Dell PowerVault MD3000 - Manual (Page 5)

Dell MD Storage Array vCenter Plug-in | 5
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Dell MD Storage Array vCenter Plug-in
Overview
The Dell MD Storage Array vCenter Management Plug-in Installation and User Guide is a VMware vCenter
Server 4.x Plug-in that provides integrated management of Dell MD Storage Array series from a vSphere
Client. The vCenter Plug-in allows administrators to have a single management interface (vSphere Client) to
manage all of their day-to-day storage needs along with their VMware infrastructure. This alleviates the need
for vCenter administrators to learn another management tool and focus instead on the entire virtual
infrastructure.
The vCenter Plug-in enables the vCenter administrator to configure ESX and ESXi hosts to Dell MD Storage
Arrays, create, map, delete virtual disks from the Dell MD Storage Arrays to the ESX host, and view the
vCenter datastores to Dell MD Storage Array virtual disks. The vCenter Plug-in also allows the creation of
hardware snapshots, virtual disk copies, and remote replication, when these premium features are enabled on
the storage array. The vCenter Plug-in uses an application server to facilitate the interface between the vSphere
Client and the Dell MD Storage Array based on the authenticated logged-in user and the privileges assigned to
that user's role.
NOTE: The vCenter Plug-in requires that a vCenter Server be installed within the environment. The
vCenter Plug-in does not function in a vSphere client and ESX host-only configuration.
Figure 1. Communication Details