Introduction to vSphere Storage &

VM Management
Day 4

VMware vSphere:
Install, Configure, Manage
Content

• Virtual Storage
• NFS
• iSCSI
• Clone, Template, Snapshot
• vApp
• Content Library
Virtual Storage
Module Lessons
Storage Concepts
iSCSI Storage
NFS Datastores
VMFS Datastores
Virtual SAN Datastores
Virtual Volumes
Storage Concepts
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe VMware vSphere® storage technologies and datastores
• Describe the storage device naming convention
Basic Storage Overview

ESXi
Hosts

Datastore VMFS NFS

Types

File
System

Storage Direct Fibre

Technologies Attached Channel
FCoE iSCSI NAS
Storage Protocol Overview

Boot from vSphere vSphere Raw Device

Storage vSphere HA
SAN vMotion DRS Mapping
Protocol Support
Support Support Support Support

Fibre ● ● ● ● ●
Channel
FCoE ● ● ● ● ●

iSCSI ● ● ● ● ●

NFS ● ● ●

DAS ● ●

Virtual
● ● ●
Volumes

Virtual SAN ● ● ●
About Datastores
A datastore is a logical storage unit
that can use disk space on one
physical device or span several
physical devices.
Datastores are used to hold virtual
machine files, templates, and ISO Host Host
images.
Types of datastores:
• VMFS
• NFS
• Virtual SAN
• Virtual Volumes

Datastore
About VMFS5
VMFS5:
• Allows concurrent access to
shared storage.
• Can be dynamically expanded.
• Uses a 1 MB block size, good
Host Host
for storing large virtual disk
files.
• Uses subblock addressing,
good for storing small files: the
subblock size is 8 KB.
• Provides on-disk, block-level
locking.

VMFS Datastore
About NFS
NFS:
• Is storage shared over the
network at the file system
level
• Supports NFS version 3 and
4.1 over TCP/IP Host Host

NFS Datastore
Virtual SAN Overview
Virtual SAN™ is hypervisor-converged, software-defined storage for
virtual environments.
By clustering host-attached hard disks (HDDs) and/or solid state drives
(SSDs), Virtual SAN creates an aggregated datastore shared by virtual
machines.

Virtual SAN

vSphere

3-64

HDD/Flash/SSD

Virtual SAN Datastore

About Virtual Volumes

Overview

vSphere • Native representation of VMDKs on

Virtual Volumes
SAN/NAS: No LUNs or volume management.

• Works with existing SAN/NAS systems.

PE • A new control path for data operations at the

VM/VMDK level.

• Snapshots, replications, and other operations

at the VM level on external storage.

Replication Snapshots Caching • Automates control of per-VM service levels.

• Protocol endpoint provides standard protocol

Encryption Deduplication access to storage.

• Storage containers can span an entire array.

About Raw Device Mapping
Virtual Disk RDM RDM enables you to
store virtual machine
data directly on a LUN.
The mapping file is
stored on a VMFS
datastore that points to
the raw LUN.

.vmdk Raw
.vmdk
-flat.vmdk -rdm.vmdk LUN

VMFS or NFS VMFS NTFS/ext4

Storage Device Naming Conventions
Storage devices are identified in several ways:
• Runtime name: Uses the convention vmhbaN:C:T:L. This name is not
persistent through reboots.
• Target: Identifies iSCSI target address and port.
• LUN: A unique identifier designated to individual or collections of hard disk
devices. A logical unit is addressed by the SCSI protocol or SAN protocols that
encapsulate SCSI, such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel.
Physical Storage Considerations
You should discuss vSphere storage needs with your storage
administration team, including the following items:
• LUN sizes
• I/O bandwidth
• I/O requests per second that a LUN is capable of
• Disk cache parameters
• Zoning and masking
• Identical LUN presentation to each VMware ESXi™ host
• Active-active or active-passive arrays
• Export properties for NFS datastores
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe VMware vSphere® storage technologies and datastores
• Describe the storage device naming convention
iSCSI Storage
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe uses of IP storage with ESXi
• Describe iSCSI components and addressing
• Configure iSCSI initiators
iSCSI Components
iSCSI Addressing

iSCSI target name:

iqn.1992-08.com.mycompany:stor1-47cf3c25
or
eui.fedcba9876543210
iSCSI alias: stor1
IP address: 192.168.36.101

iSCSI initiator name:

iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:train1-64ad4c29
or
eui.1234567890abcdef
iSCSI alias: train1
IP address: 192.168.36.88
iSCSI Initiators
Setting Up iSCSI Adapters
You set up software or hardware adapters before an ESXi host can work
with a SAN.
Supported iSCSI adapter types (vmhba):
• Software adapter
• Hardware adapter:
• Independent hardware adapter
• Dependent hardware adapter
 ESXi Network Configuration for IP Storage
A VMkernel port must
be created for ESXi to
access software iSCSI.
The same port can be
used to access
NAS/NFS storage.
To optimize your
vSphere networking
setup, separate iSCSI
networks from
NAS/NFS networks:
• Physical separation is
preferred.
• If physical separation is
not possible, use
VLANs.
Creating Datastores and Discovering iSCSI Targets
Based on the environment and
storage needs, you can create
VMFS, NFS, or virtual
datastores as repositories for
virtual machines.
The iSCSI adapter discovers
storage resources on the
network and determines which
ones are available for access. 192.168.36.101:3260
An ESXi host supports the
following discovery methods:
• Static
• Dynamic, also called SendTargets SendTargets
SendTargets Request Response
The SendTargets response
returns the IQN and all
available IP addresses.

iSCSI Target:
192.168.36.101:3260
iSCSI Security: CHAP
iSCSI initiators use
CHAP for authentication
purposes.
By default, CHAP is not
configured.
ESXi supports two types
of CHAP authentication:
• Unidirectional
• Bidirectional

ESXi also supports per-

target CHAP
authentication.
Multipathing with iSCSI Storage
Software or dependent hardware
iSCSI:
• Use multiple NICs.
• Connect each NIC to a separate
VMkernel port.
• Associate VMkernel ports
with the iSCSI initiator.
Independent Hardware iSCSI:
• Use two or more hardware iSCSI
adapters.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe uses of IP storage with ESXi
• Describe iSCSI components and addressing
• Configure iSCSI initiators
NFS Datastores
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe NFS components
• Describe the differences between NFS v3 and NFS v4.1
• Configure and manage NFS datastores
NFS Components

NAS Device or a Directory to Share

Server with Storage with the ESXi Host
over the Network

192.168.81.33

192.168.81.72
ESXi Host with
VMkernel Port
NIC Mapped to
Defined on Virtual
Virtual Switch
Switch
Configuring an NFS Datastore
Create a VMkernel port:
• For better performance and security, separate your NFS network from the
iSCSI network.
Provide the following information:
• NFS version: v3 or v4.1
• Datastore name
• NFS server names or IP addresses
• Folder on the NFS server, for example, /templates and /nfs_share
• Select hosts that will mount the datastore
• Whether to mount the NFS file system read-only
• Authentication parameters
NFS v3 and NFS v4.1
NFS v3:
• ESXi managed multipathing
• AUTH_SYS (root) authentication
• VMware proprietary file locking
• Client-side error tracking
NFS v4.1:
• Native multipathing and session
trunking
• Optional Kerberos authentication
• Built-in file locking
• Server-side error tracking
NFS Version Compatibility with Other vSphere Technologies

NFS v3 NFS v4.1

vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage vMotion Yes Yes

vSphere HA Yes Yes

vSphere Fault Tolerance Yes Yes

vSphere DRS and vSphere DPM Yes Yes

Stateless ESXi and Host Profiles Yes Yes

vSphere Storage DRS and vSphere Storage I/O

Yes No
Control

Site Recovery Manager Yes No

Virtual Volumes Yes No

NFS Datastore Best Practices
Best practices:
• Configure an NFS array to allow only one NFS protocol.
• Use either NFS v3 or NFS v4.1 to mount the same NFS share across all ESXi
hosts.
• Exercise caution when mounting an NFS share. Mounting an NFS share as
NFS v3 on one ESXi host and as NFS v4.1 on another host can lead to data
corruption.

NFS v3 locking is not compatible with NFS v4.1:

• NFS v3 uses proprietary client-side cooperative locking. NFS v4.1 uses server-
side locking.
NFS Datastore Name and Configuration
Viewing IP Storage Information
You can view the details of the VMFS or NFS datastores that you
created.
Unmounting an NFS Datastore
Unmounting an NFS datastore causes the files on the datastore to
become inaccessible to the ESXi host.
Multipathing and NFS 4.1 Storage
One recommended configuration
for NFS version 4.1 multipathing:
• Configure one VMkernel port.
• Use adapters attached to the same NIC NIC
physical switch to configure NIC
teaming.
• Configure the NFS server with
multiple IP addresses: Physical
– IP addresses can be on the same
Switch
subnet.
• To better utilize multiple links,
configure NIC teams with the IP hash
load-balancing policy. vmnic0 vmnic1

ESXi Host
Enabling Session Trunking and Multipathing
Multiple IP addresses are configured for each NFS v4.1 datastore.

192.168.0.203, 192.168.0.204
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe NFS components
• Describe the differences between NFS v3 and NFS v4.1
• Configure and manage NFS datastores
VMFS Datastores
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Create a VMFS datastore
• Increase the size of a VMFS datastore
• Delete a VMFS datastore
Using VMFS Datastores with ESXi Hosts
Use VMFS datastores whenever possible:
• VMFS is optimized for storing and accessing large files.
• A VMFS datastore can have a maximum volume size of 64 TB.

Use RDMs if the following conditions are true of your virtual machine:
• It is taking storage array-level snapshots.
• It is clustered to a physical machine.
• It has large amounts of data that you do not want to convert into a virtual disk.
Creating and Viewing VMFS Datastores
VMFS datastores serve as repositories for virtual machines.
Using the New Datastore wizard, you can create VMFS datastores on
any SCSI-based storage devices that the host discovers, including Fibre
Channel, iSCSI, and local storage devices.
Browsing Datastore Contents
Managing Overcommitted Datastores
A datastore becomes overcommitted when the total provisioned space of
thin-provisioned disks is greater than the size of the datastore.
Actively monitor your datastore capacity:
• Alarms assist through notifications:
– Datastore disk overallocation
– Virtual machine disk usage

• Use reporting to view space usage.

Actively manage your datastore capacity:

• Increase the datastore capacity when necessary.
• Use VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion® to mitigate space usage problems
on a particular datastore.
Increasing the Size of a VMFS Datastore
In general, before making any
changes to your storage
allocation:
• Perform a rescan to ensure that
all hosts see the most current
storage.
• Record the unique identifier.

Increase a VMFS datastore’s

size to give it more space or
possibly to improve
performance.
Ways to dynamically increase
the size of a VMFS datastore:
• Add an extent (LUN).
• Expand the datastore within its
extent.
Deleting or Unmounting a VMFS Datastore
An unmounted datastore
remains intact, but can no
longer be seen from the
hosts that you specify. The
datastore continues to
appear on other hosts,
where it remains mounted.
A deleted datastore is
destroyed and disappears
from all hosts that have
access to it. All virtual
machine files on the
datastore are permanently
removed.
Multipathing Algorithms
Arrays provide various
features. Some offer active- Storage
active storage processors. Array
Others offer active-passive Storage
SP A SP B
storage processors. Processors
0 1 0 1
vSphere offers native path
selection, load-balancing, and
failover mechanisms.
Third-party vendors can Switches
create their own software to
be installed on ESXi hosts.
The third-party software
enables hosts to properly
interact with the storage
arrays. ESXi
Hosts
Configuring Storage Load Balancing
Path selection policies
exist for:
• Scalability:
– Round Robin:
A multipathing
policy that performs
load balancing
across paths
• Availability:
– MRU
– Fixed
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Create a VMFS datastore
• Increase the size of a VMFS datastore
• Delete a VMFS datastore
Virtual SAN Datastores
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Explain the purpose of a VMware Virtual SAN™ datastore
• Describe the architecture and requirements of Virtual SAN configuration
• Describe the steps for configuring Virtual SAN
• Explain how to create and use Virtual SAN storage policies
 About Virtual SAN

Virtual SAN

vSphere

3-64

SSD HD/SSD SSD HD/SSD SSD HD/SSD

Virtual SAN Aggregated Datastore

A single Virtual SAN datastore is created, using storage from multiple

hosts and multiple disks in the cluster.
Virtual SAN Requirements

1 Gb or 10 Gb NIC
Network

Server on
vSphere HCL SAS/SATA: RAID
Controller controller must work in
passthrough or HBA mode.

Cache PCI/SAS/SATA SSD

At least 1
of each
Data PCI/SAS/SATA HD/SSD

• Not every node in a Virtual SAN cluster needs local storage.

• Hosts with no local storage can still use the distributed datastore.
Configuring a Virtual SAN Datastore
A Virtual SAN datastore is configured in a few steps.

Configure Create disk

Enable Virtual
VMkernel groups
SAN on the
network for (manual or
cluster.
Virtual SAN. automatic)
Disk Groups
Virtual SAN disk groups composed of Disk Groups
flash-based devices and magnetic
disks require:
• One flash device:
– Maximum of one flash device per disk
group
• One HD/SSD:
– Supports up to seven devices per disk
group
• Maximum of five disk groups per host
Viewing Cluster Summary
In the VMware vSphere® Web Client, the Summary tab of the Virtual
SAN cluster displays the general Virtual SAN configuration information.
Using Virtual SAN
Capabilities define the capacity, performance, and availability
characteristics of the underlying physical storage. The Virtual SAN
cluster presents these capabilities to vCenter Server, where they can be
consumed by virtual machines.
Requirements outline the needs of a virtual machine.
Virtual machine storage policies specify the virtual machine requirements
so that the virtual machine can be placed appropriately on the Virtual
SAN datastore.

Capabilities VM
Create policies
presented requirements
that contain VM
from Virtual based on
requirements.
SAN. capabilities.
Objects in Virtual SAN Datastores
In a Virtual SAN datastore, files are grouped into four types of objects:
• Namespaces
• Virtual disks
• Snapshots
• Swap files
VMDK
Snapshot VSWP
Virtual Machine Storage Policies
VM Storage Policy • Virtual machine storage
policies are built before VM
Capacity
Availability
deployment to reflect the
Performance requirements of the
application running in the
virtual machine.
• The policy is based on the
Virtual SAN capabilities.
• Select the appropriate
vSphere
policy for the virtual
Virtual SAN Cluster machine based on its
Virtual SAN Datastore requirements.
• Storage objects for the
… virtual machine are then
created that meet the policy
SSD
Hard disks
SSD Hard disks
SSD
Hard disks
requirements.
Configuring Virtual Machine Storage Policies

Mirroring

Storage
Object

Striping
Viewing a Virtual Machine’s Virtual SAN Datastore
The consumption of Virtual SAN storage is based on the virtual
machine’s storage policy.
The virtual machine’s hard
disk view:
• Summarizes the total storage
size and used storage space
• Displays the virtual machine
storage policy
• Shows the location of disk files
on a Virtual SAN datastore
Disk Management (1)
Disk management in vSphere Web Client:
• Easily map the location of magnetic disks and flash-based devices.
• Mark disks and control disk LEDs.
Disk Management (2)
• Light LED on failures:
– When a solid-state disk (SSD) or a magnetic disk (MD) encounters a permanent
error, Virtual SAN automatically turns the disk LED on.
• Turn disk LED on or off:
– User might need to locate a disk, so Virtual SAN supports manually turning an SSD or
MD LED on or off.
• Marking a disk as SSD:
– Some SSDs might not be recognized as SSDs by ESXi.
– Disks can be tagged or untagged as SSDs for cache.
• Marking a disk as HDD:
– Some SSDs or MDs might not be recognized by ESXi as HDDs.
– Disks can be tagged or untagged as HDDs.
– SSDs must be marked as HDDs in order to be used for capacity.
Adding Disks to a Disk Group
Disk groups can be expanded by adding data disks to a node and adding
these disks to a particular disk group.
The vSphere Web Client shows any unclaimed disk in the disk
maintenance window.
Removing Disks from a Disk Group
Individual disks can be removed from a disk group.
Ensure that data is evacuated before the disk is removed. Alternatively,
you may place the host in maintenance mode.
Virtual SAN Cluster Member Maintenance Mode Options
Before you shut down, reboot, or disconnect a host that is a member of a
Virtual SAN cluster, you must place the host in maintenance mode.
When you place a host in maintenance mode, you can select a specific
evacuation mechanism.
When any member node of a Virtual SAN cluster enters maintenance
mode, the cluster capacity is automatically reduced because the member
node no longer contributes storage to the cluster.

Option Action

Moves enough components to ensure operational

Ensure Accessibility
integrity of objects.

Full Data Migration All components are evacuated from the host.

No action is taken, which can result in degraded

No Data Migration
objects.
Removing a Host from a Virtual SAN Cluster
To remove a host that is participating in a Virtual SAN cluster:
1. Place the host in maintenance mode.
2. Delete the disk groups associated with the host.
3. Remove the host from the cluster.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Explain the purpose of a Virtual SAN datastore
• Describe the architecture and requirements of Virtual SAN configuration
• Describe the steps for configuring Virtual SAN
• Explain how to create and use Virtual SAN storage policies
Virtual Volumes
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe the benefits of software-defined storage
• Describe per-virtual machine storage policy management
• Explain how VMDK data operations are offloaded to storage arrays through the
use of VMware vSphere® API for Storage Awareness™
Next-Generation Storage
Next-generation storage is required to meet certain criteria.

Lower cost of storage.

Reduce manual processes

Compute around storage management.
Management Storage/Availability

Network/Security
Handle explosive data growth.

Respond to new data access and

analysis requirements.
Using the Hypervisor to Transform Storage

Automate service-level
agreements through virtual
machine-centric policies.
Replication Snapshots (Policy-Based Control Plane)

Virtual Machine-Level Data

Services
Hypervisor SAN/NAS Object-Based (Virtual Data Services)
Converged Pool Pool Pool

Abstract and Pool

(Virtualized Data Plane)

vSphere

x86 Servers Cloud Object

SAN/NAS
Storage
Why Virtual Volumes
Customers have major concerns about storage.

Storage  “Setting up storage requires too much time.”

management is  “Data operations are LUN-centric. We want virtual
too complex. machine-focused operations.”

Cost of
 “We overprovision storage.”
ownership
 “Our storage budget keeps going up.”
is too high.

SLAs are too  “SLAs cannot ensure predictable performance.”

difficult to  “Troubleshooting is very hard.”
ensure.
VMDKs as Native Objects

Traditional
Model
VMware vSphere

Virtual volumes

VMDKs and
VMDK Data
Virtual
Operations
Volumes
Offloaded to
Storage Arrays
Replication Snapshots Caching Encryption De-duplication
Storage Array Requirements
Virtual volumes require that the following criteria be met to function
properly:
• A storage array compatible with vSphere API for Storage Awareness 2.0.
• Must implement vSphere API for Storage Awareness to create the storage
provider for virtual volumes:
– Firmware
– Virtual appliance
– Physical appliance

• Use APIs to handle offloaded data services on the virtual volumes.

• Enable fine capabilities.
• Publish a VASA provider that runs on the array through a URL.
Storage Administration

No need to configure LUNs

vSphere or NFS shares.

Set up a single I/O access called

a protocol endpoint, to establish
a data path from virtual machines
to virtual volumes.
PE

Set up a logical entity, called

storage container, to group virtual
volumes for easy management.
Protocol Endpoints
The protocol endpoint is set up by the
storage administrator.
The protocol endpoint is part of the physical vSphere
storage fabric. It is treated like a LUN.
The protocol endpoint supports typical SCSI
and NFS commands.
Virtual volumes are bound and unbound PE
to a protocol endpoint: ESXi or VMware
vCenter Server™ initiates
the bind and unbind operation.
Existing multipathing policies and NFS
topology requirements can be applied.
Storage Containers
In vCenter Server, the storage containers are
represented by virtual datastores:
• A storage container is configured by the storage vSphere
administrator.
• A storage container is a logical grouping of
virtual volumes.
• A storage container’s capacity is limited only by
the hardware capacity. PE

• You must set up at least one storage container

per storage system. You can have multiple
storage containers per array.
• You assign capabilities to storage containers.
Using Virtual Volumes
A vendor provider is a storage provider based on vSphere API for
Storage Awareness that allows the array to export its capabilities and
present them to vSphere.
A protocol endpoint is a replacement for the traditional LUN and can be
accessed with typical NFS or SCSI methods.
Virtual Volumes datastores are created on the protocol endpoint:
• Virtual volumes are objects created on the datastore.

Discover protocol
Register a storage endpoints Create Virtual
provider in Volumes
vCenter Server. (iSCSI, NFS, and datastores.
so on).
Bidirectional Discovery Process

Protocol Endpoint Storage Container

Storage administrator sets up a

Storage administrator sets up a
storage container of defined
protocol endpoint.
capacity and capability.

VASA provider discovers the

ESXi host discovers the protocol
storage container and reports to
endpoint during a scan.
vCenter Server.

vSphere API for Storage

Virtual volumes are created in a
Awareness is used to bind virtual
Virtual Volumes datastore.
volumes to the protocol endpoint.
Storage-Based Policy Management (1)
Storage-based policy management helps ensure that virtual machines
receive their required performance, capacity, and availability.

Per-virtual machine Policies set based External storage automates

storage policies. on application needs. control of service levels.

Capacity

Performance Storage Policy-Based Management

Availability Virtual Data Plane: Datastore

SLAs

Virtual Volumes

SAN/NAS
Storage-Based Policy Management (2)
Storage policies represent service levels demanded by virtual machines.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe the benefits of software-defined storage
• Describe per-virtual machine storage policy management
• Explain how VMDK data operations are offloaded to storage arrays through the
use of VMware vSphere API for Storage Awareness
Key Points
• You use VMFS datastores to hold virtual machine files.
• Shared storage is integral to vSphere features such as vSphere vMotion,
vSphere HA, and vSphere DRS.
• Virtual SAN enables low-end configurations to use vSphere HA, vSphere
vMotion, and vSphere Storage vMotion without requiring external shared
storage.
• Virtual SAN clusters direct-attached server disks to create shared storage
designed for virtual machines.
• Virtual Volumes is a storage management approach that enables
administrators to differentiate virtual machine services per application.
• Key components of the Virtual Volumes functionality include virtual volumes,
VASA providers, storage containers, protocol endpoints, and virtual datastores.
Questions?
Troubleshooting
Storage
Storage Connectivity and
Configuration
Review of vSphere Storage Architecture
If a virtual machine cannot access its virtual disks, the cause of the
problem might be anywhere from the virtual machine to physical storage.

Virtual Disk

Datastore
VSAN VVOL VMFS NFS
Type

Direct FC/ Direct

Transport FC FCoE iSCSI Ethernet
Attached Ethernet Attached

VSAN Storage File

Backing System
Cluster Container LUN LUN LUN LUN
Review of iSCSI Storage
If the VMware ESXi™ host has iSCSI storage connectivity issues, check
the iSCSI configuration on the ESXi host and, if necessary, the iSCSI
hardware configuration.

iSCSI target name:

iqn.1992-08-com.acme:storage1
iSCSI alias: storage1
IP address: 192.168.36.101

iSCSI initiator name:

iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:train1
iSCSI alias: train1
IP address: 192.168.36.88
Storage Problem 1

IP storage is not reachable by an ESXi host.

Initial checks using the command line look at connectivity on the host:
• Verify that the ESXi host can see the LUN:
– esxcli storage core path list

• Check whether a rescan restores visibility to the LUNs.

– esxcli storage core adapter rescan –A vmhba##
• Check how many datastores exist and how full they are:
– df –h | grep VMFS
Identifying Possible Causes
If the ESXi host accessed IP storage in the past, and no recent changes
were made to the host configuration, you might take a bottom-up
approach to troubleshooting.

Possible Causes

The VMkernel interface for IP storage is misconfigured.

IP storage is not configured correctly on the ESXi host.
ESXi iSCSI TCP port 3260 is unreachable.
Host A firewall is interfering with iSCSI traffic.
NFS storage is not configured correctly.
VMFS datastore metadata is inconsistent.

The iSCSI storage array is not supported.

Hardware The LUN is not presented to the ESXi host.
(Storage Network,
The physical hardware is not functioning correctly.
Storage Array)
Poor iSCSI storage performance is observed.
Possible Cause: Hardware-Level Problems
Check the VMware Compatibility Guide to see if the iSCSI HBA or iSCSI
storage array is supported.
Verify that the LUN is presented correctly to the ESXi host:
• The LUN is in the same storage group as all the ESXi hosts.
• The LUN is configured correctly for use with the ESXi host.
• The LUN is not set to read-only on the array.
• The host ID on the array for the ESXi LUN is less than 255.

If the storage device is malfunctioning, use hardware diagnostic tools to

identify the faulty component.
Possible Cause: Poor iSCSI Storage Performance
Adhere to best practices for your IP storage networks:
• Avoid oversubscribing your links.
• Isolate iSCSI traffic from NFS traffic and any other network traffic.

Monitor device latency metrics:

• Use the esxtop or resxtop command: Enter d in the window.

Device Avg. Kernel Avg. Guest Avg.

Possible Cause: VMkernel Interface Misconfiguration
A misconfigured VMkernel interface for IP storage affects any IP storage,
whether iSCSI or NFS:
• To test configuration from the ESXi host, ping the iSCSI target IP address:
– For example, ping 172.20.13.14
• 172.20.13.14 is the IP address of the iSCSI target.

• If the ping command fails, ensure that the IP settings are correct.
Possible Cause: iSCSI HBA Misconfiguration
The iSCSI initiator might be configured incorrectly on the ESXi host.
Use VMware vSphere® Web Client to check the configured components:
• iSCSI initiator name
• iSCSI target address
and port number
• CHAP

Verify that the VMkernel port bindings are configured properly.

Possible Cause: Port Unreachable
Failure could occur because iSCSI TCP port 3260 is unreachable.
• From the ESXi host, use the nc (netcat) command to reach port 3260 on
the iSCSI storage array.
– nc –z IPaddr 3260
• IPaddr is the IP address of the iSCSI storage array.

Resolve this problem by checking paths between the host and hardware:
• Verify that the iSCSI storage array is configured properly and is active.
• Verify that a firewall is not interfering with iSCSI traffic.
Possible Cause: VMFS Metadata Inconsistency
Verify that your VMware vSphere® VMFS datastore metadata is
consistent:
• Use the vSphere On-disk Metadata Analyzer to check VMFS metadata
consistency:
– voma -m vmfs
-d /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.00000000000000000000000000:1
-s /tmp/analysis.txt

A file system’s metadata must be checked under the following conditions:

• Disk replacement
• Reports of metadata errors in the vmkernel.log file
• Inability to access files on the VMFS volume that are not in use by any other
host
If you encounter VMFS inconsistencies, perform these tasks:
1. Recreate the VMFS datastore and restore files from your last backup to the
VMFS datastore.
2. If necessary, complete a support request.
Possible Cause: NFS Misconfiguration
If your virtual machines reside on NFS datastores, verify that your NFS
configuration is correct.

Directory to share
with the ESXi host
NFS Server Name over the network
or IP Address
Mount permission
(Read/Write or
Read-Only) and
ACLs

ESXi host with NIC

mapped to virtual
switch VMkernel port
configured with
IP address
NFS Version Compatibility with Other vSphere Technologies

vSphere Technologies NFS v3 NFS v4.1

VMware vSphere® vMotion®/VMware
Yes Yes
vSphere® Storage vMotion®
VMware vSphere® High Availability Yes Yes
VMware vSphere® Fault Tolerance Yes Yes
VMware vSphere® Distributed Resource
Scheduler™/VMware vSphere® Distributed Yes Yes
Power Management™
Stateless ESXi/Host Profiles Yes Yes
VMware vSphere® Storage DRS™/VMware
Yes No
vSphere® Storage I/O Control
VMware Site Recovery Manager™ Yes No
VMware vSphere® Virtual Volumes™ Yes No
NFS Dual Stack Not Supported
NFS v3 and v4.1 use different locking semantics:
• NFS v3 uses proprietary client-side cooperative locking.
• NFS v4.1 uses server-side locking.
Best Practice
The best practices are:
• Configure an NFS array to allow only one NFS protocol.
• Use either NFS v3 or NFS v4.1 to mount the same NFS share across
all ESXi hosts.

Data corruption might occur if hosts attempt to access the same NFS
share using different NFS client versions.
Viewing Session Information
You use the esxcli storage nfs41 list command to view the
volume name, IP address, and other information.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Discuss vSphere storage architecture
• Identify possible causes of problems in various types of datastores
• Analyze common storage connectivity and configuration problems and discuss
possible causes
• Solve storage connectivity problems, correct misconfigurations, and restore
LUN visibility
Multipathing
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Review multipathing
• Identify common causes of missing paths, including PDL and APD conditions
• Solve missing path problems between hosts and storage devices
Review of iSCSI Multipathing
If your ESXi host has iSCSI multipathing issues, check the multipathing
configuration on the ESXi host and, if necessary, the iSCSI hardware
configuration.
Storage Problem 2

One or more paths to a LUN are lost.

Initial checks of LUN paths are performed using the esxcli command:
• Find detailed information regarding multiple paths to the LUNs:
– esxcli storage core path list
• List LUN multipathing information:
– esxcli storage nmp device list
• Check whether a rescan restores visibility to the LUNs:
– esxcli storage core adapter rescan –A vmhba##
• Retrieve SMART data about a specified SSD device:
– esxcli storage core device smart get –d device_name
Identifying Possible Causes
If you see errors in /var/log/vmkernel.log that refer to a permanent
device loss (PDL) or all paths down (APD) condition, then take a bottom-
up approach to troubleshooting.

Possible Causes

For iSCSI storage, NIC teaming is misconfigured.

ESXi
Host The path selection policy for a storage device is
misconfigured.

Hardware A PDL condition has occurred.

(Storage Network,
An APD condition has occurred.
Storage Array)
PDL Condition
A storage device is in a PDL state when it becomes permanently
unavailable to the ESXi host.
Possible causes of an unplanned PDL:
• The device is unintentionally removed.
• The device’s unique ID changes.
• The device experiences an unrecoverable hardware error.
• The device ran out of space, causing it to become inaccessible.

vSphere Web Client displays pertinent information when a device is in a

PDL state:
• The operational state of the device changes to Lost Communication.
• All paths appear as Dead.
• Datastores on the device are unavailable.
Recovering from an Unplanned PDL
If the LUN was not in use when the PDL condition occurred, the LUN is
removed automatically after the PDL condition clears.
If the LUN was in use, manually detach the device and remove the LUN
from the ESXi host.
When storage reconfiguration is complete, perform these steps:
1. Reattach the storage device.
2. Mount the datastore.
3. Restore from backups if necessary.
4. Restart the virtual machines.
APD Condition
An APD condition occurs when a storage device becomes unavailable to
your ESXi host for an unspecified amount of time:
• This condition is transient. The device is expected to be available again.

An APD condition might be caused by several causes:

• The storage device is removed in an uncontrolled manner from the host.
• The storage device fails:
– The VMkernel cannot detect how long the loss of device access will last.
• Network connectivity fails, which brings down all paths to iSCSI storage.

vSphere Web Client displays pertinent information when an APD

condition occurs:
• The operational state of the device changes to Dead or Error.
• All paths appear as Dead.
• Datastores on the device are unavailable.
Recovering from an APD Condition
The APD condition must be resolved at the storage array or fabric layer
to restore connectivity to the host:
• All affected ESXi hosts might require a reboot.

vSphere vMotion migration of unaffected virtual machines cannot be

attempted:
• Management agents might be affected by the APD condition.

To avoid APD problems, the ESXi host has a default APD handling
feature:
• Global setting: Misc.APDHandlingEnable
– By default, set to 1, which enables storage APD handling
• Timeout setting: Misc.APDTimeout
– By default, set to 140, the number of seconds that a device can be in APD before
failing
Possible Cause: NIC Teaming Misconfiguration
Verify that NIC teaming is configured properly.
Possible Cause: Path Selection Policy Misconfiguration
Verify that the path selection policy for a storage device is configured
properly.
Possible Cause: NFSv3 and v4.1 Misconfiguration
Virtual machines on an NFS 4.1 datastore fail after the NFS 4.1 share
recovers from an APD state.
The lock protecting VM.vmdk has been lost error message is displayed.
This issue occurs because NFSv3 and v4.1 are two different protocols
with different behaviors. After the grace period (array vendor-specific),
the NFS server flushes the client state.
This behavior is expected in NFSv4 servers.
Possible Cause: Fault in APD Handling
When an APD event occurs, LUNs connected to ESXi might remain
inaccessible after paths to the LUNs recover.
The 140-second APD timeout expires even though paths to storage are
recovered.
This issue is due to a fault in APD handling:
• When this issue occurs, a LUN has paths available and is online following an
APD event, but the APD timer continues upcounting until the LUN enters APD
Timeout state.
• After the initial APD event, the datastore is inaccessible as long as active
workloads are associated with the datastore in question.
To solve this problem, upgrade ESXi to version 6.0 Update 1. If you are
unable to upgrade, use one of the workaround options:
• Perform the procedure to kill all outstanding I/O to the LUN.
• Reboot all hosts with volumes in the APD Timeout state.
Virtual Machine
Management
Module Lessons
Creating Templates and Clones
Modifying Virtual Machines
Creating Virtual Machine Snapshots
Creating vApps
Working with Content Libraries
Creating Templates and
Clones
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Create a template
• Deploy a virtual machine from a template
• Clone a virtual machine
• Enable guest operating system customization by VMware vCenter Server™
Using a Template
A template is a master copy of a virtual machine. It is used to create and
provision new virtual machines.
Creating a Template
Clone the virtual machine to a template:
• The virtual machine can be powered on or powered off.
Convert the virtual machine to a template:
• The virtual machine must be powered off.
Clone a template:
• Used to create a new template based on one that existed previously.
Deploying a Virtual Machine from a Template
To deploy a virtual machine, you must provide such information as the
virtual machine name, inventory location, host, datastore, and guest
operating system customization data.
Updating a Template
Update a template to include new
patches, make system changes,
and install new applications:
1. Convert the template to a virtual
machine.
2. Place the virtual machine on an
isolated network to prevent user
access.
3. Make appropriate changes to the
virtual machine.
4. Convert the virtual machine to a
template.
Cloning a Virtual Machine
Cloning a virtual machine
creates a virtual machine that
is an exact copy of the original:
• Cloning is an alternative to
deploying a virtual machine.
• The virtual machine being
cloned can be powered on or
powered off.
Customizing the Guest Operating System
Use the Guest Operating System Customization wizard to make virtual
machines created from the same template or clone unique.
Customizing a guest operating system enables you to change:
• Computer name
• Network settings
• License settings
• Windows Security Identifier

During cloning or deploying virtual machines from a template:

• You can create a specification to prepare the guest operating systems of virtual
machines.
• Specifications can be stored in the database.
• You can edit specifications in the Customization Specifications Manager.
• Windows and Linux operating systems are supported.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Create a template
• Deploy a virtual machine from a template
• Clone a virtual machine
• Enable guest operating system customization by VMware vCenter Server™
Modifying Virtual
Machines
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe virtual machine settings and options
• Add a hot-pluggable device
• Dynamically increase the size of a virtual disk
• Add a raw device mapping (RDM) to a virtual machine
Modifying Virtual Machine Settings
You can modify a virtual
machine’s configuration in its
Edit Settings dialog box:
• Add virtual hardware:
– Some hardware can be added
while the virtual machine is
powered on.
• Remove virtual hardware:
– Some hardware can be
removed only when the virtual
machine is powered off
• Set virtual machine options.
• Control a virtual machine’s
CPU and memory resources.
Hot-Pluggable Devices
The CPU hot-plug option
enables you to add CPU
resources to a running virtual
machine:
• Examples of hot-pluggable
devices: USB controllers,
Ethernet adapters, and hard
disk devices.
With supported guest
operating systems, you can
also add CPU and memory
while the virtual machine is
powered on.
Creating an RDM
An RDM (a -rdm.vmdk file) enables a virtual machine to gain direct
access to a physical LUN.
Encapsulating disk information in the RDM enables the VMkernel to lock
the LUN so that only one virtual machine can write to the LUN.
You must define the following items when creating an RDM:
• Target LUN: LUN that the RDM will map to
• Mapped datastore:
Stores the RDM file
with the virtual
machine or on a
different datastore
• Compatibility mode
• Virtual device node
Dynamically Increasing a Virtual Disk’s Size
You can increase the size of a virtual disk that belongs to a powered-on
virtual machine: Increases the size
of the existing
• The virtual disk must be virtual disk file.
in persistent mode.
• It must not contain
snapshots.

Dynamically increase a
virtual disk from, for
example, 2 GB to 20 GB.
Inflating a Thin-Provisioned Disk
Thin-provisioned virtual disks can be converted to a thick, eager-zeroed
format.
To inflate a thin-provisioned disk:
• The virtual machine must be powered off.
• Right-click the virtual machine’s .vmdk file and select Inflate.

Or you can use VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion® and select a thick-
provisioned disk as the destination.
Virtual Machine Options
On the VM Options tab, you can set or change virtual machine options
to run VMware Tools™ scripts, control user access to the remote
console, configure startup behavior, and more.

VM Display Name

.vmx File Location

VM Directory

Guest Operating
System Type
VMware Tools Options

Customize power
button actions.

Schedule VMware
Tools scripts.

Update checks
Boot Options

Delay power on.

Boot into BIOS.

Retry after
failed boot.
Troubleshooting a Failed VMware Tools Installation on a
Guest Operating System
Problems:
• VMware Tools installation errors before completion.
• VMware Tools installation fails to complete.
• Unable to complete VMware Tools for Windows or Linux installation.
• VMware Tools hangs when installing or reinstalling.
Solutions:
1. Verify that that the guest operating system that you are trying to install is fully
certified by VMware.
2. Verify that the correct operating system is selected.
3. Verify that the ISO image is not corrupted.
4. If installing on a Windows operating system, ensure that you are not
experiencing problems with your Windows registry.
5. If installing on a 64-bit Linux guest operating system, verify that no
dependencies are missing.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe virtual machine settings and options
• Add a hot-pluggable device
• Dynamically increase the size of a virtual disk
• Add a raw device mapping (RDM) to a virtual machine
Creating Virtual
Machine Snapshots
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Take a snapshot of a virtual machine and manage multiple snapshots
• Delete virtual machine snapshots
• Consolidate snapshots
Virtual Machine Snapshots
Snapshots enable you to preserve the state of the virtual machine so that
you can repeatedly return to the same state.
Virtual Machine Snapshot Files
A snapshot consists of a set of files: the memory state file (.vmsn), the
description file (-00000#.vmdk), and the delta file (-00000#-
delta.vmdk).
The snapshot list file (.vmsd) keeps track of the virtual machine’s
snapshots.
Taking a Snapshot
You can take a snapshot while a virtual machine is powered on, powered
off, or suspended.
A snapshot captures the state of the virtual machine: memory state,
settings state, and disk state.
Virtual machine snapshots are not recommended as a virtual machine
backup strategy.

committed to disk
transactions
Pending
.vmdk
Managing Snapshots
The Snapshot Manager enables you
to review all snapshots for the active
virtual machine and act on them
directly.
Actions you can perform:
• Revert to a snapshot.
• Delete one or all snapshots.
Deleting a Virtual Machine Snapshot (1)
If you delete a snapshot one or more levels above You Are Here, the
snapshot state is deleted. The snap01 data is committed into the
previous state (base disk) and the foundation for snap02 is retained.

base disk (5GB) +

base disk (5GB)
snap01 data

snap01 delta (1GB)

snap02 delta (2GB)

You are here.

Deleting a Virtual Machine Snapshot (2)
If you delete the current snapshot, the changes are committed to its
parent. The snap02 data is committed into snap01 data, and the snap02
-delta.vmdk file is deleted.

base disk (5GB)

snap01 delta (1GB) +

snap01 delta (1GB)
snap02 delta (2GB)

snap02 delta (2GB)

You are here.

Deleting a Virtual Machine Snapshot (3)
If you delete a snapshot one or more levels below You Are Here,
subsequent snapshots are deleted and you can no longer return to those
states. The snap02 data is deleted.

base disk (5GB)

snap01 delta (1GB)

You are here.

snap02 delta (2GB)

Deleting All Virtual Machine Snapshots
The delete-all-snapshots mechanism uses storage space efficiently. The
size of the base disk does not increase. Just like a single snapshot
deletion, changed blocks in the snapshot overwrite their counterparts in
the base disk.
base disk (5GB) +
base disk (5GB)
snap01/02 data

snap01You are
delta here.
(1GB)

snap02 delta (2GB)

You are here.

About Snapshot Consolidation
Snapshot consolidation is a method to commit a chain of snapshots to
the base disks, when the Snapshot Manager shows that no snapshots
exist, but the delta files still remain on the datastore.
Snapshot consolidation is intended to resolve problems that might occur
with snapshots:
• The snapshot descriptor file is committed correctly, but the Snapshot Manager
incorrectly shows that all the snapshots are deleted.
• The snapshot files (-delta.vmdk)are still part of the virtual machine.
• Snapshot files continue to expand until the virtual machine runs out of
datastore space.
Discovering When to Consolidate
The Snapshot Manager displays no snapshots. However, a warning on
the Monitor > Issues tab of the virtual machine notifies the user that a
consolidation is required.
Performing Snapshot Consolidation
After the snapshot consolidation warning appears, the user can use the
vSphere Web Client to consolidate the snapshots:
• Select Snapshots > Consolidate to reconcile snapshots.
• All snapshot delta disks are committed to the base disks.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Take a snapshot of a virtual machine and manage multiple snapshots
• Delete virtual machine snapshots
• Consolidate snapshots
Creating vApps
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe a vApp
• Build a vApp
• Use a vApp to manage virtual machines
• Deploy and export a vApp
Managing Virtual Machines with a vApp
A vApp is an object in the vCenter Server inventory:
• A vApp is a container for one or more virtual machines.
• A vApp can be used to package and manage multitiered applications.
vApp Characteristics
You can configure several
vApp settings by right-clicking
the vApp:
• CPU and memory allocation
• IP allocation policy

You can also configure the

virtual machine startup and
shutdown order.
Exporting and Deploying vApps
Exporting the vApp as an OVF Deploying the OVF template:
template:
• Deploy multitier vApps.
• Share with others.
• Deploy OVF from VMware Virtual
• Use for archive purposes. Appliance Marketplace.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe a vApp
• Build a vApp
• Use a vApp to manage virtual machines
• Deploy and export a vApp
Working with Content
Libraries
Learner Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Describe the types of content libraries
• Recognize how to import content into a content library
• Identify how to publish a content library for external use
About the Content Library
A content library is a repository of OVF templates and other files that can
be shared and synchronized across vCenter Server systems.
Benefits of Content Libraries

Sharing and Consistency

Storage Efficiency

Metadata

Secure Subscription
Types of Content Library
Three types of content library are available: local, published, and
subscribed .

Published
Local Subscribed
Local library that makes
Library of content that Library that syncs with a
content available for
you control published library
subscription

On-Demand
Automatic >>>>
>>>>
Metadata

Library Content • Immediately download all library content

Download library content only when needed
Saves storage backing space. Only metadata is retrieved. Content is downloaded as needed when
creating virtual machines or synchronizing content
Subscribing to vCloud Director 5.5 Catalogs
You can subscribe a content library to VMware vCloud Director® 5.5.

vCenter Server 6

Content Catalogs in
vCloud Director 5.5

The subscription process is the same

as with the published content library:
• Uses the published URL
• Static user name (always vcsp)
and password
Publish and Subscribe
Interactions between the publisher and subscriber can include
connectivity, security, an actionable files.

vCenter Server vCenter Server

Templates
Other

Transfer Service Transfer Service

Content Library Service Content Library Service

Subscribe using URL.

Subscription URL

Password (Optional)
Synchronization and Versioning
Synchronization is used to resolve versioning discrepancies between the
publisher and the subscribing content libraries.

vCenter Server vCenter Server

HTTP/NFC

Transfer Service Transfer Service

Content Library Service VCSP Content Library Service

VMware Content Subscription Protocol

Content Library Requirements and Limitations

Single storage backing and datastore (64 TB maximum).

Maximum 256 library Items.

Maximum 5 concurrently synchronized library

items for each subscribed library.

Synchronization occurs once every 24 hours.

License to scale based on content library usage.

Creating a Content Library
You can create a content library in the vSphere Web Client and populate
it with templates to use to deploy virtual machines or vApps in your
virtual environment.
Selecting Storage for the Content Library
You select storage for the content library based on the type of library you
are creating.
Populating Content Libraries with Content
You populate a content library with templates that you can use to
provision new virtual machines.
To add templates to a content library, use one of the following methods:
• Clone a virtual machine to a template in the content library.
• Clone a template from the vSphere inventory or from another content library.
• Clone a vApp.
• Import a template from an URL.
• Import an OVF file from your local file system.
Importing Items into the Content Library
Your source to import items in to a content library can be a file stored on
your local machine or a file stored on a Web server.

Click this icon to import OVF

pages and other file types
into the content library.
Deploying a Virtual Machine to a Content Library
You can clone virtual machines or virtual machine templates to templates
in the content library and use them later to provision virtual machines on
a virtual data center, a data center, a cluster, or a host.
Publishing a Content Library for External Use
You can publish a content library for external use and add password
protection by editing the content library settings:
• Users access the library through the subscription URL that is system
generated.
Review of Learner Objectives
You should be able to meet the following objectives:
• Describe the types of content libraries
• Recognize how to import content into a content library
• Identify how to publish a content library for external use
Key Points
• vCenter Server provides features for provisioning virtual machines, such as
templates and cloning.
• By deploying virtual machines from a template, you can create many virtual
machines easily and quickly.
• You can use vSphere vMotion to move virtual machines while they are
powered on.
• You can use vSphere Storage vMotion to move virtual machines from one
datastore to another datastore.
• You can use virtual machine snapshots to preserve the state of the virtual
machine so that you can return to the same state repeatedly.
• A vApp is a container for one or more virtual machines. The vApp can be used
to package and manage related applications.
• Content libraries provide simple and effective management for virtual machine
templates, vApps, and other types of files for vSphere administrators.
Questions?