Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-2

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-3

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-4

The PS Series array can be managed by two methods: Command Line Interface (CLI) Web Browser The CLI is accessible when using the console port directly from the control module serial port or when using Telnet/SSH From the console port the following serial connection parameters are required: 9600 baud 1 STOP bit No parity 8 data bits No hardware flow control The Management GUI is accessible using either Internet Explorer, Netscape or Mozilla in conjunction with Java software. With this option, it allows for the management of all members within a group. Prior to 4.x firmware the default management configuration allowed you to manage the whole group through a single Well Know Address, WKA, the Group IP address Starting with firmware version 4.0 (PS5XXX) an alternative method was created. This method allowed you to create a network management network using eth2 on each member with a separate an network management WKA to be used of network management only traffic. Starting with firmware version 4.1, Type 7 controllers are supported (PS6XXX). On Type 7 control modules, eth3 can be configured as a management port. All members in a group must be at version 4.1 in order for a PS6000 or PS6500 with Type 7 control module to join the group. Another possible option is SNMP to monitor the PS Series Storage Array. The MIBs can be used to monitor trap events and trap thresholds. SNMP MIBs are available from the customer support site.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-5

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-6

Setup program is used to initially configure the PS Series traditionally in a nonMicrosoft Windows OS environment by asking a series of questions using a terminal command line interface resulting in a minimum configuration. Host Integration Utility Simple SAN Program is a program designed to ensure interoperability with the storage capabilities in the Windows platform. Windows Server 2003 R2 has built-in support for SANs.

Works with vendors to simplify hardware setup. By reducing the setup complexity of the individual SAN components, the potential for incorrectly configuring the SAN is reduced and the setup documentation is simplified.
Provides a wizard to configure the PS Series from any Windows platform Based on the particular platform, different components will be installed When used with the Windows Server 2003 platform, Integration with two Microsoft services: Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) enables backup operations to use snapshot technology while using the Dell EqualLogic hardware provider for VSS Virtual Disk Service, VDS, which enables you to use Microsoft Storage Manager for SANs to create and manage volumes in a PS Series group using the Dell EqualLogic hardware provider for VDS Integration with the Microsoft iSCSI initiator version 2.x

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-7

The steps shown above are the minimum requirements to get the array operational within a customers network. Log in using the default User Name and password, which is grpadmin Change or set the devices IP address information based on its requirements Initial setup is only accomplished through the serial port using a CLI based setup program The following minimum parameters must be known to complete the initial setup process

IP address for Ethernet port 0

IP Address for the Group Group Name Member Name Managing Group Membership Password Group Administration Password RAID policy for the member is done using the CLI or the GUI and is not part of the Setup program RAID types supported: RAID 6, RAID 5, RAID 10, or RAID 50 RAID 10 and 50 use 2 spares by default

RAID 5 and 6 use 1 spare by default

Spare allocations can be changed to No Spares using the CLI only Once the array is set-up, then two methods can be used to manage the PS Series Group or one or more members as a single entity Web browser with Java JRE support Command line, Telnet or SSH or the console interface

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-8

Another way to setup the array is to use the Remote Setup Wizard. The Remote Setup Wizard is a program within the Host Integration Tool Kit and is used to configure and set up the array to a minimum level. This program allows you to set up the first array and also allows you to add subsequent arrays.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-9

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-10

Host Integration Utility The Host Integration Utility is a Dell EqualLogic utility that runs on a Microsoft Server, depending on the version depends on what gets installed The Remote Setup Wizard allows an administrator to easily and simply: Configure a PS Series Array for the first time directly from a Server 2003 Wizard Connect the server to an already existing PS Series Array The utility can be installed on the Server system using the CD that is shipped with the array or using the downloaded executable. To install the tools, insert the CD into the CD/ DVD drive and then execute the setup.exe file Follow the prompts to complete the installation Once the program is installed, it will ask if you wish to Initialize a new PS Series Storage Array or Add this host to an existing PS Series SAN If a first time installation of the array, select the first option Initialize a new PS Series Storage Array If adding this server to an existing PS Series SAN, select the second option Add this host to an existing PS Series SAN If a first time installation, it will then attempt to auto discover the PS Series Array and once it is found you can configure the array

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-11

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-12

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-13

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-14

Configure the following Group name a unique group name within in the SAN Group IP Address - a unique IP address for the group within in the SAN, this address is used to both connect to the Storage via an initiator and also is it used as the Management Well Known Address to manage the group. RAID Policy if this is the fist array in the group you can define the RAID policy that the array will use. If you are adding an array to an existing group the RAID policy option is not available, as shown below, and must be configured within Group Manager or the CLI when adding the new member to a pool.

Admin Password is the Password that the grpadmin user will use to initially administer the group, while the membership password is a second password that is used when a new member is going to join an already existing group. The Chap User information is the CHAP user and password that both the VSS and the VDS Dell EqualLogic Providers use to connect to the array. Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array 2-15

With RAID10, you tradeoff maximizing redundancy, provides good performance, but is the costliest as it minimizes your capacity. RAID10 has the best performance for small random writes (where small is less than 64KB), but has relatively similar performance to other RAID types for sequential writes and all reads. RAID10 is going to provide no performance impact when degraded, and the most minimal impact due to reconstruction. It also has the fastest reconstruction. In order for RAID10 to fail, both halves of a mirrored pair would have to fail before reconstruction completed, so it is the safest. The only real downside to using RAID10, is the capacity tradeoff to provide you optimal performance. RAID50 is a pair of striped RAID5 sets, so now uses two disk's-worth of capacity to parity. Its fairly equivalent to R10 for sequential writes and reads, as well as random reads. However, on small random writes, it takes longer due to needing to read the stripe, compute the parity, then rewrite the stripe, but with R50 the stripe is only half the disks that it is for R5. RAID50 can handle a second drive failure while degraded ONLY if the failure occurs on the non-degraded RAID5 set. So, it has better safety than a single RAID5 set across the same set of disks (the chance of RAID failure due to RAID6, this is similar to RAID5, but has double the parity. This uses two disk's-worth of capacity, and provides for any two disk failing, even before the first failure's rebuild completes. However, there are a couple of performance characteristics to be aware of. The small random writes, which were slow with RAID5, are a bit slower, due to the double-parity calculation. The rebuild time, with a single-failure is equivalent to RAID5, as well as the "degraded" performance with a single failure. But if you have a double-failure (before the first failure's rebuild has completed), you will see a larger performance impact and a longer-rebuild time. With RAID5, you are maximizing capacity (basically donating one disk's-worth of capacity to parity), but the protection is one parity stripe against the entire RAID set, so it can only handle one failure, and has the longest rebuild time. And while degraded, it has the worst IO performance characteristics. Also, small random writes have a poor characteristic on this RAID type, since it needs to read the entire stripe, recalculate parity, and write the changes to the stripe again.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-16

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-17

To create a new volume: Click Volumes in the leftmost column to manage volumes. Click Create Volume in the Activities pane.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-18

Step 1 of 3 General Volume Settings Name: Provide a unique name, up to 64 alphanumeric characters, used to identify the volume for administrative purposes. Size: Enter a value for the volume size and select the unit (by default, GB) . Leave all other values at default for now. Step 2 of 3 Space Reserve Settings Specify the size of the volume in MB or GB. For now, do not specify Thin Provisioned Volume. Step 3 of 3 iSCSI Access settings Specify who can access this volume by: CHAP user name. IP address or range of addresses. In this example, the IP address of a server has been specified

iSCSI name.
To prevent inadvertent sharing, all volumes and snapshots created beginning with V4.0 are configured by default to disallow connections from more than one iSCSI qualified name (IQN). In practice, this prevents connections from multiple initiators, assuming (as is the best practice) that all the initiators on a single server use the same IQN. You should enable shared access on specific volumes and snapshots, if your environment coordinates writes properly; for example in cluster environments, VMware ESX environments, etc. Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array 2-19

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-20

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-21

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-22

In order to see the iSCSI targets available to this host, we must first locate the iSCSI targets by specifying the discovery address. To do this perform the following functions: Launch the Microsoft iSCSI initiator. Select Discovery tab. Select Add to create a target portal entry. Create a target portal entry for the Dell EqualLogic PS Series SAN solution (use the Group IP address).

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-23

Next, perform the actual target discovery: 1.Select the Targets tab. 2.Press the Refresh button. 3.A list of iSCSI targets will appear. Only targets that this host is authorized to use will be listed.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-24

Logging on to the iSCSI target will make the volume visible to this host. To log on to the target: From the Targets tab, highlight the target you will attach. Press the Log On button. When Log On to Target appears, select Automatically restore this connection when the system reboots and press OK. Select the Persistent Targets tab and confirm that the iSCSI name of the target is listed.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-25

From the Bound Volumes/Devices tab, select Bind All .

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-26

Prepare new volume for use: Right-click on My Computer. Select Disk Management. The Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard will launch automatically, if it does not appear follow the steps list below: Press Next to continue. When the Select Disks to Initialize window appears, ensure that the disk you wish to initialize is selected. IMPORTANT: When the Select Disks to Convert to Dynamic. Windows Servers 2003 and 2003 R2 appears, does NOT support use of Dynamic Disks with the iSCSI initiator. Windows Servers 2008 and 2008 R2 appears, does support use of Dynamic Disks with the iSCSI initiator. If the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard does not launch automatically: Select the disk from the disk/ volume list.

Select in the gray box area, where the disk ID is shown, and right click.
Select Initialize to initialize the disk as a basic disk.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-27

Dynamic disks : Windows Servers 2003 and 2003 R2 appears, does NOT support use of Dynamic Disks with the iSCSI initiator. Windows Servers 2008 and 2008 R2 appears, does support use of Dynamic Disks with the iSCSI initiator. The utilities used to align sectors cannot be used on dynamic disks. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 clustering does not support dynamic disks.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-28

1.The new disk will appear as Unallocated. 2.Right-click on the shaded area and select New Partition. When prompted, assign a drive letter to the partition. When prompted, format the disk. Use the Perform a Quick Format option.

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-29

The SAN-based storage will appear to the OS and the user as a directly attached disk. Proceed as normal to use the disk (file storage, etc.).

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-30

Initial Configuration of the PS Series Array

2-31