The Synology Storage Console for VMware allows storage admins to perform numerous multi-step workflows without ever having to leave the vSphere Client.
I’ve been playing around with Synology’s DS1621+ in my home lab the last couple of weeks and have been thoroughly impressed so far. In my last couple of posts, I got the storage pools created and networking and iSCSI configured. As I was going through the manual setup process, I came across Synology’s Storage Console for VMware plugin. This plugin allows some degree of control of the NAS unit directly from within the vSphere Client and automates some simple workflows. Here are some high level features:
Datastore Creation – Creates a backing LUN, target and the VMFS or NFS datastore in a single workflow.
Datastore Resizing – Resizes the backing LUN and expands the VMFS datastore in a single workflow.
Log Bundles – Allows collection of support log bundles of the Synology NAS from the vSphere Client.
Status Dashboard – Provides NAS status and LUN status information.
Enables application-consistent LUN snapshots.
You can find some more information on the storage console plugin here. As long as you have a supported Synology NAS running DSM 6.2.3 or later and vCenter Server 6.5 U2 or later, you can give it a try.
Installation is very straight-forward. The plugin is installed by deploying a small CentOS based OVA appliance into the environment. During deployment, you’ll be prompted for your vCenter credentials and connection information.
The plugin is installed by deploying a small virtual appliance in the environment.
Once the VM powers on, it’ll automatically connect to vCenter Server and install the plugin for you. Opening the VM’s console will greet you with a simple GUI that allows you to change passwords and basic TCP/IP settings.
The console view of the deployed Synology virtual appliance.
The default username and password for this appliance is root/synology, so be sure to change it.
The storage console dashboard.
After logging out and back into the vSphere Client, the Synology Storage Console plugin should be available via the main menu. You’ll first need to add your NAS unit(s) in the Storage System page. Once done, you’ll be able to use the features the plugin offers. Some simple stats are available from the dashboard section. You can see your storage pools, volumes and available free space. This is useful if you are over-allocating space via thin provisioning.
The Synology DS1621+ is an excellent performer with a 10Gbps NIC. Here’s how to configure networking and iSCSI targets and LUNs for use in a VMware vSphere environment.
In my previous post on the Synology DS1621+, I configured storage pools and volumes. Now that our storage is ready for use, I’ll be configuring iSCSI in my VMware vSphere lab environment.
Network Configuration
A proper network setup is the foundation for a successful iSCSI deployment. I won’t go into too much detail about vSphere network configuration in this post, but here are some general recommendations when it comes to iSCSI:
Use a dedicated VLAN for iSCSI. Do not use it for any other purpose.
Use a dedicated subnet and ensure it is non-routable.
Use a dedicated VMkernel port for iSCSI in the created subnet.
If possible, ensure you have redundant NICs configured on your hosts and storage box.
Use a 9000 MTU if possible (more on this later)
To begin, I’ll be configuring the interface settings on the DS1621+. There are many different ways this can be done, but I only have one spare 10Gbps port currently, so I’ll forgo a proper multipathing configuration and keep things simple. That said, I’ll still configure two interfaces – a single 1Gbps interface for management, and a single 10Gbps interface in a different VLAN for exclusive iSCSI use.
LAN 5 and LAN 6 correspond to the add-in 10Gbps adapter on the DS1621+
LAN 1 is a 1Gbps interface that I have in my management network (172.16.10.0/24). This interface will be used to access the Synology DSM interface and anything else that is non-iSCSI related. In my case, LAN5 and LAN6 are the 10Gbps ports on the DS1621+. The 172.16.99.0/24 network is my iSCSI network and is non-routable. Both interfaces are connected to “access” ports on my physical switch. Since there is no 802.1q VLAN tagging, VLANs are not specified on the DS1621+. I’ll show you how to restrict iSCSI to a specific interface when we configure iSCSI targets later on. Next, we’ll move on to the vSphere networking configuration.
My dvSwitch has two 10Gbps NICs per ESXi host. Everything iSCSI related is in VLAN 99.
Because I already have my TrueNAS box up and running in VLAN 99, my vSwitch and VMkernel ports are already configured correctly for iSCSI in this network. I won’t get too much into vSphere networking configuration today, but I’ll at least show you how I have things configured.
My distributed switch called “dvs-lab” has a dvPortgroup configured with a VLAN ID of 99 configured. Unlike the DS-1621+, each of the 10Gbps NICs here are connected to 802.1q VLAN tagged ports on my switch. I have the default “route based on originating port ID” teaming configured on all the dvPortgroups.
VMkernel vmk1 is connected to the iSCSI VLAN 99 with subnet 172.16.99.0/24.
I also have a dedicated VMkernel port configured for iSCSI in the 172.16.99.0/24 network. In the example above, host esx1 uses 172.16.99.21. Note that I have not configured a gateway for this VMkernel interface because I want this network to remain non-routable. The same is true for my physical layer-3 switch – there are no VIFs attached to the VLAN.
Quick Note on Jumbo Frames
Although there are a lot of varying opinions on jumbo frames out there, I would encourage you to consider using a 9000 MTU for iSCSI. In a tightly controlled, non-routed VLAN like that used for iSCSI in a datacenter, most of the reasons to avoid large frames simply do not apply. Storage traffic tends to be very heavy and the number of frames your ESXi host will need to process with a 1500 MTU will be very high. There is overhead associated with this high packet rate. For example, with 10Gbps networking, a 1GB/s sustained transfer rate is not unreasonable. To put that into perspective, your host would have to process almost 700,000 frames and headers every second with a 1500MTU. With a 9000 MTU, that number would be a little over 100,000 – much easier to handle.
Configuring jumbo frames is outside of the scope of this post, but in my environment, I have jumbo frames configured in the following locations:
Distributed Switch – set to 9000 MTU. This configuration passes to physical vmnics.
VMkernel port for iSCSI – set to 9000 MTU.
Physical switch – Jumbo frames enabled globally.
Synology DS1621+ – Jumbo frames enabled on NET5 interface.
In my previous post, I got the hardware all setup on the DS1621+ test unit that Synology was gracious enough to loan me. Today, I’ll be doing some of the initial storage configuration in preparation for getting iSCSI configured for use in my vSphere lab.
But first, I’ll need to get some flash storage added to the NAS.
The three donor SSDs coming out of my trusty TrueNAS box.
I’ve got three Crucial MX500 1TB drives that I’ll be removing from my TrueNAS box for testing in the DS1621+. Although they are getting a bit dated, they are still solid performing SATA SSDs. Don’t forget to properly remove your LUNs/Datastores!
2.5-inch drives look tiny in the DS1621+ drive tray!
Installing the 2.5-inch drives is an easy job. Four small screws attach to the back of each sled and hold the drives in the correct position.
Six drives green and ready to go.
With all six drive bays populated, we’re ready to begin getting the storage prepared for use on the DS1621+.
Creating Storage Pools
The first thing that needs to be done before you can use the drives is to create one or more storage pools. This is where you group disks and apply a RAID level to them. When clicking the Create button, you’ll be greeted by the storage pool creation wizard.
Classic RAID for best performance or SHR for greater flexibility. Decisions, decisions!
You’ll first be prompted to use classic RAID levels or to use Synology’s Hybrid Raid or SHR. SHR makes the creation of a pool easier, but its best feature is the ability to make use of all disk space when disks of different sizes are in the pool. Traditional RAID levels can waste a lot of space in this type of situation. It is great for beginners, but we’ll stick with the classic RAID-levels.
A new 6-bay AMD Ryzen powered NAS unit from Synology with lots of potential!
My very first commercial NAS box that I bought over 13 years ago was the dual-bay Synology DS207+. At the time, it was the cream of the crop. The hardware was great, but Synology’s very rich software suite was what really set it apart from many of its competitors at the time. The unit served me very well for years in my home network.
Once I got my first VMware home lab setup, I moved away from consumer-grade NAS units and toward more powerful custom-built servers running FreeNAS/TrueNAS. Although awesome for home use, the SoC (system on a chip) ARM-based processors on these old units simply couldn’t handle the I/O requirements for VMs on iSCSI or NFS datastores. Unless you were willing to shell out a lot of dough for an enterprise-grade NAS/SAN, you were stuck building your own. A lot has changed in this market over the last few years. NAS units have gotten much quicker and a reasonably priced unit can now be a very feasible solution for a wide variety of applications – including virtualization. Today, Synology makes a number of multi-bay NAS units with powerful processor options. They have everything from high-performance ARM based units to Xeon-Ds and even AMD Ryzen Embedded options as in the 1621+. Although they still command a premium price, you get way more for your dollar today than you did even just a few years back. When Synology asked if I would be interested in trying out one of their business class “plus” NAS units, I jumped on the opportunity.
Synology was kind enough to send me a review sample including a DS1621+ NAS unit, three of their Synology branded 8TB hard drives and their new E10G21-F2 10Gbps SFP+ NIC. Over the next few weeks, I hope to take a look at this latest generation of multi-bay NAS systems and see how feasible they are for a small to mid-sized business network. I’m also very interested in trying out some of Synology’s included software that is catered towards VMware vSphere. For now, I just wanted to share a quick unboxing and hardware setup post.
Hardware Specifications
The Synology DS1621+ specifications are as follows. You can find the full list on Synology’s DS1621+ page.
CPU Model: AMD Ryzen V1500B (4 cores, 2.2GHz)
Hardware Encryption: Yes, AES-NI
Memory: 1x4GB DDR4 ECC SODIMM (Upgradable to 32GB, 2x16GB)
Power Consumption: 51W (Access), 25W (HDD Hibernation)
Warranty: 3 Years
The specifications for this NAS unit are quite impressive. The one feature that gets most people excited is the embedded AMD Ryzen processor. With AMD’s hugely successful Zen architecture, this is not surprising. AMD has managed some very impressive performance numbers – especially in their 3rd and 4th generation CPUs. Being an embedded part, the Zen V1500B processor is a little different than their desktop processors. From what I can see, it is based on AMD’s first generation Zen architecture so it won’t be quite as potent clock-for-clock as some of AMD’s recent Ryzen CPUs. None the less, with four cores, eight threads and a 2.2GHz clock speed, this is a very capable CPU for a NAS. Best of all, being an embedded part, the total TDP for this processor is only 16W. Having a potent x86-64 CPU under the hood opens up the possibilities for a number of different use cases. Not only should iSCSI storage performance be up to the task, but you could even run virtual machines and many of the more demanding software packages on the NAS unit.
Another great feature is Synology’s inclusion of NVMe. Three and a half inch mechanical drives do still have their place for affordable raw storage capacity, but flash storage is really necessary for good performance. All six drive bays support 2.5 inch SATA SSDs, which is great, but there are now two NVMe slots intended to be used for drive caching as well. Being able to use multiple storage tiers and caching really gives this NAS a lot of performance potential.
Unboxing
Without further ado, let’s check out the DS1621+ and the other goodies Synology sent over.
Synology included three 8TB drives and an SFP+ NIC along with the DS1621+
Synology moved away from flashy packaging years back. I like the subtle cardboard packaging because it lets the quality of the product speak for itself.
The size of the box makes the NAS unit feel larger than it actually is. There is ample protection from shipping damage with foam protecting the unit from all sides. The NAS itself is wrapped in plastic to keep dust out.
A small cardboard box includes a pair of high quality ethernet cables and a standard power cable. A small bag of screws and the drive bay keys are also contained within. From what I can see, the screws are only needed for mounting 2.5-inch drives.
The unit itself has a heavy, high quality feel to it. The outer shell and back panel are metal and only the front panel and drive bays are constructed of plastic. Six hotswap SATA drive bays are accessible from the front of the unit. Two 92mm fans dominate the back and line up perfectly behind all six drive bays and should provide good directed airflow.
The DS1621+ includes plenty of I/O out of the box, including four GbE ports.
There are two USB3 ports at the rear (and one at the front) as well as four 1GbE NICs and a pair of eSATA connectors. The eSATA ports can be used for Synology’s expansion units. With two DX517s, you could have up to 16 drives in total.
The Synology HAT5200-8T 7200RPM hard drive.
Synology was kind enough to include three of their self-branded 8TB HAT5300 mechanical drives with the NAS unit. From what I can see, these are manufactured by Toshiba and are 7200RPM models. Synology supports a large number of mechanical drives from a variety of manufacturers, but supplying their own removes the guess work that customers need to do and guarantees 100% compatibility.
Synology’s E10G21-F2 SFP+ 10Gbps NIC
Since I plan on using this NAS in my VMware home lab, 10GbE networking will be essential. Synology provided me with their brand new E10G21-F2 SFP+ card. Synology supports a pretty long list of 10Gbps NICs on some of their older NAS units, but the list is short for the DS1621+ at this time. I suspect they are still testing cards for compatibility as this NAS is still quite new. Similar to their branded HDDs, going with a Synology branded NIC ensures 100% compatibility. Synology sells 10Gbase-T models as well if you aren’t using SFP+ DACs or optics.
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