HP 3PAR Solutions Software for vSphere - Manual (Page 11)

3PAR VAAI Plug-in 1.1.0 for VMware vSphere 4.1 Users Guide
2.1
Overview and Features
2
Overview and Features
In this chapter
2.1 About VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) 2.1
2.2 About 3PAR VAAI Plug-in 1.1.0 for VMware vSphere 4.1 2.2
2.3 Package Contents 2.4
2.4 System Requirements 2.4
2.5 Special Considerations 2.6
This chapter provides an overview of the VMware VAAI extensions and describes the benefits
provided by 3PAR VMware VAAI Plug-in 1.1.0 for vSphere 4.1.
2.1 About VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI)
VMware has identified several primitives that will enable an ESX/ESXi host to convey virtual
machine operations to storage hardware at a meta level instead of at the traditional data
level. This reduces operational latency and traffic on the FC fabric / iSCSI network. Some of
these primitives enable the storage hardware to participate in block allocation and de-
allocation functions for virtual machines. These primitives - also known as hardware offloads -