Users Guide
Introduction to HIT/Linux
The Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Linux (HIT/Linux) provide a collection of applications and utilities to simplify the
configuration and administration of Dell EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays. This chapter provides an overview of HIT/Linux features and
information about what you can expect when installing, configuring, and using this product.
Topics:
• Overview
• Terminology
• PS Series Group Network Recommendations
Overview
Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Linux (HIT/Linux) provides the following features:
• Dell EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager/Linux Edition (ASM/LE)—Creates point-in-time copies of Dell EqualLogic volumes as part of
a backup and recovery strategy for your data. From the ASM/LE command-line interface, you can:
• Create, list, and manage Smart Copies, collections, and schedules
• Mount and unmount Smart Copies
• Create and manage group access files to store group names, group IP addresses, optional management IP addresses, user names,
and passwords
• Remote Setup Wizard Command Line Interface (RSWCLI)—Use the rswcli setup utility to:
• Discover and initialize PS Series arrays
• Configure and manage access to a PS Series group
• Set configuration parameters for Multipath I/O (MPIO)
• Manage which subnets are used for MPIO
• Dell EqualLogic iSCSI Multipathing—A combination of user and kernel mode binaries that:
• Automate iSCSI session management to create and maintain the optimal iSCSI session configuration for high availability and
increased performance
• Improve I/O performance by intelligently routing I/O directly to the correct PS Series group member, thereby reducing intragroup
I/O forwarding
• Dell EqualLogic Configuration Utility (eqlconfig)—Lets you interactively configure the components in HIT/Linux, including ASMCLI and
MPIO. It is automatically invoked as part of the installation process.
• Dell EqualLogic Host Performance and Configuration Tuning Suite (eqltune)—Verifies that an optimal set of tuning parameters are set
for a Linux system, to enhance performance and usability
• Dell EqualLogic Log Gathering Facility (eqllog)—Collects system logs and information about the current running state of your
configuration
• Dell EqualLogic Volume Rethinning Facility (eqlvolume)—Manages the available storage on thin-provisioned volumes
• Capability to import EqualLogic storage to PowerStore. For more information see Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide.
Terminology
The following terminology is used by HIT/Linux:
• DM device—A block device created by the Device Mapper that is composed of constituent block devices
• DM target—A kernel module that defines how I/O sent to a DM device is mapped to its constituent block devices. Examples include
dm-multipath, dm-linear, and dm-switch.
• Ethernet interface—A physical network interface. Also called Ethernet port or NIC port
• iSCSI interface—An Open-iSCSI concept; a logical interface for creating iSCSI sessions. HIT/Linux creates iSCSI interfaces that map
to the physical Ethernet interfaces.
• Multipath device—The Device Mapper devices that create high bandwidth, redundant paths by bundling together connections to
each volume
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