HP 2000SA G2-Modular-Smart-Array - Manual (Page 36)

5 HP P2000 Software Plug-in for VMware VAAI vSphere
The vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) is included in VMware vSphere solutions. VAAI can
be used to offload certain functions from the target VMware host to the storage array. With the
tasks being performed more efficiently by the array instead of the target VMware host, performance
can be greatly enhanced.
The HP P2000 Software Plug-in for VMware VAAI (VAAI Plug-in) enabled offloading the following
functions (primitives) to the MSA array:
•
Full copy—Enables the array to make full copies of data within the array, without the ESX
server having to read and write the data.
•
Block zeroing—Enables the array to zero out a large number of blocks to speed up provisioning
of virtual machines.
•
Hardware assisted locking—Provides an alternative means to protect the metadata for VMFS
cluster file systems, thereby improving the scalability of large ESX server farms sharing a
datastore.
After it is installed, the VAAI Plug-in creates log entries in the VMware kernel log. For a list of
example log entries, see the HP MSA Software Tools User Guide, available on the HP Manuals
website:
http://www.hp.com/support/manuals .
HP P2000 G3 MSA Systems controller firmware TS230 enables VAAI for the following HP P2000
G3 MSA systems:
•
HP P2000 G3 1GbE iSCSI MSA Systems
•
HP P2000 G3 10GbE iSCSI MSA Systems
•
HP P2000 G3 Fibre Channel MSA Systems
•
HP P2000 G3 Fibre Channel/iSCSI MSA Systems
•
HP P2000 G3 SAS MSA Systems
System prerequisites
ESX/ESXi 4.1, and ESXi 5.0 VMware operating system:
VMware vCenter 4.1 or 5.0 VMware management station:
ESX/ESXi 4.1 environments: vCLI 4.1 (Windows or Linux) or vMA 4.1
nl
VMware administration tools:
ESXi 5.0 environments: Not applicable
TS230 or later HP P2000 G3 MSA controller firmware:
36 HP P2000 Software Plug-in for VMware VAAI vSphere