Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product MD3600F Dell
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Dell PowerV ault MD3600f and MD3620f Storage Array s Owner’ s Manual Regulatory Model: E03J Series and E04J Series Regulatory T ype: E03J0 01 and E04J001 book.
Notes, Cautions, and W arnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make b etter use of your computer . CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed . WAR N IN G: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury , or death.
Contents 3 Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Inside the Box of the De ll PowerV ault MD36 00f Series Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Dell PowerV ault MD3600f Series Storage Array .
4 Contents RAID Controller Module Connectors and Features . . . 32 Host Channel LED Link/Rate Indications . . . . . . . . 34 RAID Controller Modul e—Addition al Features . . . . . 34 Battery Backup Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Storage Array Thermal Shutdown .
Contents 5 Virtual Disk Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Background Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Foreground Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Consistency Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Media V erification .
6 Contents Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Monitoring MD3600f Seri es Sy stem Performance . . . 59 5 Configuration: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Enterprise Management Window .
Contents 7 Configuring E–mail Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Configuring SNMP Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Battery Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Setting the Storage Array RAID Controller Module Clocks . . . . .
8 Contents 9 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Creating Disk Groups and Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . 99 Creating Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Locating a Disk Group . . . . . . . .
Contents 9 Removing Host-to-Virtual Disk Mapping . . . . . . 128 Changing the RAID Controller Module Ownership of a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Changing the RAID Level of a Disk Group . . . . . 129 Restricted Mappings . . . . . . . . . . .
10 Contents Preparing Host Servers to Create the Snapshot Using the Simple Path . . . . . . . . . 145 Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk Using the Advanced Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 About the Advanced Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Preparing Host Servers to Create the Snapshot Using the Advanced Path .
Contents 11 Failed Virtual Disk Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Preferred RAID Controller Module Ownership . . . . . 167 Failed RAID Cont roller Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Copy Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Copying the Virtual Disk .
12 Contents Primary and Secondary V irtual Disk Pairs . . . . 179 Using Remote Replication With Other Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Storage Partitioning With Remote Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Snapshot Virtual Disk With Remote Replication .
Contents 13 Viewing the Properties Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Viewing Logical Elements of the Secondary Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Viewing the Phy sical Components or Logical Elements of t he Primary Virtual Disk . . . . 193 Virtual Disk Status Icons .
14 Contents Disabling the Remote Replication Premium Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 14 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Using DM Multipathing Devices .
Contents 15 Removing a RAID Controller Module Blank . . . . 229 Installing a RAID C ontroller Module Blank . . . . . 230 Removing a RAID Controller Module . . . . . . . . 231 Installing a RAID Controller Module . . . . . . . . 232 Opening the RAID Controller Module .
16 Contents Downloading Phy sical Disk Firmware . . . . . . . . 253 Downloading MD1200 Series Expansion Module EMM Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Self-Monitoring Analy sis and Reporting T echnology (SMART) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents 17 Storage Array Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Viewing the Logical Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Viewing the Phy sical Associations . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Finding Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18 Contents T roubleshooting Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 T roubleshooting Array Cooling Problems . . . . . . . 293 T roubleshooting Expansion Enclosure Management Modules . . . . . . . . . . . 294 T roubleshooting RAID Controller Modules .
Introduction 19 1 Introduction NOTE: Throughout the document, Dell PowerV ault MD3600f series storage array refers to both Dell PowerV ault MD3600f and Dell PowerV ault MD3620f. See the Safety , Environmental, and Re gulatory Infor mation document for important safety informat ion before following any procedures listed in this document.
20 Introduction Inside the Box of the Dell PowerV ault MD3600f Series Storage Array Unless specified, MD3600f Se ries repr esents Dell P owerV ault MD36 00f and Dell P owerV ault MD3620f.
Introduction 21 Other Information Y ou May Need WAR N IN G: See the safety and regulatory info rmation that shipped with your sy stem. Warranty information may be in cluded within this document or as a separate document. • Getting Started Guide provides an overview of setting up and cabling your storage array .
22 Introduction book.book Page 22 Wednesday , June 8, 2011 5:01 PM.
Planning: About Y our Storage Array 23 2 Planning: About Y our Storage Array Overview The MD3600f Series storage array is designed for high av ailability , offering redundant access to data storage. It’s fe atur es support for bo th single and dual R AID controller configuration.
24 Planning: About Y our Storage Array Hardware Features Front-Panel Features and Indicators Figure 2-1. Front-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerV ault MD3600f Figure 2-2. Front-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerV ault MD3620f 1 2 3 5 4 6 1 2 3 4 6 5 book.
Planning: About Y our Storage Array 25 Figure 2-3. Front-Bezel Features and Indicators Item Indicator , Button, or Connector Icon Description 1 Enclosure sta tus LED The encl osure status L ED light s when the enclosure power is on. Lights blue during normal operation.
26 Planning: About Y our Storage Array 3 Split mode LED This LED should be unlit as the split mode function is not supported by th e MD3600f Series Storage Arrays. 4 System identification button The system identification button on the front control panel can be used to locate a particular enclosure with in a rack.
Planning: About Y our Storage Array 27 Back Panel Feature s and Indicators Figure 2-4. Back-Panel Features and Indi cators—Dell PowerV ault MD3600f Series 1 600W Power supply/cooling fan module 2 RAID Controller Module 0 3 RAID Controller Module 1 4 600W Power supply/cooling fan module 1 2 4 3 1 book.
28 Planning: About Y our Storage Array Hard–Drive Indicator Patterns Figure 2-5. Hard Drive Indicators 1 hard-drive activity indicator (green) 2 hard-drive status indicator (green and amber) 1 2 book.
Planning: About Y our Storage Array 29 Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features The MD3600f Series storage array incl udes two integrat ed, hot-swappable power supply/cooling fan modules. Both modules must be in stalled to ensure proper cooling. Each module contains two se parate cooling fans.
30 Planning: About Y our Storage Array Power Indicator Codes Figure 2-6. Power Indicator Codes Item LED T ype Icon Description 1 DC power The LED lights green whe n the DC output voltage is within the limit. If this LED is off, it indicates that the DC output voltage ar e not within the limit.
Planning: RAID Controller Modules 31 3 Planning: RAID Controller Modules RAID Controller Modules The R AID controller modules provide high-performance, advanced virtual disk co nfigurat ion, and fault-tole ra nt disk subsystem management.
32 Planning: RAID Controller Modules RAID Controller Module Connectors and Features Figure 3-1. MD3600f Series Fibr e Channel RAID Controller Module Item Component Function 1 SAS OUT port P rovides SAS connection for cabling to a downchain expansion enclosur e.
Planning: RAID Controller Modules 33 9 Management port Ethernet connector P rovides a 100/1000 Mbps Et hernet connection for o ut-of - band management of the enclosure. 10 Management port speed LED Lights gr een when Ethern et connection is operating at 1000 Mbps.
34 Planning: RAID Controller Modules Host Channel LED Link/Rate Indications B e l o w e a c h F C p o r t is a p a i r o f LE D i n dicators. The status of any FC port can be determined by applying T able 3-1 to the condition of each LED pair .
Planning: RAID Controller Modules 35 Storage Array Thermal Sh utdown The system automatically shuts down when system temperature e xceeds the safe threshold. The battery backup unit protects against data loss by providing power to offload cache to no n-volatile memory in the event of power loss.
36 Planning: RAID Controller Modules Write–Bac k Cache In write-back cache, write operations re sult in a completion signal being se nt to the host oper ating system as soo n as the cache receives the data to be written. The tar get physical disk r eceives the data at a more appropriate time in order to incr ease controller perf ormance.
Planning: RAID Controller Modules 37 Figure 3-2. Fiber Optic Cable Connection The R AID expansion ports support SA S e xpansion connections. F igur e 3-3 shows a SAS cable and an SFF-8088 connector . Figure 3-3. SAS Cable 1 SFP transceiver 2 Fiber optic cable 1 SF-8088 connector 2 SAS cable 1 2 1 2 book.
38 Planning: RAID Controller Modules Interoperability of 2 G bps, 4 Gbps, and 8 Gbps Devices The FC standard specifies a procedure for speedy auto-detectio n. If a 4 Gbps port on a switch or device is connected to a 2 Gbps port, it must negotiate down for the link to run at 2 Gbps.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 39 4 Planning: MD3600f Series Storage Array T erms and Concepts This chapter e xplains terms and co ncepts used for configuration and operation of MD3600f Se ries storage arrays.
40 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Phy sical Disks Only Dell supported 6.0 Gbps SAS physi cal disks are supported in the s torage array . If the storage array detects unsuppo rted physical disks, it marks the disk as unsupported and the physical disk be comes unavailable for all operations.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 41 If a disk drive rebuild fails because of a source drive failur e or because the drive is too small, the MDSM r eports a failure of the ph.
42 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Disk groups are always created in the un configured capacity of a storage arra y . Unconfigured capacity is the availa ble physical disk space not already assigned i n the storage array . Virtual disk s ar e cr eated within the free ca pacity of a disk group.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 43 RAID Levels R AID levels determine the way in which data is written to physical disks. Different R AID levels provide different levels of accessibility , redundancy , and capacity .
44 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts RAID 0 RAID 0 uses disk striping to provide hi gh data throughput, especially for lar ge files in an environment that re quires no data redundancy . RAID 0 br eaks the da t a d ow n in to se g me nt s an d w r it es e a ch segment to a sepa rate physical disk.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 45 RAID 10 R AID 10, a combinatio n of RAID 1 and RAID 0, uses disk striping across mirrored disks. It provides high da ta throughput and complete data redundancy . Utilizing an even number of physical disks (four or more) cr eates a R AID level 10 disk group and/or virtu al disk.
46 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Background Initialization The storage array ex ecutes a background in itialization when the virtual disk is created to establish pa rity , while allowing full host server access to the virtual disks.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 47 Cycle T ime The media verification operat ion runs only on selected disk gro ups, independent of other disk groups.
48 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Disk Group Operations RAID Level Migration Y ou can migrate from one RA ID level to another depending on your requir ements. F or example, fault-tolera nt characteristics can be adde d to a stripe set (RAID 0) by converting it to a R AID 5 set.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 49 Vi rtual Disk Capacity E xpansion When you configure a virtual disk, you se lect a capacity based on the amount o f d a t a y o u ex p e c t t o s t o r e .
50 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts If a redundant R AID controller module fails with an e xisting disk group process, the process on the failed controller is transferr ed to the peer controller . A transferred process is placed in a suspende d state if ther e is an active disk group process on the peer controller .
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 51 V irtual Disk Migration and Disk Roaming Vir tual disk migr ation is moving a virtual disk o r a hot spar e from one array to another by detaching the physical disks and r e-attaching them to the new array .
52 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Use either of the following methods to move disk groups and virtual disks: • Hot virtual dis k migration—Disk migration with th e destination storage array power turned on. • Cold virtual disk migration—Disk migration with the destination storage array power turned off.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 53 • Enabling premium features before migration—Befor e migrating disk groups and virtual disks, enable the requir ed premium featur es on the destination storage array .
54 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Y ou can manually configure a host serv er -to-virtual disk mapping. When you configure host server -to-virtual disk mappin g, consider these guidelines: • Y ou can define one host server -to-virt ual disk mapping for each virtual disk in the storage array .
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 55 Snapshot Repository V irtual Disk When you crea te a snapshot virtual disk , it automatically creates a snapshot repository virtual disk. A snap shot reposi tory is a virtual disk created in the storage array as a r esource for a snapsh ot virtual disk.
56 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Source Virtual Disk When you create a virtual disk copy , a co py pair consisting of a source virtual disk and a target virtual disk is crea ted on the same storage array .
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 57 Using Snapshot and Disk Copy T ogether Y ou can use the Snapshot V irtual Disk and Vi r t u a l D i s k C o p y premium features t ogether to back up data on th e s ame storage arra y , or to re store the data on the snapshot virtual disk to its original source virtual disk.
58 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts Ownership of a virtual disk is moved from the pr eferred controller t o the secondary controller (also called the al ternate controller) .
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 59 • Round robin with subset—The round robin with subse t I/O load balance policy routes I/O requests, in rotation, to each available data path to the R AID controller module that owns the virtual disks .
60 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts • Using the P erformance Monitor to retrieve performance data can affect the normal storage array performance depe nding on the polling interval that you set.
Planning: MD3600f Se ries Storage Array T erms and Concepts 61 9 Select an appropriate directory . 10 T ype a file name in the Fi l e n a m e text box.
62 Planning: MD3600f Series St orage Array T erms and Concepts book.book Page 62 Wednesday , June 8, 2011 5:01 PM.
Configuration: Overview 63 5 Configuration: Overview Dell P owerV ault Modular Disk Stor age Manager (MDSM) online help contains information on the how to use the MDSM application to perform the configuration and mana gement tasks described in this document.
64 Configuration: Overview Enterprise Mana gement Window The EMW provides high-level manageme nt of storage arrays. When you start MDSM, the EMW opens.
Configuration: Overview 65 Inheriting the Sy stem Settings Use the Inherit Syst em Settings option to import the operating system theme settings into the MDSM. Im porting system theme settings affe cts such features as font type, font size, color , and contrast in the MDSM.
66 Configuration: Overview • Physical tab—Y ou can view the organization of the storage array by R AID controller modules, physica l disks, and other hardwar e components. • Mappings tab—Y ou ca n define the host s, host groups, and host ports.
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 67 6 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array Out–of–Band and In–Band Management Y ou can manage a storage array in two ways: • Out-of -band management • In-band management Out-of-Band Management Using the out-of -band manage ment meth od, data is separated from comm ands and events.
68 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array In-Band Management Using in-band management, commands, events, and data travel through the host-to-controller interface. Unlike out-of -band management, commands and events are mixed with data. NOTE: For detailed info rmation on settin g up in-band and out-of-band management see the Deployment Guide .
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 69 NOTE: For Linux, set the default gateway so that broadcast packets are sent to 255.255.255.0. Fo r Red Hat Enterpris e Linux, if no gate way exists on the network, set the default gateway to the IP address of the NIC.
70 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array NOTE: The host agent must be restarted befo re in-band ma nagement communication can be established. See "S tarting or Restarting the Host Context Agent Software" on page 285.
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 71 • Save Configuration—Save the configuration parameters in a file that you can use to restore the configuration, or reuse the configuration on another storage array . F or more information, see the P owerV ault Modular Disk Storage Manager online help topics.
72 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array Naming or Renaming Storag e Array s Each storage array should be assi gned a unique up to 30-character alphanumeric name. A name can consist of letters, numbers, and the special characters underscore (_), dash (–), and pound sign (#).
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 73 Setting a Password Y ou can configure each storage array with a passwor d to protect it from unauthorized access. MDSM prompts for the passwor d when an attempt is made to change the storage array configur ation, such as, when a v irtual disk is created or deleted.
74 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array Password Guidelines F o llow these guidelines when you create a password: • Use secure passwords for your storage array . A passwo rd should be easy for you to remember but difficult for ot hers to determine.
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 75 Adding/Editing a Comment to an Existin g Storage Array A descriptive comment, with an applic able storage array name, is a helpful identification tool. Y ou can add or edit a comment for a storage array in the EMW only .
76 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array Enabling Premium Features Y ou can enable premium features on the storage array . T o enable the premium features, you must obtain a feature k ey file specific to the pr emium feature that you want to enable from your storage supplier .
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 77 Changing the Cache Settings on the Storage Array 1 In the AMW , select Storage Array Change Cache Settings . The Change Cache Settings window is displayed. 2 Select or enter the percentage of unwr itten data in the cache to trigger a cache flush in Start flushing .
78 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array Changing the Enclosu re Order in the Phy sical Pane Y ou can change the order of the R AID controller modules and the expansion enclosur es in the Physica l pane to ma tch the hardwar e configuration in your storage array .
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 79 T o configure ale rt notific ations fo r a single storage array : 1 In the EMW , select the Devices tab. 2 Select the relevant storage array , then select Edit Configure Alerts . The Configure Alerts dialog is displayed.
80 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 5 In E-mail sender address , type the e-mail sender address. Use a valid e- mail address. The e-mail address of the sender (the network administrator) appears on each e-mail alert sent to the destination.
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 81 9 F or the selected e-mail address, in Fr e q u e n c y , select: • Every event —Sends an alert e-mail whenev er an event occurs. This is the default option. • Every x hours —Sends an alert e-mail after the specified time interval if an event occurred during that time interval.
82 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array These results occur , depending on your sele ction: • If you select all storage a rrays, the Configure Alerts dialog appears. • If you select an individual storage array , the Select Storage Array dialog appears.
Configuration: About Y our Storage Array 83 F ollo w these guideline for SNMP alerts: • Any SNMP addresses that you had previously configured appear in the Configured SNMP addresses area. • The SNMP Community Name is determined by the system administrator and configured within the a managemen t application, such as the Del l Management Console.
84 Configuration: About Y our Storage Array T o change the battery settings perform these steps: 1 In the AMW , select Storage Array Change Battery Settings .
Configuration: Event Monitor 85 7 Configuration: Event Monitor An event monitor is provided with De ll P owerV ault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM). The event monitor runs continuous ly in the background and monitors activity on the managed storage arrays.
86 Configuration: Event Monitor Enabling or Disabli ng the Event Monitor Y ou can enable or dis able the eve nt monitor at a ny time. Disable the event monitor if you do not want the system to send alert notifications.
Configuration: About Y our Host 87 8 Configuration: About Y our Host Configuring Host Access Dell P owerV ault Modular Disk Stor age Manager (MDS M) software is comprised of multiple modules. One of these modules is the Host Context Agent. The host context agent is instal led as part of the MDSM installation and runs continuously in the background.
88 Configuration: About Y our Host The host topology is re configurable. Y ou can perf orm the following tasks: • Create a host and assign an alias or user label. • Add or associate a ne w host port identifier to a particular host. • Change the host p ort identifier alias or user label.
Configuration: About Y our Host 89 T o define a host: 1 In the AMW , select the Mappings tab and select the appropriate storage array . 2 P erform one of the actions: • Select Mappings Define Host . • Select the Setup tab, and click Manually Define Hosts .
90 Configuration: About Y our Host 9 Click Next . If you sel ect Ye s , the Specify Host Group window is displa yed. If you select No , see step 11 10 Enter the name of the host group or se lect an existing host group and click Next . The Pr e v i e w window is displa yed.
Configuration: About Y our Host 91 Creating a Host Group 1 In the AMW , select the Mappings tab. 2 In the To p o l o g y pane, select the storage array or the Default Group .
92 Configuration: About Y our Host Moving a Host to a Different Host Group 1 In the AMW , select the Mappings tab, select the host node in the To p o l o g y pane. 2 P erform one of these actions: • Select Mappings Move . • Right-click the host node, and select Move from the pop-up menu.
Configuration: About Y our Host 93 Host T opology Host topology is the organi zation of hosts, ho st gr oups, and host interfaces configured for a storage ar ray . Y ou can view the host topology in the Mappings tab of the AMW . F or more information, see "Using the Mappings T ab" on page 88.
94 Configuration: About Y our Host Windows T o start or stop the host cont ext agent: 1 Click Start Settings Control P anel Administrative T ools Services . or Click Start Administrative T ools Services . 2 F rom the list of services, select Modular Disk Storage Manager Agent .
Configuration: About Y our Host 95 F or more information on Linux DM please see "Confi guration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux" on page 21 1.
96 Configuration: About Y our Host T o manage a host port identifier: 1 P erform one of these actions: • Right-click the host in the To p o l o g y pane, and select Manage Host P ort Identifiers in the pop-up menu. • F rom the menu bar , select Mappings Manage Host P ort Identifiers .
Configuration: About Y our Host 97 8 Select the host port identifier that you would like to manage from the list of host port identifiers in the Host port identifier information area.
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Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 99 9 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Creating Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Disk groups ar e cr eated in the unconfig ur ed capacity of a storage array , and virtual disks ar e created in the fr ee ca pacity of a disk group.
100 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks A disk group should be organized according to its related tasks and subtasks. F o r example, if you create a disk gr oup for the Accounting Department.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 101 3 T ype up to a 30–cha racter na me of the disk group in Disk group name . 4 Select the appropriate Physical Disk selection choices , you can select: • Automati c , see step 6 • Manual , see step 9 5 Click Next .
102 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Locating a Disk Group Y ou can physically locate and identify al l of the physical disks that comprise a selected dis k group. An LED bl inks on each physical disk in the disk group. T o locate a disk group: 1 In the AMW , select the Log i ca l tab.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 103 T o creat e virtual disks: 1 Choose one of these methods to start the Create V irtual Disk Wizard : • T o create a virtual disk from unconfigured capacity in the storage array—On the Log i c al tab, select an Unconfigured Capacity node, and select Vi r t u a l D i s k Create .
104 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks 5 In Advanced virtual disk param eters , you can select: • Use recommended settings . • Customize settings . 6 Click Next . 7 In the Customize Advanced V irtual Disk P arameters window , sele ct the appropriate V irtual Disk I/O characteristics type.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 105 T o change the virtual disk modification priority : 1 In the AMW , select the Log ic al tab. 2 Select a virtual disk. 3 In the toolbar , sele ct Vi r t u a l D i s k Change Modification P riority .
106 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks To c h a n g e t h e v i r t u a l disk cache settings: 1 In the AMW , select the Log i ca l tab and select a virtual disk 2 In the toolbar , select Vi r t u a l D i s k Change Cache Settings .
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 107 5 Click OK . A message prompts you to confirm the change in the virtual disk modification priority . 6 Click Ye s . 7 Click OK . Changing the Se gment Size of a V irtual Disk Y ou can change the segment size on a selected virtual disk.
108 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks T o change the segment size of a virtual disk: 1 In the AMW , select the Log i ca l tab and select a virtual disk. 2 Select Vi r t u a l D i s k Change Segment Size . 3 Select the requir ed segment size.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 109 T o change the I/O type: 1 Select from these virtual disk I/O ch aracteristic types, based on your application needs: • F ile system (typical) • .
110 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Phy sical Disk Security With Self Encrypting Disk Self encrypting disk (SED ) technology pr events unauthorized access to the data on a phy sical disk that is physica lly r emoved from the storage array .
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 111 The following table shows how to int erpre t the security stat us of a disk group: The Physical Disk Security menu a ppears in the Storage Array menu.
112 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks The Secure Physical Disks option is inactive with a check mark to the left if the disk group is already security en abled. The Create a secure disk group option appears i n the Create Disk Group Wizard - Disk Group Name and Physical Disk Selection dialog.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 113 T o create a security ke y : 1 In the AMW toolbar , select Storage Array Physical Di sk Security Create Security K ey . The Create Security K ey window is displayed. 2 In Security key identifier , enter a string that becomes part of the secure key identifier .
114 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks After you have created a security k ey , yo u can create secur e disk groups from security capable physical disks. Crea ting a secur e disk group makes the physical disks in the disk group secu rity-enabled.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 115 3 In Secure key identifier , enter a string that becomes part of the secur e key identifier . Y ou may leave the text box blank, or en ter up to 189 alphanumeric characters without white space, punc tuation, or symbols.
116 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks T o save the security key for the storage array : 1 In the AMW toolbar , select Storage Array Physical Disk Secur ity Save Security K ey Fi l e . The Save Security K ey F ile - Enter P ass Phrase window is displayed.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 117 Unlocking Secure Phy sical Disks Y ou can export a security-enabled disk group to move the associated physical disks to a differ ent storage ar ray .
118 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Configuring Hot Spare Phy sical Disks Guidelines to configure host spar e physical disks: • Y ou can use only unassigned physical disks with Optimal status as hot spare physical disks. • Y ou can unassign only hot spare physical disks with Optimal, or Stand by status.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 119 • Right-click the physic al disk and select Hot Spare Coverage from the pop-up menu. The Hot Spare Physical Disk Options window is displa yed.
120 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Hot Spares and Rebuild A valuable strategy to protect dat a is to assign available physical disks in the storage array as hot s pare s. A hot spar e a dds another level of fault tolerance to the storage array .
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 121 Hot Spare Drive Protection Y ou can use a hot spar e physical disk fo r additional data protection from physical disk failures that occur in a R AID Level 1, or RAID Level 5 disk group.
122 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks CAUTION: Enclosure loss protection is not guaranteed if a phy sical disk has already failed in the disk group. In th is situation, losing access to an expansion enclosure and consequently another phy sical disk in the disk group causes a double phy sical disk failure and loss of data.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 123 RAI D level 1 Ensure that each physical disk in a mirrored pair is located in a different e xpansion enclosur e. This enables you to have more than two physical disks in the disk group within the same expansion enclosure.
124 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Host-to-V irtual Disk Mapping After you create virtual disks, you must map them to the host(s) connected to the array . Guidelines to configur e ho st-to-virtual disk mapping: • Each virtual disk in the storage array can be mapped to only one host or host group.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 125 T o create host to virtual disk mappings: 1 In the AMW , select the Mappings tab. 2 In the To p o l o g y pane, select: •D e f a u l t G r o u p .
126 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Modifying and Removing Host-to-Virtual Disk Mapping Y ou can modify or remove a host-to-virtual disk mapping for several r easons, such as an incorrect mapping or r econfiguration of the storage array .
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 127 7 If configuring a Linux h ost, run the rescan_dm_devs utility on the host, and remount the virtual disk if requir ed. This utility is installed on the host as part of the MDSM install process. 8 Restart the host applications.
128 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Removing Host-to-V irtual Disk Mapp ing 1 In the AMW , select the Mapping tab. 2 Select a virtual disk from the Defined Mappings pane. 3 P erform one of these actions: • Select Mappings Rem o v e .
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 129 T o change the RAID controller mo dule ownership of a disk group: 1 In the AMW , select the Log ic al tab and select a disk group. 2 Select Disk Group Change Ownership/P referred P ath .
130 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Restricted Mappings Many hosts are able to map up to 256 logical unit numbers (L UNs) (0 to 255) per storage partition. However , the maximum number of mappings differs because of operating system variables, failover driv er issues, a nd potential data problems.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 131 • I f t he re i s a h os t w it h a re st ri ct ed ho s t t yp e t ha t i s p a rt of a s pe c if ic st or ag e partition, all of the hosts in that storage partition are limited to the maximum number of L UNs allowed by the restricted host type.
132 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks disk copy , ownership of the target virtua l disk is also chan ged. Under certain operating system environ ments, it might be necessary to reconfigure the multi-path driver before an I/O path can be used.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 133 CAUTION: Possible loss of data access– C hanging ownership at the disk group level causes every virtual disk in that disk group to transfer to the other RAID controller module and use the new I/O path.
134 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks 4 Select the R AID level (R AID L evel 0, R AID L evel 1, R AID Level 5, or RAID Level 6). The currently selected option is designated with a dot.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 135 Storage partitioning is unavailable when: • No valid host groups or hosts exist in the To p o l o g y pan e on t he Mappings tab. • No host ports are defined for the h ost being included in th e storage partition.
136 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks NOTE: If the RAID level of the disk group is RAID Leve l 5, or RAID Level 6, and the expansion enclosure has enclosure loss protection, Display only phy sical disks that will ensure enclosure loss protection appears and is selected by default.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 137 Using Unconfigure d Capacity Y ou can increase the capacity of a st andard virtual disk or a snapshot repository virtual disk us ing the unconfigured capacity when no free capacity exists on a disk group.
138 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Exporting a Disk Group On the source storage array : 1 Save the storage array configuration. 2 Stop all I/O , and unmount or disconnect the file systems on the virtual disks in the di sk group. 3 Back up the data on the virt ual disks in the disk group.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 139 2 Review the Import Report for an overview of the disk group that you are importing. 3 Check for non-importabl e components. 4 Confirm that you want to proceed with the import procedure. NOTE: Some settings cannot be import ed during the import disk group procedure.
140 Configuration: Disk Groups and V irtual Disks Errors discover ed by the media scan include: • Unrecover ed media error—Data could not be read on the first attempt or on any subsequent attempts.
Configuration: Disk Gr oups and V irtual Disks 141 7 T o enable or disable the cons istency check, select either With con sistency check or Without co nsisten cy chec k . NOTE: A consistency check scans the data blocks in a RAID Level 5 virtual disk, or a RAID Level 6 virtual disk and checks the consistency information for each block.
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Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 143 10 Configuration: Premium Feature— Snapshot V irtual Disks NOTE: If you ordered this featur e, you recei ved a Premium Feature Activation card shipped in the same box as your Dell PowerVault MD storage array .
144 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks After the snapshot re pository virtual disk is cr eated, I/O write r equests to the source virtual disk resume. Before a data block on the source virtual disk is modified, the contents of the block to be modified are copied to the snapshot repository virtual disk for safek eeping.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 145 About the Simple Path Using the simple path, you can specify: • Snapshot Virtual Disk Name—A us er -specified name that helps you associate the sn apshot virtual disk to its corr esponding snapshot reposi tory virtual disk and source virtual disk.
146 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks NOTE: For details on mapping the snapshot virt ual disk to the secon dary node, see the Dell PowerV ault MD3200 and MD3220 Storage Array s With Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clusters on support.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 147 3 Select Vi r t u a l D i s k Snapshot Create. or Right-click the source virtu al disk and select Create Snapshot V irtual Disk from the pop-up menu. The Create Snapshot V irtual Disk Wizard - Introduction dialog appears.
148 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks Creating a Snapshot Vi rtual Disk Using the Advanced Path About the Ad vanced Path Use the advanced path to choose whet her to place the snapshot r epository virtual disk on free capacity or unc onfigur ed capacity and to change the snapshot r epository vir tua l disk parameters.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 149 • P ercent F u ll—When the sn apshot r epository virtual d isk r eaches the u ser - specified repository full percentage level, the event is logged in the Major Event Log (MEL). The default snapshot repository full percentage level is 50% of the source virtual disk.
150 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks Remember the foll owing guidelines befor e cre ating a Snapshot Virtual Di sk: • The following types of virtual disks are not valid source virtual disks: – Snapshot repository virtual disks.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 151 3 Remove the drive letter(s) of the source in W in dows or unmount the virtual drive(s) in Linux to help guaran tee a stable copy of the drive for the Snapshot.
152 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks 5 Select Advanced , and click Next . The Specify Names window is displayed. 6 Enter the Snapshot visual disk name and the Snapshot repository virtual disk name and click Next. The Allocate Capacity window is displ ayed.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 153 15 T o register the snapshot virtual disk with the host operating system, run the host-based hot_add ut ility . 16 T o associate the mapping between the storage array name and the virtual disk name, run the host-based SMdevices utility .
154 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks • Y ou must choose a unique name for th e snapshot virtual disk and th e snapshot repository virtual disks, or an error message is displayed.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 155 T o expand the snapshot repository virtual disk: 1 In the AMW , select the Log ic al tab. 2 Select the snapshot repository virtual disk for which you want to increase the capacity . 3 Select Vi r t u a l D i s k Increase Capacity .
156 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks 7 If unassigned physical disks are not available, do you have empty slots in the expansion enclosur es? • Y es, there are empty slots—Insert new physical disks by using the information in the initial setup guid e for your expansion enclosure.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 157 A new F ree Capacity node is created and shown in the Log i c al tab if these conditions exist: •A F ree Capacity node did not exist prior to the addition of capacity . • Not all of the capacity that is added is used to increase the capacity of the snapshot repository virtual disk.
158 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks Disabling a Snapshot V irtual Disk Disable a snapshot virtual disk if: • Y ou do not need the snapshot now . • Y ou intend to re-create the snapshot at a later time and want to retain the associated snapshot repository virtual disk so that you do not need to create it again.
Configuration: Premium Featur e—Snapshot V irtual Disks 159 Preparing Host Servers to Re-create a Snap shot Vi rtual Disk NOTE: Before you create a new snapshot of a source virtual disk, stop any da.
160 Configuration: Premium F eature—Snapshot V irtual Disks Re-creating a Snapshot V irtual Disk After first pr eparing the host server(s), r e-cre ate a snapshot virtual disk.
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 161 11 Configuration: Premium Feature— V irtual Disk Copy NOTE: A virtual disk copy overwrit es data on the target virtual disk. Before starting a virtual disk copy , ensure that you no longer need the data or back up the data on the target virtual disk.
162 Configuration: Premium F eature—V irtual Disk Copy Reasons to use virtual disk copy include: • Copying data for improved access—As your storage requirements for a virtual disk change, you can use a virtual disk copy to copy data to a virtual disk in a disk group that uses drives with larger capacity within the same storage array .
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 163 NOTE: When creating a snapshot virtual disk, map th e snapshot virtual disk to only one node in the cluster . Mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the host group or b oth nodes in the cluster may cause data corruption by allowing both nodes to concurrently access data.
164 Configuration: Premium F eature—V irtual Disk Copy Vi rtual Disk Copy Restrictions Before y ou perform any virtual disk copy tasks, understand and adher e to the restrictions listed in this section. The r estrictions apply to the source virtual disk, the target virtual disk, and the storage array .
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 165 Creating a Vi rtual Disk Copy Source virtual disks that ar e participating in a virtua l disk copy ar e available for read I/O activity only while a virtual di sk co py has a status of I n P rogr ess or P ending.
166 Configuration: Premium F eature—V irtual Disk Copy Virtual Disk Copy and Modification Operations If a modification operation is running on a source virtual disk or a target virtual disk, and the virtual disk copy has a status of In P ro gress , Pe n d i n g , or Fa i l e d , the virtual disk copy does not take place.
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 167 Preferred RAID Controller Module Ownership During a virtual disk copy , the same R A ID controller module must own both the source virtual disk and the tar get vi rtual disk.
168 Configuration: Premium F eature—V irtual Disk Copy Copying the V irtual Disk Y ou can create a virtual disk copy by using the Create Copy Wizard . CAUTION: Possible loss of data access – A virtual disk copy ov erwrites data on the target virtual disk.
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 169 Storage Array Performanc e During Virtual Disk Copy The following factors contribute to the overall performance of the storage array: • I/O ac.
170 Configuration: Premium F eature—V irtual Disk Copy 3 Select Change Copy P riority . The Change Copy P riority window is displayed. 4 In the Copy priority area, select the appropriate copy priority , de pending on your system performance need s.
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 171 Preparing Host Servers to Recopy a Virtual Disk NOTE: Be fore you create a new copy of a so urce virtual disk, stop any da ta access (I/O) activ.
172 Configuration: Premium F eature—V irtual Disk Copy Recopying the Virtual Disk Y ou can use the Copy Manager to create a new virtual disk copy for a selected source virtual disk and a tar get virtual disk. Use this option when you have stopped a virtual disk copy and want to start it again or when a virtual dis k copy has failed or completed.
Configuration: Premium Feature—V irtual Disk Copy 173 Removing Copy Pairs Y ou can remove one or more virtual disk copies by using the Copy Manager .
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Configuration: Premium Featur e—Upgrading to High–Performance T ier 175 12 Configuration: Premium Feature— Upgrading to High–Performance Ti e r The High P erfo rmance Tier pr emium feature on an MD3600f Series array increases the performance of the system beyond th at of an MD3600f Series array operating at the standard performance level.
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Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 177 13 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication The Remote Replication pr emium featur e enables r eal-time re plication of data between two storage arrays in separate lo cations. Using re mote replication, up to 16 replicated virtual disk pairs can be cr eated on a storage array .
178 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Activating Remote Replication NOTE: If you ordered the Remote Replication feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card in the Dell PowerV ault MD storage array shipping box. Follow the directions on the card to install and enable this feature.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 179 Other information about replication r epository virtual disks include: • Specifying that replication repository virtual disks be created from.
180 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Before c reating a virtual disk pair , verify the following: 1 The Remote Replication premium featur e has been installed, enabled and activated on the primary and secondary storage arrays.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 181 Snapshot V irtual Disk W ith Remote Replication A snapshot virtual disk is a point-in-tim e image of a virtual disk. In a remote replication, do not mount a snapshot virtual disk on the same server as the primary virtual disk.
182 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Required Switch Zon ing Configurations NOTE: A limited set of Fibre Channel switches are supported by the storage array .
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 183 Journaling File Sy stems and Remote Replication When using a journaling file system, you cannot gain read-only access to a remot e virtual disk. A journaling file system does not let you mount th e remot e virtual disk in W indows NTF S.
184 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Activating the Remote Replicatio n Premium Featu re and Creating Replication V irtual Disks T o activate the Remote Replication fe ature and cr.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 185 6 In the Select capacity table, select the physical disks and capacities for the new disk group, then click Next. The P review (Activate R emote R eplication) wizard is displayed. 7 Click Fi n i s h .
186 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Creating a Remote Replication Before cr eating a r emote re plication, en sure that all pr erequisites ar e met. See "P rer equisites" on page 183 for mo re information. 1 Open the AMW of both the local and r emote storage array .
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 187 Selecting the Secondary Virtual Disk CAUTION: Creating a replicated virtual disk pair starts a process between the primary and secondary virtual disks that overwrites al l existing data on the secondary virtual disk and set the disk to read-only access.
188 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication also specify whether to use a write consistency group option. A write consistency group ensures that the se condary virtual disk receives write requests in the sequence initiated by the RAID controller module of the primary virtual disk.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 189 • Manual resynchronization (recommended)—The r eplicated pair must be manually resynchronized each time communication is restor ed between unsynchronized replicated virtual disks. 3 Click Next .
190 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication RAID Controller Module Ownership/Preferred Path During a remote re plication operation, the RAID contr oller module that owns the primary virtual disk must correspond to the R AID control ler owning the secondary volume on the re mote array .
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 191 Viewing the Storage Array Profile The Storage Array Profile displays the most detailed infor mation about the components of a r emote replicatio n an d the replication r epository virtual disks.
192 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Viewin g the Properties Pa ne The P roperties pane is a view-only display of the physical and logical characteristics of a single virtual disk in a replicated pair , or a single replication re pository virtual disk.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 193 Viewing the Phy sical Components or Logical Elements of the Primary Vir t u a l Di s k T o view the physi cal components or l ogical elements o.
194 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Virtual Disk Status Icons In the Devices tab on the EMW , the following ic ons depict the status of each virtual disk: Changing W rite Mode and Consistency Group Membership T able 13-1.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 195 The write mode of a r emote r eplication is sele cted when it is cr eated. However , you can chan ge the write mode in a remote r eplication at a later time, as well as change the secon dary virtual disk's membership in a write consistency group.
196 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Resynchronizing V irtual Disks There ar e two re synchronization methods for remote r eplications: • Manual resynchronization—See "Manua lly Resynchronizing Virtual Disk s" on page 200.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 197 The communication between a primary and secondary virtual dis ks can be suspended or become unsynchronize d. If communication between the primary virtual disk and the seco ndary virtual disk is disrupted: 1 The status of the replicated pair changes to Unsynchronized .
198 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication • Changing the segmen t size of a virtual disk • Defragmenting a disk group • Adding free capacity to a disk group • Changing the RAID .
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 199 Unsynchronized Virtual Disks Communication between a primary and se condary virtual disks can be either suspended, or become unsynchronized. If this communication between both virtual disks is disrupted: 1 The status of the replicated pair changes to Unsynchronized .
200 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Automatically Resynchronizing Virtual Disks When automatic resynchronization is se lected, the R AID controller module owning the primary virtual disk automati cally starts resynchronizing the data on the remote r eplication pair immedi ately after communication is restored.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 201 Reversing Roles Between the Primary and Secondary Virtual Disks Reversing the roles between the virtual disks promotes the secondary virtual disk to the role of primary vir tual disk and demotes the primary virtual disk to the role of seco ndary virtual.
202 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Promoting the Seco ndary V irtual Disk or Demoting the Primary V irtual Disk T o promote the seco ndary vi rtual disk to the role of primary vi.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 203 Resuming a Remote Replication 1 In the AMW of the storage array with the primary virtual disk, select the Logi c al tab. 2 In the Log i c al pane, right-click the primary virtual disk of the replicated pair , then s elect Res u m e Re pl i c a ti o n .
204 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication After the r emote virtual disk r eplicat ion resumes, data is automatically written to the secondary vi rtual disk. Only the re gions of the primary virtual disk that changed since the replicated pair was suspended are written to the secondary virtual disk.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 205 Deleting a V irtual Disk Fro m a Replicated Pair in a Storage Array F ollo w these steps to delete either a primary virtual disk, a secondary virtual disk, or both vi rtual disks from a repli cated pair i n a storage a rray .
206 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication Deleting a Secondary Virtual Disk NOTE: Depending on which premium features are enabled on the storage array , deleting a secondary virtual disk might delet e all associated virtual disks, resulting in a possible loss of da ta on those virtual disks.
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 207 Deleting a Secondary Virtual Disk in a Replicated Pair From a Storage Array 1 Stop all I/O activity on the seconda ry virtual disk and unmount any file systems on the secondary virtual disk. 2 In the AMW of the storage array that contains the secondary virtual disk, select the Log ic al tab.
208 Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication T o remove r emote r eplication from a storage array : 1 In the AMW of the storage array containing the primary virtual disk, select the Log i ca l tab. 2 In the Log i ca l pane, right-click the primary virt ual disk of a replicated pair , then select Remove R eplica tion Relationship .
Configuration: Premium Feature— Remote Replication 209 Disabling the Remote Replication Premium Feature Before disabling th e Remote Re plicatio n premium featur e, all r emote virtual disk replications mu st have been removed on the storage array .
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Configuration: Device M apper Multipath for Linux 211 14 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Overview The MD3600f Series s torage array us es a Linux operati ng system softw are framework, k nown as Device Mappe r (DM), to en able multipath capa bilities on Linux Host Servers.
212 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Using DM Multipathing Devices NOTE: Using or modifying any nodes other than the multipathi ng device nodes can result in array or file sy stem problems, including loss of communication with the array and corruption of the file sy ste m.
Configuration: Device M apper Multipath for Linux 213 Device Mapper Configur ation Steps T o complete the DM multipathing configuration and make the storage available to the Linux host server: 1 Scan for virtual disks. See "Scan for Newl y Added Virtual Disks" on page 213.
214 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Display the Multipath Device T opology Using the Multipath Com mand The multipath command adds newly sca nned and mapped virtual disks to the Device Mapper tables and crea tes entries for them in the /dev/mapper dire ctory on the host server .
Configuration: Device M apper Multipath for Linux 215 _ round-robin 0 [prio=1][enabled] _ 6:0:0:22 sdcl 69:144 [active][ghost where: mpathb is the name of the virtual device cr eated by device mapper .
216 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux The following examples provide information about the general mapping formats: On RHEL hosts, a partit ion node has the form at /dev/mapper/mpath<x>p<y>, where <x> is the alphabetic number for the multipathing device, <y> is the partition number for this device.
Configuration: Device M apper Multipath for Linux 217 Important Information About Special Partitions When using Device Mapper with the MD360 0f Series array , all physical disks are assigned a disk device node.
218 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Limitations and Known Issues • In certain error conditions with the no_path_retry or the queue_if_no_path feature is set, applications may hang.
Configuration: Device M apper Multipath for Linux 219 T roubleshooting Question Answer How can I check if multipathd is running? Run the follow ing command /etc/init.d/multipathd status Why does the multipath –ll command output not show any devices? F irst verify if the devices ar e discovered or not.
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Management: Installing Array Components 221 15 Management: Installing Array Components Recommended T ools Y ou may need the fol lowing items to pe rform the procedur es in this section: • Key to the system k eylock •# 2 P h i l l i p s s c r e w d r i v e r •W rist grounding stra p book.
222 Management: Installing Array Components Front Bezel (Optional) Removing the Front Bezel 1 Using the system key , unlock the front bezel (if locked). 2 Lift up the release latch next to the k eylock. 3 Rotate the left end of the be zel away from the front panel.
Management: Installing Array Components 223 Hard Drives SAFETY : Models AMT , E03J, and E04J Models AMT , E03J, and E04J are intended for installation only in r estricted access locations as defined in cl 1.2.7.3 of IEC 60950-1:2005. Depending on your configur ation, your array either supports up to 24 2.
224 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 15-3. Removing and Installi ng a 2.5-Inch Hard-Drive Blank Installing a Drive Bl ank 1 If installed, remove the front bezel . See "Removing the F ront Bezel" on page 222. 2 Insert the drive blank into the drive bay until the blank is fully seated .
Management: Installing Array Components 225 If the drive has been online, the gr een activity/ fault indicator flashes as the drive is powered down. When the drive indicators are off, the drive is re ad y f or r em o v a l. 3 P ress the r elease button to open the drive carrier release handle.
226 Management: Installing Array Components Installing a Hard Drive CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. Y ou should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as dir ected by the online or telephone service and support team.
Management: Installing Array Components 227 Removing a Hard Drive From a Hard-Drive Carrier Remove the screws from the slide rails on the har d-drive carrier and separate the hard drive from the carrier . See F igur e 15-5 for P owerV ault MD3600f and F igur e 15-6 for P owerV ault MD3620f.
228 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 15-6. Removing and Installing a Ha rd Drive Into a 2.5-Inch Drive Carrier 1 screws (4) 2 drive carrier 3 SAS screw hole 4 hard drive 2 1 3 4 book.
Management: Installing Array Components 229 Installing a Hard Drive Into a Drive Carrier 1 Insert the hard drive into the hard -d rive carrier with the connector end of the drive at the back. See F igur e 15-5. 2 Align the screw holes on the har d driv e with the back set of holes on the hard-drive carrier .
230 Management: Installing Array Components 5 Connect all the power cables to the array . 6 T urn on the array and the host server . Figure 15-7. Removing and Instal ling a RAID controller module Blan.
Management: Installing Array Components 231 Removing a RAID Controller Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. Y ou should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as direct ed by the online or telephone service and support team.
232 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 15-8. Removing and Installing a RAID controller module Installing a RAID Controller Module WAR N IN G: Fiber optic cables are fragile. Bendi ng, twisting, folding, or pinching fiber optic cables can cause dama ge to the cables, degraded performance, or loss of data.
Management: Installing Array Components 233 3 Connect all the cables to the RAID co ntroller module. If SFP transceivers and fiber optic cables wer e pr esent, r einstall them in the correct ports. 4 If applicable, upd ate the firmware for the RAID controller module.
234 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 15-9. Opening and Closi ng the RAID C ontroller Module Closing the RAID Controller Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified servic e technician.
Management: Installing Array Components 235 RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit Removing the RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
236 Management: Installing Array Components Installing the RAID Co ntroller Module Ba ckup Battery Unit CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified servic e technician.
Management: Installing Array Components 237 Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module The array supports two hot-swappabl e power supply/cool ing fan modules. While the array can operate temporarily with one mo dule, both the modules must be present for proper system cooling.
238 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 15-11. Removing and Installing a Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module In s t a ll i n g a Po wer Supply/Cooling Fan Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
Management: Installing Array Components 239 Figure 15-12. Securing the Power Cable CAUTION: When connecting the power cable, secure the cable with the velcro strap. NOTE: If the array is power ed on, all the power supply LEDs remain off until the AC power cable is connected to the power supply/cooling fan module and the power switch is turned on.
240 Management: Installing Array Components 4 Slide the control panel out of the chassis after: – P ushing the r elease tab toward the front of the array in Po w e r V a u l t MD3600f . See F igure 15-13. – P ulling the release pin toward the front of the array in Po w e r V a u l t MD3620f .
Management: Installing Array Components 241 Figure 15-14. Removing and Installing t he Control Panel—PowerV ault MD3620f Installing the Control Panel 1 Align the control panel w ith the slot on the array . 2 Slide the control panel into the ar ray until: – The release tab clicks into place in P owerV ault MD3600f .
242 Management: Installing Array Components Backplane WAR N IN G: Whenever you need to lift the array , ge t others to assist you. T o avoid injury , do not attempt to lift the array by yourself. CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
Management: Installing Array Components 243 Figure 15-15. Removing and Installing the RAID controller module /Power Supply Cage 1 RAID controller module /power supply cage 2 screws (6) 1 2 book.
244 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 15-16. Removing and Installi ng the Backplane—PowerV ault MD3600f Figure 15-17. Removing and Installi ng the Backplane—PowerV ault MD3620f 1 screws (5) 2 backplane 3 captive screw 1 screws (4) 2 backplane 3 captive screw 2 1 3 2 1 3 book.
Management: Installing Array Components 245 Installing the Backplane 1 Align the holes on the backplane with the holes on the array . 2 Tighten the captive screw to secure the back plane to the chass is. See F i gure 15-16 for P owerV ault MD3600f o r F igur e 15-17 for P owerV ault MD3620f.
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Management: Firmware Downloads 247 16 Management: Firmware Downloads Downloading RAID Controller and NVSRAM Packages A version number exists for each firm wa re file. The ver s ion number indicates whether the firmware is a major ver sio n or a minor version.
248 Management: Firmware Downloads Downloading Both RAID Controller and NVSRAM Firmware NOTE: I/O to the array can continue while y ou are upgrading RAID controller and NVSRAM firmware. NOTE: Dell recommends that the firmware and NVSRAM be upgraded during a maintenance period when the array is not being used for I/O.
Management: Firmware Downloads 249 7 Click Tr a n s f e r . Keep these guidelines in mind: •I f t h e Tr a n s f e r button is inactive, ensure that you either sele ct an NVSR AM file or deselect the T ransfer NVSRAM file with R AID controller module firmware option.
250 Management: Firmware Downloads 12 T o locate the dir ectory in which the file to download r esides, click Browse in the Select files area. The Select F ile dialog appears.
Management: Firmware Downloads 251 2 P erform one of these actions: • Select Advanced Maintenance Download RAI D C o nt r o ll e r Module NVSRAM • Select the Support tab, and click Download F irmware . In Select download task , select Download RAID control ler module NVSRAM and click OK .
252 Management: Firmware Downloads NOTE: The Details pane shows the details of only one storage array at a time. If you select more than one storage array in the Storage array pane, th e details of the storage array s ar e not shown in the Details pane.
Management: Firmware Downloads 253 Downloading Phy sical Disk Firmware CAUTION: When updatin g phy sical disk firmware , you should stop all I/O activity to the array to prevent data loss. The physical disk firmware controls vari ous features of the physical disk.
254 Management: Firmware Downloads T o download Physical Disk F irmware: 1 F rom the AMW , select Advanced Maintenance Download Physical Disk. The Download Physical Disk - Introduction window ap pears. 2 Click Next . The Download Physical Disk F irmware - Add P ackages window is displayed.
Management: Firmware Downloads 255 Downloading MD1200 Series Expansion Module EMM Firmware NOTE: Do not make any configuration changes to the storage array while you are downloading the expansion enclosure EM M firmware. Doing so could cause the firmware download to fail, damage the storage array , or cause loss of data accessibility .
256 Management: Firmware Downloads 5 Click Start . 6 Click Ye s to continue with the firmwar e download. NOTE: If you click Stop while a firmware download is in progress, the download-in-progress finishes before t he operation stops. The status for the remaining expansion enclosures changes to Canceled .
Management: Firmware Downloads 257 Media Errors and Unreadable Sectors If the R AID controller detects a medi a error while accessing data from a physical disk that is a member of a disk group with a .
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Management: Firmware Inventory 259 17 Management: Firmware Inventory A storage array is made up of many components, which might include R AID controller modules, physical disks, and enclosur e management modules (EMMs). Each of these components co ntains firmware.
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Management: Sy stem Interfaces 261 18 Management: Sy stem Interfaces Microsoft Services Virtual Di sk Service The Microsoft Virtual Disk Service (VDS) is a component of the W indows operating system.
262 Management: Sy stem Interfaces VSS attaches to the service and uses it to coor dinate the cr eation of snapshot virtual disks on the storag e array . VSS-initiated snap shot virtual disks can be triggered through backup to ols, known as requestors.
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 263 19 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software Start–Up Routine Look and listen during the array’s start-up routine fo r the indications described in T able 19-1. F o r a descri ption of the front- and back-panel indicators, see "Planning: About Y o ur Storage Array" on page 23.
264 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software T o launch the AMW , perform on e of these actions: •O n t h e Devices tab, in either the T ree view or the T able view , double-click a storage array . Alternatively , you can right-click a storage array and select Manage Storage Array from the pop-up menu.
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 265 In the T able view , every m anaged storage array is li sted once, regardless of the number of attachments it has in the T ree view . After the storage array has been contacted by MDSM, an icon repres enting its har dware status appears.
266 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software NOTE: MDSM may take a few minutes to update a status change to Unresponsive or from Unresponsive. A status change from or to Unresponsive depends on the network link to the storage array. All other status change updates faster .
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 267 2 Enter a name for the support data file in Specify filename or click Browse to navigate to a previously saved file to overwrite an existing file. The suffix .zip is added automatically to the file if you do not specify a suffix for the file.
268 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software Collecting the Phy sical Disk Data Y ou can use the Collect Physical Disk Da ta option to collect log sense data from all the physical disks on your storage array . Log sense data consists of statistical information that is maintained by each of the physical disks in your stor age array .
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 269 Event Log Y ou can use the Event Log V iewer to view a detailed list of events that occur in a storage array . The event log is stored on r eserved areas on the storage array disks. It r ecor ds confi guration events and s torage array compone nt failur es.
270 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software Recovery Guru The Recovery Guru is a component of MD SM that diag noses critical even ts on the storage array and recommends step-by-step recovery procedures for problem re solution. In the AMW , to display the Recovery Guru, perf orm one of these actions: •C l i c k Rec ov er y Gu ru .
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 271 2 P erform one of these actions in the Storage Array P rofile dialog: • View detailed information—Go to step 3. • Search the stor age array profile—Go to step 4. • Save the storage array profile—Go to step 5.
272 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software e In Fi l e N a m e , type the file name of your choice. T o associate the file with a particular softwar e applicat ion that opens it, specify a file extension, such as .txt. NOTE: The file is saved as ASCII text.
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 273 V iewing the Phy sical Associations Y ou can use the Associated Physical Co mponents option to view the physical components that ar e as sociated wit.
274 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software T o find nodes: 1 In the AMW , select Vi e w Fi n d . 2 Based on the typ e of search, se lect one of these options, and go to the indicat ed step: • Sea rch by name—see step 3. • Sea rch by special criteria—see step 4.
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 275 c Specify that the free capacity to be matched is less than , equal to, or greater than the capacity entered in the GB box. d Go to step 8. 8 Click Fi n d N e x t . T o see every node that matches t he criteria, click Fi n d N e x t repeatedly .
276 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 4 Select Vi e w Go T o Source V irtual Disk . The selection jumps to the associated source virtual disk in the Log i ca l pa ne . 5 Select Vi e w Go T o Ta r g e t V i r t u a l D i s k .
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 277 7 If the verification is successful , see step 8, if not, see step 9. 8 Remove the storage array with the Un responsive status from the EMW , and select Add Storage Array to add th e storage array again.
278 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 20 If the problem still e xists, make the appropriate host modifications, check with other administrators to see if a firmware upgrade was performed on the RAID controller module from another storage managemen t station.
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 279 Locating a Phy sical Disk Y ou can use the Lo cate Physical Disk op tion to physically locate and identify one or more of the physical disks in an e xpansion enclosur e by activating physical disk LEDs.
280 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software T o locate the expansion enclosur e: 1 Select the Physical tab. 2 Select a physical disk in th e expansion enclosure that you want to locate. 3 Select Physical Disk Blink Expansion Enclosure .
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 281 Use the convention filename.dmp for the name of the file. The suffix .dmp is added to the file automaticall y if you do not specify a suffix for the file. 4 Click Start . NOTE: Each test shows a status of Executi ng while it is in progress.
282 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software NOTE: In Windows, the mount point path is a drive letter . An error message appears in the co mmand line when the utility cannot distinguish between the following: • Source virtual disk and snapshot virtua l disk (for example, if the snapshot virtual disk has been r emoved).
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 283 a Ensure that the host context agent softwar e is installed and running. If the host is started befor e it is connected to the controllers in the storage array , the host context agent softwar e will not be able to find the controllers.
284 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software If the storage array r eturns to optimal status, you have completed this procedure. c Examine the ethernet cables to ensure that you cannot se e any damage and that they are tightly connected.
T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software 285 Starting or Restarting the Host Context Agent Software The host conte xt agent softwar e module is the softwar e component that r esides on the server or manageme nt station that co mmunica tes with the MD3600f series storage arrays.
286 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Dell, Inc. All rights reserved. Checking device <n/a> (/dev/sg10): Activating Checking device /dev/sdb (/dev/sg11): Ski.
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288 T roubleshooting: Y our Storage Array Software book.book Page 288 Wedn esday, June 8, 2011 5 :01 PM.
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 289 20 T roubleshooting: Y our Array Safety First—For Y ou and Y our Array CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
290 T roubleshooting: Y our Array 1 If possible, use the storage management software to create, save, and print a new storage array profile. 2 If the R ecove ry Guru d irected you to replace a failed R AID controller module, go to step 3, else run the Recovery Gu ru to identify the failed component.
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 291 Figure 20-1. Removing an SFP Modu le 7 Install the new SFP transc eiver into the interface port. Ensure that the transceiver is properly seated. 8 Reconnect the fiber optic cable. 9 View the FCIN speed LEDs and the Physical Disk Channel speed LEDs.
292 T roubleshooting: Y our Array T roubleshooting External Connections • V erify that the cables are connec ted to the correct ports before troubleshooting any extern al devices. F or the location of the back-panel connectors on your arr ay , see F igur e 3-1.
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 293 CAUTION: Power supply/cooling fan modules are hot-swappable. The array can operate on a single power supply; however both modules must be installed to ensure proper cooling. A single power s upply/cooling fan module c an be removed from a powered-on array for a maximum period of five minutes.
294 T roubleshooting: Y our Array T roubleshooting Expansion Enclosure Management Modules CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. Y ou should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as dir ected by the online or telephone service and support team.
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 295 d T u rn on the server . e Check the link s tatus LED. If the li nk status LED is not green, replace the cables. If the problem is not r esolved, see "G e t ti n g Hel p" o n p a ge 303 . T roubleshooting RAID Controller Modules CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
296 T roubleshooting: Y our Array • If both LEDs for any given FCIN port are unlit, see "T roub leshooting Array and Expansion Enclosure Connections" on page 297. a T urn off the server , storage arrays, and expansion enclosures. b Reseat the RAID controller module and reconnect cables on the storage array and the server .
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 297 T roubleshooting Array and Expansion Enclosure Connections 1 V e ri fy th a t t he SA S O UT st at us LE D i s g ree n a nd th a t f or ea ch FC IN po rt connected to a cable, at least one of th e paired LEDs is on. If this is not the case, see "Plannin g: RAID Controller Modules" on page 31.
298 T roubleshooting: Y our Array T roubleshooting a Wet Storage Array CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. Y ou should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as dir ected by the online or telephone service and support team.
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 299 T roubleshooting a Damaged Array CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. Y ou should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as direct ed by the online or telephone service and support team.
300 T roubleshooting: Y our Array T roubleshooting RAID Controller Modules Conditions Certain events can cause a R AID controll er module to fail and/or shut down. Unrecoverable ECC memory or PCI errors, or critical physical conditions can cause lockdown.
T roubleshooting: Y our Array 301 PCI Errors The storage array firmwar e can detect an d only recover from PCI errors when the RAID controller modules are configur ed for redundancy . If a virtual disk uses cache mirroring, it fails over to its peer R AID controller module, which initiates a flush of the dirty cache.
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Getting Help 303 21 Getting Help Contacting Dell F or cus tomers in the United States, call 8 00- WWW -DEL L (800-999-3355). NOTE: If you do not have an active Inte rnet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog.
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Index 305 Index A Access Virtual Disk, 68 Advanced F eature Using Snapshot and Disk Copy To g e t h e r, 5 7 Advanced F eatures, 53 Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk, 5 5 Snapshot Virtual Disks, 5 4 Ad.
Index 306 D Defining a Host, 88 Dell contacting, 3 0 3 Disk Group Creating, 1 0 0 Expansion, 1 3 5 Export, 1 3 7 E x p o r t i n g , 138 Import, 1 3 8 L o c a t i n g , 102 Migration, 1 3 7 Disk Group.
Index 307 re mo v i n g , 2 2 4 Hard-Drive Indi cator Pa t t e r n s , 2 8 Ha rd wa re F e at u res Back panel features, 2 7 F r ont panel feat ur es, 2 4 Hard drive indicator patterns, 2 8 P ower ind.
Index 308 Vir t ua l Di s k Co p y , 5 5 Monitoring P erformance, 59 Multi-P ath P r eferred and Al ternate Controllers and P a ths, 5 7 Multi-P ath Software, 57 N Non-Exportable Components, 137 O Oth.
Index 309 hard drive from a drive carrier , 2 2 7 power supply/cooling fan module, 2 3 7 Removing Copy P airs, 173 Removing Host Access, 9 0 Restricted Mappings, 130 S Safety , 19 safety , 289 Securit.
Index 310 Starting or Restarting the Host-Agent Software, 2 8 5 Start-Up Routine, 2 6 3 Storage Array P rofile, 2 7 0 Storage Array Support Data, 2 6 6 Unidentified Devi ces, 2 8 2 Vie w in g th e L o.
Index 311 Virtual Disks a nd Disk Groups, 41 Z Zoning Guidelines, 1 8 2 Switch Configurations, 1 8 2 book.book Page 311 Wedn esday, June 8, 2011 5 :01 PM.
312 Index book.book Page 312 Wedn esday, June 8, 2011 5 :01 PM.
An important point after buying a device Dell MD3600F (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Dell MD3600F yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Dell MD3600F - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Dell MD3600F you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Dell MD3600F will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Dell MD3600F, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Dell MD3600F.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Dell MD3600F. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Dell MD3600F along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
