One of those sets of apis, the vstorage apis for multipathing vamp, helps to intelligently control path selection from storage adapters in a host to storage devices. Esx, esxi embedded and esxi installable are equivalent products from a storage compatibility perspective. Ensure proper multipathing configuration is complete. This is a demonstration of vstorage api for multipathing integration that emc and vmware have been working on and i know our customers are going to be super excited about. Also, since virtual disks are files on a vmfs, storage arrays cannot interpret the vmfs ondisk layout, and hence, cannot provide these functions on a pervm or pervirtual disk basis. Psa, these apis allow storage partners to create and deliver multipathing and.
Multipath drivers for the vmware operating system and upgrade. The vmware api for array integration vaai primitives offer a way to offload and. With the correct drivers installed, provision the luns for the vsphere. Oracle on vmware collateral one stop shop virtualize. Functions such as cloning and snapshots can be performed more efficiently by the storage device than by the host. Hpe msa storage configuration and best practices for vmware.
The multipathing apis provide storage path failover, thereby optimizing storage io throughput and adding intelligence beyond the default pathing policies used by storage devices. The vmkernel multipathing plugin that esxi provides by default is the vmware native multipathing plugin nmp. The psa allows 3rd party software developers to design their own load balancing techniques and failover mechanisms for particular storage array, and insert their code directly into the esxi storage io path. Netapp is one of the original vendors who developed vaai with vmware.
Multipathing is a technique that lets you use more than one physical path that transfers data between the host and an external storage device. Pure storage flasharray with vmware vstorage apis for. Technical support for vmware products is available online or by phone depending on your support offering. The nmp is an extensible module that manages sub plugins. A scsi reservation locks a whole lun and prevents other hosts from doing metadata updates of a vmfs volume when one host sharing the volume has a lock. Most of the information you can get via the gui, but sometimes its just faster to fire up putty or puttytray and launch one or two commands to get the info.
In a virtualized environment, storage operations traditionally have been expensive from a resource perspective. From that point on, ats always will be used on that datastore, so it can be used for all metadata operations. Name device vendor model driver transport options rule group claim options. The apis create a separation of duty between the hypervisor and its storage devices, enabling each to focus on what it does best. Storage array tcp connection tcp connection iscsi initiator iscsi target portal portal figure 3. Each chapter is a single blog post with a maximum of screenshots. Vmware offers a native multipathing plugin nmp layer in vsphere through storage array type plugins satp and path selection policies psp as part of the vmware apis for pluggable storage architecture psa. Empower every employee with digital tools that give them seamless and secure access to what they need to be productive. Vaai vsphere storage apis for array integration claim rule modifications are only necessary for esxi 5. Without vaai, a clone or migrate operation must use the vmkernel software data mover driver. The vmkernel provides storage virtualization functions such as the scheduling of io requests from multiple virtual machines and multipathing. The vmware storage apis for array integration vaai is a feature set first introduced in vsphere 4.
Help to monitor space use on thinprovisioned storage arrays to prevent outofspace conditions, and to perform space reclamation. When we think about vmware backups and other mechanisms that allow third party backup solutions to have hooks into the vsphere environment, none of those capabilities would be possible without the vsphere storage apis. Vmware vsphere storage apis array integration vaai introduction to vaai in a virtualized environment, storage operations traditionally have been expensive from a resource perspective. One thing i have noticed is that the essentials plus version doesnt include the storage apis for array integration, multipathing feature see. The vmware vstorage api is actually a blanket umbrella term that encompasses 4 separate individual apis, all with different functionalities. Typically, these settings are configured globally at the esxi host level. Vmware storage apis storage in vsphere 5 pearson it. Different destination storage array vmware vsphere apis. This guide describes the storage devices currently tested by vmware and its storage partners. This vaai primitive requests that the array performs a full copy of blocks on behalf of the data mover. With storage hardware assistance, an esxi host can perform these operations faster and more efficiently while. This video explains vaai and how netapp storage systems support it.
Storage apis is a family of apis used by thirdparty hardware, software, and storage. A set of apis for 3rd parties to extend vspheres core multipathing architectures. Vmware vsphere storage apis array integration vaai. Multipathing allows a host to connect to a storage device over multiple paths, for redundancy and load balancing. Vmware does not support vaai primitives on vmfs with multiple lunsextents if they all are on different arrays, even if all arrays support offloading. Multipath software within vmware vsphere esxi is handled natively by the operating system, through nmp native multipathing plugin. The apis provided by vmware allow administrators and publishers to extend the functionality of vsphere 5. If you continue to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies. Apis for array integration vaai for nas vmware code. I guess i should try to explain what a mem is before going any further.
The psa allows 3rd party software developers to design their own load balancing techniques and failover mechanisms for particular storage array. The apis define a set of storage primitives that enable the esxi host to offload certain storage. Multipath drivers for the vmware operating system and. Ats only flag vmware vsphere apis array integration.
To manage storage multipathing, esxi uses a collection of storage apis, also called the pluggable storage architecture psa. Vmware implements a pluggable storage architecture psa model in the vmkernel. To obtain drivers for the fibre channel or 12gb sas hbas shipped in. The vaai can offload specific storage operations to compliant storage hardware, which results in less cpu, memory and storage fabric bandwidth consumption. Vmware vsphere storage apis array integration vaai, also referred to as hardware acceleration or hardware. There are two types of nmp sub plugins, storage array type plugins satps, and path selection plugins psps. A path selection plugin psp can extend the path selection algorithms for any given io. Psa is a collection of vmkernel apis that allows storage partners to enable and certify their arrays asynchronous to esxi release schedules, as well as deliver performance. Help arrays to integrate with vsphere, so that vsphere can offload certain storage operations to the array. Hardware cloning between arrayseven if it is within the same vmfs volumewill not work, so that would revert to software data movement. Vmware native multipathing plugin nmp configuration. Best practices with vmware vsphere 2060mbpv 1 introduction this document provides configuration examples, tips. One stop shop here is the one stop shop for everything oracle on vmware sddc for easy and quick access.
This blog will be constantly updated as and when new collaterals are produced. Storage apis multipathing, also known as the pluggable storage architecture psa. The storage array is performing a system operation such as replication or raid reconstruction. Vmware esx software has been tested and deployed in a variety of storage network environments. Making a change for one array impacts other arrays that present luns to the host. Known as the pluggable storage architecture psa, these apis allow storage. In case of a failure of any element in the san network, such as an adapter, switch, or cable, esxi can switch to another physical. We use cookies for advertising, social media and analytics purposes. With the storage hardware assistance, your host performs these operations faster and consumes less cpu, memory, and. The psa is an open, modular framework that coordinates the simultaneous operation of multiple multipathing plugins mpps.
The vmware storage apis for array integration vaai is a feature set introduced vsphere 4. In todays world of application development and hooks into vendor software, restful apis are all the rage and allow for a powerful way to expose the underlying functionality. Help arrays to integrate with vsphere, so that vsphere can offload certain. Integrating hpe 3par storeserv storage systems with vmware vsphere 6. Read about how we use cookies and how you can control them here. Vmware multipathing module by default, esxi provides an extensible multipathing module called the native multipathing plugin nmp. When getting started with vmware esxi free version or with vmware vsphere, one of the most important information you need to know is information about your storage. The storage media spindles, ssd on which this datastore is located is shared with volumes used by nonvsphere workloads. Vmware vsphere storage apis array integration vaai vaai comparison block versus nas cormac. Technically not in vsphere 4, but have been discussed in vmworld events in the past. Vmware vsphere storage apis array integration vaai ats is an enhanced locking mechanism designed to replace the use of scsi reservations on vmfs volumes when doing metadata updates. These apis, also known as vaai, include the following components. If the datastore is shared, select a host to view multipathing details for its devices. Dell recently released their new multipath extension module mem for the equallogic ps series of storage array.
This integration significantly reduces cpu overhead on the host. Multipathing support in vsphere standard edition vmtoday. In an effort to simplify that interaction and make it more efficient, vmware developed the vstorage apis for array integration vaai. The vsphere storage apis for array integration package vaai allows storage partners to. Mark kremkus is a senior information te chnology it specialist in the advanced technical skills organization. An ats only flag appears on newly created vmfs5 and vmfs6 datastores.
Esxi host configuration pure1 support portal pure storage. Functions such as cloning and snapshots can be performed more efficiently by. When the host detects that the array supports ats on the device, the ats only flag is written to the datastore. Nmp uses various storage array type plugins satps to allow for different failover implementations from storage array vendors.
These esxi extensions enable storagebased hardware acceleration by allowing vsphere to pass storage primitives to supported arrays. Vmware vsphere storage apis array integration vaai, also referred to as hardware acceleration or hardware offload apis, are a set of apis to enable communication. Integration with key vmware vsphere storage apis, including vaai, vasa. Vmware versions for use with vnxe3150 dell community. Some storage arrays make recommendations on queue depth and other settings. Vmware consolidated backup or vstorage apis for data protection are accessing a snapshot on the datastore for backup purposes. Vmware vstorage apis for array integration with emc vnx series for san using vmware vsphere storage apis for array integration with emc symmetrix vmware kb 2014849 using vmkfstools to reclaim vmfs deleted blocks on thinprovisioned luns.