VMware vStorage API for Array Integration support

The storage system provides support for the VMware vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI).

The VAAI API offloads storage processing functions from the server to the storage system, reducing the workload on the host server hardware for improved performance on both the network and host servers.

The following operations are supported:
Atomic test and set or VMware hardware-assisted locking
The hardware-assisted locking feature uses the VMware Compare and Write command for reading and writing the volume's metadata within a single operation. With the Compare and Write command, the storage system provides a faster mechanism that is displayed to the volume as an atomic action that does not require locking the entire volume.

The Compare and Write command is supported on all open systems fixed block volumes, including Metro Mirror and Global Mirror primary volumes and FlashCopy® source and target volumes.

XCOPY or Full Copy
The XCOPY (or extended copy) command copies multiple files from one directory to another or across a network.

Full Copy copies data from one storage array to another without writing to the VMware ESX Server (VMware vStorage API).

The following restrictions apply to XCOPY:
  • XCOPY is not supported on Extent Space Efficient (ESE) volumes
  • XCOPY is not supported on volumes greater than 2 TB
  • The target of an XCOPY cannot be a Metro Mirror or Global Mirror primary volume
  • The Copy Services license is required
Block Zero (Write Same)
The SCSI Write Same command is supported on all volumes. This command efficiently writes each block, faster than standard SCSI write commands, and is optimized for network bandwidth usage.
IBM® vCenter plug-in for ESX 4.x
The IBM vCenter plug-in for ESX 4.x provides support for the VAAI interfaces on ESX 4.x.
VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.0
VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) provides methods to simplify and automate disaster recovery processes. IBM Site Replication Adapter (SRA) communicates between SRM and the storage replication interface. SRA support for SRM 5.0 includes the new features for planned migration, reprotection, and failback. The supported Copy Services are Metro Mirror, Global Mirror, Metro-Global Mirror, and FlashCopy.

The IBM Storage Management Console plug-in enables VMware administrators to manage their systems from within the VMware management environment. This plug-in provides an integrated view of IBM storage to VMware virtualize datastores that are required by VMware administrators. For information, see the IBM Storage Management Console for VMware vCenter online documentation.