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Map the following PowerStore volume types to Windows Server and Hyper-V hosts, nodes, and guest VMs.
PowerStore supports boot-from-SAN. Windows Server stand-alone and clustered hosts support boot-from SAN when the hosts have a compatible boot-from-SAN adapter. Guest VMs support booting from a pass-through disk directly from PowerStore. Do not use a pass-through disk unless you have a specific use case that requires a pass-through disk. Use virtual hard disks (VHDs) with VMs whenever possible.
Consider the following advantages as you choose a boot configuration:
Boot-from-SAN advantages:
Boot-from-local-disk advantages:
Note: Present PowerStore boot-from-SAN volumes as LUN 0 to Windows Server and Hyper-V hosts.
PowerStore supports the following types of volumes as data volumes for Windows Server hosts, Hyper-V hosts, clusters, and VMs.
Note: Use virtual hard disks (VHD, VHDX, VHDS) for VM boot and data whenever possible. Use direct-attached or pass-through disks only if you have a use case that requires them.
PowerStore supports the native Microsoft device-specific module (DSM) for MPIO. Use the Microsoft DSM on physical hosts, nodes, and VMs for MPIO support.
Use PowerStore host groups and volume groups when VMs and data span multiple hosts or volumes.
Note: Microsoft does not support NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) or NVMe over TCP (NVMe/TCP). Windows Server environments will support NVMe transports if Windows drivers become available from Microsoft. Check the latest Microsoft and PowerStore documentation to verify Windows Server support for NVMe/FC or NVMe/TCP before you choose a NVMe initiator type.
See the Dell PowerStore Administrator’s Guide and the Dell PowerStore Deployment Guide at Dell Support for in-depth transport and cabling guidance.
PowerStore supports cluster-shared volumes (CSVs).
Windows Server 2008 R2 introduced cluster-shared volumes (CSV). A CSV is a cluster volume that allows all nodes in a Hyper-V cluster to have concurrent read/write access.
CSVs allow a clustered role, such as a Hyper-V VM, to fail over quickly from one Hyper-V host (node) to another without regard to CSV node ownership. A failover operation does not depend on the CSV node assignment.
CSVs are commonly used to support Hyper-V guest VM workloads. Microsoft support for additional workloads on CSV has expanded with newer releases of Windows Server.
A CSV is initially formatted as NTFS or ReFS; then it is configured as a CSV.
Note: Place virtual hard disks for a VM on CSVs as a best practice. CSVs are more resilient than regular cluster volumes. Use regular cluster volumes to host VM virtual hard disks only if you have a specific use case that requires it.