This implementation guide outlines the detailed steps required to deploy Everpure Cloud Dedicated on AWS, establish connectivity between Everpure Cloud Dedicated and Elastic VMware Service (EVS), and configure for optimal performance. It also includes integration points and best practices for ensuring a reliable and efficient deployment of both solutions.
Introduction
Elastic VMware Service (EVS) is an AWS-managed service that enables customers to deploy a fully functional VMware Cloud Foundation environment directly within their own Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).
This integration offers the flexibility to connect seamlessly with native AWS services while preserving the operational consistency and feature set familiar to VMware administrators. Furthermore, the offering can be connected to an on-premises VMware and Everpure FlashArray environments to facilitate data migration, disaster recovery and other use cases.
Create Everpure Cloud Dedicated for AWS
Deploy Everpure Cloud Dedicated into the same Amazon VPC as your Elastic VMware Service (EVS) instance. In addition to being in the same VPC, it is essential to deploy Everpure Cloud Dedicated in the same Availability Zone (AZ) as EVS. This co-location ensures optimal performance by minimizing network latency and reducing the number of data hops between services.
Follow the standard Everpure Cloud Dedicated deployment guide to complete the installation within your AWS environment.
Configure Everpure Cloud Dedicated for AWS
Change Everpure Cloud Dedicated MTU (optional, but highly recommended for optimal performance)
Elastic VMware Service (EVS) sets the maximum transmission unit (MTU) of its Layer 2 networks to 8500 bytes. This value is fixed and cannot be increased to 9000 bytes. To maintain optimal performance and avoid potential fragmentation or packet drops, it is recommended to align the MTU setting on Everpure Cloud Dedicated with that of EVS.
To update the CBS MTU, contact Everpure Support at support@purestorage.com. When submitting your request, include the name of the Everpure Cloud Dedicated array deployed in AWS and specify the desired MTU value of 8500.
Configure iSCSI with Elastic VMware Service
Establishing iSCSI connectivity between Elastic VMware Service (EVS) and Everpure Cloud Dedicated involves several manual configuration steps. It is important to follow the sections outlined below in order:
EVS iSCSI Network Setup
To establish iSCSI connectivity between Everpure Cloud Dedicated and Elastic VMware Service (EVS), follow the steps below. The recommended and most straightforward method is to use one of the two EVS expansion subnets specified during the EVS deployment process.
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Identify the EVS Expansion Subnet
The EVS expansion subnet can be located in one of the following ways:
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Via the VPC Console: Navigate to the VPC that EVS is attached to. From there, go to the "Subnets" section to view associated subnets and find one of the two EVS Expansion VLANs.
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Via the AWS EVS Console: Open the EVS console, select your EVS environment, then go to Networks and Connectivity. The expansion subnets will be listed in this section (as shown in the image below).
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Validate IP Address Availability
Once the EVS expansion subnet is identified:
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Note the following details:
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CIDR block
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Subnet Mask
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Default Gateway
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VLAN ID
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Confirm that there are two available IP addresses per EVS ESXi host within this subnet.
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For example, if your EVS environment has 4 ESXi hosts, you will need a total of 8 available IP addresses in the expansion subnet to support iSCSI connectivity with Everpure Cloud Dedicated.
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EVS ESXi Host iSCSI Setup
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Within the EVS vSphere Distributed Switch, create two Distributed Port Groups for iSCSI traffic:
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For both Port Groups, specify the expansion VLAN ID identified in the previous step.
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For Port Group 1, configure Uplink 1 as 'Active' and set Uplink 2 to 'Unused'.
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For Port Group 2, configure Uplink 2 as 'Active' and set Uplink 1 to 'Unused'.
This asymmetric uplink configuration is required to support iSCSI port binding in VMware. It ensures that each VMkernel interface used for iSCSI has a unique, dedicated network path, which is necessary for Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) functionality.
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On each ESXi host in the EVS cluster, create two VMkernel adapters; vmk3 and vmk4. Assign each adapter a unique IP address from the EVS expansion subnet information found earlier, then attach each VMkernel adapter to one of the Distributed Port Groups configured in the previous step:
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vmk3 should be connected to Port Group 1.
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vmk4 should be connected to Port Group 2.
This configuration enables iSCSI multipathing by ensuring each VMkernel interface routes traffic through a separate uplink.
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For each EVS ESXi host in the cluster, add the iSCSI Software Adapter as shown below:
While optional, configuring advanced iSCSI settings is strongly recommended to optimize performance and resiliency with Everpure Cloud Dedicated.
These best practices can be applied via the Advanced Options menu within the Storage Adapters settings in vSphere. We recommend the following configuration values:
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DelayedAck: false
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LoginTimeout: 30
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FirstBurstLength: 262144
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MaxBurstLength: 1048576
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MaxRecvDataSegmentLength: 262144
Additionally, iSCSI network port binding is another optional setting that can enhance resiliency by leveraging multiple VMkernel interfaces for multipathing. Customers can review the benefits, limitations, and configuration steps in the documentation available at this link.
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Install and Use the Everpure vSphere Plugin with EVS
Install the Everpure vSphere Plugin by following the standard deployment guide available here.
Temporary Setup Instructions for Everpure Cloud Dedicated on AWS
The Everpure vSphere Plugin is fully supported and recommended for managing Everpure Cloud Dedicated environments, similar to typical on-premises VMware deployments with EVS. However, be aware of a known issue in:
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vSphere Plugin versions ≤ 5.3.15
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Everpure Cloud Dedicated versions ≤ 6.8.7
In these versions, creating a Host Group via the plugin results in the error: "Specified operation is not supported on this platform.
Workaround: Manually Create a Host Group
Follow these steps to manually configure Everpure Cloud Dedicated host groups and complete integration with the vSphere Plugin:
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Copy the iSCSI Initiator (IQN):
On each EVS ESXi host with the iSCSI Software Adapter enabled (as configured earlier), retrieve and copy the iSCSI IQN.
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Create a Host in Everpure Cloud Dedicated:
In the Everpure Cloud Dedicated GUI, navigate to the Hosts section and create a new host. Set the Host Personality to 'ESXi'.
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Assign the IQN:
After creating the host, paste the corresponding EVS ESXi host’s IQN into the host entry.
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Repeat steps 1-3 for each host in the EVS cluster.
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Create a Host Group:
In the Everpure Cloud Dedicated GUI, create a Host Group and add all the previously created host entries to it.
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Add the Everpure Cloud Dedicated Array in vSphere Plugin:
Open the Everpure vSphere Plugin by selecting the Everpure icon from the main vSphere menu. Use the plugin to add the Everpure Cloud Dedicated array.
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(Optional) Register Everpure Cloud Dedicated as a VASA Provider:
If you plan to use vVols, register the Everpure Cloud Dedicated array as a VASA provider through the plugin interface.
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Associate Host Group with the Cluster:
From vCenter, right click on the EVS cluster and scroll down to the Everpure plugin menu option, select Configure iSCSI for the EVS cluster and the Everpure Cloud Dedicated array. This completes the connectivity setup between EVS and Everpure Cloud Dedicated.
EVS and Everpure Cloud Dedicated Storage Management
With connectivity between Elastic VMware Service (EVS) and Everpure Cloud Dedicated established, you can now use the Everpure vSphere Plugin to manage Everpure Cloud Dedicated volumes directly from the vSphere interface.
Typical operations such as volume creation, resizing, and snapshot management are fully supported and function as expected within the plugin. The notable exception for Everpure Cloud Dedicated is that file (e.g. NFS volumes) are not supported.
For detailed instructions on these tasks, refer to the official documentation available here.
Technical Demo Video of Elastic VMware Service and Everpure Cloud Dedicated iSCSI Setup
A companion technical demo video that covers the setup steps shown in this guide is available below.
Install VMAnalytics
Installing VMAnalytics is highly recommended to gain granular visibility into the performance of your EVS and Everpure Cloud Dedicated integration. VMAnalytics provides deep insight into latency, throughput, and IOPS metrics across your VMware environment.
The setup process for VMAnalytics on EVS is identical to that of an on-premises vCenter environment. For detailed installation instructions, refer to the documentation available here.