VMware published a remarkable 219-pages free book about storage tecnologies, design principles and implementation in VMware Infrastructure 3 environments:
This guide, or “cookbook,” describes how to design and deploy virtual infrastructure systems using VMware Infrastructure 3 with SANs (storage area networks). It describes SAN options supported with VMware Infrastructure 3 and also describes benefits, implications, and disadvantages of various design choices. The guide answers questions related to SAN management, such as how to:
- Manage multiple hosts and clients
- Set up multipathing and failover
- Create cluster-aware virtual infrastructure
- Carry out server and storage consolidation and distribution
- Manage data growth using centralized data pools and virtual volume provisioning
This guide describes various SAN storage system design options and includes the benefits, drawbacks, and ramifications of various solutions. It also provides step-by-step instructions on how to approach the design, implementation, testing, and deployment of SAN storage solutions with VMware Infrastructure, how to monitor and optimize performance, and how to maintain and troubleshoot SAN storage systems in a VMware Infrastructure environment. In addition, Appendix A provides a checklist of SAN system design and implementation.
Table of Contents
- Introduction to VMware and SAN Storage Solutions
- Storage Area Network Concepts
- VMware Virtualization of Storage
- Planning for VMware Infrastructure 3 with SAN
- Installing VMware Infrastructure 3 with SAN
- Managing VMware Infrastructure 3 with SAN
- Growing VMware Infrastructure and Storage Space
- High Availability, Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Optimization and Performance Tuning
- Common Problems and Troubleshooting
It’s a worthwhile reading before your first project, the VCP certification exam, and even non-virtualized implementations.
Read it here.