Veritas InfoScale™ 7.4.2 Virtualization Guide - Linux

Last Published:
Product(s): InfoScale & Storage Foundation (7.4.2)
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 a RedHat Enterprise Virtualization environment
    1. Getting started with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV)
      1.  
        Creating and launching a RHEV host
      2.  
        Setting up a virtual machine in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) environment
      3. Veritas InfoScale Solutions configuration options for the RHEV environment
        1.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in a RHEV guest virtual machine
        2.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the RHEV host
        3.  
          Storage Foundation in the RHEV guest virtual machine
        4.  
          Storage Foundation Cluster File System High Availability in the RHEV host
        5.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the RHEV host and guest virtual machine
        6.  
          Dynamic Multi-Pathing in the RHEV host and Storage Foundation HA in the RHEV guest virtual machine
        7.  
          Cluster Server for the RHEV environment
      4.  
        About setting up RHEV with Veritas InfoScale Solutions
      5.  
        Installing Veritas InfoScale Solutions in the RHEV environment
    2. Configuring VCS to manage virtual machines
      1. Installing and configuring Cluster Server for virtual machine and application availability
        1.  
          How Cluster Server (VCS) manages virtual machines
      2.  
        About the KVMGuest agent
      3.  
        Validating the virtualization environment
      4.  
        Configuring a resource in a RHEV environment
      5.  
        Configuring multiple KVMGuest resources
    3. Configuring Storage Foundation as backend storage for virtual machines
      1.  
        About configuring virtual machines to attach Storage Foundation as backend storage in an RHEV environment
      2.  
        Use cases for virtual machines using Storage Foundation storage
      3.  
        Workflow to configure storage for virtual machines in an RHEV environment
      4.  
        Prerequisites in an RHEV environment
      5.  
        Installing the SF administration utility for RHEV
      6.  
        Installing and configuring SFCFSHA or SFHA cluster on RHEL-H nodes
      7. Configuring Storage Foundation as backend storage for virtual machines
        1.  
          Attaching or detaching Storage Foundation components in guest virtual machines
        2.  
          Listing configuration details of virtual machines in an RHEV environment
        3.  
          Configuring permissions for exported storage devices
        4.  
          Starting and stopping virtual machines
      8.  
        Usage examples from the RHEV administration utility
      9.  
        Mapping DMP meta-devices
      10.  
        Resizing devices
  4. Section IV. 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
    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
  5. Section V. 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)

Flexible Storage Sharing use cases

The following list includes several use cases for which you would want to use the FSS feature:

Use of local storage in current use cases

The FSS feature supports all current use cases of the Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions (Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions) stack without requiring SAN-based storage.

Off-host processing

Data Migration:

  • From shared (SAN) storage to network shared storage

  • From network shared storage to SAN storage

  • From storage connected to one node (DAS)/cluster to the storage connected to a different node (DAS)/cluster, that do not share the storage

Back-up/Snapshots:

An additional node can take a back-up by joining the cluster and reading from volumes/snapshots that are hosted on the DAS/shared storage, which is connected to one or more nodes of the cluster, but not the host taking the back-up.

DAS SSD benefits leveraged with existing Storage Foundation and High Availability Solutions features

  • Mirroring across DAS SSDs connected to individual nodes of the cluster. DAS SSDs provides better performance than SAN storage (including SSDs). FSS provides a way to share these SSDs across cluster.

  • Keeping one mirror on the SSD and another on the SAN storage provides faster read access due to the SSDs, and also provide high availability of data due to the SAN storage.

  • There are several best practices for using SSDs with Storage Foundation. All the use-cases are possible with SAN attached SSDs in clustered environment. With FSS, DAS SSDs can also be used for similar purposes.

FSS with SmartIO for file system caching

If the nodes in the cluster have internal SSDs as well as HDDs, the HDDs can be shared over the network using FSS. You can use SmartIO to set up a read/write-back cache using the SSDs. The read cache can service volumes created using the network-shared HDDs.

FSS with SmartIO for remote caching

FSS works with SmartIO to provide caching services for nodes that do not have local SSD devices.

In this scenario, Flexible Storage Sharing (FSS) exports SSDs from nodes that have a local SSD. FSS then creates a pool of the exported SSDs in the cluster. From this shared pool, a cache area is created for each node in the cluster. Each cache area is accessible only to that particular node for which it is created. The cache area can be of type, VxVM or VxFS.

The cluster must be a CVM cluster.

The volume layout of the cache area on remote SSDs follows the simple stripe layout, not the default FSS allocation policy of mirroring across host. If the caching operation degrades performance on a particular volume, then caching is disabled for that particular volume. The volumes that are used to create cache areas must be created on disk groups with disk group version 200 or later. However, data volumes that are created on disk groups with disk group version 190 or later can access the cache area created on FSS exported devices.

Note:

CFS write-back caching is not supported for cache areas created on remote SSDs.

For more information, see the document Veritas InfoScale SmartIO for Solid State Drives Solutions Guide.

Campus cluster configuration

Campus clusters can be set up without the need for Fibre Channel (FC) SAN connectivity between sites.

FSS in cloud environments

The Flexible Shared Storage (FSS) Technology allows you to overcome the limitations of 'Share-Nothing' storage in cloud environments. FSS enables you to create shared-nothing clusters by sharing cloud block storage over the network.

For details, see the Veritas InfoScale Solutions in Cloud Environments document.