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Free Space PS6100
I am using VMware 6.5 with a 600 GB non thin provisioned volume. I have deleted all virtual machines on this volume. VMware sees the full 600 GB free space but the san only sees 38 GB free. I ran the space reclamation command from VMware host but the san still only sees 38 GB free. How do I get the san to see the full 600 GB free space?
dwilliam62
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January 17th, 2019 13:00
Hello,
Also what is the FW on the EQL array?
Don
dwilliam62
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January 17th, 2019 13:00
Hello,
A couple of common issues with reclamation:
The VMFS DS wasn't originally formatted with VMFS v5/6 but was upgraded from 3.x instead. In that case UNMAP/Reclaim won't work.
The volume is being replicated by the EQL array. In that case UNMAP/Reclaim will not work. It's not supported on replicated volumes.
Are there any EQL snapshots on that volume?
If there are no VMs on that volume, you can put it offline in the EQL GUI. Rescan the ESXi hosts. Then delete it from the array. Make sure to empty the recovery bin. Then create a new volume, format it with VMFS v6.x and try again.
I have seen cases where something amiss on the DS filesystem prevented it from working.
Regards,
Don
Gerald126
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January 17th, 2019 13:00
Don,
Thanks for replying. The volume is VMFS v3. I did not upgrade to the v5/6 on that volume. I do not know if that makes a difference in your answer. The volume on the san has no snapshots. Firmware version is 7.0.4
dwilliam62
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January 17th, 2019 15:00
Hello,
Well at least you know why now. I would suggest the delete volume route. Then create a new one with VMFS v6. UNMAP should work fine then.
Re: 7.0.4. That is really old firmware. It was released April 2014. That is not certified/tested with ESXi v6.5.
If you have a support contract I would strongly advise you to upgrade that array to current release 10.0.2.
Also, you should configure ESXi to Dell's best practices if you haven't already done so.
https://downloads.dell.com/solutions/storage-solution-resources/BestPracticesWithPSseries-VMware(TR1091).pdf
Regards,
Don
Gerald126
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January 17th, 2019 17:00
Don,
Would I be able to have a volume with vmfs v 6 when all other volumes are version 3 vmfs? I thought all volumes had to be the same vmfs version if VMware is in high availability.
dwilliam62
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January 17th, 2019 18:00
Hello,
Re: VMFS I don't believe so, but you should be running VMFS v6 for SO many reasons. Key being much better performance. I would suggest moving VMs to new VMFS v6 Datastores and remove the old volumes as they are emptied. Upgrading to VMFS v6 doesn't give you all the new features.
Regards,
Don
Gerald126
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March 5th, 2019 10:00
I created a new volume on the san and formatted it with vmfs 5. I delete the vm and the san did not show the free space. I tried doing the esx space reclamation command but it did not work. Is there a certain syntax of the command that I should use?
dwilliam62
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March 5th, 2019 11:00
Hello,
The array will not auto reclaim. As a block storage device it requires the command to come from the host. SANs are not filesystem aware.
Which command did you use?
Is the volume replicated via EQL? If so, then UNMAP/Reclaim will not work with EQL volumes.
What is the EQL firmware revision?
Are there any snapshots on that volume?
Finally the way EQL allocates space is in 15MB chunks. If all the LBAs on that page are not unallocated the entire 15MB page remains allocated.
The OS know what blocks are available for re-use. So even if the volume shows 100% in-use in EQL GUI, the OS could say 100% free. Usage should be tracked by the OS not the storage.
Regards,
Don