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Storage & Hyper-V: The Choices you can make and the things you need to know

Storage & Hyper-V: The Choices you can make and the things you need to know. Jeff Woolsey Principal Group Program Manager Windows Server, Hyper-V WSV312. Session Objectives And Takeaways. Understand the storage options with Hyper-V as well as use cases for DAS and SAN

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Storage & Hyper-V: The Choices you can make and the things you need to know

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  1. Storage & Hyper-V: The Choices you can make and the things you need to know Jeff Woolsey Principal Group Program Manager Windows Server, Hyper-V WSV312

  2. Session Objectives And Takeaways • Understand the storage options with Hyper-V as well as use cases for DAS and SAN • Learn what’s new in Server 2008 R2 for storage and Hyper-V • Understand different high availability options of Hyper-V with SANs • Learn performance improvements with VHDs, Passthrough & iSCSI Direct scenarios

  3. Storage Performance/Sizing • Important to scale performance to the total workload requirements of each VM • Spindles are still key • Don’t migrate 20 physical servers with 40 spindles each to a Hyper-V host with 10 spindles • Don’t use left over servers as a production SAN

  4. Windows Storage Stack • Bus – Scan up to 8 buses (Storport) • Target – Up to 255 targets • LUNs – Up to 255 • Support for up to 256TB volumes • >2T supported since Server 2003 SP1 • Common Q: What is supported maximum transfer size? • Dependent on adapter/miniport (i.e. Qlogic/Emulex)

  5. Hyper-V Storage Parameters • VHD max size 2040GB • Physical disk size not limited by Hyper-V • Up to 4 IDE devices • Up to 4 SCSI controllers with 64 devices • Optical devices only on IDE

  6. Storage Connectivity • From parent partition • Direct Attached (SAS/SATA) • Fiber Channel • iSCSI • Network attached storage not supported • Except for ISOs • Hot add and remove • Virtual Disks to SCSI controller only

  7. ISOs on network Shares • Machine account access to share • Constrained delegation

  8. SCSI Support in VMs • Supported In • Windows XP Professional x64 • Windows Server 2003 • Windows Server 2008 & 2008 R2 • Windows Vista & Windows 7 • SuSE Linux • Not Supported In • Windows XP Professional x86 • All other operating systems • Requires integration services installed

  9. Antivirus and Hyper-V • Exclude • VHDs & AVHDs (or directories) • VM configuration directory • VMMS.exe and VMWP.exe • May not be required on core with no other roles • Run Antivirus in virtual machines

  10. Encryption and Compression • Bitlocker on parent partition supported • Encrypted File System (EFS) • Not supported on parent partition • Supported in Virtual Machines • NTFS Compression (Parent partition) • Allowed in Windows Server 2008 • Blocked in Windows Server 2008 R2

  11. Hyper-V Storage & Pass Through… Step by Step Instructions

  12. Hyper-V Storage... • Performance wise from fastest to slowest… • Fixed Disk VHDs/Pass Through Disks • The same in terms of performance with R2 • Dynamically Expanding VHDs • Grow as needed • Pass Through Disks • Pro: VM writes directly to a disk/LUN without encapsulation in a VHD • Cons: • You can’t use VM snapshots • Dedicating a disk to a vm

  13. More Hyper-V Storage • Hyper-V provides flexible storage options • DAS: SCSI, SATA, eSATA, USB, Firewire • SAN: iSCSI, Fibre Channel, SAS • High Availability/Live Migration • Requires block based, shared storage • Guest Clustering • Via iSCSI only

  14. VM Setting No Pass Through

  15. Computer Management: Disk

  16. Taking a disk offline

  17. Disk is offline…

  18. Pass Through Configured

  19. Disk Types & Performance

  20. Disk type comparison (Read)

  21. Hyper-V R2 Fixed Disks • Fixed Virtual Hard Disks (Write) • Windows Server 2008 R1: ~96% of native • Windows Server 2008 R2: Equal to Native • Fixed Virtual Hard Disks vs. Pass Through • Windows Server 2008 R1: ~96% of pass-through • Windows Server 2008 R2: Equal to Native

  22. Hyper-V R2 Dynamic Disks • Massive Performance Boost • 64 Sequential Write • Windows Server 2008 R2: 94% of native • Equal to Hyper R1 Fixed Disks • 4k Random Write • Windows Server 2008 R2: 85% of native

  23. Disk layout - FAQ Assuming Integration Services are installed: Do I Use • IDE or SCSI? • One IDE channel or two? • One VHD per SCSI controller? • Multiple VHDs on a single SCSI controller? • R2: Can Hot Add VHD’s to Virtual SCSI…

  24. Disk layout - results

  25. Differencing VHDsPerformance vs chain length

  26. Passthrough DisksWhen to use • Performance is not the only consideration • If you need support for Storage Management software • Backup & Recovery applications which require direct access to disk • VSS/VDS providers • Allows VM to communicate via inband SCSI unfiltered (application compatibility)

  27. Storage Device Ecosystem • Storage Device support maps to same support as exists in physical servers • Advanced scenarios: Live Migration require shared storage • Hyper-V supports both Fibre Channel & iSCSI SANs connected from parent • Fibre Channel SANs still represent largest install base for SANs and high usage with Virtualization • Live Migration is supported with storage arrays which have obtained the Designed for Windows Logo and which pass Cluster Validation

  28. Storage Hardware & Hyper-V • Storage Hardware that is qualified with Windows Server is qualified for Hyper-V • Applies to running devices from Hyper-V parent • Storage devices qualified for Server 2008 R2 are qualified with Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V • No additional storage device qualification for Hyper-V R2 =

  29. SAN Boot and Hyper-V • Booting Hyper-V Host from SAN is supported • Fibre Channel or iSCSI from parent • Booting child VM from SAN supported using iSCSI boot with PXE solution (ex: emBoot/Doubletake) • Must use legacy NIC • Native VHD boot • Boot physical system from local VHD is new feature in Server 2008 R2 • Booting a VHD located on SAN (iSCSI or FC) not currently supported (considering for future)

  30. iSCSI Direct • Microsoft iSCSI Software initiator runs transparently from within the VM • VM operates with full control of LUN • LUN not visible to parent • iSCSI initiator communicates to storage array over TCP stack • Best for application transparency • LUNs can be hot added & hot removed without requiring reboot of VM (2008 and 2008 R2) • VSS hardware providers run transparently within the VM • Backup/Recovery runs in the context of VM • Enables guest clustering scenario

  31. High Speed Storage & Hyper-V • Larger virtualization workloads require higher throughput • True for all scenarios • VHD • Passthrough • iSCSI Direct • Fibre Channel 8 gig & 10 Gig iSCSI will become more common • As throughput grows, requirements to support higher IO to disks also grows

  32. High Speed Storage & Hyper-V • Customers concerned about performance should not use a single 1 Gig Ethernet NIC port to connect to iSCSI storage • Multiple NIC ports & aggregate throughput using MPIO or MCS is recommended • The Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator performs very well at 10 Gig wire speed • 10Gig Ethernet adoption is ramping up • Driven by increasing use of virtualization • Fibre Channel 8 gig & 10 Gig iSCSI becoming more common • As throughput grows, requirements to support IO to disks also grows

  33. Jumbo Frames • Offers significant performance for TCP connections including iSCSI • Max frame size 9K • Reduces TCP/IP overhead by up to 84% • Must be enabled at all end points (switches, NICs, target devices • Virtual switch is defined as an end point • Virtual NIC is defined as an end point

  34. Jumbo Frames in Hyper-V R2 • Added support in virtual switch • Added support in virtual NIC • Integration components required • How to validate if jumbo frames is configured end to end • Ping –n 1 –l 8000 –f (hostname) • -l (length) • -f (don’t fragment packet into multiple Ethernet frames) • -n (count)

  35. Management OS VM1 VM2 Virtual Machine Switch Routing VLAN Filtering Data Copy VM NIC2 VM NIC1 Port 1 Port 2 Miniport Driver VMBus NIC TCP/IP TCP/IP Ethernet Windows* 2008 Hyper-VNetwork I/O Path • Data packets get sorted and routed to respective VMs by the VM Switch

  36. Management OS VM1 VM2 Virtual Machine Switch TCP/IP VM NIC2 VM NIC1 Routing VLAN Filtering Data Copy Port 1 Port 2 Miniport Driver VM Bus Default Queue Q2 Q1 Switch/Routing Unit NIC TCP/IP Ethernet Windows Server 2008 R2 VMQ • Data packets get sorted into multiple queues in the Ethernet Controller based on MAC Address and/or VLAN tags • Sorted and queued data packets are then routed to the VMs by the VM Switch • Enables the data packets to DMA directly into the VMs • Removes data copy between the memory of the Management OS and the VM’s memory

  37. More than 25% throughput gain with VMDq/VMQ as VMs scale Intel tests with Microsoft VMQ Source: Microsoft Lab, Mar 2009 • Quad core Intel® server, Windows* 2008 R2 Beta, ntttcp benchmark, standard frame size (1500 bytes) • Intel® 82598 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller • Near line rate throughput with VMDq for 4 VMs • Throughput increase from 5.4Gbps to 9.3Gbps *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

  38. Hyper-V Performance Improvements For virtual network interface and iSCSI in Windows 7 Hyper-V Parent R1/R2 Hyper-V 2008 R2 Child RSS TCP Chimney TCP Chimney LSO V1 LSO V1 LSO V2 LSO V2 Performance Benefits For iSCSI Direct Connections Jumbo Frames Jumbo Frames MPIO & MCS MPIO & MCS

  39. Enterprise Storage Features Performance Manageability Scalability • iSCSI digest offload • iSCSI Increased Performance • MPIO New Load Balancing algorithm • iSCSI Quick Connect • Improved SAN Configuration and usability • Storage Management support for SAS • Storport support for >64 cores • Scale up storage workload • Improved scalability for iSCSI & Fibre Channel SANs • Improved Solid State disk performance (70% reduction in latency) Automation Diagnosability Reliability • MPIO Datacenter Automation • MPIO automate setting default load balance policy • Additional redundancy for Boot from SAN – up to 32 paths • Storport error log extensions • Multipath health & statistics reporting • Configuration reporting for MPIO • Configuration reporting for iSCSI

  40. iSCSI Quick ConnectNew in Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2

  41. High Availability with Hyper-V using MPIO & Fibre Channel SAN Clients • In Hyper-V Fibre Channel LUNs Supported as • Passthrough Disk • Connect from parent, map to VM • VM formats with NTFS • VHD • Connect from Hyper-V host • Format with NTFS from host • Create VHDs for each guest Fabric/Fibre Channel Network Windows Server Hosts Switches VHDs LUNs

  42. MCS & MPIO with Hyper-V • Provides High Availabilty to storage arrays • Especially important in virtualized environments to reduce single points of failure • Load balancing & fail over using redundant HBAs, NICs, switches and fabric infrastructure • Aggregates bandwidth to maximum performance • MPIO supported with Fibre Channel , iSCSI, Shared SAS • 2 Options for multi-pathing with iSCSI • Multiple Connections per Session • Microsoft MPIO (Multipathing Input/Output) • Protects against loss of data path during firmware upgrades on storage controller

  43. Configuring MPIO with Hyper-V • MPIO • Connect from parent • Applies to: • Creating vhds for each VM • Passthrough disks • Additional sessions to target can also be added through MPIO directly from guest • Additional connections can be added through MCS with iSCSI using iSCSI direct

  44. iSCSI Perf Best Practices with Hyper-V • Standard Networking & iSCSI best practices apply • Use Jumbo Frames • Use Dedicated NIC ports for • iSCSI traffic (Server to SAN) • Multiple to scale • Client  Server (LAN) • Multiple to scale • Cluster heartbeat (if using cluster) • Hyper-V Management

  45. Hyper-V Enterprise Storage Testing Performance Configuration • Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V • Microsoft MPIO • 4 Sessions • 64K request size • 100% read • Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator • Intel 10 Gb/E NIC • RSS enabled (applicable to parent only) • Jumbo Frames (9000 byte MTU) • LSO V2 (offloads packets up to 256K) • LRO • Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 • NetApp FAS 3070

  46. Configuring Hyper-V for Networking & iSCSI

  47. Hyper-V Networking • Two 1 Gb/E physical network adapters at a minimum • One for management • One (or more) for VM networking • Dedicated NIC(s) for iSCSI • Connect parent to back-end management network • Only expose guests to internet traffic

  48. Hyper-V Network Configurations • Example 1: • Physical Server has 4 network adapters • NIC 1: Assigned to parent partition for management • NICs 2/3/4: Assigned to virtual switches for virtual machine networking • Storage is non-iSCSI such as: • Direct attach • SAS or Fibre Channel

  49. Hyper-V Setup & Networking 1

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