Unity Storage Provisioning SRG

Welcome to Unity Storage Provisioning.
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Copyright 2016 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Unity Storage Provisioning 1
The unity architecture provides hosts and applications with Block storage through network-
based Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) or Fibre Channel (FC) protocols.
FC and iSCSI are based on a network-standard client/server model with iSCSI or FC
initiators (hosts) acting as storage clients and the relevant targets acting as storage
interfaces. Once a connection is established between the host and interface, the host can
request storage resources and services from the interface.
The iSCSI support allows Block storage access (LUNs, Consistency Groups, and VMware
VMFS datastores) using Initiator paths to each SP. Multiple iSCSI interfaces can be created
on one Ethernet port, and CHAP authentication can be optionally enabled for any host.
The Unity systems supports a 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel I/O module for block access. Fibre
Channel (FC) support provides the ability to share block storage resources over an FC
storage area network (SAN). Unity automatically creates FC interfaces when the I/O module
is available to the Storage Processor (SP).
To manage iSCSI interfaces select Block from the Storage session and the iSCSI interfaces
tab. The iSCSI interfaces page shows the list of interfaces, the SP and Ethernet port
where it was created, the network settings and its IQN (iSCSI Qualified Name). Note the
iSCSI Qualified Name on the Port IQN column. Its format is iqn.yyyy-
mm.com.xyz.aabbccddeeffgghh where:
• iqn is the naming convention identifier.
• yyyy-nn is the point in time when the .com domain was registered.
• com.xyz is the domain of the node backwards.
• aabbccddeeffgghh is the device identifier, which can be a WWN, the system name, or
any other vendor-implemented standard.
From this page it is possible to create, modify and delete an iSCSI interface.
To view and modify the properties of an iSCSI interface click the edit icon. The user can
change the network settings for the interface and assign a VLAN.
To create new interfaces click on the “ add sign” link and on the Add iSCSI Network
Interface window select the SP and Ethernet port to create the interface. Then enter the
network address information:
• IP Address: You can specify an IPv4 or IPv6-based address.
• Subnet Mask or Prefix Length: IP address mask or prefix length that identifies the subnet
where the iSCSI target resides.
• Gateway: Enter the gateway IP address associated with the iSCSI network interface.
The IQN Alias is the alias name associated with the IQN. The IQN and the IQN alias are
associated with the port and not the iSCSI interface. Both IQN and IQN alias are generated
automatically.
On a Unity system, you can require that all hosts use CHAP authentication to access iSCSI
storage on one or more Unity iSCSI interfaces. To require CHAP authentication from all
initiators that attempt access to an iSCSI interface, you must open the Settings
Configuration Window and open the Access section.
Then from the CHAP page check the Enable CHAP Setting option.
When you enable this feature, Unity denies access to this iSCSI interface's storage
resources from all initiators that do not have CHAP configured.
You may also set a global forward CHAP secret that all initiators can use to access the
storage system. Global CHAP can be used in conjunction with initiator CHAP. To implement
Global CHAP authentication select Use Global CHAP and specify a username and Global
CHAP secret.
Mutual CHAP authentication occurs when the hosts on a network verify the identity of the
iSCSI interface by verifying the iSCSI interface's mutual CHAP secret. Any iSCSI initiator
can be used to specify the "reverse" CHAP secret to authenticate Unity. When Mutual CHAP
Secret is configured for the storage system, the specified mutual CHAP secret is used by all
iSCSI interfaces that run on the system.
To implement mutual CHAP authentication, enable the Use Mutual CHAP option for the
iSCSI interface and specify a username and mutual CHAP secret.
The Fibre Channel interfaces can be displayed by selecting the Fibre Channel option under
the Access section of the Settings Configuration window.
The Fibre Channel Ports page shows details about I/O modules and ports. Each Fibre
Channel initiator is uniquely identified by its world wide name (WWN).
To display information about a particular Fibre Channel port, select it from the list and click
on the edit link. The properties window shows details about the I/O module port. The user
visualize the speed the port is operating and change it if desired.
Unisphere has a page that enables you to view and manage all host initiators connected to
the storage system. Initiators are endpoints from which FC and iSCSI sessions originate.
To access this page in Unisphere, select the Initiators option under the access section.
The properties window of a host or ESX host also include Initiators and Initiator Paths
tabs that enable you to view and manage associated host initiators.
Each initiator is uniquely identified by its world wide name (WWN or IQN).
The link between a host initiator and a target port on the Unity system is called the initiator
path.
NAS servers are software components used to transfer file data and provide the connection
ports for users, clients, and applications that access Unity file system storage.
NAS servers retrieve data from available disks over the SAS backend, and make it available
over the network via the SMB or NFS protocols.
Before you can provision a VMware NFS datastore or a File VVol datastore, or a file system
storage over SMB or NFS, a NAS server that is appropriate for managing the storage type
must be configured and running on the system. NAS servers can provide multi-protocol
access for both UNIX/Linux and Windows clients at the same time.
To manage NAS servers, select File from the Storage section of Unisphere.
From the NAS Servers page it is possible to create a new NAS server, view its properties,
modify some settings, and delete an existing NAS server.
The NAS Server page shows the list of created NAS servers, the SP providing the Ethernet
port for communication, and the Replication type if any configured.
To see the details about a NAS server select it from the list and its details will be displayed
on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a NAS Server click the edit icon.
The General tab of the properties window you can change the name of the NAS Server and
configure and modify network interfaces, including adding or deleting interfaces.
The Naming Services tab allow the user to define the Naming services to be used: DNS,
and/or Network Information Service (NIS).
The Sharing Protocols tab allow the user to manage settings for file system storage
access for Windows shares (SMB,CIFS) using the Active Directory or Standalone option and
Linux/UNIX shares (NFS). The user can also provide multi-protocol access to the file system
if a Unix Directory Service is enabled in the Naming Services tab.
The other tabs of the NAS Server properties window allow the user to configure Advanced
Storage Access (ASA), enable NDMP, Antivirus, and remote protection.
To create a NAS server click the add sign “link” .
Then follow the Create a NAS Server wizard steps:
• Enter a name for the NAS server, select the storage pool that will be used to supply file
storage, then choose the Storage Processor (SP) where you want the server to run.
• Select the Ethernet Port you want to use and specify the IP address, Subnet Mask, and
Gateway.
• In the Configure Sharing Protocols choose whether the NAS server supports Windows
shares (SMB, CIFS), Linux/UNIX shares (NFS), and multi-protocol (SMB and NFS shares
on the same file system). If you configure the NAS server to support Windows shares,
specify an SMB host name, a Windows domain, and the user name and password of a
Windows domain account. NFSv4 can be enabled for UNIX/Linux shares if desired as well
as File VVols.
• For UNIX/Linux shares choose a Unix Directory Service (NIS or LDAP) if necessary. For
multi-protocol support a Unix Directory Service must be used.
• If Windows shares were configured, then enable and add at least one DNS server for the
domain.
• Optionally configure remote replication for the NAS Server.
• Review the NAS server configuration and click Finish to commit the changes.
You can manage the Network interfaces by selecting the Ethernet option from the Access
section of the Settings Configuration window.
From the Ethernet Ports page, settings such as link aggregation and link transmission can
be verified and changed.
To display information about a particular Ethernet port, select it from the list and click on
the edit link. The properties window shows details about the port, including the speed and
MTU size. The user can change both these fields if necessary.
The MTU has a default value of 1500 bytes. If you change the value, you must also
change all components of the network path (switch ports and host).
If you want to support jumbo frames, set the MTU size field to 9000 bytes. This setting is
only appropriate in network environments where all components support jumbo frames
end-to-end. In virtualized environments, jumbo frames should be configured within the
virtual system, as well.
The user can also create a link aggregation, add or remove the port to an existing link
aggregation.
Host configurations are logical connections through which hosts or applications can access
storage resources. Before a network host can access storage, you must define a
configuration for it and associate it with a storage resource. Host configurations are
associated with storage following permission levels.
To manage Hosts configurations select Hosts from the Access section of Unisphere.
From the Hosts page it is possible to create a new Host configuration, view and modify a
Host configuration, and delete it.
The Hosts page shows the list of created Hosts configuration with its network address,
Operating system, Type, LUNs it has access to, number of registered initiators and initiator
paths.
The properties of a host configuration can be invoked by selecting the host and clicking on
the edit icon.
To create a Host configuration the user must click on the add link and follow the wizard. On
the Host Wizard window select the name for the host profile and the host operating system.
• To create a Host configuration for a SAN host that will connect to block storage choose
whether to connect via iSCSI or FC protocols. It the initiator was not automatically-
discovered and logged in the system, then the user needs to manually add the initiators
using the SAN host IQN and the CHAP credentials (for iSCSI) or the SAN host HBA
initiator (Fibre Channel). The host will be added to the list of hosts.
• To create a Host configuration for a host that will connect to a file storage the user must
enter the network address for the host on the Network Address page. The host will be
registered and added to the list of hosts.
Unity provides storage resources suited for the needs of specific applications, host
operating systems, and user requirements. These storage resources are categorized in
storage pools, block storage (LUNs or Consistency Groups), File storage (file systems and
shares), and VMware datastores (VMFS or NFS).
LUNs and Consistency Groups provide generic block-level storage to hosts and applications
that use the Fibre Channel (FC) or iSCSI protocol to access storage in the form of virtual
disks. LUN (Logical Unit) is a single element of storage while Consistency Group is a
container with one or more LUNs.
File Systems and shares provide network shares to clients in Windows and Linux/UNIX
environments. Windows environments use the SMB/CIFS protocol for file sharing, Microsoft
Active Directory for authentication, and Windows directory access for folder permissions.
Linux/UNIX environments use the NFS protocol for file sharing and POSIX access control
lists for folder permissions.
VMware datastores provides storage for VMware virtual machines through datastores that
are accessible through the FC, or iSCSI protocols (VMFS) and the NFS protocol.
Another modality of supported VMware datastores are the VVol (Block) and VVol (File)
datastores. These storage containers will store the virtual volumes (VVols) which are
VMware objects that corresponds to a Virtual Machine (VM) disk, and its snapshot and its
clones. These VVol (File) use NAS protocol endpoints and VVol (Block) uses iSCSI protocol
endpoints for I/O communications from the host to the storage system. The protocol
endpoints provides access points for ESXi hosts communication to the storage system.
Unity storage is provisioned from storage pools. A Pool is a collection of disks that are
dedicated to create LUNs, Consistency Groups, File Systems, and VMware datastores.
Storage pools provide optimized storage for a particular set of applications or conditions.
The storage pool configuration defines the types and capacities of the disks in the pool. A
user can defined the RAID configuration (RAID types and stripe widths) when selecting a
tier to build a storage pool.
Pools can be heterogeneous (made up of more than one type of drive) or homogeneous
(composed by only one type of drive).
In a homogeneous pool, only one disk type (flash, SAS, or NL-SAS) is selected during pool
creation.
If the FAST VP license is installed, and there are multiple disk types on the system, you can
define multiple tiers for a storage pool. There can be a maximum of three disk types in a
heterogeneous pool. Each tier can be associated with a different RAID type. Flash, SAS, and
NL-SAS disks provide tiers of Extreme Performance, Performance, and Capacity, on Unity
systems. However, observe that SAS Flash 3 drives cannot be part of a heterogeneous
pool.
To manage a storage pool, select Pools from the Storage section of Unisphere.
From the Pools page it is possible to create a new pool, expand existing pools, view pool
properties and modify some settings, and delete an existing pool.
The Storage Pools page shows the list of created pools with its allocated capacity, its
utilization details and free space.
Details about a pool are displayed on the right-pane whenever a pool is selected.
The Pool properties page can be invoked by selecting the storage pool and clicking on the
edit icon. The properties page is divided in 5 tabs: General, Disks, Usage, FAST VP, and
Snapshot Settings.
On the General tab it is possible to change the pool name and description.
The Disks tab displays the characteristics of the disks in the pool.
The Capacity option on the Usage tab shows information about storage pool allocation and
use including (as shown here):
• Total amount of space allocated to existing storage resources and metadata. This value
does not include the space used for snapshots.
• Free Space, which is the amount of pool space that is available for provisioning storage
resources and snapshots.
• Subscribed capacity, which is the percentage of the pool's total space requested by its
associated storage resources. When this value is over 100%, the pool is oversubscribed.
In this case, the storage pool can be expanded by adding drives to an existing tier or
adding an additional tier.
• Alert threshold, which is the percentage of storage allocation at which Unisphere
generates notifications about the amount of space remaining in the pool. Drag the slider
to set the value between 50% and 84%.
• Pool used capacity history
On the FAST VP tab (which appears if FAST VP is licensed), it is possible to view data
relocation and tier information for the pool.
On the Snapshot Settings tab, the user can review and optionally change the properties
for snapshot automatic deletion.
When a storage pool has been identified as in need of additional capacity, it can be
expanded from the Storage Pools page by selecting the pool, and clicking Expand Pool.
In the Select Storage Tiers step, select the storage tiers for the disks you want to add. If
your system is not licensed for FAST VP, you can only add disks to the existing tier.
If you are adding a new tier to the storage pool, you can select a different RAID
configuration for the disks in the tier. Click the Change link next to the tier name, select
the new RAID type (if applicable), and click OK. When the RAID configuration is complete,
click Next.
In the Select Amount of Storage page, select the number and type of disks to add, and
click Next.
Verify the information shown on the Summary page, and click Finish to expand the pool.
To create new storage pools, select Pools under the Storage section on the navigation pane.
Then click on the “add sign” link in the Pools page to launch the Create Pool wizard.
In the wizard window, enter the pool name, and optionally the pool description. Then click
Next.
The wizard will display the available storage tiers. The user can select the tier and change
the RAID configuration for the selected tier, and choose whether the pool will use FAST
Cache.
The user can then select the amount of disks from the selected tier to add to the pool.
Also, the user can create and associate a Capability Profile to the pool been created. A
capability profile is a set of storage capabilities for a VVol datastore. This feature will be
described when discussing the management of VMware storage.
Review the Pool to be created on the Summary page then click Finish.
Block storage resources provide hosts with access to general purpose block-level storage
through iSCSI or Fibre Channel (FC) connections.
With Block storage you can manage addressable partitions of block storage resources so
that host systems can mount and use these resources (LUNs) over FC or IP connections.
After a host connects to the LUN, it can use the LUN like a local storage drive.
Components of Block storage include:
• LUN: A block of storage allocated from a storage pool that is accessed by a host. You can
allocate a LUN to more than one host, if you coordinate the access via a set of clustered
hosts.
• Consistency group: An addressable instance of LUN storage that can contain one or
more LUNs (up to 50) and is associated with one or more FC or iSCSI hosts. Snapshots
taken of a Consistency Group apply to all LUNs associated with the group.
To manage LUNs, select Block from the Storage section of Unisphere.
From the LUNs page it is possible to create a new LUN, view the LUN properties, modify
some settings, and delete an existing LUN.
The LUNs page shows the list of created LUNs with its size (in GB), the allocated capacity,
and the pool it was built from.
To see the details about a LUN select the LUN from the list and the details about the LUN
will be displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of LUN click the edit icon. The General tab of the LUN
page depicts its utilization details and free space. Also, the size of the LUN can be
expanded from this page.
The other tabs of the LUN properties window allow the user to configure and manage local
and remote protection, and advanced storage features. Advanced storage features will be
discussed on another module.
To create LUNs select the Block page under the Storage Section in Unisphere. The LUNs
page will be displayed with a list of existing LUNs with its size and percentage of allocated
capacity. You can then launch the Create a LUN wizard by clicking on the “ add sign” link.
Then follow the wizard steps:
• Provide the name and description for the LUN
• Select the storage pool previously created to use.
• Define the size of the LUN.
• Provide access to the SAN host using the host configuration was previously created
(with a defined connectivity protocol).
• Define the access level of the SAN host to the LUN.
• Optionally configure local and remote protection for the LUN, tiering policy and Host
I/O limits.
• Review the LUN to be created on the Summary page then click Finish
The results of the process will be displayed.
To manage Consistency Groups, select Block from the Storage section of Unisphere.
From the top menu select Consistency Groups page. From this page it is possible to
create a new group, view its properties, modify some settings, and delete an existing
Consistency Group.
The Consistency Groups page shows the list of created groups with its size (in GB), the
allocated capacity, and the amount of pools that were used to built each pool.
For a selected Consistency Group it is possible to add LUNs to it by creating new ones or by
moving existing LUNs to the group.
To see the details about a Consistency Group select it from the list and its details will be
displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a Consistency Group click the edit icon. The General
tab of the Consistency Group properties page depicts its utilization details and free space.
The LUNs tab shows the LUNs that are part of the Consistency Group. The properties of
each LUN can be viewed and a LUN can be removed from the group or deleted.
The other tabs of the Consistency Group properties window allow the user to configure and
manage local and remote protection, and advanced storage features. Advanced storage
features will be discussed on another module.
To create Consistency Groups select the Block page under the Storage Section in
Unisphere. Then select the Consistency Groups page from the top menu. The Consistency
Groups page will be displayed with a list of existing groups with its size and percentage of
allocated capacity. You can then launch the Create a Consistency Group wizard by
clicking on the “add sign” link.
Then follow the wizard steps:
• Provide the name and description for the Consistency Group
• Click on the “add sign” link to open the Configure LUNs window.
• Define the number of LUNs, and name. The name of the LUNs will be the combination
of the name and a sequenced number.
• Select the storage pool that must be used.
• Define the size of the LUN(s) to be created.
• If the selected pool is tiered then it is possible to choose the tiering policy.
• Host I/O limits can also be defined before saving the configuration.
• Provide access to the SAN host using a previously created host configuration (with a
defined connectivity protocol).
• Define the access level of the SAN host to the LUN(s).
• Review the LUN(s) to be created on the Summary page then click Finish
Refer to the video demonstration for details on provisioning block storage.
Unity File storage is a set of storage resources that provide file-level storage over an IP
network.
From Unity File, SMB and/or NFS shares are created, and provided to Windows, Linux, and
UNIX clients as a file-based storage resource. Shares within the file system draw from the
total storage that is allocated to the file system.
The Unity components that work together to provision file-level storage include a NAS
server, file system, and shares.
The Unity NAS server is a virtual file server that provides the file resources on the IP
network, and to which NAS clients connect. The NAS server is configured with IP interfaces
and other settings used to export shared directories on various file systems.
The Unity File system is a manageable "container" for file-based storage that is associated
with the a specific quantity of storage, a particular file access protocol (SMB/CIFS or NFS),
and one or more shares through which network clients can access shared files or folders.
An Unity share is a exportable access point to file system storage that network clients can
use for file-based storage via the SMB/CIFS or NFS protocols.
To manage a File System, select File from the Storage section.
From the File Systems page it is possible to create a new File System, view its properties,
modify some settings, and delete an existing File System.
The File Systems page shows the list of created File Systems with its size (in GB), the
allocated capacity, the NAS server used to share it, and the pool it was built from.
To see the details about a File System select it from the list and the details about the File
System will be displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a File System click the edit icon.
The General tab of the properties window depicts the details about File System utilization
details and free space. Also, the size of the File System can be expanded and shrunk from
this page.
The other tabs of the File System properties window allow the user to configure and
manage local and remote protection, and advanced storage features. Advanced storage
features will be discussed on another module.
To create a new file system with a share click on the “add” link from the File Systems page
to launch the Create a File System wizard.
The steps of the wizard include:
• Configure the Protocols the file system will support
• Select the NAS Server to associate with the file system. Prior to provisioning the file
system a NAS servers must be created as explained on the previous module.
• Enter a name and optional description for the file system
• Select the storage pool to create from and the size of the file system
• Define if thin provisioning must be used to create the file system
• Optionally select a tiering policy
• Provide a name for the share
• For Windows Shares it is possible to configure additional SMB settings
• For Linux/UNIX Shares it is possible to associate it with a host profile and set the
access level: read-only, read/write, and read/write, allow root.
• Optionally configure local and remote data protection
• Review the File system to be created then click Finish
To manage file systems shares created for Windows hosts access, select File from the
Storage section.
From the SMB Shares page it is possible to create a new share, view its properties, modify
some settings, and delete an existing SMB share.
The SMB Shares page shows the list of created shares, with the used NAS server, its file
system and local path.
To see the details about a share select it from the list and the details about the share will
be displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a SMB share click the edit icon.
The General tab of the properties window provides details about the Share name and
location of the share: NAS Server, File System, Local Path and the Export path.
The Advanced tab allows the configuration of advanced SMB share properties:
- Continuous availability gives host applications transparent, continuous access to a share

following a failover of the NAS server on the system (with the NAS server internal state
saved or restored during the failover process).
- Protocol Encryption enables SMB encryption of the network traffic through the share.
- Access-Based Enumeration filters the list of available files on the share to include only
those to which the requesting user has read access.
- Branch Cache Enabled copies content from the share and caches it at branch offices. This
allows client computers at branch offices to access the content locally rather than over
the WAN.
- Distributed File System (DFS) allows the user to group files located on different shares
by transparently connecting them to one or more DFS namespaces.
- Offline Availability configures the client-side caching of offline files.
New SMB shares for a file system can also be created from the SMB Shares page. Click on
the “add” link to launch the Create an SMB Share wizard.
• Selection of the file system it will support
• Enter a name and optional description for the Share
• Optionally configure advanced SMB properties
• Review the SMB share to be created then click Finish
For Windows (SMB) file systems, no host information is required because host access to the
storage is controlled by network access controls set for shares.
To manage file systems shares created for Linux/Unix hosts access, select File from the
Storage section.
From the NFS Shares page it is possible to create a new share, view its properties, modify
some settings, and delete an existing NFS share.
The NFS Shares page shows the list of created shares, with the used NAS server, its file
system and local path.
To see the details about a share select it from the list and the details about the share will
be displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a NFS share click the edit icon.
The General tab of the properties window provides details about the Share name and
location of the share: NAS Server, File System, Local Path and the Export path.
The Host Access tab allows to define share properties:
For Linux/UNIX (NFS) file systems, if a host configuration does not exist, determine the
host, subnet, or netgroup address according to the following:
• Single-host access: IP address of the host that will use the storage.
• Subnet access: IP address and subnet mask that defines a range of network addresses
that can access shares.
• Netgroup access: Network address of a netgroup that defines a subset of hosts that can
access shares.
• vCenter or ESX server: Name (for vCenter servers) or network address (for ESX servers).
Another information related to Linux/UNIX (NFS) file system is the level of access for the
host, IP subnet, or netgroup (for example, read/write, read-only, root, or no access).
New NFS shares for a file system can also be created from the NFS Shares page.
Click on the “add” link to launch the Create an NFS Share (NFS Export) wizard.
• Selection of the file system it will support
• Enter a name and optional description for the Share
• Provide access to an existing host
• Review the NFS share to be created then click Finish
Refer to the video demonstration for details on provisioning file storage.
Unisphere provides tools for creating specialized VMware storage resources, called
datastores, and then discovering and connecting to ESXi hosts and vCenter servers on the
network through VMware host configurations.
Datastores provide storage for one or more VMware hosts. The datastore represents a
specific quantity of storage made available from a particular NAS server and storage pool.
A storage pool must be associated to a Capability Profile in order to enable VMware VVols
based storage provisioning. Capability profiles describe the desired storage characteristics
so that a user-selected policy can be mapped to a set of compatible VVol datastores.
Protocol Endpoints are access points for ESXi host communication to the storage system
used only for provisioning VVol datastores. A NAS PE looks like a NFS mount and a Block PE
looks like a LUN. Each host has a PE created or deleted automatically when access is
granted or removed respectivelly.
Datastore shares are the NFS shares created to provide VMware NFS datastores access to
the ESXi hosts.
Virtual volumes are encapsulations of virtual machine files, virtual disks, and their
derivatives. These are automatically-provisioned storage objects stored on VVol datastores.
This information is available for diagnosis of performance issues and verification.
To manage a VMware Datastore, select VMware from the Storage section.
From the VMware storage page it is possible to create a new Datastore, view its
properties, modify some settings, and delete an existing Datastore.
The VMware storage page shows the list of created VMware datastores with its size (in
GB), the allocated capacity, the used capacity, type of datastore, the NAS server used t,
and the number of pools.
To see the details about a Datastore select it from the list and the details about the
Datastore will be displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a VMware Datastore click the edit icon.
The General tab of the properties window depicts the details about Datastore capacity
utilization and free space. Also, the size of the Datastore can be expanded from this page.
The other tabs of the Datastore properties window allow the user to configure and manage
local and remote protection, and advanced storage features. Advanced storage features will
be discussed on another module.
To create a new Datastore click on the “add” link from the Datastores page to launch the
Create VMware Datastore wizard.
• Select the type of datastore that you want to create: File, Block, VVol (File) or VVol
(Block) . If you select File, select the NAS server providing storage for the new
datastore. In order to create a VVol you must create a Capability Profile which will be
discussed next.
• Enter the datastore name and optional description
• Select a storage pool to use for the datastore
• Select one of the available tiering policies for the datastore and the quantity of
primary storage to allocate for the datastore.
• In the Configure Access window, specify which hosts can access the datastore
• Optionally enable local or remote protection for the datastore.
• Review the Datastore to be created then click Finish
A VVol datastore is associated with one or more capability profiles. A capability profile is a
set of storage capabilities for a VVol datastore. These capabilities are derived based on the
underlying pools for the VVol datastore. The VVol datastore will show as compatible storage
in vCenter or the vSphere Web Client if the associated capability profiles meet VMware
storage policy requirements.
Capability profiles must be created before you can create a VVol datastore. Capability
profiles can be created at the time of pool creation (recommended), or can be added to an
existing pool later.
Capability profiles define storage properties such as drive type, RAID level, FAST Cache,
FAST VP, and space efficiency (thin, thick). Also, service levels are associated with the
profile depending on the storage pool characteristics. The user can add tags to identify how
the VVol datastores associated with the Capability Profile should be used.
To manage a Capability Profile, select VMware from the Storage section, then choose
Capability Profiles from the top sub-menu.
From the Capability Profiles page it is possible to create a new Capability Profile, view its
properties, modify some settings, and delete an existing Capability Profile.
The Capability Profile page shows the list of created VMware Capability Profiles, and the
pools it is associated with.
To see the details about a Capability Profile select it from the list and the details about the
Capability Profile will be displayed on the right-pane.
To view and modify the properties of a VMware Capability Profile click the edit icon.
The Details tab of the properties window allows you to change the name of the Capability
Profile. Also, the UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) associated with the VMware object is
displayed here for reference.
The Constraints tabs shows the space efficiency, service level, and storage properties
associated with the profile, and allows the user to add and remove user tags.
To create a new Capability Profile click on the “add” link from the Capability Profiles page
to launch the Create VMware Capability Profile wizard.
• Enter the Capability Profile name and optional description
• Select the storage pool to associate the Capability Profile with.
• Optionally enter any Usage Tags that will be used to identify how the associated VVol
datastore should be used.
• Review the Capability Profile to be created then click Finish.
Only after creating a Capability Profile and associating it with a storage pool you will be able
to create a VVol datastore.
To create a new VVol Datastore click on the “add” link from the Datastores page to launch
the Create VMware Datastore wizard.
• Select the type of datastore that you want to create: VVol File or VVol Block.
• Enter the datastore name and optional description.
• Select the Capability Profile to use for the VVol datastore.
• In the Configure Access page, specify which hosts can access the datastore
• Review the VVol Datastore to be created then click Finish
For the VVol datastores created on the array to be used for provisioning VMware storage
policy-based virtual machines the Unity system must be registered as a storage provider on
the vCenter server. That’s a task the vSphere administrator must perform using the IP
address or FQDN of the VASA provider.
The vSphere administrator can then create Virtual Machine storage policies in vSphere. The
VM storage policies defines which VVOL datastores are compatible based on the capability
profiles associated with them. The administrator can then provision the Virtual Machine and
select the storage policy and the desired VVOL datastore.
Protocol Endpoints establish a datapath between the ESXi hosts and the respective VVol
datastores. The Protocol Endpoints are automatically created when a host is granted access
to a VVol datastore.
From the Protocol Endpoints page it is possible to view the properties and status of each
one of the PEs. The Protocol Endpoints page shows the list of created PEs, the type
(iSCSI or NFS) and the VMware UUID associated with it.
To see the details about a Protocol Endpoint select it from the list and the details about the
PE will be displayed on the right-pane.
Refer to the video demonstrations for details on provisioning VMware datastores and Vvols.
Advanced Storage features include the FAST cache, FAST VP, Host I/O Limits and File
System Quotas.
FAST Cache is a large capacity secondary cache that uses SAS Flash 2 drives to improve
system performance. FAST Cache uses the Flash disks for the most frequently accessed
data in the storage system instead of dedicating Flash disks to a particular application.
Individual storage pools can be configured to use the FAST Cache, so that all storage
resources created in those pools use the FAST Cache.
Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools (FAST VP) enables the system to retain
the most frequently accessed or important data on fast, high-performance disks and move
the less frequently accessed and less important data to lower-performance, cost-effective
disks.
Both FAST Cache and FAST VP are not available in an All Flash Array configuration.
The Quality of Service feature is used to limit the amount of host IO that is serviced by the
storage system. It is not a guarantee of a level of IO. QoS is supported for LUNs, attached
Snapshots, and VMFS Datastores. QoS has the ability to limit host IO based on Maximum
IOPS or Maximum Bandwidth (KBPS or MBPS) or both.
File system quotas are used to enforce the limitation of disk space consumption defined per
user, directory or quota configurations.
FAST Cache can be created on licensed physical Unity systems with available SAS Flash 2
drives. In Unisphere, the FAST Cache can be created when running the Initial Configuration
wizard, or when accessing the system settings page.
In the Settings page, select the FAST Cache option under the Storage Configuration
section. Then hit the Create button and select the FAST Cache disks from available SAS
Flash drives and choose whether to enable FAST Cache for existing pools. The process will
create RAID Groups, add storage to FAST Cache and enable it for existing storage pools (if
the checkbox was selected). The status of the used disks can be seen from the FAST Cache
disks.
After the FAST Cache is created it can be expanded by adding more SAS Flash disks to it,
have disks removed from it, or it can be deleted.
The user can expand the FAST Cache capacity online by adding more SAS Flash 2 drives to
it.
To expand the FAST Cache, select Expand. Then select the amount of disks to add to the
FAST Cache.
FAST Cache supports online shrink. The user can shrink the FAST Cache by removing drives
from its configuration. It is possible to remove all but 1 RAID 1 pair – each RAID 1 pair is
considered a FAST Cache object.
To shrink the FAST Cache, select Shrink. Then select the amount of disks to remove from
the FAST Cache. A warning message will be displayed. Removing the drives from FAST
Cache requires the flushing of dirty data from each set being removed to disk.
Although the FAST Cache is a global resource, it is enabled on a per pool basis.
You can configure a pool to use the FAST Cache during pool creation.
For existing pools, navigate to the Pools page in Unisphere and select the storage pool to
modify its settings.
Click on the edit sign to open the properties page. Then use the General tab in the Storage
Pool Properties page to enable the FAST Cache. Check Use the FAST Cache and click
Apply.
To change system-level data relocation configuration on the Unity system, click on the
Settings icon on the top of the page, then under the Storage Configuration section select
the FAST VP option. The FAST VP settings page displays whether scheduled relocations
are enabled for the system.
The Relocation Schedule defines the timeframe during which FAST VP relocations are
allowed to occur. Users can select which days, and the timeframe during those days, for
relocations to occur. Relocations will continue to cycle as long as the Relocation Window is
open.
The user can manually pause (hit the pause button) and resume (hit the resume button)
the scheduled data relocations on the system, change the data relocation rate, disable and
re-enable scheduled data relocations, and modify the relocation window.
From Unisphere select Pools under the Storage section.
Select the pool and click on the pencil icon to edit its properties. Then navigate to the FAST
VP tab. The page will display the information of the tiers that are part of the pool including
the amount of data to be moved up and down between the tiers.
From the same page it is also possible to take the pool out of the data relocation schedule
and manually start the data relocation.
From Unisphere select Block or File under the Storage section.
Select the storage resource (LUN, Consistency Group or File System) and click on the pencil
icon to edit its properties. Then navigate to the FAST VP tab. The page will display the
information of the tiers that are been used for data distribution. From this page it is then
possible to change the tiering policy for the data relocation.
Quality of Service (QoS) can be set on physical or virtual deployments of Unity systems and
is supported on LUNs, snapshots, and VMFS Datastores.
QoS is either enabled or disabled in a Unity system. All host I/O limits are active if the
feature is active. By default, the system’s use of I/O limit policies is disabled.
From the Unisphere GUI, open the Settings window and select Performance under the
Management section. Then click on the Resume button to enable the use of Host I/O limits
by the system.
The host I/O limit policies based on maximum IOPS (IOs per second) and maximum
bandwidth in KBPS (kilobytes per second) or MBPS (megabytes per second), or both.
To create a host I/O limit policy in Unisphere select Performance under the system section.
Then click on the “add sign” link. On the Create Host I/O Limit wizard window provide the
name for the policy and optional description then enter the maximum threshold for the
policy: maximum IOPS and/or maximum bandwidth. Then check the box if the I/O limit
policy is to be shared. If the box is unchecked, each resource will be assigned the specified
limits. If the box is checked then the resources the policy is assigned to are treated as a
group, and all the resources share the limits applied.
Then finally assign the policy to the desired storage resources.
Host I/O limit policies can also be created via command line interface using the uemcli
syntax shown here.
To assign a Host I/O limit to a LUN the user must navigate to the LUNs page in Unisphere.
Then select the LUN and open its properties window. Select the Host I/O Limit policy that
was created from the drop-down list.
Both real-time and historical data can be displayed. When you select a real-time display,
data is retrieved every 5 seconds in a 15 minute window.
To manage the default quota settings, you must select and edit the properties of a file
system. from Unisphere select File under the Storage section. Then select the file system
and click on the pencil icon to edit its properties.
From the File System properties page select the Quota tab. Then click on the Manage
Quota Settings link on the top right-corner of the window.
The default quota policy is File Size.
Check the box to enable the enforcement of user quotas at the file system level.
Then change the default soft and hard limits for those quotas. Then specify the grace period
for which users of the file system can remain over the soft limit before it becomes the hard
limit. Click OK when done to apply the changes.
To define explicit quotas for individual users at the file system level, from Unisphere select
File under the Storage section, then select the desired file system and click on the pencil
icon to edit its properties. On the User Quota Report page click on the “add” sign to create
an user quota.
Then from the User name section of the Create a User Quota wizard click on the “add”
sign to configure a user. Select the host type and the user name or User ID (define the
domain name for windows accounts). Click on Add user. The user is displayed in the list of
users – select it and click on next to advance to the next screen. Enter the soft and hard
limits and click next. Review the summary of changes and click the finish button. The
progress and conclusion of the operation will be displayed on the Results page. Close it
once the operation is done. Observe that that new user quota is displayed on the User
Quota Report page.
Quota trees can be created for each directory or subdirectory that will be created in the file
system. To create a quota tree select the File system under the File Systems option of the
File page from the Storage section in Unisphere. Then click on the “pencil” icon to edit the
file system properties. Navigate to the Quota tab, and select the Quota Tree option.
Then click on the “add symbol” icon to launch the Create Quota Tree wizard.
Define the path (relative to the file system root) of the directory you want to apply the
quota.
Then assign the soft and hard limits for the quota policy. Review the configuration on the
Summary page and click Finish to apply the settings to the quota. The next page will show
the results of the operation. Click Close to terminate the wizard.
For each quota tree it is necessary to define default limits and explicit quotas for users at
the quota tree level.
Select the quota tree and click on the “pencil” to edit its properties.
On the Quota Tree Properties window, click on the Enforce User Quotas checkbox, and
define the default soft and hard limits. Then click on the “add symbol” to launch the
Create User Quota wizard. Click on the “add symbol” to open the Configure User window.
Enter the host type, the domain (in case of Windows users) and the user name. Then click
on the Add User button. Click Next to advance the wizard. Enter the soft and hard limits for
the user. Review the configuration and click Finish.
Refer to the video demonstrations for details on setting up FAST, QoS, and file system
quotas.

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Unity Storage Provisioning SRG

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Welcome to Unity Storage Provisioning.

• iqn is the naming convention identifier.

• com.xyz is the domain of the node backwards.

Then follow the Create a NAS Server wizard steps:

• Optionally configure remote replication for the NAS Server.

The results of the process will be displayed.

The results of the process will be displayed.

Refer to the video demonstration for details on provisioning block storage.

The results of the process will be displayed.

- Continuous availability gives host applications transparent, continuous access to a share

- Offline Availability configures the client-side caching of offline files.

The results of the process will be displayed.

The Host Access tab allows to define share properties:

The results of the process will be displayed.

Refer to the video demonstration for details on provisioning file storage.

The results of the process will be displayed.

The results of the process will be displayed.

The results of the process will be displayed.

Then finally assign the policy to the desired storage resources.

The default quota policy is File Size.

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