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Hyper-V over VAST SMB

Sara Levy
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Overview of Hyper-V Virtualization over VAST SMB

You can use VAST Cluster to provision storage for virtual machines (VM) created and managed with Microsoft Hyper-V.

Hyper-V virtual disks are stored as files on a VAST Cluster SMB share.

Hyper-V relies on continuously available SMB shares which require use of SMBv3.

Supported File Types

VAST Cluster supports storage provisioning for the following VM file types:

  • Dynamic VHD/VHDX

  • Differencing VHD/VHDX

  • Configuration files

  • ISO files

  • VM templates

  • Hyper-V checkpoints

Supported VM Generations

Gen1 or Gen2 virtual machines are supported.

Supported Operations

The following Hyper-V VM operations are supported:

  • VM management:

    • Create a VM

    • Delete a VM

  • VM disk management:

    • Add a disk to an existing VM

    • Remove a disk from an existing VM

    • Assign a disk to another VM

    • Resize a guest VM disk

  • Migrations:

    • Live Migration

    • Quick Migration

  • Hyper-V failover/failback

Limitations

VAST Cluster does not support:

  • Fixed disks

  • Hyper-V virtualization in configurations where the Hyper-V host uses multiple IP addresses on the same subnet

Deployment Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to deploy Hyper-V over VAST SMB.

Deploying Hyper-V over VAST SMB

Complete these steps:

  1. Verify Active Directory configuration.

  2. Set up DNS.

  3. Create an SMB view policy.

  4. Create an SMB view.

  5. Set up SMB share security.

  6. Point Hyper-V to the SMB share.

Verifying Active Directory Configuration

Verify that VAST cluster has joined Active Directory and that the VAST cluster's machine account in Active Directory has Service Principal Name (SPN) entries for the VAST DNS service in the following format:

HOST/<VIP pool domain name>.<DNS domain suffix>

Setting Up DNS

Create a VAST DNS configuration and set up DNS delegation as follows:

  • Configure VAST DNS as explained in Configuring the VAST Cluster DNS Service. Use the following settings:

    • VIP: Specify a virtual IP that will be used for the DNS delegation record on the Microsoft DNS server. This IP address should NOT be in a VIP pool.

    • Domain Suffix: Specify the domain suffix (for example, storage1.mydomain.com) that will be part of the Name Server (NS) record on the Microsoft DNS server. Any DNS request for this domain will be directed to this VAST DNS server.

  • Configure the Microsoft DNS server so that there is an A record for the VAST DNS server and an NS record for DNS delegation.

    In Windows Server's DNS Manager, navigate to the domain's forward lookup zones and do the following:

    • Add a new host (A record) with the following settings:

      • Name: Specify a name for the VAST DNS server. This value should be different from the name chosen for the VAST DNS Domain Suffix. This name (for example, storage1-ns) will be automatically appended to form a complete host name (for example, storage1-ns.mydomain.com).

      • IP address: This IP address should match the VIP specified in the VAST DNS configuration.

      • Enable the option to create an associated pointer (PTR) record so that the reverse lookup zone is automatically created.

    • Configure new delegation with the following settings:

      • Delegated domain: Enter the delegated domain name (for example, storage1).

      • Name servers: Enter the FQDN and IP address of the VAST DNS server as was specified for the newly created A record (for example, storage1-ns.mydomain.com).

Creating an SMB View Policy

Create an SMB view policy that will be dedicated to Hyper-V. For a procedure to create a view policy, see Creating View Policies.

When configuring the policy:

  • Select the SMB security flavor.

  • Enable Continuous Availability.

    Note

    This option requires use of SMBv3.

  • Restrict SMB read/write host-based access to only include Hyper-V cluster members.

Creating an SMB View

Create an SMB view that will be used for Hyper-V files. For a procedure to create a view, see Creating Views.

When configuring the view:

  • Select the SMB protocol for the view.

  • Select the newly created SMB view policy that is dedicated to Hyper-V.

Setting Up SMB Share Security

Set up a share-level ACL to grant Full Control permissions to Hyper-V cluster members for the SMB share at the VAST cluster's FQDN.

Pointing Hyper-V to SMB Share

In Hyper-V Manager settings, edit the Virtual Hard Disks and Virtual Machines locations to store the files on the SMB share at the VAST cluster's FQDN.

Specify the path as follows: \\<VAST Cluster FQDN>\<SMB share>\

When creating a new virtual machine through Hyper-V Manager, specify the VAST SMB share as the storage folder for the VM files.

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