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1885
reclaim storage space volume
Hey Guys,
I have a Dell EqualLogic array of two PS6210 that I'm having an issue with on of the volumes.
I have a 2TB volume being used by VMWare VCenter and I started getting an error saying that the volume's used space is more than 98%. Of course in VCenter the volume is not used to that extent and is mostly free.
Now, is there a way for me to reclaim that space back? Do I have to do something in VCenter first?
Thanks!
Paragonex
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December 12th, 2021 23:00
Hey,
Sorry for the late reply as I was not on my computer and wasn't able to check that.
So I have checked this out an as this is a legacy system I'm using VMFS 5 on this volume.
I've tried to switch the volume to thin provision but I'm getting an error that the in use space exceeds the warning limit.
Am I still able to do this procedure in the way that DELL-Sam L suggested?
EDIT:
After using your provided help + this guide I was able to unmap my volume.
used the following:
esxcli storage vmfs unmap -u
Many thanks guys!
DELL-Sam L
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November 30th, 2021 15:00
Hello Paragonex,
Here is a link to a kb that maybe of assistance. https://dell.to/3d6Xbcw
dwilliam62
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December 1st, 2021 04:00
Hello,
A couple of notes. The EQL volume must be thin provisioned and not configured for replication before using the UNMAP command will work. You can change from thick to thin provisioned volumes at any time without interruption. Doing so would allow you to OVER provision a pool however. If you do that and use up all available space on the arrays all your volumes will go offline.
What version of EQL FW are those arrays using?
Also, it is not an ERROR but a warning. The EQL array graph only shows writes. Overtime as files are deleted the ESXi nodes aren't sending UNMAP commands to tell the storage to release those pages back to free space. However, the OS tracks free pages independently. The OS knows what blocks can be reused. Always, go by what the OS shows for free space, not the EQL GUI. EQL arrays are block storage, not a NAS which has awareness of files.
VMFS v6 using a current build of ESXi and vCenter has support for auto UNMAP.
When you run the UNMAP process you may find that you have to run it a few times. If you have snapshots on those VMFS datastores they may also impact the amount of space reclaimed. Finally, don't expect the result to be a perfect match for what ESXi reports. The esxcli UNMAP process only works for deleted data by the VMware kernel. Deletes within VMDK files are not recovered if you are using thick provisioned VMDKs. One of the features of VMFS v6 and supported VMs is that when the VM OS deletes a file it will send the UNMAP command to ESX and it will UNMAP the backend storage.
Regards,
Don
Paragonex
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December 13th, 2021 04:00
Yes, the percentage was at 98% but I'm pretty sure was never reclaimed back.
Thanks !
dwilliam62
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December 13th, 2021 04:00
Hello,
Re: Warning. You can adjust the % of in-use space that generates the warning. The default is 60%. It's there to help prevent over provisioning the array and running out of actual space.
Glad it worked for you.
Regards,
Don