October 2009
Beginner to intermediate
298 pages
7h 11m
English
Content preview from VMware Cookbook
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Chapter 2. Storage
Storage will be one of the key components in your virtualized environment. In this chapter we will look at the different types of storage and ways to successfully configure and use them within the ESX environment.
2.1. Comparing ESX Storage Options
Problem
You want to know which network storage types ESX supports and what each type offers.
Solution
Review the comparison tables in this recipe.
Discussion
Table 2-1 lays out the types of storage ESX supports. Table 2-2 lists the features different storage types can utilize in ESX. It’s important to understand the technologies and their capabilities and limitations when setting up your ESX environment.
Table 2-1. Storage options for VMware ESX Servers
Technology | Protocols | Transfer | Interface |
Fibre Channel | FC/SCSI | Block access/LUN | FC host bus adapter (HBA) |
Local storage | SCSI/SAS | Block access | Local SCSI or SAS controller |
iSCSI | IP/SCSI | Block access/LUN | iSCSI HBA for hardware iSCSI Ethernet card for software iSCSI |
NAS | IP/NFS | File level | Ethernet card |
Table 2-2. Storage features offered by types of storage on VMware ESX
Servers
Type | Boot VM | VMotion | RDM | VMCluster | Datastore | HA and DRS |
SCSI | Yes | No | No | No | VMFS | No |
Fibre Channel | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | VMFS | Yes |
iSCSI | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | VMFS | Yes |
NAS/NFS | Yes | Yes | No | No | NFS | Yes |
2.2. Storage Device Naming Scheme
Problem
You wish to understand how ESX names its devices when working with storage in ESX.
Solution
This recipe breaks down the naming scheme so you can understand how it works.
Discussion
The format of a storage device name in ESX consists of three or ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.