Dell PowerVault MD3200 Series Quick reference guide

Dell PowerVault MD3200 and
MD3220 Storage Arrays
Deployment Guide
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Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if
instructions are not followed.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal
injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this publication is subject to change without notice.
© 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in anymanner whatsoever without the written permissionof Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, and PowerVault™ are trademarks of Dell Inc.
Intel®and Pentium®are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows Server®are either trademarks or registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Red Hat®and Red Hat®Enterprise
Linux®are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE®is
aregisteredtrademarkofNovell,Inc.intheUnitedStatesandothercountries.VMware®isaregistered
trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States or other countries. Citrix™ is a trademark of Citrix
Systems, Inc. and/or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and
Trademark Office and in other countries.
Othertrademarksandtradenamesmaybeusedinthispublicationtorefertoeithertheentitiesclaiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
2011 - 09 Rev. A01
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Contents 3
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Management Station Requirements . . . . . . . . . 5
Introduction to Storage Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Planning the Storage Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Connecting the Storage Array. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Cabling the Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Redundant and Non-Redundant
Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Single Controller Configurations . . . . . . . . . . 11
Dual Controller Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Cabling PowerVault MD1200 Series Expansion
Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Expanding With Previously Configured
PowerVault MD1200 Series Expansion
Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Expanding With New PowerVault MD1200
Series Expansion Enclosures. . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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4Contents
3 Installing PowerVault MD Storage
Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Graphical Installation (Recommended). . . . . . . 26
Console Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Silent Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Upgrading PowerVault MD Storage Software . . . . . 28
4 Post Installation Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Verifying Storage Array Discovery . . . . . . . . . 30
5 Uninstalling PowerVault MD
Storage Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Uninstalling MD Storage Software
From Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Uninstalling MD Storage Software
From Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
A Appendix—Load Balancing. . . . . . . . . . 35
Windows Load Balance Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Round Robin With Subset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Least Queue Depth With Subset . . . . . . . . . . 36
Changing Load Balance Policies in
Windows Sever 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Setting Load Balance Policies in Linux. . . . . . . 37
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Introduction 5
1
Introduction
This guide provides information about deploying Dell PowerVault MD3200
and Dell PowerVault MD3220 storage arrays. The deployment process
includes:
• Hardware installation
• Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM) software installation
• Initial system configuration
Other information includes system requirements, storage array organization,
and utilities.
NOTE: For more information on product documentation, see
support.dell.com/manuals.
MDSM enables an administrator to configure and monitor storage arrays for
optimum usability. The version of MDSM included on the PowerVault MD
series resource media can be used to manage both the PowerVault MD3200
series and the earlier PowerVault MD series storage arrays. MDSM is
compatible with both Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.
System Requirements
Before installing and configuring the PowerVault MD3200 series hardware
and software, ensure that a supported operating system is installed and the
minimum system requirements are met. For more information, see the
Support Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals.
Management Station Requirements
A management station uses MDSM to configure and manage storage arrays
across the network. A management station must meet the following
minimum system requirements:
• Intel Pentium or an equivalent processor (1333 MHz or faster) with 512
MB RAM (1024 MB recommended).
• 1 GB disk space.
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6Introduction
• Display resolution of 1024x768 with 16 million colors (1280x1024 32-bit
recommended).
• Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server.
NOTE: Operating system installations can be either native or hypervisior
guest configurations.
NOTE: Supported hypervisors include Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer,
andVMwareESX andESXi.Forinformationabout thesupportedversions, see
the Support Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals.
• Administrator or equivalent permissions.
Introduction to Storage Arrays
An enclosure containing physical disks accessed through RAID controller
modules is called a storage array. A storage array includes various hardware
components, such as physical disks, RAID controller modules, fans, and
power supplies, gathered into enclosures.
One or more host servers attached to the storage array can access the data on
the storage array. You can also establish multiple physical paths between the
host(s) and the storage array so that loss of any single path (for example,
through failure of a host server port) does not result in loss of access to data
on the storage array.
The storage array is managed by MDSM running on a:
• Host server—On a host server system, MDSM and the storage array
communicate management requests and event information using
SAS connections.
• Management station—On a management station, MDSM communicates
with the storage array either through an Ethernet connection to the
storage array management port or through an Ethernet connection to a
host server. The Ethernet connection passes management information
between the management station and the storage array using SAS
connections.
Using MDSM, you can configure the physical disks in the storage array into
logical components called disk groups and then divide the disk groups into
virtual disks. Disk groups are created in the unconfigured capacity of a storage
array. Virtual disks are created in the free capacity of a disk group.
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Introduction 7
Unconfigured capacity comprises physical disks not already assigned to a disk
group. When a virtual disk is created using unconfigured capacity, a disk
group is automatically created. If the only virtual disk in a disk group is
deleted, the disk group is also deleted. Free capacity is space in a disk group
that is not assigned to any virtual disk.
Data is written to the physical disks in the storage array using RAID
technology. RAID levels define the way in which data is written to physical
disks. Different RAID levels offer different levels of accessibility, redundancy,
and capacity. You can set a specified RAID level for each disk group and
virtual disk on your storage array.
For more information about using RAID and managing data in your storage
solution, see the
Owner’s Manual at support.dell.com/manuals .
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8Introduction
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Hardware Installation 9
2
Hardware Installation
Before using this guide, ensure that you review the instructions in the:
• Getting Started Guide —The Getting Started Guide that shipped with the
storage array providesinformation to configure the initial setup of the system.
• Planning section of the
Owner’s Manual— The planning section provides
information
about important concepts you must know before setting up
your storage solution. See the
Owner’s Manual at
support.dell.com/manuals .
Planning the Storage Configuration
Consider the following before installing your storage array:
• Evaluate data storage needs and administrative requirements.
• Calculate availability requirements.
• Decide the frequency and level of backups, such as weekly full backups
with daily partial backups.
• Consider storage array options, such as password protection and e-mail
alert notifications for error conditions.
• Design the configuration of virtual disks and disk groups according to a data
organization plan. For example, use one virtual disk for inventory, a second
for financial and tax information, and a third for customer information.
• Decide whether to allow space for hot spares, which automatically replace
failed physical disks.
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10 Hardware Installation
Connecting the Storage Array
The storage array is connected to a host using two hot-swappable RAID
controller modules. The RAID controller modules are identified as RAID
controller module 0 and RAID controller module 1.
For more information, see the
Getting Started Guide.
Each RAID controller module has four SAS In port connectors that provide
SAS connections to the host or node. Each RAID controller module also
contains an Ethernet management port and a SAS Out port connector. The
Ethernet management port allows you to install a dedicated management
station (server or stand-alone system). The SAS Out port allows you to
connect the storage array to optional expansion enclosures for additional
storage capacity. For more information, see the
Getting Started Guide .
Each Dell PowerVault MD3200 series storage array can be expanded to a
maximum of120 (or 192, if enabledthrough thePremium Featureactivation)
physical disks through a maximum of seven PowerVault MD1200 series
expansion enclosures.
NOTE: When you connect a host server to a storage array SAS In port connector,
any Out port connector of the server's host bus adapter (HBA) can be used.
Cabling the Storage Array
You can cable the storage array to host servers with:
• Single path data configuration—A single path configuration allows you to
connect a maximum of eight hosts. This is a non-redundant configuration.
• Dual path data configuration—A dual path configuration allows you to
connect a maximum of four hosts.
Choose the data configuration based on:
• Number of hosts required
• Level of data redundancy required
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Hardware Installation 11
Redundant and Non-Redundant Configurations
Non-redundant configurations are configurations that provide only a single
data path from a host to the storage array. This type of configuration is only
recommended for non-critical data storage. Path failure from a failed or
removed cable, a failed HBA, or a failed or removed RAID controller module
results in loss of host access to storage on the storage array.
Redundancy is established by installing separate data paths between the host
and the storage array, in which each path is set to one of the two RAID
controller modules installed in the storage array. Redundancy protects the
host from losing access to data in the event of path failure, because both
RAID controller modules can access all the disks in the storage array.
Single Controller Configurations
Figure 2-1 through Figure 2-3 show two and four hosts, each connected to
only one RAID controller module. The hosts can share storage space but
without redundant paths, if one path were to fail, the server on that path
would be disconnected from the storage array.
Figure 2-1. Two Hosts Connected to a Single Controller
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
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12 Hardware Installation
Figure 2-2. Two Hosts Connected to a Single Controller
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
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Hardware Installation 13
Figure 2-3. Four Hosts Connected to a Single Controller
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
Server 3 Server 4
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14 Hardware Installation
Dual Controller Configurations
Figure 2-4 through Figure 2-6 show two and four hosts, each connected to two
RAID controller modules. Since each host has redundant paths, loss of a single
path would still allow access to the storage array through the alternate path.
Figure 2-4. Two Hosts Connected to Two Controllers
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
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Hardware Installation 15
Figure 2-5. Four Hosts Connected to Two Controllers
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
Server 3 Server 4
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16 Hardware Installation
Figure 2-6. Four Hosts Connected to Two Controllers
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
Server 3 Server 4
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Hardware Installation 17
Figure 2-7 shows eight hosts, each connected to only one RAID controller
module. This configuration allows the maximum number of hosts that may
be connected, but provides no redundancy.
Figure 2-7. Eight Hosts Connected to Two Controllers
Server 1 Server 2
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
Server 3 Server 4 Server 8
Up to 8 hosts
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18 Hardware Installation
Figure 2-8 and Figure 2-9 show up to four cluster nodes connected to two
RAID controller modules. Since each cluster node has redundant paths, loss
of a single path would still allow access to the storage array through the
alternate path.
Figure 2-8. Four Cluster Nodes Connected to Two Controllers
Four cluster nodes
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
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Hardware Installation 19
Figure 2-9. Four Cluster Nodes Connected to Two Controllers
Four cluster nodes
Storage array
Corporate, public,
or private network
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20 Hardware Installation
Cabling PowerVault MD1200 Series Expansion
Enclosures
You can expand the capacity of your PowerVault MD3200 series storage array
by adding PowerVault MD1200 series expansion enclosures. You can expand
the physical disk pool to a maximum of 120 (or 192, if enabled using the
Premium Feature activation) physical disks using a maximum of seven
expansion enclosures.
Expanding WithPreviously Configured PowerVault MD1200 Series
Expansion Enclosures
Use this procedure if your expansion enclosure is directly attached to and
configured on a Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H800 adapter.
Data from virtual disks created on a PERC H800 adapter cannot be directly
migrated to a PowerVault MD3200 series storage array or to a PowerVault
MD1200 series expansion enclosure connected to a PowerVault MD3200
series storage array.
CAUTION:IfaPowerVaultMD1200series enclosurethatwaspreviouslyattached
to PERC H800 adapter is used as an expansion enclosure to a PowerVault MD3200
series storage array, the physical disks of the expansion enclosure are
reinitializedanddata islost.Youmust backupalldataontheexpansion
enclosure
before attempting the expansion.
To attach previously configured PowerVault MD1200 series expansion
enclosures to the PowerVault MD3200 series storage array:
1
Back up all data on the expansion enclosure(s).
2 Upgrade the expansion enclosure firmware to the latest version available
at
support.dell.com whilethe enclosureis stillattached tothePERC H800
controller.
Windows systems users can reference the
DUP.exe package and Linux
kernel users can reference the
DUP.bin package.
3 Ensure that the storage array software is installed and up to date before
adding the expansion enclosure(s).
For more information, see the
Support Matrix at
support.dell.com/manuals .
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