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Deciding whether to use the NFS Configuration for ESXi using VSC Express Guide

This guide describes how to quickly set up NFS access for ESXi hosts to datastores using ONTAP volumes.

You should use this guide if you want to configure NFS access for ESXi hosts to a volume in the following way:

  • You are working with clusters running ONTAP 9.

  • You want to use best practices, not explore every available option.
  • You do not want to read a lot of conceptual background.

  • You want to use

    Virtual Storage Console to provision a datastore and create a volume.

  • You want to use

    ThinkSystem Storage Manager for DM Series to create aggregates and SVMs (if required), not the ONTAP command-line interface or an automated scripting tool.

    If you use ThinkSystem Storage Manager for DM Series to create an aggregate, be aware that the UI navigation in ThinkSystem Storage Manager for DM Series 9.3 and later is different from the UI navigation in previous releases. This guide provides the common steps that you must perform to complete a task in any ONTAP 9 release. If you want the exact steps for navigating to a particular screen or window, you should view the ThinkSystem Storage Manager for DM Series Online Help for your version of ONTAP.

    Cluster Management Using ThinkSystem Storage Manager for DM Series

  • Your data network uses the default IPspace, the default broadcast domain, and the default failover group.

    If your data network is flat, these default objects prescribe that LIFs will fail over correctly in the event of a link failure. If you are not using the default objects, you should refer to the Network Management Guide for information about how to configure LIF path failover.

  • You want to use the

    Lenovo Plug-In for VMware VAAI.

    VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) enable you to perform copy offload and space reservations. The Lenovo Plug-In for VMware VAAI uses this to improve host performance because operations do not need to go through the ESXi host, thereby taking advantage of space- and time-efficient cloning in ONTAP.

    Using VMware VAAI for datastore provisioning is a best practice.

  • NFS access will be through NFSv3 and NFSv4 for use with VMware VAAI.

If this guide is not suitable for your situation, you should see the following documentation instead: