In the world of virtualisation, staying updated with the latest technology is crucial to maintaining optimal performance and security within your infrastructure. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Emily Clarke, a seasoned IT manager, who shared her journey of migrating from VMFS 5 to VMFS 6 datastores. Her story is one of careful planning, technical acumen, and the relentless pursuit of efficiency.
Emily’s organisation, a mid-sized tech firm, had been running their virtual machines on VMFS 5 for several years. “VMFS 5 served us well,” Emily acknowledged, “but as we expanded our operations and data needs increased, it became clear that moving to VMFS 6 was a necessity, not just an option.”
The Decision to Migrate
The decision to migrate to VMFS 6 was driven by several factors. Performance improvements and enhanced storage efficiency were top on the list. “VMFS 6 supports larger single file sizes, which is a boon for our large virtual machines,” Emily explained. Additionally, the automatic space reclamation feature was particularly appealing, as it promised to streamline storage management significantly.
“One of the biggest advantages we were looking forward to,” Emily noted, “was the improved storage multipathing in VMFS 6. By configuring multipathing, we could enhance both redundancy and performance, ensuring that our systems were less prone to bottlenecks.”
Preparation and Planning
Migrating datastores is a complex task, and Emily emphasised the importance of thorough planning. “We made full backups of our VMs on VMFS 5 before initiating the migration. It’s a critical step—losing important files during migration can be disastrous.”
Emily’s team also ensured that all ESX hosts were updated to vSphere 6.5, as VMFS 6 is compatible only with this version or newer. “We didn’t want to lose connection to the new datastore after the upgrade,” she stated.
The Migration Process
Creating a new VMFS 6 datastore was the first technical step. Emily described the meticulous attention required: “We created a blank VMFS 6 datastore and ensured it had the same—or more—storage space as the existing VMFS 5.”
The actual migration of VMs using storage vMotion was handled with precision. “We moved our VMs one at a time,” she recalled, “to prevent data loss and ensure each migration was successful.” Emily and her team closely monitored the process, ready to re-trigger any migration that didn’t succeed initially.
Post-Migration Checks
Once all VMs were on the new datastore, Emily described a rigorous validation process. “We powered on each virtual machine to verify functionality and ran performance tests to ensure there were no issues.”
Her team also conducted thorough checks for data integrity, comparing pre- and post-migration data to confirm there was no corruption or loss. “It’s crucial to ensure that our applications run smoothly and that all data is intact.”
Optimising the New Environment
After the successful migration, Emily’s focus shifted to optimisation. “We enabled the UNMAP feature for automatic space reclamation and adjusted block sizes to match our workload needs,” she detailed.
Emily also highlighted the importance of storage policies in VMFS 6. “We created storage policies to manage encryption and IOPS limits, ensuring our VMs were placed on the appropriate storage.”
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
Reflecting on the migration, Emily shared valuable insights. “One key takeaway is the importance of migrating VMs individually. Attempting to move several at once can lead to failures.”
She also stressed the significance of maintaining up-to-date systems. “Ensure all ESX hosts are running the latest supported version to avoid connectivity issues post-migration.”
Emily’s experience underscores the importance of preparation, attention to detail, and leveraging new capabilities to enhance system performance and reliability. Her story is a testament to how careful planning and execution can transform a daunting task into a smooth transition.
In the ever-evolving landscape of IT, Emily’s journey offers a roadmap for those considering their own migration. As she eloquently put it, “By upgrading to VMFS 6, we not only improved our current operations but also positioned our infrastructure for future growth and technological advancements.”
By Koda Siebert