vVols User Guide: Storage Policy Based Management
Storage Policy Based Management
A major benefit of the vVol architecture is granularity—its ability to configure each virtual volume as required and ensure that the configuration does not change.
Historically, configuring storage with VMware management tools has required GUI plugins. Every storage vendor’s tools were unique—there was no consistency across vendors. Plugins were integrated with the Web Client, but not with vCenter itself, so there was no integration with the SDK or PowerCLI. Moreover, ensuring on-going configuration compliance was not easy, especially in large environments. Assuring compliance with storage policies generally required 3rd party tools.
With vVol data granularity, an array administrator can configure each virtual disk or VM exactly as required. Moreover, with vVols, data granularity is integrated with vCenter in the form of custom storage policies that VMware administrators create and apply to both VMs and individual virtual disks.
Storage policies are VMware administrator-defined collections of storage capabilities. Storage capabilities are array-specific features that can be applied to volumes on the array. When a storage policy is applied, VMware filters out non-compliant storage so that only compliant targets are presented as options for configuring storage for a VM or vVol.
If an array administrator makes a VM or volume non-compliant with a VMware policy, for example by changing its configuration on the array, VMware marks the VM or VMDK non-compliant. A VMware administrator can remediate non-compliant configurations using only VMware management tools; no array access is required.
FlashArray Storage Capabilities
An array’s capabilities represent the features it offers. When any FlashArray’s VASA providers are registered with vCenter, the array informs vCenter that the array has the following capabilities:
- Encryption of stored data (“data at rest”)
- Deduplication
- Compression
- RAID protection
- Flash storage
All FlashArrays offer these capabilities; they cannot be disabled. VMware administrators can configure the additional capabilities advertised by the VASA provider and listed in the following table.
|
Capability Name |
Value (not case-sensitive) |
|---|---|
|
Consistency Group Name |
A FlashArray protection group name |
|
FlashArray Group |
Name of one or more FlashArrays |
|
Local Snapshot Interval |
A time interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, week, months or years. |
|
Local Snapshot Policy Capable |
Yes or No |
|
Local Snapshot Retention |
A time interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, week, months or years. |
|
Minimum Replication Concurrency |
Number of target FlashArrays to replicate to at once |
|
Pure Storage FlashArray |
Yes or No |
|
QoS Support |
Yes or No |
|
Replication Capable |
Yes or No |
|
Replication Interval |
A time interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, week, months or years. |
|
Replication Retention |
A time interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, week, months or years. |
|
Target Sites |
Names of specific FlashArrays desired as replication targets |
Configurable Capabilities Advertised by FlashArray VASA Providers 1.0.0 and higher
There are some new capabilites that are now advertised with the release of Purity//FA 6.2.6 and the Pure VASA Provider 2.0. These capabilities are all placement based rules and will only match a vVol datastore running on a FlashArray running Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. Here are the capabilities that are available starting with Purity//FA 6.2.6 and VASA Provider 2.0.
|
QoS Placement Capability Name |
Value (not case-sensitive) |
|---|---|
|
Per Virtual Disk IOPS Limit |
A value and the unit of measurement (hundreds, thousands or millions) |
|
Per Virtual Disk Bandwith Limit |
A value and the unit of measurement (KB/s, MB/s or GB/s) |
|
Local Snapshot Protection Placement Capability Name |
Value (not case-sensitive) |
|---|---|
|
Snapshot Interval |
A time interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, week, months or years. |
|
Retain all Snapshots for |
A time interval in seconds, minutes, hours, days, week, months or years. |
| Retain Additional Snapshots | Number of snapshots to be retained for |
| Days to Retain Additional Snapshots | Number of Days to retain the additional snapshots |
|
Volume Tagging Placement Capability Name |
Value (not case-sensitive) |
|---|---|
|
Key |
Name of the the volume key tag |
| Value | Name of the volume value tag |
| Copyable | Yes or No |
Configurable Capabilities Advertised by FlashArray VASA Providers 2.0.0 and higher
Storage Capability Compliance
Administrators can specify values for some or all of these capabilities when creating storage policies. VMware performs two types of policy compliance checks:
- If a vVol were to be created on the array, could it be configured with the feature?
- Is a vVol in compliance with its policy? For example, a vVol with a policy of hourly snapshots must be (a) on FlashArray that hosts a protection group with hourly snapshots enabled and (b) a member of that protection group.
Only VMs and virtual disks configured with vVols can be compliant. VMFS-based VMs are never compliant, even if their volume is on a compliant FlashArray.
The following table lists the circumstances under which a policy offers each capability, and under which a vVol is in or out of compliance with it.
| Capability Name | An array offers this capability when… | A vVol is in compliance when… | A vVol is out of compliance when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Storage FlashArray | …it is a FlashArray (i.e. always). | …it is on a FlashArray, if the capability is set to ‘Yes’. |
…it is on a different array vendor/model and the capability is set to ‘Yes’. …it is on a FlashArray and the capability is set to ‘No’. |
|
FlashArray Group |
…it is a FlashArray and its name is listed in this group. |
…it is on a FlashArray with one of the configured names. |
…it is not on a FlashArray with one of the configured names. |
|
QoS Support |
…it is a FlashArray and has QoS enabled. |
…it is on a FlashArray with QoS enabled and the capability is set to ‘Yes’. …it is on a FlashArray with QoS disabled and the capability is set to ‘No’. |
…it is on a FlashArray with QoS disabled and the capability is set to ‘Yes’. …it is on a FlashArray with QoS enabled and the capability is set to ‘No’. |
|
Consistency Group Name |
…it is a FlashArray and has a protection group with that name. |
…it is in a protection group with that name. |
…it is not in a protection group with that name. |
|
Local Snapshot Policy Capable |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with an enabled snapshot schedule. |
…it is on a FlashArray with at least one protection group with an enabled snapshot schedule. |
…it is on a FlashArray that does not have at least one protection group or on a non-FlashArray. |
|
Local Snapshot Interval |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with an enabled local snapshot policy of the specified interval. |
…it is in a protection group with an enabled local snapshot policy of the specified interval. |
…it is not in a protection group with an enabled local snapshot policy of the specified interval. |
|
Local Snapshot Retention |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with an enabled local snapshot policy of the specified retention. |
…it is in a protection group with an enabled local snapshot policy of the specified retention. |
…it is not in a protection group with an enabled local snapshot policy of the specified retention. |
|
Replication Capable |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with an enabled replication schedule. |
…it is in a protection group with an enabled replication target. |
…it is not in a protection group with an enabled replication target. |
|
Replication Interval |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with an enabled replication policy of the specified interval. |
…it is in a protection group with an enabled replication policy of the specified interval. |
…it is not in a protection group with an enabled replication policy of the specified interval. |
|
Replication Retention |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with an enabled replication policy of the specified retention. |
…it is in a protection group with an enabled replication policy of the specified retention. |
…it is not in a protection group with an enabled replication policy of the specified retention. |
|
Minimum Replication Concurrency |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with the specified number or more of allowed replication targets. |
…it is in a protection group that has the specified number of allowed replication targets. |
…it is not in a protection group that has the specified number of allowed replication targets. |
|
Target Sites |
…it is a FlashArray and has at least one protection group with one or more of the specified allowed replication targets. |
…it is in a protection group with one or more of the specified allowed replication targets. |
…it is not in a protection group replicating to the minimum amount of correct target FlashArrays. |
| QoS Placement Capability Name |
An array offers this capability when… | A vVol is in compliance when… | A vVol is out of compliance when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per Virtual Disk IOPS Limit | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...the volume QoS IOPS Limit matches the value of the rule. | ...the volume's QoS IOPS Limit is either unset or does not match the value in the rule. |
| Per Virtual Disk Bandwith Limit | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...the volume QoS Bandwidth Limit matches the value of the rule. | ...the volume's QoS Bandwidth Limit is either unset or does not match the value in the rule. |
| Local Snapshot Protection Placement Capability Name |
An array offers this capability when… | A vVol is in compliance when… | A vVol is out of compliance when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snapshot Interval | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...the protection group that VASA is using for the storage policy matches the ruleset, the vVol is a member of the protection group and the snapshot schedule is enabled. | ...the vVol is not a member of the paired protection group, the interval does not match the policy rule or the snapshot schedule is disabled. |
| Retain all Snapshots for | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...the protection group that VASA is using for the storage policy matches the ruleset, the vVol is a member of the protection group and the snapshot schedule is enabled. | ...the vVol is not a member of the paired protection group, the retention interval does not match the policy rule or the snapshot schedule is disabled. |
| Retain Additional Snapshots | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...the protection group that VASA is using for the storage policy matches the ruleset, the vVol is a member of the protection group and the snapshot schedule is enabled. | ...the vVol is not a member of the paired protection group, the value does not match the policy rule or the snapshot schedule is disabled. |
| Days to Retain Additional Snapshots | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...the protection group that VASA is using for the storage policy matches the ruleset, the vVol is a member of the protection group and the snapshot schedule is enabled. | ...the vVol is not a member of the paired protection group, the value does not match the policy rule or the snapshot schedule is disabled. |
| Volume Tagging Placement Capability Name |
An array offers this capability when… | A vVol is in compliance when… | A vVol is out of compliance when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...a tag exists on the volume that matches the key value pair dictated by the rule. | ...a tag does not exist or does not match the key value pair dictated by the rule. |
| Value | ...it is a FlashArray runing Purity//FA 6.2.6 or higher. | ...a tag exists on the volume that matches the key value pair dictated by the rule. | ...a tag does not exist or does not match the key value pair dictated by the rule. |
Combining Capabilities and Storage Compliance
This section describes an example of combining capabilities into a policy. Storage policies are a powerful method of assuring specific configuration control, but they affect how vVol compliance is viewed. For an array or vVol to be compliant with a policy:
- The array or vVol must comply with all of the policy’s capabilities
- For snapshot and replication capabilities, the array must have at least one protection group that offers all of the policy’s capabilities. For example, if a policy requires hourly local snapshots and replication every 5 minutes, a protection group with a hourly snapshots and a different protection group with 5 minute replication do not make the array compliant. VMware requires that volumes be in a single group during policy configuration, so to be compliant for this example, an array would require at least one protection group with hourly snapshots and 5 minute replication.
- Some combinations of capabilities cannot be compliant. For example, setting an array’s Local Snapshot Policy Capable capability to No and specifying a policy that includes snapshots means that no storage compliant with the policy can be hosted on that array.
Creating a Storage Policy
vCenter makes the capabilities advertised by an array’s VASA Provider available to VMware administrators for assembling into storage policies. Administrators can create policies by using APIs, GUI, CLI, or other tools. This section describes two ways of creating policies for FlashArray-based vVols:
- Custom Policy Creation
- Using the Web Client to create custom policies using capabilities published by the FlashArray VASA provider
- Importing FlashArray Protection Groups
- Using the Plugin to create storage policies by importing a FlashArray protection group configuration
Creating Custom Storage Policies
Click the home icon at the top of the Web Client home screen, and select Policies and Profiles from the dropdown menu to display the VM Storage Policies pane.
 |
| Policies and Profiles Command |
Select the VM Storage Policies tab and click the Create VM Storage Policy button to launch the Create New VM Storage Policy wizard.
 |
| Create VM Storage Policy Button |
Select a vCenter from the dropdown and enter a name and description for the policy.
 |
| Create New VM Storage Policy Wizard |
It is a best practice to use a naming convention that is operationally meaningful. For example the name above suggests that the policy will have local snapshot protection with a one hour interval and 15 minute replication.
Select com.purestorage.storage.policy in the <Select provider> dropdown to use the FlashArray VASA provider rules (com.purestorage.storage.policy) to create the storage policy.
 Before Purity 6.2.6 and VASA Provider 2.0.0 the FlashArray VASA Provider rulesets showed up as a string like this. Moving forward the rules will have a friendlier name displaying as just "Pure Storage"  |
| Rule-set Page of the Create New VM Storage Policy Wizard |
A storage policy requires at least one rule. To locate all VMs and virtual disks to which this policy will be assigned on FlashArrays, click the <Add rule> dropdown and select the Pure Storage FlashArray capability.
 |
| Adding a Storage Policy Rule |
At least one Placement rule needs to be provided in order to create a storage policy with the Pure Storage rules.
 |
| Error if no placement rule is provided |
The selected rule name appears above the <Add rule> dropdown, and a dropdown list of valid values appears to the right of it. Select Yes and click Next to create the policy. As defined thus far, the policy requires that VMs and vVols to which it is assigned be located on FlashArrays, but they are not otherwise constrained. When a policy is created, the Plugin checks registered arrays for compliance and displays a list of vVol datastores on arrays that support it.
 |
| List of Arrays Compatible with a New Storage Policy |
The name assigned to the policy (FlashArray-1hrSnap15minReplication) suggests that it should specify hourly snapshots and 15-minute replications of any VMs and virtual volumes to which it is assigned. Click Back to edit the rule-set.
With the release of Purity 6.2.6 and VASA Provider 2.0.0 a placement rule was added for local snapshot protection. Meaning that replication groups are no longer required to provide local snapshot protection to VMs. If using a Purity//FA version lower that 6.2.6 then replication groups will still be needed for providing local snapshot protection. In the example we provide in this KB we will show how to leverage Snapshot Placement ruleset in a policy.
FlashArray replication and snapshot (only required for Purity//FA versions below 6.2.6) capabilities require component rules. Click Custom and select Replication from the dropdown to display the Replication component rule pane.
 |
| Selecting Replication Capabilities for the Policy |
Click the Add Rule dropdown again, select Remote Replication Interval, enter 15 in the text box, select Minutes as the unit and click Next to display the list of registered arrays that are compatible with the augmented policy.
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| Specifying Replication Interval Rule |
In vSphere there is the ability to create pre-defined replication rule requirements. These can be created in the Storage Policy Components tab under Policies and Profiles.
 |
| Creating a new Storage Policy Component |
After selecting the Pure Storage Replication Provider the same replication rules are available to be used. Here we create a component ruleset that matches the custom one we provided in the storage policy above.
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| Storage Policy Component with Replication rules |
If we had wanted to use a replication component in the new storage policy we would have selected it from a drop down instead of choosing the custom option.
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| Selecting a Storage Policy Component |
With Purity//FA 6.2.6 and VASA Provider 2.0.0 local snapshot protection is provided through a placement capability. To provide local snapshot protection the "Local Snapshot Protection" rule will need to be selected. While the local snapshot rules can be added to a replication component, we recommend using local snapshot placement rules for this moving forward. Here is what the local snapshot placement rules look like.
 |
| Selecting Local Snapshot Placement Capability |
With local snapshot placement VASA will be creating a new FlashArray protection group that will be mapped one to one with this storage policy. As such all protection group settings will be required as part of enabling that capability ruleset. Additionally help tooltips are provided for each rule.
 |
| Snapshot placement rule hints |
In the example provided here we have a Storage Policy that has both local snapshot placement enabled along with replication rules.
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| Storage Policy review and finish |
Note:
A policy can be created even if no registered vVol datastores are compatible with it, but it cannot be assigned to any VMs or vVols. Storage can be adjusted to comply, for example, by creating a compliant protection group, or alternatively, the policy can be adjusted to be compatible with existing storage.
Auto-policy Creation with the Plugin
Changing a Storage Policy
A VMware administrator can edit a storage policy that no longer fulfills the needs of the VMs assigned to make it fulfill current needs.
To change a policy’s parameters from the Policies and Profiles page in the Web Client, select VM Storage Policies, select the policy to be changed, and click the Edit button to display a list of the policy’s rules. Make the needed rule changes and click OK.
 |
| Edit Settings Button |
 |
| Changing or adding a Policy Rule |
Clicking OK launches the VM Storage Policy in Use wizard, offering two options for resolution:
Manually later
Flags all VMs and virtual disks to which the changed policy is assigned as Out of Date.
Now
Assigns the changed policy to all VMs and virtual disks assigned to the original policy.
 |
| VM Storage Policy in Use Wizard |
Should Manually Later have been chosen the VM compliance can be checked by selecting the storage policy and then looking at the VM Compliance tab.
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| Out of Date Storage Policies |
If Manually later is selected, VMs and vVols show Out of Date compliance status. Update the policies for the affected VMs by clicking the Reapply from the VM Storage Policy header bar.
 |
| Reapply Storage Policy Button |
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| Confirm the Reapply Action |
Now that the Policy has been reapplied the VMs policy status will be in compliance.
Checking VM Storage Policy Compliance
A vVol-based VM or virtual disk may become noncompliant with its vCenter storage policy when a storage policy is changed, when an array administrator reconfigures volumes, or when the state of an array changes.
For example, if an array administrator changes the replication interval for a protection group that corresponds to a vCenter storage policy, the VMs and virtual disks to which the policy is assigned are no longer compliant.
To determine whether a VM or virtual disk is compliant with its assigned policy, either select the policy and display the objects assigned to it , or validate VMs and virtual disks for compliance with a given policy.
From the Web Client home page, click the VM Storage Policies icon to view the vCenter’s list of storage policies. Select a policy, click the Monitor tab, and click the VMs and Virtual Disks button to display a list of the VMs and virtual disks to which the policy is assigned.
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| VM Storage Policies Icon |
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| Selecting a Policy and showing the VM Compliance List |
Each policy’s status is either:
Compliant
The VM or virtual disk is configured in compliance with the policy.
Noncompliant
The VM or virtual disk is not configured according to the policy.
Out-of-date
The policy has been changed but has not been re-applied. The VM or virtual disk may still be compliant, but the policy must be re-applied to determine that.
Assigning a Storage Policy to a VM or Virtual Disk
The Web Client can assign a storage policy to a new VM or virtual disk when it is created, deployed from a template, or cloned from another VM. A VMware administrator can change the policy assigned to a VM or virtual disk. Finally, a VM’s storage policy can be changed during Storage vMotion.
Assigning a Storage Policy to New VM
A VMware administrator can assign a storage policy to a new VM created using the Deploy from Template wizard. (The procedure is identical to policy assignment with the Create New Virtual Machine and Clone Virtual Machine wizards.)
Right-click the target template in the Web Client inventory pane’s VMs and Templates list, and select New VM from This Template.
 |
| New VM from Template Command |
From the Storage selection page there is a section for VM Storage policy that allows the selectin of any policies that have been created.
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| Select Storage Step of Template |
Setting a Policy for an Entire VM
In the Select Storage pane, select Thin Provision from the Select virtual disk format dropdown (FlashArrays not running on Purity//FA 6.2.0 or later only support thin provisioned volumes; selecting other options causes VM creation to fail), and either select a datastore (VMFS, NFS or vVol) from the list or a policy from the VM storage policy dropdown.
Selecting a policy filters the list to include only compliant storage. For example, selecting the built-in vVol No Requirements Policy, would filter the list to show only vVol datastores.
Selecting the FlashArray-15MinReplication-Component policy filters out datastores on arrays that do not have protection groups with those properties.
 |
| Selecting a Storage Policy |
A storage policy that includes local snapshots or remote replication requires a replication group. An existing group can be assigned, or, if Automatic is selected, VMware directs the array to create a protection group with the specified capabilities.
Whichever option is chosen, the VM’s config vVol and all of its data vVols are assigned the same policy. (Swap vVols are never assigned a storage policy.) Click Finish to complete the wizard. The VM is created and its data and config vVols are placed in the assigned protection group.
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| Assign an Existing Replication Group |
BEST PRACTICES: Pure Storage recommends assigning local snapshot policies to all config vVols to simplify VM restoration.
All FlashArray volumes are thin provisioned, so the Thin Provision virtual disk format should always be selected. With FlashArray volumes, there is no performance impact for thin provisioning.
The screenshot below shows the FlashArray GUI view of a common storage policy for an entire vVol-based VM.
 |
|
FlashArray GUI View of a VM-wide Storage Policy |
Assigning a Policy to Each of VM's Virtual Disks
In most cases, VMware administrators put all of a VM’s volumes in the same protection group, thereby assigning the same storage policy to them.
Alternatively, there is the option to apply the storage policy at a per virtual disk basis. Select configure Per Disk.
 |
| Configure storage policy per Disk |
In this view, a separate storage policy can be specified for for the VM’s config vVol as well as for each virtual disk (data vVol).
The Configuration File line refers to the VM’s config vVol. The remaining lines enumerate its data vVols (Hard Disk 1 in the example).
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| Configure Per Disk - Configuring the Configuration File |
The objects can be configured individual or by selecting multiple virtual disks or configuration file.
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| Configure Per Disk - Selecting one virtual disk |
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| Configure Per Disk - Selecting two virtual disks |
Selecting a policy from the VM storage policy dropdown filters the list to include only compliant datastores. For example, selecting the vVol No Requirements Policy lists only vVol datastores.
A storage policy that includes local snapshots or remote replication requires a replication group. An existing group can be assigned (for example, sn1-x70-c05-33:FlashArray-SPBM-15minReplication).
Alternatively, if Automatic is selected, the array creates a protection group with the capabilities specified by the policy. Whichever option is chosen, the policy is assigned to the vVol.
 |
| Select VM Storage Policy - Storage - Replication Group |
For example, a VM’s config vVol might be assigned a FlashArray-1hrLocalSnap storage policy, which uses Local Snapshot Protection rules. Whereas its the boot data vVol might be assigned the FlashArray-15minReplication policy, corresponding to the sn1-x70-c05-33:FlashArray-SPBM-15minReplication replication group.
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| Separate Storage Policies for Config and Data vVols |
Here are the screenshots from the Array that list the contents of the two protection groups that correspond to the policies chosen for the config and data.
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| Config vVol in the VASA managed protection group for the given Storage Policy |
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| Data vVol in the 15 Minute Replication Array Protection Group |
VMware does not allow a single VM to have different Replication Groups for different virtual disks. If a VM has objects in a replication group, then all objects that have a replication policy applied should use the same replication group.
Changing a VM's Storage Policy
To change a VM’s storage policy, a VMware administrator assigns a new policy to it. VMware directs the array to reconfigure the affected vVols. If the change makes the VM or any of its virtual disks non-compliant, the VMware administrator must adjust their policies.
To change a VM’s storage policy, select the VMs and Templates view in the Web Client inventory pane, (1) right-click the target VM, (2) select VM Policies from the dropdown menu, and (3) select Edit VM Storage Policies from the secondary dropdown to launch the Edit VM Storage Policies wizard.
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| Edit VM Storage Policies Command |
The VM Storage Policies can be edied a per disk level or all at the same time. Same with the replication group selection.
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| Edit VM Storage Policies Wizard |
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| Edit VM Storage Policy Replication Group |
To change the storage policy assigned to a VM’s config vVol or a single data vVol, select a policy from the dropdown in the VM Storage Policy column of its row in the table.
Selecting a policy that is not valid for the array that hosts a vVol displays a Datastore does not match current VM policy error message. To satisfy the selected policy, the VM would have to be moved to a different array (reconfiguration would not suffice).
A storage policy change may require that the replication groups for one or more vVols be changed.
  |
| One or More Replication Groups not Configured |
This warning typically appears for one of two reasons:
- One or more vVols are in replication groups (FlashArray protection groups) do not comply with the new storage policy.
- The new storage policy requires that vVols be in a replication group, and one or more vVols are not.
Note: If no policy is shared by all of the VM’s vVols, the Replication group dropdown does not appear.
When the policy and replication groups (if required) are set then the Policy summary page will show the state and compliance for each object.
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| One or More Replication Groups not Configured |
Assigning a Policy during Storage Migration
Compliance with an existing or newly assigned storage policy may require migrating a VM to a different array. For example, VM migration is required if:
- A policy specifying a different array than the current VM or virtual disk location is assigned
- A policy requiring QoS (or not) is assigned to a VM or virtual disk located on an array with the opposite QoS setting.
- A policy specifying snapshot or replication parameters not available with any protection group on a VM or virtual disk’s current array is assigned.
- Some of these situations can be avoided by array reconfiguration, for example by creating a new protection group or inverting the array’s QoS setting. Others, such as a specific array requirement, cannot. If an array cannot be made to meet a policy requirement, the VMware administrator must use Storage vMotion to move the VM or virtual disk to one that can satisfy the requirement. The administrator can select a new storage policy during Storage vMotion.
Here is what the process would look like when migrating a VM from VMFS to vVols. During the storage selection process you would be able to choose the storage policy and what compatible storage is available. After choosing to migrate the VM, select to change storage only.
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| Migrate VM - Storage Only |
From the select storage page in the wizard the option to select storage policy is there. When selecting a storage policy the compatible storage will be shown at the top of the storage list. If choosing a policy that requires a replciation group there is a replication group selection box at the bottom.
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| Migrate VM - Storage and Policy Selection |
Once the desired policy and replication group (if needed) is selected the migration wizard can be completed.
BEST PRACTICE: Pure Storage recommends reselecting the same storage policy rather the Keep existing storage policy option in order to provide Storage vMotion with the information it needs to complete a migration.