QNAP Plug-in for vsphere Client: A User s Guide. Updated December 2012. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. V1.0

QNAP Plug-in for vsphere Client: A User s Guide Updated December 2012 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. V1.0

Note: The information presented is subject to change without notice. Trademarks QNAP and the QNAP logo are trademarks of QNAP Systems, Inc. All brands and product names referred to are trademarks of their respective holders. Further, the or symbols are not used in the text. Disclaimer In no event shall the liability of QNAP Systems, Inc. (QNAP) exceed the price paid for the product from direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use of the product, its accompanying software, or its documentation. QNAP makes no warranty or representation, expressed, implied, or statutory, with respect to its products or the contents or use of this documentation and all accompanying software, and specifically disclaims its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. QNAP reserves the right to revise or update its products, software, or documentation without obligation to notify any individual or entity. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS DOCUMENT PURPOSE... 3 FUNCTIONALITIES DESCRIPTION... 3 QNAP vsphere Plug-in introduction and benefits... 3 Plug-in installation... 5 NAS Storage... 6 DATASTORES MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION... 8 Functions... 8 Scope... 8 USER GUIDE HOW TO... 10 Create a Datastore... 10 Disconnect/Unmount a Datastore... 11 DATASTORE DISCONNECTION... 11 DATASTORE RESCONNECTION... 12 Destroy a Datastore... 13 Status Monitor... 14 Supported environment... 16 Supported NAS firmware:... 16 Supported VMware products (minimum requirements):... 16 Supported vsphere Client installation environment:... 16 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

DOCUMENT PURPOSE The purpose of this document is to introduce the benefits of the QNAP vsphere plug-in and to provide a guide for using the major functions of the plug-in. FUNCTIONALITIES DESCRIPTION QNAP VSPHERE PLUG-IN INTRODUCTION AND BENEFITS The vsphere Client Plug-in for QNAP Turbo NAS is an interface between ESXi and the Turbo NAS. vsphere client integration allows managing VMware datastores on the QNAP Turbo NAS directly from the vsphere client console, and verifying the status of all QNAP Turbo NAS managed by the QNAP vsphere plug-in. Benefits: Easy creation of additional datastores for multiple ESXi hosts in just a few clicks! Easy status control of the Turbo NAS and datastores. Support for NFS or iscsi datastores. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3

Without the QNAP Plug-in: - Connect to the NAS - Create LUN target on the NAS - Create the LUN on the NAS - Connect to vsphere Client - Connect the ESXi #1 to the target - Rescan all HBA - Create the datastore - Connect the ESXi #2 to the target - Rescan all HBA - Connect the ESXi #xx to the target - Rescan all HBA With the QNAP Plug-in: - Connect to vsphere Client - Create a datastore - Wait for the plug-in to do the job 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4

PLUG-IN INSTALLATION To install the plug-in simply run the QNAP_vsphere_plug-in_setup.exe from the local computer where the vsphere client is installed. Follow the instructions to install the plug-in. To verify if the plug-in is installed, or to check the plug-in version, open the vsphere Client console and navigate to the menu Plug-ins. The QNAP plug-in is listed in vsphere Client plug-in manager after installation: Once the plug-in has been installed, follow the steps below to add a QNAP Turbo NAS to be managed by the plug-in and create a new datastore. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5

NAS STORAGE Add a QNAP Turbo NAS to the plug-in: 1. Select your Datacenter or Cluster. Then click the QNAP tab on the right panel. 2. Add a Turbo NAS in the plug-in storages by clicking Add QNAP Storage. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6

Note: Enable iscsi Security: Select this option to enable LUN masking on the QNAP Turbo NAS. All the new LUN created on the datastore by the plug-in will be secured with LUN Masking, so that only the VMware hosts with access right to the LUN can read and write data to the LUN. Enable NFS Security: Select this option to enable NFS host access control, and allow only the VMware hosts to connect to the NFS shares that will be used as datastore. Once one or multiple QNAP Storages have been added to the plug-in, you can create, mount, unmount, or destroy the datastores. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7

DATASTORES MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION FUNCTIONS The plug-in offers different components with specific features. The available functions in the plug-in are: - Create a datastore (NFS or iscsi) - Un-mount/disconnect a datastore - Mount/connect a datastore - Destroy a datastore SCOPE The plug-in supports different datastore processes, depending on the user configuration. If ESXi is used alone without vcenter, the plug-in will operate on the host only. If the vsphere Client is connected to a vcenter server, the plug-in will be able to operate on multiple VMware hosts to facilitate each process. Operations from ESXi host: o Creation: The datastore will be created only on the selected host. o Disconnect/Connect: The datastore can be disconnected from or connected to the selected host. o Deletion: The datastore will be disconnected from all connected hosts, and will be destroyed and all the content will be deleted. Operations from VMware Cluster: The datastore can be created on all members of the Cluster. o Creation: By default all the cluster members will be selected in order to create and connect the new datastore to all hosts. Users can unselect some hosts when the new datastore is not required on all hosts. o Disconnect/connect: By default all the cluster members will be selected in order to disconnect a datastore from or connect it to the selected hosts. o Deletion: The datastore will be disconnected from all connected hosts, and will be destroyed and all the content will be deleted. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8

Operations from the VMware Datacenter: The datastore can be created on all members of the Datacenter. o Creation: By default all the cluster members will be selected in order to create and connect the new datastore to all hosts. Users can unselect some hosts on the new datastore that are not required on all hosts. o Disconnect/connect: By default all the cluster members will be selected in order to disconnect a datastore from or connect it to the selected hosts. o Deletion: The datastore will be disconnected from all connected hosts, and will be destroyed and all the content will be deleted. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 9

USER GUIDE HOW TO All the following instructions have to be done after a QNAP Turbo NAS has been added to the vsphere plug-in. Please refer to NAS Storage on page 6. CREATE A DATASTORE To create a datastore and add it to all members of your Datacenter, Cluster, or on a single host: - Login the vsphere Client. - Select your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host. - Right click your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host. Select QNAP > Create a datastore. - Follow the Wizard instructions to create a datastore. The QNAP vsphere plug-in will create the resources on the Turbo NAS, and connect all the selected hosts to the new datastore. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10

DISCONNECT/UNMOUNT A DATASTORE DATASTORE DISCONNECTION The plug-in allows disconnecting (unmount) the datastores from multiple ESXi hosts and re-connecting (mount) the datastores to multiple ESXi hosts. To disconnect a datastore: - Login the vsphere Client. - Select your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host. - Right click your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host, and select QNAP > Disconnect a datastore. - Follow the instructions to disconnect/unmount a datastore from the selected hosts. The disconnected datastores will be listed under the QNAP tab. Please refer to Status Monitor on page 14. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 11

DATASTORE RESCONNECTION The QNAP vsphere plug-in allows users to reconnect a previously disconnected /unmounted datastore to some selected hosts. To connect a datastore: - Login the vsphere Client. - Select your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host. - Right click your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host, and select QNAP > Connect datastores to a new ESX host. - All existing datastores that can be connected to the selected host, will be listed. - Follow the wizard instructions to reconnect a datastore to one or multiple hosts. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12

DESTROY A DATASTORE The QNAP vsphere plug-in allows users to destroy a datastore. To destroy a datastore: - Login the vsphere Client. - Select your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host. - Right click your Datacenter, Cluster, or Host, and select QNAP > Destroy a datastore. - Note that the destroy process will follow the VMware behavior: o iscsi: All the data contained in the datastore will be irremediably deleted without any possible recovery. o NFS: The datastore will be disconnected from the ESX hosts. All references to the NFS datastore will be destroyed. The Data contained in the NFS datastore will remain. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13

STATUS MONITOR The QNAP vsphere Plug-in supports reporting the status of each Turbo NAS added to the plug-in, and the status of the currently connected datastores, and the list of the previously disconnected datastores using the plug-in. - Select your Datacenter, Cluster, or ESXi host. - Navigate to the QNAP tab. The first item ( QNAP Storages ) will display all QNAP Turbo NAS added to the plug-in, including useful information such as NAS status, firmware version, free capacity and more. - Right click an item to display the menu options: o Set the NAS credentials if they have been changed. o Remove the NAS from the plug-in. All existing datastores will remain connected to their existing hosts. o Quickly open the NAS web administration page. o Enable storage protocols (NFS and/or iscsi). 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 14

The second item ( QNAP Datastores ) will display all QNAP datastores, both connected and disconnected. To remove a disconnected datastore from the list, right click the datastore and select Remove entry. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 15

SUPPORTED ENVIRONMENT SUPPORTED NAS FIRMWARE: - Firmware version 3.8.0 and above SUPPORTED VMWARE PRODUCTS (MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS): - vsphere Client 4.1 update 3 - vsphere Client 5.0 update 1 - vsphere Client 5.1 - VMware ESX 4.1 update 3 - VMware ESXi 4.1 update 3 - VMware ESXi 5.0, update 1 - VMware ESXi 5.1 - vcenter 4.1 update 3 - vcenter 5.0 update 1 - vcenter 5.1 SUPPORTED VSPHERE CLIENT INSTALLATION ENVIRONMENT: - Windows 2008 R2, SP1 - Windows 7 x86, 32-bit, SP1 - Windows 7 x86, 64-bit, SP1 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 16

This document was created using the official VMware icon and diagram library. Copyright 2009 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/patents. VMware does not endorse or make any representations about third party information included in this document, nor does the inclusion of any VMware icon or diagram in this document imply such an endorsement. 2012. QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17