CDP IO filters - impact on non-CDP machines

[mkretzer]

Hello,

what impact do the IO filters have on the non-CDP protected VMs in a cluster? We have a cluster with > 3500 VMs and need CDP for just one VM....

Markus

[HannesK]

Hello,
I think the biggest impact is the upgrade process of the filter driver. To update the filter driver with new VBR versions, ESXi hosts must be in maintenance mode (VMware requirement).

That means evacuation of each ESXi host. That evacuation / maintenance mode management is done by VMware (we just request "do upgrade"). Considering the size of the cluster, I would expect load on the infrastructure. For environments with local datastores or VSAN, it might be even more relevant than for SAN storage, where "only" VMotion kicks in.

Best regards,
Hannes

[mkretzer]

Thank you, does it do it host by host? Are there any settings regarding the update?

[veremin]

Correct, cluster nodes are put into maintenance mode sequentially. What kind of settings you are looking for? Thanks!

[mkretzer]

When doing updates with update manager there are a few settings like how many hosts to update at the same time or if powered off machines should be migrated...

[veremin]

No, the product does not have those settings - it cannot be controlled on our side, since we just instruct VMware to put cluster into maintenance mode and update corresponding components.