Dell PowerVault NX3500 Service manual

Dell PowerVault
NX3500 System
Administrator’s Guide

Notes and Cautions
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.
____________________
Information in this publication is subject to change without notice.
© 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, and PowerVault™ are trademarks of Dell Inc.
Microsoft®, Windows®, Internet Explorer®, and Windows Server®are either trademarks or registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Symantec™,
NetBackup™, and Backup Exec™ are trademarks of Symantec Corporation. CommVault®and
Simpana®are either trademarks or registered trademarks of CommVault.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this publication to refer to either the entities claiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
2012 - 01 Rev. A02

Contents 3
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Other Information You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Terms Used in the Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
PowerVault NX3500 Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
PowerVault NX3500 Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
System Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
NAS Controller Pair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
PowerVault MD Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
BPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
SAN Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Internal Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Internal Network A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Internal Network B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
LAN or Client Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2 Setting Up Your PowerVault
NX3500 Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Setting Up the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Choosing the Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Completing the NAS System Setup
Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

4Contents
NAS System Setup Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Preparing Your Management Station. . . . . . . . 45
Installing the Solution in the Rack . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Setting Up Your MD Storage Solution . . . . . . . 45
Creating Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Creating Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Creating a Host Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Creating Host-to-Virtual Disk Mappings . . . . . . 52
Running the PowerVault NASCU . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Installing the PowerVault NASCU . . . . . . . . . 53
Launching the PowerVault NASCU . . . . . . . . . 54
NAS Manager Configuration Wizard . . . . . . . . 64
Accessing the NAS Manager Web Interface . . . 64
PowerVault NAS Manager
Configuration Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3 Accessing the Dell PowerVault
NAS Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Browser Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
NAS Manager Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Action Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Admin Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Admin Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Search Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4 Monitoring PowerVault NX3500 . . . . . . . 73
Dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Contents 5
Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Current Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Network Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Client Network Throughput—Read or Write . . . . 78
Operations Per Second. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Network Aggregated Throughput . . . . . . . . . 78
Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Client Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Usage Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
CIFS Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Component Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Space Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Quota Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Replication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Active Remote Replication Jobs . . . . . . . . . . 86
Remote Replication Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5 Monitoring PowerVault NX3500
Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Event Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Defining Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

6Contents
6 Using Volumes, Shares, and Quotas . . . 91
NAS Volumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Usage Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Solution 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Solution 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Solution 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Managing NAS Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Adding a NAS Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Modifying a NAS Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Removing a NAS Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Shares and Exports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Managing NFS Exports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Managing CIFS Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Setting Access Control Lists and Share Level
Permissions on FluidFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
CIFS Storage Administrator Account . . . . . . . 100
Active Directory Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 100
Setting ACLs or SLPs on a CIFS Share . . . . . . 100
Access Using CIFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Configuring CIFS Shares Level Permissions . . . 103
Removing a CIFS Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Resetting Local Administrator Password. . . . . 104
Quotas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Default Quotas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
User or Group Specific Quotas . . . . . . . . . . 105
Quota Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Contents 7
7 Protecting Data on PowerVault
NX3500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Replication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
NAS Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Activating Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Setting Up a Replication Partner . . . . . . . . . . 110
Adding a Replication Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Managing Replication Policies . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Deleting a Replication Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Removing a Replication Partner . . . . . . . . . . 111
Managing Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Snapshots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Activating Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Creating a Snapshot (Without a Policy) . . . . . . 112
Adding or Modifying a Snapshot Policy . . . . . . 112
Accessing Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Restoring Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Restoring a NAS Volume From a Snapshot . . . . 113
Deleting a Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Backing Up and Restoring Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Supported Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Enabling NDMP Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Changing NDMP Password . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Modifying DMA Servers List . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Specifying NAS Volume for Backup . . . . . . . . 118
Displaying Active NDMP Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Terminating an Active NDMP Job . . . . . . . . . 118
NDMP Design Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Using Antivirus Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

8Contents
Supported Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Adding Antivirus Hosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Enabling Antivirus Support Per CIFS Share . . . 120
8 Managing the PowerVault NX3500 . . . . 121
Managing the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Managing Client Access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Viewing the Defined Subnets . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Modifying a Subnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Removing a Subnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Managing Administrator Users . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Adding an Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Changing the Administrator’s Password . . . . . 125
Modifying an Administrator. . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Modifying an Administrator's
E-Mail Filter Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Removing an Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Managing Local Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Adding Local Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Modifying Local Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Deleting Local Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Changing the Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Managing Local Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Adding a Local Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Modifying a Local Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Deleting a Local Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Configuring an Identity Management
Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Contents 9
Enabling User Authentication Through
an NIS Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Enabling User Authentication Through
an LDAP Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Disabling the Use of an External UNIX
Identity Management Database . . . . . . . . . . 132
Active Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Synchronizing PowerVault NX3500 With
the Active Directory Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Configuring the Active Directory Service . . . . . 133
Network Configuration Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Accessing the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Performance and Static Routes . . . . . . . . . . 134
Configuring DNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Adding DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Removing DNS Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Adding DNS Domains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Deleting DNS Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Managing Static Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Adding Static Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Modifying a Static Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Deleting a Static Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Defining File System Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Configuring CIFS Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Configuring General CIFS Parameters . . . . . . . 138
Configuring Advanced CIFS Parameters . . . . . . 139
Configuring System Time Parameters . . . . . . . . . . 140
Changing the Time Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

10 Contents
Manually Configuring the Current Date
and Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Removing an NTP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Synchronizing PowerVault NX3500 With
a Local NTP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
9 Maintaining the PowerVault NX3500 . . . 143
Shutting Down the PowerVault NX3500 System. . . . 143
Turning On the PowerVault NX3500 Solution . . . . . 144
Installing the Service Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Expanding the PowerVault NX3500
Storage Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Adding LUNs to PowerVault NX3500 . . . . . . . 147
Running Diagnostics on PowerVault . . . . . . . . . 148
Online Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Offline Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Reinstalling the PowerVault NX3500 . . . . . . . . . 150
Replacing a PowerVault NX3500 Controller. . . . . . 151
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Detaching the PowerVault NX3500
Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Removing and Replacing the PowerVault
NX3500 Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Attaching the PowerVault NX3500
Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Contents 11
10 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Troubleshooting CIFS Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Clients Cannot Access CIFS Files . . . . . . . . . 155
CIFS Access Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
CIFS ACL Corruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
CIFS Client Clock Skew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
CIFS Client Disconnection on File Read . . . . . . 157
CIFS Client General Disconnection. . . . . . . . . 157
CIFS Client Login Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
CIFS Connection Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
CIFS Delete-On-Close Denial . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
CIFS File Access Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
CIFS File Sharing Conflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
CIFS Guest Account Invalid . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
CIFS Locking Inconsistency . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
CIFS Maximum Connections Reached . . . . . . . 159
CIFS Share Does Not Exist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
CIFS Path Share Not Found. . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
CIFS Write to Read Only Volume . . . . . . . . . . 161
Troubleshooting NFS Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Cannot Mount NFS Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
NFS Export Does Not Exist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
NFS File Access Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
NFS Insecure Access to Secure Export . . . . . . 165
NFS Mount Fails Due to Export Options . . . . . . 165
NFS Mount Fails Due to Netgroup Failure . . . . . 166
NFS Mount Path Does Not Exist . . . . . . . . . . 167
NFS Owner Restricted Operation. . . . . . . . . . 167
NFS Write to Read-Only Export. . . . . . . . . . . 168
NFS Write to Read-Only Volume . . . . . . . . . . 168
NFS Write to Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
NFS Access Denied to a File or Directory . . . . . 168

12 Contents
Troubleshooting Replication Issues . . . . . . . . . . 169
Replication Configuration Error. . . . . . . . . . 169
Replication Destination Cluster is Busy . . . . . 169
Replication Destination FS is Busy . . . . . . . . 170
Replication Destination is Down . . . . . . . . . 170
Replication Destination is Not Optimal . . . . . . 170
Replication Destination Volume is Busy
Reclaiming Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Replication Destination Volume
is Detached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Replication Disconnection . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Replication Incompatible Versions . . . . . . . . 172
Replication Internal Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Replication Jumbo Frames Blocked . . . . . . . 172
Replication Destination Does Not
Have Enough Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Replication Source is Busy . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Replication Source is Down . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Replication Source is Not Optimal . . . . . . . . 173
Replication Source Volume is Busy
Reclaiming Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Troubleshooting Active Directory Issues . . . . . . . 174
Group Quota For an Active Directory
User Does Not Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Active Directory Authentication . . . . . . . . . 175
Troubleshooting Active Directory
Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Troubleshooting BPS Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Backup Power Supply LED Displays
a Solid Amber Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Backup Power Supply LED Flashes
Green and Amber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Backup Power Supply Displays a
Blinking Amber LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Contents 13
BPS LED Is Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Troubleshooting NAS File Access and
Permissions Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Cannot Change the Ownership of a
File or a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Cannot Modify NAS Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Mixed File Ownership Denied . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Problematic SMB Access From a
Linux Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Strange UID and GID Numbers on
Dell NAS System Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Troubleshooting Networking Issues . . . . . . . . . . 181
Name Server Unresponsive . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Specific Subnet Clients Cannot Access
the PowerVault NX3500 System . . . . . . . . . . 181
Troubleshooting DNS Configurations. . . . . . . . 182
Determining the IQN of the PowerVault
NX3500 Controllers Using CLI . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Troubleshooting RX and TX Pause
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Troubleshooting NAS Manager Issues . . . . . . . . . 183
NAS Dashboard is Delayed. . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
NAS System Time is Wrong. . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Cannot Connect to the NAS Manager . . . . . . . 184
Blank Login Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Troubleshooting Backup Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Troubleshooting Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Troubleshooting an NDMP Internal Error . . . . . 187
Troubleshooting System Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Troubleshooting System Shutdown. . . . . . . . . 188
NAS Container Security Violation . . . . . . . . . 189

14 Contents
Multiple Errors Received During
File System Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Associating LUN Names to Virtual Disks . . . . . 191
Identifying Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Troubleshooting NAS Configuration
Utility Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Error Received While Running the
PowerVault NASCU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Cannot Launch PowerVault NX3500
NAS Configuration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
11 Command Line Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Accessing the CLI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
CLI Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
12 Internationalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Unicode Client Support Overview . . . . . . . . . . . 201
NFS Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
CIFS Clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Unicode Configuration Parameters . . . . . . . . . . 202
Unicode Configuration Limitations . . . . . . . . 203
File Size and Directory Name . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Clients Compatibility Problems . . . . . . . . . . 203
Japanese Compatibility Issues . . . . . . . . . . 203

Contents 15
13 Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . 205
NDMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Replication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
A BPS Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
B Cabling Recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . 213

16 Contents

Introduction 17
1
Introduction
The Dell PowerVault NX3500 clustered network attached storage (NAS)
system is a high-availability storage solution. The solution aggregates multiple
NAS controllers in a cluster and presents them to UNIX, Linux, and
Microsoft Windows clients as one virtual file server.
About This Document
This document provides information on the features available to the storage
administrator. It is organized as follows.
Chapter Description
Introduction Provides information on the PowerVault NX3500 cluster
solution architecture and features.
Setting Up Your
PowerVault NX3500
Solution
Provides instructions on setting up the PowerVault NX3500, the
various topologies, and cabling options. It also includes the
detailed setup procedure and available configuration options.
Accessing the Dell
PowerVault NAS
Manager
Provides an overview of the NAS Manager web console and
instructions for accessing it.
Monitoring
PowerVault NX3500
Provides descriptions and procedures for monitoring the
PowerVault NX3500.
Monitoring
PowerVault NX3500
Events
Provides procedures for searching events and defining queries.
Using Volumes,
Shares, and Quotas
Provides instructions for managing NAS volumes, shares,
and quotas.
Protecting Data on
PowerVault NX3500
Provides procedures for configuring data protection options
such as, snapshots, replication, and backup agent.

18 Introduction
Other Information You May Need
Managing the
PowerVault NX3500
Provides procedures and descriptions about the initial
configuration, system information, users management,
license management, system time, networking, protocols,
authentication, monitoring configuration, and maintenance.
Maintaining the
PowerVault NX3500
Provides procedures for shutting down, powering up,
upgrading, and running diagnostics.
Troubleshooting Provides information on troubleshooting your NAS
storage solution.
Command Line
Interface
Provides basic information for using the PowerVault
NX3500 CLI.
Internationalization Provides information about unicode support in
PowerVault NX3500.
BPS Alarms Contains additional information on troubleshooting the Dell
Backup Power Supply (BPS).
NAS Setup Worksheet Provides a worksheet that will help you set up and configure
your solution.
Document Description
Getting Started Guide Provides an overview of system features, setting up your
solution, and technical specifications. This document is
shipped with your system and is also available at
support.dell.com/manuals.
Hardware Owner's
Manual
Provides information about solution features and describes
how to troubleshoot the system and install or replace system
components. This document is available at
support.dell.com/manuals.
Rack Installation
Instructions
Describes how to install your system into a rack. This
document is shipped with your rack solution and is also
available at support.dell.com/manuals.
Online Help Provides information about configuring and managing the
NAS Manager. The online help is integrated with the system
and can be accessed from the NAS Manager.
Chapter Description

Introduction 19
Terms Used in the Document
Table 1-1. PowerVault NAS System Terms
Term Description
Backup Power
Supply
Provides back up battery power in the event of a power loss.
Client access VIP Virtual IP addresses that clients use to access CIFS shares and
NFS exports hosted by a PowerVault NAS system. The
PowerVault NAS system supports multiple client access
Virtual IPs (VIPs).
Controller (NAS
controller or nodes)
NAS appliance installed with the Dell Fluid File System
(FluidFS) software.
Controller pair Two NAS controllers that are configured as pair in a
PowerVault NAS clustered system. Cache data is mirrored
between the paired NAS controllers.
Data Management
Application (DMA)
Also known as the Backup Application Server.
Dell PowerVault
Modular Disk
Storage Manager
(MDSM)
The management software that ships with the PowerVault
MD32x0i or MD36x0i array.
Fluid File System High-performance, scalable file system software installed on
NAS controllers.
Host Port Identifier Unique ID used to identify hosts in a network.
Internal network A
(peer connection)
The PowerVault NX3500's internal network consists of two
independent Gigabit Ethernet ports. The internal network is
the infrastructure for PowerVault NX3500 clustering,
including the heartbeat monitor, data transfer, and mirroring
information between the controllers.
Internal network B
(internal
management or
IPMI)
The PowerVault NX3500 internal management network (also
known as internal network b) connects both controllers. All
administrative related functions and controller reboots are
performed on this network.

20 Introduction
LAN or client
network (primary
network)
The network through which clients access NAS shares or exports.
The PowerVault NAS system is connected to customer’s IT
environment and its NAS clients using this network.
NAS storage pool Virtual disks created on the PowerVault MD32x0i or MD36x0i
storage arrays dedicated to the PowerVault NX3500 system.
NAS volume (NAS
container or virtual
volume)
A virtualized volume that consumes storage space in the NAS
storage pool. Administrators can create CIFS shares and NFS
exports on a NAS volume and share them with authorized users.
A PowerVault NAS system supports multiple NAS volumes.
NAS replication Replication between two PowerVault NAS systems or between
two NAS volumes.
NAS replication
partners
PowerVault NAS systems participating in a replication activity.
Network Data
Management
Protocol
Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) used for
backup and restore.
Peer controller The peer NAS controller with which a specific NAS controller
is paired in a PowerVault NAS system.
Power module
(battery unit)
One of the battery units in a BPS.
PowerVault
MD3xx0i
Refers to the PowerVault MD3200i, MD3220i, MD3600i,
MD3620i iSCSI storage solutions.
PowerVault NAS
Configuration
Utility (NASCU)
The setup wizard used to initially discover and configure a
PowerVault NAS system. This utility is only used for the initial
setup.
NAS Manager The web-based user interface, which is part of the PowerVault
NX3500 software, used to manage the PowerVault NAS system.
PowerVault NAS
system
A fully configured, highly-available and scalable NAS
appliance, providing NAS (CIFS and/or NFS) services, which
is comprised of a pair of NAS controllers, a BPS, a PowerVault
storage subsystem, and the NAS Manager.
Table 1-1. PowerVault NAS System Terms
(continued)
Term Description