HP 3PAR VMware ESX Implementation Guide

8 Allocating Storage for Access by the ESX Host

This chapter describes the basic procedures required for creating and exporting virtual volumes

so they can be used by the VMware ESX host. For complete details on creating and managing

storage on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage, see the appropriate HP 3PAR documentation.

Creating Storage on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage

This section describes the general recommendations and restrictions for exporting storage from the

HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage to an ESX host.

For additional information, see the HP 3PAR Command Line Interface Administrators Manual. For

a comprehensive description of HP 3PAR OS commands, see the HP 3PAR Command Line Interface

Reference. To obtain a copy of this documentation, see the HP Storage Information Library at:

www.hp.com/go/support/docs

In addition, for a detailed discussion on using thinly-provisioned virtual volumes and strategies for

creating VLUNs, see 3PAR Utility Storage with VMware vSphere, available on the following website:

3PAR Utility Storage with VMware vSphere

NOTE: To create thinly-provisioned virtual volumes, an HP 3PAR Thin Provisioning license is

required.

Creating Virtual Volumes for HP 3PAR OS 2.3.1 and Later

After devising a plan for allocating space for the ESX host, you must create the required virtual

volumes on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage. Virtual Volumes can be either fully provisioned from

a Common Provisioning Group (CPG) or thinly provisioned.

Using the HP 3PAR Management Console:

1. From the Menu bar, select:

Actions→Provisioning→Virtual Volume→Create Virtual Volumes

2. Use the Create Virtual Volume wizard to create a base volume.

3. Select one of the following options from the Allocation list:

• Fully Provisioned

• Thinly Provisioned

Using the HP 3PAR OS CLI:

To create a fully-provisioned or thinly-provisioned virtual volume, run the following HP 3PAR

OS CLI command:

# createvv [options] <usr_CPG> <VV_name> [.<index>] <size>[g|G|t|T]

Here is an example:

# createvv -tpvv -cnt 5 TESTLUNs 5g

Exporting LUNs to an ESX Host

This section explains how to export virtual volumes created on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage as

VLUNs for the ESX host.

74 Allocating Storage for Access by the ESX Host