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I'me trying to think of the best way to create one logical volumne on a linux VM to be over 2TB. I need to make one logical volume that is 8TB and have access to this amount on the my SAN.

I know there is a 2TB limit per VMDK file but was wondering what the best method is to achieve this?

I know I can mount all the drives in more virtual environment but I would need to have it shown in linux as one data store. Is there a way of using LVM to combine multiple VMDK files to show as one data Store?

Thanks in advance

MadHatter
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Grimlockz
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3 Answers3

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You could connect the VM directly to the 8TB LUN rather than configuring it with a VMDK.

joeqwerty
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  • Thanks - I have thought about that before I suppose because I thought we might want to grow it again which is easier by using LVM? – Grimlockz Jan 15 '13 at 14:14
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Just use 4 virtual disks, which then will be presented as /dev/sdX as usual - I would recommend to use the pvscsi controller type. Use just as you would with physical disks - pvcreate, vgcreate, lvcreate.

rackandboneman
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Just create a pass-through RDM, although LVM can also link multiple VMDK's into one LV too - I've done both successfully, so give them a try.

Chopper3
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  • Thanks - what method do you use for extending them into one LV? – Grimlockz Jan 15 '13 at 14:13
  • well...if you don't know LVM then you're kind of stuck, basically you're just exposing the various RDMs or VMDK's to the OS as PVs, then combining them as one VG and then creating an LV. I have a feeling I've posted something similar in the past, let me take a look and come back. – Chopper3 Jan 15 '13 at 14:19
  • here you go - take a look at this; http://serverfault.com/a/422972/1435 – Chopper3 Jan 15 '13 at 14:21
  • Thanks Chopper3 I'm just reading your article - I've used LVM to extend newly mounted disks and make new partitions but has of yet used it to combine VMDKs – Grimlockz Jan 15 '13 at 14:27