Dell 6 series Manual

PS Series Storage ArraysGroup AdministrationPS Series Firmware Version 5.0

Group Administration Table of ContentsxDeleting inbound replica collection sets, replica collections, or replicas ...

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–8– Name, status, and security (access)– Capacity and reserve– iSCSI connections– Storage pool and (if a

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–9– Collections and schedules that include this snapshot– Accessibility (security) and current connectio

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–10• Schedules summary panel – Provides information about the snapshot and replication schedules for a vo

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–112. In the Access Control List panel, click Add. The Add Access Control Record dialog box appears.3. S

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–122. Click Clone. The following dialog box appears: Clone Volume – Settings. Specify the new volume name

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–131. Click Volumes in the lower-left panel, then expand Volumes in the far-left tree, then select the v

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–14Modifying volume permissionA volume can have read-write or read-only permission, unless it is a templa

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–15You cannot use the Group Manager GUI to enable or disable iSNS discovery for a volume or snapshot. In

10–110 Advanced volume operationsOnly knowledgeable group administrators should perform advanced volume operations, including creating thin-provisio

Group Administration Table of Contentsxi Monitoring iSCSI connections...

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–2– For a volume with a reported size that is less than 100GB, when free volume reserve falls below 6

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–3Enabling thin provisioning on a volumeWhen you create a new volume or clone an existing volume, yo

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–4• Because the group bases snapshot space and replication space on a percentage of the volume reserv

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–5About reported volume sizeYou can change the reported size of a volume while the volume is online

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–6Decreasing the reported size of a volumeYou can decrease the reported size of the volume, while the

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–7The group always maintains and shows the dependency of a thin clone on a template volume. If you e

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–8thin clone before you need to increase its size. This value is the same as the value for “unreserve

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–9Note: When you convert to a template volume, the group disables any schedules that include the vo

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–10If you detach a thin clone from a template volume, the thin clone is converted to a standard volum

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–114. Review the Create Volume Collection – Summary dialog box and, if satisfactory, click Finish. T

Group Administration Table of ContentsxiiAdditional monitoring tools ...

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–12• Snapshot summary panel – Provides information about snapshot collections, schedules, and schedul

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–13Deleting a volume collectionNote: Deleting a volume collection does not delete the volumes in th

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–14Creating a scheduleWhen you create a schedule, you specify the attributes described in Table 10-2.

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–15Displaying volume schedules1. Click Volumes, then expand Volumes, then select the volume, and the

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–16Enabling and disabling a volume RAID preferenceA PS Series group uses automatic performance load b

Group Administration Advanced volume operations10–17To unbind a volume from a member, use the following CLI command format:volume select volume_name

11–111 Snapshot managementSnapshots greatly simplify and increase the performance of backup and recovery operations.About snapshotsA snapshot is a po

Group Administration Snapshot management11–2About snapshot reserve allocationBefore you can create snapshots of a volume, you must allocate snapshot r

Group Administration Snapshot management11–3See Modifying snapshot reserve settings for a volume on page 11-3.About snapshot schedulesYou can set up

xiiiPrefaceThis document describes PS Series group functionality and management operations. It describes how you use the Group Manager graphical user

Group Administration Snapshot management11–4The default snapshot name is the volume name followed by the date and time when you created the snapshot (

Group Administration Snapshot management11–5Snapshot status tabThe Snapshot Status tab provides the following panels:• General snapshot information p

Group Administration Snapshot management11–6Creating a snapshot collectionYou can create snapshots of all the volumes in a volume collection in one op

Group Administration Snapshot management11–7The snapshot collection Modification status can be:•not modified — No snapshot in the collection is set o

Group Administration Snapshot management11–8Displaying snapshot collection statusClick Volumes, then Custom Snapshot Collections, and then the timesta

Group Administration Snapshot management11–9Click Volumes, then expand Volume Collections, then expand the collection, and then select the timestamp

Group Administration Snapshot management11–10See Volume attributes for attributes that apply to a new volume. In addition, you should fully understand

Group Administration Snapshot management11–11Setting a snapshot online or offlineBy default, a snapshot is offline. You can set a snapshot online, ma

Group Administration Snapshot management11–12Deleting snapshotsNote: If you delete a snapshot that is part of a snapshot collection or a custom snaps

12–112 Volume replicationVo l u m e replication between different groups provides protection against data loss. If a volume is destroyed, you can f

Group Administration PrefacexivPart II: Using Group Storage:• Chapter 7, Storage pools, describes how to organize storage for a group.• Chapter 8, iSC

Group Administration Volume replication12–2How replication worksBefore you can replicate volume data, you must configure the group where the volume re

Group Administration Volume replication12–3About manual transfer replicationIf you are transferring a large amount of data and your network link betw

Group Administration Volume replication12–4Replication configuration optionsA group can have multiple replication partners. However, you can replicate

Group Administration Volume replication12–5Reciprocal replication between partnersBoth partners replicate volumes to each other. For example, in Figu

Group Administration Volume replication12–6How volume changes affect replication spaceHow much space you need for replication depends on the volume si

Group Administration Volume replication12–7See the PS Series Release Notes for replication limits. 2. If you did not already configure the groups as

Group Administration Volume replication12–8 See About delegated space and replica reserve on page 12-11 and Replica reserve usage on page 12-12.To mak

Group Administration Volume replication12–9After each replication completes, the primary group replaces the failback snapshot to update the failback

Group Administration Volume replication12–10However, using the recommended values might not be the most efficient use of local replication reserve. Id

Group Administration Volume replication12–11 5% + change rate For example, if you estimate that at most 20% of the volume changes, a value of 25% mi

Group Administration PrefacexvPS Series Array Software• Firmware – Installed on each array, PS Series firmware allows you to manage your storage envir

Group Administration Volume replication12–12group. Replica reserve is based on a percentage of the volume’s replica volume reserve. See Replica volume

Group Administration Volume replication12–13When you configure a volume for replication, you specify the replica reserve size as a percentage (minimu

Group Administration Volume replication12–14The most recent complete replica is never deleted automatically, ensuring that you always have a viable co

Group Administration Volume replication12–15To obtain an appropriate replica reserve value, estimate the average volume changes that occur between re

Group Administration Volume replication12–16About replication partnersBefore you can replicate volume data between two PS Series groups, you must conf

Group Administration Volume replication12–17Replication partner attributesWhen you configure a replication partner, you specify values for the attrib

Group Administration Volume replication12–18• Group IP address.• Optional description for the partner. Then, click Next.3. In the Configure Replicatio

Group Administration Volume replication12–19Displaying the replication configuration for a partnerClick Replication and then select the partner name.

Group Administration Volume replication12–20Modifying partner passwordsIf you make a modification on one partner, you must make the reciprocal modific

Group Administration Volume replication12–21To delete a replication partner:1. Click Replication, then select the partner, and then click Pause inbou

Group Administration PrefacexviRelated DocumentationFor detailed information about PS Series arrays, groups, volumes, array software, and host softwar

Group Administration Volume replication12–22The Inbound Replicas Collections window appears, containing the following panels:• Delegated space panel –

Group Administration Volume replication12–23Template replicas tabIn the Replica Set Status window, the Template Replicas tab provides information abo

Group Administration Volume replication12–24Note: You can also display information about volume collection replication by clicking Volumes in the low

Group Administration Volume replication12–25Volume replication configuration attributesTable 12-2 describes the attributes you set when configuring t

Group Administration Volume replication12–26Because a template volume is read-only and cannot be failed back from the secondary group, keeping the fai

Group Administration Volume replication12–27See Configuring a volume for replication on page 12-25. If a volume is configured to replicate to a diffe

Group Administration Volume replication12–28Creating a replicaThe first time you replicate a volume to a partner, the primary group copies the entire

Group Administration Volume replication12–29• Replication operation status and replica status.2. In the Remote Replicas panel, click Replication Hist

Group Administration Volume replication12–30The Remote Replicas panel shows the replica collections for the volume collection. Expand a replica collec

Group Administration Volume replication12–31• To resume inbound replication from a partner: Click Replication, then expand the partner name, and th

Group Administration PrefacexviiTechnical Support and Customer ServiceDell’s support service is available to answer your questions about PS Series arr

Group Administration Volume replication12–32Deleting outbound replica sets or replicasDeleting a replica set disables replication on the volume. If yo

Group Administration Volume replication12–33Deleting inbound replica sets or replicasIf the primary group is not available, you can delete replicas a

Group Administration Volume replication12–34The replica, replica collection, or replica collection set no longer appears in the group. However, the re

13–113 Data recoveryIf you replicate a volume to a partner (see Chapter 12, Volume replication), you can recover volume data on the partner. In addit

Group Administration Data recovery13–2Data recovery proceduresTable 13-1 describes common data recovery procedures.Table 13-1: Data Recovery Procedure

Group Administration Data recovery13–3See Replicating a recovery volume to the primary group.3. When you are ready to fail back to the primary group,

Group Administration Data recovery13–4Figure 13-2 shows the replication configuration after a failure in the primary group (GroupA). Figure 13-2: Prim

Group Administration Data recovery13–5Figure 13-3 shows the first step in recovering data on the secondary group, which is to fail over the volume to

Group Administration Data recovery13–6Figure 13-4 shows the second step in recovering data—replicate to the primary group. When the primary group is a

Group Administration Data recovery13–7Figure 13-5 shows the final step in recovering data—fail back to the primary group. To fail back to the primary

Group Administration Data recovery13–8Promoting an inbound replica set does not require any additional space on the secondary group, because it reduce

Group Administration Data recovery13–9• If the original volume becomes permanently unavailable, you can make the inbound replica set promotion perman

Group Administration Data recovery13–103. In the Replicate Recovery Volume dialog box:• Specify the group administrator account name and password.• Se

Group Administration Data recovery13–11Moving a failback replica set to a different storage poolYou can move a failback replica set to a different po

Group Administration Data recovery13–12Note: If you chose to use manual transfer replication, the status of the create replica task is in-progress un

Group Administration Data recovery13–132. On the secondary group:a. Promote the replica set to a recovery volume. Make sure you keep the ability to d

Group Administration Data recovery13–14Then, click Next.4. Review the information in the Convert Recovery Volume – Summary dialog box and click Finish

Group Administration Data recovery13–153. In the Promote Replica Set – Volume Options dialog box:• Choose whether to set the volume online or offline

Group Administration Data recovery13–16Manually performing the replicate to partner operationThe Replicate to Partner operation consolidates multiple

Group Administration Data recovery13–173. On the primary group, promote the failback replica set to the original volume: Click Replication, expand t

1–11 Storage solutions for all enterprisesPS Series storage arrays provide consolidated storage in a self-managing, iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Sy

Part III: Troubleshooting

14–114 Group event loggingA PS Series group generates events when normal group operations occur and also when significant events occur. Events enable

Group Administration Group event logging14–2Event prioritiesEach event has a priority. Table 14-1 lists event priorities in order of lowest (least sev

Group Administration Group event logging14–3Configuring E-Mail notificationRequirement: To use e-mail notification, a group must have access to a Sim

Group Administration Group event logging14–4Configuring E-Mail homeIf a hardware component fails or if you update firmware, the group can automaticall

Group Administration Group event logging14–5• To modify the IP address for an SMTP server, select the IP address, click Modify, change the address, an

Group Administration Group event logging14–6About SNMP trapsSNMP traps are unsolicited event messages sent to a management console by an agent. PS Ser

Group Administration Group event logging14–7Configuring SNMP trap destinationsYou can configure network addresses to receive SNMP traps from the group

Copyright 2010 Dell, Inc. All rights reserved. EqualLogic is a registered trademark of Dell, Inc.Dell is a trademark of Dell, Inc.All trademarks and r

Group Administration Storage solutions for all enterprises1–2By default, a group provides a single pool of storage. If you have multiple members, you

15–115 Group monitoringIt is best practice to regularly monitor a PS Series group, so you can address issues before service is interrupted. About mon

Group Administration Group monitoring15–2Getting started with group monitoring All monitoring information is available by clicking Monitoring in the l

Group Administration Group monitoring15–3• Double-click an event. The event details panel opens at the bottom of the events list.• Select an event and

Group Administration Group monitoring15–4Check for multiple initiators writing to the same target. This can cause volume corruption if not handled cor

Group Administration Group monitoring15–5• Time and data parameters and schedule run statusTo see more detail about a schedule, move the pointer over

Group Administration Group monitoring15–6Table 15-3 describes some best practices for monitoring replication between groups. The first column lists th

Group Administration Group monitoring15–7You can take the following actions: • Click a volume name to navigate to the Volumes Status window.• Double-c

Group Administration Group monitoring15–8Monitoring inbound replicationInbound replication stores volume data on the current group, in replica sets, f

Group Administration Group monitoring15–9• Maximum reserve, snapshot reserve, and free space• How the latest replication occurred (over the network or

Group Administration Storage solutions for all enterprises1–3• Support for standard Ethernet networks. Only one IP network connection is necessary fo

Group Administration Group monitoring15–10To display a list of all the replication partners for a group, click Replication and then Replication Partne

Group Administration Group monitoring15–11• Critical – Serious problem that can cause damage to the array or data loss. See Displaying critical alarms

Group Administration Group monitoring15–12Critical alarms appear on the Critical tab of the Alarms panel. A critical alarm indicates a serious problem

Group Administration Group monitoring15–13Note: Warning alarms correspond to WARNING events.Warning alarms include:• Data integrity:– Degraded, but f

Group Administration Group monitoring15–14Some complex operations, such as manual transfer replication, require administrators to perform multiple tas

Group Administration Group monitoring15–15Monitoring storage pool free space You must maintain sufficient free pool space to ensure that load balancin

Group Administration Group monitoring15–16Monitoring a specific memberClick Group, expand Members, then select the member name, and then click the Sta

Group Administration Group monitoring15–17Table 15-13 shows member status, description, and how to solve any issues. Table 15-13: Member Status Status

Group Administration Group monitoring15–18Monitoring power suppliesA member has two or three power supplies. Most PS Series arrays use power supplies

Group Administration Group monitoring15–19The Temperature Sensors panel shows the current temperature for the various array controllers and processors

Group Administration Storage solutions for all enterprises1–4Automatic SAN operationIn contrast to traditional storage management environments involvi

Group Administration Group monitoring15–20Monitoring the EIP cardSome array models include an Enclosure Interface Processor (EIP) card. An array conti

Group Administration Group monitoring15–21• Cache battery status and NVRAM battery status. See Table 15-20 and Table 15-21 for descriptions of battery

Group Administration Group monitoring15–22NVRAM battery statusTable 15-21 describes the control module NVRAM coin cell battery status, descriptions, a

Group Administration Group monitoring15–23Warning: A disk drive failure in a RAID 5 or RAID 10 set that is degraded might result in data loss. When a

Group Administration Group monitoring15–24To display the network information, click Group, expand Members, then select the member name, and then click

Group Administration Group monitoring15–25Monitoring volumes and snapshotsMake sure volumes and snapshots are online or offline. Make sure that thin-p

Group Administration Group monitoring15–26The group also sets a thin-provisioned volume offline if the volume’s maximum in-use space setting is less t

Group Administration Group monitoring15–27Using the Performance MonitorUse the Performance Monitor to show performance statistics for the drives or co

Group Administration Group monitoring15–28Starting Performance Monitor from the Group Manager GUI1. From the Members list, select a member name. 2. On

Group Administration Group monitoring15–29Using the Performance MonitorTable 15-25 shows the operation icons in the Performance Monitor window.Table 1

Group Administration Storage solutions for all enterprises1–5You can restrict iSCSI access to volumes according to IP address, iSCSI initiator name,

Group Administration Group monitoring15–30Changing how data is displayedTable 15-26 shows the icons you use to change the data display. You can view t

Group Administration Group monitoring15–31Figure 15-2: Performance Monitor - Select Data Point Customizing the Performance MonitorWithin the Performan

Group Administration Group monitoring15–32Figure 15-3: Performance Monitor- Select a Color Dialog BoxChanging the data collection valuesClick Preferen

Group Administration Group monitoring15–33Contacting customer supportThe Customer Support website contains downloads for firmware updates, documentati

Group Administration Group monitoring15–34• Select whether to send reports to your support provider (requires E-Mail Home), one or two e-mail addresse

A–1Appendix A Legal noticesThis appendix lists the third-party copyrights for software used in the PS Series product.This product contains portions of

Group Administration Legal noticesA–2This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by Rick Macklem.Copyright © 1989 Digital Equipment Cor

Group Administration Legal noticesA–3Copyright © 1990,1994 The University of Utah and the Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL).Copyright © 1991 Bell Com

Group Administration Legal noticesA–4Copyright © 1995-1998 Mark Adler.Copyright © 1995-1998 Jean-loup Gailly.Copyright © 1998-1999 Brett Lymn. All rig

Glossary–1GlossaryThis glossary defines the storage technology terminology that is specific to EqualLogic. If a term has unique meaning in the context

Group Administration Storage solutions for all enterprises1–6 A replica represents the contents of a volume at a specific point in time. You can creat

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–2array(hardware) A PS Series storage array is a completely self-contained storage unit that includes multiple di

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–3CHAP properties(Auto-Snapshot Manager) An ASM configuration option that enables you to specify CHAP credentials

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–4device-specific module (DSM)(Host Integration Tools) A plug-in for Microsoft Windows device driver module. For

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–5group access1. (Auto-Snapshot Manager).The process of enabling computer access to a PS Series Group by configur

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–6jumbo framesEthernet frames capable of more than 1,500 bytes of payload (MTU). Enabling jumbo frames might impr

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–7MPIOAcronym for multipath I/O. Multiple connections from an iSCSI initiator to targets on a PS Series Group ove

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–8RAID policyThe type of RAID level (such as RAID 10 or RAID 6) that you configure for a member, coupled with the

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–9secondary group(Group Manager) In a replication configuration, the group that receives replicas of a source vol

Group Administration GlossaryGlossary–10VDS provider(hardware) The EqualLogic VDS provider is a component of the Host Integration Tools that enables y

Index-1 IndexAaccess controlsnapshot 11-2access control recordscreating 9-6, 9-10deleting 9-11iSCSI target access 8-1modifying 9-11snapshot access 9-2

Part I: Managing Groups

Group Administration IndexIndex- 2Ddataaccessing in a snapshot 11-1data recoveryexample 13-3failback 13-3failover 13-3methods 13-1, 13-2datesetting 5-

Group Administration IndexIndex-3 members 6-1MIBs 14-6, 14-7monitoring 15-1name 5-5network configuration 5-5notification of events 14-2pools 7-1RAID s

Group Administration IndexIndex- 4cache modessetting 6-12write-back 6-11write-through 6-11cancelling pool move operation 7-3, 7-4collecting diagnostic

Group Administration IndexIndex-5 setting snapshots 11-1organization 2-xiiiPpartnersmonitoring 15-10Performance Monitorchanging the displayed statisti

Group Administration IndexIndex- 6firmware requirements 12-16manual transfer 12-3monitoring 15-5, 15-7, 15-8partners 12-16pausing 12-30recovering data

Group Administration IndexIndex-7 displaying alias 11-10handling lost blocks 10-17introduction 11-1iSCSI security 11-2modifying contents of 11-2modify

Group Administration IndexIndex- 8cloning 9-11collections 10-10controlling access 8-1current status 15-25data recovery 13-1default settings 9-5deletin

2–12 Common group tasksWhen you use the setup utility or the Remote Setup Wizard to create a new PS Series group with one or more members, you have a

Group Administration Common group tasks2–2Configuring CHAP for initiator authenticationYou can use Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)

3–13 Group Manager user interfacesPS Series arrays provide simple, yet robust user interfaces for creating, expanding, and managing groups. The graph

iii Table of ContentsPreface ...

Group Administration Group Manager user interfaces3–2b. Navigate to the Windows Programs menu, and click EqualLogic PS Group, then group_name Group Ma

Group Administration Group Manager user interfaces3–3– Inbound replica collections - related sets of storage objects located on a partner group, send

Group Administration Group Manager user interfaces3–4GUI iconsTable 3-2 identifies the icons at the top of the GUI window. The first column lists the

Group Administration Group Manager user interfaces3–5Displaying the tools panelIf the Tools panel is not showing in the bottom left of the GUI window

Group Administration Group Manager user interfaces3–62. In the User Preferences – General dialog box, select your preferences and click OK.See the onl

Group Administration Group Manager user interfaces3–7Starting online help for group managerIn addition to tooltips and command-line help for the GUI

4–14 Group securityGroup security features enable you to control access to the group and the data it contains.About group securityTo access a group f

Group Administration Group security4–2Administration access optionsTable 4-3 shows the access options and network services.Table 4-3: Administration A

Group Administration Group security4–3You can manage accounts locally or remotely:• Locally in the group – If you have relatively few administration

Group Administration Table of ContentsivSetting advanced policies ...

Group Administration Group security4–4Administrators accounts have these restrictions:• You cannot change the name of an administration account. Inste

Group Administration Group security4–5Displaying local administration accountsTo see the names, types, access permissions or status of local administ

Group Administration Group security4–6• For a pool administrator, select one or more pools the account can manage and whether the account has read-onl

Group Administration Group security4–7About administration accounts on a RADIUS authentication serverYou can use an external RADIUS authentication se

Group Administration Group security4–8• You want to create a volume administrator account. You must specify the EQL-Admin attribute, the EQL-Pool-Acce

Group Administration Group security4–9Displaying RADIUS authentication and accounting servers1. Click Group, then Group Configuration.2. Select the A

Group Administration Group security4–10Procedure for configuring RADIUS servers1. Click Group, then Group Configuration, and then the Administration t

Group Administration Group security4–11• Number of retries value 1. Click Group, then Group Configuration, and then the Administration tab.2. In the

Group Administration Group security4–12To change SNMP access:1. In the SNMP Access panel, click Add. 2. Enter a SNMP community name (for example, publ

Group Administration Group security4–13VDS/VSS access control records use the same criteria for restricting access as iSCSI target access control rec

Group Administration Table of Contentsv Modifying the group IP address or group name ...

Group Administration Group security4–14Although a dedicated management network can provide additional group administration security, it has disadvanta

Group Administration Group security4–15Procedure for configuring a management networkWarning: When you complete the management network configuration

Group Administration Group security4–16Figure 4-1: Configure Management Network – Configuration Complete8. In the Warning dialog box, click Yes to res

Group Administration Group security4–17Adding a member to a group with a management networkIf you add a member to a group that has a management netwo

Group Administration Group security4–18Unconfiguring a management networkYou can unconfigure a dedicated management network and re-enable the group IP

5–15 Group configurationYou can change the group configuration defaults and initial settings. You can also add members to a group to expand group cap

Group Administration Group configuration5–2Displaying the Group configurationTo display the current configuration, click Group Configuration in the le

Group Administration Group configuration5–3Group configuration tabsEach of the Group Configuration tabs provides additional information and configura

Group Administration Group configuration5–4Setting the time through an NTP serverYou can specify that the group use up to three external Network Time

Group Administration Group configuration5–5About group network configurationThe group network configuration, which appears in the Group Summary windo

Group Administration Table of ContentsviDisplaying storage pool details ...

Group Administration Group configuration5–61. Click Group, then Group Configuration.2. Select the General tab. (See the online help for information ab

6–16 Group membersA PS Series group includes one or more PS Series arrays configured as group members.Displaying Group membersTo display information

Group Administration Group members6–2– Click Front view to see the front panel of the array. For some array models, the GUI shows disk drives located

Group Administration Group members6–3Controllers tab1. Click Group, then expand Members.2. Select the member name, and click the Controllers tab.The

Group Administration Group members6–4Connections tab1. Click Group, then expand Members.2. Select the member name, and click the Connections tab.The i

Group Administration Group members6–5The RAID policy for a member consists of two parts:• RAID level – RAID 10, RAID 50, RAID 5, or RAID 6. See RAID

Group Administration Group members6–6Table 6-1 compares the performance and availability characteristics of the supported RAID levels. The first colum

Group Administration Group members6–71. In the Group Summary window, expand Members and double-click the member name or click Group, then expand Memb

Group Administration Group members6–8Recommendation: For high availability and performance, Dell recommends that you configure multiple network inter

Group Administration Group members6–91. Install a secondary control module in the member. 2. For each configured network interface, connect the Ether

Group Administration Table of Contentsvii Configuring access control records ...

Group Administration Group members6–10Note: Unless you are using a dedicated management network, the default gateway is the same for all network inte

Group Administration Group members6–11Requirement: You must use a default gateway to enable communication outside the local network.1. Click Group,

Group Administration Group members6–12on the functional control module uses write-through mode. If you disable this policy (the default), the cache on

Group Administration Group members6–13Before updating firmware, see Firmware update considerations and prerequisites for important information to con

Group Administration Group members6–14Disallowing member firmware downgradesIf the Disallow downgrades option is active, the group is not using all fe

Group Administration Group members6–15The group sets any volumes with data on the member offline. The group sets the volumes online when you restart

Part II: Using Group Storage Space

7–17 Storage poolsAbout storage poolsStorage pools allocate storage space into partitions comprising one or more members.By default, a group provides

Group Administration Table of Contentsviii11 Snapshot management...

Group Administration Storage pools7–2–Disk speed– Member RAID level (RAID 10, RAID 50, RAID 5, RAID 6)Recommendation: Dell recommends that pool membe

Group Administration Storage pools7–32. Under Storage pool assignment, click Create new pool.3. In the Create Storage Pool dialog box, enter a name an

Group Administration Storage pools7–4• Pool members panel– Provides information that enables you to identify members in the pool, member status and co

Group Administration Storage pools7–5To cancel an in-progress member pool move operation, click Members, then member_name, then Cancel member move.Mov

Group Administration Storage pools7–61. Click Group, then expand Storage pools, then select the pool name, and then click Modify pool settings. 2. Mod

8–18 iSCSI target securityVolumes and snapshots are seen on the network as iSCSI targets. It is important to understand how to protect your volumes a

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–2Authenticating initiators through CHAPCHAP is a network login protocol that uses a challenge-response mec

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–3Note: For optimal security, passwords must contain at least 12 characters (preferably random). Individu

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–45. If you have not already configured the group to use a RADIUS server, click RADIUS settings and add at

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–5When an initiator tries to log in to a target, the group uses access control records to determine if acc

Group Administration Table of Contentsix About delegated space and replica reserve ...

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–6Deleting an iSNS serverTo delete the IP address for an iSNS server, select the address in the iSCSI Disco

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–7• If an initiator is connected to the volume, the group compares the IQN of the current connection to th

Group Administration iSCSI target security8–8Note: In some file systems, volumes and snapshots must have read-write permission even if the file syste

9–19 Basic volume operationsBasic volume operations consist of creating volumes, setting up access controls, and modifying volume attributes. You ca

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–2You can replicate any volume type, resulting in a replica set for the volume. In addition, you can fail

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–3In addition, you can allow or disallow volume access from multiple initiators, depending on your confi

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–4Thin provisioning settingsControls whether the volume is thin-provisioned and, if so, the minimum and m

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–5Displaying group-wide default volume settingsWhen you create a volume or enable thin provisioning on a

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–6To create a standard volume:1. Click Volumes in the lower-left panel and then click Create volume.2. In

Group Administration Basic volume operations9–7the Volumes Summary window provides the following volume information:• Identifiers – name, storage poo