Dell EqualLogic PS6210XV EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module Version 1.7 - Page 2

Versions of Individual VIBs The Dell EqualLogic MEM is distributed as an offline bundle that contains multiple VIBs. The version numbers of the individual VIBs do not necessarily match the version of the offline bundle. New and Changed Features This version of the Multipathing Extension Module includes the following new and changed features: • Support for PS Series firmware version 10.0.3 • Support for importing EqualLogic storage to Powerstore (requires VMware ESXi version 6.5 U2) Unsupported VMware Environments The following environments are not supported by the Dell EqualLogic MEM: • Offloaded data transfer (ODX) Dell recommends using VMware VAAI as an alternative to ODX. The procedure for disabling ODX is described in the following Microsoft Tech Note: https://technet.microsoft.com/JJ200627 • The ESXi iSCSI initiator does not support IPv6 addressing for iSCSI multipathing. • The only supported distributed virtual switch (dvs) is the VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch (vDS). • ESXi iSCSI multipathing requires a non-routed network between the host and the iSCSI storage. For details, see this VMware Knowledge Base article: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1009524 NOTE: If you plan to import EqualLogic volumes to a PowerStore array, see the Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide for supported operating systems. Changing the Multipathing Setting After Adding PE Targets If you add protocol endpoint (PE) targets to support VVols in your environment after your initial configuration of the MEM, set the multipathing to DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED using the setup.pl script, esxcli, or vSphere UI. For details, see the Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module Installation and User's Guide. NOTE: VVols is not supported when importing EqualLogic storage to PowerStore arrays. Using the EqualLogic Plugin with HBAs The MEM fully supports the Broadcom NetXtreme II family with iSCSI offload. This adapter allows third-party components, such as the EqualLogic Host Connection Manager (EHCM), to add and remove iSCSI sessions. Such programmatic iSCSI session management allows the EHCM to maintain the optimal path configuration to each iSCSI target and realize the full benefit of the EqualLogic MEM. Independent HBAs, such as the QLogic QLE406xC, do not support iSCSI session management. Because iSCSI session management is an important piece of the EqualLogic MEM functionality, you will not see any performance gain when using the MEM with these HBAs. You can use the Broadcom iSCSI offload initiator with the VMware software initiator. However, the two initiators must not share physical NICs or VMkernel ports. Each dependent HBA can have different scaling limits and can have different Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) support for jumbo frames. See the latest VMware Compatibility Guide or check with your hardware vendor for details about specific devices. As the total number of iSCSI sessions approaches the adapter limit, the EqualLogic Host Connection Manager (EHCM) will reduce the number of sessions it creates to each iSCSI target to distribute the available sessions equitably. The EHCM will reserve a limited number of iSCSI sessions for discovering and logging in to new iSCSI targets. If the number of new iSCSI targets presented to the ESX server exceeds the number of reserved sessions, an extra rescan will need to be performed for the iSCSI initiator to discover and connect to all the new targets. NOTE: iSCSI HBAs are not supported when importing EqualLogic storage to PowerStore arrays. 2 Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module Version 1.7 Release Notes