Virtual appliance for Virtual Storage Console (VSC), VASA Provider, and Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) for VMware vSphere SE Technical Deck.
Please view in slideshow view to see all animations.
New
VVOL Performance dashboard
VVOL 2.0 support
Application Monitoring
No longer included
Create Rapid Clones
Optimization and Migration
Backup and Restore
Replaced by SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware
Next few slides walk through the updated user interface in VSC 7.1
1st we see a clear overview of what’s going on in your environment not only from a Capacity perspective, but also Space Savings efficiencies and IOPS being generated.
You will also notice 2 new self support options in the top right. We will cover these more in depth in a bit. [click]
3rd we see Datastore and Virtual Machine top 5 metrics which can display IOPS, Latency, Uptime or Space Used by utilizing the drop down menus. [click]
Next we see on the bottom left how many Storage Systems are under VSC’s control and how many ESX hosts have had NetApp’s recommended settings applied too.
Lets explore further the features of VSC 7.1
VSC provides two elementary reports, one detailing Datastores and the other detailing VMs.
There is an option to dump the Report as a CSV file and also to sort the Report in the increasing or decreasing order of any of the Columns.
These Reports are generated when accessed, providing data as close to real time as possible.
The Datastore Report has the fields Name, Free Space, Used Space, Space Utilized (%), Space Available (%), IOPS and Latency.
The VM Report has the fields Name, Capacity Committed, Latency, Uptime and Power State.
A top use case for the VSC over the years has been for it to set and maintain best practices for host settings.
As you can see here we have 2 methods to apply NetApp’s Recommended Settings to your ESXi servers
Both methods are based on TR-4597 (Appendix C) which was recently updated
The manual method has some 2+ pages worth of settings to apply to each ESXi host… Great information for those one-off environments if you need it, but not really scalable when you have many ESXi hosts.
Many people use host profiles, which does a similar thing to the automated method that we're going to show you. the nice thing is that if you use our methods to populate the host profile template, you get all the right settings with minimal effort, and then you can distribute it using your own methodologies.
How about if we can apply all these settings cluster wide with just a few clicks? Lets take a walk through the process.
1st thing we do is click on the number next to the yellow caution symbol [click]
This shows us how many systems need the recommended settings applied to….click Edit Settings [click]
Here we select the hosts we want to apply the recommended settings to…NOTE…you can select which types of setting to apply…then click ok to start the process [click]
Now we see the recommended settings being applied to the selected ESXi hosts
As you can see all settings have been applied, just a reboot is required to enable them. Of course, you will have migrated active VM’s off that host prior to reboot so it’s non disruptive, right?
After the reboot is complete you can now see you have a happy compliant system.
Nice and easy right!
Another new item we’ve added are the two self help links in the top right of the VSC Dashboard.
If you click on the GPS link you will see the following page.
There you can get more information regarding: Setup & Configuration questions or Troubleshooting tips
All without having to hunt around for the correct information and its updated with the latest content
The 2nd self help link in the top right of the VSC Dashboard is for Live Chat Support. We’ve set it up so that it goes straight into our support center.
If you click on the Chat link you will see the following page.
Why did we incorporate a Live Chat function? Reaching technical support through chat has become a customer expectation.
By using NetApp technical support chat, you can take your troubleshooting to the next level without having to open a case or wait on the phone to speak to a support engineer.
The biggest advantage to use the NFS Plug-in for VAAI is, that it helps offload from your ESXi hosts onto the ONTAP controller: copying operations, whether within a volume or between nodes in a cluster.
By offloading tasks to storage, you save your much needed vSphere resources for more important things like your applications.
The copy engine type is automatically selected so no work for you. But be aware that a FlexClone license is required to create instantly available, space efficient VM clones – which helps speed up operations and save space/money!
This plug-in just like the Recommended settings can be applied to all ESXi hosts from a single click….lets go over the installation process.
Installation Steps
In the Virtual Storage Console
Click on NFS VAAI Tools Link
Click on Select File to upload the VAAI Plug-in
Click on Upload (You will see an uploaded successfully message)
Click Install on Host link
Choose the ESXi hosts you wish to install on and click install then ok
Reboot ESXi hosts to enable the NetAppNasPlugin
So overall, why does the VSC matter?
VSC supports the entire lifecycle of VM storage management right inside vCenter. Not only provision, monitor, and decommission, but also ensure ESX host settings are optimal.
That alone is a great reason to use VSC – recent study showed 75% of support calls were related to host settings. VSC is really our number 1 best practice – use it to ensure ESX and ONTAP are properly configured for optimal performance and availability.
Less complicated Installation and Configuration
->SRA 7.1 is now a part of the Unified Appliance which also contains VSC 7.1 and VP 7.1. SRA 7.1 can be started and stopped on the vApp using a web interface. This also eliminates the need to register SRA with many other products. Hence all the steps in the installation and setup are reduced and further simplified.
Enhanced Scale
-> SRA 7.1 has improved scale as compared to SRA 4.0 and offers a better proposition to those customers who are growing their DR footprint or those who already are managing a large DR setup
No dependency on VASA Provider
-> Earlier versions of SRA depended on the VASA Provider to complete the installation and needed to be registered to it. With SRA 4.0, the need for a separate VASA Provider and registering with it was eliminated. With SRA 7.1, the VASA Provider is co-located with SRA and can be independently turned on or off. Customers can deploy SRA with or without VP in their environment and all dependencies have been eliminated.
VMware linked mode support
SRA 7.1 continues to support Linked Mode which allows Customers to manage remote vCenter instances.
Multi Tenancy support
SRA 7.1 has a well tested, secure multi tenancy capability which allows service providers or large enterprises to carve out independent DR domains or offer DR as a service.
Configuration of disaster recovery for load sharing (LS) mirrored root volumes by using SRA
Great improvements to scalability have been made in the recent release of The Unified Appliance – VSC/VP/SRA.
The scale requirements will be different for the two different components VSC and SRA.
This is because SRA works at the SRM level which has its own operational limits while VSC works at the vCenter level which has a different set of limits.
Why is SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere important to VSC 7.1? Well since the Backup & Recovery feature has been removed from VSC and incorporated into a far more robust solution that is SnapCenter. The following slides will demonstrate SnapCenter’s feature rich set of options for VMware vSphere Backup and Recovery.
What is SnapCenter?
SnapCenter is End-to-end data protection
It’s Simple, scalable, has a single interface to protect enterprise data (both physical and virtualized) across the data fabric
We can Meet SLAs easily by leveraging NetApp technologies
SnapCenter has Efficient in-place copy data management
Which Provides visibility of data set copies across the data fabric
It also Enables you to reuse these data set copies for test/dev, DR, and analytics
Here is a more detailed look at the SnapCenter Architecture.
In the center we have two SnapCenter Servers in a HA configuration.
SnapCenter Server runs on Windows operating system and uses IIS to host the SnapCenter GUI.
To support HA and Load Balancing of the SnapCenter Server, Native Windows Server Network Load Balancing and Application Request Routing is used.
The SnapCenter MySQL database repository is also HA capable using MySQL Master/Master replication.
The SnapCenter Server is capable of pushing out Plug-ins to remote hosts from the SnapCenter Server. Making installation very, very easy.
Not only can we backup and recover the VM itself, but with the use of the following plugins [CLICK] we can ALSO backup and recover the data inside the VM’s, which is what truly drives your business.
These Plug-ins enable features like application-consistent backup, restore and cloning
This slide shows a potential production environment.
In the center you have the SnapCenter Server.
[1] SnapCenter connects to the remote host via plug-ins. As before there is a Database or application plug-in as well as a host plug-in that is pushed out from SnapCenter to the remote host. Windows as well as Linux environments are supported.
[2] The SnapCenter plug-in for VMware vSphere can be used for integration into the VMware environment. This can be used to seamlessly backup databases backed by VMDKs or RDM LUNs or to directly backup virtual machines and datastores through VMware vSphere.
[3] SnapCenter connects to Cluster Data ONTAP Storage Systems to create Snapshot copies or to perform clone or restore operations.
[4] SnapCenter can update long-term retention with multiple points of recovery with NetApp SnapMirror Backup, AKA SnapVault.
[5] For disaster recovery purposes, SnapCenter can provide updates to the DR site using SnapMirror.
Note:
SnapCenter does not create or initialize SnapVault or SnapMirror relationships with the SnapCenter Standard license. It only updates them and facilitates clones if desired. This is true for use cases like SQL Server or Oracle Database.
Installation of the SCV plug-in can also be installed directly onto the SnapCenter Host Server.
The SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware has been enhanced to replace the Virtual Storage Console (VSC) for Virtual Machine and Datastore backup and restore functions. Starting with SCV 3.0, SnapCenter is no longer integrated with VSC.
Note that SnapCenter 4.0 cannot be used with versions of VSC older than 7.0.
Data protection for virtualized databases & virtualized windows file systems remains the same.
Utilizing the new SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware GUI interface in vCenter you can:
Create policies, resource groups & backup schedules for VMs.
Backup, mount, and restore VMs and/or VMDKs.
This plug-in is integrated into the vSphere Web Client. All VM backup & restore tasks are preformed via the web client GUI.
New:
Guest file or folder (single or multiple) restore support for Windows guest operating system.
Efficient storage-based restores from primary and secondary Snapshot copies through Single File SnapRestore (SFSR).
New dashboard and reports that provide visibility into protected versus unprotected VMs and status of backup, restore, and mount jobs.
New options to attach or detach virtual disks from secondary Snapshot copies.
New option to attach virtual disks to an alternate VM.
The SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware has been enhanced to replace the Virtual Storage Console (VSC) for Virtual Machine and Datastore backup and restore functions. Note that SnapCenter 4.0 cannot be used with versions of VSC older than 7.0.
Data protection for virtualized databases & virtualized windows file systems remains the same.
Utilizing the new SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware GUI interface in vCenter you can:
Create policies, resource groups & backup schedules for VMs.
Backup, mount, and restore VMs and/or VMDKs.
This plug-in is integrated into the vSphere Web Client. All VM backup & restore tasks are preformed via the web client GUI.
New dashboard and reports that provide visibility into protected versus unprotected VMs and status of backup, restore, and mount jobs.
Columns 2 + 3 are meant to be read as a decision tree question. If [Product Mix] and/or column 2/3 is true or false the recommendation is column 4.
Add YouTube demo video link
Used in Demo:
C:\Users\Administrator.DEMO\Downloads\Migrate\Migrate>SCV-Import.bat backup_jobs backups -scHost snapctr.demo.netapp.com -scPassword "Netapp1!" -scUser "demo\administrator" -scvHost scv1.demo.netapp.com -vCenterIPAddress vc1.demo.netapp.com -vCenterPassword "Netapp1!" -vCenterUser "demo\administrator"
Used in Demo:
C:\Users\Administrator.DEMO\Downloads\Migrate\Migrate>Appliance-Import storage_systems -storageSystemList 192.168.0.101 -vCenterIPAddress vc1.demo.netapp.com -vCenterPassword "Netapp1!" -vCenterUser "demo\administrator" -vscApplianceIPAddress 192.168.0.201