6.5.1
Table Of Contents
- vSphere Storage
- Contents
- About vSphere Storage
- Updated Information
- Introduction to Storage
- Getting Started with a Traditional Storage Model
- 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
- 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 Rescan Operations
- Identifying Device Connectivity Problems
- Edit Configuration File Parameters
- Enable or Disable the Locator LED on Storage Devices
- Erase Storage Devices
- Working with Flash Devices
- About VMware vSphere Flash Read Cache
- Working with Datastores
- Types of Datastores
- Understanding VMFS Datastores
- Understanding Network File System Datastores
- Creating Datastores
- Managing Duplicate 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
- Software-Defined Storage and Storage Policy Based Management
- About Storage Policy Based Management
- Virtual Machine Storage Policies
- Working with Virtual Machine Storage Policies
- Populating the VM Storage Policies Interface
- Default Storage Policies
- Creating and Managing VM Storage Policies
- Storage Policies and Virtual Machines
- 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
- Using Storage Providers
- Working with Virtual Volumes
- About Virtual Volumes
- Virtual Volumes Concepts
- Virtual Volumes and Storage Protocols
- Virtual Volumes Architecture
- Virtual Volumes and VMware Certificate Authority
- Snapshots and Virtual Volumes
- Before You Enable Virtual Volumes
- Configure Virtual Volumes
- Provision Virtual Machines on Virtual Volumes Datastores
- Virtual Volumes and Replication
- Best Practices for Working with vSphere Virtual Volumes
- Filtering Virtual Machine I/O
- 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
- Thin Provisioning and Space Reclamation
- Using vmkfstools
- vmkfstools Command Syntax
- The vmkfstools Command Options
- -v Suboption
- File System Options
- Virtual Disk Options
- Supported Disk Formats
- Creating a Virtual Disk
- Initializing a Virtual Disk
- Inflating a Thin Virtual Disk
- Converting a Zeroedthick Virtual Disk to an Eagerzeroedthick Disk
- Removing Zeroed Blocks
- Deleting a Virtual Disk
- Renaming a Virtual Disk
- Cloning or Converting a Virtual Disk or RDM
- Extending a Virtual Disk
- Upgrading Virtual Disks
- Creating a Virtual Compatibility Mode Raw Device Mapping
- 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
3 Select Primary Boot Device Settings.
a Enter the discovery Target IP and Target Port.
b Configure the Boot LUN and iSCSI Name parameters.
n
If only one iSCSI target and one LUN are available at the target address, leave Boot LUN
and iSCSI Name blank.
After your host reaches the target storage system, these text boxes are populated with
appropriate information.
n
If more than one iSCSI target and LUN are available, supply values for Boot LUN and iSCSI
Name.
c Save changes.
4 From the iSCSI Boot Settings menu, select the primary boot device.
An auto rescan of the HBA finds new target LUNs.
5 Select the iSCSI target.
If more than one LUN exists within the target, you can select a specific LUN ID by pressing Enter
after you locate the iSCSI device.
6 Return to the Primary Boot Device Setting menu. After the rescan, Boot LUN and iSCSI Name are
populated. Change the value of Boot LUN to the appropriate LUN ID.
iBFT iSCSI Boot Overview
ESXi hosts can boot from an iSCSI SAN using the software or dependent hardware iSCSI adapters and
network adapters.
To deploy ESXi and boot from the iSCSI SAN, the host must have an iSCSI boot capable network
adapter. The adapter must support the iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT) format, a method of
communicating parameters about the iSCSI boot device to an operating system.
Before installing ESXi and booting from the iSCSI SAN, configure the networking and iSCSI boot
parameters on the network adapter. Because configuring the network adapter is vendor-specific, review
your vendor documentation for instructions.
When you boot from iSCSI for the first time, the iSCSI boot firmware on your system connects to an iSCSI
target. If a login is successful, the firmware saves the networking and iSCSI boot parameters in the iBFT
and stores the table in the system's memory. The system uses this table to configure its own iSCSI
connection and networking and to start up.
The following list describes the iBFT iSCSI boot sequence.
1 When restarted, the system BIOS detects the iSCSI boot firmware on the network adapter.
2 The iSCSI boot firmware uses the preconfigured boot parameters to connect with the specified iSCSI
target.
vSphere Storage
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