topic Re: Map a LUN to multiple ESXi hosts in same Cluster in Network and Storage Protocols

Map a LUN to multiple ESXi hosts in same Cluster

Sasnet — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 11:59:44 GMT

Hello Team,

There are:

1) AFF-A250 Storage System;

2) VMware vCenter Cluster with many ESXi hosts.

Need to map 1 LUN to multiple ESXi hosts in same Cluster, protocol NVMe/TCP. I have find Knowledge Article: https://kb.netapp.com/on-prem/ontap/da/SAN/SAN-KBs/Can_we_map_a_lun_to_multiple_ESXi_host_in_different_cluster_managed_by_same_vCenter . It is possible, but for more information kindly reach out to VMware vendor.

With mapping on 1 ESXi host - there are no problem, link: https://community.netapp.com/t5/Tech-ONTAP-Blogs/How-to-Configure-NVMe-TCP-with-vSphere-8-0-Update-1-and-ONTAP-9-13-1-for-VMFS/ba-p/445429 .

But, how to map 1 LUN to multiple ESXi hosts?

Thank you!

Re: Map a LUN to multiple ESXi hosts in same Cluster

Sasnet — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 07:34:53 GMT

I think, I have solved request. Solution: SAN Initiator Groups.

Instruction:

Go to the HOSTS tab – SAN Initiator Groups. Click Add:

Add Initiators, example!:
1) iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esx1:619845978:65
2) iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:esx2.demo.netapp.com:619845978:65

When creating a LUN, specify the created INITIATOR GROUP:

Alternatively, you can edit an existing LUN to specify the desired group:

In the test environment it worked:

Lab on Demand lab "Provisioning Desktops with NetApp and VMware Horizon v1.0".

Re: Map a LUN to multiple ESXi hosts in same Cluster

Sasnet — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 04:52:14 GMT

For NVMe/TCP steps are similar, I have added some nqn to NVMe Subsystem:

Be sure to create a Storage VM with the NVMe/TCP protocol:

We write down the IP address, for example, 192.168.0.13. We remember it. Best practices to use 2 IP adresses.

Create a new space in the Storage - NVMe namespaces tab:

In vCenter, we add a controller to each ESXi host for the NVMe TCP Adapter, specify the IP address 192.168.0.13 and port 8009:

On first WSXi:

On second ESXi:

On Cluster we do Rescan Storage:

We add a new Datastore, select our space, and format it:

This space is on both ESXi hosts.

Everything works.

Re: Map a LUN to multiple ESXi hosts in same Cluster

jaikumar — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 20:48:56 GMT

Unlike LUN one cannot map NVMe to multiple Subsystem but instead we need to add multiple nqns to the same NVMe Subsystem and map the NVMe Namespace to the Subsystem.

--
Given that NetApp NVMe doesnt support Persistent Reservation , what is the Use case for NVMe Namespace to be shared between two ESXi Hosts in Cluster.