The PowerFlex Gateway details provided when adding PowerFlex storage pool as the primary storage enables the CloudStack communication with the PowerFlex REST APIs for various storage operations.
When a PowerFlex storage pool is configured and used with Compute or Disk Offerings, an administrator can build an environment in which a root or data disk that a user creates leads to the dynamic creation of a PowerFlex volume.
The lifecycle operations of CloudStack resources, templates, volumes, and snapshots in a PowerFlex storage pool can be managed through the CloudStack UI. The following operations are supported for a PowerFlex storage pool:
- Volumes are created from the PowerFlex Storage in the form of root disk and data disk whenever the instance gets deployed.
- Instance snapshot (disk-only, snapshot with memory is not supported).
- Migrating instances from one host to another (within and across clusters, for zone-wide primary storage).
- Volume lifecycle and operations:
- Create ROOT disks using the selected template.
- List, Detach, Resize ROOT volumes.
- Create, List, Attach, Detach, Resize, Delete DATA volumes.
- Create, List, Delete snapshots of volumes (with backup in Primary, no backup to secondary storage).
- Create a template from PowerFlex volume or snapshot.
- Live migration of volume from one PowerFlex storage pool to another.
- Migration of instance with storage: Offline.
Once instances and their volumes are created, the respective volume can be identified on the PowerFlex storage using the path of the volume as shown below.
- Log in to the CloudStack UI. Navigate to Storage > Volumes and select the volumes and identify the path.
Figure 25. Identifying the volume path at CloudStack UI
- Log in to the PowerFlex Manager UI, navigate to Block > Volumes, cross verify the volume with the identified path name.
Figure 26. Identified volume in the PowerFlex Manager UI
- The following image shows the list of volumes which are created on PowerFlex when the volumes, instances, snapshot, and templates are created from CloudStack using PowerFlex as the primary storage.
Figure 27. Volume list in the PowerFlex Manager UI