System information

Contents
Updated Information 5
About This Book 7
1
Overview of VMware ESX/ESXi 9
Introduction to ESX/ESXi 9
Understanding Virtualization 10
Interacting with ESX/ESXi Systems 13
2
Using ESX/ESXi with Fibre Channel SAN 15
Storage Area Network Concepts 15
Overview of Using ESX/ESXi with a SAN 17
Understanding VMFS Datastores 18
Making LUN Decisions 19
Specifics of Using SAN Storage with ESX/ESXi 21
How Virtual Machines Access Data on a SAN 22
Understanding Multipathing and Failover 22
Choosing Virtual Machine Locations 26
Designing for Server Failure 26
Optimizing Resource Use 27
3
Requirements and Installation 29
General ESX/ESXi SAN Requirements 29
ESX Boot from SAN Requirements 31
Installation and Setup Steps 31
4
Setting Up SAN Storage Devices with ESX/ESXi 33
Testing ESX/ESXi SAN Configurations 33
General Setup Considerations for Fibre Channel SAN Arrays 34
EMC CLARiiON Storage Systems 34
EMC Symmetrix Storage Systems 35
IBM System Storage DS4800 Storage Systems 36
IBM Systems Storage 8000 and IBM ESS800 38
HP StorageWorks Storage Systems 39
Hitachi Data Systems Storage 41
Network Appliance Storage 41
5
Using Boot from SAN with ESX Systems 43
Boot from SAN Overview 43
Getting Ready for Boot from SAN 44
Setting Up the QLogic FC HBA for Boot from SAN 46
VMware, Inc.
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