WHITE PAPER Citrix XenServer and EMC CLARiiON CX4 Series Citrix XenServer and EMC CLARiiON CX4 Series Configuration Guide

Transcription

1 WHITE PAPER Citrix XenServer and EMC CLARiiON CX4 Series Citrix XenServer and EMC CLARiiON CX4 Series Configuration Guide

2 Contents Introduction...4 Citrix XenServer for Enterprise ready Virtualization...4 EMC CLARiiON CX4 Storage Platform...5 Overview of XenServer Storage...7 Storage Repositories (SRs)...7 Virtual Disk Images (VDIs)...7 Managing Storage...8 XenServer and EMC CLARiiON CX EMC CLARiiON CX4 Shared Storage Options...10 Shared Storage with the StorageLink Gateway...11 Shared iscsi Storage...12 Shared Fibre Channel Storage...13 Storage Multipathing...14 Installation and Configuration Basics...15 Introduction...15 Used Environment...15 Hardware Installation...16 Software Installation...16 Enabling XenServer Multipathing...16 Preparing the CLARiiON CX Provisioning Storage...20 Setting up a Storage Repository using StorageLink...26 Introduction...26 EMC CLARiiON, StorageLink and XenServer Setup...26 Setting up an iscsi Storage Repository...47 Page 2

3 Introduction...47 Pre configuration XenServer...47 EMC CLARiiON and XenServer iscsi Setup...53 Setting Up an FC Storage Repository...68 Introduction...68 EMC CLARiiON and XenServer FC Setup...68 Page 3

4 Introduction IT departments face the constant demand to respond more rapidly to changing business priorities, application demands, and user dynamics all without compromising security or manageability or increasing server count. They must deliver robust data management, business uptime, and complete backup and recovery capabilities. In order to address these challenges, enterprises need to: Standardize on a reduced number of hardware configurations drastically reducing the time required to deploy upgrades and patches Provide effective, near-term high-availability for cost-effective protection against physical server and storage failures in an application-agnostic manner Adjust allocation of server and storage resources for different application workloads on the fly Consider scalability for the largest enterprise applications Deploy a tightly unified server and storage virtualization solution that is reliable, not overly complex and leverages all available capabilities This document presents setup and configuration instructions for using EMC CLARiiON CX4 series storage systems as networked attached storage solutions for Citrix XenServer. Citrix XenServer for Enterprise-ready Virtualization Citrix XenServer is a native 64-bit virtualization platform, with the scalability required by Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop and other businesscritical applications. The highest host and guest CPU and memory limits available, coupled with fine-grained controls for processor, network, and disk, enable it to deliver optimal quality of service. With Citrix XenServer virtualization, businesses can increase server and storage utilization, reducing costs of equipment, power, cooling, and real estate. By combining servers and storage into resource pools that can be apportioned to the applications with the highest business need, IT operations can be aligned to changing demands and business priorities. With XenMotion, running virtual machines can be migrated to new servers with no service interruption, allowing essential workloads to get needed resources and enable zero-downtime maintenance. Citrix XenServer products install directly on bare metal servers, requiring no dedicated host operating system. Open command-line (CLI) and programming (API) interfaces make it easy for companies to integrate Citrix XenServer virtualization with existing processes and management tools, rather than requiring rip-and-replace reimplementation. Key benefits and features include: Enterprise ready performance and scalability Page 4

5 Simple deployment and installation Flexible shared infrastructure On-demand deployment of Windows and Linux virtual machines Powerful storage management Efficient, secure virtual networking Live migration XenCenter multi-server management, included with product Deliver server workloads on demand via streaming EMC CLARiiON CX4 Storage Platform The EMC CLARiiON CX4 series delivers industry-leading innovation in midrange storage with the fourth-generation CLARiiON CX storage platform. The unique combination of flexible, scalable hardware design and advanced software capabilities enables EMCCLARiiON CX4 series systems, powered by Intel Xeon processors, to meet the growing and diverse needs of today s midsize and large enterprises. Through innovative technologies like Flash drives, UltraFlex technology, and CLARiiON Virtual Provisioning customers can decrease costs and energy use and optimize availability and virtualization. All this is available with a choice of systems ranging from affordable entry-level solutions to highperformance, maximum-capacity configurations for the most demanding requirements. The powerful CX4 series includes the CX4 model 120, CX4 model 240, CX4 model 480, and CX4 model 960. All models come pre-configured with Fibre Channel and iscsi connectivity, allowing customers to choose the best connectivity for their specific applications. Page 5

6 Delivering up to twice the performance and scale as the previous CLARiiON generation, CLARiiON CX4 is the leading midrange storage solution to meet a full range of needs from departmental applications to data-center-class business-critical systems. Basic features include: Support for both direct-attach and SAN environments Hot-pluggable I/O modules 4 Gb/s FC, 8 Gb/s FC, 1 Gb/s iscsi, and 10 Gb/s iscsi Hot-swappable storage processors with up to 16 GB of memory per SP RAID level 0, 1, 1/0, 3, 5, and 6, individual disk support, and global hot sparing Online upgrade capability Five-drive minimum to 960-drive maximum system configuration Support for data-in-place upgrades For more information on the EMC CLARiiON CX4 Series visit the EMC website: Page 6

7 Overview of XenServer Storage Storage Repositories (SRs) The XenServer host accesses containers named Storage Repositories (SRs) in which Virtual Disk Images (VDIs) are stored. A VDI is a disk abstraction which, when attached to a host, appears as a physical disk drive to the virtual machine. The interface to storage hardware provided on the XenServer host allows VDIs to be supported on a large number of different SR substrate types. VDIs may be files on a local disk, on an NFS share, Logical Volumes within a LUN or a raw LUN itself directly attached to the VM. The SR and VDI abstractions on the host provide for advanced storage features such as sparse provisioning, image snapshots, and fast cloning to be leveraged on storage targets where available. Each XenServer host can access multiple SRs in parallel of any type. These SRs can be shared between a pool of hosts, or a dedicated repository to a single host. Shared storage must be accessible to all hosts in a resource pool, and is utilized for both non-live and live migration of VMs via XenMotion. When hosting shared Storage Repositories there are 4 options; the Citrix StorageLink feature, a NFS file share, an iscsi LUN or a Fibre Channel LUN. Virtual Disk Images (VDIs) There are two fundamental VDI types (Files and LUNs): Managed LUNs: Managed LUNs are accessible via the StorageLink feature included in Citrix XenServer Enterprise and Platinum Editions, and are hosted on a variety of storage arrays. LUNs are allocated on demand via StorageLink and mapped dynamically to the host via the StorageLink service while a VM is active. All the thin provisioning and fast clone capabilities of the device are exposed via StorageLink. VHD files. The VHD format can be used to store VDIs in a sparse format. Being sparse, the image file grows proportionally to the number of writes to the disk by the Virtual Machine (VM), so large portions of the disk which are typically unused do not consume unnecessary space. VHD on NFS, iscsi, or Hardware HBA storage repositories can be shared among all hosts in a pool. The section entitled XenServer Shared Storage Options discusses each option in more detail. Page 7

8 Managing Storage There are four XenServer object classes that are used to describe, configure, and manage storage: Storage Repositories (SRs) are storage targets containing homogeneous virtual disks (VDIs). SR commands provide operations for creating, destroying, resizing, cloning, connecting and discovering the individual Virtual Disk Images (VDIs) that they contain. A storage repository is a persistent, on-disk data structure. So the act of "creating" a new SR is similar to that of formatting a disk. SRs are long-lived, and may be shared among XenServer hosts or moved between them. There are several classes of XenServer SRs available: o Local Storage By default, XenServer uses the local disk on the physical host on which it is installed. The Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is used to manage VM storage. A VDI is implemented in VHD format in an LVM logical volume of the specified size. o NFS NFS is a ubiquitous form of storage infrastructure that is available in many environments. XenServer allows existing NFS servers that support NFS V3 over TCP/IP to be used immediately as a storage repository for virtual disks (VDIs). VDIs are stored in the Microsoft VHD format only. o iscsi and Fibre Channel The creation of iscsi or Fibre Channel (Hardware HBA) SRs involves erasing any existing data on a specified LUN. A LUN will need to be created on the EMC storage before creating the XenServer SR. Volume management is performed via LVM (Logical Volume Manager), and the underlying VDI storage on an iscsi or FC SR is VHD. o Advanced StorageLink Technology Citrix StorageLink lets users automate the configuration and provisioning of virtual machine storage, taking advantage of advanced features of the attached storage array. StorageLink enables the user to create Citrix XenServer virtual machines from logical vendor-specific storage repositories that support advanced capabilities such as snapshots, cloning, thin provisioning, and data deduplication. StorageLink also uses advanced storage capabilities to rapidly create virtual machines, increase storage utilization, and provide improved business continuity while lowering total cost of ownership. Citrix StorageLink seamlessly integrates with storage arrays using either the standards-based SMI-S interface or via a custom vendor-specific StorageLink Storage Adapter. Virtual Disk Images (VDIs) are an on-disk representation of a virtual disk provided to a VM. VDIs are the fundamental unit of virtualized storage in XenServer. Similar to SRs, VDIs are persistent, on-disk objects that exist independently of XenServer Hosts. Page 8

9 Physical Block Devices (PBDs) represent the interface between a physical server and an attached SR. PBDs are connector objects that allow a given SR to be mapped to a XenServer host. PBDs store the device configuration fields that are used to connect to and interact with a given storage target. Virtual Block Devices (VBDs) are a connector object (similar to the PBD described above) that allows mappings between VDIs and Virtual Machines (VMs). In addition to providing a mechanism to attach (or plug) a VDI into a VM, VBDs allow the fine-tuning of parameters regarding QoS (quality of service), statistics, and the bootability of a given VDI. Figure 1: Graphical Overview of Storage Repository and Related Objects Page 9

10 XenServer and EMC CLARiiON CX4 EMC CLARiiON CX4 Shared Storage Options When using an EMC CLARiiON CX4 device as your networked, backend storage array, the available SR options (described in the previous section) are iscsi, Fibre Channel (Hardware HBA) or using the StorageLink Gateway SR type. This document describes how to setup all these SR types. Use of StorageLink for shared storage is the recommended approach for deployments of XenServer. This type of storage repository is available with Citrix XenServer Enterprise and Platinum Editions, and requires the installation of the StorageLink Gateway service on a Windows Server virtual machine or physical server. In addition to XenServer, StorageLink Gateway also supports Hyper-V hosts and provides storage interoperability between the two platforms. The StorageLink Gateway only serves as a broker, and is not part of the data path between a XenServer host and the storage infrastructure. The following sections give an overview of the three SR storage types and the benefits associated with them. All shared storage options enable VM agility using XenMotion -- VMs can be started on any XenServer host in a resource pool and migrated between them. Page 10

11 Shared Storage with the StorageLink Gateway The StorageLink Gateway is a feature offered with Citrix XenServer Enterprise and Platinum Editions. It acts as a broker between XenServer and the storage system. The StorageLink Gateway service runs on a general-purpose Windows server or VM, and this system can typically be shared with other Citrix XenServer components such as Workload Balancing and Workflow Studio. Once brokered by the StorageLink Gateway, the data path between the virtual machine and storage system can be performed via either iscsi or Fibre channel. It is important to note that the StorageLink Gateway only serves as a broker and as part of the control path; it is not part of the data path between a XenServer host and the storage infrastructure. Since the adapter exposes LUNs to the XenServer host as VDIs, there is a one-to-one mapping between the Virtual Machine disks in the XenServer environment and the disk data abstraction. This enables much simpler integration with existing physical host backup and array provisioning tools that already operate at a LUN granularity. Figure 2: Shared storage using StorageLink Gateway Page 11

12 Shared iscsi Storage XenServer provides support for shared SRs on iscsi LUNs. iscsi is supported using the openiscsi software iscsi initiator or using a supported iscsi Host Bus Adapter (HBA). Shared iscsi support is implemented based on XenServer LVHD, a technology that combines the Logical Volume Manager (LVM) and Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) standards. Virtual machine VDIs are stored on an iscsi LUN created on the CLARiiON storage system. Shared storage with iscsi is a good choice for general purpose virtualization deployments, though it may not be as suitable for demanding workloads or deployments. Note: This document will only cover attaching to iscsi shared storage using the XenServer iscsi software initiator. Figure 3: Shared iscsi storage using Open iscsi initiator Page 12

13 Shared Fibre Channel Storage XenServer hosts support Fibre Channel SANs using an Emulex, QLogic or Brocade host bus adapter (HBA). Logical unit numbers (LUNs) are mapped to the XenServer host as disk devices. Like iscsi storage, Fibre Channel storage support is implemented based on the same LVHD technology with the same benefits as iscsi storage, just utilizing a different data I/O path. Figure 4: Shared Fibre Channel storage Page 13

14 Storage Multipathing XenServer 5.0 introduced Active/Active multipathing for iscsi and FC protocols for I/O datapaths. Dynamic multipathing uses a round-robin mode load balancing algorithm, so both routes will have active traffic on them during normal operations. Multipathing can be enabled via XenCenter or on the command line. XenServer 5.5 supports ALUA, asymmetric logical unit access. ALUA is a relatively new multipathing technology for asymmetric arrays. EMC CLARiiON CX4 arrays are ALUA compliant. Page 14

15 Installation and Configuration Basics Introduction This section of the document will describe the various steps required to setup your EMC CLARiiON CX4 array and the setup of the StorageLink Gateway, iscsi and Fibre Channel SR types in XenServer. Certain steps will not fall within the scope of this document and will, where required, be referred to other documentation from Citrix and/or EMC. Used Environment For the creation of this document the following hardware was used: 2x HP DL380G5 Server Hardware, each equipped with: o 2x Intel Xeon X5450 CPUs o 16GB Ram o HP NC364T PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit (in addition to the 2 built-in ports) o HP StorageWorks PCI-e 4Gb Host Bus Adapter EMC CLARiiON CX4-120 o 5x 1TB SATAII disks o Dual storage processors, each having 2x 4Gb/s Fibre Channel optical ports 2x 1Gb/s Ethernet iscsi copper ports o Dual power supplies 2x HP StorageWorks 8/8 SAN Switch equipped with 4Gb Transceivers FC Cables The following software was used: Citrix XenServer 5.6 Citrix StorageLink 2.2 EMC CLARiiON FLARE Operating Environment 29 EMC Navisphere 6.29 EMC SMI-S Provider for SMI-S 1.4 Page 15

16 Hardware Installation For the installation of server hardware, HBAs, connectivity components (e.g. network or FC switches) and storage arrays, please refer to the documentation provided by the relevant manufacturer. Documentation for the EMC CLARiiON CX4 array can be found on EMC Powerlink ( Details on supported arrays and required FLARE and SMI-S provider versions can be found on the StorageLink Hardware Compatibility List: Software Installation For the installation of server software, firmware and storage array software, please refer to the documentation provided by the relevant manufacturer. Documentation for the various software components for the EMC CLARiiON CX4 array (e.g. FLARE and Navisphere software can be found on EMC Powerlink ( Documentation for setting up Citrix XenServer and components can be found on the Citrix Knowledge Center: Enabling XenServer Multipathing Open XenCenter and connect to the Resource Pool you want to manage. Enabling multipathing requires XenServer hosts to be in maintenance mode. Multipathing needs to be enabled on each host in the Resource Pool. Right-click the first server in your pool and click Enter Maintenance Mode. Page 16

17 If this is the Pool Master you will be asked to select a new master. If there are VMs running on this host it will also XenMotion these VMs to another server in the pool. Select the host you want to be the new master and click on Enter Maintenance. Once the server is in Maintenance Mode * right-click on the host and select Properties. In the Properties window select the Multipathing option on the left and mark Enable multipathing on this server. Click OK. Page 17

18 * If you put the pool master in Maintenance Mode, XenCenter needs to reconnect to the new pool master, which will take some time. Wait until XenCenter automatically reconnects to the pool. After enabling multipathing exit Maintenance Mode by right-clicking on the server and selecting Exit Maintenance Mode. Repeat the above procedure for all servers in the Resource Pool. Page 18

19 Preparing the CLARiiON CX4 Refer to the CLARiiON documentation for basic configuration and setup of the array. This includes registration, networking setup, port configuration, security settings, creating RAID sets and other storage specific settings (e.g. cache settings). Enabling Storage Groups After the basic configuration and setup of the array we will enable the use of Storage Groups. To enable Storage Groups, in Navisphere, right-click your array and select Properties. Page 19

20 On the General tab of the Storage Systems Properties window that appeared make sure that the Storage Group checkbox is marked and click OK. Provisioning Storage In Navisphere click on the Provision icon on the left. In the Welcome window of the Storage Provisioning Wizard click Next. In the Select Servers window select Continue without assigning LUNs at this time and click Next. Page 20

21 In the Select Storage System windows ensure your storage system is selected and click Next. In the Select Storage Pool window select the RAID set you want this LUN to reside on. Click Next. Page 21

22 In the LUN Properties window you can chose to give the LUN a name or use an automatically generated LUN name. You can also set the size of the LUN in this window. Set these values to what is relevant for your environment and click Next. In the Select Folder window you have the option to add the LUN to an existing or new folder. Folders are a way to organize your LUNs in the Navisphere management interface. Click Next. Page 22

23 Verify the values in the Summary window and click Finish to create the LUN. If the LUN creation is completed successfully click Finish to close the Results window. Page 23

24 This LUN should now be visible in Navisphere under the LUN Folders section (location depending on which Storage Processor is the current owner) as well as under the RAID Group on which the LUN was created. Page 24

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26 Setting up a Storage Repository using StorageLink Introduction If installing the StorageLink Gateway on a XenServer virtual machine, the virtual machine disks will need to be connected via a standard NFS, iscsi, or Hardware HBA storage repository type. For highly available configurations, it is recommended that StorageLink be implemented in an isolated resource pool and using an iscsi or Hardware HBA storage repository type (ideally the same SR used for the XenServer HA heartbeat disk). The StorageLink Gateway services do not need to be available while VMs are running, however many operations such as VM start require the service for a short period of time. EMC CLARiiON, StorageLink and XenServer Setup Once the StorageLink Gateway Service and Manager (management console) have been installed on a virtual machine or physical server, the steps described in this chapter can be followed to create the storage repository. For full details on installing and licensing StorageLink, please refer to the StorageLink documentation. Alternatively for Proof-of-Concepts and evaluations, the XenServer Platinum Evaluation Virtual Appliance can be used. This Virtual Appliance can be download from citrix.com. Setting up the EMC SMI-S Provider StorageLink will communicate with the array using the EMC SMI-S Provider. Before this can happen the SMI-S Provider needs to be installed and the array needs to be registered with the provider. First download the Solutions Enabler with SMI from EMC PowerLink. For the environment to create this whitepaper, the SMI-S Provider for SMI-S 1.4 for Windows x86 was used. Install the above package accepting all defaults. Page 26

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30 After the installation completes, start a command prompt and go to the c:\program Files\EMC\ECIM\ECOM\bin directory and run TestSMIProvider.exe Accept defaults for Connection Type, Host, Port, Username and Password* and logging settings. * EMC best practices recommend to change the default admin password and to create a separate user when using the SMI-S Provider. If these best practices were followed, fill in the appropriate credentials. Page 30

31 Once on the prompt type the command addsys. In the addsys wizard fill out the relevant information. Add System: y Array Type: 1 IP address or hostname or array id 0: <the ip address of Storage Processor A) IP address or hostname or array id 1: <the ip address of Storage Processor B) IP address or hostname or array id 2: <leave blank> Page 31

32 Address Type (0): 2 Address Type (1): 2 User: <fill in the username for the array, typically the same user as for logging into Navisphere> Password: <password for above user> After some time confirmation of successfully adding the array should be displayed. Press Enter to continue and once back at the prompt select q to exit TestSMIProvider.exe Page 32

33 Configuring StorageLink Open the StorageLink Manager and connect to the StorageLink Gateway. Page 33

34 First step is to add the XenServer host systems. In the middle pane, select Add Hypervisor Host Enter the hostname or IP address of the XenServer master in the Hostname field and provide valid credentials for connecting to the XenServer Resource Pool. Uncheck Enable Site Recovery for this Host. Page 34

35 Click on OK. StorageLink will now enumerate the hosts in the Resource Pool, VMs on the resource pool as well as available iscsi and FC initiators. These can be viewed by expanding the tree in the left pane of the StorageLink Manager. Page 35

36 Next add new storage array. Select Storage Infrastructure from the left pane and select Add Storage Systems from the middle pane. In the Add Storage Adapter wizard fill out the relevant information. Storage adapter: Select EMC CLARiiON Storage Adapter (SMI-S) from the drop down box. Name: <Provide a suitable name for this array> CIMOM namespace: <leave to default interop value> Page 36

37 CIMOM IP address: <the IP address of the server on which the SMI-S provider is installed> Port number: <leave this to the default 5988 value> User name: <the username for the SMI-S provider (not the array credentials)> Password: <the password for the SMI-S provider user> Click OK. After the job completes, the added array can be viewed in the left pane. Page 37

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39 Setting up a StorageLink SR in XenCenter Open XenCenter and connect to the XenServer Resource Pool. Once connected, right-click on the Resource Pool and select Properties. In the Properties window, select StorageLink Gateway on the left and fill out the StorageLink Gateway details. Server address: <the IP address of the StorageLink server> Username: <the username for the StorageLink Gateway service, as entered during the StorageLink installation> Password: <the password for the above user> Page 39

40 Click on Test Connection to verify the entered details. Page 40

41 Once passed, click on OK. Back in XenCenter click the New Storage button. Select Advanced StorageLink technology as the type of new storage and click Next. Page 41

42 Give the Storage Repository a name and select EMC CLARiiON from the drop down list. Click Next. Page 42

43 Select the Settings for the SR and click Next. If the Protocol value is set to Auto and both iscsi and FC are available, FC will be used. Page 43

44 Optionally pre-provisioned volumes can be imported. Please refer to the StorageLink documentation for more details. Click Finish. Page 44

45 After the Storage Repository has been created you can start creating VMs on this Storage Repository. During the VM creation, the correct initiator (FC or iscsi) will be configured automatically on the array. If changes are required for the initiator settings on the array, please follow the instructions in the EMC documentation. Page 45

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47 Setting up an iscsi Storage Repository Introduction To optimize the availability of the iscsi Storage Repository in the environment used to create this document, we used 2 dedicated storage networks for the XenServer Resource Pool on separate subnets. See the figure below for the full setup. Pre-configuration XenServer It's recommended best practice to create a separate network for your Storage Repository apart from your management traffic and VM network traffic. The storage traffic should be on separate subnets. This section describes the steps required to create a separate storage network. Page 47

48 Creating dedicated storage networks In XenCenter select your resource pool and select the Network tab in the right pane. Under Management Interfaces click Configure Page 48

49 In the Management Interfaces dialog box, click New Interface Give the new interface a recognizable name, and select the Network you want the dedicated interface on. Page 49

50 Click on the Use these IP and DNS settings: radio button and enter a starting IP address for the NICs in the Network. Repeat the above steps for each NIC dedicated to storage, and click OK. Page 50

51 In the environment used for this document we have 2 paths available from each server and created 2 dedicated storage networks. Page 51

52 Determining or Changing the iscsi IQNs If you are planning to connect the CLARiiON over iscsi we need to have the IQNs available for setting up the array. To change or determine the software iscsi initiators for the XenServer hosts, for each host, right-click on the XenServer host in XenCenter and select Properties. In the Properties window select the General option on the left (default) and write down or change (if required) the value of the iscsi IQN field. Click OK when done. Page 52

53 EMC CLARiiON and XenServer iscsi Setup This section will describe the steps required to setup the CLARiiON array as an iscsi Storage Repository with XenServer. Creating Initiator Records There are no EMC PowerPath Agents available for XenServer which requires you to manually create and register host initiator records for your XenServer hosts. Follow the following instructions to do this. In Navisphere right-click your array and select Connectivity Status. Page 53

54 In the Connectivity Status window click Create. In the Create Initiator Record window fill out the relevant information for the XenServer host you are adding. These are the required fields: WWW/IQN: Fill out the IQN of the XenServer host you are adding. Use the relevant IQNs for your environment as noted in the "Preparing XenServer" section above. SP - port: Select the iscsi port on your CLARiiON array which the XenServer host will have access to. You need to create an initiator record for each path to the array. Initator Type: Select CLARiiON Open Failover Mode: Set to 4 * Page 54

55 Hostname: the XenServer hostname IP Address: the XenServer IP address * Failover Mode 4 is Asymmetric Active/Active and is based on the Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (AULA) standard. A whitepaper for this feature can be found on EMC Powerlink by searching for "Asymmetric Active/Active" in the documents section. Filled out the window would look something like this: Click OK. Click Yes to confirm. Page 55

56 Click OK twice to confirm the following informational messages. When returning to the Connectivity Status window, click Refresh All to make the added Host Initiator Record visible. To add additional paths to this initiator, select the initiator and select Create. Repeat the steps described above, but since these are additional paths to an existing initiator record we can mark Selected Hosts. Ensure that you use a different value for the SP - port for each additional to path to the array. Page 56

57 Repeat the steps above for each initiator record you want to add. Once all initiator records are added for each XenServer host and for each path. Click Refresh All to make all records visible. In the environment used for the creation of this document 2 XenServers were used and 4 paths were available for each host. Click OK to close the window. Page 57

58 Creating a Storage Group Next we need to create a Storage Group in which we make a LUN available to our XenServer hosts. In Navisphere Expand your CLARiiON array and right-click Storage Groups and select Create Storage Group. In the Create Storage Group Window enter a name for this Storage Group and select OK. Page 58

59 Click OK to confirm the informational message. Expand the Storage Group tree and right-click the newly created Storage Group and select Properties. Page 59

60 Select the LUN tab. Find the LUN you want to make available to your XenServer environment and select it. Click Add. Click Apply to confirm your selection Click Yes to confirm. Click OK to confirm the informational message. Page 60

61 Change to the Hosts Tab Select your XenServers from the Available Hosts section and click the to the Hosts to be Connected section and click on OK. button to add them Page 61

62 Click Yes to confirm. Click OK to confirm the informational message. Page 62

63 Creating an iscsi Storage Repository for XenServer This section will describe how to create a new iscsi Storage Repository by connecting to the LUN created on the CLARiiON storage array. In XenCenter click the New Storage button. Select Software iscsi as the type of new storage. Page 63

64 In the Location window give the SR a name and provide the IP addresses of all the adapters in the EMC CLARiiON array separated by commas. If CHAP is enabled on your storage array, select Use CHAP and fill out the credentials. Page 64

65 Click on Discover IQNs From the Target IQN dropdown list, select the wildcard option * (<ip addresses>). After this click Discover LUNs. Page 65

66 Once the LUN you created before has been discovered click Finish. XenServer will now verify if there are existing SRs on the LUN to re-attach to. Since this is a newly created LUN we need to confirm to format the disk and create the SR. Click Yes to confirm. Page 66

67 After completion of the formatting, you can verify the creation of the SR in XenCenter by selecting the SR in the left hand pane. To verify the multipathing, expand the Multipathing box in the right pane. Page 67

68 Setting Up an FC Storage Repository Introduction To optimize the availability of the FC Storage Repository in the environment used to create this document, each XenServer has 2 FC ports connected over 2 FC switches to the array. See the figure below for the full setup. EMC CLARiiON and XenServer FC Setup This section will describe the steps required to setup the CLARiiON array as a FC Storage Repository with XenServer. Registering Initiator Records There are no EMC PowerPath Agents available for XenServer which requires you to manually register host initiator records for your XenServer hosts. Follow the following instructions to do this. In Navisphere right-click your array and select Connectivity Status. Page 68

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70 If the FC HBA s in the XenServer hosts are setup correctly and the FC infrastructure is setup correctly, the FC initiators should be automatically detected and visible in the Connectivity Status dialog box. Select the first FC initiator and click Register. In the Register Initiator Record window fill out the relevant information. Page 70

71 These are the required fields: WWN/IQN : pre populated. SP port: pre populated. Initiator Type: Select CLARiiON Open Failover Mode: Set to 4 * Host Information: keep Selected Host * Failover Mode 4 is Asymmetric Active/Active and is based on the Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (AULA) standard. A whitepaper for this feature can be found on EMC Powerlink by searching for "Asymmetric Active/Active" in the documents section. Filled out the window would look something like this: Click OK. Click Yes to confirm. Page 71

72 Click OK twice to confirm the following informational messages. Repeat the steps above for each initiator record you want to register. Once all initiator records are registered for each XenServer host and for each path. Click Refresh All to make all records visible. Click OK to close the window. Page 72

73 Creating a Storage Group Next we need to create a Storage Group in which we make a LUN available to our XenServer hosts. In Navisphere Expand your CLARiiON array and right-click Storage Groups and select Create Storage Group. In the Create Storage Group Window enter a name for this Storage Group and select OK. Page 73

74 Click OK to confirm the informational message. Expand the Storage Group tree and right-click the newly created Storage Group and select Properties. Page 74

75 Select the LUN tab. Find the LUN you want to make available to your XenServer environment and select it. Click Add. Click Apply to confirm your selection Click Yes to confirm. Click OK to confirm the informational message. Page 75

76 Change to the Hosts Tab Select the FC initiators for your XenServers from the Available Hosts section and click the button to add them to the Hosts to be Connected section and click on OK. Page 76

77 Click Yes to confirm. Click OK to confirm the informational message. Page 77

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79 Creating a FC Storage Repository for XenServer This section will describe how to create a new FC Storage Repository by connecting to the LUN created on the CLARiiON storage array. In XenCenter click the New Storage button. Select Hardware HBA as the type of new storage and click Next. Page 79

80 XenServer will now probe the Storage Array for available LUNs. One this is finished give the SR a name and select the LUN you want to use for this Storage Repository and click Finish Page 80

81 XenServer will now verify if there are existing SRs on the LUN to re-attach to. Since this is a newly created LUN we need to confirm to format the disk and create the SR. Click Yes to confirm. Page 81

82 After completion of the formatting, you can verify the creation of the SR in XenCenter by selecting the SR in the left hand pane. To verify the multipathing, expand the Multipathing box in the right pane. The number of active paths can differ depending on the zoning setup of the FC switches. Please follow best practices as recommended by the FC switch vendor. Page 82

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84 About Citrix Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is the leading provider of virtualization, networking and software as a service technologies for more than 230,000 organizations worldwide. Its Citrix Delivery Center, Citrix Cloud Center (C3) and Citrix Online Services product families radically simplify computing for millions of users, delivering applications as an on demand service to any user, in any location on any device. Citrix customers include the world s largest Internet companies, 99 percent of Fortune Global 500 enterprises, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses and prosumers worldwide. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies worldwide in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1989, annual revenue in 2008 was $1.6 billion Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix, Access Gateway, Branch Repeater, Citrix Repeater, HDX, XenServer, XenApp, XenDesktop and Citrix Delivery Center are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. Page 84