ESXi DataStore NAA ID

[virtual9999]

Hi all,

I wonder if someone can explain this : On our ESXi Host we noticed a Storage device, whose NAA Id is same as the WWN of the Storage Processor ( of DellEMC Unity Storage System) to which the ESXi host is connected. In vCenter, this Storage device appears as "Not Consumed" and 0 Byte in Size.  I would like to know under what conditions the WWN of the Storage Processor is displayed as NAA Id of the Storage device. 

[ DGC Fibre Channel Disk (naa.50060160xxxxxx...) ], where 5006016xxxxx is the WWN of the SP of the  Storage System.

Other Datastores have normal NAA IDs  like "naa.6006016xxxxxx .." .

 

Thanks in advance.

[a_p_]

This is by design.

Most DellEMC storages present a management "LUN 0" to zoned initiators/hosts. This shows up as a zero Byte device, as long as you do not present a data LUN with a host LUN iD 0 to the initiator/hosts.

André

[virtual9999]

Hi,

Thanks for the explanation. So, am I correct in saying that, if we present a Data LUN with ID "0", the "Management LUN 0" will disappear ?. The reason I am saying this - on another host we have a Data LUN with ID as 0 and there is no "Management LUN 0" ( with WWN of the SP as naa.ID ).

Regards.

[a_p_]

Yes, that's the case for most DellEMC storage systems I worked with so far.

As a side note, it may not be a hard requirement anymore as it was in early ESX/ESXi versions, to present the LUNs to all hosts using the same Host LUN ID, but I still do this as a best practice, and for the sake of consistency.

André

[D_G_Tal]

I agree with a_P_ i "hat's the case for most DellEMC storage systems" 

[virtual9999]

Thank you for the clarification.

We do keep the same LUN IDs on all hosts in a cluster.

Regards

[E_Espinel]

Hello.
The previous IBM DS Storage family (system Storage), had a "LUN 0" for internal management.
In this type of storage, it could be configured so that this "LUN 0" is not presented to the Host, to avoid confusions. The storage can then only be managed externally.

The concept of "LUN 0" for management is a standrard for several stroage manufacturers.