Dell PowerVault MD3200 Series Guide de référence rapide

Planning for Hyper-V

A Dell PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of

Arrays Technical White Paper

Dell

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

Page ii

THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL

ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR

IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.

Dell, the DELL logo, and the DELL badge, PowerConnect, and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc.

Symantec and the SYMANTEC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or

its affiliates in the US and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, and Active Directory

are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or

other countries. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the

entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in

trademarks and trade names other than its own.

May 2010

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Contents



Planning for Hyper-V on the Dell PowerVault MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Storage Arrays .............. 2

Disclaimer........................................................................................................... 2

Supported Hardware and Software................................................................................ 2

Planning for Hyper-V Virtualized Configurations................................................................... 3

Pre-installation Requirements...................................................................................... 3

Planning the SAS Direct-Attach Installation with the Dell PowerVault MD3200 and MD3220 Storage

Arrays ..................................................................................................................... 4

Direct-Attach Storage with SAS Considerations.................................................................. 4

Planning the IP SAN Installation with the Dell PowerVault MD3200i and MD3220i Storage Arrays ......... 5

IP SAN Considerations................................................................................................ 5

IP SAN Network Infrastructure for Performance................................................................. 7

IP SAN Optimization for Throughput and I/Os ................................................................... 9

Considerations for Storage and Network Adapters (MD3200 and MD3200i Storage Arrays).................10

Connecting the Dell PowerVault MD3200 Storage Array....................................................... 10

Connecting the Dell PowerVault MD3200i Storage Array......................................................10

MD3200i Load-Balance Policies.................................................................................11

Additional Considerations for Virtual Storage .....................................................................12

Considerations When Using Pass-Through Physical Disks or VHDs ...........................................13

Directly-Mapped iSCSI Virtual Disks to the VM (Dell PowerVault MD3200i Storage Array) ...............14

Considerations for the VM Child Partition.......................................................................14

Clustering with Hyper-V...............................................................................................14

Contact Information ...................................................................................................17

Appendix.................................................................................................................17

Figures

Figure 1. Dell PowerVault MD3200 Storage Array Configuration............................................. 4

Figure 2. Dell PowerVault MD3200i Storage Array (IP SAN)................................................... 6

Figure 3. Dell PowerVault MD3200 Storage System (SAS) Cabling Configuration.........................10

Figure 4. Dell PowerVault MD3200i Storage Array Network Configuration................................11

Figure 5. Virtual Storage Configuration.........................................................................12

Figure 6. MD3200 SAS Storage Array Configuration in a Clustered Environment ......................... 16

Figure 7. MD3200i iSCSI Storage Array Configuration in a Clustered Environment.......................16

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Planning for Hyper-V on the Dell PowerVault™

MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Storage Arrays

This document helps you plan to implement Microsoft Hyper-V technology with the Dell PowerVault™

MD3200 and MD3200i series of storage arrays.

Hyper-V provides the software infrastructure and management tools in the Windows Server 2008

operating system to create and manage a virtualized server computing environment. The configuration

in this document uses the Windows Server 2008 Release 2 operating system with the following

enhancements to Hyper-V:

•Live Migration – A transparent move of virtual machines (VMs) from one cluster-node to

another with no loss of VM connectivity between nodes. Live Migration uses clustered

shared volumes (CSVs).

•Dynamic virtual machine storage – Support for hot plug-in and hot removal of storage.

•Enhanced processor support – Up to 32 physical cores.

•Enhanced networking support – Support for jumbo frames on VMs.

For information about how to deploy Hyper-V, refer to Implementing Hyper-V on the Dell PowerVault

MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Storage Arrays. For information about backup and recovery options,

refer to Data Protection on the Dell PowerVault MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Storage Arrays in a

Hyper-V Environment.

This document provides useful information for system administrators and IT planners or designers who

are in the process of considering or planning to use Hyper-V in their environment.

Disclaimer

The steps in this document were performed on a test configuration. Live data was not used. This

document implies no warranties. These instructions are not guaranteed to work in every situation. For

the latest information about Dell IP SAN storage arrays, refer to the Dell storage array installation

guides. Go to this website:

http://www.dell.com

Supported Hardware and Software

Microsoft Hyper-V requires specific hardware. Refer to the Microsoft Windows Server catalog for Hyper-

V to find out if your systems qualify. Go to this website:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=111228

You also can check the Dell-supported hardware for Microsoft Hyper-V contained in the Dell Solutions

Overview Guide for Microsoft Hyper-V. Go to this website:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/HyperV/en

If you need additional information, go to this website:

http://www.dell.com/hyperv

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Both the Dell PowerVault MD3200 and MD3200i storage arrays are supported with the Microsoft

Windows Server 2008 Release 2 operating system running the Hyper-V role.

Planning for Hyper-V Virtualized Configurations

Planning for Hyper-V virtualized configurations includes these tasks:

•Making sure that pre-installation requirements are met

•Configuring the network adapter

•Deciding how to assign physical drives to VMs

•Deciding when to use pass-through physical disks or virtual hard drives (VHDs)

•Planning child partitions

•Deciding how to cluster

Pre-installation Requirements

To install and use the Hyper-V role, make sure you have the following processing features on your

system:

•An x64-based processor.

Hyper-V is not available for 32-bit systems or Itanium-based systems.

You can download the AMD utility for Hyper-V compatibility from this website:

•http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/dynamicDetails.aspx?ListID=c5cd2c08-1432-4756-

aafa-4d9dc646342f&ItemID=177

•Hardware-assisted virtualization.

Processors with Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT)

AMD Virtualization Technology (AMD-V)

•Hardware-enforced data execution prevention (DEP) must be available and enabled.

The Intel XD bit must be enabled (execution disable bit).

The AMD NX bit must be enabled (no execute bit).

Install the updates that you need. To receive a current list of all of the updates, go to this website:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd430893.aspx

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Planning the SAS Direct-Attach Installation with the

Dell PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3220 Storage Arrays

The Dell PowerVault™ MD3200 storage array, with SAS host interface connectivity, can connect with up

to four servers for high availability. The configuration that you choose depends on the number of

servers you have, whether you are connecting to servers or a cluster-node, and the level of data

redundancy that your configuration requires.

Direct-Attach Storage with SAS Considerations

Redundancy

Redundancy is established by installing separate data paths between the server and the storage array,

in which each path connects to the different RAID controller modules. Redundancy protects the server

from losing access to data in the event of data path failure because both RAID controllers can access all

of the disks in the storage array. Figure 1 shows redundant, high-availability cabling configuration for

two hosts. This configuration is a best practice for Microsoft Hyper-V installations.

Note Use two dual-ported 6Gb host bus adapters (HBAs), and connect to one port from each

of these HBAs to improve availability. With this configuration, a cable or a SAS HBA

could fail, and the access to the data is still guaranteed.

Figure 1. Dell PowerVault MD3200 Storage Array Configuration

RAID Level

Choose an appropriate RAID level based on your applications. RAID 1 or higher provides some level of

redundancy that is useful in the case of failed physical disks. Each RAID level works best with certain

applications. Consider the RAID level when you configure the Dell PowerVault MD3200 storage array.

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Power

Connect the power supplies for the Dell PowerVault MD3200 storage array to separate power sources.

Doing so ensures that even if one component fails due to a power issue, the alternative path continues

to work.

Planning the IP SAN Installation with the Dell

PowerVault™ MD3200i and MD3220i Storage Arrays

You can implement an IP storage area network (SAN) in various ways based on business requirements,

available resources, and intended application. For instance, one important but easily overlooked item

that can improve the manageability of your IP SAN implementation is to assign a consistent and

representative naming scheme to the storage arrays. This assignment is especially useful if the SAN has

more than one storage array attached to it. You can use the “blink array” feature of the Modular Disk

Storage Manager to correctly identify each storage array physically.

This section contains some general implementation guidelines; however, these guidelines might not

benefit all applications.

IP SAN Considerations

Redundancy

Redundancy requires having a second set of hardware and communication paths so that if one piece of

hardware on one path breaks down, a second path can be used. In an IP SAN, a second controller in the

storage array can perform redundancy, and redundancy is available when you use two different

switches for the iSCSI network. Figure 2 shows such a configuration.

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Figure 2. Dell PowerVault MD3200i Storage Array (IP SAN)

Physical Network Infrastructure

A fully redundant IP SAN is characterized by multiple physical independent iSCSI data paths between

the servers and the storage array. Make sure that each data path is on a separate subnet.

iSCSI Sessions

In the case of an iSCSI target, such as the Dell PowerVault MD3200i storage array, establish multiple

sessions to the storage subsystem from each server. Set up one session per port from each of the

network cards to each RAID controller module. This method allows one session to restart if a link goes

down and does not affect any of the other links.

RAID Level

Choose an appropriate RAID level based on your applications. RAID 1 or higher RAID levels provide some

level of redundancy that is useful in the case of failed physical disks. Each RAID level works best with

certain applications, so consider the RAID level when you configure the Dell PowerVault MD3200i

storage array.

Power

Connect the MD3200i power supplies to separate power sources. These connections ensure that if one

component fails due to a power issue, the alternative path continues to work.

Security

To secure data across an IP SAN, implement a physically independent network for the iSCSI data traffic,

and isolate it from other Ethernet traffic. Having an isolated network dedicated to storage traffic

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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means that the storage array avoids network congestion with other non-storage traffic that is using the

network.

•CHAP

To have secure access between your host and storage array, enable target and mutual

CHAP authentication on the hosts and storage arrays. Follow standard CHAP password

guidelines for best security. Set a strong password that meets standard IT guidelines on

all of the devices in your IP SAN.

•Virtual LAN (VLAN)

If you want to physically isolate your IP SAN data traffic from general network traffic,

use VLANs. Turn on VLAN tagging on the Dell PowerVault MD3200i storage array. A port

can either transmit all tagged IP packets or all non-tagged IP packets.

Note: You must enable a VLAN throughout the entire iSCSI SAN from the network interface

cards (NICs) and switches to the iSCSI ports; otherwise, behavior might be inconsistent.

To simplify and avoid troubleshooting at deployment, make sure that the NICs,

switches, and storage array are fully operational before you enable the VLAN feature

for the entire solution.

IP SAN Network Infrastructure for Performance

This section describes some general implementation guidelines for performance. These guidelines

might not apply to all applications. Review your application requirements prior to implementing these

guidelines.

General Network Practices

Make sure the category rating for the cables used is gigabit-Ethernet-compliant (CAT5e or CAT6).

Design your network to have the least amount of hops between the storage arrays and the servers. This

design greatly reduces the failure points, it simplifies the manageability, and it reduces the latency

and complexity of your network architecture (particularly in the area of redundancy).

Use managed switches because they provide advance features to help you optimize and maintain your

network for your application. Only use auto-negotiation because gigabit Ethernet networks are

designed to always have auto-negotiation enabled. If a particular application requires a specific speed

or duplex mode, you can accomplish this by changing the advertisement options of the switch.

Planning for Hyper-V: PowerVault™ MD3200 and MD3200i Series of Arrays

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Spanning Tree Protocol

Disable the spanning-tree protocol (STP) on the switch ports that connect end nodes (iSCSI initiators

and SAN interfaces). If you still decide to enable STP on the switch ports, turn on the STP FastPort

feature on the ports to allow immediate transition of the ports into a forwarding state.

Note: FastPort immediately transitions the port into the STP Forwarding mode upon linkup.

Because the port still participates in STP and it is to be a part of the loop, it eventually

transitions into the STP Blocking mode.

Note: PowerConnect switches default to Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), which is an

evolution in STP that provides for faster spanning tree convergence and is preferable to

STP when available.

Note: Use STP for a single cable connection between switches or for trunking for multiple

cable connections between switches.

TCP Congestion Avoidance

TCP congestion avoidance is an end-to-end flow control protocol that limits the amount of data sent

between a TCP sender and a TCP transmitter. This protocol uses a sliding window to size the data being

sent to the TCP receiver. This protocol starts with a small segment size and keeps increasing with each

acknowledged segment sent until a segment is dropped. After a segment is dropped, TCP starts this

avoidance over again.

Ether Flow Control

It is best practice to enable flow control on the switch ports that handle iSCSI traffic. In addition, if a

server is using a software iSCSI initiator-and-NIC combination to handle iSCSI traffic, enable flow

control on the NICs to obtain a performance benefit. In SAN configurations in which many servers

(initiators) are communicating with storage devices, if senders transmit data simultaneously, the data

transmission might exceed the throughput capacity of the receiver. When this event occurs, the

receiver might drop packets, which forces the senders to retransmit the data after a delay. Although

this event does not result in any loss of data, latency increases because of the re-transmissions and I/O

performance degrades. By enabling flow control, you can avoid the imbalance in the network traffic

between the devices that send network traffic and the devices that receive the traffic.

Note: PowerConnect switches default to flow control being off. The Dell PowerVault MD3200i

storage array auto-configures to the switch when the flow control is turned on.

Unicast Storm Control

A traffic “storm” occurs when a large outpouring of IP packets creates excessive network traffic that

degrades network performance. Many switches have traffic storm control features that prevent ports

from being disrupted by broadcast, multicast, or unicast traffic storms on physical interfaces. These

features typically work by discarding network packets when the traffic on an interface reaches a

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