DataCore VASA Provider Architecture
DataCore VASA Provider runs as a Windows Service on the same system where DataCore SANsymphony is running. DataCore VASA Provider mediates the out of bound communication between vCenter Server, ESXi hosts and DataCore SANsymphony. The storage administrator defines the storage containers in SANsymphony by creating virtual disk templates.
Once DataCore VASA Provider is registered in the vCenter, the vCenter server discovers all the storage containers and their capabilities along with protocol endpoints. These storage containers can then be used to create virtual volume datastores that hold the virtual machines. Virtual machines created on the virtual volume datastore needs to have a storage policy.
A virtual machine storage policy is a set of rules related to the virtual machine storage requirements. When a policy is applied to the virtual machine, DataCore SANsymphony makes sure that the rules specified in the policy are honored by the storage, and communicates the policy compliance status to the vCenter.
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Storage Container (SC) |
A storage container is used to create vVol datastores that are connected to a storage provider. Storage containers are defined and resourced from DataCore SANsymphony disk pools. See Creating a Virtual Volume Datastore for more information. |
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Virtual volume (vVol) |
A vVol datastore allocated from a storage container that will be ultimately used to create a virtual machine (VM). vVols that are allocated from the same storage container will have the capabilities of that storage container. Virtual disk (vDisk) templates define the capabilities of the vVol datastore. vVols are represented in DataCore SANsymphony software as vVol vDisks. |
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Protocol endpoints identify the location of the vVol virtual disks and are used to establish paths for virtual machines (VM). They make available virtual volumes to ESXi hosts and route traffic from ESXi hosts to the appropriate DataCore SANsymphony virtual disk. Protocol endpoints are represented as Protocol Endpoint virtual disks in DataCore SANsymphony. See Protocol Endpoints for more information. |
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Bind |
Binding is the process by which a virtual volume becomes available to ESXi hosts when the virtual machine is powered on. This process is equivalent to serving the virtual disks representing a virtual volume to the ESXi host. The virtual volume is "bound" to their protocol endpoint and only when bound are visible to the ESXi host. The DataCore VASA Provider creates all the necessary path connections for the protocol endpoint. See Creating Virtual Machines for more information. |
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Unbind |
Unbinding is the process by which a virtual volume becomes unavailable to ESXi hosts when the virtual machine is powered off. This process is equivalent to unserving the virtual disk. |