ISPT ViRP Fundamentals _SRG

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Revision Date: November2013RevisionNumber:MR7WPISPTViPR_1.0

ISPT ViPR Fundamentals 1


This coursecoversthefundamentalsoftheViPRsolution.Examinetheslidetoconfirmthatthedescription,audienceandobjectivesareinlinewithyourexpectations.



This modulefocusesonanintroductiontotheViPRsolution.



Thislessonpresentsanintroductiontothesoftwaredefined storageenvironment.



Withinthetraditionaldatacenter,eachapplicationtypehaditsownverticalstackofserverandoperatingsystem,networking,securityandstorageresources.Asstoragehasevolved,ithasledtothedevelopmentofadiversesetofstoragearrays,eachwithitsownuniquevalue.Whileapplicationneedshavebeenmet,thishascreatedcomplexityforstorageadministrators.Thiscomplexityanditsassociatedcostscannolongerbesustained.



TheSoftwareDefinedDataCenter(SDDC)aimstobreakdowndatacentersilosandtheirassociatedcomplexity.ButthevalueofSDDCisbroaderthansimplycomputeservervirtualization.TheSoftwareDefinedDataCenterabstractsthefunctionalityofallthehardwarecomponentsandpoolscompute,networking,andstorageresources.TheSoftwareDefinedDataCenterprovidestheabilitytotrulyrealizeendtoendautomationthroughtheentiredatacenter.Thelesshumaninteraction,thelowerthecostandthelessroomthereisforerror.Analystsestimatethatenterpriseshavevirtualizedbetween30to75percentoftheircomputeinfrastructureand20percentoftheirnetworkinfrastructure,butonly5to10percentoftheirstorageinfrastructure.Thisisdueinparttothefactthat,unlikenetworkandcompute,storagelacksasetofclearlydefinedprotocolsandstandardization.TorealizethefullvalueoftheSoftwareDefinedDataCenter,compute,network,andstoragemustallbevirtualized.



ThislessonpresentsanoverviewoftheViPRsolution.



TheabstractionmodeloftheSDDCrequiressoftwaredefinedstorage.FromtheEMCperspective,therearethreefundamentalcharacteristicstosoftwaredefinedstorage:simple,extensible,andopen.

Tosimplifymanagement,theentirestorageinfrastructuremustprovideasinglecontrolpoint,soitcanbemanagedthroughautomationandpolicies.

Thestorageinfrastructuremustbeeasytoextendsothatnewstoragecapabilitiescanbeaddedtotheunderlyingarraysinsoftware.

Theplatformmustbebuiltinanopenmanner,sothatcustomers,othervendors,partners,orstartupscanwritenewdataservicesandbuildacommunityaroundit.

EMCViPRisthesoftwaredefinedstoragesolutionthatwasbuiltwithalloftheserequirementsinmind.Ittransformsexistingheterogeneousphysicalstorageintoasimple,extensible,andopenstorageplatform.ViPRwasbuiltfromthegrounduptoprovideapolicybasedstoragemanagementsystemforautomatingstandardizedstorageofferingsinamultitenantenvironmentacrossheterogeneousstorageinfrastructure.



OurfirstusecasehighlightsthekeybenefitsofautomationforblockandfilestorageusingViPR.TheITinfrastructureofaleadingmoneymanagementfirmconsistsoftwositesadatacenterinCityAandafront officeinCityB.Ahighspeed,lowlatencybackboneisinplacebetweenthesites.Thestoragestackasitexiststodayissiloed byapplication,whichiscommon. ThedatacenterinCityAhostsmostofthecriticaltrading andbackofficefunctions.InCityB,therelativelysmallerdatacenterisfocusedonthefrontoffice,servingtheneedsofcustomerfacingemployees.The solutionenablesefficient,automated,policybasedstorageprovisioningandmanagement.Byautomatingtaskssuchasfabriczoning,LogicalUnitNumber(LUN)masking,andconfiguringprotectionforsupportedarraysandtechnologies,ViPRreduces theneedforhighlyskilledadministratorswithspecializedknowledge.Itusesa configureonce,usemanytimesapproach,facilitating selfservice.TheViPRSolutionPack,bundledwiththeproduct,offerssimplifiedmonitoringandcapacityforecastingacrossthestoragestack.Simplermanagementoffersthepromiseofsavingsinoperationalexpenses.



OursecondusecasehighlightstheadvantagesoftheViPRobjectdataservice.Considerahealthcareoperationthatgenerateslargevolumesofmedicalimagedata.Thecompanyhascontractedoutallservicesforinitialimagegenerationtoseveralthirdpartydiagnosticlaboratories.Fortheimagerepository,therearetwocriticalaccessrequirements:webbasedaccessandmobileaccess.Theseaddresstheneedsofboththirdpartycontractorsexternaltothecompanyandemployeeswhoareremote.Forscalablewebenablementandmobileaccesstoauthorizedusersbothwithinandoutside,thecompanyhaschosentohosttheimagedatainthePubliccloud.Theyhaveselectedareputableserviceproviderandimplementedbestpracticestomeetregulatorycompliance.Thetypicalworkflowforeachimageisasfollows:

AlaboratorygeneratesadiagnosticimageanduploadsittothePubliccloudforarchival. TheITadministratordownloadsthisoriginalimagefromthecloudarchivetoaninhouse

NASfilestore. Physiciansanalyzetheimagecopy.Usingafilebasedimageeditingapplication,they

highlightimageareasandmakeannotations. Onceimageanalysisiscomplete,theITadministratoruploadstheeditedimagebacktothe

cloudforarchival.ThesolutionistotransitionimagerepositoriesfromthePubliccloudtoViPRobjectstoresthatarebasedonfileshares intheVNXandIsilonarraysalreadyinproduction.Withthenewworkflow,theViPRobjectdataserviceenableslaboratoriestouploadeachdiagnosticimagedirectlytoaViPRobjectstorewithinthecompanyusingtheircustomaryobjectbrowserstoupload.TheITadministratorcreatesaneditablecopyoftheimagebysimplytogglingthecopyfromobjecttofilemode.Onceimageeditsarecomplete,theITadministratortogglestheeditedfilebacktoobjectmodeforarchival.



ThismoduleprovidedanintroductiontotheViPRsolution.



This modulefocusesonthearchitectureandcomponentsofViPR.



ThislessonpresentsanoverviewofViPRarchitecture.



ViPRhasfourmajorcomponents.AlthoughstoragearraysarecentraltotheuseofViPR,theyarenotacomponentofViPR.ThemajorcomponentsaretheViPRcontroller,ViPRobjectdataservice,ViPRintegration,andViPRmonitoringandreporting(M&R).Eachofthesecomponentsisinstalledseparately.

ViPRcontrollerabstracts,pools,andautomatesphysicalstorageresourcesintopolicybasedvirtualpoolswithselfserviceaccesstoacatalogofresources.Italsoprovidesblockandfilecontrolservices.ThisisthefirstandmostfundamentalcomponentofViPR.TherecanbenoViPRdeploymentwithouttheViPRcontroller.

ViPRobjectdataservicedeliversascalablestorageplatformthatprovidesobjectstoragecapabilities.ThiscomponentofViPRisoptional.IftheViPRobjectdataserviceisdeployed,theViPRcontrollermustalsobedeployed.

ViPRintegration withcloudplatformsprovidesanalternativetoprovisioningstoragefromtheViPRUI.TheViPRintegrationfeaturesallowusersofVMware,Microsoft,andOpenStacktostayintheirpreferredmanagementtoolandinitiatestorageprovisioningwithoutswitchingtoanotherUI.Thesecomponentsareoptionaland,liketheViPRobjectdataservice,theycannotexistwithouttheViPRcontroller.

ViPRmonitoringandreporting.ViPRsoftwaredistributionincludestheSolutionPackforViPR.TheSolutionPackleveragestheViPRmonitoringandmeteringRESTAPIbulkfeedstoexposeavailabilityandusageofViPRmanagedstorage.WhenusedincombinationwithStorageResourceManagement(SRM)Suite,thisSolutionPackconnectsthedotsfromphysicaltoViPRmanagedvolumes.



InstallingtheViPRcontrollerrequiresinstallingmultipleVMsforblockandfilevirtualization,aloadbalancer,theRESTAPI,andsupportforthecommandline.ThecontrollerisdeliveredasaVMwarevApp (OVFfile)thatmustbeinstalledonVMwareESXi.ThevApp forthecontrollerhastwoconfigurations,either3VMsor5VMs.BothconfigurationsareabletohandleexpectedViPRworkloadswiththesamelevelofperformance. TheViPRcontroller3VMconfigurationcanhandlethelossofasingleVMwithoutimpacting

users. TheViPRcontroller5VMconfigurationcanhandlethelossoftwoVMswithoutimpactingusers.ThechoiceofconfigurationshouldbedeterminedbytheleveloftolerancetoViPRVMloss.TheloadbalancerincludedwiththeViPRcontrollerallowseachcontrollerVMtobehaveastheentrypoint,sothatcustomerscanconnecttoanyVMandtheworkloadwillbebalancedacrossallVMs.



TheViPRobjectdataserviceprovidestheobjectonfile featuresofViPR,andtheobjectAPIsupportforS3,Swift,andAtmos.Toenabletheobjectdataservice,thecustomermustinstalloneormoredataserviceVMs.The dataserviceVMsareusedbytheViPRcontrollertoholdtheobjectmetadatausedbytheViPRobjectdataservice.Likethecontroller,multipleVMsprovidetolerancetoVMlosswithoutimpactingusers.TheVMfortheViPRobjectdataserviceisalsodeliveredasanOVF, butitinstallsasingleVM.IfmultipleVMsaredesiredforobjectdataservicescalability,thedataservice VMissimplyinstalledmultipletimes.



UsingtheViPRobjectonfiledataservice,youcanoptionallytoggletheaccessmodeofabucketbetweenthestandardRESTaccess(default)andfilesystem access(viaNFS)usingthefileaccessmodefeature.ThefileaccessmodedetermineswhetheraresourcecanbeaccessedasafileonafilesystemorasanobjectviaaRESTAPI.Whenfilesystem accessisenabledforabucket,allexistingobjectsinthebucketarenolongeraccessibleviaREST,butaremountableusinganNFSclient.MountpointsforeachobjectcanbeobtainedwithaGETcall.UserscanaccessobjectsasfilesusingViPRextensionstoAmazonS3,OpenStack Swift,andEMCAtmosAPIs.TheViPRextensionscanbeusedtospecifythefileaccessmodeofresourceswithinabucketsuchasvideos,images,ordocuments.



TheservicecatalogintheViPRUIenablesuserstoselectapreconfiguredservicewhichisappropriatetothestorageoperationtheywanttoperform.ServicesencapsulatethemostcommonstorageoperationsthatViPRprovisioninguserswillwanttoperform.Usersrunservicesfromtheservicecataloginordertocreateandmanageblockandfilestorage.Someexamplesofservicesintheblockstorageservicescategorymightincludetheabilitytocreateablockvolumeforahostortoexpandablockvolume.Changestoavirtualarrayorvirtualpoolarealsocommonservicesfoundinthecatalog.



ThislessonpresentsanoverviewoftheViPRphysicaltovirtualabstraction.



Withphysicalstorage, eachswitch,array,andconnectionmustbeindividuallymanaged.MostenterpriseITandmanagedserviceproviderenvironmentscontainmanyofeach,andoftenhavemultiplemodelsfrommultiplemanufacturers.Managingeachresourceindividuallyistimeconsuminganderrorprone.



Byabstractingstoragefromthephysicalarrays,ViPRdoesmuchofthemanagementoftheindividualcomponents,allowingadministratorsanduserstotreatstorageasalargeresourcefocusingjustontheamountofstorageneededandtheperformanceandprotectioncharacteristicsrequired.ViPRexposesthestorageinfrastructurewithinitscontrolthroughasimplifiedmodel,hidingandhandlingthedetailsofarrayanddiskselection,LUNcreation,SANzoning,LUNmasking,andthedifferencesbetweenonestoragedeviceandanother.ViPRisawareofandleveragesintelligencesuchasFAST,snapshots,andcloningcapabilitieswithinindividualmodelsofstoragearrays.ThesameappliestoprotectiontechnologiessuchasRecoverPointandVPLEX.ViPRprovidesabstractionstotakefulladvantageofthesetechnologies.



Thevirtualarrayisa ViPRabstractionforthephysicalarraysandthenetworkconnectivitybetweenhostsandthesearrays.Thevirtualarrayprovidesamoreabstractviewofthestorageenvironmentforuseineitherapplyingpolicyorprovisioning.AllphysicalarraysparticipatinginavirtualarrayshouldbeconnectedtothesamefabricsorVSANs(virtualstorageareanetworks)toensurethattheyallhaveequivalentnetworkconnectivitytotheenvironment.WhenastorageadministratoraddsphysicalarraystoViPR,ViPRdiscoverstheirstoragepools,ports,andconfiguration.AfterFCswitchesareadded,ViPRautomaticallydiscoversandmapstheFCnetworks.Whenpopulatingavirtualarraywithphysicalarraysandnetworks,theadministratormustensurethatwhenstorageispresentedfromthevirtualarraytoahost,thehostmustbeabletophysicallyreachthestoragepresentedtoit.Havingexaminedtheconnectivitybetweenhostsandarrays,theadministratorcanbuildthevirtualarrays.Whenallhostscanreachallarrays,theentirestorageinfrastructurecanbegroupedintoasinglevirtualarray;however,physicalarraysmayneedtobeplacedintoseparatevirtualarraystoaccommodatedifferentphysicalconfigurationsanddifferentrequirementsforfaulttolerance,networkisolation,ortenantisolation.Inthetypicalphysicalenvironmenttherearemultiplearrays,eachwiththeirownmanagementtools,processes,andbestpractices.WiththeViPRvirtualarray,alloftheuniquecapabilitiesofthephysicalarraysareavailable,butViPRautomatestheoperationsofthetools,processes,andbestpracticestosimplifyprovisioningstorageacrossaheterogeneousstorageinfrastructure.InthiswayViPRcanmakeamultivendorstorageenvironmentlooklikeonebigvirtualarray.ViPRcanaccomplishthesetasksforspecifictypesofblockandfilestorage,including:VMAX,VNX,Isilon,VPLEX,andNetApp.WiththephysicalarraysconfiguredintoViPRvirtualarrays,theadministratorcannowbuildViPRpoliciesthatareautomaticallyappliedacrossheterogeneousarrays.



InViPR,avirtualpoolrepresentsastandardizedstorageserviceofferingoutofwhichstoragemaybeprovisioned.Virtualpoolsareabstractions.AspartofconfiguringViPR,theadministratormapsthephysicalarraypoolsintovirtualpools.Virtualpoolsexposeperformanceandprotectionlevelsfromthediskstotheuser.Whendefiningthevirtualpool,theadministratorwillseparateblockfromfilepools;thentheadministratorwillselectthepoolsthatdeliverthetiersofperformancecharacteristicstheywishtoexposetousers.Finally,theadministratorwillidentifythelevelofdataprotectionavailabletoeachpool.Thenameassignedtothevirtualpoolshouldreflecttheattributesthatthepoolrepresents.IfthevirtualpoolcontainsFlashdisks,anamesuchasHighPerformancePoolmightbeappropriate.Whenprovisioningstoragetheuserwillidentifythetypeofstoragetheydesireusingthisname,soensurethatthisnameclearlyidentifiesthecapabilitiesofthestoragewithinthevirtualpool.InthiswaythevirtualpoolbecomesthedefinitionusedbyViPRtoenablepolicybasedstorageprovisioningwithinvirtualarrays.Forexample: BlockstoragepoolsonflashdrivesprotectedbyVPLEXMetrocanrepresentatier1virtual

pool. BlockstoragepoolsonFibreChannelthatcanbereplicatedwithRecoverPointmayrepresenta

secondvirtualpoolfortier2blockstorage. BlockstoragepoolsonFibreChannelthatarenotreplicateddefineatier3virtualpool. Filestoragepoolscouldallbegroupedtogetherintoasinglevirtualpool.Later,whenstorageisprovisioned,theuserwillidentifywhichvirtualpooltheywanttheirstoragetouse.ViPRwillthenapplyitsbuiltinbestpracticestoselectthebestphysicalarrayandstoragepoolthatmeetstheprovisioningrequest.Note:Eachvirtualpoolcancontaineitherblockstoragepoolsorfilestoragepoolsbutnotboth.



Havingdefinedvirtualarraysandvirtualpools,youcannowdefinethevirtualdatacenter.In ViPR,thevirtualdatacenteridentifiesthevirtualarraysthatarewithinmetrodistanceofoneanotherthatcanbemanagedbyasingleinstanceofViPR.Forexample,startwithaphysicaldatacenterthathasfourarraysinit,eachwithredundantpathsfromhoststoarrays.WithinmetrodistanceyouhaveasimilarphysicaldatacenterconnectedusingRecoverPointandaVPLEXfordistributedvolumes.InViPRparlance,thisdefinesthevirtualdatacenter.Storagesystemswithinmetrodistanceproximitytooneanother,connectedbyRecoverPointorVPLEX,canbe managedaspartofasinglevirtualdatacenter, byasingleViPRinstance.AdditionaldatacentersbeyondmetrodistancewouldrequiretheirownViPRinstance.



ViPRemploysapolicybasedplacementalgorithmtofindthebestfitintheinfrastructurefortherequestgiventhetargetvirtualpoolandvirtualarray.Thestepstoapplyapolicyare: Selectaphysicalarraythatmatchesthepoliciesspecifiedinthevirtualarrayandvirtualpool,

thenselectadiskandcreateaLUNorfilesystem. Establishthedatapathbetweenthehostandthestoragebyselectingportsandfabricsthat

connectthedevicesatanoptimallevelofperformancesettingupzonesasneeded. PlacethedeviceintodiskgroupsandapplydiskpoliciessuchasFAST. PerformtheInitiatorTargetLUN(ITL)exportworkflow toexportthestoragefromthearray. Connectthestoragetothehost.BecauseallthisworkisperformedbyViPRwithoutrequiringadministratororuseractivities,ViPRcanexposeaselfserviceuserinterface(UI)forenduserssotheycanprovisiontheirstorageontheirown.



ViPRorganizes thestorageexposedtohoststhroughalogical groupingfeaturecalledaproject.AViPRprojectisagroupingofresourcesallocatedforaparticularpurposesuchasanapplication,department,oractivitymeaningfultotheuser.Storageresourcesarealwaysallocatedtoaproject.Virtualarraysandvirtualpoolscanbesharedbymultipleprojects.Projectscannotbenested,sotheusercannotcreateaprojectandhavesubprojectsbeneathit.UserswiththeViPRProjectAdminrolecancreatetheirownprojectsandprovisionmultipleblock,file,orobjectstorageresourcesintotheseprojects.Theuserthatcreatestheprojectistheownerofthatproject.TheViPRprojectdoesNOTaffectwhocanorcannotputfilesonthatstorage.Forexample: AusercouldcreateaprojectcalledRecruitingandthenprovisiononeblockvolume

forauseraccountdatabaseandoneobjectstoreforstoringthepicturesintothatproject.

AusercouldcreateaprojectcalledRelocation"andthenprovisionitwithmultiplevolumesforusebytheirESXicluster.

OnebenefitiswhenlookingatViPRreporting.TheSolutionPackforViPRpresentsstoragebrokendownandtotaledbyprojectsfortrackingcurrentuse,projectingstorageusetrends,andshowback/chargeback.



TheViPRadministratorcanlimitaccesstostorageresourcesbydefiningtenants.Atenantrepresentsacollectionofstorageconsumersoperatingwithinthevirtualdatacenter.Tenantsarecreatedtoisolateorganizationsandbusinessunitsfromeachother.Asanexample,imagineFinanceandHRaretwotenantssharingthesamestorageinfrastructurewithinthevirtualdatacenter;securityisolationbetweenthetenantsensuresthatnoonefromFinancecanknowoforaffectanythinginHRandviceversa.Usersfromdifferenttenantsseestorageresourceslimitedtotheinformationassociatedwiththeirtenancy.Forexample,HRusersonlyseeinformationrelatedtoHR.Eachtenantisconfiguredwithitsownlistofmappeduserswhoareauthenticatedtoperformprovisioningoperationswithinthattenant.ViPRisdesignedtooperateinamultitenantenvironmentwhereeachtenanthasitsownlistofauthenticatedusers.AuthenticationofusersoccursthroughintegrationbetweenViPRandthecustomersActiveDirectory(AD)orLightweightDirectoryAccessProtocol(LDAP)provider.TheseAD/LDAPusergroupsanddomainsarespecifiedintheauthenticationproviderssetupbytheViPRSecurityAdministratortobringusersintotheentirevirtualdatacenter.ATenantAdministratorcreatesatenantbymappingusersfromtheauthenticationprovidersinthevirtualdatacenter.Usersaremappedbasedoncharacteristicsoftheuserintheauthenticationprovidersuchasdomain,userattributes,orgroupmemberships.UsingtheViPRAccessControlList(ACL),theSystemAdministratorcanlockdownvirtualarraysandvirtualpoolstocontrolwhichtenantsmayaccessthemforprovisioningstorage.Fromapolicyperspective,avirtualarrayisassignedaccesspermissionsthatdeterminewhichtenantsareallowedtoseeitandallocatestoragefromit.Thisallowsaggregatecapacityandbandwidthtoberestrictedtoaspecifictenantortobeusablebymultipletenants.



ThismoduleprovidedanintroductiontothearchitectureofViPR.



This modulefocusesonspecificfeaturesandcapabilitiesoftheViPRsolution.



IntheViPRopencloudplatform,hardwareisabstracted.Itseasyforenterprises,serviceproviders,andthirdpartiestowriteconnectorsorcodethatunderstandstheunderlyingarraysandexposesthemtotheViPRplatform.ThisapproachisuniquebecausetypicallythesesouthboundAPIsareproprietary.ButwithViPR,theyareopen.Mostimportantly,whenthirdpartyarraysareaddedtoViPR,theykeeptheiruniqueattributes,eventhoughtheirmanagementandprovisioningarecentralizedinViPR.



IntegrationwithvSpheretakestwoforms.ThefirstintegrationusesthevSphereserverandtheViPRVASAProvider.ThesecondintegrationusesthevSpherewebclientandtheViPRVSIplugin.TheVASAProviderenablesvisibilityintostorageassociatedwithvirtualpools.ItprovidesasingleinterfacetotheheterogeneousstoragebehindViPR.TheVSIpluginallowstheadministratortoidentifysuitablestoragetomatchVMstorageprofiles.ThisfacilitatespolicybasedprovisioningforbothdatastoresandRDMpassthrough.Thekeybenefitsare: OnlyasingleVASAproviderisneededfortheentireheterogeneousinfrastructure SimplifiedprovisioningfromnativeVMwareinterfaces VisibilityintoVMwaretophysicalstoragemapping



VMwarevCenterOrchestratorisusedincloudenvironmentstofacilitateschedulingofoperationsbasedonevents,time windows,andotherpolicies.Toenableautomatedstorage provisioningandconfigurationintheseselfserviceenvironments,ViPRoffersaplugin.Withthisplugin,usersgetaccesstoaselfserviceportaltoprovisionintegratedcomputeandstorageresourcesbasedonestablishedpolicies.ViPRalsoprovidesinstructionforVMwarevCloudAutomationCenterintegration.NotethatvCenterOrchestratorintegrationwiththecomputestackishypervisorneutral;itisenabledforbothVMwareandMicrosoftHyperVenvironments.ThisextendsthebenefitoftheViPRplugintobothVMwareandnonVMwarestacks.



TheViPRaddinforSCVMMallowstheHyperVadministratortomanagestoragefortheirVMswithoutleavingtheirprimaryuserinterface.FromwithinSCVMM,theadministratorcanuseViPRtoprovisionastoragevolume,expandastoragevolume,ordeleteastoragevolume.



WithViPR,thestoragelayercannowbeanotherprogrammaticvirtualresourceintheSoftwaredefinedDataCenter(SDDC).AlldataandresourcesmanagedbyViPRareaccessibleviatheopenAPI,whichalsointegrateswithVMwareaswellasOpenStack cloudenvironments.AnorganizationcaneasilyintegrateViPRintotheirexistingdatacenteroperations.ViPRprovidesspecificVMwareintegrationwithinterfacesintoVMwarevCenterOrchestrator,vCenterOperations,andvCAC.Asaresult,avCenteradministratorhasendtoendvisibilityfromthevirtualmachinetophysicalstorage.



ViPRispurposebuilttosupportcloudscaleapps.ViPRsupportsindustryrecognizedAmazonS3andOpenStack.ItincludesnativesupportfortheSwiftobjectstorageAPIandaCinderpluginforblock.ViPRisalsointegratedwithMicrosoftHyperVthroughtheVMwarevCloudAutomationCenter.



ViPRprovidesaRESTfulinterfaceforboththedatapathandthecontrolpath.StandardAPIsprovidetheessenceofchoice.WithsuchbroadandopenAPIsupport,ViPRenablesyoutohandleanyAPIdrivenstoragerequirementfromprivate,public,orhybridclouds.ViPRenablesyoutouseViPRstoragemanagementorVMware,orintegrateyourownpreferredmanagementtoolofchoice.DeveloperscanwriteapplicationstomultiplecloudAPIsandexecutethoseworkloadsonViPRinanenterprisedatacenteroraserviceproviderscloud.



ViPRdefinesfile,block,andobjectstorageinsoftwareasdataservices.Specifically,ViPRfileandblockdataservicesprovideallthefunctionalityofphysicalblockandfilestoragearrays,includingadvancedprotectionservicessuchassnapshots,cloning,andreplication.BecauseViPRfileandblockservicesdonotoperateinthedatapath,usersareabletoretainandleveragealltheuniqueattributesoftheunderlyingblockandfilearrays.ThismeansthatVMAXuserscancontinuetouseFASTandtheUnisphereelementmanagerwithViPRastheydotoday,plusenjoyallthebenefitsofcentralizedprovisioning,management,reporting,selfserviceaccess,andmore.Applicationsaccessfileandblockdatadirectly.Overtime,EMCwillcontinuetobuildanddelivergreaterservicesandfosteracommunityofservicesthatcontinuetoextendandaddvaluetotheViPRplatform.



Inadditiontoblockandfile,ViPRcanalsoincorporateadditionaldataservicesthatcanspanheterogeneousarrays.Theseglobaldataservicesextendadditionalstoragefunctionalitytotheunderlyingarrays.Fortheinitialrelease,ViPRofferstwoglobaldataservices:theViPRobjectandtheViPRHDFSdataservices.TheViPRobjectdataserviceprovidestheabilityforthefirsttimeevertostore,access,andmanipulateunstructureddataasobjectsinplaceonfilebasedstoragesuchasIsilon,VNX,andNetAppstoragesystems.Thismeansobjectsdonothavetobecopiedfromobjectstoragetoafilertobemanipulatedandthencopiedbacktoobjectstorage.And,thisabilityisprovidedwithouthavingtorewriteorreworkexistingfilebasedapplications.TheViPRobjectdataserviceisasoftwarelayerthatworkstransparentlywithdifferenthardwareplatforms.ViPRs objectdataserviceisastateoftheartlimitlessscaleobjectservice.IthasfeaturessimilartotheobjectmodelpopularizedbyAmazonS3,including:

Limitlessscale Highperformanceforbothlargeandsmallobjects SupportfortheAmazonS3API



TheseconddataserviceistheViPRHDFSdataservice.HDFSisbecomingincreasinglypopularasafilesystemlayerfordistributedapplications,beyondHadoop.ViPRHDFSsupportallowscustomerstoscaleanalyticsbeyondappliances.Todoanalyticsondatatoday,itisnecessarytocopythedatatoaHadoop appliance.Theissueisthatdataisheavyandyouwantyourdatawithyourcompute.Thesameholdstruewithanalyticsyouwantdataclosetotheanalyticsengine.Theproblemsometimesisgettingdataovertotheappliance.WithViPR,allarraysunderthecontrolofViPR,thathaveanHDFSdataservicesetuponthem,candoinplaceanalytics.So,theprocessingisdoneontheworkernodewherethedataresideswithoutunnecessarilytraversingthenetworkandtherebyreducingbackbonetraffic.ThisopensupahugeopportunitytodoBigDataanalyticsinplaceacrossheterogeneousplatformswithinexistingenvironments.



ViPRisawareof,andleveragesintelligencesuchasFAST,snapshots,andcloningcapabilitieswithinindividualmodelsofstoragearrays.ThesameappliestoprotectiontechnologiessuchasRecoverPointandVPLEX.



ThismodulefocusedonspecificfeaturesandcapabilitiesoftheViPRsolution.



This modulefocusesonViPRmanagementoptionsandinterfaces.



ThislessonpresentsViPRorchestrationandautomationconcepts.



ViPRdeploymentrequiresfirstidentifyingthephysicalstoragecomponentsthatwillbebroughtunderViPRcontrol.Afterthis,thephysicalentitiesmustbemappedtoViPRabstractions.Toenablethismapping,ViPRprovidesthreenativemanagementinterfaces:API,UI,andCLI.Theseinterfacesdrivediscoveryofthephysicalresources,mappingthemtoViPRabstractionsandthenmakingstorageavailableforprovisioningandmanagement.TheViPRAPIarchitectureformsthecenterofallinterfaces,drivingtheUIandCLI.



TheViPRAPIisthecoreinterface,alltheresourcesmanagedbyViPRareaccessiblethroughtheAPI.TheViPRRESTAPIisusedtoextractinformation,create,delete,modify,monitor,andmeterlogicalstorageresources.Alluserinterfaces forViPRincludingtheCLI,UI,ViPRprovidedintegrationUIs,anduserdevelopedUIsarelayeredontheAPI.The APIarchitectureofViPR offersanopenenvironmentenablingdevelopersanduserstoextendViPRfunctionality.Thisprovidesameanstointegrateadditionalstorageplatformsandapplications.TheViPRAPIcanbeaccessedbyusinganywebbrowserorprogrammingplatformthatcanissueHTTPrequests.SpecificbrowserpluginsarerequiredtoissueGET,POST,PUT,andDELETEHTTPrequests.Examples include:HTTPAnalyzerforInternet Explorer,Posterfor Firefox,andPostMan forChrome.



TheViPRCLIleveragestheViPRAPItoprovideascriptableenvironmentfordevelopers,storage,andcloudadministrators.TheCLImakesiteasierforadministratorstodosimpletaskswithoutresortingtoprogramming.TheCLIprovidesverygranularaccesstothefunctionsoftheAPI.Thismeans thatusersoftheCLImustbepreparedformoredetailandmorestepstoaccomplishtasks,buttheCLIprovidesmorecustomcontroloveroperationswhencomparedtotheViPRUI.TheViPRCLIisinstalledalongwithallthenecessarysupportfilesoneachViPRvirtualmachine;however,the recommendedpracticeistoinstalltheCLIonaseparateLinuxorWindowshost.



ViPRincludesanelementmanagercalledtheViPRUserInterface.TheUIprovidesagraphicaluserinterface(GUI)thatleveragestheViPRAPIcapabilitiestosimplifyViPRoperations.Although theViPRUIusestheViPRAPIbehindthescenes,ithidesthearcanedetailsbehindauserinterfacethatisorganizedintooperationstheadministratoranduserwillperformstepbystepthroughconfiguringViPRandthenprovisioningstorage.TheViPRUIiswebbrowserbasedandcanbeaccessedusingtheplacingtheViPRintheURLusingport6443.



AfterconfiguringtheViPRabstractions,theadministratorwillcustomizeandexposeViPRservices.EachserviceexposesaViPRuserfacingoperationforselfserviceprovisioninganduseofstorage.AllthestorageservicesareorganizedintocategoriesintheServiceCatalog.Anadministratorcanconfigurethesecategoriesandservicestorestrictthemtospecificusersandgroups.Thisrestrictionisbasedontheuseraccountorongroupmembership.FromtheServiceCatalogadministrativeview,anewserviceiscreatedbycopyingandmodifyinganexistingoneorbycreatingonefromscratch.Theadministratorcanalsorestorethedefaultcatalog.Thiswillremoveanychangesthatweremadeandrestorethecatalogtoitsconfigurationatinstallation.TheViPRAdminviewprovidestheabilitytodefineexecutionwindowsthatcontrolwhenanordercanbeexecuted.TheSystemsareaprovidesaccesstoRecentOrderstoviewtheordersthatwerecreatedwhenservicesweresubmittedforexecution.



WhenaccessedfromtheAdminView,theServiceCatalogcanbeeditedandorganized;however,itcannotbeusedtoprovisionstorage.Tousetheconfiguredservice,switchtotheUserViewofthecatalog.TheUserViewoftheServiceCatalogpresentsalltheservicesandcategoriesthatareavailableforprovisioningforaspecificuser.Ausercanrequestaservicebysimplyclickingtheserviceandplacinganorderforit.Anorderissimplyarecordoftherequesttorunaservice.Basedontheconfiguration,theordermightrequireapprovalbeforeitcanbeexecuted.Aftertheorderisplacedandexecuted,itreportsthedetailsoftherequest,suchas,whichservicewasrequested,whichparameterswerespecifiedintheservicerequest,whorequestedit,whethertheorderwasscheduled,theoutcomeoftheordersubmission,andtheaffectedresourcesandvolumes.HereisanexampleoftheorderdetailsofaBlockStorageServiceOrder:CreateVolumeandDatastore.Thereportprovidesrealtimefeedbackontheprogressoforderexecution,andwhenfinished,willindicatesuccessorfailure.



ThislessonpresentsanoverviewofViPRmonitoringoptions.



TheSystemHealthpagedisplaysthestatusofalltheViPRservices.ThedifferentservicesavailablewithinViPRareAPIservice,Authenticationservice,Coordinatorservice,Controllerservice,Databaseservice,Objectcontrolservice,Portalservice,Systemservice,andVASAservice.TheSystemHealthpageformsagoodstartingpointfortroubleshootinganyerrorsandissueswithinViPR.Forexample,ifphysicalarraydiscoveryisfailing,checkthelogfilesfortheControllerservicetogatherfurtherdetailsastowhythediscoveryisfailing.



TheSystemLogpageexposes ViPRlogs.Bydefault,themostrecent,mostcriticalmessagesarepresented.UsingtheFilterbutton,theadministratorcanselectivelyexposemessagesfromspecificservices,dates,andimportance.TheDownloadbuttonpullsthelogfilesfromViPRtothelocalmachinesotheycanbeexaminedmanually.DownloadedlogsareoftenattachedtoemailandsenttoEMCSupportwhenassistanceisrequested.



TheStorageResourceManagementSuiteprovidesinsightintothephysicalstorageinfrastructure.ThecombinationofSRMSuiteandViPRprovidescustomerswithendtoendcrossdomainvisibility.ItenablestheadministratortodrillfromthehostdowntotheViPRabstractions,suchasvirtualpoolsandvirtualarrays,andfurtherdowntothephysicalarraysandLUNs.Withincreasedvisibility,customerswillbeinapositiontooptimizestorageutilizationtoavoidunnecessarypurchasesandjustifynewonesacrosstheirinfrastructure.Together,eachoftheseindividualsolutionsformsapowerfulsolutionforcloudmanagementinaheterogeneousenvironment.



Thenextstepinmonitoring istocheckthereportsgeneratedbytheSolutionPack forViPR.EMCuses theWatch4netsoftwaresuitesaggressiveresearchanddevelopmentprogramthatcollectsandaggregatesperformancedatafromvarioussourcesintoasinglerepository.Thispresentsanenterprisewideviewoftheentirebusinessinfrastructure.Oneofthekeybenefitsofusing Watch4netformonitoringandreportingisthatitincludescrossdomainperformancevisibilityandcontrol thatis madepossiblewithasinglepanecustomizabledashboardview.Thiswebportalprovidesmultitenancysupportandsecurerolebasedaccess.IthasflexibleandscalablearchitectureandreportingcapabilitiesandhasaneasytouseReportWizardtoaccessoutoftheboxreports. Itprovidestheabilitytoquicklycreatecustomizablereports.Italsosupportsandmanagesmultipletechnologiesanddevicetypesfromdifferentvendors.Forproactiveperformancemanagement,Watch4netcanmanagetensofthousandsofdevicesandprocessmillionsofmetricsperpollingcycle,whileanalyzingeverymetriconthefly.Itprovidesproactivealerting,includingSituationstoWatchandunexpecteduserorapplicationnetworktraffictotroubleshootinfrastructureserviceperformanceproblemsbeforebusinessprocesses areimpacted.Forresourceandserviceleveloptimization,itprovideslimitedhistoricalperformance trendingandcapacityreportstopredictfuturerequirementsandmoreaccuratelyplancapitalexpenditures.ItallowscontractualSLAmeasurementandreportingandsimulatesandmeasurestheendusersexperiencetoimprovethequalityofservicesdelivered.



Thepiechartdisplaysthetotalvirtualpoolusablecapacityusedandfreeforblockandfile.



InVMwareenvironments,vCenterOperations(vCOps)canbeusedtoprovidevisibilityintohealth,risk,andefficiencyoftheinfrastructure,performance,management,andcapacityoptimizationcapabilities.vCOps hasbuiltincapabilitiestomonitorthecomputestack.ViPRprovidesanAnalyticsPackforthevCenter OperationsManagementSuitethat canbeusedtomonitorthevirtualstoragestack.Itprovidesanaggregateviewofcomputeandstoragemetricsforendtoendanalytics.TheViPRAnalyticsPackforvCOps can beinstalledandutilizedonitsownorwithEMCWatch4netformoreinsightfulreporting.TheViPRAnalyticsPackforvCOps importsEMCViPRinventory,metering,andeventdataintoVMwarevCOps Suites.Itusesthisdatatoprovideaholisticviewofanomalies,workload,capacityremaining, and reclaimablewasteforalltheViPRmanagedcomponents.ItofferspreconfigureddashboardsforcomputingkeyresourcestatusscoresfromViPRvirtualizedresources,volume,storageport,andstoragesystemdatawhichcanbeusedtotroubleshootissuesintheenvironment.vCOps alsopresentsthreedifferentdashboardviews:EMCViPRCapacity,EMCViPRPerformance,andEMCViPRAtaGlancethatsummarizesresourcedetails,thebehaviorofindividualmetrics,andViPReventalerts.Thesedashboardscanbeusedtohelpimprove thehealthscoresofViPRresourcesbyutilizingperformancedata.



ThismodulefocusedonViPRmanagementoptionsandinterfaces.



ThiscourseprovidedanintroductiontotheViPRproductincludinganoverviewofthearchitecture,features,andfunctionality.


Documents

ISPT ViRP Fundamentals _SRG