Manage storage pools
About storage pool management
A storage pool is a directory used to store storage volume files. You can add multiple storage pools on a host. The following storage pool types are available:
Local storage—Local file directories and LVM logical volumes.
External storage:
IP SAN—iSCSI network storage and iSCSI shared file systems.
FC SAN—FC network storage and FC shared file systems.
NAS—Network file systems (not supported by ARM hosts) and Windows shared directories
VMs can use a storage pool as a block device or a file as follows:
Block device—A block device does not have a file system. A VM can directly access the volume resources on block devices. Block devices are used in scenarios where large disk space is needed, for example, in a hospital information system. For storage pools of the LVM logical volume, iSCSI network storage, or FC network storage type, VMs use the storage pools as block devices.
File—A file is a disk file in a file system. After a disk file is mounted to a VM, the file appears to be a physical disk. Disk files feature easy management. For storage pools of the local file directory, shared file system, or NFS network file system (not supported by ARM hosts) type, VMs use the storage pools as files.
For Windows system shared directory, VMs can perform only read operations. As a best practice, use storage pools of this type to store OS installation images. VMs can mount the ISO installation files in the storage pools to install an OS instead of copying the files to the local storage.
Configuration workflow
Add a storage pool—Add local or external storage pools to a host.
Manage storage volumes—Manage storage volumes of storage pools.
Start or suspend a storage pool—Suspend a running storage pool or start a suspended storage pool.
Manage storage pools—Synchronize, refresh, suspend, delete, or edit host storage pools.
Restrictions and guidelines
ARM hosts do not support using a high-speed local file directory as a storage pool.
iSCSI network storage and an iSCSI shared file system cannot share the LUN of an iSCSI storage device.
To ensure the availability of the storage pools, make sure user mapping mode configured on the NFS server is no_root_squash and the system has the root access. ARM hosts do not support NFS.
The FC storage devices of some vendors do not support automatic LUN scanning. If you cannot find any LUNs for an FC SAN shared file system after adding it on a host, you must reboot the host.
After you suspend a storage pool of the FC network storage or local file directory type, VMs using the storage pool can still start correctly.
When you add a storage pool on a host, for the storage pool to support automatic VM migration, make sure the following requirements are met:
For a network file system, the NFS source server path and the NFS storage pool name must be the same as the network file systems on the other hosts in the same cluster. ARM hosts do not support NFS.
For iSCSI network storage, the name and target must be the same as the iSCSI network storages on the other hosts in the same cluster.
For FC network storage, the migrating VM must use the same LUN as the FC network storage on the other hosts, and the FC network storage must have the same name.
If the storage pool is an iSCSI network storage pool that has multiple LUNs, the size of the storage pool is the total size of all LUNs of the target, including LUNs used as shared file systems and template pools.
Add a storage pool
Procedure
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click Add.
Specify the storage pool type, configure storage pool parameters as needed, and then click OK.
Parameters
LVM logical storage volume
Source Path: Select a VG created on the local disks of the host as the source path. Do not select a VG that has a system directory, such as swap, home, or var, mounted. If you do so, data in the system directory will be damaged.
iSCSI network storage
Target Path: Enter the local mount point of the storage pool. The default path is /dev/disk/by-path.
IP: Enter the IP address of an iSCSI storage server.
Target: Specify the iSCSI server that provides services to initiators.
Local storage
Target Path: Specify the local directory used by the storage pool, for example, /vms/test, where test is the name of the storage pool.
FC network storage
Target Path: Enter the local mount point of the storage pool. The default path is /dev/disk/by-id.
NAA: Select an NAA on a storage server. An NAA is associated with a LUN.
RBD storage
Make sure the system is already configured with a RBD storage pool.
NFS network file system (not supported by ARM hosts)
Target Path: Enter the local mount point of the storage pool.
Source Host IP: Enter the IP address of the host where the shared directory resides.
Source Path: Enter the path of the shared directory.
Shared file system
Shared File System: Select a shared file system.
Configure Network: Configure virtual switch settings for the host to communicate with the iSCSI storage server when the server is inaccessible.
Target Path: Local mount point of the storage pool. If the shared file system name is test, the default target path is /vms/test, which cannot be edited.
NAA: Unique identifier of a LUN on a storage server. For an iSCSI shared file system, the NAA is determined by the selected LUN. For an FC shared file system, you must select a LUN here.
Service Storage: Select whether to enable the system to use the shared file system when the system deploy VMs in a cluster automatically.
Windows shared directory
Target Path: Local directory mount point used by the storage pool.
Source Host IP: Enter the IP address of the host where the Windows system shared directory resides.
Source Path: Enter the path of the shared directory. For example, if the share directory on drive D: is shared, enter /share. Only single-level directories are supported. You cannot enter a multi-level directory path, for example, /test/share1.
Username: Enter the username for logging in to Windows.
Password: Enter the password for logging in to Windows.
Manage storage pools
Synchronize storage pools
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click Synchronize.
Refresh a storage pool
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click Refresh for the target storage pool to refresh information about the storage pool.
Start or suspend a storage pool
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click Start or Suspend for the target storage pool.
Click OK.
Delete a storage pool
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Deleting storage pool used for teaching storage such as /vms/learningspace or /vms/learningspace/glusterfs/courseImages causes course data loss, and the deleted courses will become available. Make sure you are fully aware of the impacts of this operation. |
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click More for the target storage pool, and then click Delete.
Click OK.
Edit the alias of a storage pool
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click More for the target storage pool, and then click Edit.
Enter a new alias, and then click OK.
View details about a storage pool
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.
Click More for the target storage pool, and then click Details.
View the path of a storage pool
From the navigation pane, select Data Center > Virtualization > Cluster name > Host name.
Click the Storage tab.