Dell EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware ESXi Server P/N 300-002-304 REV 52 May 2020 Copyright © 2016-2020 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS-IS.” DELL MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. USE, COPYING, AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANY DELL SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS PUBLICATION REQUIRES AN APPLICABLE SOFTWARE LICENSE. Dell Technologies, Dell, EMC, Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. Published in the USA. Dell EMC Hopkinton, Massachusetts 01748-9103 1-508-435-1000 In North America 1-866-464-7381 www.DellEMC.com 2 Dell EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware ESXi Server CONTENTS PREFACE 7 Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware Infrastructure 9 VMware vSphere...............................................................................................10 vSphere 6.0..........................................................................................10 vSphere 6.5..........................................................................................10 vSphere 6.7.......................................................................................... 10 VMware ESXi Server......................................................................................... 10 VMkernel...............................................................................................11 VMware ESXi Server utilities and functions.......................................... 11 Control interface................................................................................................11 VMware web UI.................................................................................... 12 VMware vSphere Client........................................................................ 12 VMware vSphere Web Client................................................................12 VMware vCenter Server....................................................................... 12 Chapter 2 Connectivity 13 Fibre Channel.................................................................................................... 14 Fabric zoning........................................................................................ 14 iSCSI................................................................................................................. 14 VMware ESXi SW iSCSI....................................................................... 15 Network-attached storage................................................................................ 19 Setting up configuration....................................................................... 19 Chapter 3 Managing Storage and Disk Paths in VMware ESXi Environments 21 ESXi storage architecture and multipathing overview.......................................22 Native multipathing in VMware ESXi 6.x...........................................................24 Major components............................................................................... 24 Claim rules........................................................................................... 24 Path policies.........................................................................................24 Commands...........................................................................................25 Supported storage types......................................................................25 Third-party multipathing in VMware ESXi 6.x................................................... 25 Major Components...............................................................................25 Claim rules........................................................................................... 25 Path policies........................................................................................ 26 PowerPath commands......................................................................... 27 Supported storage types......................................................................27 Chapter 4 Host Connectivity with Dell EMC Products 29 PowerMax/VMAX All Flash...............................................................................30 Dell EMC PowerMax............................................................................ 30 Dell EMC VMAX All Flash..................................................................... 30 PowerMax/VMAX All Flash/VMAX3 - Device types ............................ 31 Local replication services .....................................................................31 Remote Replication Services ...............................................................32 Non-Disruptive Migration services ...................................................... 32 Dell EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMware ESXi Server 3 Contents PowerMax/VMAX All Flash-Storage provisioning ............................... 33 Dell EMC PowerMax/VMAX All Flash/VMAX3 - Director bit settings .... 33 Midrange Storage............................................................................................. 34 ESXi host in the Unity and VNX series environment ............................34 Storage configuration.......................................................................... 40 Features...............................................................................................43 Application considerations................................................................... 46 PowerStore ......................................................................................................52 Fibre Channel HBA configuration......................................................... 52 iSCSI Configuration............................................................................. 54 vStorage API for Array Integration settings......................................... 59 Multipathing software configuration.................................................... 59 Post configuration tasks....................................................................... 61 PowerStore virtualization ....................................................................64 VPLEX.............................................................................................................. 65 Overview..............................................................................................65 Documentation.................................................................................... 65 Prerequisites........................................................................................66 Provisioning and exporting storage...................................................... 66 Storage volumes.................................................................................. 68 System volumes...................................................................................69 Required storage system setup............................................................ 70 Required VMAX series FA bit settings..................................................70 Initiator settings on back-end arrays.....................................................71 Host connectivity..................................................................................71 Exporting virtual volumes to hosts........................................................ 71 Front-end paths................................................................................... 73 Configuring VMware ESXi hosts to recognize VPLEX volumes............ 74 Configuring VMware vSphere cluster to work with VPLEX Metro solution................................................................................................ 74 Configuring VMware vSphere cluster parameters in non-uniform host access deployment...............................................................................75 XtremIO............................................................................................................ 78 Best practices for zoning and subnetting............................................. 78 Recommended configuration values summary..................................... 85 iSCSI Configuration..............................................................................87 Fibre Channel HBA Configuration........................................................ 89 Host parameters settings.....................................................................93 vCenter Server parameter settings......................................................96 vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) Settings............................. 97 Configuring VMware vSphere with XtremIO Storage in a Multiple Storage Array Configuration................................................................ 99 Multipathing Software Configuration................................................. 100 Post configuration steps - Using the XtremIO storage....................... 104 Creating Copies of VMFS Datastores Using XtremIO snapshots......... 112 Out of Space VM Suspend and Notification with Thin Provisioning (TPSTUN)...........................................................................................113 Configuring boot from SAN with XtremIO..........................................