Hyper-V Server virtual Fibre Channel

The Hyper-V virtual Fibre Channel feature for virtual machines enables virtual machines to access Fibre Channel-based storage devices. This feature enables enterprises to virtualize workloads that require Fibre Channel usage, and enables enterprises to create clusters using Fibre Channel with guest operating systems running in virtual machines.

The Virtual Fibre Channel adapter provides port virtualization capabilities by providing a host bus adapter (HBA) port to the guest operating system. This allows the virtual machine to access the Storage Area network (SAN) in a direct, non-filtered manner, and can use the standard global name (WWN) that is associated with the virtual machine. A maximum of four virtual Fibre Channel adapters can be allocated per virtual machine

Virtual Fibre Channel allows virtual machines to connect directly to Fibre Channel-based storage and render virtual Fibre Channel host Bus Adapter (HBA) ports on guest operating systems running inside a virtual machine. Key features of virtual Fibre Channel include:

1. Direct non-intermediary access to the SAN:

Virtual Fibre Channel for Hyper-V provides direct, non-intermediary access to the SAN for the guest operating system by using the standard global name (WWN) that is associated with the virtual machine. Hyper-V support for workload virtualization that uses a Fibre Channel SAN will require direct access to the San Logical unit number (LUN). Fibre Channel Sans also support operations under a new scenario, such as running the Windows Failover Clustering feature inside a guest operating system that is connected to a virtual machine that shares Fibre Channel storage.

2. Hardware-based I/O path to the Windows software virtual hard disk stack:

The advanced storage features included in the mid-high-end storage array help offload specific management tasks from the host to the SAN. Virtual Fibre Channel provides another path to the Windows software virtual hard disk to be cool, a hardware-based I/O path. This path supports the advanced functionality of the SAN directly within a Hyper-V virtual machine. For example, a Hyper-V user can offload storage functionality (for example, making a LUN snapshot) to SAN hardware, as long as the hardware's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) provider is used within a Hyper-V virtual machine.

3. Live Migration

To support live migration of virtual machines across Hyper-V hosts while maintaining Fibre Channel connectivity, configure two Wwn--set A and Set B for each virtual Fibre Channel adapter. During a live migration, hyper-V automatically switches between the WWN addresses of set A and set B. This helps ensure that all LUNs are available to the target host before migration, so there is no downtime during the migration.

Displays a live migration environment for Fibre Channel connectivity

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4. N_portid Virtualization (NPIV):

NPIV is a fibre channel facility that supports sharing a physical n_port across multiple N_port IDs. This allows multiple Fibre channel initiators to occupy a physical port, easing the hardware requirements of the San design, especially where a virtual san is needed. Virtual Fibre Channel for Hyper-V customers uses the NPIV (T11 standard) to create multiple NPIV ports on the physical Fibre Channel ports of the host. Each time a virtual HBA is created inside a virtual machine, a new NPIV port is created on the host. When the virtual machine stops running on the host, the NPIV port is revoked.

Topology diagram for virtual Fibre Channel and MPIV

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5. A Hyper-V host connects a different SAN with multiple Fibre Channel ports:

Hyper-V supports the definition of a virtual San on a host, so a Hyper-V host can be connected to a different SAN through multiple Fibre Channel ports. A virtual San connects to the same physical SAN physical Fibre Channel port defined as a named group. For example, suppose a hyper-V host connects two sans: one for a production SAN and one for a test SAN. The host connects to each SAN through two physical Fibre Channel ports. In this example, you can configure two virtual sans: one named "Bjcloud Product San", with two physical fibre Channel ports connected to the production San, and another named "Bjcloud Test San", with two physical fibre Channel ports connected to test the SAN. You can use the same technique to name two independent paths that are connected to a storage target.

6. Maximum of four virtual Fibre Channel adapters per virtual machine:

You can configure up to four virtual fibre channels on a single virtual machine and associate each Fibre Channel with a virtual SAN. Each virtual Fibre Channel adapter is associated with a WWN address or two WWN addresses to support live migration. Each WWN address can be set automatically or manually.

7. Multipath I/O (MPIO), which helps secure high-availability connections to storage:

Windows Server 2012/R2 Hyper-V uses the Microsoft multipath I/O (MPIO) feature to help ensure optimal connectivity to Fibre Channel storage for virtual machines. You can use the MPIO feature on Fibre Channel in the following ways:

1) will use MPIO for workload virtualization. Install multiple Fibre Channel ports within a virtual machine, using MPIO to provide a highly available connection to the LUN (accessible by the host).

2) Configure multiple virtual Fibre Channel adapters within the virtual machine to use the standalone copy of MPIO to connect LUNs (accessible by virtual machines) within the guest operating system of the virtual machine. This configuration can coexist with the MPIO settings of the host.

3) Use a different device-specific module (DSM) to process the host or each virtual machine. This approach allows the migration of virtual machine configurations, including DSM configuration and connectivity between hosts, as well as compatibility with existing server configurations and DSM.

Using Hyper-V virtual Fibre Channel requires the following prerequisites:

1) One or more Windows Server 2012/R2 installations with the Hyper-V role installed. Hyper-V requires that the computer's processor support hardware virtualization.

2) The computer has one or more Fibre Channel HBAs, and each HBA has an updated HBA driver that supports virtual Fibre Channel. Contact the HBA vendor to see if the HBA supports virtual Fibre Channel.

3) The virtual machine is configured to use a virtual Fibre Channel adapter and must use Windows Server 2008, Windows Server R2, or Windows Server 2012/R2 as the guest operating system.

4) connection to the data LUN only. Storage connected to a LUN, accessed through virtual Fibre Channel, cannot be used as a restart media.

With virtual Fibre Channel, you can access and use Fibre Channel SAN data directly from within a virtual machine, no longer only hyper-V hosts to access and use this storage. The Hyper-V guest system support for Fibre Channel also includes support for a number of related features, such as NPIV, virtual SAN, live migration, and MPIO. This feature protects investments on Fibre Channel, virtualized workloads that direct access to Fibre Channel storage, makes the guest operating system a cluster on Fibre Channel, and provides an important new storage option for servers running on top of the virtualized infrastructure.

To use this feature, you need to properly install drivers and firmware on the host, and after enabling NPIV, you need to define a virtual Fibre Channel SAN on the host.

On the right side of the Hyper-V management console, on the area page, click Virtual San Manager

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The feature cannot be demonstrated temporarily because the current environment is not supported, and the document will be updated the first time the environment is supported.

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Hyper-V Server virtual Fibre Channel