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ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere 10

Protect a VMFS datastore

Contributors jani
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Use this task to protect an eligible VMFS datastore by adding it to a protection group.

Before you begin

  • Ensure the datastore uses the iSCSI or FC protocol.

  • Confirm that you have administrative privileges in vSphere.

  • Verify that the datastore is not already part of a protection group.

Steps

  1. Log in to the vSphere Client.

  2. Select a host cluster and select Datastores.

  3. Right-click the eligible VMFS datastore you want to protect and select NetApp ONTAP tools > Protect.

    The system checks the datastore’s eligibility for protection. If the datastore is eligible, the protection workflow continues. If the datastore is ineligible, a message displays the reasons and you cannot proceed.

  4. Choose whether to add the datastore to an existing protection group or create a new protection group.

    1. To use an existing protection group, select the protection group and continue.

    2. To create a new protection group:

      1. Provide a name for the protection group.

      2. Select Add Relationship.

      3. In the Add SnapMirror Relationship window, select the Target storage VM and the Policy type.

        The policy type can be Asynchronous or AutomatedFailOverDuplex.

        If you select AutomatedFailOverDuplex, add the target storage VM as a storage backend to the same vCenter Server where ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere is deployed.

        For AutomatedFailOverDuplex, choose a uniform or non-uniform host configuration. When you select the uniform host configuration toggle, the host initiator group configuration is implicitly replicated on the target site. For more information, refer to Key concepts and terms.

      4. If you select a non-uniform host configuration, select host access (source/target) for each host in the cluster.

  5. Select OK to start the protection workflow.

Result

The datastore appears in the selected protection group. You can view and manage protection status from the ONTAP tools plug-in.