STORCENTER IX4-200r NAS WITH VMWARE ESX SERVER 3.5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

VMware® ESX Server is virtual infrastructure software for consolidating and managing systems. ESX Server accelerates service deployments and adds management flexibility by partitioning x86 servers into a pool of secure, portable and hardware-independent virtual machines. VMware Virtual Infrastructure and ESX Server have gained tremendous attraction and acceptance in the industry and are considered critical IT components for enterprises and small businesses alike.

Iomega® StorCenter™ Pro ix4-200r NAS Server is an integrated storage device that offers both NAS and iSCSI functionality to allow customers flexible deployment options. The product targets small- to medium-sized businesses with a rich set of features and simplicity of management. The StorCenter ix4-200r is powered by EMC® LifeLineTM software to allow businesses to protect and share data with EMC’s world class storage and security technologies.

This white paper examines how StorCenter ix4-200r can be used to present storage to VMware ESX Server in a virtual environment. The paper also provides detailed procedures that illustrate how to create storage on a StorCenter ix4- 200r in different forms and then utilize the storage on a VMware ESX Server.

INTRODUCTION

VMware Infrastructure 3 supports NAS storage devices using the NFS and iSCSI protocols. StorCenter NAS devices can present NFS-exported shares and iSCSI LUNs to VMware ESX Server to create Datastores for virtual machines and virtual disks. An Iomega StorCenter NAS offers greater reliability, ease of use, and ease of management characteristics that are designed specifically for the needs of small businesses.

VMware ESX Server can connect to iSCSI targets using either software or hardware iSCSI initiators. The LUNs presented by a target can then be formatted in the proprietary VMFS format. VMware ESX can also use iSCSI LUNs in the form of RDM to provide direct raw disk access to virtual machines. VMFS is the native storage option on VMware ESX Server, It’s also how SAN storage and local disks are utilized to create datastores.

NFS is another compelling option for VMware ESX for many reasons. With NFS, VMWare ESX Server supports advanced features including VMotion, Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), high availability (VMHA), and VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB). NFS offers a highly simplified management model that reduces cost and management complexity. VMware encapsulates virtual machines into a small number of .vmdk files. NFS is an optimized file-serving protocol with operational granularity at the file level as opposed to the LUN level.

Iomega StorCenter NAS satisfies requirements for both storage options on VMware ESX Server and is certified in the VMware Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) with certifications in both NAS and Software iSCSI categories. A StorCenter NAS device is a proven storage platform for small businesses that want to deploy VMware ESX Server.

White Paper

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