Virtual SAN
VSAN – Performance Degradation of Hybrid disk groups on VSAN 6.2 Deployments (2146267)
What >> Upgraded Hybrid (SDD and HDD) VSAN 6.2 deployments are being affected by a new service causing performance issues
Current fix and more advisement >>KB2146267
Automate this fix >> You can give this script a go BUT play at your own riskLINK (Thanks Jase!)
Next Steps >> This should be resolved in an upcoming patch release (don’t ask me how soon, but it’ll be soon)
If you like my ‘no-nonsense’ blog articles that get straight to the point… then post a comment or let me know… Else, I’ll start writing boring blog content.
How to find Dell PERC FD332 or H330 Firmware Versions in ESXi 6
Today’s adventure seemed an easy task but ended up taking much too long to find the right answer.
The task… ‘Is there a way to find the firmware version of a Dell Perc FD332 or H330 controller using command line in ESXi 6?’
The answer:
‘zcat /var/log/boot.gz |grep -i firm’
Things that didn’t work –
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2014/04/08/updating-lsi-firmware-esxi-commandline/
Thanks going out to my fellow VMware TAMs for helping me to locate this answer.
If you like my ‘no-nonsense’ blog articles that get straight to the point… then let me know…
Else, I’ll start writing boring blog content.
VSAN – Setting up VSAN Observer in my Home Lab
VSAN Observer is a slick way to display diagnostic statics not only around how the VSAN is performing but how the VM’s are as well.
Here are the commands I entered in my Home Lab to enable and disable the Observer.
Note: this is a diagnostic tool and should not be allowed to run for long periods of time as it will consume many GB of disk space. Ctrl+C will stop the collection
How to Start the collection….
- vCenter239:~ # rvc root@localhost << Logon into vCenter Server Appliance | Note you may have to enable SSH
- password:
- /localhost> cd /localhost/Home.Lab
- /localhost/Home.Lab> cd computers/Home.Lab.C1 << Navigate to your cluster | Mine Datacenter is Home.Lab, and cluster is Home.Lab.C1
- /localhost/Home.Lab/computers/Home.Lab.C1> vsan.observer ~/computers/Home.Lab.C1 –run-webserver –force << Enter this command to get things started, keep in mind double dashes “—” are used in front of run-webserver and force
- [2014-09-17 03:39:54] INFO WEBrick 1.3.1
- [2014-09-17 03:39:54] INFO ruby 1.9.2 (2011-07-09) [x86_64-linux]
- [2014-09-17 03:39:54] WARN TCPServer Error: Address already in use – bind(2)
- Press <Ctrl>+<C> to stop observing at any point ...[2014-09-17 03:39:54] INFO WEBrick::HTTPServer#start: pid=25461 port=8010 << Note the Port and that Ctrl+C to stop
- 2014-09-17 03:39:54 +0000: Collect one inventory snapshot
- Query VM properties: 0.05 sec
- Query Stats on 172.16.76.231: 0.65 sec (on ESX: 0.15, json size: 241KB)
- Query Stats on 172.16.76.233: 0.63 sec (on ESX: 0.15, json size: 241KB)
- Query Stats on 172.16.76.232: 0.68 sec (on ESX: 0.15, json size: 257KB)
- Query CMMDS from 172.16.76.231: 0.74 sec (json size: 133KB)
- 2014-09-17 03:40:15 +0000: Live-Processing inventory snapshot
- 2014-09-17 03:40:15 +0000: Collection took 20.77s, sleeping for 39.23s
- 2014-09-17 03:40:15 +0000: Press <Ctrl>+<C> to stop observing
How to stop the collection… Note: the collection has to be started and running to web statics as in the screenshots below
- ^C2014-09-17 03:40:26 +0000: Execution interrupted, wrapping up … << Control+C is entered and the observer goes into shutdown mode
- [2014-09-17 03:40:26] INFO going to shutdown …
- [2014-09-17 03:40:26] INFO WEBrick::HTTPServer#start done.
- /localhost/Home.Lab/computers/Home.Lab.C1>
How to launch the web interface…
I used Firefox to logon to the web interface of VSAN Observer, IE didn’t seem to function correctly
Simply go to http://[IP of vCenter Server]:8010 Note: this is the port number noted above when starting and its http not https
So what does it look like and what is the purpose of each screen… Note: By Default the ‘? What am I looking at’ is not displayed, I expanded this view to enhance the description of the screenshot.
References:
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2013/10/21/configure-virtual-san-observer-monitoring/
VSAN – The Migration from FreeNAS
Well folks it’s my long awaited blog post around moving my Homelab from FreeNAS to VMware VSAN.
Here are the steps I took to migrate my Home Lab GEN II with FreeNAS to Home Lab GEN III with VSAN.
Note –
- I am not putting a focus on ESXi setup as I want to focus on the steps to setup VSAN.
- My home lab is in no way on the VMware HCL, if you are building something like this for production you should use the VSAN HCL as your reference
The Plan –
- Meet the Requirements
- Backup VM’s
- Update and Prepare Hardware
- Distribute Existing hardware to VSAN ESXi Hosts
- Install ESXi on all Hosts
- Setup VSAN
The Steps –
Meet the Requirements – Detailed list here
- Minimum of three hosts
- Each host has a minimum of one SSD and one HDD
- The host must be managed by vCenter Server 5.5 and configured as a Virtual SAN cluster
- Min 6GB RAM
- Each host has a Pass-thru RAID controller as specified in the HCL. The RAID controller must be able to present disks directly to the host without a RAID configuration.
- 1GB NIC, I’ll be running 2 x 1Gbs NICs. However 10GB and Jumbo frames are recommended
- VSAN VMkernel port configured on every host participating in the cluster.
- All disks that VSAN will be allocated to should be clear of any data.
Backup Existing VMs
- No secret here around backups. I just used vCenter Server OVF Export to a local disk to backup all my critical VM’s
- More Information Here
Update and Prepare Hardware
- Update all Motherboard (Mobo) BIOS and disk Firmware
- Remove all HDD’s / SDD’s from FreeNAS SAN
-
Remove any Data from HDD/SDD’s . Either of these tools do the job
- Windows Tools – “MiniTool Partition Wizard”
- Boot ISO – GParted
Distribute Existing hardware to VSAN ESXi Hosts
- Current Lab – 1 x VMware Workstation PC, 2 x ESXi Hosts boot to USB (Host 1 and 2), 1 x FreeNAS SAN
- Desired Lab – 3 x ESXi hosts with VSAN and 1 x Workstation PC
-
End Results after moves
- All Hosts ESXi 5.5U1 with VSAN enabled
- Host 1 – MSI 7676, i7-3770, 24GB RAM, Boot 160GB HDD, VSAN disks (2 x 2TB HDD SATA II, 1 x 60GB SSD SATA III), 5 xpNICs
- Host 2 – MSI 7676, i7-2600, 32 GB RAM, Boot 160GB HDD, VSAN disks (2 x 2TB HDD SATA II, 1 x 90 GB SSD SATA III), 5 x pNICs
- Host 3 – MSI 7676, i7-2600, 32 GB RAM, Boot 160GB HDD, VSAN disks (2 x 2TB HDD SATA II, 1 x 90 GB SSD SATA III), 5 x pNICs
- Note – I have ditched my Gigabyte z68xp-UD3 Mobo and bought another MSI 7676 board. I started this VSAN conversion with it and it started to give me fits again similar to the past. There are many web posts with bugs around this board. I am simply done with it and will move to a more reliable Mobo that is working well for me.
Install ESXi on all Hosts
-
Starting with Host 1
- Prior to Install ensure all data has been removed and all disk show up in BIOS in AHCI Mode
-
Install ESXi to Local Boot HD
- After the install I experienced the ESXi hanging at Boot – ‘Starting up Services – Running usbarbitrator start’
- Solution – Stop usbarbitrator service
- http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1023976
- Setup ESXi base IP address via direct Console, DNS, disable IP 6, enable shell and SSH
- Using the VI Client setup the basic ESXi networking and vSwitch
- Using VI Client I restored the vCSA and my AD server from OVF and powered them on
- Once booted I logged into the vCSA via the web client
- I built out Datacenter and add host 1
- Create a cluster but only enabled EVC to support my different Intel CPU’s
- Cleaned up any old DNS settings and ensure all ESXi Hosts are correct
- From the Web client Validate that 2 x HDD and 1 x SDD are present in Host
- Installed ESXi Host 2 / 3, followed most of these steps, and added them to the cluster
Setup VSAN
-
Logon to the Webclient
-
Ensure on all the hosts
- Networking is setup and all functions are working
- NTP is working
- All expected HDD’s for VSAN are reporting in to ESXi
-
Create a vSwitch for VSAN and attach networking to it
- I attached 2 x 1Gbs NICs for my load that should be enough
-
Assign the VSAN License Key
- Click on the Cluster > Manage > Settings > Virtual SAN Licensing > Assign License Key
-
-
Enable VSAN
- Under Virtual SAN click on General then Edit
- Choose ‘Turn on Virtual SAN’
- Set ‘Add disks to storage’ to Manual
-
Note – for a system on the HCL, chances are the Automatic setting will work without issue. However my system is not on the any VMware HCL and I want to control the drives to add to my Disk Group.
-
Add Disks to VSAN
- Under Virtual SAN click on ‘Disk Management’
- Choose the ICON with the Check boxes on it
- Finally add the disks you want in your disk group
- Allow VSAN to complete its tasks, you can check on its progress by going to ‘Tasks’
- Once complete ensure all disks report in as healthy.
-
Ensure VSAN General tab is coming up correct
- 3 Hosts
- 3 of 3 SSD’s
- 6 of 6 Data disks
- Check to see if the data store is online
Summary –
Migrating from FreeNAS to VSAN was relatively a simple process. I simply moved, prepared, and installed and the product came right up. My only issue was working with a faulty Gigabyte Mobo which I resolved by replacing it. I’ll post up more as I continue to work with VSAN. If you are interested in more detail around VSAN I would recommend the following book.
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