Veritas InfoScale™ 8.0 Virtualization Guide - Linux

Last Published:
Product(s): InfoScale & Storage Foundation (8.0)
Platform: Linux
  1. Section I. Overview of Veritas InfoScale Solutions used in Linux virtualization
    1. Overview of supported products and technologies
      1.  
        Overview of the Veritas InfoScale Products Virtualization Guide
      2. About Veritas InfoScale Solutions support for Linux virtualization environments
        1.  
          About SmartIO in the Linux virtualized environment
        2.  
          About the SmartPool feature
      3. About Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology
        1.  
          Kernel-based Virtual Machine Terminology
        2.  
          VirtIO disk drives
      4. About the RHEV environment
        1.  
          RHEV terminology
      5.  
        Virtualization use cases addressed by Veritas InfoScale products
      6.  
        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 Veritas InfoScale Solutions
      5. Veritas InfoScale Solutions configuration options for the kernel-based virtual machines environment
        1.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the KVM guest virtualized machine
        2.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the KVM host
        3.  
          Storage Foundation in the virtualized guest machine
        4.  
          Enabling I/O fencing in KVM guests
        5.  
          Storage Foundation Cluster File System High Availability in the KVM host
        6.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the KVM host and guest virtual machine
        7.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the KVM host and Storage Foundation HA in the KVM guest virtual machine
        8.  
          Cluster Server in the KVM host
        9.  
          Cluster Server in the guest
        10.  
          Cluster Server in a cluster across virtual machine guests and physical machines
      6.  
        Installing Veritas InfoScale Solutions in the kernel-based virtual machine environment
      7. Installing and configuring Cluster Server in a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) environment
        1.  
          How Cluster Server (VCS) manages Virtual Machine (VM) guests
    2. Configuring KVM resources
      1.  
        About kernel-based virtual machine 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 Linux virtualization use cases
    1. Application visibility and device discovery
      1.  
        About storage to application visibility using Veritas InfoScale Operations Manager
      2.  
        About Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization discovery in Veritas InfoScale Operations Manager
      3.  
        About Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) virtualization discovery in Veritas InfoScale Operations Manager
      4.  
        About Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization discovery
      5.  
        Virtual machine discovery in Microsoft Hyper-V
      6.  
        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 Veritas Volume Manager volumes as data disks for VM guests
        2.  
          Provisioning Veritas Volume Manager 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.  
        VCS in host to provide the Virtual Machine high availability and ApplicationHA in guest to provide application high availability
      4.  
        Virtual to Virtual clustering and failover
      5.  
        I/O fencing support for Virtual to Virtual clustering
      6.  
        Virtual to Physical clustering and failover
      7.  
        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.  
        Reduce SAN investment with Flexible Shared Storage in the RHEV environment
      4. About Flexible Storage Sharing
        1.  
          Flexible Storage Sharing use cases
        2.  
          Limitations of Flexible Storage Sharing
      5.  
        Configure Storage Foundation components as backend storage for virtual machines
      6.  
        Implementing live migration for virtual machine availability
    8. Virtual to virtual clustering in a Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization environment
      1.  
        Installing and configuring Cluster Server for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) virtual-to-virtual clustering
      2.  
        Storage configuration for VCS in a RHEV environment
    9. Virtual to virtual clustering in a Microsoft Hyper-V environment
      1.  
        Installing and configuring Cluster Server with Microsoft Hyper-V virtual-to-virtual clustering
    10. Virtual to virtual clustering in a Oracle Virtual Machine (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)
    11. Disaster recovery for virtual machines in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization environment
      1.  
        About disaster recovery for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization virtual machines
      2.  
        DR requirements in an RHEV environment
      3. Disaster recovery of volumes and file systems using Volume Replicator (VVR) and Veritas File Replicator (VFR)
        1.  
          Why select VVR over array-based replication solutions
      4.  
        Configure Storage Foundation components as backend storage
      5.  
        Configure VVR and VFR in VCS GCO option for replication between DR sites
      6.  
        Configuring Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) virtual machines for disaster recovery using Cluster Server (VCS)
    12. 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 Veritas Operations Manager
        1.  
          Service Group Management in Virtual Business Services
    13. Managing Docker containers with InfoScale Enterprise
      1.  
        About managing Docker containers with InfoScale Enterprise product
      2. About the Cluster Server agents for Docker, Docker Daemon, and Docker Container
        1.  
          Supported software
        2.  
          How the agents makes Veritas highly available
        3.  
          Documentation reference
      3. Managing storage capacity for Docker containers
        1.  
          Provisioning storage for Docker infrastructure from the Veritas File System
        2. Provisioning data volumes for Docker containers
          1.  
            Provisioning storage on Veritas 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 Veritas 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
  4. Section IV. Reference
    1. Appendix A. Troubleshooting
      1.  
        Troubleshooting virtual machine live migration
      2.  
        Live migration storage connectivity in a Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) environment
      3.  
        Troubleshooting Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) virtual machine disaster recovery (DR)
      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
      6.  
        Virtual machine start fails due to having the wrong boot order in RHEV environments
      7.  
        Virtual machine hangs in the wait_for_launch state and fails to start in RHEV environments
      8.  
        VCS fails to start a virtual machine on a host in another RHEV cluster if the DROpts attribute is not set
      9.  
        Virtual machine fails to detect attached network cards in RHEV environments
      10.  
        The KVMGuest agent behavior is undefined if any key of the RHEVMInfo attribute is updated using the -add or -delete options of the hares -modify command
      11.  
        RHEV environment: If a node on which the VM is running panics or is forcefully shutdown, VCS is unable to start the VM on another node
    2. Appendix B. Sample configurations
      1. Sample configuration in 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 a Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) environment
    3. Appendix C. Where to find more information
      1.  
        Veritas InfoScale documentation
      2.  
        Linux virtualization documentation
      3.  
        Service and support
      4.  
        About Veritas Services and Operations Readiness Tools (SORT)

About disaster recovery for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization virtual machines

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) virtual machines can be configured for disaster recovery (DR) by replicating their boot disks using replication methods such as Volume Replicator (VVR), File Replicator (VFR), Hitachi TrueCopy or EMC SRDF. The network configuration for the virtual machines in the primary site may not be effective in the secondary site if the two sites are in different IP subnets. Hence you must make some additional configuration changes to the KVMGuest resource managing the virtual machine.

Supported technologies for replicating virtual machines include:

  • Volume Replicator (VVR)

  • File Replicator (VFR)

  • EMC SRDF

  • Hitachi TrueCopy

Note:

Live migration of virtual machines across replicated sites is not supported.

Figure: Schematic of the RHEV DR setup

Schematic of the RHEV DR setup

Disaster recovery use cases for virtual machines work in the following way:

  • The replication agent takes care of the replication direction. After a disaster event at the primary site, VCS tries to online the replication service group at the secondary site (according to the ClusterFailoverPolicy). The replication resource reverses the replication direction. Reversing the replication direction makes sure that the old secondary LUNs become the new primary LUNs and also are Read-Write enabled on the RHEL-H hosts at the secondary site. This helps RHEV-M activate the Fibre Channel (FC) Storage Domain on the secondary site RHEL-H hosts.

  • Before the virtual machine (VM) service group can be brought online, the Storage Pool Manager (SPM) in the datacenter needs to failover to the secondary site. This is achieved by the pre-online trigger script configured on the VM service group. This trigger script checks whether the SPM is still active in the primary RHEV cluster. If so, it deactivates all the RHEL-H hosts in the primary RHEV cluster. Additionally, if the SPM host in the primary RHEV cluster is in the NON_RESPONSIVE state, the trigger fences out the host to enable SPM failover. The trigger script then waits for the SPM to failover to the secondary RHEV cluster. When the SPM successfully fails over to the secondary RHEV cluster, the pre-online trigger script reactivates all the RHEL-H hosts in the primary RHEV cluster, which were deactivated earlier and proceeds to online the VM service group in the secondary site

Figure: VCS Resource dependency diagram

VCS Resource dependency diagram