Symantec Storage Foundation High Availability 6.x in guest storage, high availability, and disaster recovery support (Partner Verified and Supported)

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about Partner Verified and Supported Products (PVSP) for the Storage Foundation High Availability solution provided and supported by Symantec in VMware ESXi guests. The Symantec solution provides storage management, high availability and disaster recovery capabilities for applications that are running in VMware ESXi guests.

Note: The PVSP policy implies that the solution is not directly supported by VMware. For issues with this configuration, contact Symantec directly. See the Support Workflow on how partners can engage with VMware. It is the partner's responsibility to verify that the configuration functions with future vSphere major and minor releases, as VMware does not guarantee that compatibility with future releases is maintained.

Disclaimer: The partner products referenced in this article is software that is developed and supported by a partner. Use of these products is also governed by the end user license agreements of the partner. You must obtain the application, support, and licensing for using these products from the partner.

For more information, see:

• Symantec Support home page
• Symantec Operations Readiness Tools home page (for information about Storage Foundation High Availability)

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Resolution

Product Overview

Veritas Storage Foundation High Availability provides advanced online storage management, high availability, and disaster recovery for applications across multiple OS platforms that can be leveraged and utilized within VMware ESXi guests. Storage Foundation virtualizes storage seen by a host for an optimal management and configuration experience. Thorough application protection spanning local availability through wide area disaster recovery is provided by Veritas Cluster Server.

 

 

The product solution has several components and options that can be used independently or together depending on solution requirements for an environment. The component breakdown includes:

• Veritas Storage Foundation (SF) – Storage Foundation brings advanced volume management, quick recovery, and storage fault tolerant enterprise applications. Features and capabilities include items such as storage migration, storage agnostic mirroring, thin provisioning reclamation, and capacity insight and management.
   
• Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing (DMP) – Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing for VMware environments provides array integration and advanced pathing failure and load balancing policies for VMware ESXi environments.
   
• Veritas FlashSnap – FlashSnap, which requires SF and is included with certain SF and SFHA bundles, integrates with Microsoft VSS framework on the Windows platform and application specific awareness on the Linux platform to ensure application consistent snapshots of application data that reside on SF volumes. FlashSnap can be leveraged to ensure application consistent quick recovery, testing replicated data consistency and off host data mining and reporting.
   
• Veritas Volume Replicator (VVR) – Volume Replicator, which requires SF, provides node to node, over-IP block based replication at the volume level. VVR can be leveraged to provide the replication of the application data that will need to be recovered in a DR event.
   
• Symantec ApplicationHA (AppHA) – Symantec ApplicationHA provides the base fundamental application monitoring and fault remediation needed for applications across guests running Windows or Linux. Base fault remediation includes application restart and virtual machine restart. Advanced remediation includes image based recovery from a backup; currently integrated with Backup Exec.
   
• Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) – Veritas Cluster Server, which can be used independently or with SF, extends application monitoring and fault remediation to include application failover for a wide range of topologies including single site high availability, campus high availability, campus disaster recovery and wide area disaster recovery.
   
• Cluster File System (CFS) – Cluster File System, a cluster integrated shared file system, assists in ensuring greater availability of applications by reducing downtime in an application failover since the dependent storage resources and file system are simultaneously available and accessible by all targeted failover nodes. CFS is applicable to virtual machines running Linux.
   
• Storage Foundation High Availability (SFHA) – Storage Foundation High Availability combines together SF and VCS to provide a full end to end solution for storage management through high availability and disaster recovery.
   
• Symantec High Availability Console – The Symantec High Availability Console provides an in context management experience for applications protected by Application HA and VCS within a VMware ESXi environment via a vSphere plug-in. The console provides capabilities such as push installation to Windows and Linux guests for ApplicationHA and VCS packages, simplified application availability configuration experience, dashboard view of application health and administrative driven remediation management actions.

Installation Overview

Storage Foundation High Availability products and product components/options can be installed in a VMware Windows or Linux guest via one of these methods:

• If the OS instance is connected to the network, running the installer from a remote node and performing a push installation.
• Running the installation directly within the guest OS instance.
• Push installation from the Symantec High Availability console.

Detailed installation processes can be found within the product guides in the documentation section of the Symantec Operations Readiness Tools site. Reference and use the Installation & Upgrade Guide for the version of Storage Foundation High Availability product component that you are using. The most up to date versions of the 6.x documentation can be found at http://sort.symantec.com/.

Additionally, prerequisites such as supported VMware products, versions and features, operating system versions, application versions and configuration topologies should all be taken into account prior to installation. For more information, see Configuration Support Overview in this article.

 

Configuration Support Overview

Following is a summary of configuration support for Storage Foundation High Availability and its components/options in a VMware ESX guest virtual machine environment. Some key factors that need to be considered for any given environment include:

• Compatibility: VMware products, versions and features; server operating systems; application versions; integrated hardware support
  
  Symantec’s software compatibility list (SCL) for Storage Foundation High Availability is the authoritative source for all current and most up to date supported VMware ESX, guest instance operating system and application versions. Qualifications are ongoing – it is recommended to check the most up to date SCLs for the SFHA 6.x product or product component version that you are running on the Symantec Operations Readiness Tool site (http://sort.symantec.com/). If specific storage integrated features provided by Storage Foundation, including Dynamic Multi-pathing, will be utilized within a VMware guest, see the most up to date hardware compatibility lists (HCLs) provided by Symantec for the 6.x version you are running on the Symantec Operations Readiness Tool site (http://sort.symantec.com/).
   
• Limitations on support or required configuration to utilize certain Storage Foundation High Availability features or capabilities
  
  Symantec qualifies and supports the Storage Foundation High Availability product and its components across storage management, high availability and disaster recovery functionality within VMware virtual machine environments. In some circumstances, certain functionality may be incompatible or have configuration requirements within a VMware environment. The following provides a summary of qualified and supported configurations, considering both SFHA features and VMware features and products. Note: It is recommended to utilize the latest 6.x versions of SFHA, which provide the most compatibility with vSphere features and products. For details on integration and best practice configuration please refer to the SFHA Solution Guides for VMware environments, which are available on the on the Symantec Operations Readiness Tool site (http://sort.symantec.com/).

Array integrated SF/DMP specific feature support in a VMware virtual machine

• Dynamic Multi-pathing in guest: iSCSI storage directly presented to guest only.
• Thin provisioning awareness/reclamation in guest: RDM only.
• Track Aligned Volumes in guest: RDM only.
• Dynamic Multi-pathing at ESX (DMP for VMware): Specific array and configuration support is per the DMP for VMware HCL available on the Symantec Operations Readiness Tool site (http://sort.symantec.com/)

HA Protection: In-guest application clustering on a single or across ESX host with Storage Foundation High Availability

• VMware storage type to guest: VMDK; RDM virtual or physical compatibility mode with SCSI bus sharing
• Virtual Network: minimum of 1 public vSwitch and 1 private vSwitch (cluster communications)
• vSphere HA: Full co-existence support
• DRS: Full co-existence support with VMDK attach
• vMotion (virtual machine & storage): Full co-existence support with VMDK attach
• SRM: Full co-existence support
• Multipathing:
  • VMware native multipathing (NMP) does not have support of Round Robin Path Selection Policy (PSP) for shared RDMs that are used for in guest clustering. This supportability stance also applies when the in guest clustering software is VCS. For information changing a LUN to use a different PSP, see Changing a LUN to use a different Path Selection Policy (PSP) (1036189).
  • Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing for VMware ESX provides & automatically configures the best I/O policy (path selection policy) based upon discovered characteristics of the storage array. All I/O policies provided by DMP for VMware are supported in alignment with the array capabilities. See compatibility lists on the Symantec Operations Readiness Tool site (http://sort.symantec.com/) for most up to date information.

HA Protection: Physical to virtual machine in-guest application clustering with Storage Foundation High Availability

• VMware storage type for the virtual machines: RDM – Physical compatibility mode with SCSI bus sharing on FC, FCoE, ISCSI SAN
• Network: Ensure vNIC(s) and physical NIC(s) designated for private cluster communication can communicate on same network.

HA Protection: Cluster File System in-guest (Linux) for traditional shared storage fast application failover

• If VMware storage type to guest is RDM: Utilize physical compatibility mode with SCSI bus sharing
  • No co-existence support with VMware snapshots, vMotion, vSphere HA, DRS, SRM
  • Multipathing:
    • VMware native multipathing (NMP) does not have support of Round Robin Path Selection Policy (PSP) for shared RDMs that are used for in guest clustering. This supportability stance also applies when the in guest clustering software is VCS. For information on changing a LUN to use a different PSP, see Changing a LUN to use a different Path Selection Policy (PSP) (1036189).
    • Veritas Dynamic Multi-pathing for VMware ESX provides & automatically configures the best I/O policy (path selection policy) based upon discovered characteristics of the storage array. All I/O policies provided by DMP for VMware are supported in alignment with the array capabilities. Please reference compatibility lists for most up to date information on the Symantec Operations Readiness Tool site (http://sort.symantec.com/.
       
• If VMware storage type to guest is VMDK then:
  • VMFS multi-writer flag must be enabled. See Disabling simultaneous write protection provided by VMFS using the multi-writer flag (1034165).
  • Symantec Coordination Point Server (CPS) must be used for split brain protection o vSphere HA: Full co-existence support
  • DRS: Full co-existence support
  • vMotion (virtual machine & storage): Full co-existence support
  • SRM: Full co-existence support

See the Symantec TechNote HOWTO82299.

 

DR Protection: In-guest virtual to virtual or physical to virtual application level DR with Storage Foundation High Availability

• If utilizing hardware replication technology ensure use of RDM – Physical compatibility mode on SAN
• If utilizing VVR in guest, if solution includes local HA at primary or DR, ensure alignment to aforementioned HA storage type support

• Virtual Network and VMware product/feature support continues to align to aforementioned HA support

Support information

The first line of support is Symantec customer support. All Symantec customers with a Storage Foundation High Availability solution actively under maintenance are supported per the terms of your Symantec support contract.

Symantec Support site:

• http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=products

Product documentation, solution guides and compatibility lists:

• http://sort.symantec.com/