Administrator Guide

Table Of Contents
Add a NAS appliance to a NAS cluster to increase processing power and allow more client connections
Replace a failed controller
If a NAS controller fails, the NAS cluster is still operational, but you cannot perform most service conguration modications until
you detach the failed NAS controller. While a NAS controller is down or detached, performance might decrease because data is
no longer cached.
Rebalance or fail back client connections after changing the hardware conguration (for example, adding a NAS appliance or
attaching a NAS controller)
You can rebalance client connections across all the functioning NAS controllers, or you can fail back client connections to
recently recovered NAS controllers.
Update the rmware on a NAS controller
Cleanly shut down a NAS controller (for example, if you are moving the NAS cluster hardware)
You can perform some NAS controller maintenance operations without impacting NAS member operation (for example, replacing a
power supply). Other NAS member maintenance operations require shutting down the NAS controller before performing
maintenance procedures and then restarting the NAS controller.
About NAS Containers
To provision NAS storage, you can create multiple NAS containers in a NAS cluster. In a NAS container, you can create multiple SMB
shares and SMB home shares and NFS exports. Access to shares and exports is through one or more NAS cluster virtual IP
addresses.
The number and size of the NAS containers in a NAS cluster depend on the storage needs of your NAS clients and applications. You
can increase or decrease the size of a NAS container as needed without disruption to the NAS clients accessing the NAS container.
In addition, NAS containers:
Have robust security mechanisms
Support user and group quotas
Support snapshots for data protection
Support thin clones
Support NDMP for remote backups
Support replication to remote FS Series NAS clusters for disaster tolerance
Support thin provisioning
You can create a single, large NAS container, or you can create many NAS containers. Creating multiple NAS containers enables you
to apply dierent management policies to the NAS containers, as required by your organization. For example, you can apply dierent
backup, snapshot, security, and quota policies to the NAS containers.
When you create a NAS container, SMB share, SMB home share, or NFS export, the NAS cluster applies default values.
About the NAS Reserve
When you congure a NAS cluster, you allocate a portion of storage space to the NAS reserve. As part of the service conguration,
the NAS reserve is congured with the Dell Fluid File System (FluidFS) and Dell EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft
Edition (ASM/ME).
Figure 8. NAS Reserve depicts the components of the NAS reserve. Table 10. NAS Reserve explains the callouts used in the gure.
Architecture Fundamentals
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