HP QR516B manual HP 3PAR Vaai Plugin 1.1.1 for ESXi, HP 3PAR Vaai Plugin 2.2.0 for ESXi

ESX extensions that make use of these primitives are collectively referred to as vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI). The VMware primitives enable an ESX/ESXi host to convey virtual machine operations to storage hardware at a meta level instead of at the traditional data level. This reduces operational latency and traffic on the FC fabric/iSCSI network. Some of these primitives enable the storage hardware to participate in block allocation and de-allocation functions for virtual machines. These primitives are also known as hardware offloads.

A brief description of the "primitives":

•Full Copy (XCOPY) enables the storage array to make full copies of data within the array without having to have the ESX host read and write the data. This offloads some data copy processes to the storage array.

•Block Zeroing (WRITE-SAME) enables the storage array to zero-out a large number of blocks within the array without having to have the ESX host write the zeros as data and helps expedite the provisioning of VMs. This offloads some of the file space zeroing functions to the storage array.

•Hardware Assisted Locking (ATS) provides an alternative to SCSI reservations as a means to protect the metadata for VMFS cluster file systems and helps improve the scalability of large ESX host farms sharing a datastore.

HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin 1.1.1 for ESXi 4.1

Support for VMware VAAI functionality is available via installation of the HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin 1.1.1 on ESX/ESXi 4.1 in combination with HP 3PAR HP 3PAR OS version 2.3.1 MU2 (minimum).

For further information on VMware VAAI, the HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin for ESX/ESXi 4.1 installation package, and the HP 3PAR VAAI Plug-in 1.1.1 for VMware vSphere 4.1 User's Guide, go to:

https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do? productNumber=HP3PARVAAI&jumpid=reg_r1002_usen

HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin 2.2.0 for ESXi 5.x

HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin 2.2.0 on ESXi 5.x needs to be installed if the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage HP 3PAR OS is 2.3.1 MU2 or a higher version of HP 3PAR OS 2.3.1, to take advantage of the storage array primitives or hardware offloads (mainly XCOPY, Write-Same, and ATS).

HP 3PAR VAAI Plug 2.2.0 should not be installed on the ESXi 5.x if connected to an HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage running HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 or later, because the VAAI primitives are handled by the default T10 VMware plugin and do not require the HP 3PAR VAAI plugin.

The following table summarizes the HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin installation requirements.

Table 2 HP 3PAR VAAI Plugin Installation Requirements

VMware ESX	ESX 4.1	ESX 4.1	ESXi 5.x	ESXi 5.x
Features/Primitives	HP 3PAR OS 2.3.1 MU2	HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 or	HP 3PAR OS 2.3.1 MU2	HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 or
	or later	later	or later	later

ATS
XCOPY	Needs HP 3PAR VAAI	Needs HP 3PAR VAAI	Needs HP 3PAR VAAI
	1.1.1 plugin	1.1.1 plugin	2.2.0 plugin
WRITE_SAME

Supported. Does not require HP 3PAR VAAI plugin (supported by Standard T10 ESX plugin).

52 Configuring the Host for a Fibre Channel Connection