Adding virtual shared disks for the database to the first node in the IBM Spectrum Discover cluster

You can use the VMware vSphere Client to add the virtual disks that are required for IBM Spectrum® Discover database to the virtual appliance.

Before you begin

Important: See the section for Planning for detailed requirements for the database VMDK for a multi-node IBM Spectrum Discover virtual appliance cluster. For the database shared VMDK storage device, 14 TB is required to index up to 10 billion files and objects. 2 GB per 2 million files can be used as a capacity sizing metric. The VMDK storage device must be thick provisioned and eager zeroed so it can be shared between the three nodes in the IBM Spectrum Discover cluster.

Each VMDK storage device must also be configured to be managed by SCSI Controller 1.

Procedure

In the vSphere Client, right-click the IBM Spectrum Discover virtual appliance to which you want to add the virtual disk and click Edit Settings.

Figure 1. Edit settings menu
From the ADD NEW DEVICE list, select Hard Disk

Figure 2. Add new device
Click New Hard Disk to expand the menu and select the options for the disk.

Figure 3. Hard disk settings
Remember:
- Disk Provisioning
  
  This value must be set to Thick Provision Eager Zeroed.
  
  Sharing Mode
  
  This value must be set to Multi-writer
  
  Virtual Device
  
  This value must be set to SCSI controller 1 and SCSI (1,0) New Hard disk.
- You can set the size, provisioning, and location of the virtual disk. The default location is the data store where the virtual appliance resides. But you can select a different data store when needed.
Click OK to confirm your settings and create the virtual disk.
Repeat this procedure to add a total of three shared virtual devices for the IBM Spectrum Discover database.