Isilon Vsphere5 Deployment - 2 PDF

Deployment and Configuration Guide
Abstract
This Guide provides procedures and processes for preparing,
deploying, and managing a VMware vSphere 5 virtual data
center on a foundation of EMC Isilon Scale-out storage.
Installation and configuration steps for leveraging integration
features between vSphere and the Isilon OneFS operating
system are included. This Guide will assist users in optimizing
performance and availability on an EMC Isilon-based vSphere
virtual data center.

January 2013

EMC ISILON SCALE-OUT STORAGE WITH
VMWARE VSPHERE 5
Configuring and managing VMware vSphere integration with
EMC Isilon storage

2 EMC Isilon Scale-Out Storage and VMware vSphere 5

Copyright 2013 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of
its publication date. The information is subject to change without
notice.

The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC
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specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or
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For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC
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are the registered trademarks of VMware, Inc., in the United
States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks used
herein are the property of their respective owners.

Part Number h10554.4

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................... 4
About this guide ............................................................................................ 4
Scope ........................................................................................................... 4
Intended audience ......................................................................................... 5
Assumptions ................................................................................................. 5
Prerequisites ................................................................................................. 5
Revision summary ......................................................................................... 6
Isilon cluster configuration for NFS datastores .............................................. 7
Creating and editing NFS exports ..................................................................... 7
Optimizing VM performance in OneFS using SmartPools ...................................... 8
Configuring VAAI NAS integration ................................................................ 11
Installing the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin .................................................. 11
Creating a vCenter Update Manager baseline .................................................. 13
Creating a baseline group in VUM .................................................................. 16
Using the baseline group to install the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin on ESXi .... 18
Enabling host-to-storage-cluster authentication ............................................... 24
Configuring Isilon VASA integration with vSphere ....................................... 25
Enabling the VASA Provider daemon on an EMC Isilon storage cluster ................ 25
Downloading a digital certificate from the EMC Isilon storage cluster .................. 26
Registering the EMC Isilon VASA Provider in vCenter ........................................ 28
Managing storage capabilities in vCenter ........................................................ 31
Deploying the EMC Isilon vCenter Plugin ...................................................... 35
Installing the EMC Isilon virtual appliance ....................................................... 35
Configuring the EMC Isilon virtual appliance .................................................... 36
Add the vCenter server to the EMC Isilon for vCenter plugin .............................. 37
Enable and add EMC Isilon storage clusters to the vCenter plugin ...................... 38
To enable the EMC Isilon plugin in the vSphere client .................................... 38
Add an Isilon storage cluster to vCenter using the plugin ............................... 38
Using SyncIQ................................................................................................ 39
Restoring virtual machines from SyncIQ replication sets ................................... 39
Performance tuning for SyncIQ replication jobs ............................................... 40
Conclusion .................................................................................................... 41
References ................................................................................................... 41
Additional resources ..................................................................................... 41
VMware vSphere documentation: ............................................................... 41
EMC Isilon storage configuration and other supporting documentation: ........... 42
EMC Isilon vSphere 5 documentation .......................................................... 42
About EMC .................................................................................................... 42

Introduction
This Guide provides specific information, including processes and procedures, for
configuring an EMC
Isilon
storage cluster with version 7.0 or higher of the EMC

Isilon OneFS
operating system to support a VMware vSphere v5 environment. It is

intended to serve as a companion document to the EMC Isilon Scale-Out Storage with
VMware vSphere 5.0 Best Practices Guide.
Although this Guide is intended to build on, and be consistent with, VMwares Best
Practices Guide for vSphere 5.0, it is not intended to replace or supersede the
information contained in that document. Additionally, while the Guide attempts to
follow general best practices as recommended by EMC and VMware, different
conditions with different considerations may apply in different environments.
About this guide
This Guide provides technical processes, procedures and steps for certain tasks
associated with deploying a VMware vSphere infrastructure on a foundation of Isilon
storage with OneFS 7.0. The creation of an NFS export from the WebUI, the
installation and enablement of VAAI-NAS functionality on the EMC Isilon storage
cluster are included in this Guide, as are the enablement of VASA integration with
vCenter and the restoration of VM data replicated via Isilon SyncIQ
TM
software.
Scope
This Guide is intended to assist in the configuration and deployment of a vSphere
infrastructure on an EMC Isilon storage cluster. As such, it provides information on
the processes and procedures necessary for that configuration. It is not intended to
serve as a reference for all OneFS 7.0 configuration options. Instructions for these
procedures are available through other sources, either in the OneFS 7.0
administration guide, the OneFS 7.0 online Help files, or supplemental Isilon
documentation from EMC.
As such, configuration of the following OneFS components is not included in this
Guide:
Creating directories within the OneFS 7.0 file system
Configuring ownership and permissions settings on files and directories within the
OneFS 7.0 file system
EMC Isilon SmartPools
TM
data management software, including creating or
modifying policies for data protection or performance optimization.
Creating subnets and Isilon SmartConnect
TM
network pools, adjusting IP address
ranges, and changing connection and failover policies
Isilon storage cluster management and operations, including authentication and
user-account management, adding and/or removing nodes, upgrading firmware,
or hardware maintenance
Configuring VM snapshots using Isilon SnapshotIQ
TM

Configuring data replication between clusters using Isilon SyncIQ software
Configuring backup operations, using either the NDMP module or 3
rd
-party backup
software.

Command-line management and syntax of either the EMC Isilon storage cluster or
the vSphere cluster, with the exception of the necessary steps to enable VAAI and
VASA connectivity and functionality
More information about planning and performing these tasks is provided in the
References section at the end of this Guide, which links to additional best-practices
and configuration documentation from EMC.
Intended audience
The Guide is written for experienced system administrators who are familiar with
virtual machine technology and network storage administration.
Assumptions
This Deployment Guide assumes the reader has a working knowledge of the
following:
iSCSI and/or NFS storage system protocols, as appropriate
Isilon scale-out storage and the OneFS operating system
VMware vSphere 5 virtual infrastructure components, including ESXi, Virtual
Center, Update Manager, and command-line administration using the vSphere
Management Appliance
VMware vSphere 5 network and storage integration
IP-based Ethernet design, implementation, and management
Information is provided in this document about VASA and VAAI, but only as applicable
to enable, deploy and manage these procedures on an EMC Isilon storage cluster with
OneFS 7.0. For more comprehensive information on these subjects, please consult
VMwares documentation.
Additional information about these concepts is provided in the References section at
the end of this Guide.
Prerequisites
Installation and configuration of the base Isilon cluster and the accompanying
vSphere infrastructure, including vCenter Server(s) and ESXi host(s), is assumed to
have been completed prior to performing the procedures outlined in this document.
This Guide does not provide information for either building a new Isilon storage
cluster, or for upgrading the OneFS operating system on an existing cluster from a
previous version. The installation and configuration of the vSphere infrastructure,
including vCenter, vCenter Update Manager (VUM) and ESXi hosts, is also beyond the
scope of this document.
A number of the vSphere features described and recommended in this Guide require
vSphere 5.0 Enterprise or Enterprise Plus licensing. Certain EMC Isilon features and
capabilities detailed in this document also require additional licensing to enable and
use.

Revision summary
Table I below lists the revisions of this Guide since its initial release.
Table I: Deployment and Configuration Guide revision history
Date Version Author Change Summary
February
2012
1.0 James
Walkenhorst
Initial Document
April 2012 1.0.1 James
Walkenhorst
Added hyperlinks for relevant
documentation
Clarified language in some sections of
the document.
August
2012
2.0 James
Walkenhorst
Updated content to support vSphere
integration features offered by
OneFS 7.0 features and user
interface.
December
2012
2.01 James
Walkenhorst
Revised technical errors in document.
Updated hyperlinks to relevant
documentation
Added deployment content for EMC
Isilon vCenter Plugin v1.3

Isilon cluster configuration for NFS datastores
This section provides instruction for creating and managing NFS exports for the
purpose of mounting them for use as vSphere datastores.
Note: This Guide assumes familiarity with the OneFS File Explorer interface, and as
such does not provide guidance on creating directories within OneFS 7.0, or managing
ownership and permissions settings for file system objects on an EMC Isilon storage
cluster.
A single NFS export can support any number of vSphere datastores, since each
datastore can access the OneFS file system across different network paths, as long as
each datastore is configured to access the NFS export via a different network path. If
IP addresses are used to mount NFS datastores, then one NFS mount per IP address
is supported. If SmartConnect zone names (FQDNs) are used for datastore mounts,
then each mount to the same NFS export point in the file system must use a different
SmartConnect pool.
Creating and editing NFS exports
Before creating a vSphere NFS datastore in OneFS, the directory to which the
datastore will be mounted must already exist. Additionally, ownership of the exported
directory should be changed to nobody in order to avoid write-permissions issues
prior to mounting the NFS export as a vSphere datastore.
To create a new NFS export (see Figure 1 below).
1. From the OneFS WebUI menu bar, click Protocols, then click Unix Sharing
(NFS). The Unix Sharing (NFS) webpage appears.
2. Click the Add an export link. The NFS Export page appears.
3. Add a useful description in the Description field.
4. For the Directory Paths field, enter the path manually or use the Browse link to
navigate the file system to the directory that will be shared.
5. If subdirectories of the top-level export will also be mounted as separate NFS
datastores, click the Enable mount access to subdirectories box. Do not check the
box to restrict access to read only. This will cause datastore mount failures on the
ESXi hosts.
6. Leave the default setting to map the root user to nobody.
7. Click Submit to exit and save.
8. Repeat Steps 1-8 for all additional folders to be exported via NFS as vSphere
datastores.


Figure 1: Configuring an NFS export
Optimizing VM performance in OneFS using SmartPools
For Isilon storage clusters with EMC Isilon SmartPools
TM
enabled, OneFS includes a
template file policy for optimizing vSphere data performance. If enabled, the default
setting for this policy applies to all VMDK files in a cluster.
To enable the vSphere SmartPools file policy:
1. From the OneFS WebUI menu bar, hover the mouse pointer over File System
Management, and then click SmartPools. The SmartPools Summary page
appears.

2. From the SmartPools Summary page, click the File Pool Policies tab. The File Pool
Policies page appears.
3. In the Template Policies section, click the VMware Files policys Use link in the
right column, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Enabling the VMware Files SmartPools file policy

4. The Policy Settings page appears. If no further alterations to the policy are
necessary, click the Submit button to apply the policy, and then arrange it within
the sequence of existing file policies to ensure the appropriate level of
prioritization and enforcement. Otherwise, modify the default VMware Files file
policy as appropriate before clicking Submit, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Configuring the VMware Files SmartPools file policy
Note: If the Protection Settings are left blank in this policy, the VMs will inherit their
disk-pool, snapshot, and protection-level settings from their parent directory.
The default setting of Stop processing further rules disables the processing of further
SmartPools file policies against all VMDK files on the cluster. Unless all vSphere data
on an EMC Isilon storage cluster is to be stored in the same disk pool, leaving the
Stop processing further rules setting enabled may block any subsequent file-pool
policies that would move VM data to a different disk pool. There are multiple ways to
structure file-pool enforcement to ensure that VM data is moved to the appropriate
disk pool.
EMC recommends engaging with a technical consultant or with EMC Isilon support
prior to applying SmartPools policies to vSphere data in order to ensure that the
effective policy enforcement complies with organizational requirements.

Configuring VAAI NAS integration
OneFS uses vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) to support offloading specific
virtual-machine storage and management operations from VMware ESXi hypervisors
to an EMC Isilon cluster. This section describes the installation and configuration of
the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin. The Plugin enables VAAI integration for NAS/NFS
datastores.
VAAI functionality for VMFS/iSCSI-based datastores is automatically enabled in
OneFS 7.0 and vCenter. No additional software installation or configuration is
necessary.
Note: The EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin is available from EMC Powerlink. Login
credentials are available to EMC customers with active EMC support agreements. To
obtain a Powerlink login account, contact an EMC representative.
VAAI for NAS functionality is enabled through a two-part process. The Plugin is
installed at the ESXi hypervisor level using VMware vCenter Update Manager (VUM).
Integration between the ESXi host and the EMC Isilon storage cluster is enabled via
command-line utility on all ESXi hosts in the vSphere cluster.
The following procedures must be completed in sequence in order to successfully
install and enable the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin on the ESXi host(s) in the
vSphere cluster, and to enable VAAI task delegation and communication between the
EMC Isilon storage array and the vSphere cluster.
Install the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin
Create a vCenter Update Manager baseline
Create a vCenter Update Manager baseline group
Use vCenter Update Manager to apply the baseline group to the ESXi host cluster
Enable authentication between the ESXi host cluster and the EMC Isilon storage
cluster
The installation, configuration, and management of VUM are outside the scope of this
Guide.
Installing the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin
This section describes the processes and procedures for installing the EMC Isilon VAAI
for NAS Plugin using vCenter Update Manager. Instructions for installing the plugin
directly on ESXi via command line are available in the readme file that accompanies
the plugin download package.
To install the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin using vCenter Update Manager:
1. Contact EMC Isilon Support and request the VAAI for NAS Plugin. Save the
resulting .zip file to a location accessible from the vSphere client machine that will
be used for this procedure.
2. Ensure the Update Manager plugin is also enabled on the vSphere client machine
that will be used for this procedure, and launch the vSphere client application.
3. From the vCenter Home page, under Solutions and Applications, click the Update
Manager icon, as shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4: Accessing the vCenter Update Manager management console
4. From the VUM management console, click the Patch Repository tab. When the
Patch Repository page appears, click the Import Patches link at the upper right.
The Import Patches wizard launches, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Using the Patch Import Wizard to add the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS
Plugin to VUM

5. From within the wizard, click the Browse button and navigate to the target folder
containing the VAAI NAS plugin .zip file downloaded from EMC Powerlink in Step 1
above. Click the Next button.
6. After the import is complete, and the plugin has been successfully uploaded to
the VUM Patch Repository, click Finish.
7. When the import process is complete, the EMC Isilon NAS VAAI Plugin will appear
as an available extension in the VUM Patch Repository tab, as shown in Figure 6
below.

Figure 6: Isilon VAAI Plugin in vCenter Update Manager Patch Repository
The VAAI NAS Plugin can now be pushed to the vSphere 5.0 cluster, using a host
baseline and applying it to the ESXi 5.0 hosts. These processes are described in
subsequent sections of this Guide.
Creating a vCenter Update Manager baseline
Once the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin has been successfully imported to the VUM
patch repository, as described above, installing it on the ESXi hosts in the vSphere
cluster is a three-process exercise. This section describes the first of those processes:
creating a Host Extension Baseline in vCenter Update Manager.
To create a Host Extension Baseline:
1. From the Baselines and Groups tab in VUM, click the Create hyperlink above the
Baselines column, as shown in Figure 7. This launches the New Baseline Wizard.


Figure 7: Creating new baseline in VUM
2. In the New Baseline Wizard, provide a name and description for the new baseline.
Under Baseline Type, select Host Extension, as shown in Figure 8. Click the Next
button. The Extensions page appears.

Figure 8: New Baseline Wizard in VUM
3. From the Extensions page of the New Baseline Wizard, highlight the
Isilon_nas_vaai_plugin: NAS VAAI extension installed in the previous section,
and click the down arrow beneath the list to add it to the new baseline, as shown
in Figure 9. Click the Next button.


Figure 9: Adding the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS plugin to the new host baseline
4. If this baseline is to contain only the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin, click Next
again to advance to the Ready to Complete page. If additional patches and
extensions are to be added as well, configure those using the same process, and
click the Next button. Confirm the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin is included in
the Ready to Complete page, and click Finish, as shown in Figure 10, to return to
the VUM Baselines and Groups tab of the VUM management console.

Figure 10: Confirm the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS extension added to the VUM
baseline

5. Verify the new baseline appears in the Baselines and Groups tab of the VUM
management console, as shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11: Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin baseline added to VUM
The final sequence of procedures for pushing the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin to
the ESXi hosts in a vSphere cluster is provided in the next section of this Guide.
Creating a baseline group in VUM
This section describes the process of creating a new baseline group in vCenter Update
Manager. This baseline group is then applied to the host cluster, the procedure for
which is described in the next section of this document.
To create a baseline group in VUM:
1. From the Baselines and Groups tab of the VUM management interface, click the
Create link above the Baseline Groups column, as shown in Figure 12. The New
Baseline Group Wizard launches.

Figure 12: Creating a baseline group in VUM

2. Leave the default Host Baseline Group setting. Give the group a name and click
Next, as shown in Figure 13. Click Next three times to advance to the
Extensions page.

Figure 13: New Baseline Group Wizard
3. On the Extensions page, select the baseline containing the EMC Isilon VAAI for
NAS Plugin created in the previous section, as shown in Figure 14. Click Finish to
return to the Baselines and Groups tab of the VUM management console.

Figure 14: Adding the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS baseline to a new baseline
group
This completes the import of the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin to the vCenter
Update Manager patch repository, and creating the necessary baseline in VUM.

Using the baseline group to install the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin
on ESXi
This section describes the process of using the baseline group created in the previous
sectionwhich includes the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Pluginto the ESXi hosts in the
vSphere cluster.
Note: The installation of the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS plugin on ESXi may require that
the target host enter maintenance mode. Please plan accordingly to minimize the
potential impact on any virtualized workloads that may be running on the target
vSphere cluster prior to performing the procedures described in this section.
To apply the baseline group to a vSphere cluster using vCenter Update Manager:
1. From the Baselines and Groups tab of the VUM management console, click the
Compliance View link at the top right of the page, as shown in Figure 15 below.
The vSphere client will advance to the Update Manager tab of the Hosts and
Clusters view.

Figure 15: Launching Compliance View from VUM Baselines and Groups page

2. From the Update Manager tab of the Hosts and Clusters management console in
the vSphere client, click the Attach link, as shown in Figure 16. The Attach
Baseline or Group sheet is displayed.

Figure 16: Hosts and Clusters Compliance View
3. Select the EMC Isilon VAAI Plugin patch baseline group that was created in the
previous section, as shown in Figure 17, and click the Attach button to return to
the Update Manager tab of the Hosts and Clusters page.

Figure 17: Attaching the EMC Isilon VAAI Plugin baseline group to a vSphere
host cluster

4. From the Update Manager tab of the Hosts and Clusters management console in
the vSphere client, ensure the target vSphere host cluster is selected in the left
pane, as shown in Figure 18, and click the Remediate button in the right pane
to apply the EMC Isilon VAAI Plugin baseline and install the patch to all hosts in
the cluster. The Remediation Wizard launches.

Figure 18: Launching the VAAI installation process against a vSphere host
cluster
5. In the Host Remediation Wizard, under the Baseline Groups and Types column,
click the Isilon VAAI Plugin radio button. Ensure that all ESXi hosts in the
vSphere cluster that are targeted to receive patch are selected in the bottom pane
of the wizard, as shown in Figure 19. Click the Next button. The Patches and
Extensions page appears.

Figure 19: Host Remediation Wizard

6. In the Patches and Extensions page, ensure the isilon_nas_vaai_plugin: NASVAAI
path is selected for installation on the target vSphere cluster, as shown in Figure
20. Click the Next button. The Remediate Schedule page appears.

Figure 20: Confirming the installation of the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin
7. In the Remediate Schedule page, provide a name and description of the patch
installation task. Set a remediation time for the task to run, either immediately or
at a time to be specified, as shown in Figure 21. Click the Next button. The Host
Remediation Options page appears.

Figure 21: Remediate Schedule page, showing remediation task name,
description, and schedule

8. In the Host Remediation Options page, select the appropriate maintenance mode
options for the target vSphere host cluster, as shown in Figure 22. Click the Next
button to advance to the Cluster Remediation Options page.

Figure 22: Host Remediation Options page, showing maintenance mode and
patch settings

9. In the Cluster Remediation Options page, configure the applicable and appropriate
cluster-level settings for power management, high availability, fault-tolerance,
and parallel (simultaneous multi-host) remediation, as shown in Figure 23. Click
the Next button to advance to the Ready-to-Complete page. Review and confirm
all settings configured during the Remediation Wizard process, and click the
Finish button.

Figure 23: Cluster Remediation Options page

10. Ensure the baseline group and the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS plugin are correctly
applied to all hosts in the cluster, as shown in Figure 24.

Figure 24: Completing installation of the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin
using VUM.
This completes the installation of the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin to the vSphere
host cluster, using vCenter Update Manager. The final remaining process is to enable
authentication between the ESXi hosts and the EMC Isilon storage cluster. This
process is described in the next section.
Enabling host-to-storage-cluster authentication
This final process configures authentication between the ESXi hosts in the vSphere
cluster and the EMC Isilon storage cluster.
Note: This procedure must be performed via command-line session directly to the
ESXi host. It cannot be completed using the VMware vSphere Management Appliance
(vMA). As such, this procedure assumes that SSH has been enabled on each host on
which this procedure is to be performed.
To enable host-level authentication into the EMC Isilon storage cluster:
1. Log on to the target ESXi host via secure session command-line connection.
2. After the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS Plugin has been successfully installed on the
host, run the following command:
/ usr / l i b/ vmwar e/ nas_pl ugi ns/ i si _pl ugi n_cr edent i al / aut h_gen
3. At the resulting prompt, enter r oot for the username, and enter the password
for the root user.

4. Repeat Step 1 through Step 3 for all ESXi hosts on which the EMC Isilon VAAI for
NAS Plugin has been installed.
Note: The root username and password are required in this step. If the target Isilon
clusters root user password is changed after completing this procedure, the new
password must be provided to the ESXi host in order to re-enable VAAI functionality
on the ESXi host.
This completes the installation and configuration of the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS
Plugin to enable greater integration between vSphere and the EMC Isilon storage
cluster.
Configuring Isilon VASA integration with vSphere
OneFS uses vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) to allow the EMC Isilon
storage cluster to pass specific storage configuration and capabilities to vCenter.
The EMC Isilon VASA Provider communicates storage-pool capabilities to vCenter
about its datastores. This information, which is visible on each datastores detail
page, can be integrated with VM Storage Profiles for increased storage-management
automation.
Enabling and configuring the EMC Isilon VASA Provider in vCenter requires the
following sequential procedures:
Enable the VASA Provider daemon on the EMC Isilon storage cluster
Download the EMC Isilon storage clusters digital certificate
Register the EMC Isilon VASA Provider in vCenter
Verifying and managing storage capabilities in vCenter
Note: While the EMC Isilon VASA Provider does not require additional licensing on the
EMC Isilon storage cluster, a compatible VMware vSphere license is necessary on the
host cluster to enable and use VM Storage Profiles.
The following sections describe the installation and configuration of the EMC Isilon
VASA Provider on the EMC Isilon storage cluster and in vCenter.
Enabling the VASA Provider daemon on an EMC Isilon storage cluster
To enable the VASA Provider daemon on the EMC Isilon storage cluster:
1. Log on to the EMC Isilon storage cluster with administrative credentials, using a
command-line session client.
2. From a command prompt on the EMC Isilon storage cluster, execute the following
command:
i si ser vi ces i si _vasa_d enabl e
3. Exit the command-line session.

Downloading a digital certificate from the EMC Isilon storage cluster
The vCenter server uses a secure SSL connection. The SSL authentication mechanism
requires that both parties, the vCenter Server and the vendor provider, exchange SSL
certificates and add them to their trust stores. The vCenter Server can add the vendor
provider certificate to its trust store as part of the vendor provider installation.
This section describes the process for downloading the EMC Isilon storage clusters
digital certificate to a local file to prepare for the EMC Isilon VASA Provider process
described in the next section.
To import a digital certificate from the EMC Isilon storage cluster:
1. From the vSphere client machine, open a supported web browser and enter the
following in the address line:
ht t ps: / / <i si l on_cl ust er >: 8080
where <isilon_cluster> corresponds to either the management address or
management FQDN of the EMC Isilon storage cluster.
2. Log into the cluster using the appropriate credentials.
3. Retrieve the vendor certificate according to the instructions appropriate to the
supported browser procedure, as outlined in Table II below.
Note: Browser-specific interfaces and procedures may change. The processes
outlined in Table II below are based on specific browser versions listed in the
table.

Table II: Browser-specific certificate-retrieval procedures
Browser Procedures
Retrieve the
vendor-provider
certificate using
Mozilla Firefox 16:
a. Click the Site Exception padlock icon to the left
of the address bar, then click the More
Information button in the resulting popup box.
The Page Info dialog box will appear.
b. From the Security tab of the Page Info dialog
box, click the View Certificate button. The
Certificate Viewer dialog box will appear.
c. From the Certificate Viewer dialog box, click the
Details tab, then click the Export button.
d. Save the certificate as a *.crt file.
e. Note the filename and path for retrieval and
installation in the next section of this Guide.

Browser Procedures
Retrieve the
vendor-provider
certificate using
Microsoft Internet
Explorer 9:
a. Click the Certificate error icon on the right side
of the address bar. A security report popup box
will appear.
b. Click the View certificates hyperlink at the
bottom of the security report popup box. The
Certificate properties sheet will appear.
c. From the Certificate properties sheet, click the
Details tab, then click the Copy to File
button.
d. The Certificate Export Wizard will launch. Click
Next.
e. Ensure the default DER encoded binary X.509
(.CER) setting is selected and click Next.
f. Name the file and select the appropriate location
to save the exported certificate, and click Next.
g. Confirm the details, and click Finish.
h. Note the filename and path for retrieval and
Retrieve the
vendor-provider
certificate using
Google Chrome:
a. Click the Site information icon (a red X
displayed over a padlock) to the left of the
address bar.
b. From the Connection tab of the resulting popup
box, click the Certificate information hyperlink.
The Certificate properties sheet will appear.
c. From the Certificate properties sheet, click the
button.
d. The Certificate Export Wizard will launch. Click
Next.
e. Ensure the default DER encoded binary X.509
f. Name the file and select the appropriate location
g. Confirm the details, and click Finish.
h. Note the filename and path for retrieval and

Browser Procedures
Retrieve the
vendor-provider
certificate using
Apple Safari:
a. Click the padlock icon on the right side of the
address bar. The Certificate properties sheet will
appear.
b. From the Certificate properties sheet, click the
button.
c. The Certificate Export Wizard will launch. Click
Next.
d. Ensure the default DER encoded binary X.509
e. Name the file and select the appropriate location
f. Confirm the details, and click Finish.
g. Note the filename and path for retrieval and
This completes the download of the digital certificate from the EMC Isilon storage
cluster. The next section defines the process for registering the EMC Isilon VASA
Provider in vCenter.
Registering the EMC Isilon VASA Provider in vCenter
This section describes the necessary steps for registering the EMC Isilon VASA
Provider in vCenter. Prior to completing this process, ensure that the VASA Provider
daemon has been enabled on the EMC Isilon storage cluster, and that a digital
certificate has been downloaded from the EMC Isilon storage cluster and is accessible
from the vSphere client machine on which this process will be performed.

To register the EMC Isilon VASA Provider in vCenter:
1. From the vSphere clients Home page, click the Storage Providers button, as
shown in Figure 25.

Figure 25: Launching the Storage Providers console from the vCenter home
page

2. In the Vendor Providers page of the vCenter management console, click the
Add hyperlink to add a new Vendor Provider, as shown in Figure 26. The Add
Vendor Provider dialog box appears.

Figure 26: Adding a new Vendor Provider in vCenter
3. In the Add Vendor Provider dialog box, choose a name for the EMC Isilon Vendor
Provider, then provide the EMC Isilon storage clusters URL and authentication
credentials. Check the Use Vendor Provider Certificate box, and then browse to
the path of the digital certificate downloaded from the EMC Isilon storage cluster
in the previous section, as shown in Figure 27. When finished, click the OK
button.

Figure 27: Add Vendor Provider dialog box

4. After vCenter has successfully connected and authenticated to the EMC Isilon
VASA Provider as configured in Step 3 above, the EMC Isilon VASA Provider will
appear in the Storage Providers management console with the configured
settings, as shown in Figure 28.

Figure 28: Completed Isilon VASA Provider configuration
Once the EMC Isilon VASA Provider has synchronized with vCenter, the Vendor
Provider Details pane at the bottom of the Storage Providers console should display
the correct storage settings. This completes the process of registering the EMC Isilon
VASA Provider in vCenter.
Managing storage capabilities in vCenter
Once the EMC Isilon VASA Provider has been successfully registered and a
synchronization transaction has occurred from the VASA Provider and vCenter, the full
capabilities of the EMC Isilon storage cluster should be communication to vCenter.
This section provides procedures for verifying and managing storage capabilities as
reported by the EMC Isilon VASA Provider, as well as adding user-defined storage
capabilities to assist in VM storage profile management.

To verify system-defined storage capabilities:
1. From the Home page of the vSphere client, click the VM Storage Profiles button,
as shown in Figure 29. The VM Storage Profiles management console appears.

Figure 29: Launching the VM Storage Profile management console from the
vSphere client

2. From the VM Storage Profiles management page, click the Manage Storage
Capabilities button to open the Manage Storage Capabilities dialog box, as shown
in Figure 30.

Figure 30: VM Storage Profiles management page
3. The default list of storage capabilities reported by the EMC Isilon VASA Provider is
shown in Figure 31.

Figure 31: Storage capabilities reported by Isilon VASA Provider

Note: More information about these capabilities is provided in the EMC Isilon
Scale-Out Storage with vSphere 5: Best-Practices Guide.
To add user-defined capabilities in vCenter:
1. From the Manage Storage Capabilities dialog box opened in Step 2 above, click
the Add button. The Add Storage Capability dialog box opens.
2. Complete the Name and Description fields, as shown in Figure 32, corresponding
to the organizational requirement for additional storage attributes, and click the
Ok button. The newly-added feature will be listed in the storage capabilities list
along with the system-defined attributes from the EMC Isilon VASA Provider.

Figure 32: Adding a user-defined storage capability
Note: The storage capability shown in this step is provided as an example only.
The specific user-defined storage capabilities and attributes will vary by
organization.
3. Repeat Step 5 above for each additional storage capability or attribute desired.
When finished, click the Close button to return to the VM Storage Profiles
management page of the vSphere client.
vCenter allows one system-defined storage capability and one user-defined capability
to be assigned to each datastore. Once the combination of system-provided and user-
defined storage attributes and capabilities have been created as defined in this
section, they can be used as selection criteria within individual VM storage profiles for
increased storage-management automation and simplified overall storage
management.
Any OneFS 7.0-based datastores that are already mapped and in use when the EMC
Isilon VASA Provider is registered in vCenter will be automatically updated with the
appropriate system-defined storage capability during the first synchronization

operation after the registration is successfully completed. OneFS 7.0-based datastores
added after the EMC Isilon VASA Provider registration will have the applicable system-
defined storage capability automatically added during the next synchronization
operation between the VASA Provider and vCenter.
To enable storage profiles in vCenter, as well as creating and managing VM storage
profiles, consult with VMwares existing documentation, a link to which is included in
the References section at the end of this Guide.
Deploying the EMC Isilon vCenter Plugin
The EMC Isilon for vCenter plug-in installs as an add-on module in the vSphere client,
and provides an interface to an Isilon-provided virtual appliance for management of
Isilon storage in a vSphere context, and the VMs that run on that storage. The
procedures in this guide require a working knowledge of the vSphere client.
To set up the EMC Isilon for vCenter plug-in, the EMC Isilon for vCenter license must
first be enabled on the target Isilon storage cluster(s). Deploying the EMC Isilon
vCenter Plugin is done by installing the EMC Isilon virtual appliance onto a VMware
ESXi host, and then adding a VMware vCenter Server and at least one Isilon cluster to
manage.
Note: This section assumes a new installation of the EMC Isilon vCenter Plugin. To
upgrade an existing installation of the EMC Isilon vCenter plugin, refer to the Isilon
for vCenter Installation Guide for more information.
Installing the EMC Isilon virtual appliance
The EMC Isilon virtual appliance is installed using an Open Virtualization Format (OVF)
template file, which can be obtained from an EMC Isilon account representative.
1. From the vSphere client, from the File menu, click File, then Deploy OVF
Template. The Deploy OVF Template wizard appears.
2. On the Source page, type or browse to the location of the OVF file, and then click
Next.
3. Confirm the details and click Next.
4. In the Name and Location page, select a name and an inventory location for the
virtual appliance, and click Next.
5. On the Host/Cluster page, select the target host or cluster for the virtual
appliance. Click Next.
6. On the Select a Datastore page, specify the target datastore for the virtual
appliance. For optimal availability, and to avoid inadvertent outages, the EMC
Isilon vCenter appliance should not be installed on a datastore that will be
managed by the vCenter plugin.
7. Click Next.
8. On the Ready to Complete page, confirm the configured settings for the virtual
appliance, and click Finish. The EMC Isilon virtual appliance will be added to the
vCenter inventory.

Configuring the EMC Isilon virtual appliance
The EMC Isilon virtual appliance needs to be configured with the appropriate network
settings in order to communicate with the vCenter server and EMC Isilon storage
cluster(s) in the target environment.
1. From the vSphere client, right-click the EMC Isilon virtual appliance, and select
Open Console.
2. From within the console window, click the green Power On button. The virtual
appliance will boot, and the login prompt will appear in the console window.
3. At the login prompt, type admi ni st r at or and press <Enter>.
4. At the password prompt, type def aul t and press <Enter>.
5. The prompt will require the default password to be changed at this point. At the
( cur r ent ) UNI X passwor d prompt, type def aul t (the current password)
and press <Enter>.
6. At the Ent er new UNI X passwor d prompt, type a new password for the
administrator account.
Note: This new password will be used in the next section to log into the web-
based application and the VM console. The password must be at least one
character in length.
7. At the Ret ype new UNI X passwor d prompt, type the new password for the
administrator account that was entered in Step 6 above, and press <Enter>.
8. At the passwor d f or admi ni st r at or prompt, enter the new password that
was set in Steps 6 and 7 above, and press <Enter>.
Note: The EMC Isilon virtual appliance requires exactly one network interface to
be configured and connected in vSphere. If the virtual appliance cannot detect a
network interface, it cannot be configured, and will instead return an error
message stating that no interfaces are available. If this error message appears,
then exit the configuration wizard, reconfigure the network interface, and then
restart the appliance.
9. Follow the prompts to Configure networking, and then select either of the
following options:
a. To configure the EMC Isilon virtual appliance to run in DHCP networking mode
(this is the default configuration method), select Exi t from the menu and
proceed to step 10 below.
Note: If the EMC Isilon vCenter appliance will use DHCP for IP address
configuration, EMC recommends configuring a reservation on the DHCP server
to ensure that the appliance always receives the same IP address.
b. To configure a static IP address, select Conf i gur e net wor ki ng manual l y
and then perform the following steps:
i. Follow the prompts to configure a subnet mask for the EMC Isilon virtual
appliance.

ii. Follow the prompts to configure the IP address for the EMC Isilon virtual
appliance. This is the IP address that will be used to access the appliance
directly via web browser.
iii. Follow the prompts to configure a default gateway for the EMC Isilon
virtual appliance.
iv. Follow the prompts to configure one or more DNS servers for the EMC
Isilon virtual appliance.
v. Follow the prompts to configure one or more search domains for the EMC
10. Commit the network settings, exit the wizard, and log out of the virtual appliance
.
Add the vCenter server to the EMC Isilon for vCenter plugin
VMware vCenter Server enables the EMC Isilon for vCenter plugin to centralize certain
VM and storage management tasks to an Isilon-aware management interface within
vCenter. This section describes the process for connecting the EMC Isilon vCenter
plugin to an instance of VMware vCenter Server.
Note: While the EMC Isilon vCenter Plugin can simultaneously manage more than one
Isilon storage cluster, only one vCenter server can be managed at a time by the EMC
To configure the connection between vCenter and the EMC Isilon vCenter plugin:
1. From a supported web browser, connect to the EMC Isilon for vCenter application
at ht t p: / / <I P_addr ess_or _host name>, corresponding to either the virtual
appliances IP address or hostname if a DNS record for the appliance has been
created. The Isilon for vCenter application login page appears.
2. Log in to the EMC Isilon for vCenter application as admi ni st r at or , using the
password configured in Steps 6 and 7 in the preceding section. The one-time
Isilon for vCenter End User License Agreement (EULA) appears.
3. Review the EULA, click the check box to affirm agreement with the EULA terms
and conditions, and then click Submit. The Welcome to Isilon for vCenter page
appears.
4. Enter the appropriate information for the target vCenter server:
a. Server name or alias
b. IP address
c. Username
d. Password
If the above information was entered correctly, the vCenter server will appear in
the vCenter management webpage, as shown below in Figure 33.


Figure 33: EMC Isilon vCenter plugin webpage with vCenter server added
Enable and add EMC Isilon storage clusters to the vCenter plugin
After performing the procedures described in this section, virtual machines on both
NFS and iSCSI datastores that are hosted on a managed EMC Isilon storage cluster
can be backed up and restored using the EMC Isilon for vCenter plugin.
To enable the EMC Isilon plugin in the vSphere client
Follow these steps to enable the vSphere client plugin:
1. From the vSphere client, on the Plug-ins menu, click Manage Plug-ins. The Plug-
in Manager dialog box appears.
2. In the list of installed plugins, right-click Isilon and then click Enable.
3. Click Close.
Add an Isilon storage cluster to vCenter using the plugin
Follow these steps to enable vCenter plugin management of an EMC Isilon storage
cluster:
1. Log in to the target vCenter server using the vSphere client.
2. Within the vSphere client, highlight the target datacenter containing the EMC
Isilon storage cluster(s) that are to be managed by the EMC Isilon for vCenter
plugin.
3. Click the Isilon tab. The Isilon for vCenter page appears.
4. Click the Clusters menu. The Cluster Management page appears.
5. Click Add Cluster. The Add Isilon Cluster page appears.
6. Configure the following settings:
a. Cluster: Type the hostname or service IP address of the Isilon cluster.
b. Username: Type r oot .
c. Password: Type the password of the Isilon storage clusters root user.

7. Click Submit. The cluster is now managed by the EMC Isilon for vCenter plugin,
as shown in Figure 34 below.

Figure 34: Isilon storage clusters managed by the vCenter plugin
8. Enable the isi_vc_d service on the EMC Isilon storage cluster by connecting to the
cluster via SSH and running the following command:
i si ser vi ces i si _vc_d enabl e
9. Repeat Steps 1 through 8 as applicable to manage additional EMC Isilon storage
clusters in the target vSphere datacenter.
The EMC Isilon plugin for vCenter is now installed and ready to use. For more
information on using the plugin for NFS datastore provisioning and virtual machine
backup and recovery operations, please refer to the Isilon for vCenter User Guide
document, available from EMC.
Using SyncIQ
Using Isilon SyncIQ, virtual machines can be replicated to a secondary Isilon cluster
and vSphere host for disaster recovery, testing or other uses.
Note: Isilon SyncIQ does not provide file-level restores within VMs. It only provides
restores at the VMDK level. Additional options and solutions are available to recover
individual files from within VMDK files, but those are beyond the scope of this Guide.
Restoring virtual machines from SyncIQ replication sets
Once replicated, VM data on the remote cluster can be restored and accessed from
the same vSphere host or a secondary vSphere host. Restoring virtual machines from
the target replication target can be done in several ways:
1. Stopping all replications to the target cluster and mounting the target cluster
nodes as datastores. Once datastores are mounted VMs stored on those
datastores can be registered and powered on by the same or remote vSphere
hosts.

2. Copying VMs or LUNs from the target cluster to another location locally. In this
way the target cluster can continue to operate as a SyncIQ replication target while
also servicing vSphere host datastore storage.
3. Copying VMs from or LUNs from the target cluster back to the primary cluster and
re-register those VMs by the original vSphere host. The target cluster continues to
operation only as a SyncIQ replication target (or serving a separate vSphere set of
hosts).
Note: Before breaking a SyncIQ replication relationship between the source Isilon
storage cluster and the target, ensure that the replication job is not currently
running and that the most recent scheduled job has completed successfully to
avoid data loss or corruption.
To restore a VM from a SyncIQ replication set after one of the above options has been
completed:
1. From the vSphere client, open the Datastores and Datastore Clusters view.
2. From the left pane of the Datastores and Datastore Clusters view, right-click on
the replicated datastore residing on the secondary cluster. Select Browse
Datastore. The Datastore Browser window appears.
3. Navigate to the replicated VM's directory on the target datastore.
4. Right-click on the VMs configuration (.vmx) file, and select Add to Inventory.
The Add to Inventory wizard appears. Complete the wizard, selecting the
host/cluster and VM settings as appropriate, and then click the Finish button.
5. When the VM has been added to the secondary vSphere clusters inventory, the
VM can be powered on normally.
Note: The first time the VM is powered on after adding it to the vSphere
inventory, a dialog box may appear indicating that a duplicate uuid (universal
unique identifier) was found. The uuid is a unique machine identifier that gets
copied with the VM configuration. If the original VM will continue to be used on the
primary vSphere cluster, then the new VM on the target vSphere cluster will need
a new uuid created.
Performance tuning for SyncIQ replication jobs
The following options can improve SyncIQ replication jobs.
Filtering out .vswp files from the replication set when the replication job is
created.
Disabling block-hash comparisons during replication jobs.
To disable block-hash comparisons during replication:
1. Log on to any of the nodes in the cluster via SSH connection.
2. From the command prompt, issue the following command:
i si sync pol i cy modi f y - - pol i cy=<pol i cy name> - -
ski p_bb_hash=on

Note: For more information on SyncIQ for Isilon replication, please refer to the
document Best Practices for Data Replication with EMC Isilon SyncIQ.

Conclusion
This Deployment and Configuration Guide from EMC Isilon documents the necessary
procedures and steps for creating an NFS export within the OneFS 7.0 WebUI, for
installing and enabling the EMC Isilon VAAI for NAS integration module, for enabling
and connecting the EMC Isilon VASA Provider to vCenter, and for the recovery of
SyncIQ-replicated VM data.
The Guide is not intended to be a definitive implementation or solutions reference. Its
purpose is to outline and walk through the procedures specific to connecting a
vSphere infrastructure to EMC Isilon storage, as well as standard maintenance and
support tasks that are not documented in other white papers and solutions guides
from EMC Isilon.
Additional expertise and support may be required in certain circumstances. EMC
recommends engaging the services of a technical consultant or EMC Isilon Support for
specific guidance to address specific business and technical challenges not covered in
this Guide.
For more information about installing and configuring VMware vSphere components,
including vCenter, ESXi, and vCenter Update Manager, consult the online
documentation from VMware, links to which are provided in the References section at
the end of this Guide. Documentation from EMC Isilon is also linked, including the
EMC Isilon Scale-Out Storage and VMware vSphere 5: Best Practices Guide and more
comprehensive information concerning SmartConnect, SmartPools, and SyncIQ.
References
This section provides links to supplemental resources from both EMC and VMware.
The content provided in this Guide was intended to minimize overlap with other
OneFS 7.0 configuration documentation from EMC, as well as with vSphere-related
configuration documentation from VMware.
Please see these additional resources for further deployment, configuration, and
management information for running vSphere 5.0 on an EMC Isilon storage cluster.
Additional resources
VMware vSphere documentation:
VMware Compatibility Guide
VMware Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 5.0
VMware vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
VMware vSphere 5 Storage Guide
VMware vSphere Networking Guide
Virtual Machine Storage Profiles

EMC Isilon storage configuration and other supporting documentation:
SmartConnect: Optimize Scale-out Storage Performance and Availability
Next-Generation Storage Tiering with EMC Isilon SmartPools
Best Practices for Data Replication with EMC Isilon SyncIQ
EMC Isilon vSphere 5 documentation
EMC Isilon Scale-Out Storage and VMware vSphere 5: Best Practices Guide
EMC Isilon Scale-Out Storage and VMware vSphere: Sizing Guide
EMC Isilon Scale-Out Storage and VMware vSphere 5.0 Reference Architecture
About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the worlds leading developer and provider of
information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all
sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information.
Information about EMCs products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.
About EMC Isilon
EMC Isilon is the global leader in scale-out NAS. We provide powerful yet simple
solutions for enterprises that want to manage their data, not their storage. Isilon
products are simple to install, manage and scale, at any size and, unlike traditional
enterprise storage, Isilon stays simple no matter how much storage is added, how
much performance is required, or how business needs change in the future. We're
challenging enterprises to think differently about their storage, because when they
do, they'll recognize theres a better, simpler way. Learn what we mean at
http://www.emc.com/isilon.
Contact EMC Isilon
505 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104
Toll-free: 877-2-ISILON | Phone: +1-206-315-7602
Fax +1-206-315-7501 | Email: sales@isilon.com

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