Configuring a storage container for NVMe/TCP vVols
Prerequisites
Support for NVMe/TCP vVols on
PowerStore requires:
VMware ESXi version 8.0 Update 2 or later
PowerStoreOS version 3.6.x or later
PowerStore storage network configured for the NVMe protocol
NOTE:After configuring a new storage network or modifying an existing storage network, rescan the VASA Provider in vSphere.
A
PowerStore host created with the
NVMe vVol host
Initiator Type. See
NVMe host namespaces for vVols for more information.
For the latest information about ESXi version compatibility and special considerations, see KB article 000216664. For information about the latest qualified versions of ESXi with
PowerStore, see the
PowerStore Simple Support Matrix, which can be downloaded from
dell.com/powerstoredocs.
Limitations:
Storage networks using Centralized Discovery Controllers (CDC) are not supported for
PowerStore vVols.
Using an ESXi host that is configured with both an NVMe adapter for FC and an NVMe adapter for TCP for NVMe vVols on a single
PowerStore appliance is not supported.
Automatic space reclaim is not supported for NVMe vVols. Although
PowerStore vVols are thin, vSphere does not present them as thin to the guest operating systems.
About this task
Configure a storage container for vVols using NVMe/TCP.
See the VMware documentation for your ESXi version for detailed vSphere instructions.
In vSphere on the ESXi host, create the VMkernel adapter with NVMe over TCP enabled, or enable NVMe over TCP on an existing VMkernel adapter. Rescan the VASA provider and the NVMe storage adapter.
After the rescan, the
PowerStore NVMe controllers should be visible in vSphere.
In
PowerStore Manager, add the ESXi host NVMe/TCP vVol initiator.
Under
Compute, select
Hosts Information > Add Host.
On the
Host Details page, enter a name for the host and select
ESXi as the operating system.
On the
Initiator Type page, select
NVMe vVol.
On the
Host Initiators page, select the host initiator from the autodiscovered initiators list based on the unique NVMe vVol NQN or Host-ID. The
Initiator Type column displays
NVMe vVol and the NQN string contains the value
vvol.
NOTE:ESXi hosts use a unique Host NQN and Host ID for NVMe vVols, separate from the ESXi host NVMe NQN. Because of the unique NVMe vVol IDs, separate host entries in
PowerStore Manager must be created for NVMe vVols and traditional volumes using NVMe.
To validate the NVMe vVol-specific NQN for the host initiator in vSphere 8.0 Update 2, run the vSphere PowerCLI
esxcli storage vvol nvme info get command.
To validate the NVMe vVol-specific NQN for the host initiator in vSphere 8.0 Update 1:
Enable SSH on the ESXi host.
Log in as root to the local VMware CLI.
Run the
localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int storage internal vvol vasanvmecontext get command.
In
PowerStore Manager, create a storage container with the NVMe storage protocol. See
Create a storage container.
In vSphere, mount the new storage container to the ESXi host. Select the host, create a vVol datastore, and select the
PowerStore NVMe/TCP storage container.
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