Virtual Volumes (VVol) · Vendor Specific VASA Providermatched to storage array Extends vSphere Storage Policy-Based Management to the storage ecosystem SPBM uses array native capabilities

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Virtual Volumes (VVol)Deep DivePatrick Dirks, VMware, Inc.Pete Flecha, VMware, Inc.

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VMworld 2018 Content: Not for publication or distribution

Disclaimer

2©2018 VMware, Inc.

This presentation may contain product features orfunctionality that are currently under development.

This overview of new technology represents no commitment from VMware to deliver these features in any generally available product.

Features are subject to change, and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders, or sales agreements of any kind.

Technical feasibility and market demand will affect final delivery.

Pricing and packaging for any new features/functionality/technology discussed or presented, have not been determined.



CLIFF DIVING in Cinque TerreVMworld 2018 Content: Not for publication or distribution







Agenda


VVols Under the Hood

VVols Compared

VVol Replication

Migration Considerations

What’s New for VVols

Q & A



vCenter Deployments with Vvols VMware Analytics Cloud (VAC)

vSphere 6.0

vSphere 6.5

2017 2018

vCen

ter

Dep

loym

ents

with

VV

ols

vSphere 6.7





VVol value proposition resonates with vSphere customers• VM granularity & Storage Policy Based Management• Direct and standardized integration from storage array to vCenter• Tighter control and reporting

Customer shift to vSphere versions that support VVols• vSphere 5.5 End of Support in September 2018• Many VMware customers are just now upgrading to vSphere 6.5• Most vSphere customers are not on a release that supports VVols

Success of HCI – Shift to vSphere admin centricity• VI admin now manages Compute, Network, Storage

Why are VVols Gaining Traction?



Virtual Volumes is Simpler, Smarter, Faster

Simplified Management

Smarter Infrastructure

Improved Performance


‹#› 12©2018 VMware, Inc.

VVols Under the Hood



vSphere Virtual Volumes

Integration Framework for VM-Aware Storage

vSphere VVols

Storage Policy Management by SPBM

No File System; virtual disks are natively represented on arrays

Vendor Specific VASA Provider matched to storage array

Extends vSphere Storage Policy-Based Management to the storage ecosystem

SPBM uses array native capabilities on a VM granular storage

Supports existing storage I/O protocols (FC, iSCSI, NFS)

Based on T10 industry standards

Industry-wide initiative supported by all major storage vendors

Included with vSphere at no additional costVVol enabled Storage Cluster

Storage Array VASA Provider

VVol VVol VVol VVol VVol VVol



VASA Provider (VP)

Management component for specific array• Presents array’s SPBM capabilities• Provides Storage Awareness services• Creates and manages Virtual Volumes

ESX and VC connect to VASA Provider (VP) using VMware-defined VASA protocol

Service can run anywhere; interface to array is private

Standard VASA

Control Path

Private array

Control PathVVol enabled Storage Cluster

Storage Container

VVol Datastore

Protocol Endpoint(s)

Standard SAN/NAS Data Path

VASA Provider

PEPE




• Two main types of datastores in use today:– NFS Mount Points (NAS)– IP or block based datastores (SAN)

• Datastores serve two purposes today:– Endpoints – receive SCSI or NFS I/O commands– Data repository – holding large numbers of VM

metadata and data files

• Differences between PEs and Datastores:– Concept is same for all storage: mount point for

NAS, LUN for SAN-based storage– PEs is ONLY the destination for I/O commands;

PEs don’t directly store files or VVols themselves

Protocol Endpoints (PEs)

Standard VASAControl Path

Private arrayControl PathVVol enabled Storage Cluster

Storage Container

VVol Datastore

ProtocolEndpointLUN(s)

Standard SAN/NAS Data

Path

VASA Provider


PE PE PE



Bindings are data path coordinating mechanisms that occurs between VASA providers and ESXi hosts for accessing virtual volume.

• Different Binding Mechanism:

– Binding – allows array create I/O channels for a virtual volume

– Unbind – destroys the I/O channel for a virtual volume to a given ESXi host

– Rebind – provides the ability to change the I/O path (i.e. choice of PE) for a given virtual volumes run time using array-generated events.

Binding Operations

create bind

unbinddelete

VM Creation VM power-onopen (2)

I/O read (2)

I/O write (2)

VM power-offclose (2)

VM destroy

VP rebalance

REBINDI/O

Virtual Volume Lifecycle



Storage Container

Storage Containers

• Logical storage constructs for grouping of virtual volumes.

• Corresponds 1:1 with datastores in vSphere

• Typically defined and setup by storage administrators in order to define:

– Storage capacity limits

– Capability/policy restrictions

• Minimum one storage container per array

• Maximum depends on the array

vSphere VVols

Array Storage Cluster

VVol Partner VASA Provider

VVol Datastore

Storage Container

vSphere View

Storage View

VVolVVolVVol

VVolVVolVVol



Virtual Volumes • Virtual machine objects stored natively

on array• “Owned” and operated on by array only• SLA defined by object’s storage policy

There are five different types of Virtual Volumes:• CONFIG – vmx, logs, nvram, log files, etc• DATA – VMDKs• MEM – Snapshots• SWAP – Swap files• Other – vSphere solution specific type

vSphere Virtual Volumes

vSphere Web Client View

vvol

Mem

Data

Config

VVol

Swap

VVol

VVol

VVol



Differences between Storage Containers and LUNs

• Introduced where limits are desirable

• Storage containers are logical constructs that can be reconfigured without disrupting current users

• Storage containers can present multiplecapabilities, SLA/QoS directed by storage policy

Storage Containers

10PB


LUN • Size is fixed, growing is painful

• All blocks are same

• Needs a filesystem

• Array is unaware of use of individual blocks:

• Filesystem metadata, vmdk blocks, VM metadata

• Managed by in-band fileSystem commands



Standard VASAControl Path

Private arrayControl PathVVol enabled Storage Cluster

Storage Container

VVol Datastore

VASA Provider


Seamless Data Protection of Virtual Volumes

Standard VADP Libraries work independent of datastore type

SAN Transport Mode not supported but Hot Add Mode yields equivalent performance

Arrays leverage insight into virtual disk structure to offer native data protection options


‹#› 21©2018 VMware, Inc.

Simpler, Smarter, FasterVVols Compared



Storage Container vs LUNs• Logical vs Physical• Boundaries at VI admin’s choice• VM granular policy vs. fixed, uniform blocks

Retail vs. Wholesale

Policy change vs. Storage Migration

VVols are Simpler



Encryption

Deduplication

Replication

QoS

Disk Type

Array Capabilities and Storage Policies

• Storage Admin creates Storage Containers, selecting

• size limit

• capabilities

• VI Admin registers VP

• VP presents Storage Containers and associated capabilities to vSphere

• VI Admin authors VM Storage Polices based on presented capabilities to match expected VM needs

• VI Admin assigns policies as VMs are provisioned

• Storage policies determine selection of datastore

Storage Capabilities to Storage Policies


VVol enabled Storage Cluster

Storage Array VASA Provider

VASA Provider

“Development”Test\Dev

Availability

PerformanceData

ProtectionSecurity

“Staging”Capacity

Availability

HDDData

ProtectionEncrypted

“Production”Performance

Snapshots

All FlashData

ProtectionEncrypted

PE PE

Storage Container

vSphere VVolsVVol Datastore


10PB



SPBM vs Spreadsheets• Visibility into array capabilities• Filters datastores to highlight compatible

storage for a given storage policy• Makes storage requirements explicit and visible

for inspection/compliance verification

Array “owns” VVols• Array can apply its full capabilities• Efficient clones and snapshots

Policies can control array behavior• QoS• Replication• Availability

VVols Are Smarter



SPBM Policy Disk Type Snapshots Encryption QoS Dedupe Replication

RAID

Production All Flash Yes Yes 10K IOPS Enabled NYC RAID-6

Staging All Flash Yes No 5K IOPS Disabled LA RAID-10

EvaluationHybrid No Yes 1K IOPS Enabled Miami RAID-6

Test/Dev HDD No Yes Best Effort Disabled No RAID-0

Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM)Storage Policies Managed within vSphere

RAID

Policy-based storage configuration, protection and replicationat the VM and application-level

vSphere VVols


• VASA lets arrays present their unique native capabilities

• SPBM lets you compose capabilities into storage policies assigned to VMs or virtual disks

• Policies cover- storage configuration- data protection- replication- data encryption



Clones and snapshots offloaded• Exploit array’s native capabilities – instant

deletion• Inherent space efficiency

Policy change vs Storage Migration• Heterogeneous containers vs uniform LUNs• Policy changes happen behind the scenes• QoS on the fly

VVols are Faster



Snapshots: VMFS vs VVols

1h

1d

1w

1h

VVolID 56

Snapshots in non-VVolstorage

• Without array offloading, vSphere emulates snapshots with its own redo log mechanism

• Redo logs are optimized for discarding changes, going back to an earlier point. Committingchanges is a slow and laborious process involving repeating all intervening I/O.

Virtual Volumes

• VVols offload snapshots to the array to create them in the most efficient way possible.

• No data is copied between array and host during creation or deletion of snapshots

• Snapshot time is bounded (and minimal)

VVolID 66

VVolID 56

VVolID 42

Creation and deletion of snapshots is faster and more efficient on VVol storage due to array offloading of management operations

VMFS VVols


‹#› 28©2018 VMware, Inc.

Virtual Volume Replication



VASA Replication Model

Overview

• Replication is modeled as relationship (“Replication Group”) between “Fault Domains”

• Topology Discovery (Fault Domains, Replication Groups) through VASA APIs

• VASA replication APIs intended to substitute for SRA interface when dealing with finer-grained replication technologies (e.g. VVol, VAIO)

• Replication APIs operate on Replication Group-granularity

Palo Alto

New York

Miami

RG-NY-Marketing

RG-MIA-Sales

RG-NY-Accounting



Replication Groups Presented for Selection

Overview

• Users select1. policy containing replication

2. Compatible datastore

3. Choose from list of replication groups

• “Special” replication group presented for replication providers that support creating new RGs on the request

• The policy defines the SLA

• Replication Groups collect together VMs or disks that need to be replicated in a write-order consistent fashionVMworld 2018 Content: Not for publication or distribution


VASA Replication Model – APIs

SRA command VASA API PowerCLI

Synchronize syncReplicationGroup Sync-SpbmReplicationGroup

Failover failoverReplicationGroup Start-SpbmReplicationFailoverStart-SpbmReplicationPrepareFailover

TestFailover testFailoverReplicationGroupStarttestFailoverReplicationGroupStop

Start-SpbmReplicationTestFailoverStop-SpbmReplicationTestFailover

Reprotect reverseReplicateGroup Start-SpbmReplicationReverse

Replication discovery

queryReplicationPeerqueryFaultDomain

queryReplicationGroupqueryPointInTimeReplica

Get-SpbmFaultDomainGet-SpbmReplicationGroupGet-SpbmReplicationPair



SRM Support for VVols with Array Based Replication

Site Recovery Manager (SRM) plans to support protection and orchestrated recovery of virtual machines that are located on Virtual Volumes and replicated by Storage Array based replication

VVol + SRM Now On SRM Roadmap!


‹#› 33©2018 VMware, Inc.

Migration Considerations



Requirements and Incompatibility for VVols

Hosts must be ESXi 6.x, must have a vCenter Server 6.x

Array firmware must support VVols (may need to upgrade)

Must use supported storage protocol (varies by vendor)

Storage array capable & licensed to support thin provisioning & snapshots

HBA driver that supports Secondary LUN IDs

• Storage I/O Control • NFS version 4.1• Storage Distributed Resource

Scheduler (SDRS) • Raw Device Mapping (RDM)

vSphere Requirements vSphere Incompatibility


Verify Array and HBA Support for secondary LUN IDs

Virtual Volumeshas it’s own HCL

Secondary LUNID HCL is a feature under IO Devices



Before migrating remove excessive content from VM home directory

For OVF, first deploy to non-VVol datastore, remove excessive content, then migrate to VVol datastore

VVol migration fails when VM home directories exceeds 4GB

Issue

Solution

VVol Migration Considerations Config VVol cannot exceed 4GB



• Offline Migration• Pros: All migration done in VMware. Should work with all storage vendors that support VVols. No need

to add or remove any storage manually to the VM.• Cons: Might take the longest. Still need to delete the RDM(s). Offline process.

• Create a new VVol and Copy• Pros: Fastest option–the least downtime. Easily scriptable.• Cons: Need to delete the old RDM. Need to use the array tools and VMware tools. May not work with

all array vendors implementations of VVols.

• Convert the RDM to a VVol• Pros: Fast option. Easily scriptable. No need to delete the RDM–you can re-use it.• Cons: Your array may not have a method to assign an existing volume a UUID. You still need to

disconnect and remove the RDM from the VM. Requires use of both VMware tools and array tools.

Moving from an RDM to a VVolRDMs



Migrating from RDM to VVolsCreate a new VVol and Copy


‹#› 39©2018 VMware, Inc.

What’s New in vSphere 6.7



Virtual VolumesNew Functionality in vSphere 6.7

With vSphere6.7, three features have been added to enhance the VVol functionality

WSFC

End-to-end IPv6 support for

management access to VASA providers

SCSI-3 Persistent Group Reservations

(PGRs) support

TLS 1.2 default VASA provider

security



• Enables VVols to be used with business critical applications such as SQL Server and Exchange

• Simplified management by eliminating the need for RDMs

Enable SCSI-3 Persistent Reservations with Virtual Volumes to enable support for Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC)

Overview

Benefits

Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) Support

Storage Array

VVol

Windows Server Failover Cluster



vSAN - VVol Interoperability

vSAN & VVols are fully interoperable

Common policy management experience under SPBM

vMotion for non-disruptive migrations

vSAN VVol

vRealize Suite for automation, orchestration and monitoring

vSphere Replication for disaster recovery and availability

Storage vMotion for non-disruptive migrations

Per VM granular management

SPBM for per VM common policy management experience z



Eliminate inefficient handoffs between VI and Storage Admin

Faster storage provisioning through automation

Simplified change management through flexible consumption

Self-service provisioning via cloud automation tools.

Leverage native array-based capabilitiesFine control at the VM levelDynamic configuration on the flyEnsure compliance through policy enforcement using automation

Increase capacity utilization.

Eliminate overprovisioning

Reduce management overhead

Eliminate stranded storage

TakeawaysA More Efficient Operational Model For External Storage

Simplifies Storage Operations

Simplifies Delivery of Service Levels

Improves Resource Utilization



vSphere Virtual Volumes is an Industry-wide Initiative

Wide range of products

offered

Unique capabilities

And Many More…

29 Partners in the

Program



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Virtual Volumes (VVol) · Vendor Specific VASA Providermatched to storage array Extends vSphere Storage Policy-Based Management to the storage ecosystem SPBM uses array native capabilities