VMware Virtual SAN Cookbook
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About this ebook
The perfect guide to successful VMware Virtual SAN implementation and operations, with recipes to guide you through the process
About This Book- Design a Virtual SAN infrastructure from selecting hardware to full capacity.
- Deploy and manage a software-defined storage solution with VMware Virtual SAN
- Prepare for architectural and scale changes as your enterprise grows and develops
If you are an administrator of a VMware vSphere infrastructure and want to simplify storage delivery by integrating storage into vSphere, this book is for you. No extensive storage background is needed as VMware Virtual SAN integrates into the existing vSphere solutions with which you are already familiar.
What You Will Learn- Prepare your infrastructure for VMware Virtual SAN
- Plan and build infrastructure solutions to suit your needs
- Implement VMware Virtual SAN
- Exploit the power of policy-based management
- Increase or decrease the scale of your Virtual SAN as needs change
- Monitor your Virtual SAN infrastructure effectively
- Respond to and troubleshoot problems
VMware Virtual SAN is a radically simple, hypervisor-converged storage, designed and optimized for vSphere virtual infrastructure. VMware introduced the software to help customers store more and more virtual machines.
As data centers continue to evolve and grow, managing infrastructure becomes more challenging. Traditional storage solutions like monolithic storage arrays and complex management are often ill-suited to the needs of the modern data center. Software-defined storage solutions, like VMware Virtual SAN, integrate the storage side of the infrastructure with the server side, and can simplify management and improve flexibility.
This book is a detailed guide which provides you with the knowledge you need to successfully implement and manage VMware VSAN and deployed infrastructures.
You will start with an introduction to VSAN and object storage, before moving on to hardware selection, critical to a successful VSAN deployment. Next, you will discover how to prepare your existing infrastructure to support your VSAN deployment and explore Storage policy-Based Management, including policy changes, maintenance, validation, and troubleshooting VSAN. Finally, the book provides recipes to expedite the resolution process and gather all the information required to pursue a rapid resolution.
Style and approachA practical guide to implementing VMware Virtual SAN filled with recipes, tips, and detailed explanations.
Jeffrey Taylor
Jeffrey Taylor is an IT professional with deep knowledge of VMware vSphere and storage infrastructures. He has been working with VMware's global support services for nearly 5 years and is currently a staff engineer with a focus on Virtual SAN and storage infrastructure. Before his current role, he worked on a variety of software platforms for a global financial processor, with an emphasis on Unix/Linux midrange systems and mission-critical distributed applications.
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VMware Virtual SAN Cookbook - Jeffrey Taylor
Table of Contents
VMware Virtual SAN Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
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Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Sections
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Conventions
Reader feedback
Customer support
Errata
Piracy
Questions
1. Hardware Selection for Your VSAN Cluster
Introduction
Using the VMware Compatibility Guides
Getting ready
How to do it…
Selecting a server platform
Getting ready
How to do it…
There's more…
Selecting a storage controller
Getting ready
How to do it…
There's more…
Selecting a solid-state drive (SSD) for the cache tier
Getting ready
How to do it…
There's more…
See also
Selecting capacity tier disks
Getting ready
How to do it…
There's more…
See also
Deciding on a network standard
Getting ready
How to do it…
See also
Choosing a VSAN Ready Node (an alternative option)
Getting ready
How to do it…
See also
2. Initial Configuration and Validation of Your VSAN Cluster
Introduction
Preparing the vCenter cluster for VSAN
Getting ready
How to do it…
There's more…
See also
Applying VSAN licensing (optional)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
Configuring VSAN networking on a new standard switch
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Configuring VSAN networking on an existing switch
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Enabling SSH on the ESXi hosts (if applicable)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Tagging disks as local solid-state drives (if applicable)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Enabling VSAN on your cluster
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Manually claiming disks for use by VSAN (if applicable)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Performing initial validation of the new VSAN cluster
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Enabling vSphere HA
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
See also
3. Storage Policy-based Management
Introduction
Creating VM storage policies
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Applying storage policies to a new VM or a VM deployed from a template
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Applying storage policies to an existing VM migrating to VSAN
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Viewing a VM's storage policies and object distribution
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Changing storage policies on a VM already residing in VSAN
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Modifying existing storage policies
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
Summary
4. Monitoring VSAN
Introduction
Examining VSAN datastore health
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Examining VSAN disk health
Getting ready…
How to do it…
How it works…
Examining VM object health
Getting ready…
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
Creating VSAN-specific alarms
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Examining VSAN resync activity (vSphere 6.0)
Getting ready…
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
5. VSAN Maintenance Operations
Introduction
Understanding and using VSAN Maintenance Mode
Getting ready
How to do it…
There's more…
See also
Adding disks to VSAN
Getting ready
How to do it…
Expand an existing disk group
How it works…
See also
Removing disks/disk groups from VSAN
Getting ready
How to do it...
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Replacing disks in VSAN in the event of a disk failure
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Changing VSAN networking
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Permanently decommissioning a VSAN node
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Recovering a VSAN cluster in the event that vCenter is lost/migrating a VSAN cluster to a new vCenter server
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
6. Ruby vSphere Console
Introduction
Launching RVC (Windows vCenter)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works...
There's more…
See also
Launching RVC (Linux vCenter Appliance)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
Navigating RVC
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
The vsan.cluster_info command
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
The vsan.disks_stats command
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
The vsan.vm_object_info command
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
The vsan.vm_perf_stats command
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
The vsan.resync_dashboard command
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
7. Troubleshooting VSAN
Introduction
Investigating network partitions (with vSphere Web Client)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Investigating network partitions (without vSphere Web Client)
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Investigating storage provider registration problems
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Investigating other SPBM problems
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
Investigating VM provisioning or power-on failures
Getting ready
How to do it…
Out-of-space failures
Availability-related failures
How it works…
There's more…
Investigating disk failures
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
See also
Investigating VSAN performance with VSAN Observer
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
There's more…
See also
8. Support Success
Introduction
Formulating a problem description
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works …
Formulating a problem summary
Getting ready
How to do it …
How it works…
Collecting logging information
Getting ready
How to do it…
Collecting logs with the vSphere Web Client
Collecting logs with the legacy vSphere Client
Collecting logs via the command line with vm-support
How it works …
Collecting other diagnostic information
Getting ready
How to do it…
Collecting VSAN support information (Linux RVC)
Collecting VSAN support information (Windows RVC)
Collecting VSAN Observer Data
How it works…
9. VSAN 6.0
Introduction
Tagging disks as SSDs in vSphere 6.0
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
VSAN 6.0 fault domains
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works...
Upgrading to the VSAN 6.0 on-disk format
Getting ready
How to do it…
How it works…
A. Chapter-specific Expansions
Chapter 1 – VSAN Capacity Planning
Best-practice limits to space consumption
Data working set size and capacity-tier sizing
Cluster symmetry
Other considerations
Chapter 2 – HA requirements for VSAN enablement
HA behavior in non-VSAN clusters
HA behavior in VSAN clusters
The benefits of moving HA to the VSAN network
Chapter 3A – VSAN-specific storage-policy options
Number of failures to tolerate
Limitations
Number of disk stripes per object
Limitations
Object space reservation
Limitations
Force provisioning
Limitations
Flash read cache reservation
Limitations
Chapter 3B – VSAN Default Storage Policy
Chapter 6 – vCenter inventory layout in RVC
B. Additional VSAN Information
VSAN network considerations
Uplinks
Link speed
Link Aggregation
The role of multicast
The role of unicast
Jumbo frames
VSAN object distribution
vCenter object distribution view and VM snapshots
Understanding VSAN striping
Per object quorum in VSAN
VSAN synchronous I/O flow
VSAN object resynchronization
VSAN cluster expansion
Adding a node to the VSAN cluster
Node addition and auto-claim
Rebalancing after node addition
VSAN rebuild logic and thresholds
VSAN object rebuilds due to a disk fault or failure
VSAN object rebuilds due to extended outage
VSAN object rebuilds during maintenance
RVC scripting and redirects
Executing RVC operations as a single command
Redirecting RVC output to a file
Avoiding the use of plain-text passwords in the RVC command
Third-party utilities
Utilities for HP SmartArray controllers
Utilities for LSI/Avago-based controllers
Index
VMware Virtual SAN Cookbook
VMware Virtual SAN Cookbook
Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: August 2015
Production reference: 1270815
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78217-454-7
www.packtpub.com
Credits
Author
Jeffrey Taylor
Reviewers
Chris M Evans
Charbel Nemnom
Vladan SEGET
Commissioning Editor
Ashwin Nair
Acquisition Editor
James Jones
Content Development Editor
Anish Sukumaran
Technical Editors
Namrata Patil
Tanmayee Patil
Copy Editors
Tani Kothari
Angad Singh
Project Coordinator
Mary Alex
Proofreader
Safis Editing
Indexer
Rekha Nair
Graphics
Jason Monteiro
Production Coordinator
Aparna Bhagat
Cover Work
Aparna Bhagat
About the Author
Jeffrey Taylor is an IT professional with deep knowledge of VMware vSphere and storage infrastructures. He has been working with VMware's global support services for nearly 5 years and is currently a staff engineer with a focus on Virtual SAN and storage infrastructure. Before his current role, he worked on a variety of software platforms for a global financial processor, with an emphasis on Unix/Linux midrange systems and mission-critical distributed applications.
About the Reviewers
Chris M Evans has worked in the IT industry for over 27 years. After receiving a BSc (Hons) in computational science and mathematics from the University of Leeds, his early IT career started in mainframe and followed both systems programming and storage paths. During the dot-com boom, he also cofounded and successfully floated a company that sold music and digital downloads. For most of the last 20 years, Chris has worked as an independent consultant, focusing on open systems storage, and more recently, virtualization and cloud. He has worked in industry verticals including finance, transport, utilities, retail, designing, deploying, and managing storage infrastructures for all major vendors. In addition to his consultancy work, Chris writes a widely read and respected blog, http://blog.architecting.it, and produces articles for online publications. He has also been featured in numerous podcasts as a guest and content provider.
Charbel Nemnom is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Hyper-V and technical evangelist with 5nine Software. He has extensive infrastructure expertise and a lot of knowledge of a variety of Microsoft and VMware technologies. He has over 13 years of professional experience in the information technology field and in guiding technical teams to optimize the performance of mission-critical enterprise systems. He has worked as a system and network engineer, senior consultant, and IT manager and has a history of successful enterprise projects in the IT, banking, education, and publishing sectors. He works as a virtualization consultant architect in the MENA region. He coauthored Hyper-V Best Practices, Packt Publishing.
Charbel also runs his blog at https://charbelnemnom.com, where he writes frequently about software-defined data center and cloud computing.
Charbel has certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and VMware and holds these credentials: VCA-DCV, MCP, MCSA, MCTS, MCITP, MCS, MCSE, CCNP, ITIL®, and PMP®. You can follow him on Twitter at @CharbelNemnom.
I would like to extend a big thank you to my family, especially to my wife, Ioana, for her support and patience throughout this project. She is the reason I can fulfill my dream and follow my passion.
Last but not least, I want to thank the Packt Publishing team for supporting all the authors and reviewers during this project.
Vladan SEGET is as an independent consultant, professional blogger, vExpert, VCAP5-DCA/DCD, and VCP 4/5. His blog, an ESX virtualization site, which can be found at http://www.vladan.fr/, was started as a simple bookmarking site but quickly found a large following of readers and subscribers. Today, it's one of the leading virtualization blogs.
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