Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Deployment Guide
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Contents 1 Overview ................................................................................................................ 6 Documentation Matrix.......................................................................................................................... 6 2 Configuration prerequisites ...............................................................................8 Rack space..............................................................................................................
Configuring Windows roles and features...........................................................................................25 6 Turning on the storage enclosure...................................................................26 7 Verifying installed roles and features .............................................................27 8 Enabling Windows Update............................................................................... 28 Configuring MPIO policies.....................................
D Clustered Storage Spaces overview .............................................................. 47 Creating a storage pool ..................................................................................................................... 47 Creating a clustered shared volume ..................................................................................................47 E Step-by-step expansion for Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces ........................................................
Overview 1 This document describes how to deploy the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces (DSMS) solution to use as a Scale-Out File Server (SOFS) or Converged solution. These solutions use Dell PowerEdge servers in a failover cluster and provides shared storage by supporting up to four DSMS is used to configure and manage the storage. Storage Spaces is a software-defined storage (SDS) component in the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system (OS).
NOTE: The manuals listed here indicate the products that have different model number; however, the content is relevant to the DSMS solution. • Rack Installation Instructions guide describes about how to install your system into a rack. This document is also shipped with your system. • Dell PowerEdge R630 or R730 Getting Started Guide provides an overview of setting up Dell PowerEdge R630 or R730 rack servers. This document is available at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals.
2 Configuration prerequisites To deploy your storage solution, you must ensure that the physical requirements and network requirements of the installation environment are fulfilled prior to installing and configuring the solution. The following sections describe the prerequisites of the deployment infrastructure. Rack space This solution requires a minimum amount of rack space for the servers and storage enclosures.
Server or storage solution 2x1 2x2 2x3 2x4 3x3 3x4 4x3 4x4 DSMS 730 with DSMS 3060e 8U 12U 16U 20U 18U 22U N/A 24U NOTE: You may have to consider additional rack space for switches, SMB client servers, and other requirements for your environment. Internet connectivity If you are using Windows Update for OS updates and fixes, each server node requires internet access. DNS Server nodes in the cluster must use Domain Name System (DNS) for name resolution.
Network infrastructure requirements for SOFS Dell recommends that you use five distinct subnets for Scale-Out File Server configurations. The first subnet is used for cluster management and AD integration. This subnet can leverage an existing network infrastructure. Two high-speed storage networks are used for external client communication (Layer 3routable). Other two subnets are used for intra-cluster communication (does not require Layer 3 routing).
least four subnets for external and internal cluster communication. You may require additional switches for cluster management. These requirements do not apply to the Converged solution. Table 5. Switch ports required for each subnet Subnets Number of ports for each server Description Subnet 1 — Management 2 ports (Management) 1 port (iDRAC) Typically routed through separate switches. Use existing network if necessary.
Hardware installation 3 This section provides a general overview about deploying the DSMS solution. For more information about hardware cabling of a specific DSMS solution, see the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Cabling Guide available at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals. For more information about the specific storage enclosures and servers, see the Owner’s Manual available at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals.
• Dell PowerEdge R630 or R730 Owner’s Manual 1. Ensure that there is enough contiguous available rack space on top of the storage enclosures installed in the rack. For details about require rack space, see the required rack space matrix in Rack space. 2. Install the servers into the rack. Ensure you follow the Rack installation instructions shipped with your storage enclosure. 3. Ensure that each server has the required number of SAS HBAs installed.
Figure 2. DSMS 3060e drive drawer numbering 1. Drawer 0 2. Drawer 1 3. Drawer 2 4. Drawer 3 5. Drawer 4 Figure 3.
Loading the SSDs 1. Ensure the solid state drives (SSDs) are installed in 2.5" drive carriers. 2. Load the SSDs into the front row slots (slots 0, 3, 6, 9) of drive drawers 0, 1, and 2 with the SDDs in each storage enclosure. NOTE: Dell recommends distributing the SSDs across the first three drive drawers evenly based on the number of SSDs available. Loading the HDDs 1. Ensure the hard disk drives (HDDs) are installed in 3.5" drive carriers. 2.
Figure 4. Connecting servers ports to subnets (SOFS solution) 1. External Communication 3. Management 2. Intra-node Communication Figure 5. Connecting servers ports to subnets (Converged solution) 1. Intra-node Communication 3. Management 16 2.
Figure 6. Connecting servers ports to subnets (Converged solution-2 Node Direct Connect Configurations) 1. Intra-node Communication 3. Management 2. External Communication Turning on the servers Figure 7. Turning on the server power Press the Power button on the system. The power indicator must glow. NOTE: Do not turn on the storage enclosures at this time. The storage enclosure will be turned on at a later stage in the deployment process.
Securing the bezels on each storage enclosure Figure 8.
Figure 9. Installing the DSMS 1400 series storage enclosure bezel Installing the optional server bezel Figure 10.
Windows configuration 5 Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition or Datacenter Edition is installed on your server depending on your solution. Alternatively, if you are using a volume license, ensure that the OS is properly installed, all hardware has the necessary firmware and drivers, and continue to follow the deployment steps below. After turning on each server, configure iDRAC to enable remote management of the server outside the OS.
3. Log in to your server with the credentials provided in the previous step. Configuring network interfaces for SOFS Dell requires associating an IP address with each of the six network interface ports in each server. • Two static or dynamic IP addresses for management • Two static IP addresses for external communication to SMB clients • Two static IP addresses for internal communication between server cluster nodes Also, a gateway IP address, a subnet mask, and a DNS server address are required.
Network description Naming convention for ports Typical NIC function NIC type Static or DHCP IP address to assign Internal communication between server cluster nodes Intra-cluster communication between nodes 10/40 GbE NIC ports Static Internal1 Internal2 Ports on the NDC in the server. To configure the NICs, complete the following task: 1. Go to Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center. 2. In the left pane, click Change Adapter Settings. 3.
6. Move Internal1 and Internal2 below External1 and External2 in the list. 7. Ensure the manage ports are at the bottom of the list. 8. Click OK. Figure 11. Setting the NIC binding order Verifying network interface configurations 1. Start a Windows PowerShell instance with Administrative privileges. 2.
domain user account, but it must have create computer objects and read all properties rights on the domain. 1. In the Server Manager graphical user interface (GUI), select Local Server. 2. Select the computer name displayed in blue. For example, figure here shows the computer name as "WIN-9I4698IC3RR". Figure 12. Renaming the computer 3. In the Systems Properties dialog box, click Change. 4. In the Computer Name/Domain Changes dialog box, complete the following task: a. b. c. d. 5.
To download the software at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals, click Servers, Storage & Networking → Engineered Solutions → Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces. Select the storage enclosure model based on your solution, and then click Drivers & Downloads. 1. Download the latest version of the Dell Storage PowerTools Server Hardware Manager software located under the Enterprise HDD/SSD subsection. 2. Install the Dell Storage PowerTools Server Hardware Manager on each server.
Turning on the storage enclosure 6 Figure 14. Turning on the DSMS 3060e storage enclosure Figure 15. Turning on the DSMS 1400 series storage enclosure Turn on the power switches available at the back panel of the storage enclosure. The power LEDs glow.
Verifying installed roles and features 7 NOTE: Repeat all the tasks in this section on each storage node. 1. Log in to each server by using the domain account with administrative privileges. 2. To list features and roles installed, start a Windows PowerShell as an administrator, and then run the following command. Get-Windowsfeature | Where Installed 3. Ensure the list of features and roles listed here are installed. The role names are listed under the Display Name header. a. Multipath I/O b.
Enabling Windows Update 8 Dell recommends you to enable Windows automatic updates to keep your software and hardware components of your storage solution up to date. Also, there are mandatory knowledge base articles required for your system to ensure your storage solution functions properly. For more information about required knowledge base articles for your solution, see the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Support Matrix available at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals.
Policy Number options: 0 = Clear the policy 1 = Fail-Over policy 2 = Round Robin 6 = Least Blocks You must run this command for every different drive model type. There are other load-balancing policies available but these are the only ones Dell supports. 3.
Configuring the failover cluster 9 You can perform these tasks on any one of the storage node servers that are in the cluster. You must perform the tasks described in this section only once. Before proceeding, ensure you are logged in with a domain account with administrative privileges. NOTE: You must know the name of each storage node to include in the cluster. Running a cluster test 1. Click Server Manager → Tools → Failover Cluster Manager.
Configuring the cluster IP address 1. Start Failover Cluster Manager. In the left pane, click the cluster that you want to configure. 2. Right-click a cluster core network resource, and then select Properties. 3. In the General tab, click Add. 4. In the IP Address dialog box, select Use Static, and then in the Address box, type the static IP address. Renaming cluster networks 1. Go to Failover Cluster Manager, and then in the left pane, click Networks. 2.
10 Verifying and updating physical disks and EMMs This section verifies the firmware version of the EMMs and physical disks. Also, this section provides guidance in updating the storage components, if required. You must have installed the Storage Hardware Manager CLI utility described in Installing the Dell Storage PowerTools Server Hardware Manager to perform the following tasks.
Verifying hard drive firmware version 1. Start an elevated PowerShell Administrator CLI. 2. Run the following command. shmcli list drives –a=0 3. Ensure that the storage devices used are of the same type: SSDs or HDDs. The firmware must also be of the same versions. For more information about compatible firmware versions, see the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Support Matrix available at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals.
Getting help 11 Contacting Dell Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. If you do not have an active internet connection, you can find contact information about your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell for sales, technical assistance, or customer-service issues: 1. Go to Dell.com/support. 2.
A Configuring storage solution as a ScaleOut File Server The section describes about converting a failover cluster solution into a Scale-Out File Server. Before proceeding, ensure that the system is deployed following the procedures described in the preceding sections of this document. Adding File Server role to each cluster node 1. On each cluster node of the failover cluster, start a Windows PowerShell prompt as an Administrator, and then run the following command.
B Configuring storage solution as Converged solution This section describes the conversion of a failover cluster solution in to a Hyper-V cluster solution. Before proceeding, ensure that the system is deployed by following the procedures described in the preceding sections of this document. Adding Hyper-V role to each cluster node 1. On each cluster node of the failover cluster, start a Windows PowerShell prompt as an administrator, and then run the following command.
Figure 19. Creating New Virtual Machine in Failover Cluster Manager 3. In the New Virtual Machine Wizard dialog box, select the cluster node for virtual machine creation, and then click Next. 4. On the Specify Name and Location tab, select a name and location for the new virtual machine, and then click Next. Figure 20. Specifying Name and Location for New Virtual Machine 5. 40 On the Specify Generation tab, select Generation 2, and then click Next.
6. Assign the disk space to the virtual machine, and then click Next. 7. Configure the network adapter to use a virtual switch or remain disconnected, and then click Next. 8. Select to connect to a virtual hard disk, use an existing virtual hard disk, or attach a hard disk later. If you are creating a virtual hard disk, specify name and location, and then click Next. 9. On the Installation Options tab, select the Install an operating system later check box, and then click Next. Figure 21.
C Configuring RDMA Adapters Ensuring RDMA adapters are installed The DSMS solution allows for the following network adapters: • Chelsio T520-CR • Mellanox ConnectX-3 • Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro These network adapters are required to use RDMA and leverage SMB direct. The following two sections cover configuring the Chelsio T520-CR adapter. If these adapters were not ordered as a part of your solution, you can skip this section.
Network Connections control panel. The description under the NIC name or in the Adapter Properties is displayed as Chelsio Network Adapter. Figure 23. Viewing the Chelsio network adapter Configuring the firewall for the Chelsio adapters Chelsio adapters use iWARP RDMA technology that use TCP/IP for communications. To facilitate TCP/IP communications, add a firewall rule to the SMB server to allow incoming network traffic from the server message block (SMB) Direct clients.
Updating the SMB connections If you make any major network configuration changes, the SMB client system reevaluates its connections when new interfaces are detected after every 10 minutes. Also, you can force SMB to update its connections immediately by using the following PowerShell cmdlet on the SMB client servers. Update-SmbMultichannelConnection Mellanox ConnectX-3/ConnectX-3 Pro configuration DSMS supports SMB Direct by using Mellanox ConnectX-3/ConnectX-3 Pro adapters.
D Clustered Storage Spaces overview This section describes the basic tasks to create Storage Spaces in the storage solution. The procedures described assume the failover cluster is created and validated. For best practice recommendations and advanced PowerShell commands to configure Storage Spaces for your solution, see the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Best Practice Guide available at Dell.com/dsmsmanuals.
Figure 24. Creating a Virtual Disk NOTE: If the Create a volume when this wizard closes check box is not selected, you must use Server Manager to create the volume on the Storage Space. 11. In the New Volume Wizard window, click Next. 12. On the Select the server and disk page, select the failover cluster and the Storage Space (Virtual Disk) to create the volume, and then click Next. Figure 25. Creating a volume on Cluster Shared Storage 13. Type the size of the volume, and then click Next.
14. Assign a drive letter to the Storage Space (optional). 15. Click Next. 16. Specify NTFS as the file system, and then specify the volume label. NOTE: NTFS is required for using this solution. 17. Confirm the settings of the volume, and then click Create. 18. In the left pane of the Failover Cluster Manager, in the Storage folder, click Disks. 19. Right-click the cluster virtual disk with the newly created volume, and then select Add to Clustered Share Volumes.
E Step-by-step expansion for Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces As your system performance and disk space capacity needs grow, the DSMS solution can be expanded to add new physical disks, storage enclosures, and servers to fulfill these needs. There are three different types of expansions to an existing DSMS solution: 1. Adding new physical disks to existing storage enclosures to increase the usable capacity or performance of the solution. 2.
3. Ensure that the newly added physical disks have been detected by the Windows Server operating system and the cluster. 4. Update the firmware on the new physical disks to the latest supported versions listed in the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Support Matrix. 5. Add the new physical disks to a storage pool by following the best practices in the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Best Practices Guide.
Adding new servers to an existing cluster 1. Ensure that the server being added is supported by reading through the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Support Matrix. 2. Ensure that adding the new server results in a valid and supported configuration by reading through the supported configurations in the Dell Storage with Microsoft Storage Spaces Support Matrix. 3. Install the server into the rack following the guidelines in the server owner’s manual. 4.
F Cluster-Aware Updating overview This section describes about basic tasks of configuring the Cluster-Aware Updating tool within Microsoft Windows Server to update the storage nodes of your DSMS configuration. The procedure described assumes that the failover cluster is both created and validated and the SOFS solution has an SMB share that all storage nodes can access. Configuring Cluster-Aware Updating using GUI 1. Extract the DSMS Update Package to an SMB share that all storage nodes can access.
NOTE: Ensure that the SMB share that contains the DSMS Update Package has SMB Encryption enabled by running the following PowerShell command on the server hosting the SMB share. Set-SmbShare –Name -EncryptData $True 11. Select the check boxes for both SMB Encryption and Access check, and then click Next. 12. On the Confirmation page, select Apply , and then click Next. 13. In the Cluster-Aware Updating window, select Apply updates to this cluster.
G Changing Windows Server GUI to Windows Core The PowerShell command here converts Windows Server 2012 R2 from GUI to Server Core. Perform this task only if you intend to use Windows Core for your deployment. Uninstall-WindowsFeature Server-GUI-Mgmt-Infra,Server-Gui-Shell –Remove –Restart NOTE: If you want to convert your server back to GUI after converting to Windows Server Core, see the Microsoft documentation for the procedure.
