Intro
As we get this year kicked off, let's revisit some of the reasons so many customers choose NetApp and VMware. We are ramping up loads of new content for the new year, but first, this blog series highlights the advantages of hybrid multicloud environments powered by NetApp and VMware. Throughout the series, we will explore these benefits with supporting resources and technical examples to help you better understand each topic.
This blog focuses on the simplified data services benefits gained when leveraging NetApp and VMware. Within this blog, we will include an overview of the resources available to deploy, provision, monitor and administer your NetApp and VMware environment. Additionally, we will review a step-by-step walkthrough of using NetApp ONTAP Tools for VMware to provision VMware datastores as an example.
The Setup
Within vSphere storage models, there are a variety of options for datastores or guest-connected storage. When virtual machines interact with their virtual disks, which are stored on a datastore, they issue SCSI or NVMe commands. These commands are encapsulated in different forms as datastores can be housed on various media types. For guest-connected storage using NAS, communication occurs once sufficient access permissions have been configured for the relevant namespace and the appropriate NFS exports or SMB share access has been configured on the storage system. For guests to access block storage, proper access is required, and depending on the protocol, software initiators are often used. In summary, in both scenarios, client details are collected to enable appropriate communication.
Simplified Data Services
Regardless of the protocol, it is important to consider how tenants, customers or applications will leverage the storage resources in a hybrid multicloud environment. Organizations are composed of diverse roles, responsibilities, and personas that collaborate to achieve business objectives. Each customer is unique and the demarcation of roles and responsibilities can vary depending on policies and the size of the team. Take a look at some of the roles that many customers have.
NetApp offers a wide range of options for administering and interacting with storage in your NetApp VMware hybrid multicloud environment, catering to the needs of different personas or administrative teams. A few of the options include:
- NetApp System Manager - System Manager is an HTML5-based graphical management interface that enables you to use a web browser to manage storage systems and storage objects (such as disks, volumes, and storage tiers). It facilitates common management tasks related to storage systems.
- NetApp BlueXP - BlueXP is a unified control plane that provides a seamless hybrid multicloud experience for storage and data services, bridging on-premises and cloud environments.
- NetApp ONTAP Tools for VMware -ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere integrates with vCenter, simplifying storage administration for the Virtual Infrastructure (V)I admin. It is recommended for all ONTAP + vSphere environments as it automates the configuration of ESXi host settings and provisions ONTAP storage, ensuring adherence to best practices. Currently it is available in 2 variants:
ONTAP Tools for VMware vSphere 9.x: A single vCenter Server plug-in that includes ONTAP tools, VASA Provider and Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) extensions.
ONTAP Tools for VMware vSphere 10.x: Based on next generation architecture which supports native high availability and scalability of the VASA Provider (for iSCSI and NFS vVols).
Some helpful storage management resources are as follows:
The Example: Datastore provisioning with ONTAP Tools for VMware
In this example, we will provision a datastore with ONTAP Tools for VMware, demonstrating simplified data services regardless of protocol with NetApp and VMware.
Configuring ONTAP Tools for VMware is beyond the scope of this blog, but the list below provides the high-level steps required.
- Download the .zip file that contains binaries (.ova) and signed certificates for the ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere from the NetApp Support Site .
- Review prerequisites and prepare your vCenter for ONTAP Tools installation
- Deploy the ONTAP tools OVF
- Configure storage systems for use with ONTAP tools
Note: In the example below, we are demonstrating traditional NFS datastore provisioning, which is one of several supported types.
1. Get started by confirming ONTAP Tools is installed and available under vCenter Plugins by logging into your on-premises vCenter.
2. Review elements on the Traditional Datastore Dashboard. Here you can see an overall overview of your environment.
3. Navigate to cluster to provision the new datastore, select the ONTAP tools plugin and choose Provision Datastore.
4. Specify the details of the datastore to be provisioned.
Note: You have multiple protocol options from the same wizard available to you.
5. Specify the storage capability profiles and storage system you wish to use.
6. Specify the storage attributes for the new datastore.
7. Review the Summary for the new datastore.
8. Confirm the new NFS datastore has been provisioned.
This ONTAP Tools for VMware provisioning exercise demonstrated how easily various data services can be made available during common administrative tasks. In the walkthrough, ONTAP Tools did the following:
- Create the storage objects
- Create the NFS export
- Present NFS export to vCenter as datastore
- Connect datastore to all hosts in the datacenter
Similar relevant steps can be used for a variety of data service types.
The Wrap-up
This blog covered how simplified data services can be achieved when using VMware and NetApp. The range of NetApp plugins and tools simplifies the administration and interaction required to carry out tasks within your teams, specifically related to storage management of your VMware environment.
For more information see the NetApp solutions documentation for VMware:
