Vserver : What a Vserver is
What a Vserver is
A Vserver is a secure virtual storage server, which contains data volumes and one or more LIFs through which it serves data to the clients.
A Vserver securely isolates the shared virtualized data storage and network, and appears as a single dedicated server to its clients. Each Vserver has a separate administrator authentication domain and can be managed independently by a Vserver administrator.
Starting with Data ONTAP 8.1.1, a Vserver can either contain one or more FlexVol volumes, or a single Infinite Volume. A cluster can either have one or more Vservers with FlexVol volumes or one Vserver with Infinite Volume.
Vserver with FlexVol Volumes
A Vserver with FlexVol volumes represents a single file system and a unique global namespace. A global namespace enables the NAS clients to access data without specifying the physical location of the data. Global namespace also enables the cluster and Vserver administrators to manage distributed data storage as a single file system.
The volumes of each Vserver are related through junctions and are mounted on junction paths. The file system of each volume appears to be mounted at the junctions. The root volume of a Vserver is a FlexVol volume that resides at the top level of the namespace hierarchy; additional volumes are mounted to the Vserver's root volume to extend the global namespace.
A Vserver with FlexVol volumes can contain files and LUNs. It provides file-level data access by using NFS and CIFS protocols for the NAS clients, and block-level data access by using iSCSI and Fibre Channel (FC) protocol (FCoE included) for SAN hosts.
Vserver with Infinite Volume
A Vserver with Infinite Volume can contain only one Infinite Volume to serve data. A Vserver with Infinite Volume includes only one junction path, which has a default value of
(/NS)
. The junction provides a single mountpoint for the large namespace provided by the Vserver with Infinite Volume. You cannot add more junctions to a Vserver with Infinite Volume.
A Vserver with Infinite Volume can contain only files. It provides file-level data access by using NFSv3 protocol. A Vserver with Infinite Volume cannot contain LUNs and does not provide block-level data access.
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Managing Vservers
A Vserver administrator can administer a Vserver and its resources, such as volumes, protocols, and services, depending on the capabilities assigned by the cluster administrator. A Vserver administrator cannot create, modify, or delete a Vserver.
Types of Vservers
A cluster consists of three types of Vservers, which help in managing the cluster and its resources
and the data access to the clients and applications.
Why you use Vservers
Vservers provide data access to clients without regard to physical storage or heterogeneous structure, similar to any storage system. Vservers provide benefits such as nondisruptive operation, scalability, and security.
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