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PowerStore X model appliances have a vSphere Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS), multiple port groups, and NIC teaming that is configured automatically as part of the initial configuration process. The DVS has a naming convention of DVS-<Cluster_Name>. Then, the DVS name is prepended to each port group name, along with a dash.
The DVS has the following port groups created, by default:
The vSphere DVS groups the physical adapters from both nodes together into uplinks. The uplinks are used on each of the port groups to indicate which ports are active, standby, or unused. The following table shows the mapping between the vSphere uplink, vSphere physical adapter, and PowerStore Manager port names:
vSphere Uplink | vSphere Physical Adapter | PowerStore Manager Port |
Uplink1 | vmnic8 | 4PortCard-hFEPort1 |
Uplink2 | vmnic9 | 4PortCard-hFEPort0 |
Uplink3 | vmnic6 | 4PortCard-hFEPort3 |
Uplink4 | vmnic7 | 4PortCard-hFEPort2 |
The PowerStore X model ESXi node management interface is configured on a VMkernel adapter named vmk0. Because the PowerStore management interface resides on the controller VM, it does not require a VMkernel adapter.
vSphere | vSphere | vSphere | vSphere |
N/A | PG_MGMT | Uplink2 | Uplink3 |
vmk0 | PG_MGMT_ESXi | Uplink2 | Uplink3 |
The following table shows the VMkernel adapters that are created for storage connectivity. The PowerStore X model ESXi nodes use these VMkernel adapters to connect to the iSCSI targets on the controller VMs. There are two VMkernel adapters on each node for multipathing purposes. The VMkernel adapters are active on one uplink and there are no standby uplinks.
The communication between the node and controller VM is used to establish iSCSI sessions, create protocol endpoints, and run I/O to the vVol datastore. Because the controller VM runs on the node itself, the traffic on these networks remains local to the node.
vSphere VMkernel Adapter | vSphere Port Group | vSphere Active Uplink |
vmk1 | PG_Storage_INIT1 | Uplink1 |
vmk2 | PG_Storage_INIT2 | Uplink2 |
The following table shows the controller VM iSCSI targets that are created. These targets enable both the PowerStore X model ESXi node and external hosts to establish iSCSI connectivity. A minimum of one per node is required, which is configured automatically as part of the initial configuration process. By default, this target is active on Uplink1 on each node. The remaining uplinks are configured in standby mode.
vSphere Port Group | vSphere Active Uplink | vSphere Standby Uplinks |
PG_Storage_TGT1 | Uplink1 | Uplink2 |
PG_Storage_TGT2 | Uplink2 | Uplink1 |
PG_Storage_TGT3 | Uplink3 | Uplink1 |
PG_Storage_TGT4 | Uplink4 | Uplink1 |
The storage network can be scaled out to enable connectivity on the remaining ports on the four-port card. When this action is done, the additional uplinks become active, as shown in the preceding table. Depending on the model appliance, this action may be a best practice for maximum performance.
The following table shows information about the virtual ports that are available on the appliance. The virtual ports page can be used to map additional ports for the storage network or tag additional ports for the replication network. By default, vFEPort1 is tagged for both storage and replication.
PowerStore Manager Virtual Port | vSphere | vSphere Port Group | Purpose |
vFEPort0 | Network adapter 1 | PG_MGMT | PowerStore management |
vFEPort1 | Network adapter 2 | PG_Storage_TGT1 | Storage and replication network |
vFEPort2 | Network adapter 3 | PG_Storage_TGT2 | Storage and replication network scaling |
vFEPort3 | Network adapter 4 | PG_Storage_TGT3 | Storage and replication network scaling |
vFEPort6 | Network adapter 5 | PG_Storage_TGT4 | Storage and replication network scaling |
vFEPort7 | Network adapter 6 | PG_Internal | Internal system use |
The following table shows the VMkernel adapters that are created for vMotion operations. This network is used when moving VMs between the two PowerStore X model ESXi nodes and from external hosts.
vSphere VMkernel Adapter | vSphere Port Group | vSphere | vSphere |
vmk3 | PG_vMotion1 | Uplink3 | Uplink1 |
The following figure shows these networks as they appear in vCenter:
Before deploying a user VM on the internal ESXi nodes, create a new port group for the external network. To complete the process, right-click DVS and select Distributed Port Group > New Distributed Port Group. Provide the information for the new port group and configure a VLAN, if necessary. After the new port group is configured, user VMs can be deployed and can use this port group for network connectivity.
If the PowerStore X model ESXi node, iSCSI, or vMotion interfaces must change, they must be updated in PowerStore Manager. This action updates the configuration and propagates the necessary changes to vSphere automatically. Changing these interfaces directly in vSphere is not supported.