Release notes
ONTAP and VMware vSphere
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Cluster administration
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Volume administration
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Logical storage management with the CLI
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NAS storage management
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Configure NFS with the CLI
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Manage NFS with the CLI
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Manage SMB with the CLI
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Manage file access using SMB
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Security and data encryption
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Data protection and disaster recovery
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Collection of separate PDF docs
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You can integrate ONTAP and related NetApp products with VMware vSphere. There are several options available depending on your technology environment and business needs.
Selected concepts and terminology
As you begin to explore using ONTAP and related NetApp products in a VMware environment, it's helpful to first be familiar with some of the key terminology and concepts.
- Logical unit number
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A LUN is a number used to identify a logical unit within a Storage Area Network (SAN). These addressable devices are typically logical disks accessed through the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol or one of its encapsulated derivatives.
- VMware vSphere virtual volume
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A virtual volume (vVol) provides a volume-level abstraction for storage used by a virtual machine. It includes several benefits and provides an alternative to using a traditional LUN.
- Persistent reservations
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Persistent reservations are supported with SCSI-3 and an improvement over the earlier SCSI-2 reservations. They allow multiple client initiators to communicate with a single target while locking out other nodes. The reservations can persist even if the bus is reset for error recovery.
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Beginning with ONTAP 9.15.1, you can create a persistent reservation for a virtual volume using SCSI-3. This feature is only supported using ONTAP Tools for VMware vSphere 9 with a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC). |
- Windows Server Failover Clustering
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Microsoft WSFC is a feature of the Windows Server operating system providing fault tolerance and high availability. A set of server nodes (physical or virtual) are joined together as a cluster to provide resiliency in case of a failure. WSFC is commonly used to deploy infrastructure services include database, file, and namespaces servers.
- VMware vSphere Storage APIs - Storage Awareness
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VASA is a set of APIs providing integration of the storage arrays with vCenter for management and administration. The architecture is based on several components including the VASA Provider which handles communication between VMware vSphere and the storage systems. With ONTAP, the provider is implemented as part of ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere.
- VMware vSphere Storage APIs - Array Integration
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VAAI is a set of APIs that enable communication between VMware vSphere ESXi hosts and the storage devices. The API includes a set of primitive operations used by the hosts to offload storage operations to the array. VAAI can provide significant performance improvements for storage-intensive tasks.
- NetApp SnapCenter
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SnapCenter is a centralized and scalable platform providing data protection for applications, databases, host file systems, and virtual machines using ONTAP storage systems. It leverages the native ONTAP technologies including Snapshot, SnapRestore, FlexClone, SnapMirror, and SnapVault.
NetApp plug-ins and related technologies
NetApp provides robust support for integrating ONTAP and related products with VMware vSphere technologies.
ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere
ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere is a set of tools for integrating ONTAP and vSphere. It implements the provider functionality of the VASA API framework. ONTAP tools also includes the vCenter plug-in, a storage replication adapter (SRA) for VMware Site Recovery Manager, and a REST API server you can use to build automation applications.
NFS Plug-In for VMware VAAI
The NetApp NFS Plug-In for VMware VAAI provides access to the VAAI features. The plug-in can be installed on ESXi hosts and allows the hosts to leverage VAAI with the NFS datastores on ONTAP. It provides several operations including cloning, space reservations, and snapshot offloading.
VMware Site Recovery Manager
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) provides a disaster recovery capability. SRM integrates with ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere to access and leverage the ONTAP data management functionality.
vSphere Metro Storage Cluster
vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) is a technology that enables and supports vSphere in a stretched cluster deployment. vMSC solutions are supported with NetApp MetroCluster and SnapMirror active sync (formerly SMBC). These solutions provide enhanced business continuity in the case of domain failure. The resiliency model is based on your specific configuration choices.
SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere
The SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere (SCV) is a Linux-based virtual appliance you can deploy together with the SnapCenter server or as a standalone application. In both cases, SCV provides backup and restore operations for VMs, datastores, and VMDKs. The operations are fast, space-efficient, crash-consistent, and VM-consistent.
Get more information
There are several additional resources available to help you prepare to deploy ONTAP in a VMware vSphere environment.