Persistent Volumes using the new HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker v3.1

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As Hewlett Packard Enterprise continues full steam ahead with their integrations into the fast moving realm of containers, we are pleased to announce version 3.1, the latest release of the HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker. With this comes new integrations with the latest versions of Kubernetes and OpenShift, as well as continued improvement in usability and features that many customers are looking for in Persistent Storage with their container initiatives.

For those who may not be familiar with what the HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker does, the plugin provides the ability for Docker or container environments to access and provision persistent storage on HPE 3PAR Storage arrays. We provide storage to standalone Docker instances and dynamic storage provisioning using our FlexVolume driver in Kubernetes/Red Hat OpenShift clusters. This means you don’t have to sacrifice mission-critical features like replication, multi-tenancy, or similar storage capabilities that you have come to expect from HPE 3PAR Storage, as you migrate traditional monolithic workloads into containers. HPE is here to help in your IT transformation journey.

Now let’s get into some details about the HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker.

The HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker can be found on Docker hub.

https://hub.docker.com/plugins/hpe-3par-docker-volume-plugin

Key Features:

• Dynamic Provisioning within Kubernetes/OpenShift
• Volume provisioning (Create, Delete)
• Snapshots/Snapshot Scheduling
• Clones
• Dedupe/Compression
• Replication
• QoS
• Virtual Domain support (Multi-tenancy)
• Legacy Volume Import
• Multi-array support
• FC/iSCSI

Plugin documentation including the automated installer can be found on the HPE Storage GitHub page:

https://github.com/hpe-storage/python-hpedockerplugin

For latest compatibility & support information, check: 

Single Point of Connectivity Knowledge (SPOCK) Storage compatibility matrix

Using the HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker:

To get started using the HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker, we highly recommend using the Automated Installer.

https://github.com/hpe-storage/python-hpedockerplugin/tree/master/ansible_3par_docker_plugin

The HPE 3PAR Volume plug-in installer uses Ansible to help simplify the installation process for both single Docker instances and Kubernetes/OpenShift clusters on CentOS and RHEL 7.x systems.

After the installation, to help you get started, we have examples available on the HPE 3PAR examples Github page. There you will find valid example for both Docker and Kubernetes/OpenShift environments (Storage Class, PVC, and pod). Here is a quick primer.

Native Docker usage:

docker volume create -d hpe my_docker_vol1

You can inspect the newly created volume using:

$ docker volume inspect my_docker_vol1
[
    {
        "Driver": "hpe",
        "Labels": {},
        "Mountpoint": "/",
        "Name": "my_docker_vol1",
        "Options": {},
        "Scope": "global",
        "Status": {
            "volume_detail": {
                "3par_vol_name": "dcv-KDDVbpOLRGayodLk4.Dy3g",
                "backend": "DEFAULT",
                "compression": null,
                "cpg": "SSD_r6",
                "domain": null,
                "flash_cache": null,
                "fsMode": null,
                "fsOwner": null,
                "mountConflictDelay": 30,
                "provisioning": "thin",
                "size": 100,
                "snap_cpg": "SSD_r6"            }
        }
    }
]

For additional options, we have an extensive help file available:

docker volume create -d hpe –o help

or check our online documentation.

Kubernetes/OpenShift usage:

HPE has developed a FlexVolume driver that dynamically provisions storage in Kubernetes/OpenShift using the HPE 3PAR Volume Plug-in for Docker.  All parameters that are available to the Docker Volume plugin may be used with the FlexVolume driver directly or leveraged by Storage Classes in Kubernetes/OpenShift.

As mentioned before, valid Storage Class, PVC, and pod examples can be found at the HPE 3PAR examples Github page.

A sample Storage Class:

---
kind: StorageClass
apiVersion: storage.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: sc-gold
provisioner: hpe.com/hpe
parameters:
  provisioning: 'full'
  cpg: 'SSD_r6'
  snapcpg: 'FC_r6'

For supported parameters within a Storage Class, please refer to Storage Class Options.

To help accelerate container application delivery, HPE and Red Hat® are collaborating to optimize Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on HPE platforms, including HPE Synergy, the industry’s first composable infrastructure and HPE 3PAR Storage. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on HPE Synergy and HPE Storage, provides an end-to-end fully integrated container solution that, once assembled, can be configured within hours.

Through the OpenShift Primed program, both HPE 3PAR and Nimble Storage teams have worked hard to ensure customers have Enterprise-grade storage capabilities and features along with showing the commitment HPE has to containers and Red Hat OpenShift.