Dell PowerStore 3000X EMC PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Guide - Page 10

Multitenancy All PowerStore appliances support multiple storage containers on a cluster. To support multitenancy requirements, multiple storage containers can be created allowing the separation of VMs and associated vVols from one tenant to another. ISOs vVol During PowerStore X model cluster initialization, a 500 GB config-vVol that is named ISOs is created in the default storage container. This vVol can store any type of file, but is intended to hold ISO images, such as guest operating system installation files, and VM templates. Use this vVol to hold large ISO images that do not fit in a vSphere-created datastore folder, which has a default size of 4 GB. The ISOs vVol is listed in the vSphere datastore browser as a directory and appears on the vVols card of the default storage container in PowerStore Manager. Because a storage container cannot be deleted if it contains a vVol, the default storage container cannot be deleted while it contains the ISOs vVol. PowerStore Manager operations For information about using storage containers in PowerStore Manager, see Monitoring and managing storage containers on page 20. Virtualization architecture and configuration PowerStore X model configuration The PowerStore X model configuration provides a hypervisor layer in addition to block storage. VMware ESXi is the base operating system running on the PowerStore hardware, with the PowerStore OS running as a VM. The PowerStore X model appliance reserves 50% of the CPU and memory resources to run the controller VMs. The remaining CPU and memory resources are available for user VMs. This application-centric configuration enables you to run applications in other VMs on the PowerStore hardware. The PowerStore Resource Balancer works with vSphere DRS to automatically manage the placement of VMs and vVols to balance the load across the PowerStore X model appliance. Resources are moved and deployed to locations based on rules to facilitate high availability (HA). HA is enabled by default, and VMs fail over as necessary based on resource availability on the remaining nodes. In general, this behavior does not impact the daily operation or management of a PowerStore X model appliance. However, there are some considerations for storage administrators. The PowerStore X model appliance uses federated rather than distributed storage. This configuration may impact where a storage administrator chooses to locate resources within a data center, and how VM loads are set up for satisfactory performance. PowerStore T model configuration In the PowerStore T model configuration, the PowerStore OS runs directly on the PowerStore hardware. To add vVol-based VMs in this configuration, you must add ESXi hosts and a vCenter Server connection with a VASA provider. Some of the virtualization features available on PowerStore X model appliances are not available in this configuration. To add VMFS-based VMs in this configuration, you do not have to add a vCenter Server connection with a VASA provider, but it is still recommended. For PowerStore T model clusters, the PowerStore Resource Balancer manages the placement of vVols and keeps vVols for the same VM on the same appliance in a cluster. You can also manually migrate a vVol from one appliance to another using the Virtual Volumes card of the associated VM in PowerStore Manager. 10 Overview