VMware ESXi Integration with an EVA4400

[Frank810]

I have a DL380 G5 with Fibre Channel that I would like to install VMware ESXi on to provide four VM's that will run Win2008 Server. I would appreciate some guidance on connecting this server to our EVA4400.

Some background on current setup:
EVA4400
- running CR11EFlep-09004000
- four Virtual Disks (all in LUN 1)
- four servers, 1 per VD
StorageWorks 4/8 SAN Switches (2)
- fabic OS version 5.3.0
- one domain in fabric
- No zones in place

From what I've gathered, I will want to create a new Virtual Disk with a unique LUN and size it for the 4 new VM's.

Is there anything else I need to consider, like software/firmware revs, zones, etc? The documentation for this process seems to be spread over several documents. If someone is aware of a "cookbook", I would appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks.

[Víctor Cespón · Accepted solution]

EVA firmware 09004000 is currently unsupported and has bugs that can lead to a controller hang. Update it to 09522000.

SAN switch firmware 5.3.0 is old, currently the minimum recommended one for an EVA4400 is 6.1.0h.

You need to configure zones, one per EVA port and host HBA port. Do not include HBAs from different servers on the same zone. Do not include two ports of the EVA on the same zone, it usually leads to losing access from external Command View.

VRAID 1 gives you better performance than VRAID 5 if you can afford the cost of the storage space.

Read VmWare cookbooks:

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getdocument.aspx?docname=4AA1-2185ENW.pdf

http://h71019.www7.hp.com/ActiveAnswers/downloads/VMware3_StorageWorks_BestPractice.pdf