Administrator Guide

Reinstalling FluidFS from the Internal Storage Device
Each NAS controller contains an internal storage device from which you can reinstall the FluidFS factory image. If you experience general
system instability or a failure to boot, you might have to reinstall the image on one or more NAS controllers.
Prerequisites
• If the NAS controller is still an active member in the FluidFS cluster, you must first detach it.
• Connect a monitor to a NAS controller’s VGA port and connect a keyboard to one of the NAS controller’s USB ports.
CAUTION:
• Only reinstall the FluidFS software under the direction of technical support.
• Reinstalling the FluidFS software on all NAS controllers will revert your system to factory defaults. All data on the
FluidFS cluster will be unrecoverable after performing the procedure.
Steps
1. Press and release the recessed power button at the back of the NAS controller to shut down the NAS controller.
NOTE: Power off only the NAS controller on which you are reinstalling the FluidFS software. Do not power off the
remaining NAS controllers. Powering off a NAS controller disconnects client connections while clients are being
transferred to other NAS controllers. Clients will then automatically reconnect to the FluidFS cluster.
2. To turn on the NAS controller, press and release the recessed power button at the back of the NAS controller
3. When you see the F11 = BIOS Boot Manager prompt, press F11.
4. Select the boot device USB Flash Disk.
5. Select Reinstall Dell FluidFS <FluidFS_release_to_install> .
6. Confirm the action by typing resetmysystem and pressing Enter.
7. Once the reinstallation completes, the NAS controller will reboot into standby mode.
8. After reinstalling FluidFS, attach the NAS controller to a FluidFS cluster.
FS Series VAAI Plugin
The VAAI plugin allows ESXi hosts to offload some specific storage-related tasks to the underlying FluidFS appliances. The plugin supports
the following VAAI NAS Primitives:
• Full File Clone– Offload the creation of a virtual disk full clone
• Fast File Clone (Native Snapshot) – Offload the creation of a virtual disk linked clone
• Extended Statistics – Query for space usage on FS series datastores
Installing the plugin enables VAAI NAS primitives for all datastores residing on FS Series v4 or later systems, adding the following
functionalities:
1. Virtual machine cloning from vCenter requests FS Series appliances to generate a full copy of the corresponding machine.
2. The creation of virtual machine linked clones is offloaded to FS series appliances.
After the VAAI plugin is installed, you can right-click on a VM and clone it.
The plugin is provided in a zip file that can be downloaded from the FTP server ftp://<FluidFS_Cluster_public IP>:44421/
vaai_plugin:
• A depot – FluidFSNASVAAI_For_Esx_v6.0.zip file
Enable or Disable the FS Series VAAI Plugin
Allows the NAS administrator to enable or disable the VAAI plugin accessibility for security enhancements. VAAI plugin is enabled by
default.
1. In the Storage view, select a FluidFS cluster.
2. Click the File System tab.
3. In the File System tab navigation pane, select Cluster Connectivity.
a. Choose the External Servers tab.
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FluidFS Administration