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What are the requirements for NetApp ONTAP FC-NVMe deployment with ESXi 7.0?

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Applies to

  • ESXi 7.0 FC-NVMe
  • VMware vSphere 7.0
  • ONTAP

Answer

VMware vSphere 7.0 release includes support for FC-NVMe storage stack.

This KB describes the settings required for improved Interoperability of ONTAP with ESXi 7.0 FC-NVMe.

  1. For Broadcom Emulex LPe3200x FCP HBA, the following parameter must be set to detect NVMe Namespaces:

    esxcli system module parameters set -m lpfc -p lpfc_enable_fc4_type=3

    Reboot the system for settings to take effect.

     Note: The above command in not required for Broadcom LPe3500x HBA.

  1. Once ESXi 7.0 has detected the Namespace and on presenting a new Subsystem from ONTAP, ESXi 7.0 does not detect the new Namespace presented. To detect the new subsystem and Namespace, following can be done: 
     
    1. Perform rescan on the host
  2. Following parameter must be set to '0' for improved Interoperability:

    esxcfg-advcfg -s 0 /Misc/HppManageDegradedPaths

    Note: Failing to set this value to '0' would cause application outage
     
    1. Reboot system.
    2. Check if config disabled and start the test:

      esxcfg-advcfg -g /Misc/HppManageDegradedPaths

      Above command should show the value as 0 -> “Value of HppManageDegradedPaths is 0”
       
  3. Deploying Solaris VM and its data disk on Namespace, ensure to use virtual SCSI controller (LSI Logic SAS, PVSCSI) only. The use of virtual NVMe controller to Solaris VM is not recommended.
  4. NetApp supports FC SCSI LUNs and Namespace co-existence config. Refer to VMware documentation for number of LUNs and Namespaces and the path count recommended by VMware.
  5. For VM deployed on SCSI and NVMe Namespaces with virtual SCSI controller (LSI Logic SAS, PVSCSI) attached to the VM, the disk timeout recommended is 60 seconds. Refer to the corresponding VM OS vendor on how to set the disk timeouts to 60 seconds.
  6. Refer to NetApp IMT for any open issues and BURTs.

Additional Information

  • vSphere Upgrade Center
  • Parameter settings on the HBA is required to be set only once, if a new HBA is added then paramter setting is required on the new HBA

 

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