Licenses required – VMware Environment

[nsitps1976]

I am in the process of learning about NA. I am looking to put together a small proposal for a customer; however I am still unsure of which licenses they would require.

Please could someone help with this based on the following requirements.

- FAS2040C with SAS disks at primary site

- FAS2040 with SATA disks at DR site

- VMs located on NFS at both sites

- VM snapshot and replication ability

- Deduplication

Also, with replication which interface does replication traverse when using NFS or FC, if using FC can one of the ports used for management be used for replication or does this need to be FC replication via an FC fabric etc

Many thanks

[jondtabar]

I'll let someone else answer your question about licenses.  Though I can help with your snapmirror question.  First of all, it will help for you to think of a LUN as a file within a NetApp volume.  There's really no difference between a volume that contains CIFS/NFS data or a volume that contains a FC/iSCSI LUN.

Regardless of whether a volume has CIFS/NFS data or FC/iSCSI LUNs, SnapMirror runs over a NetApp filer's NIC interfaces by default.  Snapmirror uses its own protocol, and runs on port 10566.  Snapmirror can also be configured to run over FC, in which case it essentially encapsulates the TCP/IP traffic and sends it over the FC SAN link.  I believe you can configure a filer to use specific network interfaces for snapmirror traffic that would keep that traffic separate from the regular/production network interfaces.  You can also throttle snapmirror traffic to a specific rate in KB/sec if you wish.

Hope this helps!

[Bossman13]

The licenses you propose depend on the functionality required and also the customers budget. I have attached a VMware product matrix and this will help you make a decision.

[nsitps1976]

Sorry, I meant the licenses required from a NetApp point of view (which is hosting a vmware environment on an NFS volume) to accomplish the brief description I have given.

Licenses such as snapmirror, snapmanager etc etc...

[Bossman13 · Accepted solution]

I would suggest that you use the SnapManager products for Exchange, SQL, etc. You will also need NFS licenses, SnapRestore, SnapMirror at the target and the source. If you are going to be running DR fire drills then I suggest you look into getting a Flexclone license.

There are 3 software bundles that NetApp offer and they are the Server Virtualization Bundle, Windows Bundle and the Complete Bundle. Your reseller should be able to send over a document outlining what you get in each bundle. If you any problems getting it let me know and I will send it over to you.

Hopefully this answers your question and if you need any more information let me know.

[nsitps1976]

Is snapmanager for VI licensed at the source and destination?

Also, when you mention flexclone for DR tests would this be used to clone a replicated volume so this could be attached to an ESX server at the DR site to access the VMs?

[Bossman13]

SnapManager for VI will only be required at the primary site. If in the future there are some live VM's at the DR site then I would advise getting the license at DR.

You can attach an esx server to the snapmirrored volumes in DR. Flexclone enables you to test DR by allowing you to a virtual copy of your data. I have attached a summary document which explains all the functions in a bit more detail.

[nsitps1976]

A few other questions if you don't mind:

1, If I only wanted to replicate volumes containing VM from A to B could I just use snapmirror (if I didn't want to do vm consistent snapshots/restores at the local site)?

2, With SRM would I only need snapmirror?

3, If I just use snapmirror and not SRM I can use flexclone to test DR and in real DR I just attached replicated volumes to DR ESX servers?

Obviously I would need an NFS license also.

[Bossman13]

Hi I will answer your questions as best as I can.

1) Yes you can use snapmirror to replicate the volumes from A to B. However I will still recommend you get the foundation pack which includes SnapRestore.

2) With SRM you need to have a VCenter Server at both Primary and DR and you can use snapmirror. There is also a plug-in from NetApp called NetApp Disaster Recovery SAN Adapter which interacts between SRM and the storage controller.

3) Yes this is correct.

If you are going to use SRM I suggest you follow the best practice whitepaper to avoid any issues in the future. Oh and yes you need NFS licenses at both sites.

If you need any other information let me know.

[nsitps1976]

Hi Bossman - If I wanted to clone replicated volumes at the DR site (testing etc) do I only need to license flexclone at the DR site and not the Primary site?

[Bossman13]

Hi,

You are correct you would only need Flexclone at the DR site to perform DR fire-drills. If your customer does want to have a test and dev function at Primary thn I suggest you get a Flexclone license for the primary as well.

[nsitps1976]

thanks again

[nsitps1976]

Many thanks for all the help.