Virtualized workloads are mobile. Therefore, administrators use VMware Storage vMotion to move VMs across VMware Virtual Machine File System (VMFS), NFS, or vVols datastores, all residing on the same storage system and thus explore different storage approaches if using an All-Flash System or use the latest ASA models with SAN innovation for higher cost efficiency.

The key message here is that migrating to ONTAP improves customer experience and application performance while offering the flexibility to migrate data and applications between FCP, iSCSI, NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP. For enterprises deeply invested in VMware vSphere, using ONTAP storage is a cost-effective option given the current market conditions, one that presents a unique opportunity. Enterprises today face new imperatives that a modern SAN approach can address simply and quickly. Here are some of the ways existing and new NetApp customers are adding value with ONTAP.

With impending licensing changes, organizations are proactively addressing the potential increase in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). They are strategically optimizing their VMware infrastructure through aggressive resource management and right-sizing to enhance resource utilization and streamline capacity planning. Through the effective use of specialized tools, organizations can efficiently identify and reclaim wasted resources, subsequently reducing core counts and overall licensing expenses. It's important to highlight that many organizations are already integrating these practices into their cloud assessments, demonstrating how these processes and tools effectively mitigate cost concerns in on-premises environments and eliminate unnecessary migration expenses to alternative hypervisors.

To further enhance and simplify VMware integration, NetApp offers several offtap tools that can be used with NetApp ONTAP and VMware vSphere to efficiently manage virtualized environments. This section will focus on the ONTAP tools for VMware. ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere 10 provide a comprehensive set of tools for virtual machine lifecycle management, simplifying storage management, enhancing efficiency features, improving availability, and reducing storage costs and operational overhead. These tools seamlessly integrate with the VMware ecosystem, facilitating datastore provisioning and offering basic protection for virtual machines. The 10.x release of ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere comprises horizontally scalable, event-driven microservices deployed as an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA), following best practices for provisioning datastores and optimizing ESXi host settings for both block and NFS storage environments. Considering these benefits, OTV is recommended as a best practice to use with systems running ONTAP software.

VAAI primitives are used in routine vSphere operations such as creating, cloning, migrating, starting, and stopping VMs. These operations can be executed through the vSphere client for simplicity or from the command line for scripting or to get more accurate timing. VAAI for SAN is natively supported by ESX. VAAI is always enabled on supported NetApp storage systems and provides native support for the following VAAI operations on SAN storage:

View detailed guidance for Recommended ESXi host and other ONTAP settings.

Efficiently backing up VMs on VMFS datastore and rapidly recovering them are amongst the key advantages of ONTAP for vSphere. By integrating with vCenter, NetApp SnapCenter® software offers a wide range of backup and recovery features for VMs. It provides fast, space-efficient, crash-consistent, and VM-consistent backup and restore operations for VMs, Datastores, and VMDKs. It also works with SnapCenter Server to support application-based backup and restore operations in VMware environments using SnapCenter application-specific plug-ins. Leveraging Snapshot copies allows to make quick copies of the VM or datastore without any impact on performance and use NetApp SnapMirror® or NetApp SnapVault® technology for long-term, off-site data protection.

The workflow is simple. Add primary storage systems and SVMs (and Secondary if SnapMirror/SnapVault is required).

High level steps for deployment and configuration:

To protect VMs and iSCSI datastores hosting them, SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware must be deployed. It's a simple OVF import.

The steps to deploy is as follows:

Now it’s time to trigger a backup. The backup operations are performed on all the resources defined in a resource group. If a resource group has a policy attached and a schedule configured, backups occur automatically according to the schedule.

SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware enables to restore virtual machines (VMs) to the vCenter. While restoring a VM, it can be restored to the original datastore mounted on the original ESXi host which will overwrite the existing content with the backup copy that is selected or a deleted/renamed VM can be restored from a backup copy (operation overwrites the data in the original virtual disks). To perform restore, follow the below steps:

Now what if the original VM was deleted. It’s a simple task with SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware. The restore operation for a deleted VM can be performed from the datastore level. Go to respective Datastore > Configure > Backups and select the deleted VM and select Restore.

To summarize, when using ONTAP ASA storage to optimise TCO for a VMware deployment, use SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware as a simple and efficient method for backing up VMs. It enables to back up and restore VMs in a seamless and fast manner as snapshot backups take literally seconds to complete.

Refer to this solution guide and product documentation to learn about Snapcenter configuration, backup, restore from primary or secondary storage system or even from backups stored on object storage for long term retention.

To reduce storage costs, FabricPool volume tiering can be enabled to automatically move data for snapshot copies to a lower-cost storage tier. Snapshot copies typically use over 10% of allocated storage. While important for data protection and disaster recovery, these point-in-time copies are seldom used and are not an efficient use of high-performance storage. With the "Snapshot-Only" policy for FabricPool, you can easily free up space on high-performance storage. When this policy is enabled, inactive snapshot copy blocks in the volume that are not being used by the active file system are moved to the object tier and once read, the Snapshot copy is moved to the local tier to recover a VM or entire datastore. This object tier can be in the form of a private cloud (such as NetApp StorageGRID) or a public cloud (such as AWS or Azure).

View detailed guidance for VMware vSphere with ONTAP.

One of the most effective ways for ransomware attack protection is by implementing multi-layered security measures. Each virtual machine residing on a datastore hosts a standard operating system. Ensure enterprise server anti-malware product suites are installed and regularly updated on them which is an essential component of multi-layered ransomware protection strategy. Along with this, implement data protection leveraging NetApp snapshot technology to ensure rapid and reliable recovery from a ransomware attack.

Ransomware attacks are increasingly targeting backups and snapshot recovery points by trying to delete them before starting to encrypt files. However, with ONTAP this can be prevented by creating tamperproof snapshots on primary or secondary systems with NetApp Snapshot™ copy locking in ONTAP. These Snapshot copies can’t be deleted or changed by ransomware attackers or rogue administrators, so they’re available even after an attack. You can recover virtual machine data in seconds, minimizing organization’s downtime. Plus, you have the flexibility to choose the Snapshot schedule and lock duration that are right for your organization.

As part of adding multiple layered approach, there is also a native built-in ONTAP solution for protecting unauthorized deletion of backup Snapshot copies. It is known as multiadmin verification or MAV which is available in ONTAP 9.11.1 and later. The ideal approach will be to use queries for MAV specific operations.

To learn more about MAV and how to configure its protection capabilities see the Multi-admin verification overview.

Many IT organizations are adopting a hybrid cloud-first approach as they undergo a transformation phase. Customers are assessing their current IT infrastructure and moving their workloads to the cloud based on this assessment and discovery. The reasons for migrating to the cloud vary and can include factors such as elasticity and burst, data center exit, data center consolidation, end-of-life scenarios, mergers, acquisitions, and more. Each organization's migration reasoning depends on their specific business priorities with cost optimization being the highest priority. Selecting the right cloud storage is crucial when moving to the hybrid cloud, as it unleashes the power of cloud deployment and elasticity.

By integrating with 1P services powered by NetApp on each hyperscalar, organizations can realize a vSphere-based cloud solution with a simple migration approach, with no re-platforming, no IP changes, and no architectural changes. Additionally, this optimization enables you to scale the storage footprint while keeping the host count to least amount required in vSphere, but no change to the storage hierarchy, security, or files made available.

This solution demonstrates the optimal approach to using the ONTAP SAN technologies and Offtap tools to provide essential IT services for businesses both now and in the future. These advantages are particularly beneficial for virtualized environments running VMware vSphere in a SAN setup. With the flexibility and scalability of the NetApp storage systems, organizations can establish a foundation for updating and adjusting their infrastructure, allowing them to meet changing business needs over time. This system can handle current workloads and enhance infrastructure efficiency, thereby reducing operational costs and preparing for future workloads.