Deployment planning and requirements

11/27/2024 Contributors

You should be aware of the deployment requirements before you deploy the virtual appliance. The deployment requirements are listed in the following tables.

Host requirements

Before you begin deployment of SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere (SCV), you should be familiar with the host requirements.

SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere is deployed as a Linux VM regardless of whether you use the plug-in to protect data on Windows systems or Linux systems.
You should deploy the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere on the vCenter Server.

Backup schedules are executed in the time zone in which the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere is deployed. vCenter reports data in the time zone in which the vCenter is located. Therefore, if the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere and vCenter are in different time zones, data in the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere Dashboard might not be the same as the data in the reports.
You must not deploy the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere in a folder that has a name with special characters.

The folder name should not contain the following special characters: $!@#%^&()_+{}';.,*?"<>|
You must deploy and register a separate, unique instance of the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere for each vCenter Server.
- Each vCenter Server, whether or not it is in Linked Mode, must be paired with a separate instance of the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere.
- Each instance of the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere must be deployed as a separate Linux VM.
  
  For example, if you want to perform backups from six different instances of the vCenter Server, then you must deploy the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere on six hosts and each vCenter Server must be paired with a unique instance of the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere.
To protect vVol VMs (VMs on VMware vVol datastores), you must first deploy ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere. ONTAP tools provisions and configures storage for vVols on ONTAP and on the VMware web client.

For more information, refer to the ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere documentation. Additionally, refer to NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool for latest information about the supported versions on ONTAP tools.
SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere provides limited support of shared PCI or PCIe devices (for example, NVIDIA Grid GPU) due to a limitation of the virtual machines in supporting Storage vMotion. For more information, see the vendor's document Deployment Guide for VMware.
- What is supported:
  
  Creating resource groups
  
  Creating backups without VM consistency
  
  Restoring a complete VM when all the VMDKs are on an NFS datastore and the plug-in does not need to use Storage vMotion
  
  Attaching and detaching VMDKs
  
  Mounting and unmounting datastores
  
  Guest file restores
- What is not supported:
  
  Creating backups with VM consistency
  
  Restoring a complete VM when one or more VMDKs are on a VMFS datastore.
For a detailed list of the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere limitations, refer to SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere Release Notes.

License requirements

You must provide licenses for…	License requirement
ONTAP	One of these: SnapMirror or SnapVault (for secondary data protection regardless of the type of relationship)
Additional products	vSphere Standard, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus A vSphere license is required to perform restore operations, which use Storage vMotion. vSphere Essentials or Essentials Plus licenses do not include Storage vMotion.
Primary destinations	SnapCenter Standard: required to perform application-based protection over VMware SnapRestore: required to perform restore operations for VMware VMs and datastores only FlexClone: used for mount and attach operations on VMware VMs and datastores only
Secondary destinations	SnapCenter Standard: used for failover operations for application-based protection over VMware FlexClone: used for mount and attach operations on VMware VMs and datastores only

You must provide licenses for…

License requirement

ONTAP

One of these: SnapMirror or SnapVault (for secondary data protection regardless of the type of relationship)

Additional products

vSphere Standard, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus
A vSphere license is required to perform restore operations, which use Storage vMotion. vSphere Essentials or Essentials Plus licenses do not include Storage vMotion.

Primary destinations

SnapCenter Standard: required to perform application-based protection over VMware
SnapRestore: required to perform restore operations for VMware VMs and datastores only
FlexClone: used for mount and attach operations on VMware VMs and datastores only

Secondary destinations

SnapCenter Standard: used for failover operations for application-based protection over VMware
FlexClone: used for mount and attach operations on VMware VMs and datastores only

Software support

Item	Supported versions
vCenter vSphere	7.0U1 and above.
ESXi Server	7.0U1 and above.
IP addresses	IPv4, IPv6
VMware TLS	1.2, 1.3
TLS on the SnapCenter Server	1.2, 1.3 The SnapCenter Server uses this to communicate with the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere for application over VMDK data protection operations.
VMware application vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI)	SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere uses this to improve performance for restore operations. It also improves performance in NFS environments.
ONTAP tools for VMware	SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere uses this to manage vVol datastores (VMware virtual volumes). For supported versions, refer to NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

Item

Supported versions

vCenter vSphere

7.0U1 and above.

ESXi Server

7.0U1 and above.

IP addresses

IPv4, IPv6

VMware TLS

1.2, 1.3

TLS on the SnapCenter Server

1.2, 1.3
The SnapCenter Server uses this to communicate with the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere for application over VMDK data protection operations.

VMware application vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI)

SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere uses this to improve performance for restore operations. It also improves performance in NFS environments.

ONTAP tools for VMware

SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere uses this to manage vVol datastores (VMware virtual volumes). For supported versions, refer to NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

For the latest information about supported versions, refer to NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

Requirements for NVMe over TCP and NVMe over FC protocols

The minimum software requirements for NVMe over TCP and NVMe over FC protocol support are:

vCenter vSphere 7.0U3
ESXi 7.0U3
ONTAP 9.10.1

Space and sizing requirements

Item	Requirements
Operating system	Linux
Minimum CPU count	4 cores
Minimum RAM	Minimum: 12 GB Recommended: 16 GB
Minimum hard drive space for the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere, logs, and MySQL database	100 GB

Item

Requirements

Operating system

Linux

Minimum CPU count

4 cores

Minimum RAM

Minimum: 12 GB
Recommended: 16 GB

Minimum hard drive space for the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere, logs, and MySQL database

100 GB

Connection and port requirements

Type of port	Preconfigured port
VMware ESXi Server port	443 (HTTPS), bidirectional The Guest File Restore feature uses this port.
SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere port	8144 (HTTPS), bidirectional The port is used for communications from the VMware vSphere client and from the SnapCenter Server. 8080 bidirectional This port is used to manage virtual appliances. Note: Custom port for addition of SCV host to SnapCenter is supported.
VMware vSphere vCenter Server port	You must use port 443 if you are protecting vVol VMs.
Storage cluster or storage VM port	443 (HTTPS), bidirectional 80 (HTTP), bidirectional The port is used for communication between the virtual appliance and the storage VM or the cluster that contains the storage VM.

Type of port

Preconfigured port

VMware ESXi Server port

443 (HTTPS), bidirectional
The Guest File Restore feature uses this port.

SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere port

8144 (HTTPS), bidirectional
The port is used for communications from the VMware vSphere client and from the SnapCenter Server.
8080 bidirectional
This port is used to manage virtual appliances.

Note: Custom port for addition of SCV host to SnapCenter is supported.

VMware vSphere vCenter Server port

You must use port 443 if you are protecting vVol VMs.

Storage cluster or storage VM port

443 (HTTPS), bidirectional
80 (HTTP), bidirectional
The port is used for communication between the virtual appliance and the storage VM or the cluster that contains the storage VM.

Configurations supported

Each plug-in instance supports only one vCenter Server. vCenters in linked mode are supported. Multiple plug-in instances can support the same SnapCenter Server as shown in the following figure.

Supported configuration graphical representation

RBAC privileges required

The vCenter administrator account must have the required vCenter privileges, as listed in the following table.

To do this operation…	You must have these vCenter privileges…
Deploy and register the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere in vCenter	Extension: Register extension
Upgrade or remove the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere	Extension Update extension Unregister extension
Allow the vCenter Credential user account registered in SnapCenter to validate user access to the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere	sessions.validate.session
Allow users to access the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere	SCV Administrator SCV Backup SCV Guest File Restore SCV Restore SCV View The privilege must be assigned at the vCenter root.

To do this operation…

You must have these vCenter privileges…

Deploy and register the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere in vCenter

Extension: Register extension

Upgrade or remove the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere

Extension

Update extension
Unregister extension

Allow the vCenter Credential user account registered in SnapCenter to validate user access to the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere

sessions.validate.session

Allow users to access the SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere

SCV Administrator
SCV Backup
SCV Guest File Restore
SCV Restore
SCV View
The privilege must be assigned at the vCenter root.

AutoSupport

SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere provides a minimum of information for tracking its usage, including the plug-in URL. AutoSupport includes a table of installed plug-ins that is displayed by the AutoSupport viewer.