Getting Started with DataCore Storage Management Provider

Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) is a management solution for the virtualized datacenter that manages large amounts of compute, network, and storage resources, as well as creates and manages public and private clouds. Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager introduced support of a new Windows Storage Management API (SMAPI) used to manage external storage by using either Storage Management Provider (SMP) or SMAPI together with a standards-based Storage Management Service to communicate with storage that is compliant with the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). (SMAPI supersedes the Virtual Disk Service (VDS) application programming interface (API) in Windows Server 2012.)

DataCore™ Storage Management Provider (DataCore SMP) is a WMI-based provider which was designed to support integration and automation between Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and the DataCore SANsymphony™ Software-defined Storage platform. DataCore SMP enables administrators to easily add SANsymphony server group storage resources to the provider, create logical units (virtual disks), and allocate storage for virtual machines.

In SCVMM, SANsymphony virtual disks are served to Hyper-V hosts where applications are running. Virtual disks are used by applications with different levels of service (such as gold, silver, bronze). DataCore SMP communicates to SANsymphony software through the public API. In this manner, users can remain focused on what matters most—deploying an application instead of being concerned about storage.

DataCore SMP also allows administrators to provision logical units through Windows File and Storage Services.

o Read the DataCore SMP release notes for important prerequisites and installation information.

o This topic contains brief instructions for provisioning SANsymphony storage in Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and Windows File and Storage Services. Instructions are provided only to facilitate and expedite storage provisioning and are not intended to replace Microsoft Windows documentation. These instructions are applicable to System Center 2012 SP1. Refer to Microsoft Windows documentation for additional information or later versions of the software.

o After virtual machines are created, snapshots can be created in SCVMM. It is also possible to create snapshots, enable Continuous Data Protection and create rollbacks in SANsymphony software, but SCVMM will not be aware of them.

Getting Started

Configuring DataCore Storage Management Provider

In order to access SANsymphony storage resources from SCVMM, import DataCore Storage Management Provider and add the disk pools in SCVMM. This process is equivalent to importing a SANsymphony disk pool to SCVMM.

o The storage devices listed under the SANsymphony server group in SCVMM correspond to virtual disk templates in SANsymphony software. Virtual disk templates identify the disk pools to use in SANsymphony software. Templates should be configured in the SANsymphony server group before adding storage devices in SCVMM. See Virtual Disk Templates for more information.

o In order to recognize new templates created in SANsymphony software after this process is initially run, run the Add Storage Devices wizard in SCVMM again.

1 In SCVMM, click Fabric Resources in the Home tab to navigate to the Fabric workspace.

2 Under Storage, right-click on Providers and select Add Storage Devices from the context menu.

3 In the Select Provider Type dialog box, select SAN devices managed by a native SMP provider, and click Next.

4 In the Specify Discovery Scope dialog box, click Import and then select DataCore Storage Management Provider from the drop-down list. Click Next to continue.

5 In the Gather Information dialog box, click Scan Provider. The wizard will scan for the connected SANsymphony server group containing storage devices. Ensure that the storage device for DataCore Software Corporation is found. When the server group is listed in the table, click Next to continue.

6 In the Select Storage Devices dialog box, select the storage devices (storage pools identified by SANsymphony virtual disk templates) that should be managed by Virtual Machine Manager and select the classification. Click Next to continue.

Note: The storage classification is a user-defined way to categorize different properties of discovered storage pools on criteria such as Quality of Service (QoS), use case or the identification of a storage pool. If desired, a separate classification may be created for each discovered storage device. See https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg610685.aspx for more information.

The storage device and matching virtual disk template (following) are provided as an example.

7 In the Summary page, confirm the settings and click Finish to complete the process.

8 Monitor the completion of the process in History>Recent Jobs in the Jobs workspace.

9 DataCore Storage Management Provider will be displayed in Fabric Resources under the Storage folder. Details about the SANsymphony server group and imported disk pools can be viewed in Fabric Resources>Arrays.

Allocating Storage to Host Groups

Storage may be allocated by pools or logical units to host groups (Hyper-V hosts managed by SCVMM) in order to allow the creation and assignment of logical units to use as virtual machine workloads.

Allocating a storage pool to a host group allows administrators to do either of the following:

o Create logical units from servers that are running Hyper-V in the host group that can access the storage array where the storage pool resides.

Allocating logical units to a host group allows administrators to assign the logical units to servers running Hyper-V that can access the storage, as well as host clusters that reside in the host group. See https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg610686(v=sc.12).aspx for more information.

o The logical unit in SCVMM corresponds to a virtual disk in SANsymphony software.

o For rapid provisioning of VMs, storage pools are required to be allocated to host groups. During the rapid provisioning process, SCVMM will create a new logical unit from the storage pool and therefore logical units should not be allocated beforehand.

3 In the All Hosts Properties dialog box, select Storage, click Allocate Storage Pools and click OK.

4 In the Allocate Storage Pools dialog box, select the pool with the appropriate classification to assign to the host group and click Add.

3 In the All Hosts Properties dialog box, select Storage, click Allocate Logical Unit and click OK.

4 In the Allocate Logical Unit dialog box, select the logical unit with the appropriate classification to assign to the host group and click Add.

Provisioning Logical Units

DataCore SMP allows administrators to create logical units and assign them to managed servers running Hyper-V software in a host group to which storage pools were allocated. This process simplifies the management of logical units because all actions can be performed in SCVMM, instead of switching between multiple user interfaces such as the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator tool, Windows Disk Manager, and the DataCore Management Console.

o The logical unit in SCVMM corresponds to a virtual disk in SANsymphony software.

2 Click All Hosts to display hosts, then right-click on the desired host and select Properties from the context menu.

3 In the All Hosts Properties dialog box, select Storage. Under Storage, select Add and choose Add Disk from the drop-down menu.

5 In the Create Logical Unit dialog box, specify the settings for the logical unit.

6 Format the logical unit and configure a mount point without a drive letter or drive path.

7 Monitor the status for the logical unit completion and assignment in History>Recent Jobs in the Jobs workspace.

8 The Properties dialog box for the logical unit, under Logical Unit Assignment indicates the initiator addresses assigned to the logical unit.

Provisioning Logical Units Through Windows File and Storage Services

In some situations it is useful to create and assign a logical unit to a server which is not managed by a Hyper-V host (for example, assignment to a dedicated SCVMM Library Server). However, storage automation with SCVMM is only supported for servers that are running Hyper-V software and therefore is not supported in the SCVMM Console. In such cases, DataCore SMP allows you to use Windows File and Storage Services to create logical units (virtual disks).

1 Open File and Storage Services in Server Manager and select Storage Pools, then choose the appropriate SANsymphony storage resource under the server group. (The virtual disk created is based on the selected SANsymphony virtual disk template.)

4 Ensure that the check box Create a volume when this wizard closes is selected and click Close.

This process creates a SANsymphony virtual disk based on the selected virtual disk template. The volume from the File and Storage Services perspective is the storage that is visible to the operating system and application.

In order to access a virtual hard disk from the SCVMM Library Server and create a virtual machine template, the volume should be shared for the SCVMM Library Server. For other cases, sharing the volume may be optional.

3 In the New Share Wizard, verify the volume location and click Next.

By default, the location of the file share will be a new folder under the \Shares directory on the volume.

4 Customize permissions on the share to allow access for the SCVMM Library Server.

5 Follow the steps in the wizard to create a file share.

(This file share will be added later to the SCVMM Library Server for SAN Copy-Capable virtual machine templates.)

6 In SCVMM, open the Library Servers in the Library workspace, then right-click the library server to which to add the share and select Add Library Shares from the context menu.

7 In the Add Library Shares dialog box, select the check box next to the share representing the SANsymphony virtual disk and click Next.

8 In the Properties for the Library Server, ensure that the Library Server has All Hosts selected for the Host group.

Creating SAN Copy-capable Virtual Machine Templates

Virtual machine templates provides an efficient way to deploy standardized virtual machines according to the organization policies and compliance criteria. The ability to create a copy of an operating system with predefined hardware and guest operating system profile settings, and then provision that copy throughout the infrastructure enables the efficiencies, availability, and performance offered by intelligent storage subsystems.

SCVMM has the ability to create both network copy and SAN copy-capable virtual machine templates. SAN copy-capable implies the use of the SAN Subsystem to provision the target virtual machine through a process known as rapid virtual machine provisioning. For more information on rapid virtual machine provisioning, see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg610594.aspx.

To create a SAN copy-capable template from a SAN copy-capable virtual hard disk:

1 After a logical unit is added to the SCVMM Library Server as a library share, copy the virtual hard disk to use to the library share.

2 In SCVMM, open the Library Servers in the Library workspace, select the library share, then right-click the virtual hard disk and select Create Virtual Machine from the context menu.

3 Follow the steps in the wizard to create a SAN copy-capable template. After the template is created, view the template in the Library workspace Templates > VM Templates.

Rapid Provisioning of Virtual Machines

When a virtual hard disk (.vhd or .vhdx) for a virtual machine template is residing on a SANsymphony virtual disk, SCVMM identifies the template as SAN copy-capable. Virtual machines templates that are SAN copy-capable will use the SAN transfer method as opposed to network transfer improving performance and efficiency. On a SANsymphony storage array, the SAN transfer method will communicate through the DataCore SMP to create a clone of the SANsymphony virtual disk.

2 In the Arrays area, right-click on the SANsymphony storage array that is intended to store the virtual machines and select Properties.

3 In the Properties dialog box, under Settings, ensure that the provisioning method for the storage array is set to Clone logical units.

4 Navigate to the VM Templates. Select the SAN copy-capable template and click Create Virtual Machine in the Template Ribbon.

5 Follow the steps in the wizard to complete the virtual machine creation. In Select Destination, select Place the virtual machine on a host and choose All Hosts.

7 When a virtual machine is rapidly deployed using SAN copy, a clone of the SANsymphony virtual disk is created that belongs to the SAN copy-capable virtual machine template for the virtual machine being deployed.

8 The rapidly provisioned virtual disk is displayed in the Storage node under VMs and Services.

Step	Process
1	In SCVMM, add storage devices and import the DataCore Storage Management Provider. See Configuring DataCore Storage Management Provider for more information.
2	In SCVMM, allocate storage to host groups. See Allocating Storage to Host Groups for more information.
3	In SCVMM, create logical units for host storage and format the logical unit and configure a mount point. See Provisioning Logical Units for more information. Logical units may also be created and shared through Windows File and Storage Services. See Provisioning Logical Units Through Windows File and Storage Services for more information.
4	SAN copy-capable implies the use of the SAN Subsystem to provision the target virtual machine through a process known as rapid virtual machine provisioning. See Creating a SAN Copy-capable Template for more information. (This step is optional.)
5	Virtual machines templates that are SAN copy-capable will use the SAN transfer method as opposed to network transfer improving performance and efficiency. See Rapid Provisioning of Virtual Machines for more information. (This step is optional.)