Dell PowerVault MD Series User Manual

Dell PowerVault MD Series

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Dell PowerVault MD Series Storage Arrays

Administrator's Guide

Table of Contents

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings2
- Table of Contents3
1 Introduction15
- Dell Powervault Modular Disk Storage Manager15
- User Interface15
- Enterprise Management Window15
  - Inheriting the System Settings16
- Array Management Window16
- Dell Powervault Modular Disk Configuration Utility17
- Other Information You May Need17
2 About Your MD Series Storage Array19
- Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, and Disk Groups19
- Disk Pools21
- Thin Virtual Disks21
- RAID Levels21
- Segment Size23
- Virtual Disk Operations23
- Disk Group Operations24
- RAID Background Operations Priority26
- Virtual Disk Migration and Disk Roaming26
- Advanced Features28
- Multi-Path Software30
  - Preferred and Alternate Controllers and Paths31
  - Virtual Disk Ownership31
- Load Balancing31
- Monitoring System Performance32
  - Monitoring Performance Using the Tabular View32
  - Monitoring Performance Using the Graphical View33
3 Discovering and Managing Your Storage Array35
- Out-Of-Band Management35
- In-Band Management35
  - Access Virtual Disk36
- Storage Arrays36
  - Automatic Discovery of Storage Arrays36
  - Manual Addition of a Storage Array36
- Setting up Your Storage Array37
- Configuring Alert Notifications41
  - Configuring E-Mail Alerts42
  - Configuring SNMP Alerts43
- Battery Settings44
  - Changing the Battery Settings44
- Setting the Storage Array RAID Controller Module Clocks44
4 Using Iscsi47
- Changing the Iscsi Target Authentication47
- Entering Mutual Authentication Permissions47
- Creating CHAP Secrets48
- Changing the Iscsi Target Identification49
- Changing the Iscsi Target Discovery Settings49
- Configuring the Iscsi Host Ports49
- Advanced Iscsi Host Port Settings50
- Viewing or Ending an Iscsi Session51
- Viewing Iscsi Statistics and Setting Baseline Statistics51
- Edit, Remove, or Rename Host Topology52
5 Event Monitor53
- Enabling or Disabling the Event Monitor53
  - Windows53
  - Linux53
6 About Your Host55
- Configuring Host Access55
- Using the Host Mappings Tab55
  - Defining a Host56
- Removing Host Access57
- Managing Host Groups57
- Creating a Host Group57
- I/O Data Path Protection59
- Managing Host Port Identifiers60
7 Disk Groups, Standard Virtual Disks, and Thin Virtual Disks63
- Creating Disk Groups and Virtual Disks63
- Thin Virtual Disks69
- Choosing an Appropriate Physical Disk Type75
- Physical Disk Security with Self Encrypting Disk75
- Configuring Hot Spare Physical Disks80
- Enclosure Loss Protection83
- Drawer Loss Protection83
- Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping84
- Restricted Mappings89
- Storage Partitioning90
- Disk Group and Virtual Disk Expansion91
- Disk Group Migration92
  - Export Disk Group92
  - Import Disk Group93
- Storage Array Media Scan94
  - Changing Media Scan Settings94
  - Suspending the Media Scan95
8 Disk Pools and Disk Pool Virtual Disks97
- Difference between Disk Groups and Disk Pools97
- Disk Pool Restrictions97
- Creating a Disk Pool Manually98
- Automatically Managing the Unconfigured Capacity in Disk Pools99
- Locating Physical Disks in a Disk Pool99
- Renaming a Disk Pool100
- Configuring Alert Notifications for a Disk Pool100
- Adding Unassigned Physical Disks to a Disk Pool101
- Configuring the Preservation Capacity of a Disk Pool101
- Changing the Modification Priority of a Disk Pool102
- Changing the RAID Controller Module Ownership of a Disk Pool102
- Checking Data Consistency103
- Deleting a Disk Pool104
- Viewing Storage Array Logical Components and Associated Physical Components104
- Secure Disk Pools105
- Changing Capacity on Existing Thin Virtual Disks106
- Creating a Thin Virtual Disk from a Disk Pool106
9 Using SSD Cache109
- How SSD Cache Works109
- Benefits of SSD Cache109
- Choosing SSD Cache Parameters109
- SSD Cache Restrictions110
- Creating an SSD Cache110
- Viewing Physical Components Associated with an SSD Cache110
- Locating Physical Disks in an SSD Cache111
- Adding Physical Disks to an SSD Cache111
- Removing Physical Disks from an SSD Cache111
- Suspending or Resuming SSD Caching112
- Changing I/O Type in an SSD Cache112
- Renaming an SSD Cache112
- Deleting an SSD Cache112
- Using the Performance Modeling Tool113
10 Premium Feature-Snapshot Virtual Disk115
- Snapshot Virtual Disk Vs. Snapshot Virtual Disk (Legacy)115
- Snapshot Images and Groups115
- Snapshot Virtual Disk Read/Write Properties116
- Snapshot Groups and Consistency Groups116
  - Snapshot Groups116
  - Snapshot Consistency Groups117
- Understanding Snapshot Repositories117
- Creating Snapshot Images118
- Scheduling Snapshot Images120
  - Creating a Snapshot Schedule121
  - Editing a Snapshot Schedule121
- Performing Snapshot Rollbacks122
- Creating a Snapshot Group125
- Converting Snapshots (Legacy) to a Snapshot Group129
  - Conversion Limitations129
  - Converting Snapshots (Legacy)129
- Converting a Snapshot Virtual Disk to Read-Write130
- Viewing Associated Physical Components of an Individual Repository Virtual Disk130
- Creating a Consistency Group131
- Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk of a Snapshot Image136
- Creating a Consistency Group Snapshot Virtual Disk142
11 Premium Feature-Snapshot Virtual Disks (Legacy)153
- Scheduling a Snapshot Virtual Disk154
  - Common Reasons for Scheduling a Snapshot Virtual Disk154
  - Guidelines for Creating Snapshot Schedules154
- Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk Using the Simple Path154
  - About the Simple Path155
  - Preparing Host Servers to Create the Snapshot Using the Simple Path155
- Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk Using the Advanced Path156
- Specifying Snapshot Virtual Disk Names159
- Snapshot Repository Capacity160
- Re-Creating Snapshot Virtual Disks161
- Disabling a Snapshot Virtual Disk162
  - Preparing Host Servers to Re-Create a Snapshot Virtual Disk162
- Re-Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk163
12 Premium Feature-Virtual Disk Copy165
- Using Virtual Disk Copy with Snapshot or Snapshot (Legacy) Premium Feature165
- Types of Virtual Disk Copies166
  - Offline Copy166
  - Online Copy166
- Creating a Virtual Disk Copy for an MSCS Shared Disk166
- Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions167
- Virtual Disk Copy Restrictions167
- Creating a Virtual Disk Copy168
- Preferred RAID Controller Module Ownership169
- Failed RAID Controller Module169
- Copy Manager170
- Copying the Virtual Disk170
- Storage Array Performance During Virtual Disk Copy171
- Setting Copy Priority171
- Stopping a Virtual Disk Copy171
- Recopying a Virtual Disk172
  - Preparing Host Servers to Recopy a Virtual Disk172
  - Recopying the Virtual Disk173
- Removing Copy Pairs173
13 Device Mapper Multipath for Linux175
- Overview175
- Using DM Multipathing Devices175
  - Prerequisites175
- Device Mapper Configuration Steps176
- Linux Host Server Reboot Best Practices178
- Important Information about Special Partitions179
- Limitations and Known Issues179
- Troubleshooting180
14 Configuring Asymmetric Logical Unit Access181
- ALUA Performance Considerations181
- Automatic Transfer of Ownership181
- Native ALUA Support on Microsoft Windows and Linux181
- Enabling ALUA on Vmware Esx/Esxi181
  - Manually Adding SATP Rule in ESX 4.1 (Update 1 and Update 2)181
  - Manually Adding SATP Rule in Esx/Esxi 5.0182
- Verifying ALUA on Vmware Esx/Esxi182
- Verifying if Host Server Is Using ALUA for MD Storage Array182
- Setting Round-Robin Load Balancing Policy on Esx/Esxi-Based Storage Arrays183
15 Premium Feature-Remote Replication185
- About Asynchronous Remote Replication185
- Remote Replicated Pairs and Replication Repositories185
- Types of Remote Replication186
  - Differences between Remote Replication Features186
  - Upgrading to Asynchronous Remote Replication from Remote Replication (Legacy)186
- Remote Replication Requirements and Restrictions187
  - Restrictions on Using Remote Replication187
- Setting up Remote Replication187
- Activating Remote Replication Premium Features188
- Deactivating Remote Replication188
- Remote Replication Groups189
- Replicated Pairs190
16 Premium Feature-Remote Replication (Legacy)193
- Overview193
- Switchable Host Access Configuration Required with Remote Replication (Legacy)193
- Activating Remote Replication (Legacy)194
- Replication Repository Virtual Disks194
- RAID Levels for Replication Repository Virtual Disks194
- Primary and Secondary Virtual Disk Pairs194
- Using Remote Replication (Legacy) with Other Features195
- Storage Partitioning with Remote Replication (Legacy)195
- Snapshot Virtual Disk with Remote Replication (Legacy)195
- Virtual Disk Copy with Remote Replication (Legacy)195
- Virtual Disk Expansion with Remote Replication (Legacy)196
- Required Switch Zoning Configurations196
- Zoning Guidelines for Remote Replication (Legacy)196
- Switch Cascading197
- Journaling File Systems and Remote Replication (Legacy)197
- Prerequisites for Setting up and Managing Remote Replication (Legacy)197
- Activating the Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium Feature and Creating Replication Virtual Disks197
- Activating and Creating Replication Repository Virtual Disks from the Storage Array197
- Activating and Creating Replication Repository Virtual Disks from an Existing Disk Group198
- Creating a Remote Replication (Legacy)198
- Selecting the Secondary Virtual Disk199
- Setting the Write Mode199
- Setting Synchronization Priority and Synchronization Method200
- Completing the Remote Replication (Legacy)200
- RAID Controller Module Ownership/Preferred Path201
- Viewing Information about a Remote Replication (Legacy) or Replication Repository (Legacy) Virtual Disk201
  - Viewing the Storage Array Profile201
  - Viewing the Properties Pane202
  - Viewing Logical Elements of the Secondary Virtual Disk202
  - Viewing the Physical Components or Logical Elements of the Primary Virtual Disk202
  - Virtual Disk Status Icons203
  - Changing Write Mode and Consistency Group Membership203
  - Resynchronizing Virtual Disks204
  - Normally Synchronized Virtual Disks204
  - Changing Synchronization Priority and Method205
  - Unsynchronized Virtual Disks205
  - Automatically Resynchronizing Virtual Disks206
  - Manually Resynchronizing Virtual Disks206
  - Reversing Roles between the Primary and Secondary Virtual Disks206
  - Promoting the Secondary Virtual Disk or Demoting the Primary Virtual Disk207
  - Suspending a Remote Replication (Legacy)207
  - Resuming a Remote Replication (Legacy)207
  - About Resumed Remote Replications208
  - Testing Communication between the Primary and Secondary Virtual Disks208
  - Deleting a Virtual Disk from a Replicated Pair in a Storage Array209
17 Management Firmware Downloads213
- Downloading RAID Controller and NVSRAM Packages213
- Downloading both RAID Controller and NVSRAM Firmware213
- Downloading Only NVSRAM Firmware215
- Downloading Physical Disk Firmware216
- Downloading Md3060E Series Expansion Module EMM Firmware217
- Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART)218
- Media Errors and Unreadable Sectors218
18 Firmware Inventory219
- Viewing the Firmware Inventory219
19 System Interfaces221
- Virtual Disk Service221
- Volume Shadow-Copy Service221
20 Storage Array Software223
- Start-Up Routine223
- Device Health Conditions223
- Trace Buffers225
  - Retrieving Trace Buffers226
- Collecting Physical Disk Data226
- Event Log228
  - Viewing the Event Log228
- Recovery Guru229
- Storage Array Profile229
- Viewing the Physical Associations230
- Recovering from an Unresponsive Storage Array Condition230
- Locating a Physical Disk232
- Locating an Expansion Enclosure232
- Capturing the State Information233
- Smrepassist Utility233
- Unidentified Devices234
- Recovering from an Unidentified Storage Array234
- Starting or Restarting the Host Context Agent Software235
  - Starting the Smagent Software in Windows235
  - Starting the Smagent Software in Linux235
    - Getting Help237
    - Contacting Dell237

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Dell PowerVault MD Series Specifications

General

Product Line	PowerVault MD Series
Category	Storage
Drive Interface	SAS, SSD
Form Factor	2.5-inch, 3.5-inch
RAID Levels	0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60 (depending on the controller and model)
Connectivity	SAS
Drive Types Supported	SSD
Host Connectivity	SAS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel (depending on model)
Management Software	Dell Storage Manager

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