Recommended Native Multi-Pathing Round Robin Datastore Settings on Dell Storage Arrays

Configure the recommended NMP Round-Robin path selection policy for optimal datastore performance on Dell Storage Arrays.

Applies to:

• Non-PowerPath/VE (PPVE) Datastores
• AMP iSCSI Datastores (Unity or VNXe)

Facts:
ESXi 6.x and 7.x with NMP-Managed datastores

Procedure:
Review current NMP round-robin settings. 

esxcli storage nmp device list

Midrange (Unity, VNX, or VNXe) example:

naa.60xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
   Device Display Name: DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.60xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
   Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_ALUA_CX
   Storage Array Type Device Config: {navireg=on, ipfilter=on} {implicit_support=on; explicit_support=on; explicit_allow=on; alua_followover=on; action_OnRetryErrors=on; {TPG_id=1,TPG_state=AO}{TPG_id=2,TPG_state=ANO}}
   Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_RR
   Path Selection Policy Device Config: {policy=rr,iops=1000,bytes=10485760,useANO=0; lastPathIndex=1: NumIOsPending=0,numBytesPending=0}
   Path Selection Policy Device Custom Config: 
   Working Paths: vmhba2:C0:T1:L0, vmhba0:C0:T3:L0
   Is USB: false

PowerMax (non-Mobility SRDF or Metro device) example:

naa.6000097xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
   Device Display Name: EMC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.6000097xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
   Storage Array Type: VMW_SATP_SYMM
   Storage Array Type Device Config: {action_OnRetryErrors=off}
   Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_RR
   Path Selection Policy Device Config: {policy=rr,iops=1000,bytes=10485760,useANO=0; lastPathIndex=1: NumIOsPending=1,numBytesPending=32768}
   Path Selection Policy Device Custom Config: 
   Working Paths: vmhba2:C0:T3:L2, vmhba0:C0:T1:L2, vmhba2:C0:T4:L2, vmhba0:C0:T2:L2
   Is USB: false

Modify NMP Round Robin IOPS limit from default 1000 to 1:

• Single datastore

esxcli storage nmp psp roundrobin deviceconfig set --type=iops --iops=1 --device="naa.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

• Multiple datastores

for i in `esxcfg-scsidevs -c | awk '{print $1}' | grep naa.xxxx`; 
    do esxcli storage nmp psp roundrobin deviceconfig set --type=iops --iops=1 --device=$i; 
done

Review NMP round-robin settings after changes:

esxcli storage nmp device list
 
Path Selection Policy: VMW_PSP_RR
Path Selection Policy Device Config: {policy=rr,iops=1,bytes=10485760,useANO=0; lastPathIndex=1: NumIOsPending=1,numBytesPending=32768}

Related articles:

• Adjusting round-robin IOPS limit from default 1000 to 1:

• Dell Host Connectivity Guide (VMware ESXi Server):