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    <title>topic Re: Shared storage on ESXi host in vSphere™ Storage Discussions</title>
    <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532749#M21047</link>
    <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;Ok I'm starting to get a better understanding of what you are trying to say. Terminology is a bit off but thats OK!&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The third server "server C" which you setup as an ESXi host will not perform the actions of providing shared storage. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;VMware doesn't do the shared storage portion, a seperate mechanism must do that which would be a SAN in 99.9% of setups.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;It sounds to me like you don't have a SAN, hence the discussion about FreeNAS. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;So in your setup you would need to do the following:&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Setup server "C" with whatever OS runs FreeNAS (I'm not familiar with FreeNAS). Setup and configure FreeNAS to create and share out a LUN (or whatever FreeNAS may call it) to both servers "A" and "B", both servers A &amp;amp; B must have access to this same storage location. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Then, assuming this is configured correctly, you can go into vCenter and attach that storage LUN to both servers A &amp;amp; B. Essentially a shared datastore.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This will meet the shared storage requirement for vMotion. The only other portion to setup would be the network configuration for vMotion from within vCenter.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
    <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:10:29 GMT</pubDate>
    <dc:creator>Cyberfed27</dc:creator>
    <dc:date>2010-11-01T19:10:29Z</dc:date>
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      <title>Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532744#M21042</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;Hello,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I'm having a bit of a problem configuring shared storage for vMotion and I'd appreciate any help you can provide.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I'm trying to have the following config:&lt;/P&gt;&lt;UL&gt;&lt;LI level="1" type="ul"&gt;&lt;P&gt;2 ESXi 4.1 hosts (e.g. A and B) that'll run VMs.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;LI level="1" type="ul"&gt;&lt;P&gt;1 ESXi 4.1 host (e.g. C) as shared datastore to keep the VM configs.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;LI level="1" type="ul"&gt;&lt;P&gt;1 Windows Server 2008 server running vCenter.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/LI&gt;&lt;/UL&gt;&lt;P&gt;Ultimately I'd like to be able to create a shared datastore on C that both A and B can read/write to so I can perform vMotion between A and B.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Is it possible to implement this config with a regular ESXi host running on C? At the moment all the ESXi hosts are bare bone PCs with IDE drives. In other words, I wonder if I can convert a regular ESXi server running on a regular PC to a shared storage host or do I need a dedicated NAS in place of C for that?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Ultimately I would like to initiate vMotion between two ESXi hosts (i.e. A and B) and keep the configuration files on a separate host, preferably another plain ESXi host with a regular IDE drive.  &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I'm very new to all this so I'd appreciate any pointers.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Regards,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;J&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:11:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532744#M21042</guid>
      <dc:creator>FenasiKerim</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-01T15:11:01Z</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>Re: Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532745#M21043</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;Hello and welcome to the forums&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I do not know the hardware for ESXi host A and B.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;But in a scenario that you want iSCSI storage and vMotion,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;at least you need 2 extra NICs per ESXi host (VMotion requires Gigabit)&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you want host C for shared data storage, &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;- you can go for a VM that does the job (worst scenario)&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;- Make it a dedicated iSCSI box with OpenFiler (http://www.openfiler.com/) or FreeNAS (http://freenas.org/downloads) (better)&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;  And do some additional reading on this forum about using thes products.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;- Buy a seperate Storage box (best)&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;If BOX C has an IDE drive, performance is not that good&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I do not know if you are gooing to run a production environment or just a lab.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;In case of production, I would recommend to check the Compatibility, in case of support issues&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;A href="http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?q=vmware%20compatibility%20list&amp;amp;aq=0&amp;amp;aqi=g10&amp;amp;aql=&amp;amp;oq=vmware%20compat&amp;amp;gs_rfai=" target="test_blank"&gt;http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?q=vmware%20compatibility%20list&amp;amp;aq=0&amp;amp;aqi=g10&amp;amp;aql=&amp;amp;oq=vmware%20compat&amp;amp;gs_rfai=&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Paul Grevink&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Twitter: @PaulGrevink &lt;A href="http://twitter.com/PaulGrevink"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:08:50 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532745#M21043</guid>
      <dc:creator>PaulusG</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-01T16:08:50Z</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>Re: Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532746#M21044</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;You've got me confused, if you want A&amp;amp;B to be in a VMware cluster, the datastore must be shared by both A&amp;amp;B at the SAN level. That is, both A&amp;amp;B must have access to LUN(s) you have assigned them.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I don't see why you would want to keep "C" out of the cluster.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Create a 3 node cluster in VMware managed by vCenter. On the storage side of the house the LUNS you create and assign to VMware (Datastores) must be accessible by all 3 VM hosts.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt; &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:04:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532746#M21044</guid>
      <dc:creator>Cyberfed27</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-01T17:04:01Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532747#M21045</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;Hi Cyberfed27,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;It is exactly as you have already stated, a cluster needs shared storage (like FC, iSCSI or NFS).&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you use C to provide storage, there is no need to have C in the same cluster.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;What do you exactly mean by "shared datastore to keep the VM configs"?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;A VM config file, the *.vmx file is just a small file. Most important are the disk files,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;that contain the actual data&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Do you have some more info about your environment?&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Paul Grevink&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Twitter: @PaulGrevink &lt;A href="http://twitter.com/PaulGrevink"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:57:28 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532747#M21045</guid>
      <dc:creator>PaulusG</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-01T17:57:28Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532748#M21046</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Thanks for your answers, really appreciated.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;My goal is to test vMotion by moving a running virtual machine from one physical ESXi host (e.g. A) to another (e.g. B) and capture the traffic generated in the network.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I initially started with two ESXi hosts (A and B) and a separate Windows server with vCenter installed. I installed virtual machines on A and B and tried vMotion only to find that the VMs were supposed to reside on a shared datastore that can be seen by both A and B with read/write access for vMotion to work. This brought the machine C into the picture, hoping a simple ESXi installation could provide that 'shared datastore' requirement. (My thinking was ESXi provides MVFS and could be used to expose machine C's harddisk as a shared datastore - remind you I'm completely new to this!) I couldn't manage (not sure if it even makes sense) to use C as my shared datastore, hence my question before I grabbed a NAS which looks like a viable solution. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I'm in the process of installing FreeNAS on machine C at the moment as Paul suggested. I was just hoping to get away with a simple ESXi installation for the shared datastore.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I'm sure I lack the right VMware terminology to better explain it but what I'm trying to come up is a test rig to test vMotion with a total of 4 physical PCs: 2 ESXi hosts running various VMs, 1 'shared storage' machine that can be seen by the 2 ESXi hosts and 1 Windows PC runnig the VCenter. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Thanks for your kind responses, really helps me out. I'll let you know how the FreeNAS adventure goes.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Thanks,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;J&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:55:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532748#M21046</guid>
      <dc:creator>FenasiKerim</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-01T18:55:53Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532749#M21047</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;Ok I'm starting to get a better understanding of what you are trying to say. Terminology is a bit off but thats OK!&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;The third server "server C" which you setup as an ESXi host will not perform the actions of providing shared storage. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;VMware doesn't do the shared storage portion, a seperate mechanism must do that which would be a SAN in 99.9% of setups.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;It sounds to me like you don't have a SAN, hence the discussion about FreeNAS. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;So in your setup you would need to do the following:&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Setup server "C" with whatever OS runs FreeNAS (I'm not familiar with FreeNAS). Setup and configure FreeNAS to create and share out a LUN (or whatever FreeNAS may call it) to both servers "A" and "B", both servers A &amp;amp; B must have access to this same storage location. &lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Then, assuming this is configured correctly, you can go into vCenter and attach that storage LUN to both servers A &amp;amp; B. Essentially a shared datastore.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;This will meet the shared storage requirement for vMotion. The only other portion to setup would be the network configuration for vMotion from within vCenter.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:10:29 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532749#M21047</guid>
      <dc:creator>Cyberfed27</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-01T19:10:29Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Re: Shared storage on ESXi host</title>
      <link>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532750#M21048</link>
      <description>&lt;HTML&gt;&lt;HEAD&gt;&lt;/HEAD&gt;&lt;BODY&gt;&lt;P&gt;Hello FenasiKerim,&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Your last post made everything clear.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Indeed, the idea of C with VMFS as a shared storage is unfortenately not possible.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;A VMFS on a ESX(i) host is always local storage.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Theoratically and practical you can build a VM that offers storage by means of iSCSI&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;or NFS. Going that way, you have a shared storage (I use that in my homelab)&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;I am curious why you want to test vMotion. vMotion is the process&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;of copying memory blocks from one ESX host to another. The amount&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;of traffic depends on many factors.&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Some suggested reading on the subject, a bit old: &lt;A href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/usenix_vmotion.pdf" target="test_blank"&gt;http://www.vmware.com/pdf/usenix_vmotion.pdf&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;On this page all documentation: &lt;A href="http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vs_pages/vsp_pubs_esxi40_i_vc40.html" target="test_blank"&gt;http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vs_pages/vsp_pubs_esxi40_i_vc40.html&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Suggestions: The Introduction and Getting Started papers&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Paul Grevink&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;Twitter: @PaulGrevink &lt;A href="http://twitter.com/PaulGrevink"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/P&gt;&lt;P&gt;If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".&lt;/P&gt;&lt;/BODY&gt;&lt;/HTML&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:19:46 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://communities.vmware.com/t5/vSphere-Storage-Discussions/Shared-storage-on-ESXi-host/m-p/2532750#M21048</guid>
      <dc:creator>PaulusG</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2010-11-02T11:19:46Z</dc:date>
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