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PRIMECLUSTER Global Disk Services  Configuration and AdministrationGuide 4.3
FUJITSU Software

3.21 Usage in the Virtual Environment

GDS functions which are available in the virtual environments (Xen environment [4.3A30 or earlier], KVM environment [4.3A10 or later], and VMware environment) are as follows:

Purpose

Operating environment of GDS

Class

Description

Mirroring a system disk on the host

Hosts (Xen and KVM)

Root class

Available in the following UEFI boot environments:

  • RHEL5 (IPF) in a Xen environment [4.3A30 or earlier]

  • RHEL6 (Intel64) in a KVM environment [4.3A10 or later]

  • RHEL7 (Intel64) in a KVM environment [4.3A40 or later]

The settings are the same with the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

Mirroring a system disk on the guest

Hosts (Xen and KVM)

Local class
Shared class

Create a volume of a local class or a shared class on the host and install the guest OS there.

Guest (VMware)

Root class

Available in the following environment: [4.3A30 or later]

  • RHEL6 (Intel64) in a UEFI boot environment

  • RHEL7(Intel64) in a UEFI boot environment [4.3A40 or later]

Mirroring of the following system disks, which were connected by the virtual SCSI controller, is available:

  • Physical disk (RDM) on a VMware guest

  • Virtual disk (VMDK) on a VMware guest

Mirroring a virtual disk on the guest

Guests (Xen, KVM, and VMware)

Local class
Shared class

Supporting the mirroring in order to improve the availability.

Mirroring of the following devices are available:

  • Virtual SCSI devices on a Xen guest [4.3A30 or earlier]

  • Physical disk (RDM) on a VMware guest connected by the virtual SCSI controller

  • Virtual disk (VMDK) on a VMware guest connected by the virtual SCSI controller (only in local class) [4.3A30 or later]

The settings are the same as the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

Management of the shared disk for the cluster system

Shared class

GDS manages the shared disk for the cluster system built between guests.

The following devices can be managed:

  • Virtual SCSI devices on a Xen guest [4.3A30 or earlier]

  • Virtual block device on a Xen guest [4.3A30 or earlier]

  • Virtio block devices on a KVM guest [4.3A10 or later]

  • virtio-SCSI device on a KVM guest [4.3A30 or later]

  • Physical disk (RDM) on a VMware guest connected by the virtual SCSI controller

The settings are the same as the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

GDS: Global Disk Services


GDS Snapshot functions which are available in the virtual environments (Xen environment, KVM environment [4.3A10 or later], and VMware environment) are as follows:

Purpose

Operating environment of GDS Snapshot

Class

Description

Snapshot of a system disk on the host

Configuration of an Alternative Boot Environment on the host

Hosts (Xen and KVM)

Root class

Available in the following UEFI boot environments:

  • RHEL5 (IPF) in a Xen environment [4.3A30 or earlier]

  • RHEL6 (Intel64) in a KVM environment [4.3A10 or later]

  • RHEL7 (Intel64) in a KVM environment [4.3A40 or later]

The settings are the same with the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

Snapshot of data volume on the host

Hosts (Xen and KVM)

Local class
Shared class

The settings are the same with the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

Snapshot of a system disk on the guest

Hosts (Xen and KVM)

Local class
Shared class

Create a volume of a local class or a shared class on the host and install the guest OS there.

Create a snapshot on the host.

To ensure the consistency of snapshot data, you need to stop the guest OS during snapshot creation.

Guest (VMware)

Root class

Available in the following environment: [4.3A30 or later]

  • RHEL6 (Intel64) in a UEFI boot environment

  • RHEL7(Intel64) in a UEFI boot environment [4.3A40 or later]

Available for the system disk of the following formats connected by the virtual SCSI controller:

  • Physical disk (RDM) on a VMware guest

  • Virtual disk (VMDK) on a VMware guest

Configuration of an Alternative Boot Environment on the guest

Guest (VMware)

Root class

Available in the following environment: [4.3A30 or later]

  • RHEL6 (Intel64) in a UEFI boot environment

  • RHEL7(Intel64) in a UEFI boot environment [4.3A40 or later]

Available for the system disk of the following formats connected by the virtual SCSI controller:

  • Physical disk (RDM) on a VMware guest

  • Virtual disk (VMDK) on a VMware guest

Snapshot of local volume on the guest

Hosts (Xen and KVM)

Local class

Create a local volume on the host and register it as a virtio block device on the guest OS.

Create a snapshot on the host.

Guests (Xen, KVM, and VMware)

Local class

  • The settings are the same with the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

  • Snapshot cannot be created by using the Advanced Copy function of ETERNUS in the following environments:

    • Xen guest

    • KVM guest

    • Virtual disk (VMDK) on a VMware guest

Snapshot of shared volume on the cluster system.

Guests (Xen, KVM, and VMware)

Shared class

  • The settings are the same with the conventional way where the virtual machine function is not used.

  • Snapshot cannot be created by using the Advanced Copy function of ETERNUS in the following environments:

    • Xen guest

    • KVM guest

GDS Snapshot: Global Disk Services Snapshot

Note

When using GDS on both host and guest in the KVM environment

  • For the disk used only on KVM guest, configure the following on the host.

  • It is recommended to create different class names for the host and guest.

Information

How to copy the volumes created in a KVM guest by using the Advanced Copy function of ETERNUS

When using GDS Snapshot on the KVM guest, the Advanced Copy function of ETERNUS cannot be used.
To use the Advanced Copy function of ETERNUS, use ACM. For details, see the manual of ACM.

See

To configure and operate GDS in the virtual environment, you must have knowledge of virtual system design, installation, and operation.
See the manual of the virtual machine function in use beforehand.