How To Attach VMware ESXi 6.5 Host to a Storage Center Array with Fiber Channel IO Cards

This video will demonstrate attaching procedure of a VMware ESXi 6.5 Host to a Storage Center Array with Fiber Channel IO Cards

In this video, I will demonstrate attaching a VMware ESXi 6.5 Host to a Storage Center array with Fiber Channel IO cards. Launch the "Dell Storage Manager Client". Click on "Log into a Storage Center or Data Collector". Provide the credentials and click "Log In". Click on the "Storage" tab.

Right click "Servers". Click on "Create Server from VMware Vsphere or Vcenter". Review the prerequisites and click "Next". Provide the credentials for the ESX host that will be connecting to the Storage Center and click "Next". The Storage Center we are connecting to supports both Fiber Channel and iSCSI.

The DSM client didn't find any existing fiber channel connections to the array, so it is asking if you want to use iSCSI. If we had zoned the host to the array prior to starting this wizard, this screen would not be displayed. Click "No". The server has a two-port fiber channel HBA.

The wizard will provide you with information on what zones to create, but it can't tell which switch the HBA is connected to. Document the HBA's World Wide Name, then log into one of the switches. We will start with "Fault Domain 1". Click "Configure", "Zone Admin". Scroll down to the port number that has the server HBA plugged into it.

Our server is connected to "port16" on both switches. Expand out the World Wide Name to see the World Wide Port Name, which is underneath the World Wide Node Name. We don't see the same World Wide Name that was displayed in "DSM", so we will log into the other switch. We scroll down to "port16" and expand out the World Wide Name.

This time we find the correct World Wide Name for the HBA. Highlight the World Wide Port Name, then click "Create New Alias". Enter a name. Typically, this is the server name. If the server had multiple connections to each switch, you would want to identify the different HBAs. We only have one connection to each switch. Click "OK".

Then, the right arrow to move the World Wide Name over. Next, click on the "Zone" tab. Click "New Zone". Enter a name for the zone. It is typically descriptive of what is in the zone. In this case, we use the server name and array name. Expand out "Aliases". Locate the newly created server alias and the aliases for the virtual ports of the "Storage Center". Highlight all of them, or one at a time, and click the right arrow.

Next, click on the "Zone Config" tab. Expand out "Zones". Find a newly created zone, highlight it, click the "right arrow". Click on "Save Config". Click on "Yes". Wait for the changes to be completed, then click on "Enable Config". After it is completed, you can close the zoning wizard. Open DSM and select the appropriate Fault Domain. In our case, it was "Fault Domain 2". Click "OK". The wizard now displays the other HBA’s ports World Wide Name.

Document it and open a zoning wizard on the other switch for the other fault domain. In our case, it will be back to "Fault Domain 1". Just like the other switch, we create the alias for the HBA, then create the zone, and add it to the config, then enable it. When zoning is complete, we continue with the DSM wizard.

We select the appropriate Fault Domain and click "Next". The wizard will show connectivity as "Not Connected". Click on "Refresh". The status should change to "Fully Connected". If it doesn't, troubleshoot prior to continuing. Click "Next" to continue. You should get the "Host Setup Successful" screen.

Click on "Launch wizard to create a volume for this host". You can use the "Copy to clipboard" feature to save the "Best Practices". Click "Finish". Update the volume "Name" and click "Next". Update the "Capacity" and click "Next". Make any modifications necessary for the storage options, and click "Next".

Adjust the "Snapshot Profiles" for the volume and click "Next". Click "Next" to map the volume to the server. Click "Finish". To use the newly created volume, click on "Storage Devices" and "Rescan".

Click on "Datastores" and the plus icon. Click "Next". Select the "COMPELNT" disk. You can also update the name, and click "Next". Select a version and click "Next". Make any adjustments, and click "Next". Click "Finish".