Dell PowerVault DX6104 User manual

Dell DX Object Storage Platform
User’s Guide

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the
problem.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
©2013 Dell Inc.
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2013 - 03
Rev. A04

Contents
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings...................................................................................................2
1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................5
2 DX Object Storage Platform Overview....................................................................................7
Network Topologies..................................................................................................................................................7
Local Cluster Configuration................................................................................................................................8
Redundant DX Cluster Services Nodes..............................................................................................................9
Subcluster Configuration.................................................................................................................................10
Remote Cluster Configuration..........................................................................................................................11
Application Access To DX Object Storage Platform..............................................................................................12
Communicating Directly With A Local Cluster.................................................................................................12
Communicating Directly With A Remote Cluster.............................................................................................13
3 Setting Up The DX Object Storage Platform.........................................................................15
Installing The Initial Cluster Or Redundant Cluster Services Node........................................................................15
Configuring The DX Object Storage Platform.........................................................................................................15
DX Content Router Rules Configurator...................................................................................................................16
Using The Dell DX Content Router Rules Configurator....................................................................................16
Troubleshooting The Dell DX Content Router Rules Configurator (CRRC).......................................................17
Adding Additional DX Storage Nodes.....................................................................................................................17
Installing The System In A Rack.......................................................................................................................18
Cabling The Appliance.....................................................................................................................................18
Turning On The DX Storage Node....................................................................................................................18
Enabling Capacity In DX Cluster Services Console..........................................................................................18
Adding Network Adapter To DX Storage Nodes..............................................................................................18
Adding Network Adapters To DX Cluster Services Nodes .............................................................................19
4 Updating The Dell DX Object Storage Platform Software..................................................21
Updating The System Software On The CSN..........................................................................................................21
Downloading The Update Manager Payload...................................................................................................21
Executing Updates...........................................................................................................................................21
Receiving System Software Update Notifications...........................................................................................22
Downgrading A Payload...................................................................................................................................22
Troubleshooting Update Failures.....................................................................................................................22
Repairing The Installed System Software........................................................................................................22
Validating The System Software On The CSN........................................................................................................23

5 Upgrading Or Re-installing The DX System Using The Dell Restore Manager...............25
Introduction To The Dell Restore Manager ...........................................................................................................25
Restore Manager Operating Modes.......................................................................................................................25
System Recovery Mode...................................................................................................................................25
Factory Reset Mode.........................................................................................................................................25
Downloading The Restore Manager Application...................................................................................................26
Creating A Bootable USB Disk................................................................................................................................26
Creating A Restore Manger USB Drive On Microsoft Windows Systems.......................................................26
Creating A Restore Manger USB Drive On Linux Or Unix Systems..................................................................27
Executing The Restore Manager......................................................................................................................27
Upgrading From DX 2.x To DX 3.1 Using Restore Manager....................................................................................28
Preparing To Upgrade From DX 2.x To DX 3.1..................................................................................................28
Reconfiguring The CSN....................................................................................................................................29
Restoring The Backup Manifest UUID.............................................................................................................29
Restoring The DXM Configuration...................................................................................................................30
Restoring The DX Content Router Rules Configurator.....................................................................................30
6 Disaster Recovery.....................................................................................................................31
Recovery Solution Map..........................................................................................................................................31
Recovering From Disk Failures...............................................................................................................................31
Single Disk Failure............................................................................................................................................31
Two Disk Failure...............................................................................................................................................32
Detecting And Monitoring Disk Failures.................................................................................................................32
Storage Node Hard Drive LED Behavior.................................................................................................................32
Reinstalling The Operating System.........................................................................................................................32
7 Additional References..............................................................................................................33
Software Documents..............................................................................................................................................33
Hardware Documents.............................................................................................................................................33
Systems Management Documents.........................................................................................................................34
8 Appendix A—Upgrading DX System Software From Version 1 To Version 2.................35
Guidelines...............................................................................................................................................................35
Upgrading RHEL 5.3 To RHEL 5.5.............................................................................................................................35
Upgrading DX Software From Version 1.0 To Version 2.x ......................................................................................36
9 Appendix B—Hard Drive Hot Plug User Interface Issue...................................................37
10 Getting Help..............................................................................................................................39
Contacting Dell.......................................................................................................................................................39
Documentation Feedback.......................................................................................................................................39

1
Introduction
The Dell DX Object Storage Platform provides a simple and cost effective pool of storage for files whose content do not
change often. The object storage platform allows you to:
• Expand capacity to meet rapidly changing needs without disrupting services.
• Set policies for file retention and replication.
• Distribute information to multiple geographic locations.
• Integrate through an HTTP based interface.
The DX Object Storage Platform includes the following hardware and software:
• Up to two Dell DX6 nnn Cluster Services Node:
– DX6000 (the 11th generation server CSN model)
– DX6104-CSN (the 12th generation server CSN model)
• Three or more Dell DX6 nnn Object Storage Nodes:
– DX6004S, DX6012S (the 11th generation server SN models)
– DX6104-SN, DX6112-SN (the 12th generation server SN models)
• A pre-installed operating system and Dell OpenManage software on the DX Cluster Services Node.
• Dell DX Object Storage Platform software.
The following table lists the terms used in this document to refer to various components of the DX Object Storage
Platform.
Table 1. Terms Used in the Document
Component Description
DX Object Storage Cluster DX6000 or DX6104-CSN systems and DX6004S, DX6012S, DX6104-SN
or DX6112-SN systems.
DX Cluster Services Node, Cluster Services
Node (CSN)
DX6000 or DX6104-CSN server and software components.
DX Object Storage Node, DX Storage Node (SN) DX6004S, DX6012S, DX6104-SN or DX6112-SN servers and software
components.
DX Content Router Software component on the DX6000 or DX6104/6112 systems.
DX Object Storage Software Software components on the DX6000 or DX6104/6112 systems.
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6

2
DX Object Storage Platform Overview
Network Topologies
The Dell DX Object Storage Platform network consists of one or more DX Storage Clusters connected by DX Content
Router services through a network. There are many possible network topologies depending on the storage network
goals. All networks share the following features:
• Two or more (minimum three recommended) DX Cluster Services Nodes that provide services to the storage
cluster.
• Three or more DX Storage Nodes that provide data storage services.
• Ethernet switches to enable required services within a storage cluster (private network) and access to the
storage nodes from outside the cluster (public network).
• Services such as Domain Name System (DNS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
NOTE: DX Storage Cluster requires a dedicated internal network to ensure that the storage cluster traffic is
protected from unauthorized access. The dedicated network also ensures that the external or corporate network is
isolated from both the PXE boot server and cluster multicast traffic. Single networking is not supported.
The DX supports 1GbE and 10GbE network speeds. All network services required by the cluster are present in the DX
Cluster Services Node software bundle, and preinstalled on the Cluster Services Node. The DX Storage Cluster is
automatically configured with the defaults for all network parameters that must be sufficient for most simple
configurations. All network parameters can be set manually to support more complex configurations. For more
information about setting network parameters, see the DX Object Storage Getting Started Guide and the DX Object
Storage Advanced Administration Guide at dell.com/support/manuals.
Network switch configuration depends on both the network topology and the customer environment. To ensure proper
functioning with default network parameters and to maximize cluster performance, it is recommended that you follow
the best practices listed below, while configuring both the private and public network switches:
• Disable Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) as the DX Object Storage Nodes bond the system NIC ports in
balanced-alb modes.
• Disable jumbo frames.
• Disable spanning tree protocol, if the switches are not being trunked.
• Disable Flow Control.
• Disable IGMP snooping.
NOTE: If IGMP snooping must be enabled, there must also be an IGMP querier enabled in the same
network (broadcast domain).
NOTE: If switches are trunked, enable spanning tree protocol and port fast on the data intensive ports.
NOTE: Use of jumbo frames is not recommended. Though they are supported, changes are required to both the DX
system and the network switches.
Contact Dell to customize the network configurations to meet the solution requirements. For more information about
configuring the network for the Dell DX Object Storage Platform, see “Network Topology” in the DX Object Storage
Advanced Administration Guide at dell.com/support/manuals.
7

Local Cluster Configuration
A basic Dell DX Storage Cluster consists of at least two (three recommended) DX Cluster Services Nodes and at least
two (three recommended) DX Storage Nodes, along with the necessary Ethernet infrastructure to connect them.
Within a cluster, DX Storage Nodes communicate with each other through User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IP
multicast. All nodes within a cluster must be on the same IP subnet. The DX Cluster Services Node also participates in
UDP and multicast communication and must be located within the same subnet.
The Layer 3 switch (IP router) used to create the storage cluster subnet must:
• Restrict UDP and multicast network to the cluster subnet
• Pass TCP (HTTP) traffic to and from the DX Cluster Services Node and DX Storage Nodes
NOTE: A load-balancer in front of the storage cluster is not required. The applications communicate directly with
the DX Object Storage Platform through HTTP.
It is recommended that you configure the network topology to enable applications to communicate with the DX Storage
Nodes on private and secure networks. This is the primary method to store and retrieve data from a local DX Storage
Cluster.
NOTE: If applications write to a cluster through an unsecure network, then to prevent malicious activity, it is
recommended that you allow the application to encrypt the data before writing the data to the cluster.
8

Figure 1. Local Cluster Configuration
Redundant DX Cluster Services Nodes
The Dell DX Storage Cluster supports redundant DX Cluster Services Nodes. In a redundant model, the active DX Cluster
Services Node is configured as the primary node and the redundant node is configured as the secondary node.
The primary Cluster Services Node contains the cluster configuration files, active networking utilities, and active
content router services. A manual failover process is required if the primary DX Cluster Services Node fails to promote
the secondary DX Cluster Services Node. For more information, see the “Failover” section of the Cluster Services Node
(CSN) Installation and Configuration Guide at dell.com/support/manuals. Since there is a combined virtual IP address for
the primary DX Cluster Services Node, a failover to a redundant DX Cluster Services Node is transparent to all
applications. When a failover is transparent, an IP address change is not required. However, the application services
remain unavailable until the manual failover of the Cluster Services Node is complete.
NOTE: After a secondary CSN has been promoted to active (primary), it remains as the primary, and the original
primary CSN must be configured as the secondary.
For more information, see the Cluster Services Installation and Configuration Guide at dell.com/support/manuals.
9

Figure 2. Redundant DX Cluster Services Nodes
Subcluster Configuration
A Dell DX Storage Cluster can be split into two or more subclusters. The subclusters are physically part of the same
cluster but are recognized as logically separate entities by the DX Object Storage software that provides local area
replication.
A subcluster can be:
• A set of nodes within one physical group (such as building, floor, wing, and so on)
• An environmental group (such as rack, network switch, and power circuit)
• Any other defined groups
NOTE: If the building or power circuit fails, other nodes have an optimal set of data replicas.
All DX Storage Nodes within the DX Storage Cluster have the same network connectivity requirements. The DX Storage
Nodes must be in the same IP subnet, must be able to participate in multicast and UDP traffic, and so on. Clients may
address DX Storage Nodes within any subcluster and are redirected to the proper DX Storage Node. As a result,
application awareness of a subcluster configuration is not required.
10