D-Link xStack Storage DSN-4000 Series Safety guide

D-Link xStack Storage iSCSI SAN Arrays
Managed SAN Solutions
(DSN-1100-10, 2100-10, 3200-10, 3400-10, DSN-4100, DSN-4200, DSN-
4000, 5110-10, 5210-10, 5410-10, 5000-10)
Management Center Software User’s Guide
ersion 1.4

ii Contents
© 2010 D-Link Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
D-Link Systems, Inc. makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including,
but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose. D-Link Systems, Inc. shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental
or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this
material.
This document contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. o part of
this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated into another language without
the prior written consent of D-Link Systems, Inc.
The information is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind and is subject to change
without notice. The only warranties for D-Link products and services are set forth in the
express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. othing herein
should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. D-Link shall not be liable for
technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
Copyright © 2010 D-Link Systems, Inc.™
Trademarks
Includes one or more of the following United States patents: 6,941,396; 7,353,306;
7,389,462; 7,460,473; 7,512,663 and 7,594,002. Other patents pending.
D-Link and the D-Link logo are registered trademarks of D-Link, Inc.
Java™ is a U.S. trademark of Sun Microsystems, Incorporated.
Microsoft Windows is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation..
All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks or service marks, and are used
to identify products or services, of their respective owners.
D-Link Systems, Inc.
17595 Mount Herrmann Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
USA

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide iii
Notice of Export Controls
Export of technical data contained in this document may require an export license from the
United States government. Please contact D-Link, Inc. for any export compliance questions.
Document Revision Level
Revision Date Description
1.0 July 2008 ersion 1.0 – Initial release based on Software version 2.0.0
1.1 September 2008 ersion 1.1 – Updated for software version 2.5.0 and redundant controller support
1.2 January 2009 ersion 1.2 – Updated for software version 2.5.1 and minor formatting corrections
1.3 May 2010 ersion 1.3 –
Updated for software version 2.7.0 and added more summary information
to Chapter 1
1.4 July 2010 ersion 1.4 – Updated for software version 2.8.0

iv Contents
Preface
This document is intended to assist users with configuring and managing storage on xStack
Storage
®
systems from D-Link Systems.
Audience
This document is intended for storage managers and administrators responsible for using the
xStack Storage Management Center to configure and manage the xStack Storage array from
D-Link Systems Inc. This document assumes that the user is computer literate, familiar with
storage array products, and has a basic understanding of storage products and concepts.
Typographic Conventions
Notes
otes provide information that deserves special attention. They are preceded by:
Cautions
Cautions contain information which, if not followed, can cause damage to the
xStack Storage array and possible loss of data. They are preceded by:
Warnings
Warnings contain information which, if not followed, can cause damage to the
xStack Storage array and to the person installing it. They are preceded by:

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide v
Contact Information
You can find software updates and user documentation on the D-Link website.
D-Link provides free technical support for customers within the United States and within
Canada for the duration of the warranty period on this product.
U.S. and Canadian customers can contact D-Link Technical Support through our website, or
by phone.
Tech Support for customers within the United States:
D-Link Technical Support over the Telephone
Please see our support site for current number:
• http://support.dlink.com
• Monday to Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm PST/PDT
D-Link Technical Support over the Internet:
• http://support.dlink.com
Tech Support for customers within Canada:
D-Link Technical Support over the Telephone
Please see our support site for current number:
• http://support.dlink.ca
• Monday to Friday 7:30am to 9:00pm EST/EDT
D-Link Technical Support over the Internet:
 http://support.dlink.ca

vi Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Product Overview .................................................................................... 2
1.2 Terminology and Concepts .......................................................................... 2
1.3 Storage Pools and Drives ............................................................................ 3
1.4 Volumes ................................................................................................ 4
1.5 Tasks .................................................................................................... 6
1.5.1 Initialize a Parity Volume.................................................................. 6
1.5.2 Rebuild a Volume ........................................................................... 6
1.5.3 Scan a Volume ............................................................................... 7
1.5.4 Grow (Expand) a Volume .................................................................. 7
1.5.5 Reconfigure a Volume ...................................................................... 7
1.6 etwork Portals ....................................................................................... 7
1.7 VLA s ................................................................................................... 8
1.8 LAGs .................................................................................................... 8
1.9 iSCSI Target odes ................................................................................... 8
1.10 iSCSI Log-In, Sessions and Connections ......................................................... 8
1.11 Multiple Connections per Session ................................................................ 8
Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software ........................................................................ 9
2.1 Key Features .......................................................................................... 9
2.2 Compatibility and Minimum System Requirements ........................................... 10
2.3 Understanding the Basics ......................................................................... 10
2.3.1 Understanding the User Interface ...................................................... 11
2.3.2 Menu Bar and Toolbar .................................................................... 11
2.3.3 View Panel ................................................................................. 13
2.3.4 Main Display ................................................................................ 14
2.3.5 Action Panels .............................................................................. 14
2.3.6 Detail Tabs ................................................................................. 15
2.3.7 Status Bar .................................................................................. 15
2.4 Getting Help ......................................................................................... 15
2.5 READ THIS SECTIO - If You Read othing Else In This Guide .............................. 16
Chapter 3 Getting Started .......................................................................................................................... 17
3.1 Connecting and Logging In ........................................................................ 18
3.1.1 Using the Start-up Wizard ............................................................... 18
3.1.2 Logging in from the Home Page ........................................................ 24
3.2 Setting the System Date and Time .............................................................. 26
3.3 Customizing the Date and Time Display ........................................................ 28
3.4 Configuring User Accounts ........................................................................ 29
3.4.1 Changing the Default Admin Login Password ........................................ 29
3.4.2 Adding Admin Accounts .................................................................. 30
3.4.3 Adding User Accounts .................................................................... 31
3.4.4 Modifying Accounts ....................................................................... 32
3.4.5 Deleting User Accounts .................................................................. 32
3.5 Logging Out .......................................................................................... 33
3.6 Exiting the xStack Storage Management Center .............................................. 33
3.7 Shutting Down the xStack Storage Array ....................................................... 34

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide vii
Chapter 4 Managing olumes ................................................................................................................... 35
4.1 Understanding the Volume View ................................................................. 36
4.2 Creating Volumes ................................................................................... 37
4.2.1 Letting the Wizard Choose the Best Volume Organization......................... 39
4.2.2 Making Your Own Volume Selection Choices ......................................... 45
4.3 Performing Volume Actions ....................................................................... 51
4.3.1 Modifying iSCSI Initiator Access to Volumes .......................................... 51
4.3.2 Scanning a Volume ........................................................................ 53
4.3.3 Destroying a Volume ...................................................................... 54
4.3.4 Growing a Volume ......................................................................... 55
4.3.5 Reconfiguring a Volume .................................................................. 56
4.4 Using the Detail Tabs .............................................................................. 59
4.4.1 Changing Volume ames and Viewing Volume Information (Properties Tab) .. 59
4.4.2 Viewing Extents on a Volume (Extents Tab) .......................................... 60
4.4.3 Viewing Reconfiguration Information (Reconfigure Tab) .......................... 62
4.4.4 Enabling or Disabling CHAP Security for Volumes (Security Tab) ................. 63
4.4.5 Viewing or Changing Advanced Settings (Advanced Settings Tab) ............... 65
4.4.6 Enabling or Disabling CHAP Security for Initiators (Security Tab) ................ 68
4.5 Removing iSCSI Initiators .......................................................................... 69
Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage ..................................................................................................... 71
5.1 Understanding the Physical Storage View ...................................................... 72
5.2 Performing Drive Actions .......................................................................... 73
5.2.1 Initializing a Drive ......................................................................... 73
5.2.2 Downing a Drive ........................................................................... 74
5.2.3 Reserving Spare Drives ................................................................... 75
5.3 Using the Detail Tabs .............................................................................. 76
5.3.1 Viewing Drive Properties (Properties Tab) ........................................... 76
5.3.2 Viewing Extents on a Drive (Extents Tab) ............................................ 77
5.3.3 Viewing SMART Data and Attributes (SMART Data and SMART Attributes Tabs) 78
Chapter 6 System Administration ............................................................................................................. 81
6.1 Understanding the System Administration View .............................................. 82
6.1.1 Single-Controller Systems................................................................ 82
6.1.2 Dual-Controller Systems ................................................................. 83
6.2 Using the Detail Tabs .............................................................................. 85
6.2.1 Viewing System Summary Information (Summary Tab) ............................. 85
6.2.2 Viewing Historical Information (History Tab) ........................................ 85
6.2.3 Controller Details (Controller Tab) .................................................... 87
6.2.4 Viewing Scheduled Activities (Tasks Tab) ............................................ 88
6.2.5 Saving the Current Configuration (Control Tab) ..................................... 89
6.2.6 Restoring a Configuration (Control Tab) .............................................. 91
6.2.7 Restoring Factory Default Settings (Control Tab) ................................... 92
6.2.8 Upgrading Software (Control Tab) ..................................................... 92
6.2.9 Restarting the xStack Storage (Control Tab) ......................................... 93
6.2.10 Shutting Down the xStack Storage (Control Tab) .................................. 94
6.2.11 Selecting a Battery Policy and System Failure Policy (System Policy Tab) .... 94
6.2.12 Configuring User Accounts (Settings Tab) ........................................... 95
6.2.13 Viewing or Changing Advanced Settings (Advanced Settings Tab) .............. 96
Chapter 7 Managing Management and Ethernet Ports and Portals ..................................................... 101
7.1 Understanding the etwork Settings View .................................................... 102

viii Contents
7.2 Working with Management Ports ............................................................... 103
7.2.1 Viewing or Changing Management Port Settings ................................... 103
7.2.2 Pinging from a Management Port ..................................................... 104
7.3 Viewing or Changing the Ethernet Port Settings ............................................. 105
7.4 Working with etwork Portals .................................................................. 107
7.4.1 Creating etwork Portals ............................................................... 107
7.4.2 Deleting a etwork Portal .............................................................. 108
7.4.3 Pinging from a etwork Portal ........................................................ 109
7.5 Grouping and Ungrouping Ports ................................................................. 110
7.5.1 Grouping Ports ............................................................................ 111
7.5.2 Ungrouping Ports ......................................................................... 113
7.5.3 Removing Ports from a LAG ............................................................ 113
7.6 Working with VLA s ............................................................................... 114
7.6.1 VLA -Enabling a Port .................................................................... 115
7.6.2 Removing a Port from a VLA ......................................................... 115
7.6.3 VLA -Enabling a Group ................................................................. 115
7.6.4 Removing a Group from a VLA ....................................................... 115
Chapter 8 Performing System Actions ................................................................................................... 117
8.1 Adding an xStack Storage ........................................................................ 117
8.2 Removing an xStack Storage ..................................................................... 118
8.3 Force System Failover ............................................................................ 119
Chapter 9 Best Practices ......................................................................................................................... 121
9.1 Saving Configuration Settings ................................................................... 122
9.2 Resetting Display Preferences .................................................................. 122
9.3 Working with Firewalls ........................................................................... 122
Chapter 10 Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................... 125
10.1 Downloading a System Diagnostic Capture .................................................. 126
10.2 Possible Problems and Recommended Corrective Actions ................................ 127
Appendix A Menu Summary.................................................................................................................... 129
Appendix B Factory Default Settings ..................................................................................................... 133
Appendix C Recording Your Configuration Settings ........................................................................... 137
C.1 Recording Volumes .............................................................................. 137
C.2 Recording iSCSI Initiator Access .............................................................. 139
C.3 Recording Groups ............................................................................... 141
C.4 Recording etwork Portals .................................................................... 142
C.5 Recording Scheduled Tasks .................................................................... 143
C.6 Admin Login Password .......................................................................... 144
C.7 Configuration Files .............................................................................. 145
C.8 Management Port Settings ..................................................................... 146
C.9 Data Port Settings ............................................................................... 147
C.10 Email Settings .................................................................................... 148
iS S Settings ............................................................................................ 148
C.12 S MP Settings .................................................................................... 148

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide ix
This Page Left Intentionally Blank

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 1
Chapter 1 Introduction
This chapter provides an introduction to the D-Link xStack Storage SA system, and the
terminology and concepts associated with it.
Topics in this chapter include:
 Section 1.1, Product Overview
 Section 1.2, Terminology and Concepts
 Section 1.3, Storage Pools and Drives
 Section 1.4, Volumes
 Section 1.5, Tasks
 Section 1.6, etwork Portals
 Section 1.7, VLA s
 Section 1.8, LAGs
 Section 1.9, iSCSI Target odes
 Section 1.10, iSCSI Log-In, Sessions and Connections
 Section 1.11, Multiple Connections per Session

2 Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Product Overview
The D-Link xStack Storage system is an intelligent, high-performance Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)
or 10GbE storage solution designed for businesses that want to improve the reliability,
availability, serviceability, and performance of their storage systems. It provides a range of
benefits and features from its ability to use familiar, proven, and widespread networking
technologies like IP and Ethernet for storage solutions.
Complete configuration and management are available through the intuitive, graphical-
based Management Console interface. A variety of network configurations are easily
established using the storage system’s volume management, initiator, target, network
portal, and Link Aggregation Group (LAG) features. Advanced features such as battery policy
settings and S MP settings can also be set.
1.2 Terminology and Concepts
The purpose of the xStack Storage system is to virtualize disk storage for use by a customer’s
host computers (servers). At its front end, the xStack Storage system uses the iSCSI protocol
over Ethernet to connect to the customer’s servers. At its back end, the xStack Storage
system connects to a bank of Serial ATA (SATA), Serial-attached SCSI (SAS), or Solid State
Devices (SSD) drives.
Figure 1-1 shows a typical xStack Storage system configuration. The Storage Area etwork
(SA ) shown is an Ethernet network used solely for exchanging data between the customer's
servers and the xStack Storage system. The Ethernet bandwidth used by the servers
exchanging data with the xStack Storage system can be very high. Using a separate Ethernet
to act as a SA keeps that data from interfering with the customer's existing LA and
improves security.
Figure 1-1. Storage System Diagram

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 3
The xStack Storage system performs its virtualization task by presenting volumes that the
servers see as disks or drives or SCSI Logical Units, depending on the server operating
system’s terminology. Volumes are created by organizing blocks of storage from the drives.
iSCSI is an end-to-end storage block protocol that makes it possible to transfer storage data
reliably over any IP-based network, including the Internet. The iSCSI drafts and RFCs are
published by the IETF, but based on the SCSI specifications from the ISO's Technical
Committee Ten (T10), the A SI-accredited body responsible for developing and maintaining
the core SCSI standard. To the committee, iSCSI is another SCSI transport and just as
officially sanctioned (though technically it's a superset of SCSI, providing additional
functionality through unique commands and data formats used for secondary services such as
authentication).
From the network's perspective, iSCSI is just another service that runs over TCP/IP. It can
use the same networking stack as other applications, with clients requesting data from
servers. The main difference is that its function is more specialized. Whereas other Layer 7
protocols such as SMTP are agnostic toward the technologies used at their endpoints, iSCSI is
designed as a way to extend an existing storage technology across IP networks.
For iSCSI purposes, the SCSI protocol is conceptually similar to TCP/IP's client/server
architecture. Every SCSI link involves a host adapter, called an initiator, and a storage
device, called a “target.” The customer's server will act as the initiator and the xStack
Storage system will act as the target. Traditionally, a local SCSI bus connects a single initiator
to up to seven targets, but a SA allows an unlimited number of each. The initiator's iSCSI
stack packs SCSI commands and data into IP packets, which are then unpacked by the target
for processing as if they had originated locally.
The iSCSI protocol defines two types of iSCSI odes:
 The initiator node
 The target node
The iSCSI initiator node consists of an initiator name and a set of properties. The server’s
operating system provides software to define and configure its iSCSI initiator node. The
xStack Storage system serves as one or more iSCSI target nodes and automatically assigns
target node names using the standard naming convention defined in the iSCSI protocol.
The xStack Storage system provides the customer a method to create Volumes. Each Volume
is a unit of storage of a specific size with a RAID organization, as described later in this
document. Every volume creation automatically includes the creation of an iSCSI target
node; i.e. there is a one-to-one relationship between iSCSI Target odes and Volumes in an
xStack Storage system. An iSCSI target node name is automatically created by the xStack
Storage system using the standard naming convention with the Volume ame in a well-
known position in that name. The xStack Storage system manages initiator access to a
target node as part of volume management. For example, the customer grants an initiator
access to a target node by granting access to the Volume. The server (iSCSI initiator) can
find its storage by finding a known volume name in a list of discovered target node names.
1.3 Storage Pools and Drives
Storage space is managed on the xStack Storage system through storage pools. The
placement of a drive in a storage pool controls the way that drive can be used. There are
four types of storage pools (see Table 1-1).

Chapter 1 Introduction
Table 1-1. Types of Storage Pools
Storage Pool Usage
Available Pool Disk drives available for use, but with no data stored on them at this time. A
drive in the Base Pool will be used in the creation of a new olume any time it is
required. That drive is automatically moved to the Base Pool at that time with no
manual interaction.
Base Pool Disk drives currently being used to hold olume data or ready to be used to hold
volume data.
Spare Pool A drive that can only be used in case of a failure of a drive in the Base Pool. A
drive becomes a Spare only when a customer administrator so designates.
Unusable Pool Two types of drives appear in the Unusable Pool:
 Drives not available for use either because they have already failed and have
not been removed from the enclosure
 Drive inserted into the xStack Storage system that were previously used by an
xStack Storage system. Such a drive can be Initialized by the Administrator to
make the drive available for use (which automatically moves the drive to the
Available Pool)
When a new system is installed, all new drives are placed in the Available Pool. The drives
remain in the Available Pool until they are needed for use in a volume.
1.4 olumes
A volume is a set of blocks of storage that are organized and presented for use by a
customer’s server (an iSCSI initiator node). Every volume must be associated with a storage
pool, which limits the drives that can be used to hold data for that Volume (only drives in
that pool can be used for this volume). Only drives in the Base Pool can be used for volumes.
The iSCSI initiator node sees the volume as a contiguous series of numbered blocks in the
same way that it would see the storage space on a single disk drive. The xStack Storage
system constructs a volume from extents, where each extent is a block of storage from a
single drive. A volume typically consists of extents from several drives. A volume of n blocks
is shown in Figure 1-2.
Volume
Extent 1
.
.
.
Extent x
0
n-1
Figure 1-2. Internal Structure of a olume
Volumes can be organized in several ways (see Table 1-2)

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 5
Table 1-2. Ways to Organize olumes
Organization Definition Redundant Striped Storage Cost
JBOD One copy of the data is written to the selected Extents. No No 1x
Mirror Two copies of all data are written to independent
Extents.
Yes No 2x
Stripe Distributes one copy of the data among several drives
to improve the speed of access.
No Yes 1x
Stripe Mirror Distributes the data among several drives and then
keeps a mirror copy of the blocks on each drive
Yes Yes 2x
Parity Distributes one copy of the data among several drives
and adds parity blocks spread throughout the volume to
protect against the loss of any single drive.
Yes Yes x + 1
For organizations that are striped, the data distributed among multiple drives is organized in
a series of “stripes”. Each stripe consists of a fixed number of blocks on each drive. The
fixed number of blocks used on each drive is called a “chunk.” This can be viewed as an
array where each row is a stripe and each column is a drive. The term “Member” is defined
as the number of columns in this array. The xStack Storage system can allocate the required
space very flexibly (i.e., an entire member does need to reside on a single drive). Within
each member, extents can be obtained from as many drives as necessary.
Organizations that are redundant provide protection against loss of data in the event of a
failure of any one drive. This adds a storage cost in that some storage will be used for
redundancy rather than for customer data. Redundancy requires that the volume data be
stored on separate drives, so that data integrity is maintained in the event of a drive failure.
For a parity organization, the xStack Storage system distributes the volume into the array
described for a stripe organization, and reserves one chunk from each stripe to hold the
parity information. The parity information provides redundancy without having to keep a
complete copy of the data. If any single drive fails, the parity calculation mechanism can be
applied to the data on the remaining drives to provide full access (reading and writing) of all
data.
Further, the parity calculation mechanism can be used to recreate the data with fresh parity
protection onto a new drive to re-gain redundancy. However, this protection comes at a
cost: the storage requirement for the volume is increased by one member. For example, if a
10 GB striped volume was distributed among four members, each member would need 2.5
GB of space. To make a parity volume of 10 GB using four members, for instance, each
member would need 3.33 GB of space: one chunk in each stripe would be used to hold
parity. In other words, to hold the space for parity in a 4-member volume, the xStack
Storage system needs to use 1/3 more space than the initiator can access. From another
point of view, 1/4 of the space used by that volume is not available to the initiator. The 10
GB volume can also be created using 2.5 GB members if five members are used.
As a result, the additional storage cost for a parity volume of four members is 25% (i.e., 25%
of the space is not user data, but redundancy data). For a 5-member parity volume, the
additional cost is 20%.
For a mirror organization, the xStack Storage system divides the volume into two members,
each of which contains one full copy of the data. Each member must be allocated on
separate drives. The cost of a mirror volume is that data must be stored twice (i.e., for a
volume of size x bytes, the xStack Storage system needs 2x bytes, or 100%).
For a stripe mirror organization, the xStack Storage system distributes volume into
members, as in a striped organization, and then doubles the number of members to allow for
the second data copy. As in a mirror organization, the storage cost is double.

6 Chapter 1 Introduction
For each volume, the xStack Storage system must determine the organization and the size of
the volume. For striped organizations, the xStack Storage system must further determine the
chunk size, and the number of drives across which the data is to be divided.
There are two ways to create a volume in an xStack Storage system:
 Automatically: You can answer questions about the required redundancy, size, and usage
characteristics of the volume. The storage system then determines the remaining
parameters needed to allocate the storage space and create the volume.
 Manually: You can select the organization and all other parameters described above and
either selects the drives that can be used for the volume or lets the storage system
select the drives. The storage system then finds the storage space on the given drives to
allocate and create the Volume.
Disk space is assigned to a volume in extents. The extents that make up a volume can be
seen on the xStack Storage Management Console. The extents are organized into members.
The definition of a member varies with the organization:
 For a striped organization, a member is defined above.
 For a mirror organization, there are two members, one for each copy of the data.
 A stripe mirror organization has a member for each stripe, as defined above, plus a
second member (for each stripe) to hold the data copy. Therefore, if a stripe mirror
organization has x stripes, it has 2x members.
1.5 Tasks
The xStack Storage system can automatically or at your demand perform activities that take
time and consume the controller’s resources. You can control, to some degree, when tasks
are performed. You can suspend and resume any task. Some tasks can be cancelled and
some can be scheduled on a recurring, periodic interval. The xStack Storage system can
perform the tasks described in the following sections.
1.5.1 Initialize a Parity olume
Some volume organizations (e.g., parity) require Initialization. The Initialization task
performs this action. This task can be performed while an initiator is accessing (reading and
writing) data. An Initialization task can be suspended and resumed, but cannot be cancelled.
1.5.2 Rebuild a olume
When a drive fails, every redundant volume that occupied space on that drive can be
rebuilt.
 For mirror protection, data can be copied from the remaining copy.
 For parity protection, data can be recreated from the remaining data and parity
information.
Volume rebuilds look for a spare or available drive that is the same type (SAS/SATA/SSD) and
capacity as the drive that failed or was removed. If a matching drive cannot be found, the
system will attempt to allocate any other similar type drive from the spare or available pool
for the rebuild. If a similar drive type is not available, the system will use any spare or
available drive, even if it is a different type. Finally, if there is no spare or available drive,
the system will use any available capacity on any drive that is already in use. To reserve a
drive as a spare, select the drive in the Physical Storage View, and click on the "Reserve as
Spare" item.

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 7
If a replacement drive is found, then the storage system performs one Rebuild task for each
extent on the failed drive rebuilding that extent onto 1) the same position it previously
occupied on the failed drive, if the replacement drive is the same size or larger, or 2) the
next available space on the replacement drive, if the replacement drive is smaller than the
failed drive. So, if the replacement drive is the same size or larger than the failed drive,
the replacement drive appears to be a “clone” of the failed drive. If the replacement drive
is smaller than the failed drive, then the replacement drive contains the same extents in the
same order, but with the empty space removed from between the allocated extents.
If no replacement drive could be found, then each extent on the failed drive is rebuilt
individually, if possible, onto any space that can be found in 1) any drive(s) in the Base Pool,
2) one or more drives in the Spare Pool, or 3) one or more drives in the Available Pool.
A Rebuild task can be suspended and resumed, but cannot be cancelled.
1.5.3 Scan a olume
You can scan a volume for media errors by starting a Volume Scan task. This task reads every
block in the volume to ensure there are no errors. If there are errors, this task fixes them if
possible. The system administrator can cancel, suspend or resume a Media Scan task. You
can also schedule a Volume Scan for a future time and/or at a recurring interval.
1.5.4 Grow (Expand) a olume
You can increase the size of a volume. If the volume’s organization requires initialization,
the initialization of the new storage capacity is performed with a Grow task. A Grow task
can be suspended and resumed, but it cannot be cancelled. An initiator can access the new
space in a volume while the Grow task is being performed.
1.5.5 Reconfigure a olume
The xStack Storage system allows Administrators to change the RAID characteristics and/or
size of an existing volume. When you reconfigure a volume, you can specify the RAID
organization, hard disk drives to be used, stripe width, and size of the reconfigured volume.
In most cases, to perform the reconfiguration, the storage system must copy all the data
from the disk space originally allocated to the Volume onto new disk space. In general,, a
good rule of thumb to follow is to have sufficient capacity to support the total capacity of
the current and new volumes. For example, to reconfigure a 100 GB volume to 150 GB, you
should have a total of 250 GB of free disk space available for the period of time that the
Reconfigure operation takes place.
Some reconfigure operations, however, may only need the difference in space free, since
the originally allocated disk space can be reused. This means, that if you’re reconfiguring a
100 GB volume to 150 GB, only 50 GB of free space will be required instead of 250 GB.
A Reconfigure task can be suspended and resumed, but it cannot be cancelled.
A Reconfigure operation can take a considerable amount of time. The
volume remains usable at its original size during this operation. When a
volume is reconfigured, you can observe the progress of the operation. When
the Reconfigure operation completes, the reconfigured volume can be used
with its new size and RAID organization.
1.6 Network Portals
A network portal is a combination of an IP address, a subnet mask, and a port number. In
iSCSI, the standard port is number 3260, which is the port used by the storage system. Each
iSCSI Target ode identifies the network portals through which initiators can access the
storage system.

8 Chapter 1 Introduction
1.7 LANs
The xStack Storage system can use a Virtual LA (VLA ) as a filter to identify the incoming
packets it is to use on each LAG port. For each LAG port on which VLA is to be enabled, a
VLA ID must be defined. On a VLA -enabled LAG port, only packets with the given VLA ID
will be processed and all outgoing packets will be tagged with that VLA ID.
1.8 LAGs
The xStack Storage system manages the physical data ports on the enclosure's back panel
using the concept of LAG ports. In a simple configuration, a LAG port associates a
single Ethernet port (i.e., a physical data port) with a network portal (that defines an IP
address). In this case, which is the default, there are no LAG ports shown on the
Management Console and no management is necessary.
Some server Operating Systems can aggregate multiple Ethernet ports into a LAG port and
provide increased bandwidth. For example, aggregating two GbE ports could, theoretically,
provide up to 2 Gb/s of throughput. Should a customer wish to utilize this feature, the
Management Console can be used to replace the standard one-to-one relationship of
Ethernet port to etwork Portal with a LAG.
LACP protocols are not supported. Static LAG configurations are the only
supported option.
1.9 iSCSI Target Nodes
An iSCSI target node is the method of providing a permissible access to storage on an xStack
Storage system. One target node is automatically generated for each volume. The target
node name includes the volume name with any spaces and other special characters removed.
Access to that volume is granted to an initiator via its iSCSI Initiator ode name. Optionally,
a CHAP secret can be specified for a volume for additional security authentication.
1.10 iSCSI Log-In, Sessions and Connections
When an iSCSI initiator node needs access to the volumes in an xStack Storage system, it
must log in to the target node associated with that volume. When the log in is accepted, an
iSCSI session and an iSCSI connection is established. An initiator can log in to the same target
node a second time, creating a second iSCSI connection within the original iSCSI session.
1.11 Multiple Connections per Session
An initiator can log into a target more than once to establish multiple connections for a
single session. Multiple connections can be used to increase bandwidth and provide
redundancy.

xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 9
Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
The right management software can help you enhance the performance and functionality of
your storage investment. The xStack Storage Management Center from D-Link Inc has been
designed and optimized from the ground up to deliver the command and control foundation
you need to efficiently manage your xStack Storage infrastructure.
The xStack Storage Management Center is an intuitive Java-based graphical application that
provides anytime, anywhere access and control to your xStack Storage arrays. By providing
increased visibility with unified views of your storage environment along with powerful
feature-rich offerings and point-and-click simplicity, the xStack Storage Management Center
empowers you to maximize your investment in xStack Storage arrays while enjoying lower
total cost of ownership.
This User’s Guide describes how to use the xStack Storage Management Center to configure,
provision, and manage the storage on xStack Storage arrays. It includes an overview of the
xStack Storage Management Center, a description of its user interface, and step-by-step
instructions for performing configuration and management activities.
2.1 Key Features
The following list summarizes a few key features of the xStack Storage Management Center:
 Feature-rich embedded IP-based Management Center lets you install, configure, and
maintain all of your online network storage with unparalleled ease and flexibility
 Easy wizard-based installation slashes configuration time allows you to focus your
valuable resources on supporting users instead of maintaining equipment
 Remote configuration and monitoring of xStack Storage arrays
For the latest information about hardware and software supported by your
D-Link DS iSCSI SA Array, please consult the Interoperability Matrix found
on the D-Link Systems Inc Web site: http://www.dlink.com

10 Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
2.2 Compatibility and Minimum System Requirements
Running the xStack Storage Management Center requires a host computer system connected
to the management port of an xStack Storage array. The host system must have an installed:
 etwork-interface card ( IC) initially configured for the same Internet Protocol (IP)
subnetwork (192.168.1.x) as the xStack Storage management port.
 Web browser (Windows Internet Explorer v6.0 or later, FireFox 2.0 on Linux)
 Version of the latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE). If the latest version of JRE is not
installed, you will be able to download it if the host system has Internet access. The
minimum version of JRE is v1.6.0.0.
In addition:
 The xStack Storage arrays must be powered-up and the Ready Light on the front panel of
all arrays must be O (green).
 If your management host has a firewall, see section 9.3 for best practices on using your
xStack Storage solutions in a firewall environment.
2.3 Understanding the Basics
The xStack Storage Management Center is a graphical Web-based interface used to perform
centralized storage configuration, management, administrative, and network activities for
one or more xStack Storage systems (see Figure 2-1). These activities are performed in their
own screens (or “views”).
The xStack Storage Management Center supports the following four views:
 Volume View – lets you view, configure, and manage storage volumes.
 Physical Storage View – lets you view and manage xStack Storage hard disks.
 System Administration View – lets you perform system administrator activities such as
setting up user accounts, upgrading software, and selecting an xStack Storage battery
policy.
 Network Settings View – lets you view and configure the settings for the management
and iSCSI data ports.
For your convenience, there are a number of ways to move from one view to another:
 Click commands on the pull-down View menu.
 Click icons in the View panel.
 Click buttons in the toolbar.
The information shown in the views is a point-in-time snapshot. To update the information
shown, either click Refresh All on the View menu or press the F5 key.