Using IBM Flex System Manager for efficient VMware vsphere 5.1 resource deployment

Transcription

1 Using IBM Flex System Manager for efficient VMware vsphere 5.1 resource deployment Jeremy Canady IBM Systems and Technology Group ISV Enablement March 2013 Copyright IBM Corporation, 2013

2 Table of contents Abstract...2 Introduction...2 Components... 2 IBM Flex System... 2 IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node... 2 IBM Flex System Manager... 3 VMware vsphere Prerequisites...3 VMware ESXi 5.1 deployment...3 Process overview... 3 Server patterns... 4 Server pattern creation... 4 Server pattern deployment... 8 Server Node image deployment Storage deployment...11 Storage deployment example Summary...15 Resources...16 Trademarks and special notices

3 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how IBM Flex System Manager (FSM) provides an efficient and reliable mechanism for VMware vsphere 5.1 host deployments, host configurations, and storage deployments on IBM Flex System compute and storage nodes. Introduction Today s IT infrastructures must be capable of quickly adapting and growing with business needs. Virtualization solutions such as VMware vsphere 5.1 is a core component in allowing IT to provide these capabilities. Virtualization abstracts the various computational resources, such as processors and storage, allowing for greater flexibility in application design and workload placement. As virtualization utilization continues to grow, so does the need to quickly and reliably deploy and manage virtualization infrastructures. This process requires skilled administrators to manually install and configure each independent resource. These mundane tasks can saturate an administrator s time, and create increased opportunity for system management errors. IBM Flex System is a next generation infrastructure that can perfectly match growing virtualization workloads. IBM Flex System provides server, networking, and storage resources in a single-contained and intelligently managed package. This paper highlights how IBM Flex System and IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node can provide a more reliable, scalable, and efficient method for VMware vsphere ESXi 5.1 host deployments. Working from a single interface, IBM Flex System Manager, two types of resource deployments can be demonstrated. VMware ESXi 5.1 can be deployed onto IBM Flex System x240 Compute Nodes, and a new storage resource can be created and mapped to the host. The process defined in this paper can be scaled to multiple compute nodes and storage volumes, enabling administrators to save time and reduce configuration errors. This allows vsphere 5.1 infrastructures to be deployed quickly and reliably. Components IBM Flex System IBM Flex System is a next generation infrastructure solution that provides integration of compute, storage and networking resources. In this example, Flex System Compute Nodes are utilized by VMware vsphere 5.1 as the compute resource of the virtualized infrastructure For more information regarding IBM Flex System, refer to: ibm.com/systems/pureflex/flex_overview.html IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node is a high performance block storage solution that has been designed to integrate directly with IBM Flex System. IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node provides advanced storage capabilities, such as IBM System Storage Easy Tier, IBM Real-Time Compression, thin provisioning, and more. Storage resources in this example use the IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node. For more information regarding the advanced capabilities of IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node, refer to: ibm.com/systems/flex/storage/v7000/index.html. 2

4 IBM Flex System Manager IBM Flex System Manager provides the central point of management for storage, compute, virtualization, and networking components. The centralized management allows administrators to use built-in expertise to increase operational efficiency. For more information regarding IBM Flex System Manager, refer to: ibm.com/systems/flex/systems-management/index.html. VMware vsphere 5.1 VMware vsphere 5.1 (at the time of this publication) is the latest release of a market-leading virtualization platform from VMware. vsphere 5.1 provides virtualized compute resources, server availability solutions, and a rich set of management tools. For more information regarding VMware vsphere 5.1, refer to: Prerequisites This paper is focused on the specific functions related to resource deployment utilizing the IBM FSM and IBM Flex System Storage Node. Readers should be knowledgeable in the following areas: VMware vsphere 5.1 VMware ESXi 5.1 installation Storage systems terminology IBM BladeCenter technology VMware ESXi 5.1 deployment Deployment of VMware ESXi 5.1 to a local hard disk is typically a multistep process. First, the server must be prepared with the proper firmware configuration. Next, the ESXi 5.1 hypervisor installation media must be mounted and installed. Finally, the completed ESXi 5.1 installation must be configured. This process must be repeated for each individual server that becomes an ESXi 5.1 host. By using server patterns and node image deployment, you can perform single and multiple host deployments efficiently and with minimal errors. This section provides a basic guide for using server patterns and deploying an ESXi 5.1 node image. The guide assumes a working IBM Flex System with ESXi 5.1 compatible compute nodes and a Flex System V7000 Storage Node. The process does not provide any details related to ESXi 5.1 post installation configuration. For guidance on ESXi 5.1 configuration, refer to the appropriate VMware documentation. Process overview The process includes the following steps: 1. Create server patterns 2. Deploy the server patterns to server nodes 3. Deploy ESXi 5.1 node image to server nodes 4. Complete ESXi 5.1 configuration (not included in paper.) 3

5 Server patterns Server patterns are predefined configurations that can be applied to compute nodes before an operating system is installed. Server patterns contain important configuration parameters, such as Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) settings, I/O addresses, and local storage configurations. Each pattern is specific to the node type such as IBM POWER processor-based or Intel based compute node. The pattern can be applied to many physical nodes of that type. When a pattern is applied to a node, a new server profile is automatically generated for that node. The new server profile inherits the configuration specified by the server pattern. The server profile acts as the central source of configuration for the compute node. Upon startup the integrated management module (IMM) activates the server profile. Any changes to the configuration are then performed by modifying the related server patterns. VMware vsphere ESXi 5.1 clusters generally contain identical hardware with identical firmware configurations. Server patterns allow administrators to define the correct configuration once and then have that configuration applied to all the servers in the cluster. This reduces time to deployment by eliminating the manual configuration of each host. It also decreases the opportunity for errors being introduced by the administrator during firmware configuration. Server pattern creation Creation of a server pattern is performed using IBM Flex System Manager. The FSM provides a single point of management for IBM PureFlex System. For this example, a server pattern is created for an IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node. Log in to the FSM and launch the IBM FSM Explorer. The FSM Explorer provides an easy way to interact with the various resources managed by FSM. Navigate to the configuration patterns management screen by clicking Systems Configuration Patterns on menu bar. Figure 1: Configuration patterns menu option The Configuration Patterns page provides access to various tools used for the management of configuration patterns and related resources. The menu on the left provides access to the different types of patterns and related resources. To create a new pattern, in the Servers section, click Patterns. Figure 2 shows the Configuration Patterns page with the Patterns menu item highlighted. 4

6 Figure 2: FSM configuration patterns To create a new server pattern, click the Create New Server Pattern drop-down arrow and click New Server Pattern. Figure 3 displays the menu option to select. Server patterns can be composed of additional patterns for items, such as devices and I/O ports. You can also find other related patterns on this page. Figure 3: New Server Pattern menu option Server pattern creation is handled using a wizard. The wizard walks the user through each step of the customization process. The wizard first asks if it should base the pattern on an existing server or create a new one from scratch. This process provides the ability to generate a new server pattern based on a server with a known good configuration. The newly generated pattern would then need to 5

7 be modified to remove any server specific setting, such as management interface IP addresses. In this example, a new pattern is generated from scratch. Figure 4 shows the menu options provided. Figure 4: Configuration pattern starting point options The wizard prompts for both the name and the form factor of the node. Note that the server pattern is specific to the selected form factor and cannot be applied to others. Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration options used in this example. Figure 5: Specifying name and form factor in the Server Pattern wizard Server patterns allow configuration of local storage on some compute nodes. In this example (shown in Figure 6), the Keep existing storage configuration on target option is selected. The figure shows the various options that are available for configuration. 6

8 Figure 6: Server pattern local storage configuration Next, you need to define and configure the I/O adapters. In this example, Embedded 10Gb Virtual Fabric Ethernet Controller (LOM) and IBM Flex System FC port 8Gb FC Adapter are used. Figure 7 shows the I/O Adapter selection page. Figure 7: Server pattern I/O adapter configuration The next section provides configuration of the boot options. For this example, the UEFI Only Boot option has been selected. The final section allows to define the firmware settings. A server pattern can consist of additional category patterns that provide configurations for items, such as power or UEFI. These category patterns are not specific to a single server pattern and can be shared between 7

9 multiple server patterns. This allows server patterns to share common configuration elements without duplication. The wizard provides the option to select a defined category pattern or generate a new one. In this example, no additional category patterns are selected or defined. Figure 8: Server pattern firmware setting page Server pattern deployment Deployment of a server pattern is a simple process. To deploy a server pattern, navigate to the server patterns page as previously done in the Server pattern creation section. Select the server pattern to be deployed and click Actions Deploy. Figure 9 shows a server pattern selected and the options in the Actions menu displayed. 8

10 Figure 9: Server pattern deployment menu Finally, select the necessary server nodes and click the right-arrow button to add them to the list on the right side. The servers in the right side will all receive the new pattern. After the server nodes have been added, click Deploy to begin the deployment process. Figure 10 shows a single server added for server pattern deployment. Figure 10: Node selection for server pattern deployment 9

11 Server Node image deployment IBM Flex System Manager provides the capability to deploy compute node images to a compute node from the FSM user interface. Images are uploaded to the FSM and then deployed from it to the compute nodes. An IBM customized VMware vsphere ESXi 5.1 image is preloaded on the IBM Flex System Manager management node. For this example, the preloaded IBM-customized ESXi 5.1 image is used for the deployment. Deployment of a node image can be started from multiple locations. For this example, the All Compute Nodes view from the Chassis section is used. First, the nodes to deploy images must be selected. Next, right-click one of the nodes and click Deploy Compute Node Images. Figure 11 shows the All Compute Nodes view along with the pop-up menu. Figure 11: Compute node pop-up menu with the Deploy Compute Node Images option To complete the deployment process, an image needs to be selected for each node along with the media access control (MAC) address of an interface card. Images can be selected per node or the same image can be applied to all the nodes. The selected MAC address should be the address of the interface card that will be used for IP configuration. IBM Flex System Manager can automatically assign an IP address using IPv6. Unfortunately, ESXi 5.1 does not support Service Location Protocol over IPv6. So, for ESXi 5.1 deployments, the IP resolution relies on existing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) infrastructures. After configuring the options, you can begin deployment. Clicking Deploy Images on the menu bar, above the table, begins the process. The FSM starts by mounting the installation media to each node and then beings the installation process. Figure 12 shows the deployment page with the areas to configure highlighted. 10

12 Figure 12: Compute node deployment configuration page After the deployment is complete, the server boots into ESXi 5.1 and attempts to discover an IP address through DHCP. Administrators can then follow the normal procedures to complete the ESXi 5.1 configuration. Storage deployment VMware vsphere relies upon a concept called data stores for managing storage resources. Data stores are storage volumes that have been presented to an ESXi 5.1 host and formatted with the VMFS file system. Data stores contain virtual machine disks, virtual machine configuration files, and virtual machine templates. The data store is a core component of the VMware vsphere 5.1 cluster. In a clustered configuration, data stores must be accessible from all hosts. Cluster sizes can reach 32 hosts causing management and deployment of new volumes to become a time-consuming process. Typically, allocation of new data stores is a large multistep process that might require utilization of multiple management interfaces. A high-level comparison between a traditional deployment and one performed using FSM is shown in the following table. Traditional (1+n+m steps) Login to storage management system Create storage volumes 1 Create storage volume n Map storage volumes to host 1 IBM Flex System Manager (three steps maximum) Log in to FSM. Select the storage provider and new volume parameters. Select the hosts to map storage to and click Create. Map storage volumes to host m 11

13 Due to FSM s awareness of both the compute nodes and storage system, it is able to not only create the new volume but also automatically map the volume to all the requested hosts. This capability can prove to be very advantageous in a vsphere 5.1 environment. For example, to create and attach three new volumes to a 32-host cluster would require 36 high-level steps. First each volume is manually created resulting in three steps. Next, the volumes would need to be mapped to each host. This action is performed for each host resulting in 32 more steps. Using the FSM can reduce the number of steps to three. All volumes can be defined together and all hosts can be selected for mapping at the same time. Storage deployment example This demonstration shows the deployment of a single storage volume to a single Flex System x240 Compute Node. The process can be easily extrapolated to deployment of storage to multiple nodes. To begin the deployment, find the node that need the storage volume deployed to. Then, right-click the node and click System Configuration Create Storage Volumes (as shown in Figure 13). Figure 13: Creating a storage volume Next, a storage pool from a storage subsystem must be selected. The storage pool selected is the pool that contains the new volumes that are defined later. The FSM provides information related to the pool to help in the selection of a proper pool. In this example, a storage pool from the IBM Flex V7000 Storage Node is selected. Figure 14 shows the table along with the selected storage pool. 12

14 Figure 14: Storage pool selection Next, the option to add additional servers is displayed. This option is the key for obtaining an efficient deployment to VMware vsphere clusters. For example, in a 32-host cluster, all 32 nodes can be selected in this view. Upon completion of the wizard, all 32 hosts would have the new volume mapped to them. In this example, only the original host receives the volume. As shown in Figure 15, no additional hosts have been selected. Figure 15: Server selection 13

15 The next step is to define the volumes that need to be created and mapped to the already specified hosts. This provides another area where efficiencies are gained. Defining all the needed volumes at the same time allows the process to not only create the volumes but map them to all the hosts previously specified. Figure 16: Defining the volume The wizard prompts for verification of the parameters. After approval, the process to deploy the storage volumes begins. The FSM first creates the specified volumes and then maps them to the specified compute nodes. After the process is complete, a rescan of the storage by the host reveals that the volume has been created and mapped. Figure 17 shows the resulting volume as reported by ESXi 5.1. Figure 17: ESXi 5.1 storage addition window The volume is now ready to be formatted and configured as an ESXi 5.1 datastore. This example demonstrates how the utilization of IBM Flex System Manager allows for a quick and reliable mechanics for storage deployment to vsphere 5.1 clusters. 14

16 Summary The growth and scale of virtualized infrastructures has placed a high demand on administrator time. Many of the tasks in building and maintaining a virtualized infrastructure are mundane and repetitive. IBM Flex System Manager provides the tools to allow administrators to apply patterns that automate many of these tasks. IBM Flex System with IBM Flex System Manager allows administrators to easily implement identical configurations on compute nodes and then quickly apply operating system images. When combined with IBM Flex V7000 Storage node, the FSM can also greatly reduce the time spent on storage volume deployment on large clusters. These capabilities provide administrators the ability to quickly and reliably deploy new vsphere 5.1 host resources. 15

17 Resources The following websites provide useful references to supplement the information contained in this paper: IBM Systems on PartnerWorld ibm.com/partnerworld/systems IBM Redbooks ibm.com/redbooks IBM Storwize V7000 ibm.com/systems/pureflex/flex_overview.html IBM Flex System Manager ibm.com/systems/flex/systems-management/index.html IBM Flex System V7000 Storage Node ibm.com/systems/flex/storage/v7000/index.html IBM Techdocs Library ibm.com/support/techdocs/atsmastr.nsf/web/techdocs VMware vsphere 5.1 Documentation Center 16

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