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Unlike VMFS which is created on a presented device to the ESXi host, the network file system (NFS) must be created on the PowerMax. Then it must be mounted directly on the ESXi hosts. The NFS creation is briefly discussed first followed by the NFS datastore creation with the vSphere Client.
Note: vSphere supports both NFS 3 and 4.1. eNAS and PowerMax File also support both file systems, but NFS 4.1 is not enabled by default on eNAS. It must be configured before attempting to create an NFS 4.1 datastore.
When File is enabled on a PowerMax, access the System -> File Configuration -> FILE SYSTEMS screen. Select Create to start the wizard. Select the VMware File System radio button as shown in Figure 15.
In the second step, select the appropriate NAS Server for the NFS. In this example in Figure 16, where replication is in use, the local NAS Server is selected. It supports both NFS 3 and 4.1 (assigned during NAS creation).
Next, supply the file system details in Figure 17. Dell Technologies does not recommend changing the Host I/O Size from 8k unless the exact I/O profile of the application accessing the NFS is known. If applicable, change the Service Level and set Thresholds to allow alerting. Data Reduction is enabled by default but can be removed.
When creating the export in Figure 18, it is unnecessary to name the export the same as the file system, as has been done here. The export name is what the vSphere Client provides when creating the NFS datastore along with the IP address.
Lastly, configure access against the export. The PowerMax offers Kerberos for strong security when using NFS 4.1. Even if no added security is applicable, it is still necessary to change the Default Access to Read/Write, allow Root. Failure to make this change prevents ESXi from being able to fully access the file system since it mounts the NFS as the root user. The changes are shown in Figure 19.
Review the summary page and create the NFS in Figure 20.