Binding and Unbinding Virtual Volumes to Protocol Endpoints

At the time of creation, a virtual volume is a passive entity and is not immediately ready for I/O. To access the virtual volume, ESXi or vCenter Server send a bind request.

The storage system replies with a protocol endpoint ID that becomes an access point to the virtual volume. The protocol endpoint accepts all I/O requests to the virtual volume. This binding exists until ESXi sends an unbind request for the virtual volume.

For later bind requests on the same virtual volume, the storage system can return different protocol endpoint IDs.

When receiving concurrent bind requests to a virtual volume from multiple ESXi hosts, the storage system can return the same or different endpoint bindings to each requesting ESXi host. In other words, the storage system can bind different concurrent hosts to the same virtual volume through different endpoints.

The unbind operation removes the I/O access point for the virtual volume. The storage system might unbind the virtual volume from its protocol endpoint immediately, or after a delay, or take some other action. A bound virtual volume cannot be deleted until it is unbound.