VMFS and NFS are the mostly used two type of datastores that can be created in VMWare. VMFS is VMWares exclusive. virtual disks are stored by ESXi in datastores. They store information related to the virtual machine and snapshots of them. Since functionalities like RDM are not supported in NFS, VMFS is preferred. The maximum size of VMFS is 64TB. Currently VMFS 6 and 5 are being used .

If the ISCSI storage is attached and as per required , this lab can be completed with out any hiccups.

In this lab, we create,rename,delete,extend a VMFS data store. Finally, create a shared iSCSI VMFS Datastore.

Task1:Rename VMFS DataStore

Step1: Login and navigate to Datastore tab, right click on datastore and select rename

Step2:Rename all the datastores, as per how they are utilized, if used by ESXi 1 name it as Local01-x(x is the number of data store) and similarly, local01-X and verify

Task2:Create VMFS Datastore for ESXi Host

Step1: select ESXi >Storage>newdatastore

Step2: Provide name as VMFS-2 and select the LUN Associated

Step3: select VMFS6 version and next

Step4: Select 10 GB space for this datastore from LUN.

Step5: Review and submit

Step6: Rightclick datacenter>storage>datastore

Step7:Click next on location window and select VMFS Type and next

Step8: Name the VMFS as VMFS-3 and select the lun by setting the host as ESXi2:172.20.10.52

Step9: Select the partition and set Data store size as 20GB and submit

Step10:Review and submit

Task3: Expand a VMFS Datastore to consume unused space on a LUN

Step1: navigate to datastore tab and expand the tree, right click vmfs-2 and select increase datastore capacity

Step2:Select the lun from which data needs to be added

Step3:How much data needs to be added, in my case 10GB

Step4: Review and finish

Task4: Remove a Datastore

Step1: Rightclick the datastore vmfs-3 and click delete

Step2:COnfirm the deletion

Task5: Extend a VMFS DataStore

Step1: Navigate to configure tab of datastore and click increase

Step2:Select the LUN that needs to be added

Step3: Select all the remaining by sliding the bar to extreme right

Step4: Refresh and verify new capacity

Step5: Navigate to device backing to look at LUNS associated to this

STep6:Rename vmfs-2 as Shared VMFS datastore

Task6: Create a second shared VMFS Datastore using iSCSI

Navigate to Datastore>Create datastore>shared-iSCSI-Datastore> select first esxi as hostname>select maximum capacity and submit

Troubleshooting: If the LUNS are created properly as per pre-requisites , it would be a direct lab.

Critical Thinking:

Datastores can be created from different ways like from ESXi and from Datastores tab, This lab clearly explains on how we can manage datastore by creating, deleting renaming and even increasing. It was concise and direct. A LUN is a logical unit number associated to storage can be considered as a disk partitioned in to different sections luns. we can extend by adding luns to datastore.