huawei unified storage system and vmware vsphere 5 · pdf filehuawei unified storage system...

Huawei Unified Storage System and VMware vSphere 5.0 Best Practice


Ver 1.0 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd

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Catalogue

1 Summary 2

2 VMware vSphere 5.0 3

3 Huawei Unified Storage System 4

3.1 Feature 1 --- Unification 4

3.2 Feature 2 --- Scalability and Reliability 5

3.3 Feature 3 --- Economy and Efficiency 5

4 VMware Native Multipathing Configurations 6

4.1 VMware Native Multipathing Policies 6

4.1.1 Most Recently Used 6

4.1.2 Fixed 7

4.1.3 Round Robin 7

4.2 Command for checking Multipathing policies in ESXi 5.0 7

4.3 Storage Paths Status Information in ESXi 5.0 8

4.3.1 Active 8

4.3.2 Standby 8

4.3.3 Disabled 8

4.3.4 Dead 8

4.4 Command for Viewing Storage Paths Status in ESXi 5.0 8

5 Using ESXi 5.0 with iSCSI Adapters on Huawei Unified Storage System 10

5.1 Configure iSCSI Adapters for ESXi 5.0 10

5.2 Configure iSCSI Adapters for Huawei Unified Storage System 18

5.3 Configure Datastores for VMware ESXi 5.0 21

5.4 Configure Jumbo Frame for ESXi 5.0 and iSCSI Adapters 26

6 Using ESXi 5.0 with FC Adapters on Huawei Unified Storage System 30

6.1 Configure FC Adapters in ESXi 5.0 30

6.2 Configure FC Adapters on Huawei Unified Storage System 31

6.3 Configure Datastore in VMware ESXi 5.0 34

7 Configure MPIO for Huawei SAN Storage 35

8 Terms and Abbreviations 36



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1 Summary

This technical report reviews the best practices for implementing VMware vSphere 5.0 on

Huawei Unified Storage System, including the brief introduction of VMware vSphere 5.0,

Huawei Unified Storage System, deployment processes of iSCSI and FC SAN Storage, and

multipath policies.

This technical report is just a recommendation for deployments and configurations of

VMware vSphere and Huawei Unified Storage System. Users for this paper should be much

familiar with the deployments and configurations of VMware vSphere 5.0 and Huawei

Unified Storage System.



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2 VMware vSphere 5.0

VMware® vSphere® is the industry-leading virtualization platform for building cloud

infrastructures. VMware vSphere accelerates the shift to cloud computing for existing

datacenters. It also underpins compatible public cloud offerings, paving the way for the

industry’s only hybrid cloud model.

VMware vSphere virtualizes and aggregates the underlying physical hardware resources

across multiple systems and provides pools of virtual resources to the datacenter.

The VMware virtualization Infrustucture is shown as follow.

VMware ESXi 5.0 supports three types of storage configurations including VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) datastores, Network Attached Storage (NAS) datastores, and Raw Device Mappings (RDMs).

VMware ESXi 5.0 supports several types of Storage Array protocols including Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel over Ethernet, iSCSI and NFS, Which are all supported by Huawei Unified Storage System.



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3 Huawei Unified Storage System

Huawei OceanStor T series unified storage system (T series) is a new-generation storage

product for mid-range and high-end storage applications. It boasts integration of block-level

and file-level data storage support for a variety of storage protocols, and GUI-based central

storage management. Delivering leading performance, enhanced efficiency, maximized return

on investment, and all-in-one solutions, and the T series is ideally applicable to scenarios such

as large-database OLTP/OLAP, high-performance computing, digital media, Internet

applications, central storage, backup, disaster recovery, and data migration.

3.1 Feature 1 --- Unification Unified SAN and NAS: Supports SAN and NAS storage protocols, structured and non-

structured data within one storage system.

Unified protocols: Compatible with various storage networks and protocols, including

iSCSI, FC, NFS, CIFS, HTTP, and FTP.

GUI-based central storage management: Provides a graphical user interface for central

management of files and data blocks. The wizards guide users through every

configuration.



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3.2 Feature 2 --- Scalability and Reliability Upgrade: Users can easily upgrade block-level storage to unified storage.

Hot swapping modules: Users can hot-swap controllers, fans, power supplies, I/O

modules, and hard disks without compromising ongoing user services.

Diversified disk types: Supports SAS, NL SAS, SATA, FC and SSD disks, fitting into

various scenarios.

Reliable architecture: Full component redundancy prevents single points of failure. Data

coffer and file system mirror improve system reliability.

Advanced I/O port scalability and flexibility: Supports up to 12 I/O modules with a

maximum of 48 I/O ports. Supported I/O port types include 4 Gbps or 8 Gbps FC, 1

Gbps iSCSI, 10 Gbps iSCSI（TOE）,10Gbps FCoE and 6 Gbps SAS ports

Data protection: Provides seamless integration with Enterprise Vault and NetBackup to

achieve disaster recovery through remote replication.

Application optimization: HostAgent implements application-level fast backup/recovery

and DR verification for mainstream operating systems, such as Oracle, DB2, Exchange

Server, and SQL Server.

3.3 Feature 3 --- Economy and Efficiency Multi-node clustering: Active-active nodes achieve simultaneous operating among nodes

and provide parallel access to data

SmartCache acceleration: Improves performance by using SSD as secondary cache. The

IOPS could be improved multiple times in mixed workload environment.

Automatic thin provisioning: HyperThin supports automatic capacity expansion for

improved disk utilization so that customers can buy storage devices on demand, reducing

the total cost of ownership

DST: Dynamic storage tiering (DST) implements transparent bidirectional dynamic data

migration between various storage media based on file access frequency or a time policy.

It maximizes return on investment

File-based deduplication: Detects duplicate data by Hash fingerprints and exploits the

data storage space

Proactive remote service: The up-to-date Cloud Service provides functions of system

health check, warning, and alarm notification. The robust troubleshooting expert

background minimizes adverse impacts on a system and slashes system downtimes



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4 VMware Native Multipathing Configurations

To maintain a constant connection between a host and its storage systems, ESXi supports

multipathing policies. Multipathing is a technique that lets users use more than one physical

path that transfers data between the host and an external storage device.

In addition to path failover, multipathing also provides load balancing. Load balancing is the

process of distributing I/O loads across multiple physical paths. Load balancing reduces or

removes potential bottlenecks.

The VMkernel multipathing plug-in that ESXi provides by default is the VMware Native

Multipathing Plug-In (NMP). The NMP is an extensible module that manages sub plug-ins.

There are two types of NMP sub plugins, including Storage Array Type Plug-Ins (SATPs) and

Path Selection Plug-Ins (PSPs). SATPs and PSPs can be built-in and provided by VMware, or

can be provided by a third party.

4.1 VMware Native Multipathing Policies VMware ESXi 5.0 supports three native multipathing policies, including Most Recently

Used (MRU), Fixed (Fixed) and Round Robin (RR). These multipathing policies apply to

VMware's Native Multipathing Path Selection Plugins.

The detailed information about those multipathing policies shows as following.

4.1.1 Most Recently Used

The Most Recently Used Policy (MRU) selects the first working path, discovered at system

boot time. If this path becomes unavailable, the ESX/ESXi host switches to an alternative

path and continues to use the new path while it is available. This is the default policy for

Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs) presented from an Active/Passive array. ESX/ESXi does not

return to the previous path when if, or when, it returns; it remains on the working path until it

fails for any reason. MRU is the default policy for most active-passive storage devices.

The default PSP for Most Recently Used Policy is VMW_PSP_MRU.



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4.1.2 Fixed

The Fixed Policy uses the designated preferred path flag, if it has been configured. Otherwise,

it uses the first working path discovered at system boot time. If the ESX/ESXi host cannot use

the preferred path or it becomes unavailable, ESX/ESXi selects an alternative available path.

The host automatically returns to the previously-defined preferred path as soon as it becomes

available again. This is the default policy for LUNs presented from an Active/Active storage

array.

The default PSP for Fixed Policy is VMW_PSP_FIXED.

4.1.3 Round Robin

The Round Robin Policy (RR) Polisy uses an automatic path selection rotating through all

available paths, enabling the distribution of load across the configured paths.

For Active/Passive storage arrays, only the paths to the active controller will used in the

Round Robin policy.

For Active/Active storage arrays, all paths will used in the Round Robin policy.

The default PSP for Round Robin Policy is VMW_PSP_RR.

4.2 Command for checking Multipathing policies in ESXi 5.0 Users could connect to ESXi 5.0 host through SSH tools, and use the following command to

check VMware detailed native multipathing policies.

~ # esxcli storage nmp satp list

Name Default PSP Description

----------------------- --------------------- -----------------------------------------

VMW_SATP_MSA VMW_PSP_MRU Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_ALUA VMW_PSP_MRU Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_DEFAULT_AP VMW_PSP_MRU Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_SVC VMW_PSP_FIXED Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_EQL VMW_PSP_FIXED Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_INV VMW_PSP_FIXED Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_EVA VMW_PSP_FIXED Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_ALUA_CX VMW_PSP_FIXED Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_SYMM VMW_PSP_FIXED Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_CX VMW_PSP_MRU Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_LSI VMW_PSP_MRU Placeholder (plugin not loaded)

VMW_SATP_DEFAULT_AA VMW_PSP_FIXED Supports non-specific A-A arrays

Fixed

Round

Robin



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VMW_SATP_LOCAL VMW_PSP_FIXED Supports direct attached devices

4.3 Storage Paths Status Information in ESXi 5.0 The path information includes the SATP assigned to manage the device, the path selection

policy (PSP), a list of paths, and the status of each path. The following path status information

can appear:

4.3.1 Active

Active Status mean thes paths are available for issuing I/O to a LUN. A single or multiple

working paths currently used for transferring data are marked as Active (I/O).

NOTE For hosts that run ESX/ESXi version 3.5 or earlier, the term active means the only path

that the host is using to issue I/O to a LUN.

4.3.2 Standby

If active paths fail, the path can quickly become operational and can be used for I/O.

4.3.3 Disabled

The path is disabled and no data can be transferred.

4.3.4 Dead

The software cannot connect to the disk through this path.

If using the fixed path policy, users can see which path is the preferred path. The preferred path is marked with an asterisk (*) in the Preferred column.

4.4 Command for Viewing Storage Paths Status in ESXi 5.0 Users can use the following command to view the path information on the ESXi host.

~ # esxcli storage nmp path list

fc.2000707be87b8fc8:2100707be87b8fc8-fc.ffffffffffffffff:20090022a10add2c-naa.60022a11000add2c000139d000000006

Runtime Name: vmhba4:C0:T0:L0

Device: naa.60022a11000add2c000139d000000006

Device Display Name: HUASY Fibre Channel Disk (naa.60022a11000add2c000139d000000006)

Group State: dead

Array Priority: 0



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Storage Array Type Path Config: UNINIT, AVT OFF, PATH READY, SINGLE ACTIVE, SAN FAILOVER

Path Selection Policy Path Config: PSP VMW_PSP_RR does not support path configuration.

fc.2000707be87b8fc8:2100707be87b8fc8-fc.ffffffffffffffff:20090022a10add2c-naa.60022a11000add2c00013a0200000007

Runtime Name: vmhba4:C0:T0:L1

Device: naa.60022a11000add2c00013a0200000007

Device Display Name: HUASY Fibre Channel Disk (naa.60022a11000add2c00013a0200000007)

Group State: dead

Array Priority: 0

Storage Array Type Path Config: UNINIT, AVT OFF,PATH READY,SINGLE ACTIVE,SAN FAILOVER

Path Selection Policy Path Config: PSP VMW_PSP_RR does not support path configuration.



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5 Using ESXi 5.0 with iSCSI Adapters on Huawei Unified Storage System

This section describes how to configure iSCSI Adpaters and Huawei Unified Storage System

in VMware vSphere 5.0.

5.1 Configure iSCSI Adapters for ESXi 5.0 The following steps show how to configure iSCSI Adapters properties in VMware ESXi5.0.

Step 1.Log into VMware vSphere Center using vSphere Client.

Step 2.In the left inventory of vSphere Client, select ESXi host that will use iSCSI SAN

Storage System, then click configuration tab in the right plane.



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Step 3.Click Network Adapters item in the Hardware window, and then the network adapters’

information will be visible in the right plane. Check the network adapter used for iSCSI SAN

Storage if they are online.

Step 4.Click Networking item in the Hardware window, check if the network adapters used

for iSCSI SAN Storage are listed in the right plane.

If not, follow the next steps to add these network adapters used for iSCSI SAN Storage.

Step 4-1.Click the Add Networking button in the right plane.



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Step 4-2.In the Connection Type Page of Add Network Wizard window, select VMkernel, and

then click Next button.

Step 4-3.In the VMkernel-Network Access page, select Create a vSphere standard switch,

then choose the Network adapters and related port used for iSCSI SAN Storage, then click

Next button.



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Step 4-4.In the VMkernel-Connection Settings page, in the right plane, set a name for

Network Label, 10GE_iSCSI_A1, for instance. Then click Next button.

If this port is used for vMotion, select the Use this port group for vMotion item; If this port is

used for fault tolerance logging, select the Use this port group for Fault Tolerance Logging

item; If this port is used for management traffic, select the Use this port group for

Management Traffic.



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Step 4-5.In the VMkernel-IP Connection Settings page, choose Use the following IP settings

and input IP Address and Sub Mask, then click Next button.

Step 4-6.In the Ready to complete page, click Finish button to finish adding this network port

for iSCSI SAN Storage;



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Step-4-7.Repeat all these steps above until finished adding all port used for iSCSI SAN

Storage, then in the right plane, all the network adapters used for iSCSI SAN Storage are

listed clearly.

Step 5.Click Storage Adapters item in the Hardware window, the storage adapters’

information will be visible in the right plane. By default, the iSCSI and FCoE storage adapters

are not visible;

Step 6.Click the Add button in the right plane to add iSCSI or FCoE storage adapters. In the

Add Storage Adapter dialog, select Add Software iSCSI Adapter, then click OK button, and

click OK again in the Software iSCSI Adapter dialog.



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When finished adding iSCSI storage adapter, there will be a new iSCSI software adapter in

the right plane.

Step 7.Select iSCSI Software Adapter, then click Properties button in Details window;



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Step 8.In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog, select the Dynamic Discovery tab, and then

click Add button.

Step 9.In the Add Send Target Server dialog, input the iSCSI Server IP, and then click OK

button. In this step, the iSCSI Server IP means the IP address of iSCSI adapters of Storage

iSCSI Adaptor.

Step 10.Repeat the target server adding steps until all target servers are added completely.

Then back to the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog, all the target servers will be visible in the

list.



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Step 11.Click Close button, vSphere Client will send a notice to rescan the adapter, click the

No button.

5.2 Configure iSCSI Adapters for Huawei Unified Storage System

The following steps show the detailed configurations steps of iSCSI Adpaters on Huawei

Unified Storage System, including iSCSI Adapters’ IP Addresses and iSCSI initiators.

Step 1.log into the Huawei Unified Storage Integrated Storage Manager (OceanStor ISM).

Step 2.In the Discover Device dialog, input the Username, Password, choose Device Type

and input the IP Address, then click OK.

Step 3.Navigate to Device Info, Storage Unit, and Ports in the left plane, click iSCSI Host

Ports in the right plane. In the right plane, all iSCSI Host Ports will be visible in the list.



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Step 4.Select the ports connected to ESXi host iSCSI Storage adaptor, click IP Address button,

and select Modify IPv4 Address option. Input IP Address and Subnet Mask, then click OK

button.

Repeat above steps, until all needed iSCSI Host Ports are configured with IP Address and

Subnet Mask. When finished configuring the IP Addresses, the iSCSI Host Adapters’

Addresses show as follows.



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Step 5.When finished configuring the iSCSI adapters, navigate to SAN Services, Mapping,

and get to Initiators in the left plane of OceanStor ISM, and then check if the iSCSI initiator is

in the list in the right plane.

Step 6.Find the iSCSI Initiator from ESXi 5.0 host, and click Add to Host button, then select

the right ESXi 5.0 Server and click OK button to finish add iSCSI initiator to ESXi host.



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5.3 Configure Datastores for VMware ESXi 5.0 This section will describe how to configure datastores in the VMware ESXi 5.0 using

VMware vSphere Client.

Step 1.Log into VMware vCenter using vSphere Client, select the ESXi using iSCSI SAN

Storage in the left plane, and click configuration tab in the right plane. Navigate to Hardware

Window, click Storage Adapters, choose iSCSI Software Adapter, and then click Rescan all in

the right plane.

Step 2.In the Rescan dialog, select both Scan for New Storage Devices and Scan for VMFS

Volumes, click OK.

Step 3.When finished scanning the Storage Devices, there would be new devices visible in

the list showing as follow if some LUNS were mapped to this ESXi 5.0 host. In the list,



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detailed information such as LUN name, Operational State, LUN ID, Type, Drive Type,

Transport, Capacity, Owner and Hardware Acceleration information will be visible.

Step 4.Click Storage in Hardware window, click Add Storage button in the right plane. In the

Select Storage Type page of Add Storage dialog, select Disk/LUN option, then click Next

button.

Step 5.In the Select Disk/LUN page, choose the LUN for creating VMFS file system, click

Next button.



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Step 6.In the File System Version page, choose VMFS-5 or VMFS-3, and then click Next

button. By default, it is strongly recommended to choose VMFS-5 in ESXi 5.0 which supports

larger maximum LUN size than VMFS-3 file system.

Step 7.In the Current Disk Layout page, click Next button.



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Step 8.In the Properties page, input a Datastore Name, ESXi5.0_iSCSI_LUN_A, for instance,

and then click Next button.

Step 9.In the Disk/LUN- Formatting page, set the Capacity, and the click Next button.



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Step 10.In the Ready to complete page, check the information of LUN Device, then click

Finish button, finish the Add Storage process.

Step 11.When finished the Add Storage process, the newly added storage devices would be

visible in the Datastore list.



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And in the Datastore details, all information about the newly added storage devices would be

visible, including Datastore name, location, capacity, hardware acceleration, path selection,

LUN format, etc.

5.4 Configure Jumbo Frame for ESXi 5.0 and iSCSI Adapters

For bandwidth-oriented applications, it is recommended to increase the jumbo frame for

iSCSI Adapters. The process for changing jumbo frame in ESXi iSCSI Adpaters is shown as

follow.

The following steps show how to configure FC Adaptersin VMware ESXi5.0.

Step 1.Log into VMware vCenter using VMware vSphere Client.

Step 2.In the left plane of vSphere Client, select ESXi host that will use iSCSI SAN Storage

System, then click configuration tab in the right plane;



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Step 3.Click Networking item in Hardware window, and navigate to vSwitchs in the right

plane.

Step 4.Click Properties button of Standard Switch in the right plane.

Step 5.Select iSCSI Network Adapter, click Edit button.



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Step 6.In the iSCSI Network Adapter Properties dialog, the MTU in the NIC Settings is 1500

by default, Change it to 9000, and then click OK button.

Step 7.Back to vSwitch Properties dialog, select vSwitch item, then click Edit button.

Step 8.In the vSwitch Properties dialog, the MTU is 1500 by default, change it to 9000 and

the click OK button.

Repeat steps above until all iSCSI Adapters and vSwitches’ MTU are changed crectly.



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Step 9.Log into Huawei Integrated Management Software, navigate to Device, Storage Unit,

and Ports in the left plane, and select iSCSI Host Ports in the right plane, then click Modify

button.

Step 10.In the Modify iSCSI Port dialog, the MTU by default is 1500, change it to 9000, then

click OK button.

Step 11.Repeat all steps above until all iSCSI Adapter MTU of ESXi and ISCSI adapters of

SAN Storage System are changed.



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6 Using ESXi 5.0 with FC Adapters on Huawei Unified Storage System

This section describes how to configure FC Adpaters in VMware ESXi 5.0 and Huawei

Unified Storage System.

6.1 Configure FC Adapters in ESXi 5.0 The following steps show how to configure FC Adaptersin VMware ESXi5.0.

Step 1.Log into VMware vCenter using VMware vSphere Client.

Step 2.In the left plane of vSphere Client, select ESXi host that will use FC SAN Storage

System, then click configuration tab in the right plane;



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Step 3.Click Storage Adapters item, check the FC Adapters information in the right plane.

6.2 Configure FC Adapters on Huawei Unified Storage System

The following steps show the detailed configuration steps of FC Adpaters on Huawei Unified

Storage System.

Step 1.Log into the Huawei Unified Storage Integrated Storage Manager (OceanStor ISM).

Step 2.In the Discover Device dialog, input the Username, Password, choose Device Type

and input the IP Address, then click OK.

Step 3.Navigate to SAN Services, Mapping Initiators in the left plane of OceanStor ISM, and

then check the FC status in the right plane.



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Step 4.Select FC Adapters used for connection toESXi 5.0.

Step 5.Click Add to Host button, select ESXi host, choose failover mode, and then click OK.

For Huawei unified storage systems, if the failover mode is not ALUA, please change it to

ALUA.



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Step 7.When finished adding FC initiators to host, the FC initiators would show as follow in

OceanStor ISM.



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6.3 Configure Datastore in VMware ESXi 5.0 The steps for configuring datastores in VMware ESXi 5.0 using FC Storage System is the

same as using iSCSI Storage System.



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7 Configure MPIO for Huawei SAN Storage

VMware ESXi 5.0 sets Most Recently Used (MRU) as default multipathing policy with a

SATP of VMW_SATP_DEFAULT_AA. For better performance, it is recommended to change

the default multipathing policy to Round Robin (RR) with the SATP of VMW_SATP_ALUA.

This section shows the steps to change default multipathing policy in VMware vSphere 5.0.

Step 1.Log into ESXi host as root.

Step 2.Use the following command to set VMware multipathing policies, and reboot system.

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp=VMW_SATP_ALUA --

vendor="HUAWEI" --description "HUAWEI SAN Storage"

esxcli storage nmp satp set --default-psp=VMW_PSP_RR --

satp VMW_SATP_ALUA

reboot

Step 3. After reboot, use the following command to set VMware load balance policy.

for lun in `esxcli storage nmp device list | grep HUAWEI |

sed 's/^.*(//g' | sed 's/)//g'`; do

esxcli storage nmp psp roundrobin deviceconfig set --

device $lun --type=iops --iops=1 --bytes=1048576

esxcli storage nmp psp roundrobin deviceconfig get --

device $lun

done



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8 Terms and Abbreviations

CIFS

ESXi

Common Internet File System

VMware Hypervisor

DST Dynamic storage tiering

FC Fibre Channel

FCoE Fibre Channel over Ethernet

iSCSI SCSI over IP

IOPS Input Output per Second

ISM Integrated Management Software of Huawei Unified Storage System

MRU Most Recently Used

NAS Network Attached Storage

NFS Network File System

NMP Native Multipathing Plug-In

OLAP On Line Analytical Processing

OLTP Online Transaction Processing

RDM Raw Device Mapping

PSP Path Selection Plug-Ins

RR Round Robin

SAN Storage Area Network

SATP Storage Array Type Plug-Ins

SSD Solid State Disk

TOE TCP/IP Offload Engine

VMFS Virtual Machine File System

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