Administrator Guide
Table Of Contents
- Dell EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator’s Guide PS Series Firmware Version 9.1 FS Series Firmware Version 4.0
- About This Manual
- About Group Manager
- Architecture Fundamentals
- Set Up the iSCSI SAN
- Post-Setup Tasks
- Data Security
- About Group-Level Security
- Enable or Disable GUI and CLI Access
- Switch Administration Authentication Type
- About Administration Accounts
- Types of Administration Accounts
- Differences Between Authentication Methods
- Administration Account Attributes
- About Security Access Protocols
- SSH Key Pair Authentication
- Minimum Requirements for Administrative Access
- Create a Local Administration Account
- Modify Local Administration Accounts
- Delete Local Administration Accounts
- About RADIUS Accounts
- About LDAP Authorization and Active Directory
- About Single Sign-On
- About SNMP Access to the Group
- About VDS and VSS Authentication
- About IPsec
- About Dedicated Management Networks
- About Volume-Level Security
- Connect Initiators to iSCSI Targets
- Access Control Methods
- About Access Policies
- Access Policies: Use Cases
- Create a New Access Policy
- Create a New Basic Access Point
- Modify or Delete a Basic Access Point
- Modify Access Policies and Basic Access Points by Volume
- Associate Access Control Policies with Volumes
- Create an Access Policy Group
- Associate an Access Policy Group to a Volume
- Manage Access Controls for VDS/VSS Access
- Authenticate Initiators with CHAP
- Display Local CHAP Accounts
- Create a Local CHAP Account
- Modify a Local CHAP Account
- Delete a Local CHAP Account
- Configure CHAP for Initiator Authentication on Existing Volumes
- Configure CHAP for Initiator Authentication on New Volumes
- Configure CHAP Accounts on a RADIUS Authentication Server
- Configure Target Authentication
- About iSNS Servers
- Prevent Discovery of Unauthorized Targets
- About Multihost Access to Targets
- About Snapshot Access Controls
- About NAS Container Security
- PS Series Group Operations
- About Group Network Configuration
- Modify the Group IP Address or Group Name
- Add a Member to an Existing Group
- Set the RAID Policy and Pool for a New Member
- Enable and Disable a Volume RAID Preference
- About Overriding Automatic Load Balancing
- Shut Down a Group
- Create an Empty Storage Pool
- Create a Storage Pool from an Existing Member
- Change a Storage Pool Name or Description
- Merge Storage Pools
- Delete a Storage Pool
- About Groupwide Volume Defaults
- About Space Borrowing
- About Compression of Snapshots and Replicas
- Compression Prerequisites
- About Rehydration
- About Compression Statistics
- Compression Statistics by Pool
- Compression Statistics by Member
- Compression Statistics by Volume
- Member Compression States
- Enable Compression
- Suspend Compression
- Resume Compression
- View Compression Statistics by Pool
- View Compression Statistics by Member
- View Compression Statistics by Volume
- Compression Commands in the CLI
- About Volumes
- Create a Volume
- Modify a Volume Name or Description
- Modify a Volume Permission
- Modify a Volume Alias
- Modify the Administrator for a Volume
- About Smart Tags
- Set a Volume Offline or Online
- Delete a Volume
- About Volume Collections
- About Volume Folders
- About Restoring Deleted Volumes
- About Changing the Reported Volume Size
- About Reclaiming Unallocated Space
- Set a Volume or Snapshot with Lost Blocks Online
- Volume and Snapshot Status
- Volume and Snapshot Requested Status
- About Managing Storage Capacity Utilization On Demand (Thin Provisioning)
- About Improving Pool Space Utilization (Template Volumes and Thin Clones)
- About Data Center Bridging
- VMware Group Access Panel
- NAS Operations
- NAS Cluster Operations
- NAS Cluster Configuration
- NAS Cluster Post-Setup Tasks
- Modify a NAS Cluster Name
- Modify NAS Clusterwide Default NAS Container Settings
- Select an NFS Protocol Version
- Modify the Size of the NAS Reserve
- Add a Local Group for a NAS Cluster
- Delete a Local Group from a NAS Cluster
- Add a Local User on a NAS Cluster
- Modify a Local User on a NAS Cluster
- Delete a Local User from a NAS Cluster
- Map Users for a NAS Cluster
- Set the User Mapping Policy for a NAS Cluster
- Delete a User Mapping for a NAS Cluster
- Configure an Active Directory for a NAS Cluster
- Configure Preferred Domain Controllers
- Leave Active Directory
- Configure or Modify NIS or LDAP for a NAS Cluster
- Delete NIS or LDAP Configuration for a NAS Cluster
- Modify the Client Network Configuration
- Configure DNS for a NAS Cluster
- About the Internal Network Required for NAS Configuration
- About NAS Cluster Maintenance Mode
- Shut Down and Restart a NAS Cluster Manually
- About Deleting a NAS Cluster
- NAS Controller Operations
- NAS Container Operations
- Create a NAS Container
- Modify NAS Clusterwide Default NAS Container Settings
- Modify NAS Clusterwide Default NAS Container Permissions
- Modify NAS Clusterwide Default NFS Export Settings
- Modify NAS Clusterwide Default SMB Share Settings
- Modify a NAS Container Name
- Modify the Size of a NAS Container
- Modify the Snapshot Reserve and Warning Limit for a NAS Container
- Modify the In-Use Space Warning Limit for a NAS Container
- Modify a NAS Container for Few Writers Workloads
- Delete a NAS Container
- NFS Netgroups
- Access NFS Exports
- Create an NFS Export
- Modify the Client Access Setting for an NFS Export
- Modify the Permission for an NFS Export
- Modify the Trusted Users for an NFS Export
- Modify NAS Clusterwide Default NFS Export Settings
- Modify an NFS Export Directory
- Modify an NFS Export
- About NFS Export Security Methods
- Delete an NFS Export
- About SMB Shares
- Access SMB Shares in Windows
- Mount a NAS SMB Share from UNIX
- Create an SMB Share
- Set the SMB Password
- Modify an SMB Share Directory
- Delete an SMB Share
- Rebalance SMB Client Connections Across NAS Controllers
- Enable or Disable SMB Message Signing
- Enable or Disable SMB Message Encryption
- Modify SMB Share NAS Antivirus Settings
- Access-Based Enumeration
- About SMB Home Shares
- Create a NAS Thin Clone
- Client Networks
- About NAS Antivirus Servers
- How NAS Antivirus Protects Data
- NAS Antivirus Server Specifications
- Add a NAS Antivirus Server
- Modify a NAS Antivirus Server
- Delete a NAS Antivirus Server
- About NAS Antivirus Clusterwide Defaults
- Enable the NAS Antivirus Service on an SMB Share
- Monitor the NAS Antivirus Service
- NAS Directory Paths and File Types Scan
- Antivirus Policy
- Access Infected Files
- Create a NAS Container Quota
- Modify a NAS Container Quota
- Delete a NAS Container Quota
- About Quota Directories
- Quotas and NAS Containers
- About NAS Thin Provisioning
- NAS Container Storage Space Terminology
- About NAS Containers
- About Data Rehydration
- NAS Container Data Reduction
- Enable Data Reduction
- Modify NAS Container Data Reduction Settings
- Modify NAS Cluster Default Data Reduction Settings
- Data Reduction Policy
- Create Default Data Reduction Properties
- About NAS Data Reduction Schedules
- FS Series VAAI Plugin
- Diagnose and Resolve NAS Cluster and PS Series Issues
- About Backing Up and Protecting Your Data
- About Volume Data Protection
- Protect NAS Container Data with NDMP
- About Snapshots
- How Snapshots Work
- About Snapshot Reserve
- Create a Snapshot
- Set a Snapshot Online or Offline
- Clone a Snapshot to Create a New Volume
- Modify a Snapshot Name or Description
- Delete Snapshots
- Restore a Volume from a Snapshot
- About Snapshots and NAS Container Data
- About Snapshot Collections
- About Snapshot Space Borrowing
- About Replication
- About Schedules
- About Data Recovery
- About Recovering Data from a Snapshot
- Failback to Primary Operation (Manual)
- Move a Failback Replica Set to a Different Pool
- Replicate to Partner Operation (Manual)
- Switch Partner Roles Permanently
- Make a Temporary Volume Available on the Secondary Group
- Replicate a Recovery Volume to the Primary Group
- Promote an Inbound Replica Set to a Recovery Volume
- How to Handle a Failed Operation
- Fail Back to the Primary Group
- Volume Failover and Failback
- Recover Data from a Replica
- About NAS Disaster Recovery
- About Cloning Volumes
- About Synchronous Replication
- How Synchronous Replication Works
- Compare SyncRep and Traditional Replication
- How Synchronous Replication Protects Volume Availability in Different Scenarios
- Requirements for Using Synchronous Replication
- Synchronous Replication States
- About System Snapshots and SyncRep
- About Synchronous Replication and Snapshots
- About Synchronous Replication Switches and Failovers
- About Synchronous Replication Volume Collections
- About Using Thin Clones and Templates with Synchronous Replication
- Configure Synchronous Replication (SyncRep) on a Volume
- Disable Synchronous Replication (SyncRep) for a Volume
- Monitor Synchronous Replication (SyncRep) Volumes
- Pause Synchronous Replication (SyncRep)
- Resume Synchronous Replication (SyncRep)
- Enable Synchronous Replication (SyncRep) for a Volume Collection
- Disable Synchronous Replication (SyncRep) for a Volume Collection
- Change the Pool Assignment of a Synchronous Replication (SyncRep) Volume
- View the Distribution of a Volume Across Pools
- About Switching and Failing Over SyncRep Pools
- Disconnect the SyncActive Volume
- About Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) and AutoSED
- Scenarios Covered by AutoSED
- Scenarios Not Covered by AutoSED
- About Self-Encrypting Drives (SED)
- How Self-Encryption Protects Data
- About SED Members in a Group
- Back Up a Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) Key
- Self-Encrypting Drives (SED) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Why are my backups always different?
- Why is a secure-erase command not available?
- What is the difference between a locked drive and a securely erased drive?
- I accidentally reset an SED array. What can I do?
- What if the entire array is stolen?
- What if the grpadmin password is stolen?
- Is it safe to discard or return a locked SED?
- Can I add SEDs to a non-SED array, or vice versa?
- Does a SED system also use RAID?
- Does SED encrypt my volumes?
- If I create a new set of backup units, does the new set invalidate the previous set of backup units?
- Self-Encrypting Drives (SED) Examples
- Self-Encrypting Drives (SED) Advanced Encryption
- About Monitoring
- Tools That Monitor and Manage Storage Performance
- Monitor Group Members
- About Storage Performance
- Monitor Administrative Sessions
- Monitor Snapshot Schedules
- Monitor Volumes and Snapshots
- About Monitoring Replication
- About Monitoring Replication Operations
- Monitor Alarms and Operations
- About Diagnostics
- Troubleshooting Performance Issues
- Third-Party Copyrights
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About Synchronous Replication
Synchronous replication (SyncRep) is the simultaneous writing of data to two pools for a volume in the same PS Series group,
resulting in two hardware-independent copies of the volume data. Each write must go to both pools before the write is
acknowledged as complete. If one copy of the volume data is not available due to a power failure or resource outage, you can still
obtain the data from the other pool.
NOTE:
• You cannot perform traditional replication on a synchronous replication-enabled volume.
• To support up to 32 volumes for synchronous replication, a PS Series group must contain only PS6xx0 arrays. If the
group contains one or more PS4xx0 arrays, only 4 volumes are supported.
How Synchronous Replication Works
Synchronous replication (SyncRep) is enabled on a per-volume basis. For volumes for which synchronous replication is not enabled,
volume data and snapshots are located only in the pool to which the volume is assigned. For synchronous replication-enabled
volumes, volume data exists simultaneously on two copies of the volume:
• SyncActive — The active copy of the volume to which iSCSI initiators connect when reading and writing data.
• SyncAlternate — When data is written to the SyncActive volume, the group simultaneously writes the same data to this copy of
the volume in the alternate pool.
You can switch a volume between being the SyncActive volume and the SyncAlternate volume. The former SyncActive volume
becomes the SyncAlternate volume and vice versa. However, note that if you have more than one volume, but switch only one of
them, only that volume switches from one state to the other. The other volumes retain their current status.
When you switch a volume, no iSCSI target conguration changes are required. During the switch, host connections are logged out;
iSCSI initiators can reconnect when the switch has completed. Depending on its conguration, the initiator might reconnect
automatically.
When synchronous replication is rst enabled, or at any other time when data is being written to both volumes to become in sync,
performance degradation might occur. This eect increases with the quantity of tracked changes, but it is signicantly reduced after
the volumes become in sync. Also, depending on the quantity of tracked changes, activity within the group, and available network
bandwidth, an extended period of time might elapse before the two volumes become in sync again. The Group Manager GUI displays
the status of this operation.
NOTE: If you delete a volume for which synchronous replication is enabled, the group will place the SyncActive volume
into the recovery bin. However, the SyncAlternate volume will be deleted and cannot be recovered.
Compare SyncRep and Traditional Replication
The decision to use synchronous replication (SyncRep) or traditional replication should be driven primarily by your business
requirement and recovery point objectives (RPO). However, you also should examine technical considerations such as networking,
available capacity, and data recovery times when deciding whether traditional replication or synchronous replication is best suited for
protecting your volumes.
About Synchronous Replication
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