Manage VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols)

VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols) enables data replication, snapshots, and encryption to be controlled at the VMDK level instead of the LUN level, where these data services are performed on a per VM (application level) basis from the storage system.

Prerequisites

See Roles and associated permissions to determine the user roles that can perform this task.

About this task

The vVol Dashboard provides you with a single place to monitor and manage vVols. vVols are storage objects, developed by VMware to simplify management and provisioning in virtualized environments. With vVols, the management process moves from the LUN (data store) to the virtual machine (VM). This level of granularity allows VMware and cloud administrators to assign specific storage attributes to each VM, according to its performance and storage requirements.

To access the vVol Dashboard:

Steps

  1. Select the storage system.
  2. Select Storage > vVol Dashboard.

    The vVol Dashboard is organized into the following panels:

    Summary panel

    The following vVol summary information is displayed:

    • Storage Containers—The number of storage containers on the selected storage system. Click Storage Containers to display the Storage Containers list view. For more information about viewing storage containers, see View storage containers.
    • Protocol Endpoints—The number of protocol endpoints on the selected storage system. Click Protocol Endpoints to display the Protocol Endpoints list view. For more information about protocol endpoints, see View protocol endpoints.
    • PE Masking Views—The number of masking views that contain protocol endpoints. Click PE Masking Views to display the PE Masking Views list view. For more information about PE masking views, see View masking views.
    • Replication Groups—The number of VASA replication groups that are configured Click Replication Groups to display the VASA replication groups list view . For more information about VASA replication groups, see Understanding VASA Replication Groups. This information is supported on Unisphere managing a storage system that must be running PowerMaxOS 5978 Q3 2020 or later.

    To view additional information about a particular item, click it to open the corresponding list view.

    Actions panel

    Links to the following common tasks are displayed:

    System Consumed Capacity - Subscribed panel

    A bar graph representing the amount of subscribed space that all the storage containers consume on the storage system is displayed.

    VASA Provider Status panel

    The panel consists of a table displaying the following:

    Status One of the following icons representing the status of the VASA provider is displayed:

    • An icon showing a tick symbol on a green background—The VASA provider is online.
    • An icon showing an X symbol on a red background—The VASA provider is offline.
    • An icon showing a gray horizontal line—A connection to the VASA provider has not been configured.
    • An icon showing a gray exclamation mark—There was an error connecting to the VASA provider.

    IP address of the VASA Provider

    Availability of VASA Provider—possible values are Active, Stand-by, and Unknown (Availability value is Unknown when the VASA Provider status is offline).

    To refresh the status of the VASA provider, click An icon showing a circular arrow.

    To create a connection to the VASA provider, click Create Connection. To edit an existing connection, click Edit Connection. For more information about configuring a connection to the VASA provider, see Configure the VASA provider connection.

    Beginning in 9.2, Unisphere supports embedded VASA Providers for storage systems running PowerMaxOS 5978 Q3 2020 or later.

    The status of the VASA Provider, when checked from Unisphere, displays the availability status of each instance of VASA Provider and its active or standby status. Unisphere automatically detects the presence of the embedded VASA Provider instances. You do not have to enter the details of the embedded VASA Providers.

    For non-embedded VASA providers, you are required to enter the IP of their external VASA Provider, in order to view their status.

    Array Resources panel

    A list of storage resources within all containers on the storage system is displayed. Each shows the current usage of each storage resource, ascending by usage.

    • Name—The name of the capability profile
    • Subscribed Used(%)—The current percent of subscribed tracks within the storage resource in relation to the limit imposed on the capability profile
    • Limit (GB)—The subscribed limit imposed on the storage resource
    • Container—The name of the storage container with which the storage resource is associated.
    • Data Reduction—When data reduction is enabled on this storage resource, a tick appears. When data reduction is disabled, a horizontal dash appears.

    Click View All Storage Resource to view the Storage Resources list view.