He has now moved on to discussing the Cloud concepts. This is so far following the outline of the talk we heard yesterday at the opening General Session.

The current slide proclaims a new software platform is required. There is a need to grow the current VI and to a collection of formalized services which will be the Virtual Datacenter OS.

Read the rest of this entry »

This post is a supporting post to the discussion earlier this week sparked by Scott Lowe’s tip on avoiding ESX snapshots when using SAN device snapshots. NetApp’s SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure (SMVI) is discussed as a solution for streamlining the coordination of snapshots between ESX and the SAN. Luckily, Nick Triantos from NetApp joined the discussion on Scott’s blog with some “under the hood” information: Read the rest of this entry »