Book description
In this IBM® Redbooks® publication, we compiled best practices for planning, designing, implementing, and maintaining IBM Midrange Storage Solutions. In this publication, we use IBM System Storage® DS5000 storage subsystem for the implementation procedures, and the same procedures can be used for implementations with DCS3700 or DS3500 storage subsystems. We also compiled configurations for a VMware ESX and VMware ESXi Server host environment.
Setting up an IBM Midrange Storage Subsystem is a challenging task. Our principal objective in this book is to provide you with a sufficient overview to effectively enable storage area network (SAN) storage and VMware. There is no single configuration that is satisfactory for every application or situation. However, the effectiveness of the VMware implementation is enabled by careful planning and consideration. Although the compilation of this publication is derived from an actual setup and verification, we did not stress test or test for all possible use cases that are used in a limited configuration assessment.
Because of the highly customizable nature of a VMware ESXi host environment, you must consider your specific environment and equipment to achieve optimal performance from an IBM Midrange Storage Subsystem. When you are weighing the recommendations in this publication, you must start with the first principles of input/output (I/O) performance tuning. Each environment is unique and the correct settings that are used depend on the specific goals, configurations, and demands for the specific environment.
This publication is intended for technical professionals who
want to deploy VMware ESXi and VMware ESX Servers with IBM Midrange
Storage Subsystems.
Table of contents
- Front cover
- Notices
- Preface
- Part 1 Planning
- Chapter 1. Introduction of IBM VMware Midrange Storage Solutions
- Chapter 2. Security design of the VMware vSphere Infrastructure architecture
-
Chapter 3. Planning the VMware vSphere storage system design
- 3.1 VMware vSphere ESXi Server storage structure: Disk virtualization
- 3.2 Choosing the IBM Midrange Storage Subsystem for a VMware implementation
- 3.3 Overview of IBM Midrange Storage Systems
-
3.4 Storage subsystem considerations
- 3.4.1 Segment size
- 3.4.2 Midrange Storage Systems cache features
- 3.4.3 Enabling cache settings
- 3.4.4 Aligning file system partitions
- 3.4.5 Premium features
- 3.4.6 Considering individual virtual machines
- 3.4.7 Determining the best RAID level for logical drives and arrays
- 3.4.8 Server consolidation considerations
- 3.4.9 VMware ESX Server storage configurations
- 3.4.10 Configurations by function
- 3.4.11 Zoning
-
Chapter 4. Planning the VMware vSphere Server design
- 4.1 Considering the VMware vSphere Server platform
-
4.2 Operating system considerations
- 4.2.1 Buffering the I/O
- 4.2.2 Aligning host I/O with RAID striping
- 4.2.3 Recommendations for host bus adapter settings
- 4.2.4 Recommendations for Fibre Channel switch settings
- 4.2.5 Using Command Tag Queuing
- 4.2.6 Analyzing I/O characteristics
- 4.2.7 Using VMFS for spanning across multiple LUNs
- 4.2.8 Using the VAAI plug-in
- Part 2 Configuration
-
Chapter 5. VMware ESXi Server and storage configuration
- 5.1 Storage configuration
-
5.2 Installing the VMware ESX Server
- 5.2.1 Prerequisites
- 5.2.2 Configuring the hardware
- 5.2.3 Configuring the software on the VMware ESX Server host
- 5.2.4 Connecting to the VMware ESXi Server
- 5.2.5 Creating additional virtual switches for guests’ connectivity
- 5.2.6 Connecting to SAN storage by using iSCSI
- 5.2.7 Configuring VMware ESXi Server Storage
- 5.2.8 Verifying the multipathing policy for Fibre Channel LUNs
- 5.2.9 Creating virtual machines
- 5.2.10 Additional VMware ESX Server Storage configuration
- Chapter 6. VMware command-line tools for configuring vSphere ESXi storage
- Chapter 7. IBM System Storage Plug-In for VMware vCenter
- Chapter 8. VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM5) implementation
- Chapter 9. VMware vSphere ESXi 5 advanced configuration and new features
- Appendix A. VMware ESXi Fibre Channel configuration checklist
- Related publications
- Back cover
Product information
- Title: VMware Implementation with IBM System Storage DS5000
- Author(s):
- Release date: June 2013
- Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
- ISBN: None
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