User's Manual

hp StorageWorks File System Extender User Guide 37
3Configuring FSE
This chapter includes the following topics:
• Before you start, page 37
• Configuration basics, page 38
• Configuration procedure, page 59
• Reconfiguring FSE interprocess communication, page 75
• Changing the IP address of an FSE host, page 80
Before you start
FSE provides effective management of your data with its extended virtual disk storage, which is controlled
by user-defined policies. Although operating FSE is transparent, you need to think ahead and analyze your
needs in order to configure your environment most efficiently.
The following list introduces the most common choices that you need to make in advance.
• Analyze your environment: determine which file systems need to be under FSE control.
• Analyze the types of data stored in your environment and sort the data logically according to the
following characteristics:
• Which files need to be migrated (archived)?
• Will such files be used again for write operations or will they be treated as read-only?
• Which of these files need additional (redundant) migrated copies?
• What will be the approximate or average size of files stored on an FSE partition?
• What will be the estimated maximum number of files that will be stored on an FSE partition?
• Will certain files become redundant after a period of time and can therefore eventually be deleted
to free space on the file system?
• Will certain files have to be deleted after some period of time due to legal requirements?
Note that these characteristics and how you apply them in your policies can significantly influence the
performance of the FSE implementation. For example, data that needs frequent archiving will put a
significant load on your system because of the constant migrations. On the other hand, data that you
will only use for read-only purposes demands only one migration and many recalls and releases,
resulting in a reduced amount of media, and reduced impact on FSE implementation performance.
• Regarding file expiration, consider the following points:
• Will certain files need to be deleted from FSE partitions after a period of time, due to legal
requirements?
• How many migrated file generations will be treated as valid, or how long will they need to be
stored on FSE media?
• Determine the number of available drives. In a setup with tape as the only secondary media, the
number of available drives will limit the number of migrations and recalls that can be performed in
parallel on the FSE implementation. It will also limit the number of copies that can be made in parallel.
• Decide on the number and individual characteristics of your FSE partitions; consider the previously
determined data characteristics for each partition. Note that each FSE partition has its own media
pools assigned and is located on a separate HSM file system.
• Create a special media pool for the backup of the FSE implementation. The backup media pool
requires enough media to hold snapshots of the HSM file systems and FSE databases; you will have to
decide how many backup copies you want to keep for data protection.
• Consider supported media types (tape, disk) according to your data characteristics. Note that
duplicating (tape) media can significantly ease your vaulting policy.
• Consider your resource policies. Your system and partition policies need to be synchronized and well
balanced if you want to achieve good performance.