EMC storage is integrated with Microsoft technologies when using the following EMC or Microsoft software and features:
• Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• Windows Server 2012 Offloaded Data Transfer
• Windows Server 2012 Thin-Provisioning Space Reclamation
• EMC Replication Manager
• EMC Storage Integrator (ESI)
• EMC Solutions Enabler
You can use Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) to efficiently manage a Hyper-V environment that can incorporate hundreds of physical servers.
SCVMM integrates with the various availability products such as failover clustering for a system that provides centralized management, reporting, and alerts. SCVMM also provides management services for VMware servers and their virtual machine resources.
You can use the centralized management console for a centralized view of all managed servers and resources. From the management console, you can discover, deploy, or migrate, existing virtual machines between managed physical servers. You can use this functionality to dynamically manage physical and virtual resources within the landscape, and to adapt to changing business demands.
SCVMM 2012 provides standards-based discovery and automation of iSCSI and Fibre Channel block storage resources in a virtualized data center environment. These new capabilities build on the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) that was developed by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). The SMI-S standardized management interface enables an application such as SCVMM to discover, assign, configure, and automate storage for heterogeneous arrays in a unified way. An SMI-S Provider uses SMI-S to enable storage management. To take advantage of this new storage capability, EMC updated the SMI-S Provider to support the SCVMM 2012 RTM and SP1 releases.
EMC SMI-S Provider supports unified management of multiple types of storage arrays.
With the one-to-many model enabled by the SMI-S standard, a virtual machine manager can interoperate, by using the EMC SMI-S Provider, with multiple disparate storage systems from the same virtual machine manager console that is used to manage all other private cloud components. Table 1 outlines some of the benefits of centralized storage management with SCVMM.
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager
EMC Storage with Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization 46 Table 1. Centralized storage management with SCVMM
Benefit Description
Reduce costs • On-demand storage—Aligns IT costs with business priorities by synchronizing storage allocation with fluctuating user demand. SCVMM elastic infrastructure supports thin provisioning, expanding or contracting the allocation of storage resources on EMC storage arrays in response to changing demand.
• Ease-of-use—Simplifies consumption of storage capacity, saves time, and lowers costs, by enabling the interaction of EMC storage arrays with, and the integration of storage automation capabilities within, the SCVMM private cloud.
Simplify
administration • Private cloud GUI—Allows administration of private cloud assets, including storage, through the SCVMM console, a single management UI for SCVMM or cloud administrators.
• Private cloud CLI—Enables automation through the SCVMM comprehensive set of Windows PowerShell cmdlets, including 25 new storage-specific cmdlets.
• Reduce errors—Tracks errors by using the SCVMM UI or CLI to view and request storage.
• Private cloud self-service portal—Provides a web-based interface that permits users to create virtual machines, as needed, with a storage capacity that is based on predefined classifications.
• Simpler storage requests—Automates storage requests to eliminate delays of days or weeks.
Deploy faster • Deploy VMs faster and at scale—Supports rapid provisioning of virtual machines to Hyper-V hosts or host clusters at scale. SCVMM can communicate directly with your SAN arrays to provision storage for your virtual machines. SCVMM 2012 can provision storage for a virtual machine in the following ways:
Create a new logical unit from an available storage pool—Controls the number and size of each logical unit.
Create a writeable snapshot of an existing logical unit—Provisions many virtual machines quickly by rapidly creating multiple copies of an existing virtual disk. Snapshots cause minimal loads on hosts and use space on the array efficiently.
Create a clone of an existing logical unit—Offloads a full copy of a virtual disk from the host to the array. Typically, clones do not use space-as efficiently as snapshots and take longer to create.
• Reduce load—Provisioning of virtual machines quickly using SAN-based storage resources takes full advantage of EMC array capabilities while placing no load on the network.
Storage Automation with System Center 2012 and EMC Storage Systems using SMI-S on EMC Online Support provides details about the integration between SCVMM and the EMC SMI-S provider.
The EMC SMI-S Provider is based on EMC Solutions Enabler and supports block based storage (FC/iSCSI) for both VMAX and VNX.
The VNX operating environment 8.1 or later supports SCVMM with an SMI-S provider that runs natively on the VNX control station. This SMI-S Provider is enabled by default and supports file based (CIFS) storage. The following basic functionality supports NAS storage within SCVMM and is supported by the VNX provider:
• Creating file systems and shares on VNX CIFS or NFS based servers
• Removing file systems and shares
Note: The file systems must be empty prior to removal.
• Updating SCVMM when creating new file systems or shares from management applications other than SCVMM (for example, Unisphere).
Note: SCVMM is updated by rescanning from the Provider area of the SCVMM console.
Configuring the System Center Virtual Machine Manager Console for the NAS SMI-S Provider, on EMC Online Support, provides updated instructions to configure SCVMM for use with the VNX File SMI-S Provider.
Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) is a new feature of the Windows Server 2012 operating system and the Windows 8 client. ODX enables Windows Server to offload data transfers between LUNs, or offload the writing of repeating patterns, to the storage area network (SAN). By offloading the data transfer or repeating the write pattern to the SAN, client-server network usage, CPU utilization and storage input output operations are reduced to nearly zero as the data movement is performed by the intelligent storage array. These operations can take a fraction of the time compared to conventional methods. ODX starts a copy request with an offload read operation and retrieves a token representing the data from the storage device. ODX then uses an offload write command, which includes the token, to request data movement from the source disk to the destination disk. The storage system then performs the actual data movement. Figure 29 illustrates the ODX process.
VNX operating environment file based SMI-S Provider
Windows Server 2012 Offloaded Data Transfer
EMC Storage with Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization 48 Figure 29. ODX process
You can use ODX based copy operations within a physical LUN or across multiple LUNs from the same storage array. You can also use ODX copy operations across multiple Windows Server 2012 hosts that have a source LUN on one server and a target on the secondary server within the same array. In this latter case, SMB 3.0 is required (and is implemented by Windows Server instances). Hyper-V virtual machines also support ODX for the Windows Server 2012 operating system. ODX supports virtual machine storage for VHDs (VHDX only,) Pass-through hard disks, virtual Fibre Channel LUNs, or iSCSI LUNs presented directly to the virtual machine.
ODX is enabled by default within Windows Server 2012 and you can use it for any file copy operation where the file is greater than 256 KB in size. Windows automatically detects whether ODX is supported by a given storage device. If the storage device does not support ODX, the device uses a standard host-based copy. If ODX is
supported, but an offload request is rejected by the storage array, Windows reverts to a host based copy to complete the operation. In some cases, when ODX is rejected, Windows waits three minutes before again attempting to use ODX against that device. The copy operation that failed an ODX call can continue to use legacy copy operations until completion.
ODX is especially useful for copying large files between file shares, deploying virtual machines from templates, and performing storage live migrations of virtual machines between LUNs. In addition to copy operations, ODX can be used for offloading the writing of repeating patterns to a storage device. For example, Hyper-V with Windows
Server 2012 uses ODX to offload writing a range of zeros when creating fixed VHDs.
Windows Offloaded Data Transfers overview, on Microsoft TechNet, provides more details.
The client that requests the copy operation must be ODX-aware. You must use Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 to initiate the copy operation for ODX to engage.
ODX also requires the storage arrays within the SAN to support the offload requests from the operating system based on the T10 specifications (http://www.t10.org/.) For ODX to be leveraged in Hyper-V virtual machines, virtual SCSI adapters with VHDX (VHD format is not supported) and pass-through disks or virtual Fibre Channel
adapters are required.
If ODX is enabled on an EMC storage array, for example, following a code upgrade, you must either reboot the Windows 2012 server or mask and unmask the devices so that Windows can detect the change in ODX support. Windows Server 2012 discovers device feature support characteristics only at the time of initial device discovery and enumeration. Any change in device feature support characteristics for previously discovered devices is not recognized without a host reboot or device re-discovery.
Table 2 lists ODX support for EMC storage arrays:
Table 2. ODX support for EMC storage arrays Storage array Supported version Notes VNX Block VNX OE for block version
05.32.000.5.201 released on 2/22/2013
An ODX enabler must be installed on the VNX before the ODX feature can be used.
Where can the ODX enabler for VNX OE 05.32 be obtained? on EMC Online Support provides details about the enabler and how to obtain it.
VNX File VNX OE for file version 7.1.65.8 released on 2/22/2013
EMC VNX Series: Introduction to SMB 3.0 Support on EMC Online Support provides details about support for ODX with SMB 3.0.
VNXe VNXe OE version 2.4.0.20932 (MR4) released on 1/7/2013
EMC VNX Series: Introduction to SMB 3.0 Support on EMC Online Support provides details about support for ODX with SMB 3.0.
VMAX Enginuity version 5876.229.145 (Q2 2013 SR)
Enabled by default
Starting with SCVMM 2012 R2, you can use ODX when you deploy virtual machines from templates. When using the network transfer type, SCVMM 2012 R2
automatically attempts to use ODX to perform the virtual machine deployments if ODX is supported in the environment.
For ODX to be used, the library server, Hyper-V hosts, and clusters need an
appropriate run as account for their host management credentials. You can assign ODX support
EMC Storage with Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization 50 the credential by specifying a run as account, which has permissions to the servers to be added, while adding the server or cluster into SCVMM. The run as account is then assigned to the host management credentials as shown in Figure 30.
Figure 30. Host management credentials
For clustered hosts previously added to SCVMM, the ability to change the host management credential can be disabled from within the SCVMM console. To change the credential, run the following PowerShell commands:
$Cluster = Get-SCVMHostCluster -Name HyperVR2Clus.contoso.com
$RunAs = Get-SCRunAsAccount -Name dcadmin Set-SCVmHostCluster -VMHostCluster $Cluster – VMHostManagementCredential $RunAs
When ODX is automatically invoked, the create virtual machine job performing the deployment displays a step called Deploy file (using Fast File Copy) as shown in Figure 31.
Figure 31. Create virtual machine with ODX
If ODX fails or is not used when you create a virtual machine, the deployment continues and completes by reverting to a traditional host based copy. The job displays a status of Completed w/ Info which notes the failure to use ODX. Figure 32 shows an example.
Figure 32. SCVMM 2012 R2 failure to invoke ODX
Storage arrays such as VMAX and VNX support a pooling and storage allocation on-demand functionality called virtual (or thin) provisioning. You can use thin
provisioning to allocate storage for a specific device, within a thin pool, when a server writes data for the first time. Resources are more efficiently used by only allocating storage on-demand. Over time, the data written by the server cancan be deleted, but the space allocated within the thin pool persists, leading to inefficient storage utilization. Windows Server 2012 includes a new feature that allows the operating system to request that previously written, but now deleted data, is reclaimed. This reclaim functionality frees the allocated, but no longer required data, from within a thin pool.
Windows Server 2012 supports detecting thinly provisioned storage and issuing T10 standard UNMAP or TRIM based reclaim commands against that storage. Windows Windows Server
2012 thin
provisioning space reclamation
EMC Storage with Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization 52 Server 2012 uses the UNMAP specification for reclaim operations against EMC
storage. The following EMC storage supports detection and reclamation with UNMAP:
• VNX—Support for thin awareness and reclamation is provided in VNX OE for block version 05.32.000.5.201 released on 2/22/2013.
• Symmetrix VMAX—Support for thin awareness and reclamation is available starting in the Enginuity 5876 Q4 2012 Service Release. We recommend using the newest Enginuity release (Q2 2013 SR or higher) prior to using Windows Server 2012 reclamation support.
If a LUN is detected as a thin provisioned drive in Windows Server 2012, by default reclaim operations are performed under the following scenarios:
• When a volume residing on a thin provisioned drive is formatted with the quick option, the entire size of the volume is reclaimed in real-time.
• When the Optimize option is selected for a volume as a part of a regularly scheduled operation, or when manually selected from the Optimize Drives interface shown in Figure 33. By default, drives are automatically optimized on a weekly basis. CSVs cannot be optimized unless they are in redirected mode.
• When the optimize-volume PowerShell cmdlet is used with the Retrim option.
• When a file or groups of files are deleted from a file system, Windows
automatically issues reclaim commands for the area of the file system that was freed based on the file deletion. This is also true for CSV volumes, even if they are not in redirected mode. This automated method of reclamation reduces the need of running optimize operations; however to achieve full efficiency, an optimize drive operation may still need to be run.
Windows Server 2012 supports reclaim operations against both NTFS and ReFS formatted volumes. The new VHDX virtual disk format, native to Windows Server 2012, also supports reclaim operations from within a Hyper-V virtual machine to a virtual disk. You can perform all reclaim operations supported on a physical LUN within and against a VHDX based virtual disk or against a pass-through disk presented to a Hyper-V based virtual machine.
Figure 33. Windows Server 2012 Optimize Drives dialog box
You can globally disable the default behavior of issuing reclaim operations on a Windows 2012 server. Modify the disabledeletenotify parameter to prevent reclaim operations from being issued against all volumes on the server. This setting can be changed with the Fsutil command line tool included with Windows Server 2012.
To disable reclaim operations run the following from an elevated command prompt:
Fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 1 To query the reclamation setting:
Fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify
If DisableDeleteNotify = 0, this is the default value and reclamation is enabled.
If DisableDeleteNotify = 1, space reclamation is disabled.
Lab testing has shown that both automatic reclamation and reclaim when running optimize volume operations are disabled when DisableDeleteNotify = 1. No reboot is required and the change takes effect immediately.
For Windows Server 2012 environments that use space reclamation, install the Update that improves cloud service provider resiliency in Windows Server 2012 hotfix package from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2870270. The hotfix contains a fix to help prevent file system hangs while reclaim operations are being performed.
EMC Storage with Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization 54 EMC Replication Manager simplifies the management of storage replication,
integrates with critical business applications, and creates, mounts, and restores point-in-time replicas of databases or file systems residing on supported storage arrays. You can also use it to perform automatic discovery of changes to the storage or application environment and delegate tasks to appropriate resources. Replication Manager includes the following benefits:
• Automated management of point-in-time replicas on EMC Symmetrix, EMC CLARiiON®, EMC VNX™, EMC Celerra®, and EMC VNXe ™ storage.
• Application consistent replication of Microsoft, Oracle, and UDB applications.
• Reduces or eliminates the need for scripting solutions for replication tasks.
• Provides a single management console and wizards to simplify replication tasks.
• Improved recovery and restore features, including application recovery.
• Integration with physical, VMware, Hyper-V, or IBM AIX VIO virtual environments Replicas can be stored on EMC Symmetrix TimeFinder®mirrors, clones, or snapshots;
CLARiiON clones or snapshots; VNX snapshots, Celerra SnapSure™ local snapshots, or EMC Celerra Replicator™ remote snapshots. Replication Manager also supports data using the RecoverPoint Appliance storage service. Use Replication Manager to perform local and remote replications using TimeFinder, Open Replicator, EMC SRDF, EMC SAN Copy™, EMC Navisphere®, EMC Celerra iSCSI, Celerra NFS, and/or replicas of EMC MirrorView™/A or MirrorView/S secondaries using EMC SnapView™snapshot and SnapView clone replication technologies where they are appropriate.
You can install Replication Manager on Hyper-V virtual machines and perform
replications, mounts, and restores of devices residing on Symmetrix, CLARiiON, VNX, and Celerra storage. Replication Manager requires either iSCSI or pass-through storage to support Hyper-V environments. Replication Manager product and administrator guides on EMC Online Support provide information about Hyper-V support.
EMC Storage Integrator (ESI) for Windows Suite is a set of tools which integrate Microsoft Windows and Microsoft applications with EMC storage arrays. The suite includes: ESI for Windows, ESI PowerShell Toolkit, ESI Service, ESI SCOM
Management Packs, ESI SCO Integration Pack, and the ESI Service PowerShell Toolkit.
You can use ESI for Windows to view, provision, and manage block and file storage for Microsoft Windows environments. ESI supports the EMC Symmetrix VMAX, EMC VNX, EMC VNXe and EMC CLARiiON CX4 series of storage arrays.
In addition to physical environments ESI also supports storage provisioning and discovery for Windows virtual machines that run on Microsoft Hyper-V, in addition to other types of hypervisors. For Hyper-V, ESI supports the creation of VHDs and pass-through disks, and also supports the creation of host disks and clustered shared volumes.
EMC Replication Manager
EMC Storage Integrator
Figure 34. ESI MMC mapping of Hyper-V VMs
The ESI PowerShell Toolkit is a powerful option for discovering and managing
Windows environments, including Hyper-V. ESI includes over 150 PowerShell cmdlets for discovering and managing virtual machines, servers and storage arrays. For example, the following script uses ESI to take all Hyper-V registered hosts, discover all host volumes and map them to the underlying storage LUN and pool (the script output is shown in Figure 35).
$myobj = @()
$hypervsystem=get-emchypervsystem foreach ($system in $hypervsystem){
$volumes=$system | get-emchostvolume foreach ($vol in $volumes){
$lun= $vol | get-emclun
$pool= $lun | get-emcstoragepool
$myobjtemp = New-Object System.Object
$myobjtemp | Add-member -name ComputerName -type NoteProperty -value $system.Name
$myobjtemp | Addmember name VolumePath type NoteProperty -value $vol.MountPath
$myobjtemp | Addmember name VNXLunName type NoteProperty -value $Lun.Name
$myobjtemp | Add-member -name VNXLunCapacity -type NoteProperty -value $Lun.Capacity
$myobjtemp | Addmember name PoolName type NoteProperty -value $pool.Name
$myobjtemp | Addmember name PoolTotal type NoteProperty
$myobjtemp | Addmember name PoolTotal type NoteProperty