Dell PowerVault MD Series Storage Arrays Administrator's Guide
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. © 2012 Dell Inc.
Contents Notes, Cautions, and Warnings...................................................................................................2 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................15 Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager .................................................................................................15 User Interface.....................................................................
Virtual Disk Capacity Expansion.......................................................................................................................25 Disk Group Expansion......................................................................................................................................25 Disk Group Defragmentation............................................................................................................................25 Disk Group Operations Limit......................
Changing The Enclosure Order........................................................................................................................41 Configuring Alert Notifications...............................................................................................................................41 Configuring E-mail Alerts.................................................................................................................................42 Configuring SNMP Alerts....................
Managing Host Port Identifiers..............................................................................................................................60 7 Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, And Thin Virtual Disks.............................................63 Creating Disk Groups And Virtual Disks.................................................................................................................63 Creating Disk Groups.....................................................................
Changing The RAID Level Of A Disk Group......................................................................................................88 Removing A Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping Using Linux DMMP......................................................................88 Restricted Mappings..............................................................................................................................................89 Storage Partitioning.......................................................
Locating Physical Disks In An SSD Cache...........................................................................................................111 Adding Physical Disks To An SSD Cache.............................................................................................................111 Removing Physical Disks From An SSD Cache....................................................................................................111 Suspending Or Resuming SSD Caching.................................
Converting A Snapshot Virtual Disk To Read-Write.............................................................................................130 Viewing Associated Physical Components Of An Individual Repository Virtual Disk..........................................130 Creating A Consistency Group..............................................................................................................................131 Creating A Consistency Group Repository (Manually)..................................
Re-Creating Snapshot Virtual Disks......................................................................................................................161 Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk........................................................................................................................162 Preparing Host Servers To Re-Create A Snapshot Virtual Disk.....................................................................162 Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk................................
Ready For Use................................................................................................................................................178 Linux Host Server Reboot Best Practices.............................................................................................................178 Important Information About Special Partitions...................................................................................................179 Limitations And Known Issues......................
Replication Repository Virtual Disks.....................................................................................................................194 RAID Levels For Replication Repository Virtual Disks..........................................................................................194 Primary And Secondary Virtual Disk Pairs...........................................................................................................194 Using Remote Replication (Legacy) With Other Features.....
17 Management Firmware Downloads...................................................................................213 Downloading RAID Controller And NVSRAM Packages......................................................................................213 Downloading Both RAID Controller And NVSRAM Firmware..............................................................................213 Downloading Only NVSRAM Firmware..........................................................................................
21 Getting Help............................................................................................................................237 Contacting Dell.....................................................................................................................................................
Introduction 1 CAUTION: See the Safety, Environmental, and Regulatory Information document for important safety information before following any procedures listed in this document. This document familiarizes you with the functions of the Dell PowerVault MD Series storage array. The document is organized according to the tasks that you must complete after receiving your storage array.
Storage Manager. Unidentified storage arrays are available to the MD Storage Manager but not configured for management. The right side of the Devices tab has a Table view that shows detailed information for the selected storage array. In the EMW, you can: • Discover hosts and managed storage arrays on the local sub-network. • Manually add and remove hosts and storage arrays. • Blink or locate the storage arrays. • Name or rename discovered storage arrays.
NOTE: You can also launch the AMW by: – Double-clicking on a storage array displayed in the Devices tab of the EMW. – Selecting a storage array displayed in the Devices tab of the EMW, and then selecting Tools → Manage Storage Array.
NOTE: All the documents, unless specified otherwise, are available at dell.com/support/manuals. • The Getting Started Guide provides an overview of setting up and cabling your storage array. • The Deployment Guide provides installation and configuration instructions for both software and hardware. • The Owner’s Manual provides information about system features and describes how to troubleshoot the system and install or replace system components.
About Your MD Series Storage Array 2 This chapter describes the storage array concepts, which help in configuring and operating the Dell MD Series storage arrays. Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, And Disk Groups Physical disks in your storage array provide the physical storage capacity for your data. Before you can begin writing data to the storage array, you must configure the physical storage capacity into logical components, called disk groups and virtual disks.
Status Mode Description Optimal Hot Spare in use The physical disk in the indicated slot is in use as a hot spare within a disk group. Failed Assigned, Unassigned, Hot Spare in use, or Hot Spare Standby The physical disk in the indicated slot has failed because of an unrecoverable error, an incorrect drive type or drive size, or by its operational state being set to failed.
Table 1. RAID Controller Virtual Disk States State Description Optimal The virtual disk contains physical disks that are online. Degraded The virtual disk with a redundant RAID level contains an inaccessible physical disk. The system can still function properly, but performance may be affected and additional disk failures may result in data loss. Offline A virtual disk with one or more member disks in an inaccessible (failed, missing, or offline) state.
RAID Level Usage To ensure best performance, you must select an optimal RAID level when you create a system physical disk.
RAID 10 CAUTION: Do not attempt to create virtual disk groups exceeding 120 physical disks in a RAID 10 configuration even if premium feature is activated on your storage array. Exceeding the 120-physical disk limit may cause your storage array to be unstable. RAID 10, a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0, uses disk striping across mirrored disks. It provides high data throughput and complete data redundancy.
NOTE: It is recommended that you run data consistency checks on a redundant array at least once a month. This allows detection and automatic replacement of unreadable sectors. Finding an unreadable sector during a rebuild of a failed physical disk is a serious problem, because the system does not have the redundancy to recover the data. Media Verification Another background task performed by the storage array is media verification of all configured physical disks in a disk group.
Segment Size Migration Segment size refers to the amount of data (in kilobytes) that the storage array writes on a physical disk in a virtual disk before writing data on the next physical disk. Valid values for the segment size are 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, 128 KB, and 256 KB. Dynamic segment size migration enables the segment size of a given virtual disk to be changed. A default segment size is set when the virtual disk is created, based on such factors as the RAID level and expected usage.
process on the peer controller. The suspended processes are resumed when the active process on the peer controller completes or is stopped. NOTE: If you try to start a disk group process on a controller that does not have an existing active process, the start attempt fails if the first virtual disk in the disk group is owned by the other controller and there is an active process on the other controller.
recognize the migrating metadata and that data is lost. In this case, the receiving storage array initializes the physical disks and marks them as unconfigured capacity. NOTE: Only disk groups and associated virtual disks with all member physical disks present can be migrated from one storage array to another. It is recommended that you only migrate disk groups that have all their associated member virtual disks in an optimal state.
part of a host group that shares access to one or more virtual disks. You can manually configure a host server-to-virtual disk mapping. When you configure host server-to-virtual disk mapping, consider these guidelines: • You can define one host server-to-virtual disk mapping for each virtual disk in the storage array. • Host server-to-virtual disk mappings are shared between RAID controller modules in the storage array.
• Standard virtual disks • Thin provisioned virtual disks • Consistency groups To create a snapshot image, you must first create a snapshot group and reserve snapshot repository space for the virtual disk. The repository space is based on a percentage of the current virtual disk reserve. You can delete the oldest snapshot image in a snapshot group either manually or you can automate the process by enabling the Auto-Delete setting for the snapshot group.
• • Source virtual disk — When you create a virtual disk copy, a copy pair consisting of a source virtual disk and a target virtual disk is created on the same storage array. When a virtual disk copy is started, data from the source virtual disk is copied completely to the target virtual disk. Target virtual disk — When you start a virtual disk copy, the target virtual disk maintains a copy of the data from the source virtual disk.
Preferred And Alternate Controllers And Paths A preferred controller is a RAID controller module designated as the owner of a virtual disk or disk group. The preferred controller is automatically selected by the MD Storage Manager when a virtual disk is created. You can change the preferred RAID controller module owner of a virtual disk after it is created.
has the least outstanding I/O requests queued. For this policy, an I/O request is simply a command in the queue. The type of command or the number of blocks that are associated with the command are not considered. The least queue depth with subset policy treats large block requests and small block requests equally. The data path selected is one of the paths in the path group of the RAID controller module that owns the virtual disk.
Values for the selected storage arrays are displayed in the Performance Monitor data table. The table is updated at the interval specified in the Polling Interval setting. NOTE: To force an immediate poll of the storage array, click Update. 7. Click Stop to stop monitoring the storage array. 8. To save the currently displayed performance statistics: a) b) c) d) Click Save As on the Performance Monitor window. Select the directory where you want to save the file. Type a file name in File name.
– MB/second — The current MB per second, or transfer rate for the current polling interval. – Read Percentage — The percentage of total I/Os that are read operations for this storage array. Write percentage can be calculated as 100 minus this value. – Cache Hit Percentage — The percentage of total I/Os that are fulfilled by data from the cache rather than requiring an actual read from disk. Values are displayed for the selected storage arrays in the Performance Monitor data table.
Discovering And Managing Your Storage Array 3 You can manage a storage array in two ways: • Out-of-band management • In-band management NOTE: If you are using an iSCSI MD storage array, see Troubleshooting the Dell PowerVault MD-Series Storage Array: Configuring the Ethernet Management Port at dell.com/support/manuals for more information on the management features. Out-Of-Band Management In the out-of-band management method, data is separate from commands and events.
Access Virtual Disk Each RAID controller module in an MD Series storage array maintains a special virtual disk, called the access virtual disk. The host-agent software uses the access virtual disk to communicate management requests and event information between the storage management station and the RAID controller module in an in-band-managed storage array and cannot be removed without deleting the entire virtual disk, virtual disk group or virtual disk pair.
– Out-of-band management — Enter a DNS/Network name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address for the RAID Controller Module in the storage array. – In-band management — Enter a name or a DNS/Network name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address for the Host through which the storage array is attached to the network. NOTE: When adding a storage array using in-band management with iSCSI, a session must first be established between the initiator on the host server and the storage array. For more information, see Using iSCSI.
1. Select the relevant storage array and do one of the following: – In the EMW, right-click the appropriate storage array, and select Blink Storage Array. – In the AMW, select the Setup tab, and click Blink Storage Array. – In the AMW, select Hardware → Blink → Storage Array. The LEDs on the physical disks in the storage array blink. 2. After locating the storage array, click OK. The LEDs stop blinking. 3. If the LEDs do not stop blinking, select Hardware → Blink → Stop All Indications.
3. If you are resetting the password, type the Current password. NOTE: If you are setting the password for the first time, leave the Current password blank. 4. Type the New password. NOTE: It is recommended that you use a long password with at least 15 alphanumeric characters to increase security. For more information on secure passwords, see Password Guidelines. 5. Re-type the new password in Confirm new password. 6. Click OK.
A message prompts you to confirm if the selected storage array is to be removed. 3. Click Yes. The storage array is removed from the list. Enabling Premium Features You can enable premium features on the storage array. To enable the premium features, you must obtain a feature key file specific to the premium feature that you want to enable from your storage supplier. To enable premium features: 1. From the menu bar in the AMW, select Storage Array → Premium Features.
5. If you have set a password for the selected storage array, the Enter Password dialog is displayed. Type the current password for the storage array and click OK. Changing Expansion Enclosure ID Numbers When an MD3060e Series expansion enclosure is connected to an MD Series storage array for the first time, an enclosure ID number is assigned and maintained by the expansion enclosure. This enclosure ID number is also shown in the MD Storage Manager and can be changed if required.
Configuring E-mail Alerts 1. Open the Configure Alerts dialog by performing one of these actions in the EMW: – On the Devices tab, select a node and then on the menu bar, select Edit → Configure Alerts. Go to step 3. NOTE: This option enables you to set up alerts for all the storage arrays connected to the host. 2. – On the Setup, select Configure Alerts. Go to step 2.
– 7. Every x hours — Sends an e-mail alert after the specified time interval if an event has occurred during that time interval. You can select this option only if you have selected either Event + Profile or Event + Support in the Information To Send list. Click OK. An alert icon is displayed next to each node in the Tree view where an alert is set. 8.
An alert icon is displayed next to each node in the Tree view for which an alert is set. NOTE: – Any SNMP addresses that you had previously configured appear in the Configured SNMP addresses area. – The SNMP Community Name is determined by the system administrator and configured within the a management application, such as the Dell Management Console. More information about the Dell Management Console is available at dell.com. – You can configure multiple SNMP addresses before you click OK.
to the Event Log match the event timestamps written to host log files. The RAID controller modules remain available during synchronization. To synchronize the RAID controller module clocks with the storage management station: 1. In the AMW, on the menu bar, select Hardware → RAID Controller Module → Synchronize Clocks. 2. If a password is set, in the Enter Password dialog, type the current password for the storage array, and click Synchronize.
Using iSCSI 4 NOTE: The following sections are relevant only to MDxx0i storage arrays that use the iSCSI protocol. Changing The iSCSI Target Authentication To change the iSCSI target authentication: 1. In the AMW, select the Setup tab. 2. Select Manage iSCSI Settings. The Manage iSCSI Settings window is displayed and by default, the Target Authentication tab is selected. 3. 4. To change the authentication settings, select: – None — If you do not require initiator authentication.
The initiator details are displayed. 5. Click CHAP Secret to enter the initiator CHAP permissions in the dialog that is displayed. 6. Click OK. 7. Click OK in the Manage iSCSI Settings window. For more information, see the online help topics. Creating CHAP Secrets When you set up an authentication method, you can choose to create a CHAP secret. The CHAP secret is a password that is recognized by the initiator and the target.
Changing The iSCSI Target Identification You cannot change the iSCSI target name, but you can associate an alias with the target for simpler identification. Aliases are useful because the iSCSI target names are not intuitive. Provide an iSCSI target alias that is meaningful and easy to remember. To change the iSCSI target identification: 1. 2. In the AMW, select the Setup tab. Select Manage iSCSI Settings. The Manage iSCSI Settings window is displayed. 3. Select the Target Configuration tab. 4.
continuous connectivity. For IPv6 addressing, the default method is Stateless auto-configuration. Always use this method for IPv6. For more information, see Troubleshooting your Dell PowerVault MD-Series Storaeg Array: Configuring iSCSI Data Ports at dell.com/support/manuals. To configure the iSCSI host ports: 1. In the AMW, select the Setup tab. 2. Select Configure iSCSI Host Ports. The Configure iSCSI Ports window is displayed. 3.
Setting Description NOTE: For more information on creating and configuring a VLAN with MD Support Manager, in the AMW, click the Support tab, then click View Online Help. Ethernet Priority The network priority can be set from lowest to highest. Although network managers must determine these mappings, the IEEE has made broad recommendations: • 0 — lowest priority (default).
1. In the AMW menu bar, select Monitor → Health → iSCSI Statistics. The View iSCSI Statistics window is displayed. 2. 3. Select the iSCSI statistic type you want to view in the iSCSI Statistics Type area. You can select: – Ethernet MAC statistics – Ethernet TCP/IP statistics – Target (protocol) statistics – Local initiator (protocol) statistics In the Options area, select: – Raw statistics — To view the raw statistics.
Event Monitor 5 An event monitor is provided with Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager). The event monitor runs continuously in the background and monitors activity on the managed storage arrays. If the event monitor detects any critical problems, it can notify a host or remote system using e-mail, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap messages, or both.
To disable the event monitor, start terminal emulation application (console ox xterm) and at the command prompt, type SMmonitor stop, and press . When the program shutdown is complete, the following message is displayed: Stopping Monitor process.
About Your Host 6 Configuring Host Access Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager) is comprised of multiple modules. One of these modules is the Host Context Agent, which is installed as part of the MD Storage Manager installation and runs continuously in the background. If the Host Context Agent is running on a host, that host and the host ports connected from it to the storage array are automatically detected by the MD Storage Manager.
• Add mappings to the selected host groups For more information, see the online help topics. Defining A Host You can use the Define Host Wizard in the AMW to define a host for a storage array. Either a known unassociated host port identifier or a new host port identifier can be added. A user label must be specified before the host port identifier may be added (the Add button is disabled until one is entered). To define a host: 1. In the AMW, select the Host Mappings tab. 2.
13. Click Finish. The Creation Successful window is displayed confirming that the new host is created. 14. To create another host, click Yes on the Creation Successful window. Removing Host Access To remove host access: 1. In the AMW, select the Host Mappings tab. 2. Select the host node from the object tree on the left pane. 3. Perform one of these actions: – From the menu bar, select Host Mappings → Host → Remove. – Right-click the host node, and select Remove from the pop-up menu.
Adding A Host To A Host Group You can add a host to an existing host group or a new host group using the Define Host Wizard. For more information, see Defining A Host. You can also move a host to a different host group. For more information, see Moving A Host To A Different Host Group. Removing A Host From A Host Group You can remove a host from the object tree on the Host Mappings tab of the AMW. For more information, see Removing A Host Group.
Host Topology Host topology is the organization of hosts, host groups, and host interfaces configured for a storage array. You can view the host topology in the Host Mappings tab of the AMW. For more information, see Using The Host Mappings Tab.
NOTE: For more information on configuring hosts, see About Your Host. If a component such as a RAID controller module or a cable fails, or an error occurs on the data path to the preferred RAID controller module, virtual disk ownership is moved to the alternate non preferred RAID controller module for processing. This failure or error is called failover.
The newly added host port identifier is added to the Host port identifier information area. 10. Select the host port identifier that you want to manage from the list of host port identifiers in the Host port identifier information area. 11. Perform one of these actions for the selected host port identifier: – To edit the host port identifier — Select the appropriate host port identifier and click Edit. The Edit Host Port Identifier dialog is displayed.
Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, And Thin Virtual Disks 7 Creating Disk Groups And Virtual Disks Disk groups are created in the unconfigured capacity of a storage array, and virtual disks are created in the free capacity of a disk group or disk pool. The maximum number of physical disks supported in a disk group is 120 (192 with the premium feature activated). The hosts attached to the storage array read and write data to the virtual disks.
NOTE: Thin-provisioned virtual disks can be created from disk pools. If you are not using disk pools, only standard virtual disks can be created. For more information, see Thin Virtual Disks. You can create disk groups either using Automatic configuration or Manual configuration. To create disk groups: 1.
Locating A Disk Group You can physically locate and identify all of the physical disks that comprise a selected disk group. An LED blinks on each physical disk in the disk group. To locate a disk group: 1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Right-click on a disk group and select Blink from the pop-up menu. The LEDs for the selected disk group blink. 3. After locating the disk group, click OK. The LEDs stop blinking. 4.
6. In the Data Service (DS) Attributes area, you can select: 7. – Enable data assurance (DA) protection on the new virtual disk – Use SSD cache In the Virtual disk I/O characteristics type list, select the appropriate Virtual Disk I/O characteristics type. You can select: – File system (typical) – Database – Multimedia – Custom NOTE: If you select Custom, you must select an appropriate segment size. 8. Select Enable dynamic cache read prefetch.
Changing The Virtual Disk Cache Settings You can specify the cache memory settings for a single virtual disk or for multiple virtual disks in a storage array. Guidelines to change cache settings for a virtual disk: • After opening the Change Cache Settings dialog, the system may display a window indicating that the RAID controller module has temporarily suspended caching operations.
Changing The Segment Size Of A Virtual Disk You can change the segment size on a selected virtual disk. During this operation, I/O performance is affected, but your data remains available. Follow these guidelines to proceed with changing the segment size: • You cannot cancel this operation after it starts. • Do not start this operation unless the disk group is in Optimal status. • The MD Storage Manager determines the segment size transitions that are allowed.
The I/O characteristic types shown below are only presented during the create virtual disk process. When you choose one of the virtual disk I/O characteristics, the corresponding dynamic cache prefetch setting and segment size that are typically well suited for expected I/O patterns are populated in the Dynamic cache read prefetch field and the Segment size field. To change the I/O type: 1. To enable read caching, select Enable read caching. 2.
Virtual capacity is capacity that is reported to the host, while physical capacity is the amount of actual physical disk space allocated for data write operations. Generally, physical capacity is much smaller than virtual capacity. Thin provisioning allows virtual disks to be created with a large virtual capacity but a relatively small physical capacity.
Storage Manager assigns a 4 GB multiple and assigns the remainder as unused. If space exists that is not a 4 GB multiple, you can use it to increase the size of the thin virtual disk. To increase the size of the thin virtual disk, select Storage → Virtual Disk → Increase Capacity. • Repository Expansion Policy — Select either Automatic or Manual to indicate whether MD Storage Manager must automatically expand physical capacity thresholds.
Virtual Disk Copy Source Virtual Disk Copy Target Availability Standard virtual disk Standard virtual disk Supported Thin virtual disk Standard virtual disk Supported Standard virtual disk Thin virtual disk Not supported Thin virtual disk Thin virtual disk Not supported Rollback On Thin Virtual Disks Rollback operations are fully supported on thin virtual disks. A rollback operation restores the logical content of a thin virtual disk to match the selected snapshot image.
1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select the thin virtual disk that you want to initialize. The thin virtual disks are listed under the Disk Pools node. 3. Select Storage → Virtual Disk → Advanced → Initialize. The Initialize Thin Virtual Disk window is displayed. 4. Select Keep existing repository, and click Finish. The Confirm Initialization of Thin Virtual Disk window is displayed. 5. Read the warning and confirm if you want to initialize the thin virtual disk. 6.
NOTE: The benefit of reusing an existing repository is that you can avoid the initialization process that occurs when you create a new one. 10. If you want to change the repository expansion policy or warning threshold, click View advanced repository settings. – Repository expansion policy – Select either Automatic or Manual. When the consumed capacity gets close to the physical capacity, you can expand the physical capacity.
9. Select a repository from the table. Existing repositories are placed at the top of the list. NOTE: The benefit of reusing an existing repository is that you can avoid the initialization process that occurs when you create a new one. 10. If you want to change the repository expansion policy or warning threshold, click View advanced repository settings. – Repository expansion policy – Select either Automatic or Manual.
Whenever the power is turned off and turned on again, all of the security enabled physical disks change to a security locked state. In this state, the data is inaccessible until the correct security key is provided by a RAID controller module. You can view the self encrypting disk status of any physical disk in the storage array from the Physical Disk Properties dialog.
• A security key is installed in the storage array. • At least one security capable physical disk is installed in the storage array. • All of the physical disks that you selected on the Hardware tab are security capable physical disks. You can erase security enabled physical disks so that you can reuse the drives in another disk group or in another storage array. When you erase security enabled physical disks, ensure that the data cannot be read.
8. – Edit the default path by adding a file name to the end of the path. – Click Browse to navigate to the required folder, then add a file name to the end of the path. In Pass phrase dialog box, enter a string for the pass phrase.
The Confirm Change Security Key window is displayed. 2. Type yes in the text field, and click OK. The Change Security Key window is displayed. 3. In Secure key identifier, enter a string that become part of the secure key identifier. You may leave the text box blank, or enter up to 189 alphanumeric characters without white space, punctuation, or symbols. Additional characters is generated automatically. 4. 5.
Make a record of the pass phrase you entered. You need it for later secure operations. 5. Click Save. 6. Make a record of the security key identifier and the file name from the Save Security Key Complete dialog, and click OK. Validate Security Key A file in which a security key is stored is validated through the Validate Security Key dialog. To transfer, archive, or back up the security key, the RAID controller module firmware encrypts (or wraps) the security key and stores it in a file.
• • • • • You can unassign only hot spare physical disks with Optimal, or Standby status. You cannot unassign a hot spare physical disk that has the In Use status. A hot spare physical disk has the In Use status when it is in the process of taking over for a failed physical disk. Hot spare physical disks must be of the same media type and interface type as the physical disks that they are protecting.
A hot spare is an idle, powered-on, stand-by physical disk ready for immediate use in case of disk failure. If a hot spare is defined in an enclosure in which a redundant virtual disk experiences a physical disk failure, a rebuild of the degraded virtual disk is automatically initiated by the RAID controller modules. If no hot spares are defined, the rebuild process is initiated by the RAID controller modules when a replacement physical disk is inserted into the storage array.
Enclosure Loss Protection Enclosure loss protection is an attribute of a disk group. Enclosure loss protection guarantees accessibility to the data on the virtual disks in a disk group if a total loss of communication occurs with a single expansion enclosure. An example of total loss of communication may be loss of power to the expansion enclosure or failure of both RAID controller modules. CAUTION: Enclosure loss protection is not guaranteed if a physical disk has already failed in the disk group.
Drawer loss protection for a disk group is based on the location of the physical disks that comprise the disk group. In the event of a single drawer failure, data on the virtual disks in a disk group will remain accessible if drawer loss protection configuration is followed. In such as case, if a drawer fails and the disk group is protected, the disk group changes to Degraded status and the data remains accessible.
• You can define the mappings on the Host Mappings tab in the AMW. See Using The Host Mappings Tab. Creating Host-To-Virtual Disk Mappings Guidelines to define the mappings: • An access virtual disk mapping is not required for an out-of-band storage array. If your storage array is managed using an out-of-band connection, and an access virtual disk mapping is assigned to the Default Group, an access virtual disk mapping is assigned to every host created from the Default Group.
Modifying And Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping You can modify or remove a host-to-virtual disk mapping for several reasons, such as an incorrect mapping or reconfiguration of the storage array. Modifying or removing a host-to-virtual disk mapping applies to both hosts and host groups. CAUTION: Before you modify or remove a host-to-virtual disk mapping, stop any data access (I/O) to the virtual disks to prevent data loss. To modify or remove host to virtual disk mapping: 1.
To change the ownership of the virtual disk to the connected controller: 1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab and select a virtual disk. 2. From the menu bar, select the appropriate RAID controller module slot in Storage → Virtual Disk → Change → Ownership/Preferred Path. 3. Click Yes to confirm the selection. Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping To remove the host to virtual disk mapping: 1. In the AMW, select the Host Mappings tab. 2.
Changing The RAID Level Of A Disk Group Changing the RAID level of a disk group changes the RAID levels of every virtual disk that comprises the disk group. Performance may be slightly affected during the operation. Guidelines to change the RAID level of a disk group: • You cannot cancel this operation after it begins. • The disk group must be in Optimal status before you can perform this operation. • Your data remains available during this operation.
In this example, the mpath6 device contains two paths: -- /dev/sdf at Host 1, Channel 0, Target 0, LUN 2 --/dev/sde at Host 0, Channel 0, Target 0, LUN 2 3. Flush the multi-pathing device mapping using the following command: # multipath -f /dev/mapper/mapth_x Where, mapth_x is the device you want to delete. 4. Delete the paths related with this device using the following command: # echo 1 > /sys/block/sd_x/device/delete Where, sd_x is the SD node (disk device) returned by the multipath command.
allows only LUNs up to 31, you cannot move that restricted host type into a storage partition that has LUNs greater than 31 already mapped. The Default Group on the Host Mappings tab has a default host type. To change the host type, right-click on the host and select Change Default Host Operating System from the pop-up menu.
Disk Group And Virtual Disk Expansion Adding free capacity to a disk group is achieved by adding unconfigured capacity on the array to the disk group. Data is accessible on disk groups, virtual disks, and physical disks throughout the entire modification operation. The additional free capacity can then be used to perform a virtual disk expansion on a standard or snapshot repository virtual disk. Disk Group Expansion To add free capacity to a disk group: 1.
achieve the required final capacity. Data on the selected virtual disk remains accessible while the process for increasing virtual disk capacity is in progress. Using Unconfigured Capacity You can increase the capacity of a standard virtual disk or a snapshot repository virtual disk using the unconfigured capacity when no free capacity exists on a disk group.
On the target storage array, verify that: • The target storage array has available physical disk slots. • The target storage array supports the physical disks that you import. • The target storage array can support the new virtual disks. • The latest version of firmware is installed on the RAID controller module. Import Disk Group The import disk group operation adds the imported disk group to the target storage array.
Storage Array Media Scan The media scan is a background operation that examines virtual disks to verify that data is accessible. The process finds media errors before normal read and write activity is disrupted and reports errors to the event log. NOTE: You cannot enable background media scans on a virtual disk comprised of Solid State Disks (SSDs). Errors discovered by the media scan include: • Unrecovered media error — Data could not be read on the first attempt or on any subsequent attempts.
Suspending The Media Scan You cannot perform a media scan while performing another long-running operation on the disk drive such as reconstruction, copy-back, reconfiguration, virtual disk initialization, or immediate availability formatting. If you want to perform another long-running operation, you should suspend the media scan. NOTE: A background media scan is the lowest priority of the long-running operations. To suspend a media scan: 1.
Disk Pools And Disk Pool Virtual Disks 8 Disk pooling allows you to distribute data from each virtual disk randomly across a set of physical disks. Disk pooling provides RAID protection and consistent performance across a set of physical disks logically grouped together in the storage array. Although there is no limit on the maximum number of physical disks that can comprise a disk pool, each disk pool must have a minimum of 11 physical disks.
• You cannot change the RAID level of a disk pool. MD Storage Manager automatically configures disk pools as RAID level 6. • All physical disk types in a disk pool must be the same. • You can protect your disk pool with Self Encrypting Disk (SED), but the physical disk attributes must match. For example, SED-enabled physical disks cannot be mixed with SED-capable physical disks.
Automatically Managing The Unconfigured Capacity In Disk Pools The MD Storage Manager can detect the unconfigured capacity in a storage array. When the unconfigured capacity is detected, the MD Storage Manager prompts you to create one or more disk pools, or add the unconfigured capacity to an existing disk pool, or both.
4. Locate the physical disks in the disk pool, and click OK. The LEDs stop blinking. NOTE: If the LEDs for the disk pool do not stop blinking, from the AMW, select Hardware → Blink → Stop All Indications. 5. Click OK. Renaming A Disk Pool Use the Rename option to change the name of a disk pool when the current name is no longer meaningful.
6. Click OK. Adding Unassigned Physical Disks To A Disk Pool Use the Add Physical Disks (Capacity) option to increase the free capacity of an existing disk pool by adding unassigned physical disks. After you add unassigned physical disks to a disk pool, the data in each virtual disk of the disk pool is redistributed to include the additional physical disks.
Changing The Modification Priority Of A Disk Pool Use the Modification Priority option to specify the priority levels for modification operations in a disk pool relative to the system performance. NOTE: Selecting higher priority for modification operations in a disk pool can slow the system performance.
To RAID controller module ownership of a disk pool: 1. In AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select the disk pool. 3. From the menu bar, select Storage → Disk Pool → Change → Ownership/Preferred Path. 4. Select the RAID controller module. 5. Click Yes. Checking Data Consistency Use the Check Consistency option to check the consistency on a selected disk pool or disk group. Use this option only when instructed by the Recovery Guru.
Deleting A Disk Pool Use the Delete option to delete a disk pool and all of the virtual disks in the disk pool. When a disk pool is deleted, the physical disks that were associated with the disk pool change to the Unassigned state. This process creates more unconfigured capacity in the storage array, which you can reconfigure to meet your storage needs. CAUTION: Possible loss of data access – Deleting a disk pool causes loss of all data on the virtual disks in the disk pool.
– Right-click a component, and select View Associated Physical Components. – Select a component, and click View Associated Physical Components in the Properties pane. – Select a component, and from the menu bar, select Storage → Disk Pool → View Associated Physical Components. The associated physical components are displayed with a green triangle on top of them. Secure Disk Pools You can create a secure disk pool from security capable physical disks.
Changing Capacity On Existing Thin Virtual Disks If the amount of space used by the host for read/write operations (sometimes called consumed capacity) exceeds the amount of physical capacity allocated on a standard virtual disk, the storage array cannot accommodate additional write requests until the physical capacity is increased. However, on a thin virtual disk, MD Storage Manager can automatically expand physical capacity of a thin virtual disk.
– Select Use recommended capacity settings and click Next. – Select Choose your own settings and then select Customize capacity settings (advanced). Click Next and go to step 11. 11. Use the Preferred capacity box to indicate the initial physical capacity of the virtual disk and the Units list to indicate the specific capacity units to use (MB, GB, or TB). NOTE: The physical capacity is the amount of physical disk space that is currently reserved for write requests.
Using SSD Cache 9 The SSD Cache feature utilizes solid-state disk (SSD) physical disks to improve read-only performance in your storage array. SSD physical disks are logically grouped together to provide secondary cache for use with the primary cache in the RAID controller module memory. Using SSD Cache improves application throughput and response times and delivers sustained performance improvement across diverse workloads, especially high-IOP workloads.
SSD Cache Restrictions The following restrictions apply to using SSD Cache feature: • SSD cache is not supported on Snapshots (Legacy) virtual disks or PiT‐based Snapshot images. • If you import or export base virtual disks that are SSD cache enabled or disabled, the cached data is not imported or exported. • Maximum usable SSD cache capacity on a storage array is dependent on the RAID controller module’s primary cache capacity.
To hide the displayed components, click Hide. 4. To view the components installed in the associated enclosure, click View Enclosure Components. Locating Physical Disks In An SSD Cache To locate physical disks in an SSD cache: 1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. In the tree view, select the SSD cache and do one of the following: – From the menu bar, select Storage → SSD Cache → Blink. – Right click on the SSD cache and select Blink.
4. Select the physical disk that you want to add and click Remove. Suspending Or Resuming SSD Caching 1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. In the tree view, select the SSD cache and do one of the following: – From the menu bar, select Storage → SSD Cache → Suspend. – Right click on the SSD cache and select Suspend. In the Table view of the SSD cache, the Status is displayed as Suspended. 3.
– Right click on the SSD cache and select Delete. The Confirm Delete SSD Cache window is displayed. 3. Type yes to confirm and click Delete. Using The Performance Modeling Tool The SSD Cache Performance Modeling tool helps you determine the performance improvement for SSD cache capacity when you run the performance modeling tool with a workload that has the same characteristics as what you run in production.
Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disk 10 The following types of virtual disk snapshot premium features are supported on the MD storage array: • Snapshot Virtual Disks using multiple point-in-time (PiT) groups • Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy) using a separate repository for each snapshot NOTE: This section describes the Snapshot Virtual Disk using PiT groups. If you are using the Snapshot Virtual Disk (Legacy) premium feature, see Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy).
To create a snapshot image, you must first create a snapshot group and reserve snapshot repository space for the virtual disk. The repository space is based on a percentage of the current virtual disk reserve. You can delete the oldest snapshot image in a snapshot group either manually or you can automate the process by enabling the Auto-Delete setting for the snapshot group.
Snapshot Consistency Groups To perform the same snapshot image operations on multiple virtual disks, you can create a consistency group containing the virtual disks. Any operation performed on the consistency group is performed simultaneously on all of the virtual disks in that group, which creates consistent copies of data between each virtual disk. Consistency groups are commonly used to create, schedule or rollback virtual disks.
subsequent modifications made by the host application to the base virtual disk without affecting the referenced snapshot image. Each member repository is created when the consistency group snapshot virtual disk is created. Ranking Repository Candidates If you choose to create a repository manually, you can filter repository candidates for each member virtual disk by selecting either a percentage of the base virtual disk capacity or by specifying a preferred capacity in the Snapshot Group Settings window.
Creating A Snapshot Image You can create a snapshot image by either selecting a base virtual disk or by selecting an existing snapshot group. To create a snapshot image from an existing base virtual disk: 1. From the AMW, select the base virtual disk you are copying and select Copy Services → Snapshot Image → Create. The Select or Create a Snapshot Group window is displayed. 2. Do one of the following: 3.
The snapshot image creation operation completes as soon as the synchronization operation is complete. To cancel the pending snapshot image creation before the synchronization operation completes, do the following: 1. From the AMW, select either the snapshot group or consistency group that contains the pending snapshot image. 2. Do one of the following: – Copy Services → Snapshot Group → Advanced → Cancel Pending Snapshot Image.
You can create a schedule that runs daily or weekly in which you select specific days of the week (Sunday through Saturday). To make scheduling easier, you can import an existing schedule for a snapshot group or consistency group. In addition, you can temporarily suspend scheduled snapshot image creation by disabling the schedule. When a schedule is disabled, the scheduled snapshot image creations do not occur.
snapshot image creation by disabling the schedule. When a schedule is disabled, the scheduled snapshot image creations do not occur. To edit a schedule: 1. From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select the snapshot group or consistency group for which you want to edit a schedule. 3. Do one of the following: – Copy Services → Snapshot Group → Edit Snapshot Image Schedule. – Copy Services → Consistency Group Snapshot Image → Create/Edit Schedule.
• You cannot start a rollback operation when any of these operations are in progress in the storage array: – Expanding the capacity of a disk group. – Virtual disk Expansion (VDE) to increase the capacity of a virtual disk. – Migrating a disk group to a different RAID level. – Changing the segment size of a virtual disk. • You cannot start a rollback operation if the base virtual disk is participating in a virtual disk copy.
3. Click Resume. The following may occur depending on the error condition: – If the resume rollback operation is successful — You can view the progress of the rollback operation in the Properties pane when you select the base virtual disk or the consistency group member virtual disk in the Logical pane. – If the resume rollback operation is not successful — The rollback operation is paused again.
3. To view the progress for operations that affect a base virtual disk or a consistency group snapshot image, click the triangle next to a base virtual disk or a consistency group snapshot image to expand or collapse it. 4. To change the interval for refreshing the display, use the spinner box in the lower-right corner of the window, and click Update. 5. To refresh the display immediately, click Refresh Now. Changing Snapshot Rollback Priority You can set the priority for a rollback operation.
– The base virtual disk that contains this snapshot image is a member of an asynchronous remote replication group. – The base virtual disk is currently in a synchronizing operation. The snapshot image creation completes as soon as the synchronization operation is complete. 1. From the AMW, select the base virtual disk whose data you want to copy. 2. Select a snapshot image of a base virtual disk and then select Copy Services → Snapshot Group → Create. The Snapshot Group Settings window is displayed.
Keep these guidelines in mind when you name a consistency group: • There is a minimum required capacity for a consistency group repository (depending on your configuration). • When you define the capacity requirements for a repository, keep in mind any future requirements that you might have for other virtual disks in this disk group or disk pool.
Changing Snapshot Group Settings Use the Snapshot Group Change Settings option to modify the auto-delete settings and the snapshot group repository settings that were configured when you created the snapshot group. • Auto-Delete Settings — You can configure each snapshot group to keep the total number of snapshot images in the group at or below a user-defined maximum.
Deleting A Snapshot Group Use the Delete Snapshot Group option to delete a snapshot group. The system performs the following actions when a snapshot group is deleted: • Deletes all existing snapshot images from the snapshot group. • Deletes the associated repository that exists for the snapshot group (if selected). • Disables all the associated snapshot virtual disks that exist for the deleted snapshot images. To delete the snapshot group: 1. From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2.
– Storage → Virtual Disk → Convert Snapshot (Legacy) to Snapshot Group. – Copy Services → Snapshot (Legacy) → Convert to Snapshot Group. 3. In the Available snapshot (legacy) virtual disks table, select the snapshot (legacy) virtual disks that you want to convert and then click Add to add them to the Snapshot (Legacy) virtual disks to convert table. 4. Click Convert to convert the selected snapshots (Legacy) to snapshot groups.
1. Select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select the storage object for which you want to view the associated physical components and then select Individual Repository Virtual Disk → View Associated Physical Components. Creating A Consistency Group A consistency group is simultaneous snapshots of multiple virtual disks, thus ensuring consistent copies of a group of virtual disks. Each virtual disk that belongs to a consistency group is referred to as a member virtual disk.
5. Select how you want to create the repositories for each member in the consistency group. – Select Automatic and click Finish to create the repositories with the default capacity settings. This option is the recommended one. – Select Manual and click Next to define the capacity settings for the repositories; and then click Finish to continue with the consistency group creation process.
– The Repository candidates table shows both new and existing repositories that are capable of being used for each member virtual disk in the consistency group based on the value you specified for percentage or the value you specified for preferred capacity. – By default, the system displays the repositories for each member virtual disk of the consistency group using a value of 20% of the member virtual disk’s capacity.
To delete a consistency group: 1. From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select the consistency group that you want to delete and then select Copy Services → Consistency Group → Delete. The Confirm Delete window is displayed. 3. Select Delete all repositories associated with this consistency group if you want to delete the associated repository that exists for the consistency group. 4. Type yes in the text box and then click Delete to delete the consistency group.
• If the base virtual disk resides on a standard disk group, the repository members for any associated consistency group can reside on either a standard disk group or a disk pool. If a base virtual disk resides on a disk pool, the repository members for any associated consistency group must reside on the same disk pool as the base virtual disk. • You cannot add a member virtual disk that is in a failed state. 1. From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Do one of the following: 3. 4.
– Select one or more consistency groups, from the Consistency groups table, that you want to remove the base virtual disk from and then click Remove. NOTE: You can click the Select all check box to remove the virtual disk from all the consistency groups displayed in the table. – Select the member virtual disks, from the Member virtual disks table, that you want to remove from the consistency group and then click Remove.
– Select An existing snapshot image and then select a snapshot image from the snapshot image table and click Next. – Select A new snapshot image (on an existing snapshot group) and then a snapshot group from the existing snapshot group table and then click Next. The Snapshot Virtual Disk Settings window is displayed. 4. In the Snapshot virtual disk name field, enter a unique name (30 character maximum) that best describes the virtual disk selected for this snapshot image, for example, AccountingData.
Use this option if you want to specify all of the customizable settings for the snapshot virtual disk repository. The Manual method is considered advanced and only those who understand physical disk redundancy and optimal physical disk configurations should use this method. 8. Click Finish. The snapshot virtual disk and its properties under the individual virtual disk node for the associated base virtual disk is displayed in the navigation tree.
Changing The Settings Of A Snapshot Virtual Disk Use the Change Snapshot Virtual Disk Settings option to modify the repository settings that were configured when you created the snapshot virtual disk. You can modify the maximum percentage for the snapshot virtual disk repository to set a warning when the capacity of a snapshot virtual disk repository reaches the defined percentage. 1. From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2.
– 3. Copy Services → Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk → Disable. The Confirm Disable Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk window is displayed. Type yes in the text box and then click Disable to disable the snapshot virtual disk. The snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk is displayed in the Logical pane with the Disabled Snapshot status icon.
Renaming A Snapshot Virtual Disk Or Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk Use the Rename Snapshot Virtual Disk option to change the name of a snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk when the current name is no longer meaningful or applicable. Keep these guidelines in mind when you name a consistency group: • Limit the name to 30 characters. Any leading and trailing spaces in the name are deleted. • Use a unique, meaningful name that is easy to understand and remember.
3. If the snapshot virtual disk or the consistency group snapshot virtual disk is read-write, select the option to delete the associated repository. 4. Type yes in the text box and then click Delete to delete the snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk.
4. In the Consistency group snapshot virtual disk name field, enter a unique name (30 character maximum) that best describes the consistency group selected for this snapshot image. For example, AccountingData.
See the online help topics for more information on how to set the repository parameters. The snapshot virtual disk and its properties for the associated consistency group are displayed in the navigation tree.
– 7. The Difference column shows the mathematical difference between your selected capacity and the actual capacity of the repository candidate. If the repository candidate is new, the system uses the exact capacity size that you specified and displays zero (0) in the Difference column. To edit an individual repository candidate: a) Select the candidate from the Repository candidates table and click Edit to modify the capacity settings for the repository. b) Click OK. 8.
The snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk is displayed in the Logical pane with the Disabled Snapshot status icon. If you disabled a read-write snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk, its associated snapshot repository virtual disk does not change status. The write activity to the snapshot repository virtual disk stops until the snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk is re-created.
• • • • Snapshot group Snapshot virtual disk Consistency group member virtual disk Replicated Pair NOTE: Changing the modification priority by using this option modifies the priority only for the overall repository that you selected. The settings are applied to all individual repository virtual disks contained within the overall repository. To change the modification priority: 1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2.
An overall repository virtual disk that has this feature enabled returns read errors if the data is determined to be inconsistent by the RAID controller module firmware. You can enable this option for overall repository virtual disks that contain consistency information. RAID Level 1, RAID Level 5, and RAID Level 6 maintain redundancy information. You can enable this option for overall repository virtual disks that contain consistency information.
NOTE: If no free capacity exists on any disk group or disk pool, you can add unconfigured capacity in the form of unused physical disks to a disk group or disk pool. You cannot increase the storage capacity of an overall repository if one of these conditions exists: • The repository virtual disk that you want to add does not have an Optimal status. • Any repository virtual disk in the disk group or disk pool that you want to add is in any state of modification.
NOTE: If free capacity does not exist on the disk group or disk pool you selected, the free space that appears in the Capacity spinner box is 0. If this storage array has Unconfigured Capacity, you can create a new disk group or disk pool and then retry this operation using the new free capacity on that disk group or disk pool. 6. Click Increase Repository. The system performs the following actions: – Updates the capacity for the repository.
The system performs the following actions: – Updates the capacity for the overall repository. – Displays the newly-updated repository member virtual disk(s) for the overall repository. Performing A Revive Operation Use the Revive option to force a storage object to an Optimal state if it does not transition automatically after a failure is corrected.
Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy) 11 The following types of virtual disk snapshot premium features are supported on the MD storage array: • Snapshot Virtual Disks using multiple point-in-time (PiT) groups • Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy) using a separate repository for each snapshot NOTE: This section describes the Snapshot Virtual Disk (Legacy) premium feature.
Scheduling A Snapshot Virtual Disk When you create a snapshot virtual disk, you can choose whether the snapshot is created immediately or is created according to a schedule that you determine. This schedule can be a one-time snapshot creation or an snapshot creation that occurs at regularly occurring intervals. If a schedule is not specified, the snapshot virtual disk creation happens immediately upon execution of the command.
destination of a snapshot repository virtual disk is determined based on the free capacity available in the disk group. If 8 MB of free capacity is not available in the disk group of the source virtual disk, the Create Snapshot Virtual Disks feature defaults to the advanced path. In the advanced path option, you can choose to place the snapshot repository virtual disk in another disk group or you can use unconfigured capacity on the storage array to create a new disk group.
NOTE: Before you create a new snapshot of a source virtual disk, stop any data access (I/O) activity or suspend data transfer to the source virtual disk to ensure that you capture an accurate snapshot of the source virtual disk. Close all applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make sure all I/O activity has stopped.
• Snapshot Virtual Disk Name — A user-specified name that helps you associate the snapshot virtual disk to its corresponding snapshot repository virtual disk and source virtual disk. • Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk Name — A user-specified name that helps you associate the snapshot repository virtual disk to its corresponding snapshot virtual disk and source virtual disk. • Capacity Allocation — This parameter allows you to choose where to create the snapshot repository virtual disk.
NOTE: Before you create a new snapshot of a source virtual disk, stop any data access (I/O) activity or suspend data transfer to the source virtual disk to ensure that you capture an accurate snapshot of the source virtual disk. Close all applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make sure all I/O activity has stopped.
7. – Free capacity on same disk group as base (recommended) – Free capacity on different disk group – Unconfigured capacity (create new disk group) Enter the snapshot repository virtual disks capacity as a percentage of the source virtual disks capacity and click Next. The Specify Virtual Disk Parameters window is displayed. 8. In the Snapshot virtual disk parameters area, select the relevant mapping option, you can select: 9.
characters, the default names for the snapshot and its associated snapshot repository virtual disk use the source virtual disk name truncated enough to add the sequence string. For example, for Host Software Engineering Group GR-1, the default snapshot name is Host Software Engineering GR- 1, and the default repository name is Host Software Engineering GR-R1.
capacity is used to increase the size of the virtual disk, the Free Capacity node involved is removed from the Storage & Copy Services tab. 7. If unassigned physical disks are not available, do you have empty slots in the expansion enclosures? – Yes, there are empty slots—Insert new physical disks by using the information in the initial setup guide for your expansion enclosure. Go to step 9. – No, there are no empty slots—Install another expansion enclosure and additional physical disks.
1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab, select a snapshot virtual disk. 2. Select Copy services → Virtual Disk → Snapshot → Re-create. 3. Type yes, and click OK. Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk Disable a snapshot virtual disk if one of the following conditions exists: • You do not need the snapshot now. • You intend to re-create the snapshot at a later time and want to retain the associated snapshot repository virtual disk so that you do not need to create it again.
5. Follow any additional instructions for your operating system. Failure to follow these additional instructions can create unusable snapshot virtual disks. NOTE: If your operating system requires additional instructions, you can find those instructions in your operating system documentation. Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk After first preparing the host server(s), re-create a snapshot virtual disk.
Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 12 NOTE: A virtual disk copy overwrites data on the target virtual disk. Before starting a virtual disk copy, ensure that you no longer need the data or back up the data on the target virtual disk. NOTE: If you ordered this feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card that shipped in the same box as your Dell PowerVault MD Series storage array. Follow the directions on the card to obtain a key file and to enable the feature.
the base virtual disk of an older (Legacy) snapshot virtual disk as your target virtual disk, you must first disable all snapshot (Legacy) virtual disks that are associated with the base virtual disk. Types Of Virtual Disk Copies You can perform either offline or online virtual disk copies. To ensure data integrity, all I/O to the target virtual disk is suspended during either type of virtual disk copy operation.
NOTE: When creating a snapshot virtual disk, map the snapshot virtual disk to only one node in the cluster. Mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the host group or both nodes in the cluster may cause data corruption by allowing both nodes to concurrently access data. Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions After the virtual disk copy is complete, the target virtual disk automatically becomes read-only to the hosts.
Creating A Virtual Disk Copy CAUTION: Possible loss of data—Source virtual disks that are participating in a virtual disk copy are available for read I/O activity only while a virtual disk copy has a status of In Progress or Pending. Write requests are allowed after the virtual disk copy has completed.
on a source virtual disk or a target virtual disk after a virtual disk copy has been created, the modification operation must complete before the virtual disk copy can start. If a virtual disk copy has a status of In Progress, any modification operation does not take place.
Copy Manager After you create a virtual disk copy by using the Create Copy Wizard, you can monitor the virtual disk copy through the Copy Manager. From the Copy Manager, a virtual disk copy may be re-copied, stopped, or removed. You can also modify the attributes, such as the copy priority and the target virtual disk Read-Only attribute. You can view the status of a virtual disk copy in the Copy Manager.
Storage Array Performance During Virtual Disk Copy The following factors contribute to the overall performance of the storage array: • I/O activity • Virtual disk RAID level • Virtual disk configuration — Number of drives in the virtual disk groups • Virtual disk type — Snapshot virtual disks may take more time to copy than standard virtual disks • Snapshots created using older RAID controller firmware versions (legacy snapshots) will take longer to complete During a virtual disk copy, resources f
• To use this option, select only one copy pair in the Copy Manager. • When the virtual disk copy is stopped, all of the mapped hosts have write access to the source virtual disk. If data is written to the source virtual disk, the data on the target virtual disk no longer matches the data on the source virtual disk. To stop a virtual disk copy, complete the following steps: 1. In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab and select Copy Services → Virtual Disks → Manage Copies.
Recopying The Virtual Disk You can use the Copy Manager to create a new virtual disk copy for a selected source virtual disk and a target virtual disk. Use this option when you have stopped a virtual disk copy and want to start it again or when a virtual disk copy has failed or completed. The virtual disk copy starts over from the beginning.
3. Select Copy → Remove Copy Pairs. The Remove Copy Pairs dialog is displayed. 4. 174 Click Yes.
Device Mapper Multipath For Linux 13 Overview The MD Series storage arrays use a Linux operating system software framework, known as Device Mapper (DM), to enable multipath capabilities on Linux Host Servers. The DM multipath functionality is provided by a combination of drivers and utilities. This chapter describes how to use those utilities to complete the process of enabling MD Series storage arrays on a Linux system.
3. Configure using MDCU — After the host server has rebooted, the MDCU automatically starts and is present on the desktop. This utility allows for quick and easy configuration of new and or existing MD Series storage arrays present on your network. It also provides a GUI Wizard for establishing the iSCSI sessions to the array. 4. Create and map virtual disks using the MD Storage Manager — After configuring the arrays using the MDCU, run the MD Storage Manager to create and map virtual disks.
Display The Multipath Device Topology Using The Multipath Command The multipath command adds newly scanned and mapped virtual disks to the Device Mapper tables and creates entries for them in the/dev/mapper directory on the host server. These devices are the same as any other block devices in the host. To list all the multipath devices, run the following command: # multipath –ll The output must be similar to this example, which shows the output for one mapped virtual disk.
Add A New Partition To Device Mapper The kpartx command adds the new fdisk partition to the Device Mapper list of usable partitions. See examples below, where mpath is the device node on which the partition was created. # kpartx –a /dev/mapper/mpath If successful, the command does not display an output. To verify success and view exact partition naming, you can use these commands to see the full partition names assigned.
1. Unmount all Device Mapper multipath device nodes mounted on the server: # umount 2. Stop the Device Mapper multipath service: # /etc/init.d/multipathd stop 3. Flush the Device Mapper multipath maps list to remove any old or modified mappings: # multipath –F NOTE: The boot operating system drive may have an entry with the Device Mapper multipathing table. This is not affected by the multipath –F command. 4.
• I/O may hang when a Device Mapper device is deleted before the volume is unmounted. • If the scsi_dh_rdac module is not included in initrd, slower device discovery may be seen and the syslog may become populated with buffer I/O error messages. • I/O may hang if the host server or storage array is rebooted while I/O is active. All I/O to the storage array should be stopped before shutting down or rebooting the host server or storage array.
Configuring Asymmetric Logical Unit Access 14 If your MD Series RAID storage array supports Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (ALUA), active-active throughput allows I/O to pass from a RAID controller module to a virtual disk that is not owned by the controller. Without ALUA, the host multipath driver is required to send data requests targeted to a specific virtual disk to the owning RAID controller module. If the controller module does not own the virtual disk, it rejects the request.
– # esxcli nmp satp addrule –s VMW_SATP_ALUA –V DELL –M array_PID -c tpgs_off Where, array_PID is your storage array model/product ID. To select the appropriate array_PID for your storage array, see the following table. Table 8. Storage Arrays and Model/Product IDs (array_PID) 2. Storage Array array_PID MD3260 MD32xx MD3260i MD32xxi MD3660i MD36xxi MD3660f MD36xxf Reboot your ESX-based host server. Manually Adding SATP Rule In ESX/ESXi 5.0 To manually add the SATP rule in ESX/ESXi 5.0: 1.
Setting Round-Robin Load Balancing Policy On ESX/ESXi-Based Storage Arrays NOTE: Perform this procedure after you have enabled ALUA on VMware ESX/ESXi and verified if the host server is using ALUA for the MD storage array. For more information, see Enabling ALUA On VMware ESX/ESXi and Verifying If Host Server Is Using ALUA For MD Storage Array. To set a round-robin load balancing policy on your ESX/ESXi-based host server: 1. 2. Do one of the following: – For ESX 4.
Premium Feature—Remote Replication 15 The following types of Remote Replication are supported on the MD storage array: • Remote Replication — Standard asynchronous replication using point-in-time images to batch the resynchronization between the local and remote site. This type of replication is supported on both Fibre Channel and iSCSI storage arrays (not between). • Remote Replication (Legacy) — Synchronous (or full-write) replication that synchronizes local and remote site data in real-time.
Types Of Remote Replication The following are the types of Remote Replication premium features supported on your storage array: • Remote Replication — Also known as standard or asynchronous, it is supported on both iSCSI- and Fibre Channel-based storage arrays (both local and remote storage arrays must use the same data protocol) and requires a dual RAID controller configuration. • Remote Replication (Legacy) — Also known as synchronous or full-write, it is supported on Fibre Channel storage arrays only.
Remote Replication Requirements And Restrictions To use the standard Remote Replication premium feature, you must have: • Two storage arrays with write access and both these storage arrays must have sufficient space to replicate data between them. • Each storage must have a dual-controller Fibre Channel or iSCSI configuration (single-controller configurations are not supported).
Activating Remote Replication Premium Features Activating Remote Replication automatically reserves specific ports on each RAID controller module for data replication. After the port is reserved, any non-replication related I/O request to that port is rejected. Only RAID controller modules configured for Remote Replication can communicate with the reserved ports. The Remote Replication premium feature must be activated on both the local and storage arrays.
1. From the AMW, select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Deactivate. A message prompts you to confirm if the Remote Replication premium feature is to be deactivated. 2. Click Yes. Remote Replication Groups After the Remote Replication premium feature is successfully activated on both the local and remote storage arrays, you can create a Remote Replication group on the local storage array.
1. In the AMW of the local storage array, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Remote Replication → Replication Group → Create. The Create Remote Replication Group window is displayed. 3. In Remote replication group name, enter a group name (30 characters maximum). 4. In the Choose the remote storage array drop-down, select a remote storage array. NOTE: If a remote storage array is not available, you cannot continue.
Creating Replicated Pairs This procedure describes how to create the remote replicated pair on an existing remote replication group. To create a new Remote Replication group, see Creating a Remote Replication Group. 1. In the AMW of the local storage array, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 2. Select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Remote Replication → Replication Group → Create Replication Pair. The Select Remote Replication Group window is displayed.
– The Associated Replicated Pairs table is updated to show the replication information for the Remote Replication group. Removing A Replicated Pair From A Remote Replication Group Removing a replicated pair from a Remote Replication group breaks the replication relationship between the primary virtual disk on the local storage array and the secondary virtual disk on the remote storage array. Data on the virtual disks is not affected.
16 Premium Feature—Remote Replication (Legacy) NOTE: The following section applies to the Fibre Channel-only Remote Replication premium feature. This premium feature is referred to as Legacy to differentiate from the Remote Replication premium feature available on both Fibre Channel and iSCSI-based MD storage arrays. For information, see Premium Feature - Remote Replication.
Activating Remote Replication (Legacy) NOTE: If you ordered the Remote Replication (Legacy) feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card in the Dell PowerVault MD Series storage array shipping box. Follow the directions on the card to install and enable this feature. After the Remote Replication (Legacy) feature has been installed following the steps on the Premium Feature Activation card, it must be activated using a wizard based process.
(online) virtual disk and a secondary (offline) virtual disk, both of identical capacity. During operation, primary and secondary roles can be interchanged to test the replicated data sets without breaking the relationship. Independent copies may be created by deleting the relationship, in which case both virtual disks are available online to their configured hosts.
A primary virtual disk in a remote replication can be either a source virtual disk or a target virtual disk in a virtual disk copy. You can create a virtual disk copy on the primary virtual disk in a replicated pair, but you cannot create a virtual disk copy of a secondary virtual disk in a replicated pair. Instead, you can copy a secondary virtual disk in one of two ways: • Promote the secondary virtual disk to the primary role.
Switch Cascading When two or more Fibre Channel switches are cascaded, the switch management software combines the ports for all of the switches that are linked. Journaling File Systems And Remote Replication (Legacy) When using a journaling file system, you cannot gain read-only access to a remote virtual disk. A journaling file system does not let you mount the remote virtual disk in Windows NTFS. However, you can mount a snapshot of the remote virtual disk, if available.
1. From the AMW, select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Activate. 2. In the Activate Remote Replication wizard, select Unconfigured capacity (create a new disk group) and click Next. The Activate Remote Replication - Create Disk Group wizard is displayed. 3. In Disk Group Name, type a unique name for the disk group. 4. Select one of the following to select a physical disk: 5.
1. Open the AMW of both the local and remote storage array. 2. Verify that the Remote Replication premium feature has been activated on both storage arrays. 3. In the AMW of the local storage array, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. 4. In the Logical pane of the local storage array, select the virtual disk you created to serve as your primary virtual disk. This is the disk that is replicated to the secondary disk. 5.
3. Click Next. The Select Synchronization Settings (Create Remote Replication (Legacy) wizard is displayed. Go to Setting Synchronization Priority And Synchronization Method. Setting Synchronization Priority And Synchronization Method You can set the priority for allocating system resources to synchronizing the remote replication. • Higher synchronization priorities allocate more resources to the process and might degrade I/O performance.
RAID Controller Module Ownership/Preferred Path During a remote replication operation, the RAID controller module that owns the primary virtual disk must correspond to the RAID controller owning the secondary volume on the remote array. If both virtual disks do not have the same preferred RAID controller module when a remote replication begins, the ownership of the secondary virtual disk is automatically transferred to the preferred RAID controller module of the primary virtual disk.
6. In the Section Selection area of the Save Profile window, select each section you want to save. 7. To save the file, either: 8. – Save the file in the default directory, or – Save the file in another directory by choosing it in the Look in drop-down list. In File name, type a name for the file and click Save. The file is saved as a .txt file.
Virtual Disk Status Icons In the Devices tab on the EMW, the following icons depict the status of each virtual disk.
– Replication status is Synchronized. – Write mode is either Synchronous or Asynchronous, depending on your selection above. – The secondary virtual disk is either write consistent/not write consistent. – Resynchronization method is either Manual or Automatic. Resynchronizing Virtual Disks There are two resynchronization methods for remote replications: • Manual resynchronization — See Manually Resynchronizing Virtual Disks.
NOTE: When the primary virtual disk and the secondary virtual disk are resynchronized, only data that has changed on the primary virtual disk after the break in communication is transferred to the secondary virtual disk. CAUTION: You should be aware of a possible loss of data if communication is broken after resynchronization starts between the primary storage array and the secondary storage array.
• The status of the replicated pair changes to Unsynchronized. • A Needs Attention status is displayed for the storage array. • Data is written to the primary virtual disk. • Write requests to the primary virtual disk are logged. • The RAID controller module owner sends an I/O completion message to the host sending the write request. Although the host can continue to send write requests to the primary virtual disk, no data transfer takes place to the secondary virtual disk.
CAUTION: A potential loss of data access can occur if you reverse roles between the secondary virtual disk and the primary virtual disk while a virtual disk copy is in progress. The role reversal may succeed, but the virtual disk copy fails and cannot be restarted. • • • You cannot perform a virtual disk copy on a secondary virtual disk in a virtual disk remote replication.
3. Select one or more replicated pairs. To select all replicated pairs, click Select All. 4. Click Resume. The Resume Replication Pair - Confirmation dialog is displayed. 5. In the Confirmation text box, type Yes. The remote virtual disk replication resumes. NOTE: The Properties panes in the AMW for the local storage array and the remote storage array show the Replication status as Synchronized for both the primary and secondary virtual disks.
3. Select Test Replication Communication. The Replication Communication Test Progress message is displayed. Deleting A Virtual Disk From A Replicated Pair In A Storage Array Follow these steps to delete either a primary virtual disk, a secondary virtual disk, or both virtual disks from a replicated pair in a storage array. NOTE: Do not remove a replication relationship to back up a replicated virtual disk.
The primary virtual disk is deleted from the storage array. The secondary virtual disk in the replicated pair now becomes a regular standard virtual disk in the storage array. NOTE: The primary virtual disk is deleted from the storage array and all data on the virtual disk is permanently lost. Deleting A Secondary Virtual Disk In A Replicated Pair From A Storage Array 1. Stop all I/O activity on the secondary virtual disk and unmount any file systems on the secondary virtual disk. 2.
Deactivating The Remote Replication (Legacy) On The Storage Array Before you can permanently disable the Remote Replication premium feature you must deactivate it on the storage array. See Disabling The Remote Replication Premium Feature. Deactivating the Remote Replication premium feature on this storage array does not affect remote virtual disk replications or the Remote Replication premium features on other storage arrays.
Management Firmware Downloads 17 Downloading RAID Controller And NVSRAM Packages A version number exists for each firmware file. The version number indicates whether the firmware is a major version or a minor version. You can use the Enterprise Management Window (EMW) to download and activate both the major firmware versions and the minor firmware versions. You can use the Array Management Window (AMW) to download and activate only the minor firmware versions. NOTE: Firmware versions are of the format aa.
By default, only the downloadable files that are compatible with the current storage array configuration are displayed. When you select a file in the File Selection area of the dialog, applicable attributes (if any) of the file are displayed in the File Information area. The attributes indicate the version of the file. 5. If you want to download an NVSRAM file with the firmware: a) Select Transfer NVSRAM file with RAID controller module firmware. b) Click Select File. 6.
NOTE: If any of the selected storage arrays do not support downloading the files and activating the firmware or NVSRAM later, the Transfer files but don’t activate them (activate later) check box is disabled. 17. Click OK. The Confirm Download dialog is displayed. 18. Click Yes. The download starts and a progress indicator is displayed in the Status column of the Upgrade RAID Controller Module Firmware window.
The Download NVSRAM dialog is displayed. The current firmware version and the NVSRAM version of the selected storage arrays is displayed. NOTE: If you select the storage arrays with different RAID controller module types that cannot be updated with the same NVSRAM file and click NVSRAM, the Incompatible RAID Controller Modules dialog is displayed. Click OK to close the dialog and select the storage arrays with similar RAID controller module types. 10.
The Download Physical Disk Firmware - Introduction window is displayed. 2. Click Next. The Download Physical Disk Firmware - Add Package window is displayed. 3. In the Selected Packages area, click Add. Navigate to the location of the packages and click OK. The selected package is added to the Packages to be transferred area. 4. Click Next. The Download Physical Disk Firmware - Select Physical Disks window is displayed. 5.
7. Monitor the progress and completion status of the download to the expansion enclosures. The progress and status of each expansion enclosure that is participating in the download is displayed in the Status column of the Select enclosures table. NOTE: Each firmware download can take several minutes to complete. 8. Perform one of these actions depending on whether the download succeeded: – The download succeeded — The statuses of all the expansion enclosures show Complete.
Firmware Inventory 18 A storage array is made up of many components, which may include RAID controller modules, physical disks, and enclosure management modules (EMMs). Each of these components contains firmware. Some versions of the firmware are dependent on other versions of firmware. To capture information about all of the firmware versions in the storage array, view the firmware inventory.
System Interfaces 19 Virtual Disk Service The Microsoft Virtual Disk Service (VDS) is a component of the Windows operating system. The VDS component utilizes third-party vendor specific software modules, known as providers, to access and configure third-party storage resources, such as MD Series storage arrays. The VDS component exposes a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that provides a single interface for managing disks and other storage hardware.
repository virtual disk names. The resulting snapshot and repository names are too long if the source virtual disk name exceeds 16 characters. NOTE: A volume is another term for virtual disk. For more information on VDS and VSS, see microsoft.com.
Storage Array Software 20 Start-Up Routine Look and listen during the array’s start-up routine for the indications described in the table below. For a description of the front- and back-panel indicators, see About Your Storage Array. Look/Listen for Action Alert messages See your storage management documentation. An unfamiliar constant scraping or grinding sound when you access a physical disk See Getting Help.
Status Icon Description Unresponsive The storage management station cannot communicate with the storage array or one RAID controller module or both RAID controller modules in the storage array. Fixing Status A Needs Attention status has been corrected and the managed storage array is currently transitioning to an Optimal state. Unsupported The node is currently not supported by this version of MD Storage Manager.
Status Icon Description Setting an Alert at the Parent Node Level You can set alerts at any of the nodes in the Tree view. Setting an alert at a parent node level, such as at a host level, sets alert for any child nodes. If you set an alert at a parent node level and any of the in-band storage array child nodes have a Needs Upgrade status, the Alert Disables status icon appears next to the parent node in the tree view.
A zip-compressed archive file is stored at the location you specify on the host. The archive contains trace files from one or both of the RAID controller modules in the storage array along with a descriptor file named trace_description.xml. Each trace file includes a header that identifies the file format to the analysis software used by the Technical Support representative. The descriptor file contains: • • • • • • • The WWN for the storage array. The serial number of each RAID controller module.
– To collect data from a single physical disk that is selected in the Hardware tab, select Monitor → Health → Collect Physical Disk Data → Selected Physical Disks. The Collect Physical Disk Data window is displayed. 2. Enter a name for the physical disk data filename in Specify filename or click Browse to navigate to a previously saved file to overwrite an existing file. The suffix *.bin is added to the file automatically if you do not specify a suffix for the file. 3. Click Start.
Removing A Support Data Collection Schedule To remove a support data collection schedule: 1. From the EMW, select Tools → Collect Support Data → Create/Edit Schedule. The Schedule Support Data Collection dialog is displayed. 2. In the Storage arrays table, select one or more storage arrays. 3. Click Remove. 4. Review the information, then click Yes. The Schedule Support Data Collection dialog is displayed. 5. Click OK.
The Save Events dialog is displayed, navigate to the relevant folder, enter the relevant file name, and click Save. 4. To erase all log entries from the event log, click Clear All. 5. To exit the event log, click Close. For more information, see the online help topics. Recovery Guru The Recovery Guru is a component of MD Storage Manager that diagnoses critical events on the storage array and recommends step-by-step recovery procedures for problem resolution.
If the term is located on the current tab, the term is highlighted in the storage array profile information. NOTE: The search is limited to the current tab. If you want to search for the term in other tabs, select the tab and click the Find button again. c) Click the Find button again to search for additional occurrences of the term. 5. To save the storage array profile, perform these steps: a) Click Save As. b) To save all sections of the storage array profile, select All sections.
6. For an out-of-band managed storage array, ensure that the RAID controller modules are network accessible by using the ping command to make sure that the RAID controller module can be reached. Type one of these commands, and press . – ping – ping 7. If the verification is successful, see step 8, if not, see step 9. 8. Remove the storage array with the Unresponsive status from the EMW, and select Add Storage Array to add the storage array again.
Locating A Physical Disk You can physically locate and identify one or more of the physical disks in an expansion enclosure by activating physical disk LEDs. To locate the physical disk: 1. Select the Hardware tab. 2. Select the physical disks that you want to locate. 3. Select Hardware → Blink → Physical Disk. The LEDs on the selected physical disks blink. 4. When you have located the physical disks, click OK. The LEDs stop blinking.
Capturing The State Information Use the Capture State Information option to capture information about the current state of your storage array and save the captured information to a text file. You can then send the captured information to your Technical Support representative for analysis. CAUTION: Potential to cause an unresponsive storage array – The Capture State option can cause a storage array to become unresponsive to both the host and the storage management station.
Unidentified Devices An unidentified node or device occurs when the MD Storage Manager cannot access a new storage array. Causes for this error include network connection problems, the storage array is turned off, or the storage array does not exist. NOTE: Before beginning any recovery procedure, make sure that the Host Context Agent software is installed and running.
c) Examine the Ethernet cables to make sure that you cannot see any damage and that they are tightly connected. d) Make sure that the applicable network configuration tasks have been done (for example, the IP addresses have been assigned to each controller). 5. Make sure that the controller firmware is compatible with MD Storage Manager on your management station. If the controller firmware was upgraded, the MD Storage Manager may not have access to the storage array.
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Getting Help 21 Contacting Dell NOTE: If you do not have an active Internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog. Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer service issues: 1. Visit support.dell.com. 2. Select your support category. 3.
