I wanted to point you guys to a white paper that I have worked on for the last months. This white paper was written in collaboration with Lee Dilworth, Ken Werneburg, Frank Denneman and Stuart Hardman. Thanks guys for taking time out of your busy schedule to work with me on this project! This white paper is about vSphere Metro Storage Cluster solutions (aka stretched clusters) and specifically looks at things from a VMware perspective. Enjoy!
- VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (VMware vMSC) is a new configuration within the VMware Hardware Compatibility List. This type of configuration is commonly referred to as a stretched storage cluster or metro storage cluster. It is implemented in environments where disaster/downtime avoidance is a key requirement. This case study was developed to provide additional insight and information regarding operation of a VMware vMSC infrastructure in conjunction with VMware vSphere. This paper will explain how vSphere handles specific failure scenarios and will discuss various design considerations and operational procedures.
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/10284
Hi Duncan
Will the paper be released as an epub/mobi as well ?
Thx
Yes, waiting on the files to be returned. Should be up in a week or so.
Thank you, great work
Thank you for this whitepaper, excellent work!
Disclosure – IBMer
Great white paper Duncan. You didn’t include the IBM SAN Volume Controller KB as a reference link in your white paper so I wanted to share here. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2000948
I understand your white paper is geared towards vSphere 5.0 and our vMSC certification is still in progress, but since the NetApp MetroCluster KB was mentioned in the white paper (and isn’t supported for vSphere 5.0 yet either) I figured I would mention the SVC KB here.
Thanks for continuing the information sharing for Stretched Cluster solutions.
Links to epub/mobi version…
http://blogs.vmware.com/files/vsphr-cs-mtro-stor-clstr-uslet-101.epub
http://blogs.vmware.com/files/vsphr-cs-mtro-stor-clstr-uslet-101—vmware.mobi
Dont know why vmware wouldnt put all docs together
This document outlines that NFS is not supported with vMSC.
What are the limitations that an installation such as this would be up against?
It should work Adam. It hasn’t been tested/certified yet, so who knows what could happen,
Hi Duncan,
Your link to the white paper looks like death.
I cannot find it.
Thanks
Cédric
Yes I know. The paper is being updated and should soon be back online.
Hi Duncan,
We are reviewing the scenario “Full Compute Failure in Frimley Datacenter”. Because HA is configured with Admission Control and is using the percentage-based Admission Control Policy set at 50%, DRS does not kick when the Frimley Datacenter is offline. There are not enough reources available. We use soft DRS rules to place VMs on hosts, but because DRS cannot run, these rules are violated. Wouldn’t it make more sense to lower the Admission Control Policy to for example 49%, so DRS can kick in even if Frimley Datacenter is still offline? That way the soft DRS rules will be applied and we can locate our VMs more easily?
Keep in mind that DRS and HA Admission Control are two completely different things. Even if you go up to 50% of your capacity based on HA Admission Control it doesn’t mean that DRS won’t work…