vVOL lab setup , SRM Array based replication using UnityVSA

How to build a perfect vVOL lab setup , SRM Array based replication using UnityVSA . All you need is the DELL-EMC Unity VSA latest version  , which can be downloaded here as an OVA  . Once you have that downloaded , you will now proceed to deploy that on you ESXi host (5.5 and above) , please make sure that you have enough resource on the host 12GB RAM and 2 vCPU available to get this booted up successfully . This guide shows you how you can configure vVOL lab setup , SRM Array based replication UnityVSA . Please feel free to comment on this article if you could not find what you were looking for and if you have any suggestions.

Lets Get started.

Step1 : Download the OVA from the link here , you might want to create an account if you dont have one on the their website before being able to download.

Step2 : Proceed to deploy the OVA on your host which has enough resources per the requirements of the unity VSA .

This deployment takes about 20 -30 minutes to complete , once you are able to see the IP address on the VM , try to open it as an URL , you must be seeing the EMC unisphere login page , you must be able to login with user “admin” and password “Password123#” you may choose to refer to their techincal-document or just continue with the steps here .

Step3 : You have now successfully deployed your UnityVSA, lets continue with the initial configuration Unisphere wizard .

• Get to the Unisphere Licenses tab , you now will be looking at a newly generated System UUID which will automatically be generated post you deploy your appliance , you will need to login again in the EMC portal here and then paste your System UUID and generate your License and download it . You will have a .LIC file you will later be able to click on install license and upload your license file to unlock all features of your appliance .

• Proceed with the configuration of your DNS servers , NTP servers . you may skip Pools , Alert Settings ,iSCSI Interface may be configured and be tagged to one of the available ports on the VSA see the example below , you will be later using different up links for your NAS server configuration and other networking requirements for exporting your vSA storage to the hosts .You may skip the NAS server configuration part , this can be done later . You would have now completed the initial configuration for UnityVSA .

To understand Pool creation , connecting hosts , creating / exporting luns and Exporting NFS storage . Please click the link here (This link is under construction**)