In this section, PowerFlex volumes are created and mapped to VxRail dynamic nodes cluster, using which a datastore will be created for running workload VMs.

Before you begin, ensure that:

• PowerFlex storage-only cluster is deployed as specified in Prerequisites by following network best practices.
• The protection domain and storage pool have been created to suit the environment.

Note: For more information, see Add Protection Domains and Add Storage Pools.

The following figure shows the high-level overview which represents the volume mapping procedure:

Figure 11. Creation and mapping of volumes to VxRail dynamic nodes

 

Create PowerFlex volume

To create the PowerFlex volume:

    1. Log in to PowerFlex Presentation Server (PowerFlex GUI) using your MDM credentials and navigate to Volume tab.

    2. Click ADD.

3. On the Add Volume page, enter the number of Volumes (if two or more number of volumes are to be created, add a volume prefix and starting number) and the Volume Name.

    4. Select Thick or Thin provisioning and then specify the Volume Size.

Note: The PowerFlex volume size will always be a multiple of 8. The free capacity of the shared datastore for the VxRail system should be 800 GB at least.

   5. Select Storage Pool from the list of pools.

   6. Click ADD VOLUME.

Map PowerFlex volume to VxRail dynamic nodes

To expose the PowerFlex volumes to the work domain nodes:

   1. Select the volumes that you created and in the upper right corner, select MAPPING > Map.

   2. Under SDCs, select all SDCs used for this configuration, and then click MAP and APPLY.

   3. After the volume is selected, verify the status of each volume that is mapped to host in the Details section.

Create VMFS datastore on dynamic nodes

To map the PowerFlex to the VxRail dynamic nodes:

    1. In the vSphere Web Client, go to Menu > host and cluster.

2. Select one of the VxRail dynamic node, configure >  Storage >  Storage Devices and verify that the mapped PowerFlex volume is listed as a LUN, as shown in the following figure:

Figure 12. Storage devices tab with mapped volume

    3. Right click on the cluster and select Storage > New Datastore.

    4. Select VMFS as the datastore type.

    5. In Name and device selection:

1.  Enter the Datastore Name.
2.  Select any one of the hosts which is mapped to PowerFlex volume in Select a host to view its accessible disks/LUNs.
3. Select the device (the PowerFlex volume which was mapped to the host) to use for your datastore and click on Next.

    6. Select VMFS version as VMFS 6 and click Next.

    7. Specify Partition configuration and click Next.

    8. In the Ready to Complete page, review the datastore configuration information.

    9. Click Finish.

   10. Verify that all the mapped hosts are listed under the newly created datastore.

        a. Select the newly created datastore and click the Hosts tab, after few  minutes it will list all the mapped VxRail nodes.

The PowerFlex volumes are now mapped as storage to VxRail dynamic nodes.

Create a new default storage policy for PowerFlex datastore

To create a new VM storage policy:

1. In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to Menu > Policies and Profiles.

2. Select VM Storage Policies from the left side of the page and click Create VM Storage Policy.

3. In the Name and description page that opens, update the name.

4. On the Policy structure page, under Host based services, select Enable host-based rules.

5. In the Host based services page, apply these settings:

1. Encryption: Select custom and leave the default value as it is.
2. Storage I/O Control: Select custom and leave the default value as it is.

6. The Storage Compatibility page lists compatible datastores.

7. Under Review, verify the details and click Finish.

8. Verify that the newly created PowerFlex datastore is visible under the storage compatibility of the new VM storage policy.