vlab vnx with vmware integration - lab02 data protection with vnx snapshots and clones (1)

Lab Guide

EMC Solutions Group

Abstract

This Lab Guide serves as a guide for a demonstration of some of the features of Data Protection on an EMC VNX. It provides an introduction to VNS Snapshots and clones and a set of lab labs to demonstrate the solution to customers.

September 2012

VNX with VMware Integration – Data Protection with VNX Snapshots and Clones. Lab Guide

2 VNX with VMware Integration- Data Protection with VNX Snaps and Clones

Copyright © 2012 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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Table of contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4

Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Scope ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Terminology ...................................................................................................................................... 4

Technology overview ............................................................................................................................. 5

VNX Snapshots ................................................................................................................................. 5

Lab overview ......................................................................................................................................... 7

Lab environment ............................................................................................................................... 7

Labs .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Lab 1 – Working with VNX Snapshots .................................................................................................... 8

Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Lab ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Connecting to Unisphere .............................................................................................................. 8

Creating VNX Snapshots. .............................................................................................................. 9

Creating a Snapshot Mount Point (SMP) .................................................................................... 14

Presenting the Snapshot to an ESX host. ................................................................................... 16

Presenting the Snapshot to a specific VM. ................................................................................. 19

Viewing Snapshot deletion policies ........................................................................................... 23

Lab 2 – Creating Clones In Unisphere ................................................................................................. 25

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 25

Lab ................................................................................................................................................ 25

Using the Clone Configuration Wizard ....................................................................................... 25

Viewing Clone status ................................................................................................................. 31

Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 33

Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 33

Support.......................................................................................................................................... 33

Customer .................................................................................................................................. 33

References ..................................................................................................................................... 33


Introduction

This guide documents creating clones and snapshots using the wizards. It is also possible to manually create clones and snapshots. The lab guide is based on VNX with VMware Integration.

This Lab Guide provides:

An introduction to the new VNX snapshots released with VNXOE 32

An introduction to creating clones using the Unisphere wizards

Note: Please note this is one of several labs available in VNX with VMware Integration. Please see the Lab Collateral page for other labs.

Table 1 explains lists terminology used for the new VNX Snapshots and SnapView snapshots.

Table 1. VNX Snapshots Terminology and Differences

VNX Snapshot Term SnapView Term Definition

Snapshot Session Point in time copy (PIT)

Attach Activate Make the point in time copy accessible to a host

Detach Deactivate Remove the point in time copy from the host

Unmodified n/a Snapshot that has not been attached-PIT preserved

Modified n/a Snapshot that has ben attached –PIT view possibly changed

Restore Rollback Restore primary LUN to point in time copy

Consistency Group n/a Persistemt grouping of primary LUNs or Mount Points

Primary LUN Source LUN Pool LUN that can be used by VNX Snapshots

Snapshot Mount Point Snapshot (LUN) LUN that hosts use to access the snapshot data

Expiration n/a Process to automatically delete expired snaps

Purpose

Scope

Terminology


Technology overview

A VNX snaphot is a point-in-time copy of a source LUN using redirect on first write (ROW) methodology. This functionality differs significantly from the previous method of copy on first write (COFW). ROW addresses the limitations of COFW, allowing for 256 writable snaps per LUN and snaps-of-snaps makes it ideal for test/dev and disk backup use cases. There is no impact to host I/O response time as the number of snaps per primary increases. In conjunction with AppSync, VNX snapshots are application consistent and can be used to quickly and efficiently provision copies of source data.

Because VNX Snapshots use ROW, no copy of the old production data is needed when new writes are processed. This gives ROW a performance increase over COFW, which must copy the original data before new writes from the application are permitted.

VNX Snapshots allows snapping a snap, which provides point-in-time copies of snapshots that can be written to for such cases and code and application testing. Many of the same use cases still exist with the new snapshot functionality such as snaps for backups without impacting production, VMware VDI/VSI deployments, test/dev, and reporting. Other interoperability with Clones and RecoverPoint allow users to create replicas in pools that are separate from their source data, and then create snaps of the clones or replicas – segregating replica data from source data and even source data array and location.

Table 2 displays the differences between the old Snapview Snapshots and the new VNX snapshots. Note: SnapView Snapshots are still available with this code release.

Table 2. VNX Snapshot and SnapView Differences.

Feature VNX Snapshots SnapView

Snapshot Space Automatic in same pool Reserved LUN Pool

Max Snapshots per source 256 8

Max Snapshots per array 32,768 2048

Snapshots of Snapshots Yes No

Consistent Snapshots Yes Yes

Consistency Groups Yes No

Automatic Snapshot space management

Auto-Delete snapshots & Snapshot expiration

None

Auto Naming Optional No

Source LUN Type Pool LUNs, Consistency Groups and Snapshot Mount Points

All LUNs

Snapshot Description Yes No

VNX Snapshots


Feature VNX Snapshots SnapView

Restore/Rollback Yes Yes


Lab overview

The environment for this lab includes the following

EMC Unisphere

EMC VNX Snapshots

EMC SnapView Clones

VMware vSphere Client

There are 3 pre-configured LUNs that will be used during this lab. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1. Pre-configured LUNs for Data Protection

This lab includes the following labs:

Lab 1: Working with VNX Snapshots

Creating vnx snapshots.

Creating a Snapshot Mount Point (SMP).

Presenting the Snapshot to an ESX host.

Presenting the Snapshot to a specific VM.

Lab 2: Creating Clones in Unisphere

Using the Clone Configuration Wizard

Lab environment

Labs


Lab 1 – Working with VNX Snapshots

In this lab you will create a VNX snapshot and a Snapshot Mount Point (SMP) and present the snapshot to a virtual machine. You will also view details and options for Snapshots.

Connecting to Unisphere

1. Double click Internet Explorer on the desktop of the launchpad server. This will automatically connect to Unisphere. (See Figure 2Figure 1)

Figure 2. Opening Internet Explorer

2. Log into Unisphere with the following credentials:

Name: sysadmin

Password: sysadmin

Leave Scope set to Global and click Login. (See Figure 3)

Figure 3. Logging Into Unisphere

3. Click VNX-Block under Systems by Severity. (See Figure 4)

Overview

Lab


Figure 4. Connecting to a specific array.

Creating VNX Snapshots.

1. Click Data Protection from the menu bar and under VNX-Block > Data Protection click Snapshots. (See Figure 5)

This will open the location of where you can see all snapshots created. Right now there are no snapshots so Unipshere gives you a message with details on how to create a snapshot. (See Figure 6). Notice that creating VNX snapshots is much easier and quicker now than creating SnapView Snapshots.

Figure 5. Navigating to Snapshots

Click OK to close this message. (See Figure 6)


Figure 6. No snapshots created message.

2. You will now create a VNX snapshot of a pre-configured source LUN. Click Storage in the menu and select LUNs from the list. (See Figure 7

Figure 7. Navigating to LUNs

3. Right click Source_Snap_LUN and select Snapshot > Create Snapshot. (See Figure 8)


Figure 8. Creating a Snapshot of a LUN

4. Provide a name and description for the Snapshot. (See Figure 10)

Figure 9. Creating a Snapshot

5. Click Show Advanced (See Figure 9) to view other options for this Snapshot. These are the default settings. (See Figure 10). For more details on the field options click Help.

Click OK to create the Snapshot.


Figure 10. Advanced options for Snapshots

6. You will see a message confirming the Snapshot has been taken successfully.Click OK to this message. (See Figure 11)

Figure 11. Confirmation that Snapshot was created successfully.

7. You are now back in LUNs where you can view this new Snapshot. To do this right click Source_Snap_LUN and select Properties. (See Figure 12).


Figure 12. Viewing properties of a LUN

8. Click the Snapshots tab to view details.(See Figure 13). Here you can see the name of the Snapshot you just created, the time, other options specified when creating it. Scroll across to see more details.

Figure 13. Viewing Snapshot details


Creating a Snapshot Mount Point (SMP)

Right now this Snapshot is not accessible to any hosts. To make a Snapshot accessible to a host a Snapshot Mount Point (SMP) must be created. An SMP is the mechanism that attaches the VNX Snapshot to the host. Hosts cannot attach to the Snapshot unless the SMP is created and added to the host’s storage group on the VNX. Once attached, the SMP appear and can be acted upon as a regular LUN.

9. Under Snapshot Mount Points click Create. (See Figure 14)

Figure 14. Creating a Snapshot Mount Point

10. Give the SMP a name and under Storage Group (optional) click vLab Cluster. Here you are adding the Snapshot to a specific storage group which will allow any hosts in that storage group to access the Snapshot. (See Figure 15)

Click OK.


Figure 15. Configuring the Snapshot Mount Point

11. Once the SMP has been created you will see a confirmation message. Click OK to close this message. (See Figure 16)

Figure 16. Confirmation that SMP was created successfully and added to a Storage Group

12. You will now see all the Snapshot details on the LUN properties. Under Snapshot Mount Points you can see details of what ESX host this snapshot is now accessible to and also the corresponding Host LUN ID for this snapshot. (See Figure 17) .

The Host LUN ID is important to note when you want to present the snapshot to a specific virtual machine. It is this ID you use to differentiate between LUNs accessible to an ESX host.

For this lab note the following:

SMP is attached to esx01.vlab.local

Host LUN ID is 4 (This may vary in your lab)

Click OK to close LUN properties.


Figure 17. Lun Properties

Presenting the Snapshot to an ESX host.

1. Minimise all Internet Explorer windows. (See Figure 18)

Figure 18. Minimising Internet Explorer

2. Double click VMware vSphere Client on the desktop. The client will automatically log in to vCenter. (See Figure 19)

Figure 19. Opening vSphere


In step 12 in the previous lab you noted the Snapshot was presented to esx01.vlab.local.

3. From vCenter click esx01.vlab.local. (The datacenter and cluster should have expanded automatically, if not expand VC01.vlab.local > vLab Production > vLab Cluster) (See Figure 20)

Figure 20. Selecting the ESX host

4. In the right pane click Configuration. Under Hardware click Storage Adapters. (See Figure 21)

Figure 21. Viewing Storage Adapters

5. If you do not see the LUN information in the Details pane, close the Recent Tasks pane by click the X. (See Figure 22)


Figure 22. Minimising Recent Tasks

6. In the Details pane you should now see a list of devices. Figure 23 shows the Snapshot Mount Point highlighted. You know this is the SMP as you can see the LUN ID of 4 in the View pane.


Figure 23. Viewing LUNs accessible to the ESX host.

Note: If you do not see the LUN in Step 6, click Rescan All as per Figure 24

Figure 24. Rescanning for new devices

Presenting the Snapshot to a specific VM.

7. In the vCenter cluster in the left pane, right click the virtual machine called NFS-SIOC and select Edit Settings. (See Figure 25)


Figure 25. Edit settings of a VM.

8. Click add to launch the wizard to modify the VM harware configuration. (See Figure 26)

Figure 26. Launching hardware wizard.

9. Click Hard Disk and click Next. (See Figure 27 )

Figure 27. Adding a Hard Disk

10. Select Raw Device Mappings (RDM) and click Next. (See Figure 28 )


Figure 28. Selecting the type of disk to use.

11. Here you will see the devices available to present to VMs. (See Figure 29. In this lab there may be only 1 device. Here is where you use the LUN number to determine which is the correct device to add. In this case we know our SMP was added with LUN ID 4. (This may vary in your lab)

Click your LUN and click Next 4 times accepting all default settings.

Figure 29. Selecting the LUN to add to the VM.

12. Click Finish to complete adding the RDM to the VM. (See Figure 30)


Figure 30. Complete adding the RDM to the VM.

13. You will then see the RDM in the list of hardware on this host. (See Figure 31

Click OK to close the VM properties.

Figure 31. Confirming RDM is added.

Now the VNX Snapshot you created is accessible on this virtual machine.


Viewing Snapshot deletion policies

1. Click Storage and select Storage Pools. (See Figure 32)

Figure 32. Selecting Storage Pools

2. Right click Pool 0 –FAST Cache Enabled and select Properties. (See Figure 33 )

Figure 33. Selecting Properties of a Storage Pool

3. Click Advanced to view deletion policies for Snapshots in this pool. (See Figure 34.) Here you can specify how the pool will delete Snapshots based on the capacity available within the pool. Click Help for more detailed information on these options.


Figure 34. Advanced settings for a Storage Pool.

That completes Lab 1: Working with VNX Snapshots


Lab 2 – Creating Clones In Unisphere

A clone is a complete copy of a source LUN. You specify a source LUN when you create a clone group. The copy of the source LUN begins when you add a clone LUN to the clone group. The software assigns each clone a clone ID. This ID remains with the clone until you remove the clone from its group.

While the clone is part of the clone group and unfractured, any production write requests made to the source LUN are simultaneously copied to the clone. Once the clone contains the desired data, you can fracture the clone. Fracturing the clone separates it from its source LUN, after which you can make it available to a secondary server.

Clone private LUNs track areas on the source and clone that have changed since the clone was fractured. A log records information that identifies data chunks on the source LUN and clone LUN that have been modified after you fractured the clone. A modified (changed) data chunk is a chunk of data that a production or secondary server changes by writing to the source LUN or clone. A log in the clone private LUN records this information, but no actual data is written to the clone private LUN. This log reduces the time it takes to synchronize or reverse synchronize a clone and its source LUN since the software copies only modified chunks.

In this lab you will create a clone using pre-configured LUN presented to an ESX host. Here you will use a Unisphere wizard to configure the clone. The SnapView Clone Configuration Wizard creates clone groups, and adds a clone to a clone group.

Using the Clone Wizard simplifies and speeds up the process of creating clones.

Using the Clone Configuration Wizard

1. Click Data Protection from the main menu. Here you will see Clones and in the right pane you will see a list of Wizards. (See Figure 35)

Click Clone Wizard.

Figure 35. Data Protection - Clones

2. When the wizard opens you can see a list of the steps the wizard will go through. Click Next. (See Figure 36 )

Overview

Lab

http://192.168.0.30/help/en_US/integrated/eligible_clone_source_luns.htm#reference736


Figure 36. Clone Configuration Wizard

3. Click esx01.vLab.local and click Next. (See Figure 37)

Figure 37. Selecting a Production Server

4. Click Next. (See Figure 38)


Figure 38. Selecting Storage System

5. Expand Storage Groups > vLab Cluster and select Source_Clone_LUN and click Add. (See Figure 39 ).

Once you see the LUN under Selected LUNs click Next.


Figure 39. Selecting the source LUNs

6. Here you can use the default name or specify your own name for the clone LUN. This lab guide is using Demo Clone LUN. (See Figure 40

Click Next.

Figure 40. Selecting Clone LUN Names.

7. Click Next to continue (See Figure 41)


Figure 41. Storage Pool Configuration

8. Here you can assign the clone LUN to server. Select both hosts and click Next. (This step is dependent on both hosts being added to the storage group vLab Cluster) (See Figure 42)

Figure 42. Assign Clone to a Server


9. Click Yes to the warning. (See Figure 43)

Figure 43. Click Yes

10. Click Yes to the Warning. (As this is a demo lab there are no other available hosts or clusters) (See Figure 44)

Figure 44.

11. On the Summary page you will see a list of the options you selecting during the configuration. (See Figure 45

Click Finish to create the clone.

Figure 45. Summary


12. Once the clone has been successfully created you will see the results of all steps.

Click Finish to exit the wizard. (See Figure 46)

Figure 46. Results of the Clone Configuration Wizard

Viewing Clone status

13. To view the status of the clone you just created click Clones under VNX-Block > Data Protection. (See Figure 47)

Figure 47. Viewing Clones

14. Expand Source_Clone_LUN and you will see the Demo Lone LUN and details on it.

The State shows as Synchronized and condition shows as Normal. (See Figure 48 ). Wait until the state changes from Synchronizing to Synchronized.

Click to refresh the status.

Synchronized means the Demo Clone LUN is an exact replica of the Primary LUN.


When the condition is Normal it means updates to the source LUN will be updated on the Demo Clone LUN. To create a point in time copy the clone should be fractured.

Figure 48. Clone Sources and Clones

15. To fracture the clone, right click Demo Clone LUN and select Fracture. (See Figure 49)

Figure 49. Fracturing a clone

This clone is now available on esx02.vlab.local.

That completes Lab 2: Creating clones in Unisphere


Conclusion

A recap of the tasks completed during the lab – that is, what the use has learned during the lab.

During this demonstration, you completed the following labs:

Created a VNX snapshot

Created a VNX Snapshot Mount Point

Presented a VNX Snapshot to an ESX host and presented it as an RDM to a VM on the ESX host

Created a clone of a LUN using the Unisphere Clone Configuration Wizard.

Customer

For any issues or feedback, or for further information about EMC products, solutions, and demonstrations, contact your EMC representative.

For additional labs related to Data Protection on a VNX see the following:

EMC Replication Manager and ItemPoint with Exchange 2010 on VNX

EMC Replication Manager with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 on VNX

These labs include data protection with application consistency on an EMC VNX storage array.

That completes the demonstration of Data Protection with VNX Snapshot and Clones.

Thank You

Summary

Support

References

vlab vnx with vmware integration - lab02 data protection with vnx snapshots and clones (1)

Documents

emc vnx

vnx snapshots

lab overview

emc software

lab environment

lab guide emc solutions

emc corporation trademarks

set of lab labs