Tintri VMstore with Hyper-V Best Practice Guide

Transcription

1 TECHNICAL WHITE PAPER Tintri VMstore with Hyper-V Best Practice Guide Technical Best Practices Paper, Rev 1.2, Feb 2nd,

2 Contents Intended Audience... 4 Introduction... 4 VMstore: Application-aware Storage for Hyper-V... 4 VMstore: Robust Integration and Simple Deployment... 4 Consolidated List of Practices... 7 Configuring Hyper-V with Tintri VMstore Networking Tintri VMstore Network Interfaces DNS Configuration Active Directory Configuration Validating Tintri VMstore successfully joins the Active Directory Domain Hyper-V Node Configuration with Tintri VMstore Standalone Hyper-V Manager configuration with Tintri VMstore SCVMM Configuration with Tintri VMstore Adding a Tintri VMstore Storage Device in SCVMM Deploying Virtual Machines Deploying virtual machines in a standalone Hyper-V server Use Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM to deploy a virtual machine Create a virtual machine from the Hyper-V Manager and attach a virtual hard disk Deploying virtual machines using SCVMM VM templates Using Tintri VMstore SnapVM, CloneVM, and ReplicateVM to protect your virtual machines Recovering Virtual Machines from Tintri VMstores Virtual Machine Visibility and Troubleshooting Virtual Resources Performance Analysis Tintri VMstore Performance Dashboard VMstore Performance counters The performance reserves gauge The physical space capacity gauge The days till full counter Performance reserves changers Space changers Virtual Machines Tab IOPS Graph MBps Graph

3 Latency Graph Conclusion References Tintri References Microsoft References Additional References Appendix A Tintri VMstore with LACP Configuration Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) Appendix B Sample script to deploy a Windows VM using Tintri s PowerShell ToolKit Appendix C Sample script to deploy multiple virtual machine using Microsoft s ODX technology and Tintri s zero-space CloneVM feature

4 Intended Audience This document provides best practice guidelines for deploying Tintri VMstore systems in both standalone Hyper-V hosts and Hyper-V clusters in Hyper-V virtualization and private cloud environments. In addition, the paper illustrates the use of VM-level data management services of Tintri VMstore systems to deploy virtual machines using space and performance efficient per-vm clones, protect virtual machines using space efficient snapshots and per-vm replication and restore individual virtual machines in a Hyper-V virtualized data center using Tintri s SnapVM, CloneVM, and ReplicateVM. Administrators responsible for deploying Tintri VMstores in Hyper-V environments with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) will be able to learn and utilize Tintri s per VM features to monitor and manage resources at a VM-level. Introduction VMstore: Application-aware Storage for Hyper-V Tintri VMstore is designed from the ground up for virtualized environments and the cloud. Global enterprises have deployed hundreds of thousands of VMs on Tintri storage systems which run Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint, SAP, VDI workloads, and business critical applications such as Active Directory, and private cloud deployments. With native Microsoft Server Message Block (SMB) 3.0 implementation, Tintri is optimized for Hyper-V for superior performance and reliability. The purpose built SMB 3.0 stack on Tintri VMstore supports key functionalities including Transparent Failover and High Availability (HA) for running enterprise workloads. Through native integration with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and Hyper-V, Tintri offers VM-level visibility and control, enabling millions of Microsoft customers a dramatically simplified experience to virtualize business-critical Microsoft enterprise applications and desktops and accelerates private cloud deployments. Support for SMB 3.0 functionality such as Offloaded Data Transfers (ODX) allows efficient resource utilization allowing users to experience the efficiency of Tintri per-vm cloning technology directly from SCVMM. Tintri smart storage is built using industry s application-aware architecture and FlashFirst design, delivering predictable performance, VM-level data management, and the industry s highest VM density. Tintri VMstore hypervisor agnostic storage platform with application awareness and adaptive learning capabilities are designed to support mixed workloads server, VDI, and dev & test concurrently with built-in VM-level quality-of-service (QoS). VMstore: Robust Integration and Simple Deployment IT administrators with working knowledge of Hyper-V virtualization can deploy and manage Tintri VMstores with ease. When deploying Tintri VMstores for Hyper-V, the following are the minimum requirements: Tintri O/S version or later is required Tintri Automation Toolkit version or later is required Microsoft s System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 R2 rollup 3 or later is required when deploying with SCVMM. NTP server(s) for reliable time sync NOTE: NTP servers don t work well as VMs. At least one non-virtual time source should be used somewhere. Examples of NTP pools are available on pool.ntp.org. 4

5 Tintri VMstore delivers extreme performance, VM density, and a wide variety of powerful data manager features that are seamlessly integrated with Microsoft s SCVMM. Tintri VMstore is supported with standalone Hyper-V nodes and with Hyper-V clusters managed with SCVMM. This best practice guide highlights the following when using Tintri VMstores deployed as a File Server in a Hyper-V environment: Basic setup requirements for deploying Tintri VMstore in a Windows Active Directory environment Architecture overview of a standalone Hyper-V with Tintri VMstore Architecture overview of a SCVMM managed two node Hyper-V cluster with Tintri VMstore Deploy zero-space virtual machines using Tintri s CloneVM feature with Hyper-V Using Tintri Snapshot, CloneVM, and ReplicateVM to protect your hyper-v guests Restore Hyper-V guest machines using Tintri s Automation Toolkit Figure 1-1 shows an example of a Hyper-V deployment with a Tintri VMstore file server. In this example, the Tintri VMstore file server is accessible via SMB share from DC-HyperV (a standalone Hyper-V node) and from a 2 node Hyper-V failover cluster that is managed by a SCVMM 2012 R2 server. Not shown in the configuration is a SQL 2012 server that was also deployed to host the VMM database for the System Center 2012 server. Review the supported versions of SQL server in the Microsoft System Requirements for VMM database in System Center 2012 for SQL server requirements. Additionally, figure 1 also shows two file share paths on the Tintri VMstore that were created from Microsoft s SCVMM server that will be used by the Hyper-V cluster: \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\forclusteredhypervnodes \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\template The ForClusteredHypervNodes is a file share that will be used to store the virtual machines that are created and managed by the Hyper-V cluster nodes. Template is a file share that will be used to store SCVMM virtual machine templates. The use of a Template file share on a Tintri VMstore allows Hyper-V nodes to take advantage of Microsoft Windows Offloaded Data Transfers (ODX) capability and Tintri s zero-space CloneVM feature when virtual machines are cloned from SCVMM virtual machine templates. Although there is no manual action required to setup ODX with Microsoft s Windows to work with Tintri VMstore, review Microsoft s Offloaded Data Transfers for additional information on ODX. 5

6 Figure 1-1 Hyper-V With Tintri VMstore Architecture Overview. Download and review the latest Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup Guide. It is Tintri s recommendation to use the Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup guide to configure and setup your Microsoft Active Directory dependencies to deploy a Tintri VMstore for Hyper-V. The setup guide shows detailed Server Message Block (SMB) path, Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) path, and Active Directory paths for the Tintri VMstore in the Microsoft Active Directory ecosystem. The setup guide also provides detailed a process and requirements that need to be completed by each of the stakeholders in the data center to setup SCVMM servers, Hyper-V servers, and Tintri VMstore in the following areas: DNS Administration Active Directory Administration VMstore Administration Hyper-V Administration DO: Use the Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup Guide for setup and configuration of the required dependencies in your Hyper-V environment to successfully deploy your Tintri VMstore. This best practice guide is a supplement to the setup document. DO: Review Microsoft s Deploy Windows Offloaded Data Transfers for additional information on ODX 6

7 Consolidated List of Practices The table below includes the recommended practices in this document. Click the text on any of the recommendations to jump to the section that corresponds to each recommendation for additional information. DO: Use the Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup Guide for setup and configuration of the required dependencies in your Hyper-V environment to successfully deploy your Tintri VMstore. DO: Review Microsoft s Deploy Windows Offloaded Data Transfers for additional information on ODX DO: Use ping -l f IP-address for end-to-end testing in your Hyper-V environment if jumbo frames with MTU size of 9,000 bytes is required. DO: Review the MSDN blog if you are new to deploying logical networks with SCVMM. DO: Review the Microsoft technet library source for additional information for configuring network settings on a Hyper-V host in VMM. DO: Review the online tutorial from Hyper-V Rockstar for configuring networks and logical switches with SCVMM. DO: Use network tools such as nslookup to verify that the Tintri VMstore s management and data IP network assignments are accurate. It is also recommended to use ping before and after configuring the Tintri VMstore management and data network to verify the ip and FQDN assignments. DO: Use primary and secondary NTP servers to ensure that your Tintri VMstore file server is always synchronized with your SCVMM server and Hyper-V nodes in your Microsoft Hyper-V ecosystem. DO: Ensure that the protocol selected when configuring your directory services on the Tintri VMstore is set to AD. DO: Use verify saved domain join feature from the Tintri VMstore UI if there is a need to troubleshooting domain join issues. DO: It is Tintri s best practice recommendation to follow Microsoft s best practice for virtual AD, DNS, and DC virtual machine deployment to ensure that there is no single point of failure in your Windows Hyper-V production environment. DO: Configure all Hyper-V managers that will access the Tintri VMstore in the Adjust your Tintri s VMstore s settings pop-up window. DO: Set AllowUnencrypted=true in the winrm/config/service of each of the Hyper-V server that will access the Tintri VMstore. DO: Set RequireSecureNegotiate on each of the Hyper-V server that will access the Tintri VMstore file share. DO: Refer to the Hyper-V and SCVMM Administration section of the Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup Guide to set all the required parameters on the Hyper-V servers and the SCVMM server. DO: Use Distributed Key Management (DKM) to store your VMM database encryption keys in Active Directory. Assign a service account for SCVMM that has Full Control permission on the container. DO: Use SQL Failover Clustering or AlwaysOn Availability Groups for your SQL Server hosting your VMM database. DO: Separate the disk storage of the VMM database from the disk used for the Windows host operating system for your SQL server. DO: Deploy your VMM database and the SQL transaction logs with separate virtual hard disks to improve database performance. 7

8 DO: Use SQL failover clustering or SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for your VMM database. DO: Set the RequireSecureNegotiate in the registry of the SCVMM server that will access the Tintri VMstore file share. DO: Create an additional Tintri VMstore file share to host your VM templates and take advantage of Microsoft s ODX technology and Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM features. NOTE: When adding a Tintri VMstore using the SCVMM Add Storage Devices Wizard, the capacity of a Tintri VMstore is not reported in SCVMM. This is due to the fact that Tintri VMstores are not block storage devices and SCVMM only request for capacity from block storage devices. When creating file shares on Tintri VMstores, define the logical capacity of your file shares so that you can fully utilize the total effective usable capacity on each of the Tintri VMstore. From the SCVMM File Servers work page, the Tintri VMstore total capacity will be reflected as a cumulative of the files shares that are created on a Tintri VMstore. For each file share on a Tintri VMstore, SCVMM has enforcements on the logical capacity. DO: Create a Tintri VMstore file share and define a size that is greater than zero and add new file shares as needed using SCVMM DO: Use the Tintri VMstore dashboard to monitor the performance reserves and physical space for new virtual machine deployments. DO: Add the SCVMM Run As account to the SCVMM Library Server in order to take advantage of the Tintri VMstore as a template file share. DO: Use dynamically expanding virtual hard disk for virtual machines deployed in Tintri VMstores. DO: A Hyper-V Windows virtual machine can be deployed as a file share witness for a new Hyper-V Failover Cluster. DO: It is Tintri s recommendation to ensure that all your Hyper-V servers within the same Failover Manager Cluster is up-to-date with Windows updates. Also verify that the Windows updates are patched across the board for all your Hyper-V servers within the Fail0ver Cluster. DO: It is recommended to to keep the virtual machine hard disk and virtual machine files together for management purposes. For example, copy the virtual machine hard disk into the new virtual machine location in \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd\new2. DO: The sample script is a guide and does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. You can use this guide to write and test your own scripts in your Hyper-V environment. DO: Review the Microsoft s virtual machine generations documentation and determine your virtual machine requirements before deploying. The generation type of the virtual machine cannot be changed once it is deployed. DO: Install the latest integration services on your virtual machines. If using SCVMM VM template, verify that the integration services of the VM is up-to-date before converting the virtual machine into a VM template. The Linux integration services download is available from Microsoft here. DO: Use Windows PowerShell scripting to deploy more than 1 virtual machine using SCVMM VM templates. The SCVMM sample script is a guide and does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. You can use this guide to write and test your own scripts in your Hyper-V environment. DO: Use Tintri s PowerShell toolkit to create powerful automated scripts to manage your Hyper-V virtual datacenter. The sample script is a guide and it does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. You can use this guide to write and test your own restore scripts in your Hyper-V environment. DO: Review the Microsoft import-vm documentation for additional parameter details. 8

9 DO: Tintri recommends using the following Microsoft solution to resolve import-vm issue from CLI before another import-vm attempt. DO: It is Tintri s recommendation to use the Migrate Storage Wizard in SCVMM and select Automatically place all VHDs with the configuration for the restored virtual machine to simplify the management of the restored virtual machine s VHDs with the configuration in the DR Hyper-V environment. DO: If LOG-VCACHE-0028 alert notices appear on the Tintri VMstore, verify that the physical network connections between the Hyper-V servers and the Tintri VMstores are properly cabled and connected. DO: Use the VMstore Performance Dashboard to view the performance of the Hyper-V VMs. DO: Use the Latency counter to pinpoint the source of latency in the Oracle VM and VMDK files. Note: A Tintri VMstore supports layer2+3 load balancing algorithm. DO: Use LACP with Tintri VMstores only for the purpose of network switch redundancy. 9

10 Configuring Hyper-V with Tintri VMstore Networking Tintri VMstore Network Interfaces On each Tintri VMstore, there are 2 controllers (active/standby) and every Tintri VMstore is built with redundancy in mind to ensure that your storage for virtualization is always available. Figure 1-2 shows the latest available Tintri VMstore systems networking configuration for the T800 series. Specs shown in the table below are for EACH controller: Figure 1-2 Tintri VMstore T800 series. A Tintri VMstore has the following network port types (see figure 1-3): Admin network Data network Replication network. This network type does not appear until a replication network card is present. By default, a highly available Tintri VMstore operates using one active and one standby physical interface for both the admin network and data (storage) network interfaces on each controller., If a network interface or a controller fails, the available network interface or the standby controller will seamlessly take over. From the Hyper-V manager or the Failover Cluster Manager, virtual machines will keep running and users will not notice any difference in the level of service during a failover on a Tintri VMstore. Figure 1-3 Tintri VMstore Controllers with Active/Standby 10

11 Optionally, LACP can be implemented to make both admin and/or data network interfaces operate active/active. See the Appendix at the bottom of this guide for details on configuring LACP. For additional details on LACP with Tintri VMstore, refer to Appendix A - Tintri VMstore with LACP configuration. For larger Ethernet maximum transmission unit (MTU) size, Tintri VMstores support an MTU size of 9,000 bytes. If using jumbo frames with MTU size of 9,000 bytes, remember to explicitly configure your physical Ethernet switches and virtual switches to MTU 9,000 bytes. Perform end-to-end tests in your Hyper-V environment to ensure that the MTU size is supported. Use ping -l f IP-address and test your Hyper-V environment. DO: In Windows, use ping -l f IP-address for end-to-end testing in your Hyper-V environment if jumbo frames with MTU size of 9,000 bytes is required. From Tintri VMstore, use ping M do s 8972 ip-address. NIC teaming is always recommended to minimize the possibility a link or a network interface card (NIC) failure will cause a service outage. There are many blogs that provide very detailed guidance on how to setup NIC teaming with SCVMM. For example, the following MSDN blog provides detailed screenshot examples in how to setup and deploy logical networks with SCVMM. Additionally, the Microsoft technet library is a great source. One additional online tutorial that really stands out and explains everything that you will want to know about configuring networks and logical switches with SCVMM is the tutorial from Hyper-V Rockstar. DO: Review the MSDN blog if you are new to deploying logical networks with SCVMM. DO: Review the Microsoft technet library source for additional information for configuring network settings on a Hyper- V host in VMM. DO: Review the online tutorial from Hyper-V Rockstar for configuring networks and logical switches with SCVMM. DNS Configuration When configuring a Tintri VMstore for Hyper-V, there are 2 DNS requirements: The Tintri VMstore s system hostname for VMstore management mapped to the admin IP address. The Tintri VMstore hostname must have a DNS A record that resolves to the admin IP. The Tintri VMstore s 10GigE data network mapped to a unique IP address that is separate from the admin IP address assignment For example, figure 2-1 shows the use of nslookup from the SCVMM server or the Hyper-V nodes to verify that the FQDN and the forward IP lookup of the Tintri VMstore management IP and the Tintri VMstore data network resolves. It is also a good idea to perform ping tests before and after the IP assignment to the Tintri VMstore to verify that the Tintri VMstore is reachable and the IP address assignment is accurate from the SCVMM server and the Hyper-V nodes. Refer to the Microsoft Naming Conventions in AD for additional Microsoft requirements with computer names and DNS host names. 11

12 Figure 2-1 nslookup from the SCVMM or the Hyper-V nodes to verify FQDN and forward IP lookups for the Tintri VMstore. DO: Use network tools such as nslookup to verify that the Tintri VMstore s management and data IP network assignments are accurate. You can also use nslookup and ping before and after configuring the Tintri VMstore management and data network to verify the ip and FQDN assignments. Active Directory Configuration In a Microsoft Active Directory (AD) ecosystem, it is a requirement that all hosts clocks be kept synchronized within a few minutes (no more than 5 minutes). Therefore, it is Tintri s recommendation that NTP be used to keep the VMstores clocks synchronized with other network hosts. Figure 2-2 shows the Tintri VMstore User Interface (UI) pop-up window to set the date and time services. Configure the primary NTP and secondary NTP servers for redundancy. This ensures that the Tintri VMstore is always up-to-date and available as a file server. Figure 2-2 Tintri VMstore Date and Time Setting using NTP servers When configuring your active directory services on the Tintri VMstore, ensure that the protocol selected is AD, save your configuration when completed (see figure 2-3). The save process should attempt to join the Active Directory domain. Tintri VMstore also has an optional verify saved domain join feature that helps to validate that the Tintri VMstore is joined to the Microsoft Active Directory. 12

13 Figure 2-3 Saving active directory services configuration on the Tintri VMstore. If the Tintri VMstore date and time services is not synchronized with your Active Directory services, the attempt to join the Tintri VMstore to the AD domain will fail with an error message similar to the following in figure 2-4. Figure 2-4 Tintri VMstore fails to join AD because of time sync issues. NOTE: An updated pop-up window will show an accurate clock skew error. Use the Tintri VMstore UI to your advantage; it is feature rich with statistics and alerts that will help you when deploying a Tintri VMstore for Hyper-V. Troubleshooting virtualization resources with Tintri VMstore as a Hyper-V file server is simpler and easier in comparison with other traditional LUN storage for a virtualized data center as Tintri VMstores are built, from the ground up, with virtualization in mind. When creating Active Directory domain groups to host the required accounts, set the Group Type: Security to ensure that access control to resources is available for the objects that you are adding as group members in the Group object (see figure 2-5). By default, the Group Scope is Global. Tintri VMstores support any of the group scopes. For additional information on the AD Group Scope, review Microsoft s Group Type and Scope Usage in Windows article. 13

14 Figure 2-5 Adding new Group object into Active Directory for Tintri VMstores. Validating Tintri VMstore successfully joins the Active Directory Domain With the correct FQDN and IP address assignment for the Tintri VMstore management and data network interface, the Tintri VMstore UI should show the following success when verify saved domain join is executed and joined to the AD domain (see figure 2-6). Figure 2-6 Tintri VMstore verified successful join to the DCAD2.local domain. DO: Use primary and secondary NTP servers to ensure that your Tintri VMstore file server is always synchronized with your SCVMM server and Hyper-V nodes in your Microsoft Hyper-V ecosystem. DO: Ensure that the protocol selected when configuring your directory services on the Tintri VMstore is set to AD. DO: Use verify saved domain join feature from the Tintri VMstore UI if there is a need to troubleshooting domain join issues. It is very important that your Microsoft Hyper-V server dependencies are built with no single point of failure. For example, SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups, Microsoft Exchange Database Availability Groups and Hyper-V servers are all dependent on DNS, Active Directory and the Domain Controllers. It is Tintri s best practice recommendation to follow Microsoft s best practice for virtual AD, DNS, and DC virtual machine deployment to ensure that there is no single point of failure in your Windows production environment. DO: It is Tintri s best practice recommendation to follow Microsoft s best practice for virtual AD, DNS, and DC virtual machine deployment to ensure that there is no single point of failure in your Windows Hyper-V production environment. Hyper-V Server Configuration with Tintri VMstore When a Tintri VMstore has joined the Active Directory domain and we ve verified domain join status using the Verify saved domain join from the Tintri VMstore UI. The next step requires test login from the Tintri VMstore to the Hyper-V server. Add the Hyper-V manager into the Tintri VMstore and execute Test hypervisor managers from the Tintri s Adjust your VMstore s settings pop-up window. All Hyper-V servers 14

15 that will access the Tintri VMstore must be configured in the Hypervisor managers section. Figure 2-7 shows a failure that could occur when Tintri s hypervisor test fails a Hyper-V manager log in test. Figure 2-7 Test hypervisor managers failed to login to Hyper-V server. A possible cause for the http response code: [500] failure is the parameter AllowUnencrypted=true was not set in the winrm/config/services on the Hyper-V server. This parameter is required on each of the Hyper-V server and the SCVMM host that will access the Tintri VMstore file shares. Refer to the Hyper-V and SCVMM Administration section of the Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup Guide to setup the Hyper-V host. You could also execute winrm get winrm/config/service to verify if the AllowUnencrypted parameter has been configured on the Hyper-V server (see figure 2-8 Reviewing the Hyper-V server winrm settings). Figure 2-8 Reviewing the Hyper-V server winrm settings Figure 2-9 shows another possible http response code: [401] failure that could occur. This failure is due to the lack of group membership for the server. The fix for response code: [401] is to ensure that the group membership is assigned to the Hyper-V server has service account access. 15

16 Figure 2-9 Test hypervisor managers failed to login to the Hyper-V server. The registry setting on each of the Hyper-V server and SCVMM host must also include the RequireSecureNegotiate parameter (see figure 2-10). It is important that the registry parameter is set correctly with TYPE: REG_DWORD and in the correct location. Access to the Tintri VMstore will fail with permission denied if this registry parameter is not set on the Hyper-V server and the SCVMM server that will access the Tintri VMstore. Figure 2-10 RequireSecureNegotiate set in the registry of the Hyper-V server With the required parameters and registry setting configured on the Hyper-V servers, the Test hypervisor managers verification should complete successfully. For example, figure 2-11 shows a successful verification of test login for all three Hyper-V servers. 16

17 Figure 2-11 Test hypervisor managers completes successfully for all Hyper-V managers Standalone Hyper-V Server configuration with Tintri VMstore A Tintri VMstore file share can be presented to a Hyper-V server as: UNC mount path on a standalone Hyper-V server (see figure 2-12) Figure 2-12 Standalone Hyper-V host default folder points to a Tintri VMstore UNC path Mapped network drive on a standalone Hyper-V server (see figure 2-13) 17

18 Figure 2-13 Tintri VMstore mapped to network drive Z: on the standalone Hyper-V server Figure 2-13 shows the Tintri VMstore UNC data path, \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd, mapped to drive Z:\ on the Hyper-V server. The Hyper-V manager settings is updated to reference drive map Z:\ for the virtual machine hard disks and the virtual machine configuration files on the Hyper-V server. Although using mapped drives are supported, do not use mapped network drive in the Hyper-V Settings Window with Tintri VMstores. Tintri recommends using the UNC path as shown in figure 2-12 so that the standalone Hyper-V server is accessing the Tintri VMstore file share. Using a mapped network drive in the Hyper-V Settings Window can lead to errors as a mapped network drive can be inadvertently dropped or manually remapped. DO: Configure all Hyper-V servers that will access the Tintri VMstore in the Adjust your Tintri s VMstore s settings popup window. DO: Set AllowUnencrypted=true in the winrm/config/service of each of the Hyper-V server that will access the Tintri VMstore. DO: Use Tintri VMstore s UNC path in the Hyper-V Settings for the Virtual Hard Disks and Virtual Machines attributes on standalone Hyper-V servers. 18

19 DO NOT: Use mapped network drive for the Virtual Hard Disks and Virtual Machines in the Hyper-V Settings Window on standalone Hyper-V servers. A mapped network drive can be inadvertantly dropped or manually remapped. A remapped network drive could lead to Hyper-V virtual machine errors. DO: Set RequireSecureNegotiate on each of the Hyper-V server that will access the Tintri VMstore file share. DO: Refer to the Hyper-V and SCVMM Administration section of the Tintri SCVMM and Hyper-V Setup Guide to set all the required parameters on the Hyper-V servers and the SCVMM server. SCVMM Configuration with Tintri VMstore When installing SCVMM, review Microsoft s System Center Getting Started Guide for preparing your SCVMM 2012 R2 environment. In addition, when deploying your SQL server for the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) database, it is Microsoft s recommendation to separate the disk storage of the VMM database from the disk used for the Windows host operating system. This best practice process helps to improve the performance of the VMM database. Figure 2-14 shows how the VMM database and transaction log directories are deployed on different disks in a SQL 2012 server for improved database performance. An SQL AOAG can be deployed on a Tintri VMstore for the VMM database. To ensure your VMM database is highly available, it is Microsoft s recommendation to use SQL failover clustering or AlwaysOn Availability Groups. It is Tintri s best practice recommendation to deploy your VMM database and the SQL transaction logs using separate virtual hard disks to improve database performance. Figure 2-14 VMM database and the SQL transaction log are deployed in separate disks for performance purposes. By default, when installing a new SCVMM server, the SCVMM database encryption keys are stored in the registry of your SCVMM local host. However, it is a Microsoft best practice recommendation to store your database encryption keys using Distributed Key Management (DKM) for SCVMM HA installations (see figure 2-15). The service account that has access management for Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) must have Full Control permissions on the container. 19

20 Figure 2-15 Use DKM to store your VMM database encryption keys. DO: Use Distributed Key Management (DKM) to store your VMM database encryption keys in Active Directory. Assign a service account for SCVMM that has Full Control permission on the container. For additional information on SCVMM requirements and installation, refer to the Microsoft System Center Technical Documentation Library. The Microsoft System Center Getting Started guide provides detailed procedures in preparing and setting up your System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager. DO: Use SQL Failover Clustering or AlwaysOn Availability Groups for your SQL Server hosting your VMM database. DO: Separate the disk storage of the VMM database from the disk used for the Windows host operating system for your SQL server. DO: Deploy your VMM database and the SQL transaction logs with separate virtual hard disks to improve database performance. DO: Use SQL failover clustering or SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups for your VMM database. DO: Set the RequireSecureNegotiate in the registry of the SCVMM server that will access the Tintri VMstore file share. Adding a Tintri VMstore Storage Device in SCVMM In a Hyper-V cluster managed by SCVMM, a Tintri VMstore file share is presented as: A file server managed within SCVMM (see figure 2-16) Figure 2-16 Tintri VMstore configured as a file server on the SCVMM server 20

21 To add a Tintri VMstore file share, a Tintri VMstore file server must be configured into the Hyper-V cluster managed by SCVMM from the Storage pane under the Fabric workspace. Figure 2-17 shows how to add a Tintri VMstore file server from SCVMM. Figure 2-17 SCVMM: Add Storage Device Wizard In the Specify Discovery Scope, select the protocol and the FQDN of the Tintri VMstore (see figure 2-18). Select Next to continue. Complete the Add Storage Device Wizard to configure your Tintri VMstore as a file server. Figure 2-18 SCVMM: Specify Discovery Scope When adding a Tintri VMstore as an SMI-S file server storage device, SCVMM may present the following registration failure with ID: (see figure 2-18(a)) claiming a problem with the supplied run-as account credentials. Verify that the credentials are correct and also confirm that the run-as account is a member of the Active Directory group that has been assigned a role on the VMstore. The pop-up message could still be generated even when everything is configured correctly. To validate the configuration, attempt to create a new file share on the Tintri VMstore. If a new file share can be created, the pop-up Window message with ID: can be ignored. 21

22 Figure 2-18 (a) Registration of storage provider failed with ID: When adding a Tintri VMstore using the SCVMM Add Storage Devices Wizard, the capacity of a Tintri VMstore is not reported in SCVMM. This is due to the fact that Tintri VMstores are not block storage devices and SCVMM only request for capacity from block storage devices. When creating file shares on Tintri VMstores, define the logical capacity of your file shares so that you can fully utilize the total effective usable capacity on each of the Tintri VMstore. From the SCVMM File Servers work page, the Tintri VMstore total capacity will be reflected as a cumulative of the files shares that are created on a Tintri VMstore. For each file share on a Tintri VMstore, SCVMM has enforcements on the logical capacity. Create a file share and define a size that is greater than zero and add new file shares as needed. Use the Tintri VMstore dashboard to monitor the performance reserves and physical space for new virtual machine deployments. When a Tintri VMstore has been added as a file server in SCVMM, use the SCVMM Fabric workspace to create a file share from the Tintri VMstore (see figure 2-19). Figure 2-19 SCVMM: Create File Share When a Tintri VMstore file share has been successfully created in SCVMM, go to the Hyper-V cluster server properties in the SCVMM Fabric workspace and add the Tintri VMstore file share into the Hyper-V cluster as shown in the example in figure Figure 2-20 SCVMM: Add file share 22

23 A Tintri VMstore file share is now available to the SCVMM managed Hyper-V Cluster. It is Tintri s recommendation to create an additional Tintri VMstore file share that will hold VM templates (see figure 2-21). A VM template file share hosted on a Tintri VMstore will allow SCVMM to utilize ODX and take advantage of Tintri s CloneVM feature. Tintri s CloneVM feature can deploy virtual machines from VM templates quickly and efficiently with zero-space clones. Figure 2-21 Tintri VMstore template file share DO: Create an additional Tintri VMstore file share to host your VM templates and take advantage of Microsoft s ODX technology and Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM features. NOTE: When adding a Tintri VMstore using the SCVMM Add Storage Devices Wizard, the capacity of a Tintri VMstore is not reported in SCVMM. This is due to the fact that Tintri VMstores are not block storage devices and SCVMM only request for capacity from block storage devices. When creating file shares on Tintri VMstores, define the logical capacity of your file shares so that you can fully utilize the total effective usable capacity on each of the Tintri VMstore. From the SCVMM File Servers work page, the Tintri VMstore total capacity will be reflected as a cumulative of the files shares that are created on a Tintri VMstore. For each file share on a Tintri VMstore, SCVMM has enforcements on the logical capacity. DO: Create a Tintri VMstore file share and define a size that is greater than zero and add new file shares as needed using SCVMM DO: Use the Tintri VMstore dashboard to monitor the performance reserves and physical space for new virtual machine deployments. When adding a template file share, make sure that the SCVMM Library Server uses the SCVMM Run As credential. If the SCVMM Library Server does not have the library management credential, any attempts to add the Tintri VMstore files share to the SCVMM Library Server will fail with the following error as shown in figure Figure 2-22 SCVMM Library Server does not have the management credential to access the Tintri VMstore file share. 23

24 To resolve the SCVMM Library Server management credential, update the SCVMM Library management credential for the Library Server (see figure 2-23). Figure 2-23 SCVMM Library Server updated with the Library management credential using the SCVMM Run As account. DO: Add the SCVMM Run As account to the SCVMM Library Server in order to take advantage of the Tintri VMstore as a template file share. Tintri s space and performance provide effcient way to deploy virtual machines. Clones take up zero additional space when deployed and share all the data and metadata with the snapshot from which they are created. Figure 2-24 shows a 20GB VM (with a single dynamically expanding virtual disk) deployed in seconds using Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM features. Tintri recommends using dynamically expanding virtual hard disks to deploy Hyper-V virtual machines on Tintri VMstores. Figure 2-24 A 20GB VM (dynamic disk) deployed in seconds using Microsoft s ODX and Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM features. It is also worth noting that when creating a new Hyper-V Failover Cluster, use a Windows file share server for quorum management. Deploy a new virtual machine in your Hyper-V environment and install the filer server role on your Windows virtual machine. When deploying a new Hyper-V Failover Cluster, you can use a Hyper-V virtual machine as a file share witness for your Hyper-V cluster for quorum management. Figure 2-25 shows an example of a Hyper-V virtual machine (FQDN: DC-QUORUM.dcad2.local) deployed as a file share witness in the Cluster Core Resources. It is Tintri s recommendation to ensure that all your Hyper-V servers within the same Failover Manager Cluster is up-to-date with Windows updates. Also verify that the Windows updates are patched across the board for all your Hyper-V servers within the Fail0ver Cluster. The File Share Witness virtual machine should also be made highly available in the Hyper-V Failover Cluster. 24

25 Figure 2-25 A Windows File Share Server Witness for Hyper-V Cluster Quorum management. DO: Use dynamically expanding virtual hard disk for virtual machines deployed in Tintri VMstores. DO: A Hyper-V Windows virtual machine can be deployed as a file share witness for a new Hyper-V Failover Cluster. The virtual machine should be a highly available machine within the Hyper-V Failover Cluster. DO: It is Tintri s recommendation to ensure that all your Hyper-V servers within the same Failover Manager Cluster is upto-date with Windows updates. Also verify that the Windows updates are patched across the board for all your Hyper-V servers within the Fail0ver Cluster. Deploying Virtual Machines Deploying virtual machines in a standalone Hyper-V server When deploying virtual machines in a standalone Hyper-V environment, a virtualization administrator can take advantage of Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM features with Microsoft s ODX. For example, if we have the following Tintri VMstore UNC share \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd and the file share is accessible from the standalone Hyper-V server using the UNC path, the Hyper-V administrator can deploy a Windows virtual machine with the following supported methods: a) Use Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM to deploy a virtual machine b) Create a virtual machine from the Hyper-V server and attach a virtual hard disk Use Tintri s SnapVM and CloneVM to deploy a virtual machine. This method requires the following steps: 1. Deploy a virtual machine image in the Tintri SMB share with Windows sysprep. Install the latest Windows integration services on the virtual machine. Select generalize and shutdown the virtual machine (see figure 3-1). This is your virtual machine template. Figure 3-1 Windows sysprep on a virtual machine 25

26 2. From the Tintri VMstore UI, use SnapVM to create a crash consistent Tintri snapshot of the virtual machine (see figure 3-2). Figure 3-2 Tintri SnapVM 3. Use Tintri s PowerShell toolkit (version or later) to restore the virtual machine snapshot into the Tintri VMstore SMB share and use the rename-vm option to rename the restored virtual machine. Start the virtual machine and complete your sysprep configuration to deploy the new virtual machine. Figure 3-3 shows a sample script of how to use Tintri s PowerShell toolkit with Microsoft s import-vm command. The sample script is a guide and does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. The script below (see Appendix B Deploy a Windows VM using Tintri s PowerShell toolkit on a Hyper-V server) is provided as is and require customization based on environmental needs. It is strongly recommended that you test and customize the scripts for use in in your Hyper-V environment. Figure 3-3 Deploy a Windows VM using Tintri s PowerShell toolkit on a Hyper-V server 4. A new virtual machine is successfully deployed in your standalone Hyper-V environment (see figure 3-4). Figure 3-4 A new Windows VM deployed using Tintri s PowerShell toolkit installed on a Hyper-V server 26

27 Create a virtual machine from the Hyper-V Manager and attach a virtual hard disk. This method requires the following steps: 1. Deploy a virtual machine image on the Tintri VMstore SMB share with Windows sysprep. Install the latest Windows Integration Services on your virtual machine. Select generalize and shutdown the virtual machine. This is your virtual machine template. 2. Deploy a new virtual machine using the Hyper-V manager wizard (see figure 3-5) and use a Tintri VMstore SMB share location. Select Attach a virtual hard disk later. In this example, the new virtual machine is deployed in \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd\new2. Figure 3-5 Deploy a new virtual machine and attach a virtual disk later 3. When the new virtual machine is created. Copy the virtual machine hard disk from the virtual machine template location to the new location in the Tintri SMB share. It is recommended to keep the virtual machine hard disks and virtual machine files together for management purposes. For example, copy the virtual machine hard disk into \\hqtmt820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd\new2. DO: It is recommended to keep the virtual machine hard disk and virtual machine files together for management purposes. For example, if the virtual machines files are located in the UNC path \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd\new2, you can copy the virtual machine hard disk into \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\hyperv\vhd\new2 from the standalone Hyper-V server. DO: The sample script is a guide and does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. You can use this guide to write and test your own scripts in your Hyper-V environment. 4. Right click on the new virtual machine and select Settings. Add a virtual hard disk to the new virtual machine by using Browse (see figure 3-6). 27

28 Figure 3-6 Attach an existing virtual machine disk to the new virtual machine from Hyper-V manager 5. Select the copied virtual hard disk and attach it to the new virtual machine. Figure 3-7 Select the copied virtual hard disk and attach it to the new virtual machine 6. A new virtual machine is successfully created. Start the virtual machine and complete the Windows sysprep process and deploy the virtual machine. Figure 3-8 A new virtual machine is deployed in the standalone Hyper-V server Tintri VMstores support generation 1 and generation 2 virtual machines. However, there are differences in Hyper-V supported features with generation 1 and generation 2 virtual machines. Review Microsoft s virtual machine generations documentation for additional information. When a virtual machine is deployed, the generation type of the virtual machine cannot be changed. In addition, before performing sysprep on a virtual machine, it is Tintri s recommendation to verify that the integration services is installed on your virtual machine. The linux integration services download is available from Microsoft here. DO: Review the Microsoft s virtual machine generations documentation and determine your virtual machine requirements before deploying. The generation type of the virtual machine cannot be changed once it is deployed. DO: Install the latest integration services on your virtual machines. If using SCVMM VM template, verify that the integration services of the VM is up-to-date before converting the virtual machine into a VM template. The Linux integration services download is available from Microsoft here. 28

29 Deploying virtual machines using SCVMM VM templates If a Hyper-V Failover Cluster is managed by SCVMM, a Hyper-V Administrator can take advantage of SCVMM s VM template. The use of VM templates is also supported with Tintri VMstores. This requires creating a file share on the Tintri VMstore that will be used as your SCVMM template repository. To take advantage of Microsoft s ODX technology with Tintri VMstores, the VM template must be on a Tintri VMstore that is accessible by the Hyper-V nodes in the Failover Cluster and by the SCVMM server. Refer to the SCVMM Configuration with Tintri VMstore section of this document for details on how to add a Tintri VMstore file server and create file shares from the SCVMM server. From the SCVMM manager UI, you can deploy virtual machines from VM templates. The creation of a new virtual machine will utilize ODX to offload the process to the Tintri VMstore. Figure 3-9 shows the Hyper-V Cluster managed by SCVMM and how to create virtual machine. Figure 3-9 Create virtual machine from SCVMM Administrator Continue with the SCVMM Create Virtual Machine Wizard, select a VM template that is on the Tintri VMstore file share. For example, Dom1Template in figure 3-10 resides on the following Tintri VMstore SMB share that is accessible from the SCVMM manager and the Hyper-V nodes within the Failover Cluster: \\hqtmt820data.dcad2.local\template. Complete the Create Virtual Machine Wizard to deploy a virtual machine using a VM template. Figure 3-10 Dom1Template VM template resides in: \\hqtm-t820data.dcad2.local\template. Select the running jobs within the SCVMM Administrator Management Interface (see figure 3-11). Review the details of the current Create Virtual Machine job. When ODX is utilized, the Deploy file (using Fast File Copy) shows the Hyper-V Cluster taking advantage of ODX to quickly deploy zero-space clone virtual machines. 29

30 Figure 3-11 Virtual machines deployed using Microsoft s ODX technology and Tintri s zero-space CloneVM feature. To deploy more than 1 virtual machine in a SCVMM environment, Windows PowerShell scripting is required. Figure 3-12 is a sample script. The following script is a guide and it does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. The script below is provided as-is (see Appendix C Sample script to deploy multiple virtual machine using Microsoft s ODX technology and Tintri s zero-space CloneVM feature) and require customization based on environmental needs. It is strongly recommended that you customize the scripts for use in in your Hyper-V environment. Figure 3-12 Sample script to deploy multiple virtual machines using Microsoft s ODX technology and Tintri s zero-space CloneVM feature. DO: Use Windows PowerShell scripting to deploy more than 1 virtual machine using SCVMM VM templates. The SCVMM sample script is a guide and does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. You can use this guide to write and test your own scripts in your Hyper-V environment. A Hyper-V Administrator can review the use of ODX by reviewing the Virtual Machines tab in the Tintri VMstore UI. Add the Clone Count column into the Snapshots page, when Microsoft ODX and Tintri zerospace CloneVM is utilized to deploy new virtual machines, the clone count of the source VM template will increment (see figure 3-13). 30

31 Figure 3-13 Tintri VMstore UI shows the Clone Count column in Snapshots field. Using Tintri VMstore SnapVM, CloneVM, and ReplicateVM to protect your virtual machines Any virtual machines deployed in a Tintri VMstore can be protected with Tintri s SnapVM, CloneVM, and ReplicateVM features. System wide default settings can be used to protect all the virtual machines deployed on a VMstore. Adjust your VMstores settings (see figure 4-1). Figure 4-1 Tintri VMstore protection settings. However, no two virtual machine systems may require the same schedule and protection. To protect a virtual machine with different protection requirements, right click on the virtual machine and select Protect (see figure 4-2). Tintri VMstores allow each VM to be protected using separate protection policies. This gives a virtualization administrator the added flexibility and granularity in protecting virtual machines with different requirements. In the Protect window, a virtualization administrator can determine the local and remote retention policies of the snapshot on a per virtual machine basis. Figure 4-2 Using Tintri s SnapVM, CloneVM and ReplicateVM to protect virtual machines. 31

32 Recovering Virtual Machines from Tintri VMstores To restore your Hyper-V virtual machines, Windows PowerShell and Tintri Automation Toolkit version or later is required. The Tintri Automation Toolkit must be installed on the Hyper-V server that has access to the Tintri VMstore. To restore a virtual machine into a standalone Hyper-V environment, you must write a restore script that utilizes Tintri PowerShell commands and Windows Hyper-V import-vm command. Figure 4-3 is a sample script. The script below is provided as is (see Appendix B) and require customization based on environmental needs. It is strongly recommended that you customize and test the scripts for use in in your Hyper-V environment. Figure 4-3 Restore-tintrivm script using Windows PowerShell and Tintri s PowerShell Toolkit. When attempting to restore a virtual machine that is fully configured with virtual switches and network definitions into a different Hyper-V environment, the import-vm from CLI could fail with the following error (see figure 4-4): Figure 4-4 import-vm failed The configuration error could be caused by a failure to find the original Ethernet switch definition in the new DR Hyper-V environment. Tintri recommends using the following Microsoft solution to resolve the issue from CLI before another import-vm attempt. DO: Use Tintri s PowerShell toolkit to create powerful automated scripts to manage your Hyper-V virtual datacenter. The sample script is a guide and it does not work as-is in another Hyper-V environment. You can use this guide to write and test your own restore scripts in your Hyper-V environment. 32

33 DO: Review the Microsoft import-vm documentation for additional parameter details. DO: Tintri recommends using the following Microsoft import-vm documentation to resolve import-vm issue from CLI before another import-vm attempt. If the import-vm is attempted from the Hyper-V Manager UI (see figure 4-5), the Hyper-V Administrator can manually update the connection and import the virtual machine into the DR Hyper-V environment. Figure 4-5 import-vm failed from Hyper-V Manager UI To restore a virtual machine into a Hyper-V Failover Cluster, you must install the Tintri PowerShell Toolkit on the Hyper-V nodes in the Hyper-V Cluster. Installing the Tintri PowerShell Toolkit on the Hyper-V nodes will allow the Hyper-V Administrator to run Tintri PowerShell Toolkit from any of the Hyper-V nodes. When a virtual machine is restored from the Hyper-V server, the virtual machine will show up in SCVMM with Unsupported VM Configuration (see figure 4-6). The virtual hard disk path must be updated from the Hyper-V server before the virtual machine can be started in a SCVMM environment. Figure 4-6 Restored VM shows up in SCVMM as Unsupported VM Configuration From the Hyper-V server, select the restored virtual machine from the Hyper-V Manager UI. Select the virtual machine settings and remove the hyperv path from the virtual hard disk paths and save the virtual machine settings (see figure 4-7). Updating the virtual hard disk path is only required when attempting to restore a virtual machine into a Hyper-V Failover Cluster with SCVMM. This is because Tintri VMstore file shares are created as \\TintrVMstore\newfileshare. The main mount point \\TintriVMstore\hyperv\ is ignored in SCVMM. 33

34 Figure 4-7 Remove hyperv path from the virtual hard disk of the restored virtual machine The updated virtual machine hard disk settings with hyperv path removed should look like the example in figure 4-8. Click Apply and OK to save your changes for the restored virtual machine. Figure 4-8 Updated virtual hard disk of the restored virtual machine 34

35 From the SCVMM manager, refresh the virtual machines on the Hyper-V node in the Hyper-V Cluster (see figure 4-9). Figure 4-9 Refresh Virtual Machines on the Hyper-V node from SCVMM The restored virtual machine should show up in the VMs and Services of the SCVMM virtual machine view. It is Tintri s recommendation to use the Migrate Storage Wizard in SCVMM and select Automatically place all VHDs with the configuration for the restored virtual machine to simplify the management of the restored virtual machine s VHDs with the configuration in the DR Hyper-V environment (see figure 4-9). Figure 4-9 Migrate Storage Wizard DO: It is Tintri s recommendation to use the Migrate Storage Wizard in SCVMM and select Automatically place all VHDs with the configuration for the restored virtual machine to simplify the management of the restored virtual machine s VHDs with the configuration in the DR Hyper-V environment. Virtual Machine Visibility and Troubleshooting Virtual Resources Tintri VMstores also provide visibility into storage behavior at the virtual machine level. This makes it simple to debug possible performance issues across the entire infrastructure host, network and storage a snap. In the following example in figure 5-1, a Hyper-V administrator can mouse over to the latency column for Demo2-1 virtual machine and quickly see a visualization of the causes of the latency to that particular VM. In addition, virtualization administrators of multi-hypervisors can use the same Tintri VMstore to host virtual machines that are created with multiple hypervisors and still manage a virtualized data center at the virtual machine and virtual disk level. 35