Installation manual

INTRODUCTION
Customers are requiring simpler installs on Dell/EMC CX Series CX3 Series storage systems.
One way to accommodate this requirement, without reducing the power and flexibility of Dell/EMC
CX Series storage systems, is to provide best practices that meet the 80/20 rule. Many customers
have requested that EMC provide basic recommendations for configurations, and have
suggested that EMC “put a stake in the ground” for most configurations. This paper accomplishes
that for most configurations, from an operational and management perspective.
The primary environments this paper addresses are: file and print, basic database online
transaction processing (OLTP), and data warehouses. Video environments’ special modifications
will be noted as such when needed.
The settings included in this document are not rules but rather guidelines within rules. For
example:
• Rule – RAID 5 supports up to 16 disks.
• Guideline – Set up RAID 5 in groups of five or nine disks.
If you want to see the rules, refer to the EMC Dell/EMC CX Series Open System Configuration
Guide (either the documentation or the EMC Support Matrix).
Deviations from the best practice are allowed and encouraged, especially for experienced users.
However, if you want a simple guide to maximize a successful installation, follow the best
practice. The best practices are instructions, such as “set this up” or “use that setting.”
References to best practices point to other documents that were written to address the specific
needs of a particular application or to maximize performance of the Dell/EMC CX Series.
Tables include recommended parameter settings for particular operations, such as creating a
RAID group. The tables include the attribute name (as seen in Navisphere
®
User Interface), the
best practice setting, the default setting and any notes relating to the parameter.
Audience
This white paper is intended for EMC field personnel and customers who want to configure a
Dell/EMC CX Series for general use.
GENERAL HARDWARE
The Dell/EMC CX Series is a very flexible storage system that allows the administrator to
configure it many different ways.
Drive type differentiation
For the purposes of configuration, the following characteristics can be used to differentiate
between drives when identifying different configurations. Different models have different drive
types, sizes, and rotational speeds.
• Technology - EMC supports two different drive types within the Dell/EMC CX Series
storage system: Fibre Channel (FC) and Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA).
Both can be contained within one Dell/EMC CX Series but only one type can be in
any one DAE.
• Size - EMC provides different sizes for drives based on type. EMC Fibre Channel
drive sizes are: 73 GB, 146 GB, 300 GB, and 500 GB. ATA/SATA-II drives are
available in 500 GB capacity. Larger size drives of the same type are allowed as
replacement drives in the same RAID group. Remember that replacing a drive of one
size with one that is larger only provides you with the capacity of the smallest
Dell/EMC CX Series Initial Configuration
Best Practices Planning 6