Equal Logic PS100 Hyper V 2008 R2 Hyper V 2012

Question

Hello,

I am a IT administrator for a Non Profit organization that was donated a Equal Logic PS100 array that is still is good shape. I know that it is old but I believe that is still have some usefulness to me. In my organization I am running Hyper V 2008 R2 host Dell R720\ Hyper V 2012 Dell R410. Its Guests are a SQL, Vworkspace, RDP, Appassure\Rapid Recovery, File Server, Domain controller all storage of the VM's are local to the hosts.

Between these two hosts I would like to get some advice for proper configuration of the Equal Logic so I can began to move some of the VM's to it.

I have reset the Equallogic and was going to began creating Volumes\LUN when I realized that I need some advice on creating the volumes.

I have a Procurve gigabit switch with a SAN and Admin Vlan created on it.

I have a copy and license for SCVVM 2012 R2 since I was not sure if I need to CSV( I have not experience with this) but not installed anywhere yet..

Rapid Recovery backs up and replicates offsite nightly so I need advice on if I need to use snapshots on the Equal Logic.

I hope I can start a discussion on configuration of the Equal Logic and best practice for me to config it and move my VM's onto it.\

Thanks

Jared

michaelpacheco · Answer

Here are some useful resources:

Using Dell EqualLogic Storage with Failover Clusters and Hyper-V (This is based on Server 2012 and Server 2012 R2 - but the large majority of all context is relevant for Server 2008 R2 as well.)
Automation and Integration with MS System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 and Dell EqualLogic Storage
Data Center Virtualization using Windows Server Hyper-V, PowerShell, and Dell EqualLogic Storage

js_goff · Answer

Don,

I am a one man show here so it take me time to get back to these projects.

My EqualLogic firmware is V6.0.0 (R215294)

HP Procurve is 2810 with latest firmware.

What if I decide to just place one iscsi connection on there from one host and use it that way.

Would I create a Volume for each guest?

On the backups if the unit failed I would just abandon it and return my hyper V VM's back to local storage using Dell Rapid Recovery. Wouldn't that work?

Thanks your time and knowledge.

Jared

michaelpacheco · Answer

You should install HIT/Microsoft on each server in the cluster and install/configure the MPIO DSM. Dedicate at least two NICS on each server in the cluster for iSCSI. ...and separate NICS for LAN traffic. Configure the MPIO DSM to exclude the non-ISCSI adapters from the MPIO configuration. This can be done via HIT/Microsoft ASM/ME or the PowerShell Tools.

I recommend using CSV's vs. standard cluster volumes. With CSV's, you can have multiple VMs on the same CSV -- and fail them over to other nodes independently of each other. With standard cluster volumes, you will need to have 1 VM per standard cluster volume - so that the VMs can failover independently from each other.

All of this information is covered in great detail here: Using Dell EqualLogic Storage with Failover Clusters and Hyper-V

michaelpacheco · Answer

Good point, Don.  I just noticed the array model - PS100.  Your options will be very limited related to supported PS Series Firmware versions for that array, and thus general incompatibility/limited support for clusters, Hyper-V, and HT/Microsoft.

EqualLogic

Equal Logic PS100 Hyper V 2008 R2 Hyper V 2012

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