User's Manual

Figure 25 Verifying virtual disks from the host
HP EVA P6000 Software Plug-in for VMware VAAI
The vSphere Storage API for Array Integration (VAAI) is included in VMware vSphere solutions.
VAAI can be used to offload certain functions from the target VMware host to the storage array.
With the tasks being performed more efficiently by the array instead of the target VMware host,
performance can be greatly enhanced.
The HP EVA P6000 Software Plug-in for VMware VAAI (VAAI Plug-in) enables the offloading of
the following functions (primitives) to the EVA:
Full copy—Enables the array to make full copies of data within the array, without the ESX
server having to read and write the data.
Block zeroing—Enables the array to zero out a large number of blocks to speed up provisioning
of virtual machines.
Hardware assisted locking—Provides an alternative means to protect the metadata for VMFS
cluster file systems, thereby improving the scalability of large ESX server farms sharing a
datastore.
System prerequisites
ESX/ESXi 4.1 or laterVMware operating system:
VMware vCenter 4.1,VMware management station:
ESX/ESXi 4.1 environments: vCLI 4.1 (Windows or Linux)VMware administration tools:
XCS 10100000 or laterHP P6000 controller software:
Enabling vSphere Storage API for Array Integration (VAAI)
To enable the VAAI primitives, do the following:
NOTE: By default, the three VAAI primitives are enabled.
NOTE: The EVA VAAI Plug-In is required with vSphere 4.1 in order to permit discovery of the
EVA VAAI capability. This is not required for vSphere 5.
1. Install the XCS controller software.
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