Page 1 Dell PowerVault MD Series Storage Arrays Administrator's Guide...
Page 2: Notes, Cautions, And Warnings
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. © 2012 Dell Inc. Trademarks used in this text: Dell , the Dell logo, Dell Boomi , Dell Precision , OptiPlex...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Contents Notes, Cautions, and Warnings....................2 1 Introduction..........................15 ....................15 Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager .................................15 User Interface ...........................15 Enterprise Management Window ........................16 Inheriting The System Settings ..........................16 Array Management Window ....................17 Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Configuration Utility ...........................17 Other Information You May Need 2 About Your MD Series Storage Array..................19...
Page 4 ........................25 Virtual Disk Capacity Expansion ............................25 Disk Group Expansion ..........................25 Disk Group Defragmentation ..........................25 Disk Group Operations Limit ........................26 RAID Background Operations Priority .......................26 Virtual Disk Migration And Disk Roaming ..............................26 Disk Migration ..............................27 Disk Roaming ......................27 Host Server-To-Virtual Disk Mapping ................................28 Host Types ..............................28...
Page 5 ........................41 Changing The Enclosure Order ..........................41 Configuring Alert Notifications ..........................42 Configuring E-mail Alerts ..........................43 Configuring SNMP Alerts ..............................44 Battery Settings ........................44 Changing The Battery Settings ...................44 Setting The Storage Array RAID Controller Module Clocks 4 Using iSCSI..........................47 ......................47 Changing The iSCSI Target Authentication ......................47 Entering Mutual Authentication Permissions ............................48...
Page 6 ..........................60 Managing Host Port Identifiers 7 Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, And Thin Virtual Disks..........63 .........................63 Creating Disk Groups And Virtual Disks ............................63 Creating Disk Groups ............................65 Locating A Disk Group ........................65 Creating Standard Virtual Disks ....................66 Changing The Virtual Disk Modification Priority .......................67 Changing The Virtual Disk Cache Settings ....................68...
Page 7 ......................88 Changing The RAID Level Of A Disk Group ..............88 Removing A Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping Using Linux DMMP ..............................89 Restricted Mappings ..............................90 Storage Partitioning ........................91 Disk Group And Virtual Disk Expansion ............................91 Disk Group Expansion ............................91 Virtual Disk Expansion ............................91 Using Free Capacity ..........................92 Using Unconfigured Capacity...
Page 8 ......................111 Locating Physical Disks In An SSD Cache ......................111 Adding Physical Disks To An SSD Cache ....................111 Removing Physical Disks From An SSD Cache .......................112 Suspending Or Resuming SSD Caching ........................112 Changing I/O Type In An SSD Cache .............................112 Renaming An SSD Cache ............................112 Deleting An SSD Cache ........................113...
Page 9 .....................130 Converting A Snapshot Virtual Disk To Read-Write ..........130 Viewing Associated Physical Components Of An Individual Repository Virtual Disk ..........................131 Creating A Consistency Group ...................132 Creating A Consistency Group Repository (Manually) ........................133 Renaming A Consistency Group ........................133 Deleting A Consistency Group ....................134 Changing The Settings Of A Consistency Group ................134...
Page 10 ........................161 Re-Creating Snapshot Virtual Disks ........................162 Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk ..............162 Preparing Host Servers To Re-Create A Snapshot Virtual Disk ........................163 Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk 12 Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy................165 ..........165 Using Virtual Disk Copy With Snapshot Or Snapshot (Legacy) Premium Feature ..........................166 Types Of Virtual Disk Copies ..............................166...
Page 11 ..............................178 Ready For Use ......................178 Linux Host Server Reboot Best Practices ....................179 Important Information About Special Partitions ..........................179 Limitations And Known Issues ..............................180 Troubleshooting 14 Configuring Asymmetric Logical Unit Access..............181 ........................181 ALUA Performance Considerations ........................181 Automatic Transfer Of Ownership ..................181 Native ALUA Support On Microsoft Windows And Linux ........................181 Enabling ALUA On VMware ESX/ESXi...
Page 12 ........................194 Replication Repository Virtual Disks ..................194 RAID Levels For Replication Repository Virtual Disks ......................194 Primary And Secondary Virtual Disk Pairs ..................195 Using Remote Replication (Legacy) With Other Features ..................195 Storage Partitioning With Remote Replication (Legacy) ..................195 Snapshot Virtual Disk With Remote Replication (Legacy) ...................195 Virtual Disk Copy With Remote Replication (Legacy) ..................196...
Page 13 17 Management Firmware Downloads...................213 ..................213 Downloading RAID Controller And NVSRAM Packages ................213 Downloading Both RAID Controller And NVSRAM Firmware ........................215 Downloading Only NVSRAM Firmware ........................216 Downloading Physical Disk Firmware ..............217 Downloading MD3060e Series Expansion Module EMM Firmware ................218 Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology (SMART) ........................218 Media Errors And Unreadable Sectors 18 Firmware Inventory.......................219...
Page 14 21 Getting Help..........................237 ..............................237 Contacting Dell...
Page 15: Introduction
This document familiarizes you with the functions of the Dell PowerVault MD Series storage array. The document is organized according to the tasks that you must complete after receiving your storage array.
Page 16: Inheriting The System Settings
Storage Manager. Unidentified storage arrays are available to the MD Storage Manager but not configured for management. The right side of the Devices tab has a Table view that shows detailed information for the selected storage array. In the EMW, you can: •...
Page 17: Dell Powervault Modular Disk Configuration Utility
Monitor storage array performance. Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Configuration Utility NOTE: Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Configuration Utility (MDCU) is supported only on MD Series storage arrays that use the iSCSI protocol. MDCU is an iSCSI Configuration Wizard that can be used in conjunction with MD Storage Manager to simplify the configuration of iSCSI connections.
Page 18 For video resources on PowerVault MD storage arrays, go to dell.com/techcenter. • For the full name of an abbreviation or acronym used in this document, see the Glossary at dell.com/support/ manuals. NOTE: Always check for updates on dell.com/support/manuals and read the updates first because they often...
Page 19: About Your Md Series Storage Array
About Your MD Series Storage Array This chapter describes the storage array concepts, which help in configuring and operating the Dell MD Series storage arrays. Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, And Disk Groups Physical disks in your storage array provide the physical storage capacity for your data. Before you can begin writing data to the storage array, you must configure the physical storage capacity into logical components, called disk groups and virtual disks.
Page 20: Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology
Status Mode Description Optimal Hot Spare in use The physical disk in the indicated slot is in use as a hot spare within a disk group. Failed Assigned, Unassigned, Hot Spare The physical disk in the indicated slot has failed because in use, or Hot Spare Standby of an unrecoverable error, an incorrect drive type or drive size, or by its operational state being set to failed.
Page 21: Disk Pools
Table 1. RAID Controller Virtual Disk States State Description Optimal The virtual disk contains physical disks that are online. Degraded The virtual disk with a redundant RAID level contains an inaccessible physical disk. The system can still function properly, but performance may be affected and additional disk failures may result in data loss.
Page 22: Raid Level Usage
RAID Level Usage To ensure best performance, you must select an optimal RAID level when you create a system physical disk. The optimal RAID level for your disk array depends on: • Number of physical disks in the disk array •...
Page 23: Raid 10
RAID 10 CAUTION: Do not attempt to create virtual disk groups exceeding 120 physical disks in a RAID 10 configuration even if premium feature is activated on your storage array. Exceeding the 120-physical disk limit may cause your storage array to be unstable. RAID 10, a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0, uses disk striping across mirrored disks.
Page 24: Media Verification
NOTE: It is recommended that you run data consistency checks on a redundant array at least once a month. This allows detection and automatic replacement of unreadable sectors. Finding an unreadable sector during a rebuild of a failed physical disk is a serious problem, because the system does not have the redundancy to recover the data.
Page 25: Segment Size Migration
Segment Size Migration Segment size refers to the amount of data (in kilobytes) that the storage array writes on a physical disk in a virtual disk before writing data on the next physical disk. Valid values for the segment size are 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, 128 KB, and 256 KB.
Page 26: Raid Background Operations Priority
process on the peer controller. The suspended processes are resumed when the active process on the peer controller completes or is stopped. NOTE: If you try to start a disk group process on a controller that does not have an existing active process, the start attempt fails if the first virtual disk in the disk group is owned by the other controller and there is an active process on the other controller.
Page 27: Disk Roaming
recognize the migrating metadata and that data is lost. In this case, the receiving storage array initializes the physical disks and marks them as unconfigured capacity. NOTE: Only disk groups and associated virtual disks with all member physical disks present can be migrated from one storage array to another.
Page 28: Host Types
part of a host group that shares access to one or more virtual disks. You can manually configure a host server-to-virtual disk mapping. When you configure host server-to-virtual disk mapping, consider these guidelines: • You can define one host server-to-virtual disk mapping for each virtual disk in the storage array. •...
Page 29: Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy)
• Standard virtual disks • Thin provisioned virtual disks • Consistency groups To create a snapshot image, you must first create a snapshot group and reserve snapshot repository space for the virtual disk. The repository space is based on a percentage of the current virtual disk reserve. You can delete the oldest snapshot image in a snapshot group either manually or you can automate the process by enabling the Auto-Delete setting for the snapshot group.
Page 30: Virtual Disk Recovery
• Source virtual disk — When you create a virtual disk copy, a copy pair consisting of a source virtual disk and a target virtual disk is created on the same storage array. When a virtual disk copy is started, data from the source virtual disk is copied completely to the target virtual disk.
Page 31: Preferred And Alternate Controllers And Paths
Preferred And Alternate Controllers And Paths A preferred controller is a RAID controller module designated as the owner of a virtual disk or disk group. The preferred controller is automatically selected by the MD Storage Manager when a virtual disk is created. You can change the preferred RAID controller module owner of a virtual disk after it is created.
Page 32: Monitoring System Performance
has the least outstanding I/O requests queued. For this policy, an I/O request is simply a command in the queue. The type of command or the number of blocks that are associated with the command are not considered. The least queue depth with subset policy treats large block requests and small block requests equally. The data path selected is one of the paths in the path group of the RAID controller module that owns the virtual disk.
Page 33: Monitoring Performance Using The Graphical View
Values for the selected storage arrays are displayed in the Performance Monitor data table. The table is updated at the interval specified in the Polling Interval setting. NOTE: To force an immediate poll of the storage array, click Update. Click Stop to stop monitoring the storage array. To save the currently displayed performance statistics: a) Click Save As on the Performance Monitor window.
Page 34 – MB/second — The current MB per second, or transfer rate for the current polling interval. – Read Percentage — The percentage of total I/Os that are read operations for this storage array. Write percentage can be calculated as 100 minus this value. –...
Page 35: Discovering And Managing Your Storage Array
In-band management Troubleshooting the Dell PowerVault MD-Series Storage NOTE: If you are using an iSCSI MD storage array, see Array: Configuring the Ethernet Management Port at dell.com/support/manuals for more information on the management features. Out-Of-Band Management In the out-of-band management method, data is separate from commands and events. Data travels through the host-to- controller interface, while commands and events travel through the management port Ethernet cables.
Page 36: Access Virtual Disk
Access Virtual Disk Each RAID controller module in an MD Series storage array maintains a special virtual disk, called the access virtual disk. The host-agent software uses the access virtual disk to communicate management requests and event information between the storage management station and the RAID controller module in an in-band-managed storage array and cannot be removed without deleting the entire virtual disk, virtual disk group or virtual disk pair.
Page 37: Setting Up Your Storage Array
– Out-of-band management — Enter a DNS/Network name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address for the RAID Controller Module in the storage array. – In-band management — Enter a name or a DNS/Network name, IPv4 address, or IPv6 address for the Host through which the storage array is attached to the network.
Page 38: Naming Or Renaming Storage Arrays
Select the relevant storage array and do one of the following: – In the EMW, right-click the appropriate storage array, and select Blink Storage Array. – In the AMW, select the Setup tab, and click Blink Storage Array. – In the AMW, select Hardware → Blink → Storage Array. The LEDs on the physical disks in the storage array blink.
Page 39: Adding Or Editing A Comment To An Existing Storage Array
If you are resetting the password, type the Current password. NOTE: If you are setting the password for the first time, leave the Current password blank. Type the New password. NOTE: It is recommended that you use a long password with at least 15 alphanumeric characters to increase security.
Page 40: Enabling Premium Features
A message prompts you to confirm if the selected storage array is to be removed. Click Yes. The storage array is removed from the list. Enabling Premium Features You can enable premium features on the storage array. To enable the premium features, you must obtain a feature key file specific to the premium feature that you want to enable from your storage supplier.
Page 41: Changing Expansion Enclosure Id Numbers
If you have set a password for the selected storage array, the Enter Password dialog is displayed. Type the current password for the storage array and click OK. Changing Expansion Enclosure ID Numbers When an MD3060e Series expansion enclosure is connected to an MD Series storage array for the first time, an enclosure ID number is assigned and maintained by the expansion enclosure.
Page 42: Configuring E-Mail Alerts
Configuring E-mail Alerts Open the Configure Alerts dialog by performing one of these actions in the EMW: – On the Devices tab, select a node and then on the menu bar, select Edit → Configure Alerts. Go to step 3. NOTE: This option enables you to set up alerts for all the storage arrays connected to the host.
Page 43: Configuring Snmp Alerts
The trap destination is the IP address or the host name of a computer running an SNMP management application. An example of an SNMP enabled management application is the Dell Management Console. For more information on the Dell Management Console, see dell.com .
Page 44: Battery Settings
– The SNMP Community Name is determined by the system administrator and configured within the a management application, such as the Dell Management Console. More information about the Dell Management Console is available at dell.com. – You can configure multiple SNMP addresses before you click OK.
Page 45 to the Event Log match the event timestamps written to host log files. The RAID controller modules remain available during synchronization. To synchronize the RAID controller module clocks with the storage management station: In the AMW, on the menu bar, select Hardware → RAID Controller Module → Synchronize Clocks. If a password is set, in the Enter Password dialog, type the current password for the storage array, and click Synchronize.
Page 47: Using Iscsi
Using iSCSI xx 0i storage arrays that use the iSCSI protocol. NOTE: The following sections are relevant only to MD Changing The iSCSI Target Authentication To change the iSCSI target authentication: In the AMW, select the Setup tab. Select Manage iSCSI Settings. The Manage iSCSI Settings window is displayed and by default, the Target Authentication tab is selected.
Page 48: Creating Chap Secrets
The initiator details are displayed. Click CHAP Secret to enter the initiator CHAP permissions in the dialog that is displayed. Click OK. Click OK in the Manage iSCSI Settings window. For more information, see the online help topics. Creating CHAP Secrets When you set up an authentication method, you can choose to create a CHAP secret.
Page 49: Changing The Iscsi Target Identification
Changing The iSCSI Target Identification You cannot change the iSCSI target name, but you can associate an alias with the target for simpler identification. Aliases are useful because the iSCSI target names are not intuitive. Provide an iSCSI target alias that is meaningful and easy to remember.
Page 50: Advanced Iscsi Host Port Settings
For IPv6 addressing, the default method is Stateless auto-configuration. Always use this method for IPv6. For more information, see Troubleshooting your Dell PowerVault MD-Series Storaeg Array: Configuring iSCSI Data Ports at dell.com/support/manuals. To configure the iSCSI host ports: In the AMW, select the Setup tab.
Page 51: Viewing Or Ending An Iscsi Session
Setting Description NOTE: For more information on creating and configuring a VLAN with MD Support Manager, in the AMW, click the Support tab, then click View Online Help. Ethernet Priority The network priority can be set from lowest to highest. Although network managers must determine these mappings, the IEEE has made broad recommendations: •...
Page 52: Edit, Remove, Or Rename Host Topology
In the AMW menu bar, select Monitor → Health → iSCSI Statistics. The View iSCSI Statistics window is displayed. Select the iSCSI statistic type you want to view in the iSCSI Statistics Type area. You can select: – Ethernet MAC statistics –...
Page 53: Event Monitor
Event Monitor An event monitor is provided with Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager). The event monitor runs continuously in the background and monitors activity on the managed storage arrays. If the event monitor detects any critical problems, it can notify a host or remote system using e-mail, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap messages, or both.
Page 54 To disable the event monitor, start terminal emulation application (console ox xterm) and at the command prompt, type SMmonitor stop, and press <Enter>. When the program shutdown is complete, the following message is displayed: Stopping Monitor process.
Page 55: About Your Host
About Your Host Configuring Host Access Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager) is comprised of multiple modules. One of these modules is the Host Context Agent, which is installed as part of the MD Storage Manager installation and runs continuously in the background.
Page 56: Defining A Host
• Add mappings to the selected host groups For more information, see the online help topics. Defining A Host You can use the Define Host Wizard in the AMW to define a host for a storage array. Either a known unassociated host port identifier or a new host port identifier can be added.
Page 57: Removing Host Access
13. Click Finish. The Creation Successful window is displayed confirming that the new host is created. 14. To create another host, click Yes on the Creation Successful window. Removing Host Access To remove host access: In the AMW, select the Host Mappings tab. Select the host node from the object tree on the left pane.
Page 58: Adding A Host To A Host Group
Adding A Host To A Host Group You can add a host to an existing host group or a new host group using the Define Host Wizard. For more information, Defining A Host. You can also move a host to a different host group. For more information, see Moving A Host To A Different Host Group.
Page 59: Host Topology
Host Topology Host topology is the organization of hosts, host groups, and host interfaces configured for a storage array. You can view the host topology in the Host Mappings tab of the AMW. For more information, see Using The Host Mappings Tab.
Page 60: Managing Host Port Identifiers
NOTE: For more information on configuring hosts, see About Your Host. If a component such as a RAID controller module or a cable fails, or an error occurs on the data path to the preferred RAID controller module, virtual disk ownership is moved to the alternate non preferred RAID controller module for processing.
Page 61 The newly added host port identifier is added to the Host port identifier information area. 10. Select the host port identifier that you want to manage from the list of host port identifiers in the Host port identifier information area. 11.
Page 63: Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, And Thin Virtual Disks
Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, And Thin Virtual Disks Creating Disk Groups And Virtual Disks Disk groups are created in the unconfigured capacity of a storage array, and virtual disks are created in the free capacity of a disk group or disk pool. The maximum number of physical disks supported in a disk group is 120 (192 with the premium feature activated).
Page 64 NOTE: Thin-provisioned virtual disks can be created from disk pools. If you are not using disk pools, only standard virtual disks can be created. For more information, see Thin Virtual Disks. You can create disk groups either using Automatic configuration or Manual configuration. To create disk groups: To start the Create Disk Group Wizard, perform one of these actions: –...
Page 65: Locating A Disk Group
Locating A Disk Group You can physically locate and identify all of the physical disks that comprise a selected disk group. An LED blinks on each physical disk in the disk group. To locate a disk group: In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Right-click on a disk group and select Blink from the pop-up menu.
Page 66: Changing The Virtual Disk Modification Priority
In the Data Service (DS) Attributes area, you can select: – Enable data assurance (DA) protection on the new virtual disk – Use SSD cache In the Virtual disk I/O characteristics type list, select the appropriate Virtual Disk I/O characteristics type. You can select: –...
Page 67: Changing The Virtual Disk Cache Settings
Changing The Virtual Disk Cache Settings You can specify the cache memory settings for a single virtual disk or for multiple virtual disks in a storage array. Guidelines to change cache settings for a virtual disk: • After opening the Change Cache Settings dialog, the system may display a window indicating that the RAID controller module has temporarily suspended caching operations.
Page 68: Changing The Segment Size Of A Virtual Disk
Changing The Segment Size Of A Virtual Disk You can change the segment size on a selected virtual disk. During this operation, I/O performance is affected, but your data remains available. Follow these guidelines to proceed with changing the segment size: •...
Page 69: Thin Virtual Disks
The I/O characteristic types shown below are only presented during the create virtual disk process. When you choose one of the virtual disk I/O characteristics, the corresponding dynamic cache prefetch setting and segment size that are typically well suited for expected I/O patterns are populated in the Dynamic cache read prefetch field and the Segment size field.
Page 70: Thin Virtual Disk Requirements And Limitations
Virtual capacity is capacity that is reported to the host, while physical capacity is the amount of actual physical disk space allocated for data write operations. Generally, physical capacity is much smaller than virtual capacity. Thin provisioning allows virtual disks to be created with a large virtual capacity but a relatively small physical capacity. This is beneficial for storage utilization and efficiency because it allows you to increase capacity as application needs change, without disrupting data throughput.
Page 71: Thin Virtual Disk States
Storage Manager assigns a 4 GB multiple and assigns the remainder as unused. If space exists that is not a 4 GB multiple, you can use it to increase the size of the thin virtual disk. To increase the size of the thin virtual disk, select Storage →...
Page 72: Rollback On Thin Virtual Disks
Virtual Disk Copy Source Virtual Disk Copy Target Availability Standard virtual disk Standard virtual disk Supported Thin virtual disk Standard virtual disk Supported Standard virtual disk Thin virtual disk Not supported Thin virtual disk Thin virtual disk Not supported Rollback On Thin Virtual Disks Rollback operations are fully supported on thin virtual disks.
Page 73 In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select the thin virtual disk that you want to initialize. The thin virtual disks are listed under the Disk Pools node. Select Storage → Virtual Disk → Advanced → Initialize. The Initialize Thin Virtual Disk window is displayed.
Page 74 NOTE: The benefit of reusing an existing repository is that you can avoid the initialization process that occurs when you create a new one. 10. If you want to change the repository expansion policy or warning threshold, click View advanced repository settings.
Page 75: Changing A Thin Virtual Disk To A Standard Virtual Disk
Select a repository from the table. Existing repositories are placed at the top of the list. NOTE: The benefit of reusing an existing repository is that you can avoid the initialization process that occurs when you create a new one. 10.
Page 76 Whenever the power is turned off and turned on again, all of the security enabled physical disks change to a security locked state. In this state, the data is inaccessible until the correct security key is provided by a RAID controller module. You can view the self encrypting disk status of any physical disk in the storage array from the Physical Disk Properties dialog.
Page 77: Creating A Security Key
• A security key is installed in the storage array. • At least one security capable physical disk is installed in the storage array. • All of the physical disks that you selected on the Hardware tab are security capable physical disks. You can erase security enabled physical disks so that you can reuse the drives in another disk group or in another storage array.
Page 78: Changing A Security Key
– Edit the default path by adding a file name to the end of the path. – Click Browse to navigate to the required folder, then add a file name to the end of the path. In Pass phrase dialog box, enter a string for the pass phrase. The pass phrase must: –...
Page 79: Saving A Security Key
The Confirm Change Security Key window is displayed. Type yes in the text field, and click OK. The Change Security Key window is displayed. In Secure key identifier, enter a string that become part of the secure key identifier. You may leave the text box blank, or enter up to 189 alphanumeric characters without white space, punctuation, or symbols.
Page 80: Validate Security Key
Make a record of the pass phrase you entered. You need it for later secure operations. Click Save. Make a record of the security key identifier and the file name from the Save Security Key Complete dialog, and click Validate Security Key A file in which a security key is stored is validated through the Validate Security Key dialog.
Page 81: Hot Spares And Rebuild
• You can unassign only hot spare physical disks with Optimal, or Standby status. You cannot unassign a hot spare physical disk that has the In Use status. A hot spare physical disk has the In Use status when it is in the process of taking over for a failed physical disk.
Page 82: Global Hot Spares
A hot spare is an idle, powered-on, stand-by physical disk ready for immediate use in case of disk failure. If a hot spare is defined in an enclosure in which a redundant virtual disk experiences a physical disk failure, a rebuild of the degraded virtual disk is automatically initiated by the RAID controller modules.
Page 83: Enclosure Loss Protection
Enclosure Loss Protection Enclosure loss protection is an attribute of a disk group. Enclosure loss protection guarantees accessibility to the data on the virtual disks in a disk group if a total loss of communication occurs with a single expansion enclosure. An example of total loss of communication may be loss of power to the expansion enclosure or failure of both RAID controller modules.
Page 84: Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping
Drawer loss protection for a disk group is based on the location of the physical disks that comprise the disk group. In the event of a single drawer failure, data on the virtual disks in a disk group will remain accessible if drawer loss protection configuration is followed.
Page 85: Creating Host-To-Virtual Disk Mappings
• You can define the mappings on the Host Mappings tab in the AMW. See Using The Host Mappings Tab. Creating Host-To-Virtual Disk Mappings Guidelines to define the mappings: • An access virtual disk mapping is not required for an out-of-band storage array. If your storage array is managed using an out-of-band connection, and an access virtual disk mapping is assigned to the Default Group, an access virtual disk mapping is assigned to every host created from the Default Group.
Page 86: Modifying And Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping
Modifying And Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping You can modify or remove a host-to-virtual disk mapping for several reasons, such as an incorrect mapping or reconfiguration of the storage array. Modifying or removing a host-to-virtual disk mapping applies to both hosts and host groups.
Page 87: Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping
To change the ownership of the virtual disk to the connected controller: In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab and select a virtual disk. From the menu bar, select the appropriate RAID controller module slot in Storage → Virtual Disk → Change → Ownership/Preferred Path.
Page 88: Changing The Raid Level Of A Disk Group
If you increased volume capacity, the new capacity is displayed. NOTE: The virtual disk that you want to delete from the mapping. For example, the following information may be displayed: mpath6 (3600a0b80000fb6e50000000e487b02f5) dm-10 DELL, MD32xx [size=1.6T][features=3 queue_if_no_path pg_init_retries 50][hwhandler=1 rdac] \_ round-robin 0 [prio=6][active]...
Page 89: Restricted Mappings
In this example, the mpath6 device contains two paths: -- /dev/sdf at Host 1, Channel 0, Target 0, LUN 2 --/dev/sde at Host 0, Channel 0, Target 0, LUN 2 Flush the multi-pathing device mapping using the following command: # multipath -f /dev/mapper/mapth_x Where, mapth_x is the device you want to delete.
Page 90: Storage Partitioning
allows only LUNs up to 31, you cannot move that restricted host type into a storage partition that has LUNs greater than 31 already mapped. The Default Group on the Host Mappings tab has a default host type. To change the host type, right-click on the host and select Change Default Host Operating System from the pop-up menu.
Page 91: Disk Group And Virtual Disk Expansion
Disk Group And Virtual Disk Expansion Adding free capacity to a disk group is achieved by adding unconfigured capacity on the array to the disk group. Data is accessible on disk groups, virtual disks, and physical disks throughout the entire modification operation. The additional free capacity can then be used to perform a virtual disk expansion on a standard or snapshot repository virtual disk.
Page 92: Using Unconfigured Capacity
achieve the required final capacity. Data on the selected virtual disk remains accessible while the process for increasing virtual disk capacity is in progress. Using Unconfigured Capacity You can increase the capacity of a standard virtual disk or a snapshot repository virtual disk using the unconfigured capacity when no free capacity exists on a disk group.
Page 93: Import Disk Group
On the target storage array, verify that: • The target storage array has available physical disk slots. • The target storage array supports the physical disks that you import. • The target storage array can support the new virtual disks. •...
Page 94: Storage Array Media Scan
Storage Array Media Scan The media scan is a background operation that examines virtual disks to verify that data is accessible. The process finds media errors before normal read and write activity is disrupted and reports errors to the event log. NOTE: You cannot enable background media scans on a virtual disk comprised of Solid State Disks (SSDs).
Page 95: Suspending The Media Scan
Suspending The Media Scan You cannot perform a media scan while performing another long-running operation on the disk drive such as reconstruction, copy-back, reconfiguration, virtual disk initialization, or immediate availability formatting. If you want to perform another long-running operation, you should suspend the media scan. NOTE: A background media scan is the lowest priority of the long-running operations.
Page 97: Disk Pools And Disk Pool Virtual Disks
Disk Pools And Disk Pool Virtual Disks Disk pooling allows you to distribute data from each virtual disk randomly across a set of physical disks. Disk pooling provides RAID protection and consistent performance across a set of physical disks logically grouped together in the storage array.
Page 98: Creating A Disk Pool Manually
• You cannot change the RAID level of a disk pool. MD Storage Manager automatically configures disk pools as RAID level 6. • All physical disk types in a disk pool must be the same. • You can protect your disk pool with Self Encrypting Disk (SED), but the physical disk attributes must match. For example, SED-enabled physical disks cannot be mixed with SED-capable physical disks.
Page 99: Automatically Managing The Unconfigured Capacity In Disk Pools
Automatically Managing The Unconfigured Capacity In Disk Pools The MD Storage Manager can detect the unconfigured capacity in a storage array. When the unconfigured capacity is detected, the MD Storage Manager prompts you to create one or more disk pools, or add the unconfigured capacity to an existing disk pool, or both.
Page 100: Renaming A Disk Pool
Locate the physical disks in the disk pool, and click OK. The LEDs stop blinking. NOTE: If the LEDs for the disk pool do not stop blinking, from the AMW, select Hardware → Blink → Stop All Indications. Click OK. Renaming A Disk Pool Use the Rename option to change the name of a disk pool when the current name is no longer meaningful.
Page 101: Adding Unassigned Physical Disks To A Disk Pool
Click OK. Adding Unassigned Physical Disks To A Disk Pool Use the Add Physical Disks (Capacity) option to increase the free capacity of an existing disk pool by adding unassigned physical disks. After you add unassigned physical disks to a disk pool, the data in each virtual disk of the disk pool is redistributed to include the additional physical disks.
Page 102: Changing The Modification Priority Of A Disk Pool
Changing The Modification Priority Of A Disk Pool Use the Modification Priority option to specify the priority levels for modification operations in a disk pool relative to the system performance. NOTE: Selecting higher priority for modification operations in a disk pool can slow the system performance. The following are the priority levels to modify a disk pool: •...
Page 103: Checking Data Consistency
To RAID controller module ownership of a disk pool: In AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select the disk pool. From the menu bar, select Storage → Disk Pool → Change → Ownership/Preferred Path. Select the RAID controller module. Click Yes.
Page 104: Deleting A Disk Pool
Deleting A Disk Pool Use the Delete option to delete a disk pool and all of the virtual disks in the disk pool. When a disk pool is deleted, the physical disks that were associated with the disk pool change to the Unassigned state. This process creates more unconfigured capacity in the storage array, which you can reconfigure to meet your storage needs.
Page 105: Secure Disk Pools
– Right-click a component, and select View Associated Physical Components. – Select a component, and click View Associated Physical Components in the Properties pane. – Select a component, and from the menu bar, select Storage → Disk Pool → View Associated Physical Components.
Page 106: Changing Capacity On Existing Thin Virtual Disks
Changing Capacity On Existing Thin Virtual Disks If the amount of space used by the host for read/write operations (sometimes called consumed capacity) exceeds the amount of physical capacity allocated on a standard virtual disk, the storage array cannot accommodate additional write requests until the physical capacity is increased.
Page 107 – Select Use recommended capacity settings and click Next. – Select Choose your own settings and then select Customize capacity settings (advanced). Click Next and go to step 11. 11. Use the Preferred capacity box to indicate the initial physical capacity of the virtual disk and the Units list to indicate the specific capacity units to use (MB, GB, or TB).
Page 109: Using Ssd Cache
Using SSD Cache The SSD Cache feature utilizes solid-state disk (SSD) physical disks to improve read-only performance in your storage array. SSD physical disks are logically grouped together to provide secondary cache for use with the primary cache in the RAID controller module memory. Using SSD Cache improves application throughput and response times and delivers sustained performance improvement across diverse workloads, especially high-IOP workloads.
Page 110: Ssd Cache Restrictions
SSD Cache Restrictions The following restrictions apply to using SSD Cache feature: • SSD cache is not supported on Snapshots (Legacy) virtual disks or PiT‐based Snapshot images. • If you import or export base virtual disks that are SSD cache enabled or disabled, the cached data is not imported or exported.
Page 111: Locating Physical Disks In An Ssd Cache
To hide the displayed components, click Hide. To view the components installed in the associated enclosure, click View Enclosure Components. Locating Physical Disks In An SSD Cache To locate physical disks in an SSD cache: In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. In the tree view, select the SSD cache and do one of the following: –...
Page 112: Suspending Or Resuming Ssd Caching
Select the physical disk that you want to add and click Remove. Suspending Or Resuming SSD Caching In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. In the tree view, select the SSD cache and do one of the following: –...
Page 113: Using The Performance Modeling Tool
– Right click on the SSD cache and select Delete. The Confirm Delete SSD Cache window is displayed. Type yes to confirm and click Delete. Using The Performance Modeling Tool The SSD Cache Performance Modeling tool helps you determine the performance improvement for SSD cache capacity when you run the performance modeling tool with a workload that has the same characteristics as what you run in production.
Page 115: Premium Feature-Snapshot Virtual Disk
Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disk The following types of virtual disk snapshot premium features are supported on the MD storage array: • Snapshot Virtual Disks using multiple point-in-time (PiT) groups • Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy) using a separate repository for each snapshot NOTE: This section describes the Snapshot Virtual Disk using PiT groups.
Page 116: Snapshot Virtual Disk Read/Write Properties
To create a snapshot image, you must first create a snapshot group and reserve snapshot repository space for the virtual disk. The repository space is based on a percentage of the current virtual disk reserve. You can delete the oldest snapshot image in a snapshot group either manually or you can automate the process by enabling the Auto-Delete setting for the snapshot group.
Page 117: Snapshot Consistency Groups
Snapshot Consistency Groups To perform the same snapshot image operations on multiple virtual disks, you can create a consistency group containing the virtual disks. Any operation performed on the consistency group is performed simultaneously on all of the virtual disks in that group, which creates consistent copies of data between each virtual disk. Consistency groups are commonly used to create, schedule or rollback virtual disks.
Page 118: Ranking Repository Candidates
subsequent modifications made by the host application to the base virtual disk without affecting the referenced snapshot image. Each member repository is created when the consistency group snapshot virtual disk is created. Ranking Repository Candidates If you choose to create a repository manually, you can filter repository candidates for each member virtual disk by selecting either a percentage of the base virtual disk capacity or by specifying a preferred capacity in the Snapshot Group Settings window.
Page 119: Creating A Snapshot Image
Creating A Snapshot Image You can create a snapshot image by either selecting a base virtual disk or by selecting an existing snapshot group. To create a snapshot image from an existing base virtual disk: From the AMW, select the base virtual disk you are copying and select Copy Services → Snapshot Image → Create.
Page 120: Deleting A Snapshot Image
The snapshot image creation operation completes as soon as the synchronization operation is complete. To cancel the pending snapshot image creation before the synchronization operation completes, do the following: From the AMW, select either the snapshot group or consistency group that contains the pending snapshot image. Do one of the following: –...
Page 121: Creating A Snapshot Schedule
You can create a schedule that runs daily or weekly in which you select specific days of the week (Sunday through Saturday). To make scheduling easier, you can import an existing schedule for a snapshot group or consistency group. In addition, you can temporarily suspend scheduled snapshot image creation by disabling the schedule. When a schedule is disabled, the scheduled snapshot image creations do not occur.
Page 122: Performing Snapshot Rollbacks
snapshot image creation by disabling the schedule. When a schedule is disabled, the scheduled snapshot image creations do not occur. To edit a schedule: From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select the snapshot group or consistency group for which you want to edit a schedule. Do one of the following: –...
Page 123: Starting A Snapshot Rollback
• You cannot start a rollback operation when any of these operations are in progress in the storage array: – Expanding the capacity of a disk group. – Virtual disk Expansion (VDE) to increase the capacity of a virtual disk. –...
Page 124: Canceling A Snapshot Image Rollback
Click Resume. The following may occur depending on the error condition: – If the resume rollback operation is successful — You can view the progress of the rollback operation in the Properties pane when you select the base virtual disk or the consistency group member virtual disk in the Logical pane.
Page 125: Changing Snapshot Rollback Priority
To view the progress for operations that affect a base virtual disk or a consistency group snapshot image, click the triangle next to a base virtual disk or a consistency group snapshot image to expand or collapse it. To change the interval for refreshing the display, use the spinner box in the lower-right corner of the window, and click Update.
Page 126: Creating A Consistency Group Repository (Manually)
– The base virtual disk that contains this snapshot image is a member of an asynchronous remote replication group. – The base virtual disk is currently in a synchronizing operation. The snapshot image creation completes as soon as the synchronization operation is complete. From the AMW, select the base virtual disk whose data you want to copy.
Page 127 Keep these guidelines in mind when you name a consistency group: • There is a minimum required capacity for a consistency group repository (depending on your configuration). • When you define the capacity requirements for a repository, keep in mind any future requirements that you might have for other virtual disks in this disk group or disk pool.
Page 128: Changing Snapshot Group Settings
Changing Snapshot Group Settings Use the Snapshot Group Change Settings option to modify the auto-delete settings and the snapshot group repository settings that were configured when you created the snapshot group. • Auto-Delete Settings — You can configure each snapshot group to keep the total number of snapshot images in the group at or below a user-defined maximum.
Page 129: Deleting A Snapshot Group
Deleting A Snapshot Group Use the Delete Snapshot Group option to delete a snapshot group. The system performs the following actions when a snapshot group is deleted: • Deletes all existing snapshot images from the snapshot group. • Deletes the associated repository that exists for the snapshot group (if selected). •...
Page 130: Converting A Snapshot Virtual Disk To Read-Write
– Storage → Virtual Disk → Convert Snapshot (Legacy) to Snapshot Group. – Copy Services → Snapshot (Legacy) → Convert to Snapshot Group. In the Available snapshot (legacy) virtual disks table, select the snapshot (legacy) virtual disks that you want to convert and then click Add to add them to the Snapshot (Legacy) virtual disks to convert table.
Page 131: Creating A Consistency Group
Select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select the storage object for which you want to view the associated physical components and then select Individual Repository Virtual Disk → View Associated Physical Components. Creating A Consistency Group A consistency group is simultaneous snapshots of multiple virtual disks, thus ensuring consistent copies of a group of virtual disks.
Page 132: Creating A Consistency Group Repository (Manually)
Select how you want to create the repositories for each member in the consistency group. – Select Automatic and click Finish to create the repositories with the default capacity settings. This option is the recommended one. – Select Manual and click Next to define the capacity settings for the repositories; and then click Finish to continue with the consistency group creation process.
Page 133: Renaming A Consistency Group
– The Repository candidates table shows both new and existing repositories that are capable of being used for each member virtual disk in the consistency group based on the value you specified for percentage or the value you specified for preferred capacity. –...
Page 134: Changing The Settings Of A Consistency Group
To delete a consistency group: From the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select the consistency group that you want to delete and then select Copy Services → Consistency Group → Delete. The Confirm Delete window is displayed. Select Delete all repositories associated with this consistency group if you want to delete the associated repository that exists for the consistency group.
Page 135: Removing A Member Virtual Disk From A Consistency Group
• If the base virtual disk resides on a standard disk group, the repository members for any associated consistency group can reside on either a standard disk group or a disk pool. If a base virtual disk resides on a disk pool, the repository members for any associated consistency group must reside on the same disk pool as the base virtual disk.
Page 136: Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Of A Snapshot Image
– Select one or more consistency groups, from the Consistency groups table, that you want to remove the base virtual disk from and then click Remove. NOTE: You can click the Select all check box to remove the virtual disk from all the consistency groups displayed in the table.
Page 137 – Select An existing snapshot image and then select a snapshot image from the snapshot image table and click Next. – Select A new snapshot image (on an existing snapshot group) and then a snapshot group from the existing snapshot group table and then click Next. The Snapshot Virtual Disk Settings window is displayed.
Page 138: Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Repository
Use this option if you want to specify all of the customizable settings for the snapshot virtual disk repository. The Manual method is considered advanced and only those who understand physical disk redundancy and optimal physical disk configurations should use this method. Click Finish.
Page 139: Changing The Settings Of A Snapshot Virtual Disk
Changing The Settings Of A Snapshot Virtual Disk Use the Change Snapshot Virtual Disk Settings option to modify the repository settings that were configured when you created the snapshot virtual disk. You can modify the maximum percentage for the snapshot virtual disk repository to set a warning when the capacity of a snapshot virtual disk repository reaches the defined percentage.
Page 140: Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Or Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk
– Copy Services → Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk → Disable. The Confirm Disable Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk window is displayed. Type yes in the text box and then click Disable to disable the snapshot virtual disk. The snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk is displayed in the Logical pane with the Disabled Snapshot status icon.
Page 141: Renaming A Snapshot Virtual Disk Or Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk
Renaming A Snapshot Virtual Disk Or Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk Use the Rename Snapshot Virtual Disk option to change the name of a snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk when the current name is no longer meaningful or applicable. Keep these guidelines in mind when you name a consistency group: •...
Page 142: Creating A Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk
If the snapshot virtual disk or the consistency group snapshot virtual disk is read-write, select the option to delete the associated repository. Type yes in the text box and then click Delete to delete the snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk.
Page 143 In the Consistency group snapshot virtual disk name field, enter a unique name (30 character maximum) that best describes the consistency group selected for this snapshot image. For example, AccountingData. By default, the consistency group snapshot virtual disk name is shown in the name text box as: [consistency-group-name] - SV + sequence-number where SV (snapshot virtual disk) is the appended suffix and sequence-number is the chronological number of the snapshot virtual disk relative to the consistency group.
Page 144: Creating A Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk Repository (Manually)
See the online help topics for more information on how to set the repository parameters. The snapshot virtual disk and its properties for the associated consistency group are displayed in the navigation tree. Creating A Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk Repository (Manually) During the creation of a consistency group snapshot virtual disk that is designated as read-write, the system requires a snapshot virtual disk repository for each member of the consistency group to provide the host application with WRITE access to a copy of the data contained in the snapshot image.
Page 145: Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk Or Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk
– The Difference column shows the mathematical difference between your selected capacity and the actual capacity of the repository candidate. If the repository candidate is new, the system uses the exact capacity size that you specified and displays zero (0) in the Difference column. To edit an individual repository candidate: a) Select the candidate from the Repository candidates table and click Edit to modify the capacity settings for the repository.
Page 146: Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Or Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk
The snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk is displayed in the Logical pane with the Disabled Snapshot status icon. If you disabled a read-write snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk, its associated snapshot repository virtual disk does not change status. The write activity to the snapshot repository virtual disk stops until the snapshot virtual disk or consistency group snapshot virtual disk is re-created.
Page 147: Changing The Media Scan Setting Of An Overall Repository Virtual Disk
• Snapshot group • Snapshot virtual disk • Consistency group member virtual disk • Replicated Pair NOTE: Changing the modification priority by using this option modifies the priority only for the overall repository that you selected. The settings are applied to all individual repository virtual disks contained within the overall repository.
Page 148: Increasing The Capacity Of An Overall Repository
An overall repository virtual disk that has this feature enabled returns read errors if the data is determined to be inconsistent by the RAID controller module firmware. You can enable this option for overall repository virtual disks that contain consistency information. RAID Level 1, RAID Level 5, and RAID Level 6 maintain redundancy information. You can enable this option for overall repository virtual disks that contain consistency information.
Page 149 NOTE: If no free capacity exists on any disk group or disk pool, you can add unconfigured capacity in the form of unused physical disks to a disk group or disk pool. You cannot increase the storage capacity of an overall repository if one of these conditions exists: •...
Page 150: Decreasing The Capacity Of The Overall Repository
NOTE: If free capacity does not exist on the disk group or disk pool you selected, the free space that appears in the Capacity spinner box is 0. If this storage array has Unconfigured Capacity, you can create a new disk group or disk pool and then retry this operation using the new free capacity on that disk group or disk pool.
Page 151: Performing A Revive Operation
The system performs the following actions: – Updates the capacity for the overall repository. – Displays the newly-updated repository member virtual disk(s) for the overall repository. Performing A Revive Operation Use the Revive option to force a storage object to an Optimal state if it does not transition automatically after a failure is corrected.
Page 153: Premium Feature-Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy)
NOTE: If you ordered this feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card shipped in the same box as your Dell PowerVault MD storage array. Follow the directions on the card to obtain a key file and to enable the feature.
Page 154: Scheduling A Snapshot Virtual Disk
Scheduling A Snapshot Virtual Disk When you create a snapshot virtual disk, you can choose whether the snapshot is created immediately or is created according to a schedule that you determine. This schedule can be a one-time snapshot creation or an snapshot creation that occurs at regularly occurring intervals.
Page 155: About The Simple Path
• For details on mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the secondary node, see the documentation on storage arrays with Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clusters at dell.com/support/manuals. • You can create concurrent snapshots of a source virtual disk on both the source disk group and on another disk group.
Page 156: Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Using The Advanced Path
NOTE: Before you create a new snapshot of a source virtual disk, stop any data access (I/O) activity or suspend data transfer to the source virtual disk to ensure that you capture an accurate snapshot of the source virtual disk. Close all applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make sure all I/O activity has stopped.
Page 157: Preparing Host Servers To Create The Snapshot Using The Advanced Path
For details on mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the secondary node, see the documentation on storage arrays with Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clusters at dell.com/support/manuals. The destination of a snapshot repository virtual disk is determined based on the free capacity available in the disk group.
Page 158: Creating The Snapshot Using The Advanced Path
NOTE: Before you create a new snapshot of a source virtual disk, stop any data access (I/O) activity or suspend data transfer to the source virtual disk to ensure that you capture an accurate snapshot of the source virtual disk. Close all applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make sure all I/O activity has stopped.
Page 159: Specifying Snapshot Virtual Disk Names
– Free capacity on same disk group as base (recommended) – Free capacity on different disk group – Unconfigured capacity (create new disk group) Enter the snapshot repository virtual disks capacity as a percentage of the source virtual disks capacity and click Next.
Page 160: Snapshot Repository Capacity
characters, the default names for the snapshot and its associated snapshot repository virtual disk use the source virtual disk name truncated enough to add the sequence string. For example, for Host Software Engineering Group GR-1, the default snapshot name is Host Software Engineering GR- 1, and the default repository name is Host Software Engineering GR-R1.
Page 161: Re-Creating Snapshot Virtual Disks
capacity is used to increase the size of the virtual disk, the Free Capacity node involved is removed from the Storage & Copy Services tab. If unassigned physical disks are not available, do you have empty slots in the expansion enclosures? –...
Page 162: Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk
In the AMW, select the Storage & Copy Services tab, select a snapshot virtual disk. Select Copy services → Virtual Disk → Snapshot → Re-create. Type yes, and click OK. Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk Disable a snapshot virtual disk if one of the following conditions exists: •...
Page 163: Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk
Follow any additional instructions for your operating system. Failure to follow these additional instructions can create unusable snapshot virtual disks. NOTE: If your operating system requires additional instructions, you can find those instructions in your operating system documentation. Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk After first preparing the host server(s), re-create a snapshot virtual disk.
Page 165: Premium Feature-Virtual Disk Copy
NOTE: If you ordered this feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card that shipped in the same box as your Dell PowerVault MD Series storage array. Follow the directions on the card to obtain a key file and to enable the feature.
Page 166: Types Of Virtual Disk Copies
the base virtual disk of an older (Legacy) snapshot virtual disk as your target virtual disk, you must first disable all snapshot (Legacy) virtual disks that are associated with the base virtual disk. Types Of Virtual Disk Copies You can perform either offline or online virtual disk copies. To ensure data integrity, all I/O to the target virtual disk is suspended during either type of virtual disk copy operation.
Page 167: Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions
NOTE: When creating a snapshot virtual disk, map the snapshot virtual disk to only one node in the cluster. Mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the host group or both nodes in the cluster may cause data corruption by allowing both nodes to concurrently access data. Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions After the virtual disk copy is complete, the target virtual disk automatically becomes read-only to the hosts.
Page 168: Creating A Virtual Disk Copy
Creating A Virtual Disk Copy CAUTION: Possible loss of data—Source virtual disks that are participating in a virtual disk copy are available for read I/O activity only while a virtual disk copy has a status of In Progress or Pending. Write requests are allowed after the virtual disk copy has completed.
Page 169: Create Copy Wizard
on a source virtual disk or a target virtual disk after a virtual disk copy has been created, the modification operation must complete before the virtual disk copy can start. If a virtual disk copy has a status of In Progress, any modification operation does not take place.
Page 170: Copy Manager
Copy Manager After you create a virtual disk copy by using the Create Copy Wizard, you can monitor the virtual disk copy through the Copy Manager. From the Copy Manager, a virtual disk copy may be re-copied, stopped, or removed. You can also modify the attributes, such as the copy priority and the target virtual disk Read-Only attribute.
Page 171: Storage Array Performance During Virtual Disk Copy
Storage Array Performance During Virtual Disk Copy The following factors contribute to the overall performance of the storage array: • I/O activity • Virtual disk RAID level • Virtual disk configuration — Number of drives in the virtual disk groups •...
Page 172: Recopying A Virtual Disk
• To use this option, select only one copy pair in the Copy Manager. • When the virtual disk copy is stopped, all of the mapped hosts have write access to the source virtual disk. If data is written to the source virtual disk, the data on the target virtual disk no longer matches the data on the source virtual disk.
Page 173: Recopying The Virtual Disk
Recopying The Virtual Disk You can use the Copy Manager to create a new virtual disk copy for a selected source virtual disk and a target virtual disk. Use this option when you have stopped a virtual disk copy and want to start it again or when a virtual disk copy has failed or completed.
Page 174 Select Copy → Remove Copy Pairs. The Remove Copy Pairs dialog is displayed. Click Yes.
Page 175: Device Mapper Multipath For Linux
NOTE: The required Device Mapper software components are installed on a Linux host server by running the MD Series storage arrays resource DVD installation program on the server, and selecting either the Full or Host install option. For detailed installation procedures, see the storage array’s Deployment Guide at dell.com/support/ manuals.
Page 176: Device Mapper Configuration Steps
Configure using MDCU — After the host server has rebooted, the MDCU automatically starts and is present on the desktop. This utility allows for quick and easy configuration of new and or existing MD Series storage arrays present on your network. It also provides a GUI Wizard for establishing the iSCSI sessions to the array. Create and map virtual disks using the MD Storage Manager —...
Page 177: Display The Multipath Device Topology Using The Multipath Command
It is located in the /dev/mapper directory. DELL is the vendor of the device. MD3xxxx is the model of the device. Sdc is the physical path to the owning controller for the device.
Page 178: Add A New Partition To Device Mapper
Add A New Partition To Device Mapper The kpartx command adds the new fdisk partition to the Device Mapper list of usable partitions. See examples below, where mpath<x> is the device node on which the partition was created. # kpartx –a /dev/mapper/mpath<x> If successful, the command does not display an output.
Page 179: Important Information About Special Partitions
–F Flushes out all unused multipathing device maps. rescan_dm_devs Dell provided script. Forces a rescan of the host SCSI bus and aggregates multipathing devices as needed. Use this command when: • LUNs are dynamically mapped to the hosts.
Page 180: Troubleshooting
• I/O may hang when a Device Mapper device is deleted before the volume is unmounted. • If the scsi_dh_rdac module is not included in initrd, slower device discovery may be seen and the syslog may become populated with buffer I/O error messages. •...
Page 181: Configuring Asymmetric Logical Unit Access
Manually Adding SATP Rule In ESX 4.1 (Update 1 And Update 2) To manually add the SATP rule in ESX 4.1 (update 1 and update 2): Run the following commands to delete the old claim rule and set the Dell-required rule: array_PID –...
Page 182: Manually Adding Satp Rule In Esx/Esxi 5.0
Run the following command for ESX/ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage nmp satp rule list –s VMW_SATP_ALUA /array_PID shows the tpgs_on Verify that the claim rule for VMW_SATP_ALUA with the VID/PID = Dell flag specified. Verifying If Host Server Is Using ALUA For MD Storage Array To confirm that the host server is using the ALUA plugin: •...
Page 183: Setting Round-Robin Load Balancing Policy On Esx/Esxi-Based Storage Arrays
Setting Round-Robin Load Balancing Policy On ESX/ESXi-Based Storage Arrays NOTE: Perform this procedure after you have enabled ALUA on VMware ESX/ESXi and verified if the host server is using ALUA for the MD storage array. For more information, see Enabling ALUA On VMware ESX/ESXi Verifying If Host Server Is Using ALUA For MD Storage Array.
Page 185: Premium Feature-Remote Replication
Premium Feature—Remote Replication The following types of Remote Replication are supported on the MD storage array: • Remote Replication — Standard asynchronous replication using point-in-time images to batch the resynchronization between the local and remote site. This type of replication is supported on both Fibre Channel and iSCSI storage arrays (not between).
Page 186: Types Of Remote Replication
Types Of Remote Replication The following are the types of Remote Replication premium features supported on your storage array: • Remote Replication — Also known as standard or asynchronous, it is supported on both iSCSI- and Fibre Channel-based storage arrays (both local and remote storage arrays must use the same data protocol) and requires a dual RAID controller configuration.
Page 187: Remote Replication Requirements And Restrictions
Remote Replication Requirements And Restrictions To use the standard Remote Replication premium feature, you must have: • Two storage arrays with write access and both these storage arrays must have sufficient space to replicate data between them. • Each storage must have a dual-controller Fibre Channel or iSCSI configuration (single-controller configurations are not supported).
Page 188: Activating Remote Replication Premium Features
Activating Remote Replication Premium Features Activating Remote Replication automatically reserves specific ports on each RAID controller module for data replication. After the port is reserved, any non-replication related I/O request to that port is rejected. Only RAID controller modules configured for Remote Replication can communicate with the reserved ports. The Remote Replication premium feature must be activated on both the local and storage arrays.
Page 189: Remote Replication Groups
From the AMW, select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Deactivate. A message prompts you to confirm if the Remote Replication premium feature is to be deactivated. Click Yes. Remote Replication Groups After the Remote Replication premium feature is successfully activated on both the local and remote storage arrays, you can create a Remote Replication group on the local storage array.
Page 190: Replicated Pairs
In the AMW of the local storage array, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Remote Replication → Replication Group → Create. The Create Remote Replication Group window is displayed. In Remote replication group name, enter a group name (30 characters maximum). In the Choose the remote storage array drop-down, select a remote storage array.
Page 191: Creating Replicated Pairs
Creating Replicated Pairs This procedure describes how to create the remote replicated pair on an existing remote replication group. To create a new Remote Replication group, see Creating a Remote Replication Group. In the AMW of the local storage array, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. Select Copy Services →...
Page 192: Removing A Replicated Pair From A Remote Replication Group
– The Associated Replicated Pairs table is updated to show the replication information for the Remote Replication group. Removing A Replicated Pair From A Remote Replication Group Removing a replicated pair from a Remote Replication group breaks the replication relationship between the primary virtual disk on the local storage array and the secondary virtual disk on the remote storage array.
Page 193: Premium Feature-Remote Replication (Legacy)
Access to the host server from the local and/or remote storage arrays using remote replication (Legacy) must be established through a supported Fibre Channel switch configuration. Direct-attached configurations between the host server and Dell PowerVault MD storage arrays are not supported. For more information on configuring the switch environment, see Required Switch Zoning Configurations.
Page 194: Activating Remote Replication (Legacy)
Activating Remote Replication (Legacy) NOTE: If you ordered the Remote Replication (Legacy) feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card in the Dell PowerVault MD Series storage array shipping box. Follow the directions on the card to install and enable this feature.
Page 195: Using Remote Replication (Legacy) With Other Features
(online) virtual disk and a secondary (offline) virtual disk, both of identical capacity. During operation, primary and secondary roles can be interchanged to test the replicated data sets without breaking the relationship. Independent copies may be created by deleting the relationship, in which case both virtual disks are available online to their configured hosts.
Page 196: Virtual Disk Expansion With Remote Replication (Legacy)
A primary virtual disk in a remote replication can be either a source virtual disk or a target virtual disk in a virtual disk copy. You can create a virtual disk copy on the primary virtual disk in a replicated pair, but you cannot create a virtual disk copy of a secondary virtual disk in a replicated pair.
Page 197: Switch Cascading
Switch Cascading When two or more Fibre Channel switches are cascaded, the switch management software combines the ports for all of the switches that are linked. Journaling File Systems And Remote Replication (Legacy) When using a journaling file system, you cannot gain read-only access to a remote virtual disk. A journaling file system does not let you mount the remote virtual disk in Windows NTFS.
Page 198: Activating And Creating Replication Repository Virtual Disks From An Existing Disk Group
From the AMW, select Copy Services → Remote Replication → Activate. In the Activate Remote Replication wizard, select Unconfigured capacity (create a new disk group) and click Next. The Activate Remote Replication - Create Disk Group wizard is displayed. In Disk Group Name, type a unique name for the disk group. Select one of the following to select a physical disk: –...
Page 199: Selecting The Secondary Virtual Disk
Open the AMW of both the local and remote storage array. Verify that the Remote Replication premium feature has been activated on both storage arrays. In the AMW of the local storage array, select the Storage & Copy Services tab. In the Logical pane of the local storage array, select the virtual disk you created to serve as your primary virtual disk.
Page 200: Setting Synchronization Priority And Synchronization Method
Click Next. The Select Synchronization Settings (Create Remote Replication (Legacy) wizard is displayed. Go to Setting Synchronization Priority And Synchronization Method. Setting Synchronization Priority And Synchronization Method You can set the priority for allocating system resources to synchronizing the remote replication. •...
Page 201: Raid Controller Module Ownership/Preferred Path
RAID Controller Module Ownership/Preferred Path During a remote replication operation, the RAID controller module that owns the primary virtual disk must correspond to the RAID controller owning the secondary volume on the remote array. If both virtual disks do not have the same preferred RAID controller module when a remote replication begins, the ownership of the secondary virtual disk is automatically transferred to the preferred RAID controller module of the primary virtual disk.
Page 202: Viewing The Properties Pane
In the Section Selection area of the Save Profile window, select each section you want to save. To save the file, either: – Save the file in the default directory, or – Save the file in another directory by choosing it in the Look in drop-down list. In File name, type a name for the file and click Save.
Page 203: Virtual Disk Status Icons
Virtual Disk Status Icons In the Devices tab on the EMW, the following icons depict the status of each virtual disk. Icon Status Replication repository virtual disk Primary virtual disk Secondary virtual disk Primary virtual disk, synchronization in progress Primary virtual disk, replication suspended Secondary virtual disk, replication suspended Primary virtual disk, unsynchronized Secondary virtual disk, unsynchronized with communications loss...
Page 204: Resynchronizing Virtual Disks
– Replication status is Synchronized. – Write mode is either Synchronous or Asynchronous, depending on your selection above. – The secondary virtual disk is either write consistent/not write consistent. – Resynchronization method is either Manual or Automatic. Resynchronizing Virtual Disks There are two resynchronization methods for remote replications: •...
Page 205: Changing Synchronization Priority And Method
NOTE: When the primary virtual disk and the secondary virtual disk are resynchronized, only data that has changed on the primary virtual disk after the break in communication is transferred to the secondary virtual disk. CAUTION: You should be aware of a possible loss of data if communication is broken after resynchronization starts between the primary storage array and the secondary storage array.
Page 206: Automatically Resynchronizing Virtual Disks
• The status of the replicated pair changes to Unsynchronized. • A Needs Attention status is displayed for the storage array. • Data is written to the primary virtual disk. • Write requests to the primary virtual disk are logged. •...
Page 207: Promoting The Secondary Virtual Disk Or Demoting The Primary Virtual Disk
CAUTION: A potential loss of data access can occur if you reverse roles between the secondary virtual disk and the primary virtual disk while a virtual disk copy is in progress. The role reversal may succeed, but the virtual disk copy fails and cannot be restarted.
Page 208: About Resumed Remote Replications
Select one or more replicated pairs. To select all replicated pairs, click Select All. Click Resume. The Resume Replication Pair - Confirmation dialog is displayed. In the Confirmation text box, type Yes. The remote virtual disk replication resumes. NOTE: The Properties panes in the AMW for the local storage array and the remote storage array show the Replication status as Synchronized for both the primary and secondary virtual disks.
Page 209: Deleting A Virtual Disk From A Replicated Pair In A Storage Array
Select Test Replication Communication. The Replication Communication Test Progress message is displayed. Deleting A Virtual Disk From A Replicated Pair In A Storage Array Follow these steps to delete either a primary virtual disk, a secondary virtual disk, or both virtual disks from a replicated pair in a storage array.
Page 210 The primary virtual disk is deleted from the storage array. The secondary virtual disk in the replicated pair now becomes a regular standard virtual disk in the storage array. NOTE: The primary virtual disk is deleted from the storage array and all data on the virtual disk is permanently lost.
Page 211 NOTE: To re-enable the Remote Replication premium feature on a storage array after it has been disabled, you must either retrieve the premium feature key or obtain a new one from your Dell support representative. To disable the remote replication premium feature: In the AMW, select Storage Array →...
Page 213: Management Firmware Downloads
Management Firmware Downloads Downloading RAID Controller And NVSRAM Packages A version number exists for each firmware file. The version number indicates whether the firmware is a major version or a minor version. You can use the Enterprise Management Window (EMW) to download and activate both the major firmware versions and the minor firmware versions.
Page 214 By default, only the downloadable files that are compatible with the current storage array configuration are displayed. When you select a file in the File Selection area of the dialog, applicable attributes (if any) of the file are displayed in the File Information area. The attributes indicate the version of the file. If you want to download an NVSRAM file with the firmware: a) Select Transfer NVSRAM file with RAID controller module firmware.
Page 215: Downloading Only Nvsram Firmware
NOTE: If any of the selected storage arrays do not support downloading the files and activating the firmware or NVSRAM later, the Transfer files but don’t activate them (activate later) check box is disabled. 17. Click OK. The Confirm Download dialog is displayed. 18.
Page 216: Downloading Physical Disk Firmware
The Download NVSRAM dialog is displayed. The current firmware version and the NVSRAM version of the selected storage arrays is displayed. NOTE: If you select the storage arrays with different RAID controller module types that cannot be updated with the same NVSRAM file and click NVSRAM, the Incompatible RAID Controller Modules dialog is displayed.
Page 217: Downloading Md3060E Series Expansion Module Emm Firmware
The Download Physical Disk Firmware - Introduction window is displayed. Click Next. The Download Physical Disk Firmware - Add Package window is displayed. In the Selected Packages area, click Add. Navigate to the location of the packages and click OK. The selected package is added to the Packages to be transferred area.
Page 218: Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology (Smart)
Monitor the progress and completion status of the download to the expansion enclosures. The progress and status of each expansion enclosure that is participating in the download is displayed in the Status column of the Select enclosures table. NOTE: Each firmware download can take several minutes to complete. Perform one of these actions depending on whether the download succeeded: –...
Page 219: Firmware Inventory
Firmware Inventory A storage array is made up of many components, which may include RAID controller modules, physical disks, and enclosure management modules (EMMs). Each of these components contains firmware. Some versions of the firmware are dependent on other versions of firmware. To capture information about all of the firmware versions in the storage array, view the firmware inventory.
Page 221: System Interfaces
System Interfaces Virtual Disk Service The Microsoft Virtual Disk Service (VDS) is a component of the Windows operating system. The VDS component utilizes third-party vendor specific software modules, known as providers, to access and configure third-party storage resources, such as MD Series storage arrays. The VDS component exposes a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that provides a single interface for managing disks and other storage hardware.
Page 222 repository virtual disk names. The resulting snapshot and repository names are too long if the source virtual disk name exceeds 16 characters. NOTE: A volume is another term for virtual disk. For more information on VDS and VSS, see microsoft.com.
Page 223: Storage Array Software
Device Health Conditions When you open the Enterprise Management Window (EMW), the Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager) establishes communication with each managed storage array and determines the current storage array status. The current status is represented by icons next to the managed storage array.
Page 224 Status Icon Description Unresponsive The storage management station cannot communicate with the storage array or one RAID controller module or both RAID controller modules in the storage array. Fixing Status A Needs Attention status has been corrected and the managed storage array is currently transitioning to an Optimal state.
Page 225: Trace Buffers
Status Icon Description Setting an Alert at the Parent Node You can set alerts at any of the nodes Level in the Tree view. Setting an alert at a parent node level, such as at a host level, sets alert for any child nodes. If you set an alert at a parent node level and any of the in-band storage array child nodes have a Needs Upgrade...
Page 226: Retrieving Trace Buffers
A zip-compressed archive file is stored at the location you specify on the host. The archive contains trace files from one or both of the RAID controller modules in the storage array along with a descriptor file named trace_description.xml. Each trace file includes a header that identifies the file format to the analysis software used by the Technical Support representative.
Page 227: Creating A Support Data Collection Schedule
– To collect data from a single physical disk that is selected in the Hardware tab, select Monitor → Health → Collect Physical Disk Data → Selected Physical Disks. The Collect Physical Disk Data window is displayed. Enter a name for the physical disk data filename in Specify filename or click Browse to navigate to a previously saved file to overwrite an existing file.
Page 228: Removing A Support Data Collection Schedule
Removing A Support Data Collection Schedule To remove a support data collection schedule: From the EMW, select Tools → Collect Support Data → Create/Edit Schedule. The Schedule Support Data Collection dialog is displayed. In the Storage arrays table, select one or more storage arrays. Click Remove.
Page 229: Recovery Guru
The Save Events dialog is displayed, navigate to the relevant folder, enter the relevant file name, and click Save. To erase all log entries from the event log, click Clear All. To exit the event log, click Close. For more information, see the online help topics. Recovery Guru The Recovery Guru is a component of MD Storage Manager that diagnoses critical events on the storage array and recommends step-by-step recovery procedures for problem resolution.
Page 230: Viewing The Physical Associations
If the term is located on the current tab, the term is highlighted in the storage array profile information. NOTE: The search is limited to the current tab. If you want to search for the term in other tabs, select the tab and click the Find button again.
Page 231 For an out-of-band managed storage array, ensure that the RAID controller modules are network accessible by using the ping command to make sure that the RAID controller module can be reached. Type one of these commands, and press <Enter>. – ping <host-name>...
Page 232: Locating A Physical Disk
Locating A Physical Disk You can physically locate and identify one or more of the physical disks in an expansion enclosure by activating physical disk LEDs. To locate the physical disk: Select the Hardware tab. Select the physical disks that you want to locate. Select Hardware →...
Page 233: Capturing The State Information
You can also use this utility to resolve duplicate signature problems for snapshot virtual disks. From a command prompt window on a host running Windows, navigate to: C:\Program Files\Dell\MD Storage Manager \util and run the following command: SMrepassist -f <filesystem-identifier>...
Page 234: Unidentified Devices
Unidentified Devices An unidentified node or device occurs when the MD Storage Manager cannot access a new storage array. Causes for this error include network connection problems, the storage array is turned off, or the storage array does not exist. NOTE: Before beginning any recovery procedure, make sure that the Host Context Agent software is installed and running.
Page 235: Starting Or Restarting The Host Context Agent Software
c) Examine the Ethernet cables to make sure that you cannot see any damage and that they are tightly connected. d) Make sure that the applicable network configuration tasks have been done (for example, the IP addresses have been assigned to each controller). Make sure that the controller firmware is compatible with MD Storage Manager on your management station.
Page 236 Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Dell, Inc. All rights reserved. Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg10): Activating Checking device /dev/sdb (/dev/sg11): Skipping Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg3): Activating Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg4): Activating Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg5): Activating Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg6): Activating Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg7): Activating Checking device <n/a>...
Page 237: Getting Help
Visit support.dell.com. Select your support category. If you are not a U.S. customer, select your country code at the bottom of the support.dell.com page, or select All to see more choices. Select the appropriate service or support link based on your need.

Dell PowerVault MD Series Administrator's Manual

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings

1 Introduction

2 About Your MD Series Storage Array

3 Discovering and Managing Your Storage Array

4 Using Iscsi

5 Event Monitor

6 About Your Host

7 Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, and Thin Virtual Disks

8 Disk Pools and Disk Pool Virtual Disks

9 Using SSD Cache

10 Premium Feature-Snapshot Virtual Disk

11 Premium Feature-Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy)

12 Premium Feature-Virtual Disk Copy

Quick Links

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Summary of Contents for Dell PowerVault MD Series