Release Notes

Introduction
5 Configuring and Installing the PS Series Multipathing Extension Module for VMware vSphere and PS Series | TR1074
1 Introduction
VMware vSphere offers many enhancements to the software iSCSI initiator beyond basic iSCSI SAN
connectivity. The most significant of these enhancements is the API support for third-party multipathing
plugins. This provides a framework that enables the MEM to intelligently route and efficiently load balance
iSCSI traffic across multiple NICs.
The MEM provides the following benefits:
• Ease of installation
• Increased bandwidth
• Reduced network latency
• Automatic failure detection and failover
• Automatic load balancing across multiple active paths
• Automatic connection management
• Multiple connections to a single iSCSI target
The MEM utilizes the same multipathing iSCSI vSwitch as VMware Round Robin multipathing. As part of the
continuous efforts at Dell to help customers simplify the configuration of their IT environments, the iSCSI
MPIO vSwitch configuration process for the MEM has been reduced to either a single command with a few
parameters or a guided question-and-answer process. The MEM installation process is equally
straightforward, requiring that only a single command be executed. The MEM can also be installed using the
VMware vSphere Update Manager.
Once installed, the MEM automatically creates iSCSI sessions to each member that a volume spans. As the
storage environment changes, the MEM responds by automatically adding or removing needed iSCSI
sessions.
As storage I/O requests are generated on the VMware ESXi™ hosts, the MEM intelligently routes each
requests to the appropriate array member. This results in efficient load balancing of the iSCSI storage traffic,
reduced network latency and increased bandwidth.
1.1 Audience
The information in this guide is intended for administrators of a VMware vSphere environment utilizing PS
Series iSCSI arrays.