Dell EMC PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Guide
Summary
Virtualization infrastructure guide for Dell EMC PowerStore Version 2.x storage systems. Covers VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) integration, storage container architecture, virtualization host configuration, vVols datastores, protocol endpoints, storage policy-based management, and integration with vCenter Server. Provides detailed procedures for provisioning, mapping, and managing virtualized storage resources. Intended for storage administrators and VMware architects deploying PowerStore in virtualized data center environments.
Page 1 Text Content
Dell EMC Power Store Virtualization Infrastructure Guide Version 2.x
July 2021 Rev. A06
Page Summary Contents For Dell EMC PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Guide
Page 1
Dell EMC Power Store Virtualization Infrastructure Guide Version 2.x July 2021 Rev. A06
Page 2
Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of d...
Page 3
Contents Additional Resources.....................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1: Introduction................................
Page 4
Using v Vols across multiple v Center Servers.............................................................................................................29 v Sphere host profiles........................
Page 5
Preface As part of an improvement effort, revisions of the software and hardware are periodically released. Some functions that are described in this document are not supported by all versions of the ...
Page 6
Introduction Topics: Purpose Audience Purpose This document provides an overview of how virtualization is implemented on Power Store clusters. This document contains the following information: Hypervi...
Page 7
Overview of the Power Store Virtualization Infrastructure Topics: Power Store virtualization terminology Virtualization architecture and configuration Network configuration for Power Store X model app...
Page 8
VMs on external ESXi hosts to use the VMFS storage on Power Store clusters. However, support for the NVMEo FC protocol does not enable VMs on external hosts to use v Vol storage on Power Store cluster...
Page 9
For more information, see Storage containers overview on page 9. Storage Policy Based Management v Vols use Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) to ensure that VMs have the appropriate storage capab...
Page 10
Figure 1. Storage containers spanning appliances in a Power Store cluster Multitenancy Power Store appliances support multiple storage containers on a cluster to support multitenancy requirements. Mul...
Page 11
Virtualization architecture and configuration Power Store T model configuration The Power Store OS runs directly on the Power Store hardware of a Power Store T model cluster. A connection to a v Cente...
Page 12
Virtual network configuration Networking on a Power Store X model appliance is controlled by ESXi, which uses a virtual switch to share network devices with the controller VM. As a part of cluster cre...
Page 13
Table 3. Port group configurations (continued) Name NIC teaming VLAN type VLAN ID PG_MGMT VLAN trunking (VGT) 0-4094 Active: Uplink1, Uplink2 Standby: Uplink3, Uplink4 PG_MGMT_ESXi PV_MGMT_ESXi can be...
Page 14
Table 5. VMkernel adapter settings (continued) Device Label Switch TCP/IP Stack Management vmk1 Storage_INIT1 DVS Default Disabled vmk2 Storage_INIT2 DVS Default Disabled vmk3 v Motion1 DVS v Motion D...
Page 15
v Center Server requirements Power Store X model appliances require an external v Center Server instance running v Center 6.7 or later with a Standard edition license. If an external v Center Server i...
Page 16
Table 9. v Sphere HA Admission Control for a cluster with appliances that are the same models Default v Sphere value Recommended Power Store value Notes NOTE: Enabling HA Admission Control might preve...
Page 17
Table 13. Path selection policy for a Protocol Endpoint (PE) Default v Sphere value Recommended Power Store value Notes 256, if the first two ports on the embedded 4-port card are mapped Table 14. LLD...
Page 18
Virtualization configuration in Power Store appliances Topics: Managing virtualization components in the Power Store Manager Configure a v Center Server connection Updating internal ESXi hosts on Powe...
Page 19
To view more details about a VM, select the name of the VM . You can monitor and manage the VM properties available on the following cards: Capacity This card displays interactive line charts with sto...
Page 20
Monitoring and managing storage containers The Storage > Storage Containers page in the Power Store Manager displays essential information about all storage containers in a centralized location. Th...
Page 21
To remove the quota on a storage container, clear the Enable storage container capacity quota checkbox on the Properties panel for that storage container. Monitoring ESXi hosts When a Power Store clus...
Page 22
2. Select Compute > v Center Server Connection. 3. Select Connect. The v Center Server Configuration slide-out panel is displayed. a. Type the IP address, username, and password of the v Center Ser...
Page 23
Change a v Center Server connection To change the v Center Server that your Power Store T model cluster is connected to, you must first remove the existing connection and then register a new v Center ...
Page 24
Adding an external ESXi host to a Power Store X model v Sphere cluster During the initialization of a Power Store X model cluster, the system creates a v Sphere cluster under a new or existing data ce...
Page 25
VMware NSX-V Topics: VMware NSX-V introduction Add internal ESXi hosts to an existing NSX-V deployment VMware NSX-V introduction Power Store X model appliances include support for VMware NSX Data Cent...
Page 26
Best practices and limitations Topics: Performance best practices for Power Store X model clusters Creating VM clones Using v Vols across multiple v Center Servers v Sphere host profiles Internal Powe...
Page 27
To configure these groups and rules in v Center, select the Power Store X model ESXi cluster and select the Configure tab. The VM/Host Groups and VM/Host Rules are located under Configuration on the C...
Page 28
Distribute VM clones across an existing Power Store T model cluster To create VM clones on a Power Store T model cluster with multiple appliances, create a base VM on each appliance, migrate the v Vol...
Page 29
3. To display v Sphere host names and the appliances on which v Vols are located, select Show/Hide Columns, then select v Sphere Host Name and Appliance to display those columns in the Virtual Volumes...
Page 30
Default v Vol datastore (Storage container) NOTE: All other changes to the internal components are considered unsupported and must be requested using a Request for Production Qualification (RPQ) befor...
Page 31
Power Store X model appliances can also be used as external block storage using Fibre Channel (FC), i SCSI, or NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMeo FC). The block storage can be formatted as VMFS datastores...
Page 32
VMware snapshot limitations v Sphere allows a maximum snapshot tree depth of 31 for a VM. Scheduled and manual snapshots interact with this limit in different ways. Scheduled snapshots When you create...
Manual Details
| Brand | Dell |
|---|---|
| Pages | 32 |
| File Size | 325.69 KB |
| Published | June 26, 2026 |
7 views
Enter the captcha to get the download link:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is considered normal high resource usage for the PowerStore X model controller VMs?
It reserves 50% of the CPU and memory resources because it runs internal controller VMs.
What should I avoid regarding external ESXi hosts to prevent crashes?
Do not overload the CPU resources on the internal ESXi hosts; keep usage below 80%.
How do manual VM snapshots differ from scheduled ones regarding retention?
Manual snapshots must be deleted manually as they lack a retention policy, unlike scheduled snapshots which are automatically deleted based on age.