Veritas InfoScale Enterprise 7.x in guest storage, high availability, and disaster recovery support (Partner Verified and Supported)
Article ID: 336899
Updated On:
Products
VMware vSphere ESXi
Issue/Introduction
This article provides information about Partner Verified and Supported Products (PVSP) for the InfoScale Enterprise solution provided and supported by Veritas in VMware ESXi guests. The Veritas solution provides storage management, high availability and disaster recovery capabilities for applications that are running in VMware ESXi guests.
Note: The PVSP policy implies that the solution is not directly supported by VMware. For issues with this configuration, contact Veritas directly. See the Support Workflow on how partners can engage with VMware. It is the partner's responsibility to verify that the configuration functions with future vSphere major and minor releases, as VMware does not guarantee that compatibility with future releases is maintained.
Disclaimer: The partner products referenced in this article is software that is developed and supported by a partner. Use of these products is also governed by the end user license agreements of the partner. You must obtain the application, support, and licensing for using these products from the partner.
For more information, see:
Note: The PVSP policy implies that the solution is not directly supported by VMware. For issues with this configuration, contact Veritas directly. See the Support Workflow on how partners can engage with VMware. It is the partner's responsibility to verify that the configuration functions with future vSphere major and minor releases, as VMware does not guarantee that compatibility with future releases is maintained.
Disclaimer: The partner products referenced in this article is software that is developed and supported by a partner. Use of these products is also governed by the end user license agreements of the partner. You must obtain the application, support, and licensing for using these products from the partner.
For more information, see:
- Veritas Support home page
- Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tools home page (for information about InfoScale Enterprise)
Environment
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
Resolution
Product Overview
Veritas InfoScale Enterprise provides advanced online storage management, high availability, and disaster recovery for applications across multiple OS platforms that can be leveraged and utilized within VMware ESXi guests. It virtualizes storage seen by a host for an optimal management and configuration experience. Thorough application protection spanning local availability through wide area disaster recovery is provided by Veritas InfoScale Availability.
The product solution has several components and options that can be used independently or together depending on solution requirements for an environment. The component breakdown includes:
Veritas InfoScale components/options can be installed in a VMware Windows or Linux guest via one of these methods:
Additionally, prerequisites such as supported VMware products, versions and features, operating system versions, application versions and configuration topologies should all be taken into account prior to installation. For more information, see Configuration Support Overview in this article.
Configuration Support Overview
Following is a summary of configuration support for InfoScale Enterprise and its components/options in a VMware ESX guest virtual machine environment. Some key factors that need to be considered for any given environment include:
The storage configuration in the VMware virtual environment determines how InfoScale Availability (VCS) functions differently in a non-shared virtual environment. The non-shared storage configuration in the VMware virtual environment involves the VMware VMDK and RDM disks that reside on the shared datastore. This datastore is accessible to multiple virtual machines. However, the disks are attached to a single virtual machine at any given point of time. InfoScale Availability (VCS) provides a storage agent VMwareDisks that communicates with the VMware ESX/ESXi hosts to perform the disk detach and attach operations to move the storage disk between the virtual machines, in a given InfoScale Availability cluster.
For more details please refer to Veritas High Availability 7.2 Solution Guide for VMware.
HA Protection: In-guest application clustering on a single or across ESX host with InfoScale Enterprise
DR Protection: In-guest virtual to virtual or physical to virtual application level DR with InfoScale Enterprise
The first line of support is Veritas customer support. All Veritas customers with a InfoScale Enterprise solution actively under maintenance are supported per the terms of your Veritas support contract.
Veritas Support site: Product documentation, solution guides and compatibility lists:
Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tool site
Veritas InfoScale Enterprise provides advanced online storage management, high availability, and disaster recovery for applications across multiple OS platforms that can be leveraged and utilized within VMware ESXi guests. It virtualizes storage seen by a host for an optimal management and configuration experience. Thorough application protection spanning local availability through wide area disaster recovery is provided by Veritas InfoScale Availability.
The product solution has several components and options that can be used independently or together depending on solution requirements for an environment. The component breakdown includes:
- Veritas InfoScale Storage – InfoScale Storage brings advanced volume management, quick recovery, and storage fault tolerant enterprise applications. Features and capabilities include items such as storage migration, storage agnostic mirroring, thin provisioning reclamation, and capacity insight and management.
- Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing (DMP) – Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing for VMware environments provides array integration and advanced pathing failure and load balancing policies for VMware ESXi environments.
- Veritas FlashSnap – FlashSnap, which requires InfoScale and is included with certain InfoScale and HA bundles, integrates with Microsoft VSS framework on the Windows platform and application specific awareness on the Linux platform to ensure application consistent snapshots of application data that reside on InfoScale volumes. FlashSnap can be leveraged to ensure application consistent quick recovery, testing replicated data consistency and off host data mining and reporting.
- Veritas Volume Replicator (VVR) – Volume Replicator, which requires InfoScale, provides node to node, over-IP block based replication at the volume level. VVR can be leveraged to provide the replication of the application data that will need to be recovered in a DR event.
- Veritas ApplicationHA (AppHA) – Veritas ApplicationHA provides the base fundamental application monitoring and fault remediation needed for applications across guests running Windows or Linux. Base fault remediation includes application restart and virtual machine restart. Advanced remediation includes image based recovery from a backup; currently integrated with Backup Exec.
- Veritas InfoScale Availability – InfoScale Availability, which can be used independently or with InfoScale, extends application monitoring and fault remediation to include application failover for a wide range of topologies including single site high availability, campus high availability, campus disaster recovery and wide area disaster recovery.
- Cluster File System (CFS) – Cluster File System, a cluster integrated shared file system, assists in ensuring greater availability of applications by reducing downtime in an application failover since the dependent storage resources and file system are simultaneously available and accessible by all targeted failover nodes. CFS is applicable to virtual machines running Linux.
- InfoScale Enterprise – InfoScale Enterprise combines together InfoScale Storage and InfoScale Availability to provide a full end to end solution for storage management through high availability and disaster recovery.
- Veritas High Availability Console – The Veritas High Availability Console provides an in-context management experience for applications protected by Application HA and InfoScale Availability within a VMware ESXi environment via a vSphere plug-in. The console provides capabilities such as push installation to Windows and Linux guests for ApplicationHA and InfoScale Availability packages, simplified application availability configuration experience, dashboard view of application health and administrative driven remediation management actions.
Veritas InfoScale components/options can be installed in a VMware Windows or Linux guest via one of these methods:
- If the OS instance is connected to the network, running the installer from a remote node and performing a push installation.
- Running the installation directly within the guest OS instance.
- Push installation from the Veritas InfoScale console.
Additionally, prerequisites such as supported VMware products, versions and features, operating system versions, application versions and configuration topologies should all be taken into account prior to installation. For more information, see Configuration Support Overview in this article.
Configuration Support Overview
Following is a summary of configuration support for InfoScale Enterprise and its components/options in a VMware ESX guest virtual machine environment. Some key factors that need to be considered for any given environment include:
- Compatibility: VMware products, versions and features; server operating systems; application versions; integrated hardware support
Veritas’ software compatibility list (SCL) for InfoScale Enterprise is the authoritative source for all current and most up to date supported VMware ESX, guest instance operating system and application versions. Qualifications are ongoing – it is recommended to check the most up to date SCLs for the InfoScale Enterprise 7.x product or product component version that you are running on the Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tool site. If specific storage integrated features provided by InfoScale, including Dynamic Multi-pathing, will be utilized within a VMware guest, see the most up to date hardware compatibility lists (HCLs) provided by Veritas for the 7.x version you are running on the Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tool site.
- Limitations on support or required configuration to utilize certain Veritas InfoScale Enterprise features or capabilities
Veritas qualifies and supports the InfoScale Enterprise product and its components across storage management, high availability and disaster recovery functionality within VMware virtual machine environments. In some circumstances, certain functionality may be incompatible or have configuration requirements within a VMware environment. The following provides a summary of qualified and supported configurations, considering both InfoScale Enterprise features and VMware features and products. Note: It is recommended to utilize the latest 7.x versions of InfoScale Enterprise, which provide the most compatibility with vSphere features and products. For details on integration and best practice configuration please refer to the InfoScale HA Solution Guides for VMware environments, which are available on the on the Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tool site.
- Dynamic Multi-pathing in guest: iSCSI storage directly presented to guest only.
- Thin provisioning awareness/reclamation in guest: RDM only.
- Track Aligned Volumes in guest: RDM only.
- Dynamic Multi-pathing at ESX (DMP for VMware): Specific array and configuration support is per the DMP for VMware HCL available on the Veritas Operations Readiness Tool site.
The storage configuration in the VMware virtual environment determines how InfoScale Availability (VCS) functions differently in a non-shared virtual environment. The non-shared storage configuration in the VMware virtual environment involves the VMware VMDK and RDM disks that reside on the shared datastore. This datastore is accessible to multiple virtual machines. However, the disks are attached to a single virtual machine at any given point of time. InfoScale Availability (VCS) provides a storage agent VMwareDisks that communicates with the VMware ESX/ESXi hosts to perform the disk detach and attach operations to move the storage disk between the virtual machines, in a given InfoScale Availability cluster.
For more details please refer to Veritas High Availability 7.2 Solution Guide for VMware.
HA Protection: In-guest application clustering on a single or across ESX host with InfoScale Enterprise
- VMware storage type to guest: VMDK; RDM virtual or physical compatibility mode with SCSI bus sharing
- Virtual Network: minimum of 1 public vSwitch and 1 private vSwitch (cluster communications)
- vSphere HA: Full co-existence support
- DRS: Full co-existence support with VMDK attach
- vMotion (virtual machine & storage): Full co-existence support with VMDK attach
- SRM: Full co-existence support
- Multipathing:
- VMware native multipathing (NMP) does not have support of Round Robin Path Selection Policy (PSP) for shared RDMs that are used for in guest clustering. This supportability stance also applies when the in guest clustering software is InfoScale Availability. For information changing a LUN to use a different PSP, see Changing a LUN to use a different Path Selection Policy (PSP) (1036189).
- Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing for VMware ESX provides & automatically configures the best I/O policy (path selection policy) based upon discovered characteristics of the storage array. All I/O policies provided by DMP for VMware are supported in alignment with the array capabilities. See compatibility lists on the Veritas Operations Readiness Tool site for most up to date information.
- VMware storage type for the virtual machines: RDM – Physical compatibility mode with SCSI bus sharing on FC, FCoE, ISCSI SAN
- Network: Ensure vNIC(s) and physical NIC(s) designated for private cluster communication can communicate on same network.
- If VMware storage type to guest is RDM: Utilize physical compatibility mode with SCSI bus sharing
- No co-existence support with VMware snapshots, vMotion, vSphere HA, DRS, SRM
- Multipathing:
- VMware native multipathing (NMP) does not have support of Round Robin Path Selection Policy (PSP) for shared RDMs that are used for in guest clustering. This supportability stance also applies when the in guest clustering software is InfoScale Availability. For information on changing a LUN to use a different PSP, see Changing a LUN to use a different Path Selection Policy (PSP) (1036189).
- Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing for VMware ESX provides & automatically configures the best I/O policy (path selection policy) based upon discovered characteristics of the storage array. All I/O policies provided by DMP for VMware are supported in alignment with the array capabilities. Please reference compatibility lists for most up to date information on the Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tool site.
- If VMware storage type to guest is VMDK then:
- VMFS multi-writer flag must be enabled. See Disabling simultaneous write protection provided by VMFS using the multi-writer flag (1034165).
- Veritas Coordination Point Server (CPS) must be used for split brain protection o vSphere HA: Full co-existence support
- DRS: Full co-existence support
- vMotion (virtual machine & storage): Full co-existence support
- SRM: Full co-existence support
- VMware vSAN datastore supported. Multi-writer flag must be enabled for shared disks. Refer to the Veritas TechNote
DR Protection: In-guest virtual to virtual or physical to virtual application level DR with InfoScale Enterprise
- If utilizing hardware replication technology ensure use of RDM – Physical compatibility mode on SAN
- If utilizing VVR in guest, if solution includes local HA at primary or DR, ensure alignment to aforementioned HA storage type support
- Virtual Network and VMware product/feature support continues to align to aforementioned HA support
The first line of support is Veritas customer support. All Veritas customers with a InfoScale Enterprise solution actively under maintenance are supported per the terms of your Veritas support contract.
Veritas Support site: Product documentation, solution guides and compatibility lists:
Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tool site
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