Deploying Dell iSCSI Storage with VMware Infrastructure 3

Running server virtualization software such as VMware Infrastructure 3 on server farms connected to shared storage can provide several advantages. For example, by placing virtual machine (VM) virtual disks on storage area networks (SANs) accessible to all virtualized servers, VMs can easily migrate between servers as needed for load balancing or failover. VMware Infrastructure 3 provides this functionality through the VMware VMotion™ live migration technology in its Distributed Resource Scheduler feature. Shared storage is key to enabling VMotion, because when a VM migrates from one physical server to another, the virtual disk can remain where it is, with only its ownership changing. VMware Infrastructure 3 also provides a VMware High Availability (VMware HA) component that takes advantage of shared storage to quickly restart VMs on a different host should their original host fail.

Traditional networking technology employed in SANs uses the Fibre Channel interface. Products such as Dell/EMC Fibre Channel storage arrays can provide excellent performance, reliability, and functionality, but also typically require specialized hardware and skills to set up and maintain. For small IT organizations, those just beginning to implement virtualization, or those looking to create a second storage tier to complement an existing Fibre Channel infrastructure, another emerging shared storage model may be appropriate for their needs: Internet SCSI (iSCSI).