This guide provides best practices for utilizing D5000/R3000 with VMware ESXi version 5 or higher. The following topics will be covered in this article: RAID Levels, Expansion Chassis, LUN Affinity, ALUA and VAAI Support
RAID: RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. When it comes to VMware usage, we recommend using one of the two RAID configurations mentioned below:
- RAID 5 (Stripe with Parity): This configuration offers optimal read/write speeds with less overhead, resulting in superior performance.
- RAID 6 (Stripe with Dual Parity): This configuration is ideal for Archival Storage, providing dual redundancy and superior fault tolerance.
RAID 0 (Stripe): It is not recommended to use a stripe volume as it offers little performance benefit and does not provide any fault tolerance for the volume.
J3000/J5000 Expansion Chassis: If you have an expansion chassis connected to your VTrak D5000 and Vess R3000 unit, you have the option to increase storage capacity for your VM configuration. However, it is not recommended to span enclosures and create a single large RAID array volume using the RAID Engine.
For optimal performance, it is recommended to have each enclosure contain separate disk arrays. RAID configurations spanning enclosures will require either RAID 50 or RAID 60.
LUN Affinity: To optimize performance, it is recommended to enable LUN Affinity for Dual controller in VTrak D5000 and Vess R3000 units. Enabling LUN Affinity improves write performance and enhances stability. While VMware has been certified with LUN Affinity disabled, Promise Technology recommends enabling it for the best performance.
ALUA: ALUA, which stands for Asynchronous Logical Unit Access, must be enabled for VMware optimization. VMware 5x and higher are ALUA aware, and it is recommended to have this feature enabled for improved overall performance on the unit.
VAAI (VMware API Array Integration): VAAI is a VMware special configuration API that allows offloading of certain storage tasks from the ESXi server to the storage array. It is also referred to as hardware acceleration.
The latest firmware versions for both VTrak/Vess storage units offer VAAI support, which can be enabled or disabled. Since VAAI is specific to VMware, only VMware systems make use of this feature.
To enable the VAAI feature on the VTrak D5000 and Vess R3000, you may use the WEBPAM PROe GUI or the Command Line Interface (CLI).
VTrak D5000 and Vess R3000 Configuration Details
1.1. Enable VTrak D5000 and Vess R3000 VAAI Function
1.1.1 Use the CLI mode to enable VAAI function in D5000/R3000
A. SSH/Console go to controller CLI and login(administrator/password)
B. Check controller1 VAAI function status -> ctrl –v –i 1
Check controller2 VAAI function status -> ctrl –v –i 2
- Check controller1 & controller2 -> ctrl -v
C. Controller list information “VAAIsupport” default is disabled.
->VAAIsupport=disabled
D. Enable controller1 VAAIsupport -> ctrl –a mod –s “vaaisupport=enable”
E. Check controller1 VAAI function status -> ctrl –v –i 1.
Check controller2 VAAI function status-> ctrl –v –i 2
1.1.2 Use the GUI to enable VAAI function in D5000/R3000
A. Login to Web-GUI (administrator/password)
B. In “HOME” page, click following step to go to the VAAI setup page:
- Click “Device”
- Click “Component List”.
- In “Component List”, select the controller ID=1 (or ID=2).
Click the setup button and slect “Settings”.
C. In “Controller Setting” page, click as following step to enable the VAAI function :
- Select the “Enable VAAI” and enable the checkbox.
- Click “SAVE” button
2.1 Disable VTrak D5000 and Vess R3000 VAAI
- Note: If the datastore is using ATS-only locking, please refer to KB article to disable the ATS-only flag.
https://kb.promise.com/thread/disable-vmware-ats-only-flag-in-d5000-r3000/
2.1.1 Use the CLI mode to enable VAAI function in D5000/R3000
A. SSH/Console enter controller CLI and login (administrator/password)
B. Check controller1 status -> ctrl –v –i 1
Check controller2 status -> ctrl –v –i 2
※ Check controller1 & controller2 -> ctrl -v
C. Controller list information “VAAIsupport” is enabled.
- VAAIsupport=enabled
D. Disable controller1 VAAIsupport -> ctrl –a mod –s “vaaisupport=disable”
E. Check controller1 VAAI function status -> ctrl –v –i 1
Check controller2 VAAI function status -> ctrl –v –i 2
2.1.2 Use the GUI to disable VAAI function in D5000/R3000
A. Login to Web-GUI (administrator/password)
B. In “HOME” page, click following step to go to the VAAI setup page:
- Click “Device”
- Click “Component List”.
- In “Component List”, select the controller ID=1 (or ID=2).
Click the setup button and slect “Settings”.
C. In “Controller Setting” page, click as following step to enable the VAAI function :
- Select the “Enable VAAI” and enable the checkbox.
- Click “SAVE” button.
