InfoScale™ 9.0 Virtualization Guide - Linux

Last Published:
Product(s): InfoScale & Storage Foundation (9.0)
Platform: Linux
  1. Section I. Overview of InfoScale solutions used in Linux virtualization
    1. Overview of supported products and technologies
      1.  
        Overview of the InfoScale Virtualization Guide
      2. About InfoScale support for Linux virtualization environments
        1.  
          About SmartIO in the Linux virtualized environment
        2.  
          About the SmartPool feature
      3. About KVM technology
        1.  
          Kernel-based Virtual Machine Terminology
        2.  
          VirtIO disk drives
      4.  
        About InfoScale deployments in OpenShift Virtualization environments
      5.  
        About InfoScale deployments in OpenStack environments
      6.  
        Virtualization use cases addressed by InfoScale
      7.  
        About virtual-to-virtual (in-guest) clustering and failover
  2. Section II. Implementing a basic KVM environment
    1. Getting started with basic KVM
      1.  
        Creating and launching a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) host
      2.  
        RHEL-based KVM installation and usage
      3.  
        Setting up a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) guest
      4.  
        About setting up KVM with InfoScale solutions
      5. InfoScale solutions configuration options for the kernel-based virtual machines environment
        1.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the KVM guest virtualized machine
        2.  
          DMP in the KVM host
        3.  
          SF in the virtualized guest machine
        4.  
          Enabling I/O fencing in KVM guests
        5.  
          SFCFSHA in the KVM host
        6.  
          DMP in the KVM host and guest virtual machine
        7.  
          DMP in the KVM host and SFHA in the KVM guest virtual machine
        8.  
          VCS in the KVM host
        9.  
          VCS in the guest
        10.  
          VCS in a cluster across virtual machine guests and physical machines
      6.  
        Installing InfoScale in a KVM environment
      7. Installing and configuring VCS in a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) environment
        1.  
          How VCS manages virtual machine guests
    2. Configuring KVM resources
      1.  
        About KVM resources
      2. Configuring storage
        1.  
          Consistent storage mapping in the KVM environment
        2. Mapping devices to the guest
          1.  
            Mapping DMP meta-devices
          2.  
            Consistent naming across KVM Hosts
          3.  
            Mapping devices using paths
          4.  
            Mapping devices using volumes
          5.  
            Mapping devices using the virtio-scsi interface
        3.  
          Resizing devices
      3. Configuring networking
        1. Bridge network configuration
          1.  
            Host network configuration
          2.  
            Configuring guest network
        2.  
          Network configuration for VCS cluster across physical machines (PM-PM)
        3.  
          Standard bridge configuration
        4.  
          Network configuration for VM-VM cluster
  3. Section III. Implementing InfoScale an OpenStack environment
    1. Installing and configring resources in an OpenStack environment
      1.  
        About installing and configuring the OpenStack environment
      2.  
        About installing and configuring InfoScale on OpenStack VMs
  4. Section IV. Implementing Linux virtualization use cases
    1. Application visibility and device discovery
      1.  
        About storage to application visibility using InfoScale Operations Manager
      2.  
        About KVM virtualization discovery in InfoScale Operations Manager
      3.  
        About Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization discovery
      4.  
        Virtual machine discovery in Microsoft Hyper-V
      5.  
        Storage mapping discovery in Microsoft Hyper-V
    2. Server consolidation
      1.  
        Server consolidation
      2.  
        Implementing server consolidation for a simple workload
    3. Physical to virtual migration
      1.  
        Physical to virtual migration
      2.  
        How to implement physical to virtual migration (P2V)
    4. Simplified management
      1.  
        Simplified management
      2. Provisioning storage for a guest virtual machine
        1.  
          Provisioning VxVM volumes as data disks for VM guests
        2.  
          Provisioning VxVM volumes as boot disks for guest virtual machines
      3. Boot image management
        1.  
          Creating the boot disk group
        2.  
          Creating and configuring the golden image
        3.  
          Rapid Provisioning of virtual machines using the golden image
        4.  
          Storage Savings from space-optimized snapshots
    5. Application availability using Cluster Server
      1.  
        About application availability options
      2.  
        Cluster Server in a KVM environment architecture summary
      3.  
        Virtual to Virtual clustering and failover
      4.  
        I/O fencing support for Virtual to Virtual clustering
      5.  
        Virtual to Physical clustering and failover
      6.  
        Recommendations for improved resiliency of InfoScale clusters in virtualized environments
    6. Virtual machine availability
      1.  
        About virtual machine availability options
      2.  
        VCS in host monitoring the Virtual Machine as a resource
      3.  
        Validating the virtualization environment for virtual machine availability
    7. Virtual machine availability for live migration
      1.  
        About live migration
      2.  
        Live migration requirements
      3. About Flexible Storage Sharing
        1.  
          Flexible Storage Sharing use cases
        2.  
          Limitations of Flexible Storage Sharing
      4.  
        Configure Storage Foundation components as backend storage for virtual machines
      5.  
        Implementing live migration for virtual machine availability
    8. Virtual to virtual clustering in a Hyper-V environment
      1.  
        Installing and configuring Cluster Server with Microsoft Hyper-V virtual-to-virtual clustering
    9. Virtual to virtual clustering in an OVM environment
      1.  
        Installing and configuring Cluster Server for Oracle Virtual Machine (OVM) virtual-to-virtual clustering
      2.  
        Storage configuration for VCS support in Oracle Virtual Machine (OVM)
    10. Multi-tier business service support
      1.  
        About Virtual Business Services
      2.  
        Sample virtual business service configuration
      3. Recovery of Multi-tier Applications managed with Virtual Business Services in InfoScale Operations Manager
        1.  
          Service Group Management in Virtual Business Services
    11. Managing Docker containers with InfoScale Enterprise
      1.  
        About managing Docker containers with InfoScale Enterprise
      2. About the Cluster Server agents for Docker, Docker Daemon, and Docker Container
        1.  
          Supported software
        2.  
          How the agents make Docker containers highly available
        3.  
          Documentation reference
      3. Managing storage capacity for Docker containers
        1.  
          Provisioning storage for Docker infrastructure from the Arctera File System
        2. Provisioning data volumes for Docker containers
          1.  
            Provisioning storage on Arctera File System as data volumes for containers
          2.  
            Provisioning VxVM volumes as data volumes for containers
          3.  
            Creating a data volume container
        3. Automatically provision storage for Docker Containers
          1.  
            Installing the InfoScale Docker volume plugin
          2.  
            Configuring a disk group
          3.  
            Creating Docker containers with storage attached automatically
          4.  
            Avoid noisy neighbor problem by using Quality of Service support
          5.  
            Provision to create snapshots
          6.  
            Configuring Veritas volume plugin with Docker 1.12 Swarm mode
        4.  
          About using InfoScale Enterprise features to manage storage for containers
      4. Offline migration of Docker containers
        1.  
          Migrating Docker containers
        2.  
          Migrating Docker Daemons and Docker Containers
      5. Disaster recovery of volumes and file systems in Docker environments
        1.  
          Configuring Docker containers for disaster recovery
      6.  
        Limitations while managing Docker containers
  5. Section V. Reference
    1. Appendix A. Troubleshooting
      1.  
        InfoScale logs for CFS configurations in OpenStack environments
      2.  
        UDID mismatch in a CFS cluster in an OpenStack environment
      3.  
        Troubleshooting virtual machine live migration
      4.  
        The KVMGuest resource may remain in the online state even if storage connectivity to the host is lost
      5.  
        VCS initiates a virtual machine failover if a host on which a virtual machine is running loses network connectivity
    2. Appendix B. Sample configurations
      1. Sample configuration for a KVM environment
        1.  
          Sample configuration 1: Native LVM volumes are used to store the guest image
        2.  
          Sample configuration 2: VxVM volumes are used to store the guest image
        3.  
          Sample configuration 3: CVM-CFS is used to store the guest image
      2.  
        Sample configurations for OpenStack environments
    3. Appendix C. Where to find more information
      1.  
        InfoScale documentation
      2.  
        Linux virtualization documentation
      3.  
        Service and support
      4.  
        About Services and Operations Readiness Tools (SORT)

About setting up KVM with InfoScale solutions

Note:

The system requirements listed in this topic are not exhaustive. For information on the latest supported operating systems, applications, and features, always refer to the Software Compatibility List (SCL). Navigate to the Arctera SORT website and select the product and version from the available filters to find the release-specific SCL:

http://sort.veritas.com/documents

Before setting up your virtual environment, verify that your planned configuration meets the system requirements, licensing, and other considerations for installation with InfoScale products.

  • Licensing: customers running Storage Foundation (SF) or Storage Foundation Cluster File System High Availability (SFCFSHA) in a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) environment are entitled to use an unlimited number of guests on each licensed server or CPU.

  • Red Hat and SUSE system requirements: see Table: Red Hat and SUSE system requirements

    For information on the latest supported operating systems, applications, and features, always refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

  • Arctera product requirements: see Table: Arctera product requirements

  • Release Notes: each Arctera product contains last minute news and important details for each product, including updates to system requirements and supported software. Review the Release Notes for the latest information before you start installing the product.

    The product documentation is available on the Web at the following location:

    https://sort.veritas.com/documents

Table: Red Hat and SUSE system requirements

 

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)

Supported architecture

  • Intel 64

  • AMD 64

  • Intel 64

  • AMD 64

Minimum system requirement

  • 6 GB free disk space

  • 2 GB of RAM

  • 6 GB free disk space

  • 2 GB of RAM

Recommended system requirement

  • 6 GB plus the required disk space recommended by the guest operating system per guest. For most operating systems more than 6 GB of disk space is recommended

  • One processor core or hyper-thread for each virtualized CPU and one for the host

  • 2 GB of RAM plus additional RAM for virtualized guests

  • 6 GB plus the required disk space recommended by the guest operating system per guest. For most operating systems more than 6 GB of disk space is recommended

  • One processor core or hyper-thread for each virtualized CPU and one for the host

  • 2 GB of RAM plus additional RAM for virtualized guests

Hardware requirement

Full virtualization-enabled CPU

Full virtualization-enabled CPU

Supported OS version in the host

[KVM, RHEV] RHEL 7 Update 7, Update 8, Update 9

RHEL 8 Update 1

[KVM only] RHEL 7 Update 7, Update 8, Update 9

RHEL 8 Update 1

For information on the latest supported operating systems, refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

SLES12 SP5

SLES15 SP1

For information on the latest supported operating systems, refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

Supported OS version in the virtual machine

[KVM, RHEV] RHEL 7 Update 7, Update 8, Update 9

RHEL 8 Update 1

[KVM only] RHEL 7 Update 7, Update 8, Update 9

RHEL 8 Update 1

For information on the latest supported operating systems, refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

SLES12 SP5

SLES15 SP1

For information on the latest supported operating systems, refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

For information on the latest supported operating systems, applications, and features, always refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

Table: Arctera product requirements

Hardware

Refer to the release-specific InfoScale Hardware Compatibility List.

Software

  • Dynamic Multi-Pathing

    Used for storage visibility on KVM hosts and guest virtual machines

  • Storage Foundation

    Used for storage management on KVM hosts and guest virtual machines

  • Storage Foundation HA

    Used for storage management and clustering on KVM hosts and guest virtual machines

  • Storage Foundation Cluster File System High Availability 9.0

    Used for storage management and clustering multiple KVM hosts to enable live migration of guest virtual machines

  • Cluster Server

    Used for virtual machine monitoring, migration, and failover

  • InfoScale Operations Manager

    Used for application visibility and virtual host management

Storage

  • Shared storage for holding the guest image. (VM failover)

  • Shared storage for holding the application data. (Application failover)

  • Local storage with Flexible Shared Storage (FSS) option enabled for VM and application failover

Networking

  • Configure the guest for communication over the public network

  • Setup virtual interfaces for private communication.

Documentation: see the product release notes to for the most current system requirements, limitations, and known issues:

For information on the latest supported operating systems, applications, and features, always refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

Table: VCS system requirements for KVM-supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux configurations

VCS version

9.0

Supported OS version in host

RHEL 7 Update 7

RHEL 7 Update 8

RHEL 7 Update 9

RHEL 8 Update 1

SLES 12 SP5

SLES 15 SP1

For information on the latest supported operating systems, refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

Supported OS in VM guest

RHEL 7 Update 7

RHEL 7 Update 8

RHEL 7 Update 9

RHEL 8 Update 1

SLES 12 SP5

SLES 15 SP1

For information on the latest supported operating systems, refer to the release-specific Software Compatibility List (SCL).

Hardware requirement

Full virtualization-enabled CPU

Limitations and unsupported kernel-based virtual machine features

For more information on limitations and known issues, see the InfoScale Release Notes - Linux.

For KVM related limitations, see the virtualization technology provider (RHEL or SLES) release notes.