vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware
vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware
vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware
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Best Practices for Fibre Channel 9<br />
<strong>Storage</strong><br />
When using <strong>ESXi</strong> with Fibre Channel SAN, follow best practices that <strong>VMware</strong> offers to avoid performance<br />
problems.<br />
The <strong>vSphere</strong> Client and the <strong>vSphere</strong> Web Client offer extensive facilities for collecting performance<br />
information. The information is graphically displayed and frequently updated.<br />
You can also use the resxtop or esxtop command-line utilities. The utilities provide a detailed look at how<br />
<strong>ESXi</strong> uses resources in real time. For more information, see the <strong>vSphere</strong> Resource Management documentation.<br />
Check with your storage representative if your storage system supports <strong>Storage</strong> API - Array Integration<br />
hardware acceleration features. If it does, refer to your vendor documentation for information on how to enable<br />
hardware acceleration support on the storage system side. For more information, see Chapter 21, “<strong>Storage</strong><br />
Hardware Acceleration,” on page 215.<br />
This chapter includes the following topics:<br />
n “Preventing Fibre Channel SAN Problems,” on page 67<br />
n “Disable Automatic Host Registration,” on page 68<br />
n “Disable Automatic Host Registration in the <strong>vSphere</strong> Web Client,” on page 68<br />
n “Optimizing Fibre Channel SAN <strong>Storage</strong> Performance,” on page 68<br />
n “Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Checklist,” on page 70<br />
Preventing Fibre Channel SAN Problems<br />
When using <strong>ESXi</strong> in conjunction with a Fibre Channel SAN, you must follow specific guidelines to avoid SAN<br />
problems.<br />
You should observe these tips for preventing problems with your SAN configuration:<br />
n Place only one VMFS datastore on each LUN.<br />
n Do not change the path policy the system sets for you unless you understand the implications of making<br />
such a change.<br />
n Document everything. Include information about zoning, access control, storage, switch, server and FC<br />
HBA configuration, software and firmware versions, and storage cable plan.<br />
n Plan for failure:<br />
n Make several copies of your topology maps. For each element, consider what happens to your SAN<br />
if the element fails.<br />
n Cross off different links, switches, HBAs and other elements to ensure you did not miss a critical<br />
failure point in your design.<br />
<strong>VMware</strong>, Inc. 67
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