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How to Configure Storage on a Hyper-V Host Cluster in VMM

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager

You can use the following procedures to configure storage on a managed Hyper-V host cluster in Virtual Machine Manager (VMM). The procedures show the following:

  • How to add available storage to a managed Hyper-V host cluster

  • How to convert available storage to shared storage (Cluster Shared Volumes or CSV)

  • How to add shared storage to a managed Hyper-V host cluster

  • How to convert shared storage to available storage

  • How to remove available or shared storage from a managed Hyper-V host cluster

Note

Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) does not support CSV. Therefore, procedures in this topic that apply to shared storage are not supported on a Windows Server 2008 with SP2-based Hyper-V host cluster.

Important

VMM is agnostic regarding the use of asymmetric storage, where a workload can use disks that are shared between a subset of the cluster nodes. VMM does not support or block this storage configuration. Note that to work correctly with VMM, each cluster node must be a possible owner of the cluster disk. (Support for asymmetric storage was introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.)

Account requirements To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrator user role or a member of the Delegated Administrator where the management scope includes the host group where the Hyper-V host cluster is located.

Prerequisites

Before you begin these procedures, make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

  • You must have completed the procedures in the Configuring Storage in VMM section to discover, classify and provision storage through the VMM console.

  • You must have allocated logical units or storage pools to the host group (or parent host group) where the Hyper-V host cluster resides. For more information, see How to Allocate Storage Logical Units to a Host Group in VMM and How to Allocate Storage Pools to a Host Group in VMM.

    Note

    Realize that you can create logical units during the procedures to add available or shared storage to a Hyper-V host cluster. To do this, you must have allocated one or more storage pools to the host group (or parent host group) where the Hyper-V host cluster resides.

  • Make sure that each node of the cluster is correctly configured to access the storage array. Configuration will vary depending on your storage hardware. Configuration typically includes the following:

    Note

    For specific configuration information, see your storage array vendor’s documentation.

    • The Multipath I/O (MPIO) feature must be added on each host that will access the Fibre Channel or iSCSI storage array. You can add the MPIO feature through Server Manager. If the MPIO feature is already enabled before you add a host to VMM management, VMM will automatically enable MPIO for supported storage arrays by using the Microsoft provided Device Specific Module (DSM). If you already installed vendor-specific DSMs for supported storage arrays, and then add the host to VMM management, the vendor-specific MPIO settings will be used to communicate with those arrays.

      If you add a host to VMM management before you add the MPIO feature, you must add the MPIO feature, and then manually configure MPIO to add the discovered device hardware IDs. Or, you can install vendor-specific DSMs.

      Note

      For more information, including information about how to install MPIO, see Support for Multipath I/O (MPIO).

    • If you are using a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN), each host that will access the storage array must have a host bus adapter (HBA) installed. Additionally, make sure that the hosts are zoned accordingly so that they can access the storage array.

    • If you are using an iSCSI SAN, make sure that iSCSI portals have been added and that the iSCSI initiator is logged into the array. Additionally, make sure that the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service on each host is started and set to Automatic. For information about how to create an iSCSI session on a host through VMM, see How to Configure Storage on a Hyper-V Host in VMM.

    Important

    By default, when VMM manages the assignment of logical units, VMM creates one storage group per host. In a cluster configuration, VMM creates one storage group per cluster node. A storage group can contain one or more of the host’s initiator IDs (iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) or a World Wide Name (WWN)).

    For some storage arrays, it is preferable to use one storage group for the entire cluster, where host initiators for all cluster nodes are contained in a single storage group. To support this configuration, you must set the CreateStorageGroupsPerCluster property to $true by using the Set-SCStorageArray cmdlet.

    In VMM, a storage group is defined as an object that binds together host initiators, target ports and logical units. A storage group has one or more host initiators, one or more target ports and one or more logical units. Logical units are exposed to the host initiators through the target ports.

  • Before you remove storage, make sure that there are no virtual machines on the cluster that use the storage for their associated .vhd or .vhdx files. If there are, the Remove option is disabled.

  • Before you convert available to shared storage, or convert shared to available storage, make sure that there are no virtual machines on the cluster that have their associated .vhd or .vhdx files located on the storage that you want to convert.

    Warning

    If you convert shared to available storage, and there are virtual machines on the storage that you convert, this can cause serious data loss.

To add available storage for a Hyper-V host cluster

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then expand All Hosts.

  3. Locate and then click the Hyper-V host cluster that you want to configure.

  4. On the Host Cluster tab, in the Properties group, click Properties.

  5. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click the Available Storage tab.

  6. To assign available logical units to the host cluster, follow these steps:

    1. Click Add.

      Logical units that are available for assignment through VMM are listed.

    2. To create a new logical unit, click Create Logical Unit. The Create Logical Unit dialog box opens. In the Storage pool list, click a storage pool. Enter a name, description and size (in gigabytes) for the logical unit, and then click OK.

      Note

      For the logical unit name, use only alphanumeric characters.

    3. In the Add Cluster Disk dialog box, select the check box next to each logical unit that you want to add.

    4. For each logical unit, configure the partition style (MBR or GPT) and the file system (NTFS or Do not format), enter a volume label, and then select or clear the Quick Format check box.

      Note

      If the disk has already been initialized, the option to change the partition style is unavailable. Also, if the disk is not newly created, VMM does not format the disk.

    5. When you are finished, click OK.

  7. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click OK to commit the changes.

    Note

    When a virtual machine is placed on an available logical unit, the logical unit no longer appears as available storage.

To convert available storage to shared storage (CSV)

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then expand All Hosts.

  3. Locate and then click the Hyper-V host cluster that you want to configure.

  4. On the Host Cluster tab, in the Properties group, click Properties.

  5. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click the Available Storage tab.

  6. Select a volume that you want to convert to shared storage, and then click Convert to CSV.

    When you click Convert to CSV, the logical unit disappears from the Available Storage tab.

    Note

    If you want to convert multiple volumes, you must convert them one at a time.

  7. When you are finished, click OK to commit the changes.

    Verify that the logical unit appears on the Shared Volumes tab.

To add shared storage (CSVs) to a Hyper-V host cluster

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then expand All Hosts.

  3. Locate and then click the Hyper-V host cluster that you want to configure.

  4. On the Host Cluster tab, in the Properties group, click Properties.

  5. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click the Shared Volumes tab.

    To assign Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) to the host cluster, follow these steps:

    1. Click Add.

      Logical units that are available for assignment through VMM are listed.

    2. To create a new logical unit, click Create Logical Unit. The Create Logical Unit dialog box opens. In the Storage pool list, click a storage pool. Enter a name, description and size (in gigabytes) for the logical unit, and then click OK.

    3. In the Add Cluster Shared Volume dialog box, select the check box next to each logical unit that you want to add.

    4. For each logical unit, configure the partition style (MBR or GPT) and the file system (NTFS or Do not format), enter a volume label, and then select or clear the Quick Format check box.

    5. When you are finished, click OK.

  6. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click OK to commit the changes.

To convert shared storage (CSV) to available storage

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then expand All Hosts.

  3. Locate and then click the Hyper-V host cluster that you want to configure.

  4. On the Host Cluster tab, in the Properties group, click Properties.

  5. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click the Shared Volumes tab.

  6. Select one or more volumes that you want to convert to available storage, and then click Convert to Available Storage.

    When you click Convert to Available Storage, the logical unit disappears from the Shared Volumes tab.

  7. When you are finished, click OK to commit the changes.

    Verify that the logical unit appears on the Available Storage tab.

To remove available or shared storage

  1. Open the Fabric workspace.

  2. In the Fabric pane, expand Servers, and then expand All Hosts.

  3. Locate and then click the Hyper-V host cluster that you want to configure.

  4. On the Host Cluster tab, in the Properties group, click Properties.

  5. In the Host Cluster Name Properties dialog box, click the Available Storage tab or the Shared Volumes tab.

  6. Select one or more volumes that you want to remove, and then click Remove.

    Note

    If there are virtual machines on the cluster that use the volume for their associated .vhd or .vhdx files, the Remove option is disabled.

  7. When you are finished, click OK to commit the changes.

See Also

Configuring Storage in VMM
How to Configure Storage on a Hyper-V Host in VMM