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System Manager Classic

NFS configuration for ESXi using VSC overview

Contributors netapp-mwallis
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Using the ONTAP System Manager classic interface (ONTAP 9.7 and earlier), you can quickly set up NFS access for ESXi hosts to datastores using ONTAP volumes.

Use this procedure if:

  • You are using a supported version of Virtual Storage Console for VMware vSphere (VSC) to provision a datastore and create a volume.

    • Beginning with VSC 7.0, VSC is part of the ONTAP Tools for VMware vSphere virtual appliance, which includes VSC, vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) Provider, and Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) for VMware vSphere capabilities.

    • Be sure to check the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool to confirm compatibility between your current ONTAP and VSC releases.

  • Your data network uses the default IPspace, the default broadcast domain, and the default failover group.

    If your data network is flat, these default objects prescribe that LIFs will fail over correctly in the event of a link failure. If you are not using the default objects, you should refer to Network Management for information about how to configure LIF path failover.

  • You want to use the Plug-In for VMware VAAI.

    • VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) enable you to perform copy offload and space reservations. The Plug-In for VMware VAAI uses this to improve host performance because operations do not need to go through the ESXi host, thereby taking advantage of space- and time-efficient cloning in ONTAP.

    • Using VMware VAAI for datastore provisioning is a best practice.

    • The NFS Plug-In for VMware VAAI is available from the NetApp Support site.

  • NFS access will be through NFSv3 and NFSv4 for use with VMware VAAI.

For more information, see TR-4597: VMware vSphere for ONTAP and the documentation for your VSC release.