In vSphere, activating data services that I/O filters provide is a two-step process. You create a virtual machine policy based on data services that the I/O filters provide, and then attach this policy to a virtual machine.

Prerequisites

For the cache I/O filters, configure the virtual flash resource on your ESXi host before activating the filter. See Set Up Virtual Flash Resource.

For information about cache I/O filters, see Using Cache I/O Filters with Flash Storage Devices on ESXi Hosts.

Procedure

  1. Define a VM policy based on I/O filter services.
    Make sure that the virtual machine policy lists data services provided by the I/O filters.

    See Create a VM Storage Policy for Host-Based Data Services.

  2. Assign the I/O filter policy to a virtual machine.
    To activate data services that the I/O filter provides, associate the I/O filter policy with virtual disks. You can assign the policy when you provision the virtual machine.

    See Assign the I/O Filter Policy to Virtual Machines.

Assign the I/O Filter Policy to Virtual Machines

To activate data services that I/O filters provide, associate the I/O filter policy with virtual disks. You can assign the policy when you create or edit a virtual machine.

You can assign the I/O filter policy during an initial deployment of a virtual machine. This topic describes how to assign the policy when you create a new virtual machine. For information about other deployment methods, see the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration documentation.

Note: You cannot change or assign the I/O filter policy when migrating or cloning a virtual machine.

Prerequisites

Verify that the I/O filter is installed on the ESXi host where the virtual machine runs.

Procedure

  1. Start the virtual machine provisioning process and follow the appropriate steps.
  2. Assign the same storage policy to all virtual machine files and disks.
    1. On the Select storage page, select a storage policy from the VM Storage Policy drop-down menu.
    2. Select the datastore from the list of compatible datastores and click Next.
      The datastore becomes the destination storage resource for the virtual machine configuration file and all virtual disks. The policy also activates I/O filter services for the virtual disks.
  3. Change the VM storage policy for the virtual disk.
    Use this option to enable I/O filters just for your virtual disks.
    1. On the Customize hardware page, expand the New hard disk pane.
    2. From the VM storage policy drop-down menu, select the storage policy to assign to the virtual disk.
    3. (Optional) Change the storage location of the virtual disk.
      Use this option to store the virtual disk on a datastore other than the datastore where the VM configuration file resides.
  4. Complete the virtual machine provisioning process.

Results

After you create the virtual machine, the Summary tab displays the assigned storage policies and their compliance status.

What to do next

You can later change the virtual policy assignment. See Change Storage Policy Assignment for Virtual Machine Files and Disks.

Migrating Virtual Machines with I/O Filters

When you migrate a virtual machine with I/O filters, specific considerations apply.

If you use Storage vMotion to migrate a virtual machine with I/O filters, a destination datastore must be connected to hosts with compatible I/O filters installed.

You might need to migrate a virtual machine with I/O filters across different types of datastores, for example between VMFS and Virtual Volumes. If you do so, make sure that the VM storage policy includes rule sets for every type of datastore you are planning to use. For example, if you migrate your virtual machine between the VMFS and Virtual Volumes datastores, create a mixed VM storage policy that includes the following rules:
  • Common Rules for the I/O filters
  • Rule Set 1 for the VMFS datastore. Because Storage Policy Based Management does not offer an explicit VMFS policy, the rule set must include tag-based rules for the VMFS datastore.
  • Rule Set 2 for the Virtual Volumes datastore

When Storage vMotion migrates the virtual machine, the correct rule set that corresponds to the target datastore is selected. The I/O filter rules remain unchanged.

If you do not specify rules for datastores and define only Common Rules for the I/O filters, the system applies default storage policies for the datastores.