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Creating Virtual Volumes for HP 3PAR OS 2.2.3 or Earlier
When running HP 3PAR OS 2.2.3 or earlier, the createaldvv command can be used to create
virtual volumes on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage that can then be exported and discovered by
the ESX host. Here is the general form of the command:
# createaldvv [options] <vvname>[.<index>] <size>[g|G|t|T]
Here is an example:
# createaldvv -cnt 5 TESTLUNs 5G
This will create five virtual volumes of 5 Gb each in size, fully provisioned from PDs.
NOTE: To create a fully-provisioned or thinly-provisioned virtual volume, consult the HP 3PAR
Command Line Interface Reference, which is available on the HP BSC website:
http://www.hp.com/go/bsc
Exporting LUNs to an ESX Host
This section explains how to export virtual volumes created on the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage as
VLUNs for the ESX host.
When exporting VLUNs to the VMware ESX host, you should observer the following guidelines:
• New VLUNs that are exported while the host is running will not be registered until a Bus Rescan
is initiated. This may be performed from the VI/vSphere client Management Interface. Some
versions of ESX will automatically scan for newly exported LUNs.
• Disks can be added to a virtual machine with the virtual machine powered up. However, to
remove a disk, the virtual machine must be powered off. This is a limitation of ESX.
• The maximum number of LUNs on a single ESX HBA port is 256, and 256 total LUNs on the
ESX host. Internal devices, such as local hard drives and CD drives, are counted as a LUN in
the ESX host LUN count.
• VLUNs can be created with any LUN number in the range from 0 to 255 (VMware ESX
limitation).
• iSCSI LUNs and FC LUNs are treated as any other LUN on the ESX host. No special
requirements or procedures are needed to use iSCSI LUNs. HP does not recommend or support
same storage LUN being exported on different protocol interfaces, such as exporting to FC
interface on one host and iSCSI on another host, because the timing and error recovery of
the protocols would be different.
• The ESX limitation for the largest LUN that can be utilized by the ESX host is 2047 GB. For
ESXi 5.x, the maximum LUN size is 16 T or 16384 GB.
• Sparse LUN numbering (meaning that LUN numbers can be skipped), is supported by VMware
ESX host. A LUN 0 is not required.
For failover support using the QLogic or Emulex drivers, virtual volumes should be exported down
multiple paths to the host simultaneously. To facilitate this task, create a host definition on the
HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage that includes the WWNs of multiple HBA ports on the host and export
the VLUNs to that host definition.
It has been noted by HP that provisioning several VMs to a smaller number of large LUNs, versus
a single VM per single LUN, provides better overall results. Further examination and explanation
of this recommendation is outlined in the document 3PAR Utility Storage with VMware vSphere,
which is available on the HP BSC website:
Exporting LUNs to an ESX Host 79