@Abhishek Mehta @Anmol Chaudhary @Devendra Mahajan
Introduction
The IBM Storage Virtualize Plugin for vSphere enables management and control of IBM storage systems from the VMware vSphere Client. The plugin enables the provisioning and management of VMFS datastores across multiple storage systems through a unified interface. It implements intuitive UI menus that are available from vSphere GUI. The plugin runs as a virtual machine (VM) within the vSphere environment.
Now customers can take advantage of IBM Storage Virtualize system features, such as creating and provisioning VMFS datastore volumes, managing volume groups, snapshot, and replication policies within the vSphere GUI, without having to log on to the Storage Virtualize system.
Highlights of IBM Storage Virtualize Plugin for vSphere
- Installation and registration of the plugin VM in a single or linked vCenter.
- Support for registering multiple pools from the same storage system within the vSphere GUI and the addition of multiple storage systems.
- Managing VMFS datastores which includes create, remove, expand VMFS datastores and taking a snapshot of a VMFS datastore.
- Storage information for vSphere objects, such as the VMFS datastore summary panel, the vSphere cluster summary, the ESXi host summary, and the configuration.
- Integration with Recent Tasks pane in vCenter.
- Ownership Groups support.
- Hyperlink to IBM Storage Insights from the plugin dashboard.
- The ability to manually rescan all plugin-managed items.
- Manage Snapshots by viewing, removing, and copying to a different datastore using clone or thin clone.
- Select appropriate volume group for datastore by viewing the snapshot and replication policies attached to it.
Block Diagram: IBM Storage Virtualize Plugin for vSphere
Features supported by Plugin
1. Manage Storage Systems
- Add Storage System:
Leverage the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to register compatible IBM storage systems.
- Edit Storage System:
Once a storage system is integrated into the plugin, modifications can be made to authentication, alias details, and managed pools.
- Delete Storage System:
If the plugin no longer needs to manage a specific storage system, it can be removed from the plugin.
- Connect with IBM Storage Insights:
Establish a connection to the registered instance of Storage Insights for the chosen storage system directly from the plugin dashboard.
- Manual Refresh of Storage System:
Rescan storage system and vSphere objects managed by the plugin.
For detailed information on Managing Storage Systems, please refer IBM KC documentation https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/svpfv/1.2.0?topic=managing-storage-systems-in-plugin-dashboard
2. Manage VMFS Datastore
- Create Datastore:
Users can effortlessly create single or multiple datastores with the plugin, specifying name, size, and counts. During creation, they can choose a storage system and designate a preferred storage pool. The interface provides host connectivity status, and during creation, users can optionally place the datastore in a volume group with associated snapshot and replication policies.
- Delete Datastore:
Utilize the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to automate the process of removing vSphere VMFS datastores. User will be notified upon deletion of a datastore through recent task.
- Expand Datastore:
Employ the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to automate the scaling of capacity for vSphere VMFS datastores.
For detailed information on Managing VMFS Datastore, please refer IBM KC documentation https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/svpfv/1.2.0?topic=managing-vmfs-datastores
3. Manage Datastore’s Volume Group
Volume Group serves as a unified entity for managing a set of related volumes as a single object. It ensures consistency throughout all volumes within the group. The functions that can be employed with volume groups include Safeguarded Copy, Policy-based replication and Snapshot function.
- View Volume Group:
Utilize the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to present details about the volume group of a selected Datastore on the storage system.
- Move Datastore to a Volume Group:
Employ the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to automate the management of a vSphere VMFS Datastore to a predefined volume group on a storage system.
- Remove Datastore from a Volume Group:
Use the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to automate the process of removing a VMFS Datastore from the volume group of a storage system.
For detailed information on Managing Datastore’s Volume Group, please refer IBM KC documentation https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/svpfv/1.2.0?topic=managing-datastores-volume-group
4. Manage Datastore’s Snapshot
- Take Snapshot:
Leverage the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to automate the initiation of a snapshot for a Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) datastore.
- View Snapshot:
Utilize the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to showcase details regarding snapshots of a chosen Datastore on the storage system.
- Copy to new datastore:
Leverage the IBM Storage Virtualize plugin for vSphere to automate the copying of an existing Datastore's snapshot to a new Datastore. To perform copy, user can select the desired snapshot from the list of snapshots and hit on the clone icon. The new Datastore name is auto populated by appending the current timestamp to the source Datastore's name, though user can specify a custom name if necessary. Depending on user's cloning needs, opt for either the Thin Clone or Clone card option and initiate the cloning process by clicking the "Copy" button.
Configuration
Plugin supports all block storage devices within the IBM Storage Virtualize family and includes IBM FlashSystem, IBM Storwize, and IBM SAN Volume Controller products that are running software levels 8.4.2.0 and higher.
The IBM Storage Virtualize Plugin for vSphere is based on the VMware Remote Plugin architecture and is supported on VMware vSphere 7.0 and higher.
The appliance in the form of OVA should have below resources:
- 2 vCPUs and 4 GB of memory
- 20 GB of datastore space
- Can be deployed on a vSphere Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) or vVol datastore.
- Networking (Ethernet, TCPIP):
- One IP address (IPv4), Static or DHCP provided, Gateway, DNS and Netmask
Summary
In a nutshell, the IBM Storage Virtualize Plugin for vSphere allows you to manage multiple IBM Storage systems through the vSphere GUI while also leveraging all storage management tasks such as provisioning VMFS datastores, Volume Groups and Snapshots.
References
For any queries, feel free to contact
Eddie Lin: edlin@us.ibm.com
Sandeep Bangur: sandeep.bangur@in.ibm.com
Subhojit Roy: subhojit.roy@in.ibm.com
Warren Hawkins: whawkins@uk.ibm.com
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