vDisk + CIFS + ONTAP = :-)

Hi Everybody,

Something I'd really like to share.  In ONTAP 8.1.1 for 7 and Cluster-Mode we now support SMB 2.1!  For PVS folks this is huge news because we can put our vDisk images on CIFS shares now.  We've been testing this and all I want to say is, where has this been all my life?!  No more block storage for vDisk!  I have nothing against block and think it's a great protocol, but this is sooooo easy.

If I've got multiple PVS servers, I no longer need multiple vDisk images and have to worry about updating all of them.  I only have to update one image!.  If you choose to store your vDisk on block, we've got a great procedure using our FlexClones so you only have to update one vDisk image.  I'll include the link later on.  This also eliminates the need for clustered filesystems to share out the vDisk image.  You can now use CIFS that's built right into the controller!  Remember to make sure you have a version of PVS that will support this.

Dan Allen has a great blog on this regarding why this works and does a much better job than I could do.  Take a look.

Here's the link to the article if you want to use FlexClones to clone out your vDisk on block storage.
TR-3795.

All for now.
Neil