6.0.1
Table Of Contents
- vSphere Storage
- Contents
- About vSphere Storage
- Updated Information
- Introduction to Storage
- Overview of Using ESXi with a SAN
- Using ESXi with Fibre Channel SAN
- Configuring Fibre Channel Storage
- Configuring Fibre Channel over Ethernet
- Booting ESXi from Fibre Channel SAN
- Booting ESXi with Software FCoE
- Best Practices for Fibre Channel Storage
- Using ESXi with iSCSI SAN
- Configuring iSCSI Adapters and Storage
- ESXi iSCSI SAN Requirements
- ESXi iSCSI SAN Restrictions
- Setting LUN Allocations for iSCSI
- Network Configuration and Authentication
- Set Up Independent Hardware iSCSI Adapters
- About Dependent Hardware iSCSI Adapters
- Dependent Hardware iSCSI Considerations
- Configure Dependent Hardware iSCSI Adapters
- About the Software iSCSI Adapter
- Modify General Properties for iSCSI Adapters
- Setting Up iSCSI Network
- Using Jumbo Frames with iSCSI
- Configuring Discovery Addresses for iSCSI Adapters
- Configuring CHAP Parameters for iSCSI Adapters
- Configuring Advanced Parameters for iSCSI
- iSCSI Session Management
- Booting from iSCSI SAN
- Best Practices for iSCSI Storage
- Managing Storage Devices
- Storage Device Characteristics
- Understanding Storage Device Naming
- Storage Refresh and Rescan Operations
- Identifying Device Connectivity Problems
- Edit Configuration File Parameters
- Enable or Disable the Locator LED on Storage Devices
- Working with Flash Devices
- About VMware vSphere Flash Read Cache
- Working with Datastores
- Understanding VMFS Datastores
- Understanding Network File System Datastores
- Creating Datastores
- Managing Duplicate VMFS Datastores
- Upgrading VMFS Datastores
- Increasing VMFS Datastore Capacity
- Administrative Operations for Datastores
- Set Up Dynamic Disk Mirroring
- Collecting Diagnostic Information for ESXi Hosts on a Storage Device
- Checking Metadata Consistency with VOMA
- Configuring VMFS Pointer Block Cache
- Understanding Multipathing and Failover
- Raw Device Mapping
- Working with Virtual Volumes
- Virtual Machine Storage Policies
- Upgrading Legacy Storage Profiles
- Understanding Virtual Machine Storage Policies
- Working with Virtual Machine Storage Policies
- Creating and Managing VM Storage Policies
- Storage Policies and Virtual Machines
- Default Storage Policies
- Assign Storage Policies to Virtual Machines
- Change Storage Policy Assignment for Virtual Machine Files and Disks
- Monitor Storage Compliance for Virtual Machines
- Check Compliance for a VM Storage Policy
- Find Compatible Storage Resource for Noncompliant Virtual Machine
- Reapply Virtual Machine Storage Policy
- Filtering Virtual Machine I/O
- VMkernel and Storage
- Storage Hardware Acceleration
- Hardware Acceleration Benefits
- Hardware Acceleration Requirements
- Hardware Acceleration Support Status
- Hardware Acceleration for Block Storage Devices
- Hardware Acceleration on NAS Devices
- Hardware Acceleration Considerations
- Storage Thick and Thin Provisioning
- Using Storage Providers
- Using vmkfstools
- vmkfstools Command Syntax
- vmkfstools Options
- -v Suboption
- File System Options
- Virtual Disk Options
- Supported Disk Formats
- Creating a Virtual Disk
- Example for Creating a Virtual Disk
- Initializing a Virtual Disk
- Inflating a Thin Virtual Disk
- Removing Zeroed Blocks
- Converting a Zeroedthick Virtual Disk to an Eagerzeroedthick Disk
- Deleting a Virtual Disk
- Renaming a Virtual Disk
- Cloning or Converting a Virtual Disk or RDM
- Example for Cloning or Converting a Virtual Disk
- Migrate Virtual Machines Between DifferentVMware Products
- Extending a Virtual Disk
- Upgrading Virtual Disks
- Creating a Virtual Compatibility Mode Raw Device Mapping
- Example for Creating a Virtual Compatibility Mode RDM
- Creating a Physical Compatibility Mode Raw Device Mapping
- Listing Attributes of an RDM
- Displaying Virtual Disk Geometry
- Checking and Repairing Virtual Disks
- Checking Disk Chain for Consistency
- Storage Device Options
- Index
Datastore Characteristics
Datastores are logical containers, analogous to le systems, that hide specics of each storage device and
provide a uniform model for storing virtual machine les. You can display all datastores available to your
hosts and analyze their properties.
Datastores are added to vCenter Server in the following ways:
n
You can create a VMFS5 datastore, an NFS version 3 or 4.1 datastore, or a virtual datastore using the
New Datastore wizard. A Virtual SAN datastore is automatically created when you enable Virtual SAN.
n
When you add a host to vCenter Server, all datastores on the host are added to vCenter Server.
The following table describes datastore details that you can see when you review datastores through the
vSphere Web Client. Certain characteristic might not be available or applicable to all types of datastores.
Table 1‑3. Datastore Information
Datastore
Information Applicable Datastore Type Description
Name VMFS
NFS
Virtual SAN
VVOL
Editable name that you assign to a datastore. For
information on renaming a datastore, see “Change
Datastore Name,” on page 167.
File System Type VMFS
NFS
Virtual SAN
VVOL
File system that the datastore uses. For information
about VMFS and NFS datastores and how to manage
them, see Chapter 16, “Working with Datastores,” on
page 145.
For information about Virtual SAN datastores, see the
Administering VMware Virtual SAN documentation.
For information about Virtual Volumes, see Chapter 19,
“Working with Virtual Volumes,” on page 213.
Device Backing VMFS
NFS
Virtual SAN
Information about underlying storage, such as a storage
device on which the datastore is deployed (VMFS),
server and folder (NFS), or disk groups (Virtual SAN) .
Protocol Endpoints VVOL Information about corresponding protocol endpoints.
See “Protocol Endpoints,” on page 216.
Extents VMFS Individual extents that the datastore spans and their
capacity.
Drive Type VMFS Type of underlying storage device, a ash drive or a
regular HHD drive. For details, see Chapter 14,
“Working with Flash Devices,” on page 133.
Capacity VMFS
NFS
Virtual SAN
VVOL
Includes total capacity, provisioned space, and free
space.
Mount Point VMFS
NFS
Virtual SAN
VVOL
A path to the datastore in the host's /vmfs/volumes/
directory.
Capability Sets VMFS
N A multi-extent VMFS
datastore assumes capabilities of only
one of its extents.
NFS
Virtual SAN
Information about storage data services that the
underlying storage entity provides. You cannot modify
them.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Storage
VMware, Inc. 21