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
Table 14‑1. Storage Device Information (Continued)
Storage Device Information Description
Drive Type Information about whether the device is a flash drive or a regular HDD drive. For information
about flash drives, see Chapter 15 Working with Flash Devices.
Transport Transportation protocol your host uses to access the device. The protocol depends on the type
of storage being used. See Types of Physical Storage.
Capacity Total capacity of the storage device.
Owner The plug-in, such as the NMP or a third-party plug-in, that the host uses to manage paths to the
storage device. For details, see Managing Multiple Paths.
Hardware Acceleration Information about whether the storage device assists the host with virtual machine
management operations. The status can be Supported, Not Supported, or Unknown. For
details, see Chapter 24 Storage Hardware Acceleration.
Sector Format Indicates whether the device uses a traditional, 512n, or advanced sector format, such as 512e.
For more information, see Storage Device Formats and VMFS Datastores.
Location A path to the storage device in the /vmfs/devices/ directory.
Partition Format A partition scheme used by the storage device. It can be of a master boot record (MBR) or
GUID partition table (GPT) format. The GPT devices can support datastores greater than 2 TB.
For more information, see Storage Device Formats and VMFS Datastores.
Partitions Primary and logical partitions, including a VMFS datastore, if configured.
Multipathing Policies (VMFS
datastores)
Path Selection Policy and Storage Array Type Policy the host uses to manage paths to storage.
For more information, see Chapter 18 Understanding Multipathing and Failover.
Paths (VMFS datastores) Paths used to access storage and their status.
Display Storage Devices for a Host
Display all storage devices available to a host. If you use any third-party multipathing plug-ins, the storage
devices available through the plug-ins also appear on the list.
The Storage Devices view allows you to list the hosts' storage devices, analyze their information, and
modify properties.
Procedure
1 Browse to the host in the vSphere Web Client navigator.
2 Click the Configure tab.
3 Under Storage, click Storage Devices.
All storage devices available to the host are listed in the Storage Devices table.
4 To view details for a specific device, select the device from the list.
5 Use the icons to perform basic storage management tasks.
Availability of specific icons depends on the device type and configuration.
vSphere Storage
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