EMC VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In

EMC VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In v1.5 Administration Guide P/N 300-014-275 REV A02

Copyright 2012 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the USA. Published August, 2012 EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. EMC 2, EMC, EMC Centera, EMC ControlCenter, EMC LifeLine, EMC OnCourse, EMC Proven, EMC Snap, EMC SourceOne, EMC Storage Administrator, Acartus, Access Logix, AdvantEdge, AlphaStor, ApplicationXtender, ArchiveXtender, Atmos, Authentica, Authentic Problems, Automated Resource Manager, AutoStart, AutoSwap, AVALONidm, Avamar, Captiva, Catalog Solution, C-Clip, Celerra, Celerra Replicator, Centera, CenterStage, CentraStar, ClaimPack, ClaimsEditor, CLARiiON, ClientPak, Codebook Correlation Technology, Common Information Model, Configuration Intelligence, Connectrix, CopyCross, CopyPoint, CX, Dantz, Data Domain, DatabaseXtender, Direct Matrix Architecture, DiskXtender, DiskXtender 2000, Document Sciences, Documentum, elnput, E-Lab, EmailXaminer, EmailXtender, Enginuity, eroom, Event Explorer, FarPoint, FirstPass, FLARE, FormWare, Geosynchrony, Global File Virtualization, Graphic Visualization, Greenplum, HighRoad, HomeBase, InfoMover, Infoscape, InputAccel, InputAccel Express, Invista, Ionix, ISIS, Max Retriever, MediaStor, MirrorView, Navisphere, NetWorker, OnAlert, OpenScale, PixTools, Powerlink, PowerPath, PowerSnap, QuickScan, Rainfinity, RepliCare, RepliStor, ResourcePak, Retrospect, RSA, SafeLine, SAN Advisor, SAN Copy, SAN Manager, Smarts, SnapImage, SnapSure, SnapView, SRDF, StorageScope, SupportMate, SymmAPI, SymmEnabler, Symmetrix, Symmetrix DMX, Symmetrix VMAX, TimeFinder, UltraFlex, UltraPoint, UltraScale, Unisphere, Viewlets, Virtual Matrix, Virtual Matrix Architecture, Virtual Provisioning, VisualSAN, VisualSRM, VMAX, VNX, VNXe, Voyence, VPLEX, VSAM-Assist, WebXtender, xpression, xpresso, YottaYotta, the EMC logo, and the RSA logo, are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. Vblock is a trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States. VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to the technical documentation and advisories section on the EMC online support website. 2 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 About the VFCache VSI Feature Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview... 11 VFCache VSI feature overview... 13 Prerequisites... 13 Installing the VFCache VSI Feature Installing and uninstalling the VFCache feature... 17 Upgrading the VSI feature... 19 Before you begin... 19 Getting Started Enabling VFCache remote monitoring... 23 Enabling UUID mapping... 24 Preparing the cache device... 25 Creating VFCache devices... 28 Configuring the caching on virtual machines... 30 Managing VFCache Managing VFCache devices... 33 Disabling VFCache... 33 Removing a VFCache device... 34 Displaying statistics... 35 Moving a virtual machine from one host to another... 39 Performing automated migration... 40 Advanced Configuration Configuring data deduplication... 43 Changing the maximum IO size... 45 Troubleshooting Installation issues... 49 Enabling features... 50 Activating VFCache administration... 51 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5 3

Contents Connecting to VFC agent on a virtual machine... 52 Certificate issues... 53 Performance issues... 54 Using the support tool... 54 Log files... 55 4 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

PREFACE As part of its effort to continuously improve and enhance the performance and capabilities of the EMC product line, EMC periodically releases revisions of its hardware and software. Therefore, some functions described in this document may not be supported by all revisions of the software and hardware currently in use. For the most up-to-date information on product features, refer to your product release notes. If a VFCache feature does not function properly or does not function as described in this guide, please contact the EMC Customer Support Center for assistance. Audience This guide is part of the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere Client documentation set and is intended for use by VMware administrators and storage administrators during installation, system setup, and routine operations. This guide has the following chapters: Chapter 1, About the VFCache VSI Feature, describes the EMC VFCache feature, and how it integrate into the VSI plug-in. Chapter 2, Installing the VFCache VSI Feature, describes how to install the various parts of the VFCache feature. Chapter 3, Getting Started, describes how to configure and use the VFCache feature. Chapter 4, Managing VFCache, describes how to manage VFCache devices and migrate VFCache-enabled virtual machines. Chapter 5, Advanced Configuration, describes advanced configuration topics. Chapter 6, Troubleshooting, describes steps to take to troubleshoot problems that may arise. Storage administrators working with Virtual Storage Integrator must be proficient in the use of the following VMware products: VMware vsphere Client 5.0, with VMware vcenter Server 5.x, VMware ESX 4.x, 5.x, and VMware ESXi 4.x, 5.x as installed. VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5 5

Preface Required documentation The following documentation is part of the EMC VFCache documentation set: EMC VFCache Installation and Administration Guide EMC VFCache for VMware Installation Guide Related documentation The following EMC documentation contains information that may be helpful in a Virtual Storage Integrator environment. This document is available on the EMC Online Support website: EMC VSI for VMware vsphere: Storage Viewer Version 5.0 Product Guide and Release Notes Conventions used in this document EMC uses the following conventions for special notices. Note: A note presents information that is important, but not hazard-related. A caution contains information essential to avoid data loss or damage to the system or equipment. The caution may apply to hardware or software. IMPORTANT An important notice contains information essential to operation of the software. The important notice applies only to software. 6 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Preface Typographical conventions EMC uses the following type style conventions in this document: Normal Bold: Italic: Courier: Courier bold: Used in running (nonprocedural) text for: Names of interface elements (such as names of windows, dialog boxes, buttons, fields, and menus) Names of resources, attributes, pools, Boolean expressions, buttons, DQL statements, keywords, clauses, environment variables, filenames, functions, utilities URLs, pathnames, filenames, directory names, computer names, links, groups, service keys, file systems, notifications Used in running (nonprocedural) text for: Names of commands, daemons, options, programs, processes, services, applications, utilities, kernels, notifications, system call, man pages Used in procedures for: Names of interface elements (such as names of windows, dialog boxes, buttons, fields, and menus) What user specifically selects, clicks, presses, or types Used in all text (including procedures) for: Full titles of publications referenced in text Emphasis (for example a new term) Variables Used for: System output, such as an error message or script URLs, complete paths, filenames, prompts, and command syntax. Used for: Specific user input (such as commands) Courier italic: Used in procedures for: Variables on command line User input variables < > Angle brackets enclose parameter or variable values supplied by the user [ ] Square brackets enclose optional values VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5 7

Preface Vertical bar indicates alternate selections - the bar means or { } Braces indicate content that you must specify (that is, x or y or z)... Ellipses indicate nonessential information omitted from the example 8 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Preface Where to get help EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows. Product information For documentation, release notes, software updates, or for information about EMC products, licensing, and service, go to the EMC Online Support website (registration required) at: http://support.emc.com Technical support For technical support, go to EMC Online Support. To open a service request, you must have a valid support agreement. Please contact your EMC sales representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or to answer any questions about your account. Your comments Your suggestions will help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of the user publications. Please send your opinion of this document to: techpub_comments@emc.com VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5 9

Preface 10 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

CHAPTER 1 Invisible Body Tag About the VFCache VSI Feature This chapter provides a high-level overview of the EMC Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere. Topics include: Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview... 11 VFCache VSI feature overview... 13 Prerequisites... 13 Virtual Storage Integrator for VMware vsphere overview EMC Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) for VMware vsphere is a plug-in to VMware s vsphere Client that provides a single management interface used for managing EMC storage within the vsphere environment. Features can be added and removed from VSI independently, providing flexibility for customizing VSI user environments. VSI provides a unified user experience, allowing each of the features to be updated independently, and new features to be introduced rapidly in response to changing customer requirements. Examples of features available for VSI are VFCache, Storage Viewer, Path Management, Storage Pool Management, Symmetrix storage replication adapter Utilities, and Unified Storage Management. The EMC VFCache feature is a server flash-based caching technology designed to transparently accelerate application I/O performance. By combining PCIe flash technology with caching software, VFCache moves data closer to the application which dramatically reduces latency and accelerating performance, resulting in a networked infrastructure dynamically optimized for performance, cost and availability About the VFCache VSI Feature 11

About the VFCache VSI Feature The Storage Viewer feature extends the vsphere Client to facilitate the discovery and identification of EMC Symmetrix, EMC CLARiiON, EMC Celerra, EMC VPLEX, and EMC VNX storage devices that are allocated to VMware ESX/ESXi hosts and virtual machines. SV presents the underlying storage details to the virtual datacenter administrator by merging the data of several different storage mapping tools into a few seamless vsphere Client views. The Path Management feature for VMware Native Multipathing and PowerPath /VE provides a mechanism for changing the multipath policy for groups of LUNs based on storage class and virtualization object. The Storage Pool Management feature simplifies the provisioning of Symmetrix VMAX or VMAXe storage by a VMware administrator. SPM allows a VMware administrator to allocate storage as a resource by using Symmetrix Virtual Pools for ESX Servers, Clusters, and Resource Pools. The Symmetrix SRA Utilities feature helps users to more efficiently manage vcenter Site Recovery Manager configurations in Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF ) environments. It provides SRM diagnostic tools that help users to easily identify configuration errors. The SRA Utilities feature allows users to view and create consistency groups. The Unified Storage Management feature provides array-based storage management and provisioning for CLARiiON, Celerra, and VNX series storage arrays, and allows for virtual machine duplication, compression, cloning, and extending storage for Celerra arrays. 12 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

About the VFCache VSI Feature VFCache VSI feature overview Prerequisites EMC VFCache VSI feature is a server flash caching solution that reduces latency and increases throughput to dramatically improve application performance by leveraging intelligent caching software and PCIe flash technology. VFCache accelerates reads and protects data by using a write-through cache to the networked storage to deliver persistent high availability, integrity, and disaster recovery. VFCache coupled with array-based EMC FAST software creates the most efficient and intelligent I/O path from the application to the data store. The result is a networked infrastructure that is dynamically optimized for performance, intelligence, and protection for both physical and virtual environments. The following tables describe the software and hardware requirements for the supported versions of VSI. Refer to the requirements that match the version of your vsphere client. Note: The VFCache feature does not include the VSI plug-in framework. You must install the VSI Storage Viewer feature before installing the VFCache VSI plug-in. Table 1 System requirements - host machine Component VMware Host Minimum Required Operating System ESX 4.0, ESX 4.1, ESX 4.1i, or ESX 5.0. Refer to the vendor installation instructions. Note: The VMware hosts can be managed via vsphere client 4.1 or 5.0 only. For more information, refer to the following tables. Hardware PCIe x8 slot available PCIe flash card (supplied) Windows Virtual Machine Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 VMware tools package VFCache VSI feature overview 13

About the VFCache VSI Feature Table 1 System requirements - host machine (continued) Component Linux Virtual Machine Minimum Required Red Hat 5.6, 5.7, 6.0, 6.1, or 6.2 basic installation chkconfig package - standard in RHEL SysVinit package - standard in RHEL SE Linux disabled No LVM VMware tools package Table 2 System requirements - vsphere client 4.1 Management Station Operating System Windows 7, Windows 2008 R2, or Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Software VMware Power CLI 4.1.1 (Download from http://www.vmware.com/download/ download.do?downloadgroup=sdkwin41) JRE 1.6 or 1.7, 32-bit version (Download from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/ javase/downloads/index.html) EMC Virtual Storage Integrator Storage Viewer 4.1 (Download from http://support.emc.com) Microsoft chart controls for Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 (Download from http://www.microsoft.com/download/ en/details.aspx?id=14422) Hardware Screen resolution: 1024x768 14 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

About the VFCache VSI Feature Table 3 System requirements - vsphere client 5.0 Management Station Operating System Windows 7, Windows 2008 R2, or Windows 2008 R2 SP1 Software VMware Power CLI 5.0 (Download from http://www.vmware.com/download/ download.do?downloadgroup=pcli50) JRE 1.6 or 1.7, 32-bit version (Download from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/ java/javase/downloads/index.html) EMC Virtual Storage Integrator Storage Viewer 5.0 (Download from http://support.emc.com) Microsoft chart controls for Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 (Download from http://www.microsoft.com/download/ en/details.aspx?id=14422) Hardware Screen resolution: 1024x768 The following chapter describes how to install the VFCache feature. For more information about installing the other VFCache components, refer to the VFCache Installation Guide for VMware. Prerequisites 15

About the VFCache VSI Feature 16 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

CHAPTER 2 Invisible Body Tag Installing the VFCache VSI Feature VSI for VMware vsphere is a plug-in to VMware vcenter that provides a single management interface that is used for managing EMC storage within the vsphere environment. You can install and uninstall, or add and remove features, such as VFCache, independently, providing flexibility for customizing VSI user environments. This chapter includes the following topics: Installing and uninstalling the VFCache feature... 17 Upgrading the VSI feature... 19 Before you begin... 19 Before installing the VFCache feature, ensure that your system satisfies the prerequisites listed in Prerequisites on page 13. Note: VFCache is not intended for use in active/active clusters or shared LUN configurations. For information about supported failover cluster configurations, refer to the VFCache Installation and Administration Guide for Windows and Linux v1.5 guide. Installing and uninstalling the VFCache feature To install the VFCache feature, perform one of the following steps: Install from a downloaded file: 1. Download the VFCache.zip file for your version of vsphere client from EMC Online Support. 2. Unzip the downloaded file, run the MSI file, and follow the installation wizard instructions. Installing the VFCache VSI Feature 17

Installing the VFCache VSI Feature Install from the VFCache media: 1. Double-click the VFCacheVsiPlugin.msi for your version (either EMC-VFCacheVSIPlugin-PCLI4.1.1-1.5.0.XX.msi or EMC-VFCacheVSIPlugin-PCLI5.0.0-1.5.0.XX.msi) and follow installation wizard instructions. No configuration or input is required during the installation other than accepting the prompts to move forward with the install. The installation directory cannot be changed due to the fact that the vsphere Client requires the plug-in files to be placed in a specific location. The VFCache feature is automatically enabled upon installation. Note: If you are updating the VSI plug-in from a previous installation, and you made changes to the VFCache configuration file, such as entering a specific IP, you will need to edit the new configuration file, EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.Core.dll.config, located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\emc\virtual Storage Integrator\vSphere4\Features\VFCache folder. Verifying the installation Upon successful installation, the EMC VFCache VSI Plugin appears in the Control Panel Programs and Features section. In addition, as VFCache is installed as a VSI feature, a VFCache folder is created under the Features folder in your vsphere folder. Files installed The following files are installed, in the C:\Program Files (x86)\emc\virtual Storage Integrator\vSphere4\Features\VFCache folder: Caffeine.Jni.dll EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.UserControls.dll EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.Core.dll EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.Core.dll.config EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.VmwareInfra.dll EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.EComInfra.dll EMC.VSI.VSphere4.Features.VFCache.Plugin.dll client-proxy-1.0-complete.jar 18 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Installing the VFCache VSI Feature jninet.dll minijavart.dll Uninstalling the VFCache feature To uninstall the VFCache feature, use Control Panel > Programs and Features to uninstall the EMC VFCache VSI Plugin. Note: Do not uninstall the VFCache feature using the VSI feature manager. This will remove the VFCache feature only. The VSI framework remains installed. Upgrading the VSI feature Upgrading the VSI feature requires the following steps: Updating the device driver on the ESX host Updating the firmware on the ESX host Updating the VFCache driver and the VFCache agent on the virtual machine Updating the VSI feature on the management center Before you begin The process for upgrading the VSI feature is described in full in the VFCache Installation Guide for VMware guide. Before starting to use the VFCache feature, you must enable the VFCache feature access to the virtual machines. Before using the VFCache feature, you must authenticate the security in the vsphere system by entering predefined user name and password credentials. These credentials were set up during the installation of the VFCache agent. It is highly recommended that the credentials be the same across all VFCache virtual machines. For more information, refer to the VFCache for VMware Installation Guide. To enter the security credentials in the vsphere client, perform the following steps: Upgrading the VSI feature 19

Installing the VFCache VSI Feature 1. Open the VFCache security window by performing the following steps: From the vsphere client window, select Home. From the Solutions and Applications section, click EMC VSI. From the Features area, click VFCache. The VFCache authentication window appears. Figure 1 VFCache authentication window 2. In the VFCache Agent Authentication section, enter the following credentials: User: VFCacheAdmin Password: The password defined for the VFCache agent user during the installation of the VFCache agent. It is highly recommended that this password be consistent across all virtual machines running VFCache. For more information, refer to the EMC VFCache Installation Guide for VMware. 3. Click Update Credentials. 20 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Installing the VFCache VSI Feature Note: The first time that a vcenter administrator logs in to a vsphere upon which VFCache is installed, the VFCache administration custom attribute is automatically added to the schema. This step is necessary in order for VFCache to function. Before you begin 21

Installing the VFCache VSI Feature 22 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

CHAPTER 3 Invisible Body Tag Getting Started This chapter explains how to start using the VFCache feature with the VMware vsphere client interface. Topics include: Enabling VFCache remote monitoring... 23 Enabling UUID mapping... 24 Preparing the cache device... 25 Creating VFCache devices... 28 Configuring the caching on virtual machines... 30 Enabling VFCache remote monitoring To start the VFCache feature, you must first enable remote monitoring of VFCache virtual machines. Once remote monitoring has been enabled, disabling it will not affect the state of VFCache, but it will prevent monitoring of VFCache activities from a virtual machine or an ESX host. To enable remote monitoring, perform the following steps: 1. In the vsphere client, select a virtual machine, then select the EMC VSI tab. 2. At the following screen, click Enable VFCache Remote Management. Getting Started 23

Getting Started Enabling UUID mapping If this screen does not appear, VFCache monitoring has already been enabled. If you click the link and an error message appears, it is due to one of the following reasons: Your user is missing the Global > set custom attribute privilege over this specific virtual machine. This could happen if the user role is read-only on this virtual machine. The custom attribute is not defined properly. For more information, refer to Chapter 6, Troubleshooting. Before using the VFCache feature to manage caching, you must enable UUID mapping. This enables the virtual machine to locate the datastores that will be configured. You can enable UUID data mapping with the VFCache management window or using the vsphere client settings. To enable UUID mapping with the VFCache management window, perform the following steps: 1. From the tree view of the vsphere client window, select a virtual machine. 2. Select the EMC VSI tab. 3. From the Features section, click VFCache. The VFCache management window, Figure 2 on page 29, appears. 4. In the Commands section, click Enable disk file mapping to guest. If this command does not appear in the Commands section, then it is already enabled. 5. Reboot the virtual machine. This is not necessary if the UUID mapping was previously enabled. To enable UUID mapping with the vsphere settings, perform the following steps: 1. Stop the virtual machine. 2. Add a configuration parameter of disk.enableuuid=true. You can set the configuration parameters by choosing Edit Setting > Options > Advanced (General) for your virtual machine. 3. Shut down and restart the virtual machine. 24 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Getting Started Preparing the cache device Before using a cache device, you must define a VMFS datastore on it. To define a VMFS datastore, perform the following steps: 1. From the vsphere client, select an ESX server, select the Configuration tab, and click Storage. The Datastores appear. 2. In the Datastores section, click Add Storage... 3. Select Disk/LUN and click Next. Preparing the cache device 25

Getting Started 4. Select the flash disk and click Next twice. Note: When performing this procedure in ESX 5.0, before the following step, there is as additional step where you should select VMFS-3/5. 5. Enter a new datastore name and click Next. 26 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Getting Started Note: To ease future identification, It is recommended to use a consistent naming convention across all flash datastores, such as: Flashcard_xxx, where xxx represents the last octet of the IP of the host. 6. Ensure that the default value, 256 GB, block size: 1MB, is selected for Maximum file size, select Maximize capacity, then click Next. The following layout summary appears: 7. Click Finish and verify that the new datastore was added (it may take several seconds to appear). Preparing the cache device 27

Getting Started To carve disks for DAS, you can use this same method, or you can use the vsphere client tools. For more information, see the VMware Tools documentation. Creating VFCache devices In this step, you add VFCache devices, in the form of virtual disks, to virtual machines. You can add the entire device to one virtual machine, or you can carve, or partition, the datastore into virtual disks, and add disks to one or more virtual machines. 1. From the tree view of the vsphere client window, select a virtual machine. 2. Select the EMC VSI tab. Note: The first time you connect to any virtual machine, you will be prompted to accept its security certificate. Only accept certificates that you trust. 28 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Getting Started 3. From the Features section, click VFCache. The VFCache management window appears. Figure 2 VFCache management window 4. In the Commands section, click Create VFCache Device... The Create VFCache device dialog appears. 5. To add virtual disks to a single virtual machine, perform the following steps: 1. Select a datastore. 2. Select the size, minimum 20 GB. 3. Click OK. Skip to step 7. Creating VFCache devices 29

Getting Started 6. To add virtual disks to multiple virtual machines, perform the following steps Note: To add virtual disks to multiple machines, you must be connected to a host, not to a virtual machine. 1. Select a datastore. 2. Select the size to allocate to each virtual machine, minimum 20 GB. 3. Select the virtual machines to which to add virtual disks. 4. Click OK. 7. Reboot the virtual machines to which you allocated virtual disks. You cannot configure the caching until the virtual machines are rebooted. Before you can reboot, you may need to select a different virtual machine, then return to the current one. IMPORTANT Before configuring VFCache disks on a Windows virtual machine, you must first enter the Windows Disk Management utility and bring the disk online. Configuring the caching on virtual machines Adding a VFCache device You use the VFCache feature to configure and manage the caching on virtual machines. Configuring caching entails the following tasks: Adding a VFCache device on page 30 Starting acceleration of a source device on page 31 These tasks are performed from the VFCache management window. You enable caching by adding a VFCache device, that is, selecting a virtual disk. These disks need to have been previously created using the procedure described in Creating VFCache devices on page 28. 30 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Getting Started Note: When you add a VFCache device, you can also enable data deduplication and set the maximum size for cached IO. Before enabling deduplication, it is recommended to review Configuring data deduplication on page 43. For more information on maximum IO, refer to Changing the maximum IO size on page 45. To enable caching on a virtual disk, perform the following steps: 1. In the Device Configuration area of the VFCache management window, click Add VFCache device. The Add VFCache device dialog appears. 2. Select one of the available virtual devices and click OK. Note: You can only add devices that were created in the VFCache creation step. 3. Repeat the previous steps for each VFCache device to add. The virtual disk is now a VFCache device and is listed in the VFCache device section. Starting acceleration of a source device You start acceleration on a source device by assigning the source device to an enabled VFCache device. To start acceleration of a source device, perform the following steps: 1. In the Device Configuration area of the VFCache management window, select a VFCache device, then click Add source device... 2. In the Add Source device dialog, select a source device and click OK. The source device appears in the Source devices (LUNs) section. 3. Follow the previous steps for every source device to accelerate. Configuring the caching on virtual machines 31

Getting Started The following figure illustrates a VFCache device with multiple accelerated source devices. 32 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

CHAPTER 4 Invisible Body Tag Managing VFCache This chapter describes how to manage the VFCache feature. Topics include: Managing VFCache devices... 33 Moving a virtual machine from one host to another... 39 Managing VFCache devices Disabling VFCache You use the VFCache management window to perform the following management tasks: Disabling VFCache on page 33 Removing a VFCache device on page 34 Displaying statistics on page 35 Moving a virtual machine from one host to another on page 39 The following sections describe these tasks. You can disable VFCache in the following ways: Disable remote management Stops the display of the disabled virtual machine at the ESX host. No change is made to the state of the caching or the configuration of devices. Disable caching on the virtual machine Temporarily stops all caching activity on the source and cache devices and then stops the service from running. The configuration data remains. This can be useful for troubleshooting and maintenance. Managing VFCache 33

Managing VFCache Removing a VFCache device To disable remote management, perform the following step: From the Commands section of the VFCache management window of a virtual machine, click Disable VFCache Remote Management. To disable caching on a virtual machine, perform the following step: From the Commands section of the VFCache management window of a virtual machine, click Disable VFCache on virtual machine. To re-enable caching on a virtual machine, perform the following step: From the Commands section of the VFCache management window of a virtual machine, click Enable VFCache on virtual machine. You are prompted whether to restart all the devices on the virtual machine. To remove a cache or source device, select the device, click Remove, and confirm. The device is removed from the listing, and its configuration is deleted. Before you remove a cache device, you must first remove all source devices that are attached to it. 34 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Managing VFCache Displaying statistics To display cache device or source device statistics, select the device and click Statistics. The Statistics window appears. Figure 3 Statistics window - Key Statistics View tab Figure 3 is from a VFCache device with deduplication enabled. Managing VFCache devices 35

Managing VFCache The Key Statistics View tab shows the following statistics: Table 4 Key Statistics Group Aggregated Averages Cache Size and Utilization (only for cache devices) Deduplication Statistics (only displayed if the cache device has deduplication enabled) Statistic Description Read Rate number of reads from total IOs, expressed as a percentage Cache Hit Rate number of times that requested data was found in the cache, expressed as a percentage Cache Size (pages) total cache size, in pages of 8 kb Pages used number of available cache pages that are being used, expressed as a percentage Deduplication Hit Ratio The percentage of write hits in the deduplicated cache. You can display the statistics for the last 2, 5, or 15 minutes. You can select the Expert View tab to show other statistics. 36 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Managing VFCache The Expert View tab shows the following statistics: Table 5 Expert Statistics Counters Cache device Statistic Description Read Hits amount of read requests that were found in the cache Read Misses amount of read requests that were not found in cache Reads Pending amount of read requests waiting for completion of outstanding IOs Write Hits amount of write requests that were found in the cache Write Misses amount of write requests that were not found in cache Writes Pending amount of write requests waiting for completion of outstanding IOs Reads Received total amount of read requests received Writes Received total amount of write requests received I/Os Received total amount of IOs received Unaligned I/Os (source device only) number of IOs that are unaligned to the VFC cache page Partial I/Os total amount of IOs that were smaller than the cache page size I/Os Outstanding total amount of IOs in progress Skipped I/Os (source device only) number of IOs that are not cached, either because they are larger than the max IO size or because the cache device is in pass through mode Evictions number of pages that have been replaced with other data Cache Pages total pages in cache Cache Pages Used total used pages in cache Down Reads (source device only) number of read IOs that are sent to the source device Down Writes (source device only) number of write IOs that are sent to the source device Managing VFCache devices 37

Managing VFCache Table 5 Expert Statistics (continued) Counters Deduplication (only displayed if the cache device has deduplication enabled) Statistic Description Write Hits amount of write requests that were found in the cache Write Misses amount of write requests that were not found in cache Writes Received total amount of write requests received Read Hits amount of read requests that were found in the cache Read Misses amount of read requests that were not found in cache Reads Received total amount of read requests received I/Os Received total amount of IOs received Down Reads number of actual reads to the flash device Down Writes number of actual writes to the flash device Validate Hits number of VFCache hits that exist in the deduplication cache Validate Misses number of VFC cache hits not found in the deduplication cache because they have been evicted Evictions number of pages that have been replaced with other data Evicted During Read number of deduplication entries evicted while there are reads in progress for these entries Evicted During Write number of deduplication entries evicted while there are writes in progress for these entries Entries Number number of deduplication cache entries Occupied Entries Number number of occupied deduplication cache entries Note: In many cases, the statistics in the cache device and the source device will not match. 38 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Managing VFCache Moving a virtual machine from one host to another This section describes how to migrate, that is, to relocate, a virtual machine that has VFCache disks from one physical host to another. Under a typical scenario, you can use the migrate command to move a virtual machine from one host to another. This is possible because in a typical scenario, the datastores are shared resources. In the VFCache environment, however, the VFCache datastore is mapped to its local host flash drive. Consequently, this datastore is accessible only to that host, thus the migrate command is not supported. There are multiple forms of migration. The steps you perform to complete the migration will be determined by the form of migration that you choose. The following table describes the various forms of migration: Table 6 Forms of Migration Form of migration Description Effect on IOps and cache Form of operation Cold Migration of a virtual machine that has been powered off. IOps are interrupted and the cache restarts cold. Manual Hot Migration of a virtual machine that is powered on. This method can be divided into the following subcategories: Automated migration You migrate a running virtual machine without any disruptions (downtime) using vmotion operations. IOps are processed and the cache restarts cold. Automatic Suspend/resume migration You first suspend the virtual machine, then perform the migration, and then you resume the suspended virtual machine on the new host. IOps are interrupted and the cache restarts cold. Manual Live migration You migrate a running virtual machine without any disruptions (downtime) by using a combination of vmotion and Storage vmotion operations. IOps are processed and the cache resumes where it left off. Manual Moving a virtual machine from one host to another 39

Managing VFCache Note: To perform a Hot-Suspend/resume vmotion on a suspended machine without losing cache contents, you need to temporarily disable the suspend/resume scripts. When doing so, remember that reverting to a previous snapshot may cause data corruptions. The following section describes how to perform the automated migration process. For information on the manual options, refer to the Migrating VFCache-Enabled Machines technical note on EMC Online Support site. Performing automated migration Before you begin, ensure that your system meets the following prerequisites: The target datastore has enough available capacity for the new device. There are no additional DAS flash-based devices for the host virtual machine. Only one VFCache cache device is configured on the host virtual machine. The virtual machine you want migrate is not currently being migrated. Performing the migration For migration to succeed, the source host and the target host must be able to communicate with each other. Generally, if the DNS has been properly configured, this should not be a problem. This section describes how to perform automated migration. This form of migration does not require disrupting the virtual machine, however the cache will be cleared, thus resulting in a cold cache. To perform migration, perform the following steps: 1. From the VFCache window of a virtual machine, click Migrate Virtual Machine. 2. Select the target host and target datastore. Only hosts within your datastores that are available to the host VFCache card will be listed. 3. Click OK. You can follow the task progress in the Task window. After successful migration, a migration succeeded message appears in the message pane at the top of the VSI management window. 40 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Managing VFCache If a migration failed message appears, you can resume or repair the migration. To resume or repair the migration, perform the following steps. 1. From the VFCache window of a virtual machine, click Resume/Repair migration. This option appears only after a non-successful migration. 2. Select from the following options and click OK. Resume Resume the stopped migration process. Rollback Rollback the virtual machine to its origin host and data store Cancel Cancel the current migration completely. After cancelling, you may have to configure the VFCache device manually. The following table summarizes the repair activities that may be necessary after cancelling a failed migration. Use the VSI task pane to determine at which task the migration failed: If this task failed... Deleting the cache virtual device Migrating the virtual machine Recreating the cache virtual device after the migrations Perform either these fixes... Resolve the cause of the deletion failure and use the automatic recovery procedure. Cancel the migration, then manually reconfigure the VFCache devices (map cache and sources) to the original state. Resolve the cause of the migration failure and use the automatic recovery procedure. Cancel the migration, then manually recreate the deleted cache virtual device and reconfigure the VFCache devices (map cache and sources) to their original state. Resolve the cause of the device creation failure and use the automatic recovery procedure. Cancel the migration, then manually reconfigure the VFCache devices (map cache and sources). After the migration completes, the VFCache device is returned to the state of operation it was in prior to the migration. Moving a virtual machine from one host to another 41

Managing VFCache 42 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

CHAPTER 5 Invisible Body Tag Advanced Configuration This chapter explains advanced VFCache configuration topics. Topics include: Configuring data deduplication... 43 Changing the maximum IO size... 45 Configuring data deduplication VFCache enables you to take advantage of the benefits of data deduplication, such as reduced storage and bandwidth requirements and extended cache device life expectancy. Data deduplication eliminates redundant data by storing only a single copy of identical chunks of data, while at the same time, providing access to the data from the cache. Deduplication is enabled per cache device, so the requests from all applications using the enabled VFCache device will be deduplicated. In general, deduplication is most likely to benefit environments where unstructured data, such as files, is being cached. Deduplication will not be helpful when the data being cached contains internal signatures, such as Oracle payload. By default, VFCache deduplication is disabled. When enabling deduplication, you set a deduplication ratio (default 20%), the Expected Data Deduplication Gain, that represents a percentage of the amount of data in your cache that is duplicated. Deduplication uses RAM, in proportion to this deduplication ratio. You can view the Deduplication Hit Ratio in the Key Statistics window. This ratio, calculated by the dividing the amount of deduplication write hits by the deduplication writes received, shows the amount of duplicate data in the cache. Advanced Configuration 43

Advanced Configuration You can view other deduplication statistics that appear on the right side of the Expert View window. To determine the best use of deduplication in your environment, perform the following steps: 1. Add a VFCache device. 1. Click Add VFCache device. The Add VFCache Device dialog appears. 2. Open the Advance configuration section and select Use Data Deduplication. Leave the slider at the default value, 20%. 3. Click OK. 2. Add a source device to this VFCache device. 3. After the cache is warm (after letting it run through a typical business cycle), from the Device Configuration area of the VFCache management window, select the cache device and click Statistics. 44 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Advanced Configuration 4. In the Key Statistics window, view the Deduplication Hit Ratio. If the Deduplication Hits Ratio is less than 10%, it is recommended to turn off deduplication, or to reconfigure the deduplication gain to 0%, which will enable you to benefit from extended cache device life. If the Deduplication Hits Ratio is over 35%, it is recommended to raise the deduplication gain to match the observed deduplication. If the Deduplication Hits Ratio is between 10% - 35%, it is recommended to leave the deduplication gain as is. 5. To change the configured gain, remove the VFCache device, and recreate a new one using the Add VFCache device command, as described in this section. Note: The process of changing the deduplication gain on a VFCache device requires that you first stop all source devices being accelerated by this device, remove the VFCache device, and add a new VFCache device. This will result in starting with a cold cache. Data deduplication can enable more data to be cached than the physical cache size would otherwise allow. For example, on a 20 GB VFCache disk with 20% expected deduplication, you would obtain 24 GB of effective cache capacity. This relationship, as well as the amount of RAM required to perform deduplication, is shown in the Add VFCache dialog box. Changing the maximum IO size This section describes how to configure maximum IO size. By default, data larger than 64KB is passed through to the disk and not cached. This size is correct for most applications. For some applications, however, caching will be more effective by enabling data up to 128KB to be cached. Changing the maximum IO size 45

Advanced Configuration To best determine the proper maximum IO size for your environment, follow these steps: 1. Add a VFCache device and allow it to run throughout a typical business cycle. This enables the cache to warm up. 2. Open the statistics window for an accelerated source device. 3. Determine whether the current maximum IO size is appropriate, by performing the following steps: 1. From the Expert view tab of the statistics window, divide the number of Skipped I/Os by the number of I/Os Received. 2. Multiply the result by 100 to yield a percentage. 3. If the resultant percentage is higher than 25%, you could benefit from increasing the maximum IO size. Note: If you backup to and from the source device, IOs are likely to be larger than the default (64KB). You do not want to cache the backup IOs, so in this case, it is recommended to allow more than 25% skips and not to increase the max I/O. 4. To change the max IO, remove the VFCache device, and recreate a new one with a new max IO figure, as described in the following section. Note: The process of removing and recreating a VFCache device requires that you first stop all source devices being accelerated by this device, remove the VFCache device, and add a new VFCache device. This will result in starting with a cold cache. Changing the maximum IO size This section describes how to change the maximum IO size. To change the maximum IO size, perform the following steps: 1. In the Device Configuration area of the VFCache management window, click Add VFCache device... The Add VFCache Device dialog appears. 2. Click Advanced Configuration. 3. Slide the counter to select the maximum IO limit. The counter is measured in 8KB intervals, from 32-128KB. 64KB is the default. 46 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Advanced Configuration 4. Click OK. Changing the maximum IO size 47

Advanced Configuration 48 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Troubleshooting CHAPTER 6 Troubleshooting Installation issues This chapter describes the activities that can be performed to troubleshoot problems that may arise. Topics include: Installation issues on page 49 Activating VFCache administration on page 51 Connecting to VFC agent on a virtual machine on page 52 Certificate issues on page 53 Performance issues on page 54 Using the support tool on page 54 Log files on page 55 The following sections describe issues that may arise. To ensure an effortless installation, make sure that: You have all the prerequisites installed before starting the installation. During the installation process, the presence of these prerequisites is verified. For more information, refer to the EMC VFCache Installation Guide for VMware. You install the version of the VFCache feature that matches your version of powercli (version 4 or version 5). If you have several versions of powercli installed, install the VFCache VSI plug-in that matches the highest version. Installation issues 49

Troubleshooting After installing the VFCache plug-in, there should be a VFCache link in the Features area of the EMC VSI tab for both host and guest machines in vsphere. Host machine Guest machine (VM) If this link is not displayed, either the plug-in is disabled or it was not installed fully. To correct this, perform one of the following: In the Feature Manager, enable the plug-in, as described in the following section. If the plug-in does not appear in the Feature Manager, reinstall it. Enabling features You use the Feature Manager to enable, disable, and uninstall features. The Feature Manager is available only if there are features installed. To open the Feature Manager, perform the following steps: 1. From the vsphere client, click Home, and then, from the Solutions and Applications section, click the EMC VSI icon. 2. Select Feature Manager from the Settings tree menu. 50 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5

Troubleshooting Installed VSI features appear. The following figure shows an example. Figure 4 VSI Feature Manager To disable or uninstall a particular feature, right-click it and choose Disable or Uninstall. Disabled features remain fully installed and can be enabled, via the right-click menu, at any time. Uninstalled features are permanently removed once the vsphere client is closed and must be reinstalled before future use. To enable a feature that was previously disabled, right-click the feature and select Enable. Activating VFCache administration The first time you open the EMC VSI tab, you need to activate VFCache administration for the virtual machines upon which you want to use VFCache. Activate VFCache administration by clicking the activation link displayed in the VFCache tab. Activating VFCache administration 51

Troubleshooting If the activation fails, indicated by an insufficient privileges message, ensure that you are logged in with a user with the Global:set custom attribute permission on the selected virtual machine. If the activation fails after checking permissions, close the vsphere client, then re-enter it with a user that has the Global:manage custom attributes permission on the VCenter (for example, an administrator user). This creates the custom attribute that stores the activation data. Connecting to VFC agent on a virtual machine After activating VFCache administration for a virtual machine, the following error message may appear: Unable to connect to the agent on the virtual machine. Ensure that the agent is running and then refresh the device list. This means that the VSI plug-in failed to connect to the VFCache agent on the virtual machine. Follow the steps listed below. After each step, click Refresh. In the Summary tab for the virtual machine, ensure that the IP address of the virtual machine appears. If it does not, it is likely that the VMTools software is not running on the virtual machine. Install the VMTools software on the VM machine, then click Refresh. 52 VFCache VMware VSI Plug-In Administration Guide v1.5