Dell PowerVault MD3260i Series Service manual

Dell PowerVault MD3260/3260i/3660i/3660f/3060e
Storage Arrays
Administrator'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.
©2012 Dell Inc.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the Dell logo, Dell Boomi™, Dell Precision™, OptiPlex™, Latitude™, PowerEdge™, PowerVault™,
PowerConnect™, OpenManage™, EqualLogic™, Compellent™, KACE™, FlexAddress™, Force10™and Vostro™are trademarks of Dell
Inc. Intel®, Pentium®, Xeon®, Core®and Celeron®are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. AMD®
is a registered trademark and AMD Opteron™, AMD Phenom™and AMD Sempron™are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Microsoft®, Windows®, Windows Server®, Internet Explorer®, MS-DOS®, Windows Vista®and Active Directory®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/or other countries. Novell®and SUSE®are
registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the United States and other countries. Oracle®is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation
and/or its affiliates. Citrix®, Xen®, XenServer®and XenMotion®are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. VMware®, Virtual SMP®, vMotion®, vCenter®and vSphere®are registered trademarks or
trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States or other countries. IBM®is a registered trademark of International Business Machines
Corporation.
2012 - 08
Rev. A00

Contents
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings...................................................................................................2
1 Introduction................................................................................................................................13
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager .................................................................................................13
User Interface.........................................................................................................................................................13
Enterprise Management Window...........................................................................................................................14
Inheriting The System Settings........................................................................................................................14
Array Management Window..................................................................................................................................15
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Configuration Utility...............................................................................................16
Other Information You May Need...........................................................................................................................16
2 About Your MD Series Dense Storage Array.......................................................................17
Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, And Disk Groups......................................................................................................17
Physical Disks..................................................................................................................................................17
Physical Disk States.........................................................................................................................................17
Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology......................................................................................18
Virtual Disks And Disk Groups..........................................................................................................................18
Virtual Disk States............................................................................................................................................18
RAID Levels.............................................................................................................................................................19
Maximum Physical Disk Support Limitations...................................................................................................19
RAID Level Usage.............................................................................................................................................19
RAID 0...............................................................................................................................................................20
RAID 1...............................................................................................................................................................20
RAID 5...............................................................................................................................................................20
RAID 6...............................................................................................................................................................20
RAID 10.............................................................................................................................................................20
Segment Size..........................................................................................................................................................21
Virtual Disk Operations...........................................................................................................................................21
Virtual Disk Initialization...................................................................................................................................21
Consistency Check...........................................................................................................................................21
Media Verification............................................................................................................................................21
Cycle Time........................................................................................................................................................22
Virtual Disk Operations Limit............................................................................................................................22
Disk Group Operations............................................................................................................................................22
RAID Level Migration.......................................................................................................................................22
Segment Size Migration...................................................................................................................................22
Virtual Disk Capacity Expansion.......................................................................................................................23

Disk Group Expansion......................................................................................................................................23
Disk Group Defragmentation............................................................................................................................23
Disk Group Operations Limit.............................................................................................................................23
RAID Background Operations Priority....................................................................................................................23
Virtual Disk Migration And Disk Roaming...............................................................................................................24
Disk Migration..................................................................................................................................................24
Disk Roaming....................................................................................................................................................25
Host Server-To-Virtual Disk Mapping..............................................................................................................25
Host Types........................................................................................................................................................26
Advanced Features.................................................................................................................................................26
Snapshot Virtual Disks.....................................................................................................................................26
Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk.....................................................................................................................26
Virtual Disk Copy..............................................................................................................................................27
Virtual Disk Recovery.......................................................................................................................................27
Using Snapshot And Disk Copy Together........................................................................................................27
Multi-Path Software...............................................................................................................................................28
Preferred And Alternate Controllers And Paths...............................................................................................28
Virtual Disk Ownership.....................................................................................................................................28
Load Balancing.......................................................................................................................................................28
Monitoring System Performance............................................................................................................................29
Monitoring Performance Using The Tabular View...........................................................................................29
Monitoring Performance Using The Graphical View.......................................................................................30
3 Discovering And Managing Your Storage Array.................................................................33
Out-Of-Band Management.....................................................................................................................................33
In-Band Management.............................................................................................................................................33
Access Virtual Disk..........................................................................................................................................33
Storage Arrays........................................................................................................................................................34
Automatic Discovery Of Storage Arrays..........................................................................................................34
Manual Addition Of A Storage Array...............................................................................................................34
Setting Up Your Storage Array...............................................................................................................................35
Locating Storage Arrays..................................................................................................................................35
Naming Or Renaming Storage Arrays..............................................................................................................36
Setting A Password..........................................................................................................................................36
Adding Or Editing A Comment To An Existing Storage Array...........................................................................37
Removing Storage Arrays................................................................................................................................37
Enabling Premium Features.............................................................................................................................38
Displaying Failover Alert..................................................................................................................................38
Changing The Cache Settings On The Storage Array......................................................................................38
Changing Expansion Enclosure ID Numbers....................................................................................................39
Changing The Enclosure Order........................................................................................................................39
Configuring Alert Notifications...............................................................................................................................39

Configuring E-mail Alerts.................................................................................................................................40
Configuring SNMP Alerts.................................................................................................................................41
Battery Settings......................................................................................................................................................42
Changing The Battery Settings........................................................................................................................42
Setting The Storage Array RAID Controller Module Clocks...................................................................................42
4 Using iSCSI.................................................................................................................................45
Changing The iSCSI Target Authentication............................................................................................................45
Entering Mutual Authentication Permissions.........................................................................................................45
Creating CHAP Secrets...........................................................................................................................................46
Initiator CHAP Secret.......................................................................................................................................46
Target CHAP Secret.........................................................................................................................................46
Valid Characters For CHAP Secrets.................................................................................................................46
Changing The iSCSI Target Identification..............................................................................................................47
Changing The iSCSI Target Discovery Settings.....................................................................................................47
Configuring The iSCSI Host Ports...........................................................................................................................47
Advanced iSCSI Host Port Settings........................................................................................................................48
Viewing Or Ending An iSCSI Session......................................................................................................................49
Viewing iSCSI Statistics And Setting Baseline Statistics.......................................................................................49
Edit, Remove, Or Rename Host Topology...............................................................................................................50
5 Event Monitor.............................................................................................................................51
Enabling Or Disabling The Event Monitor...............................................................................................................51
Windows..........................................................................................................................................................51
Linux.................................................................................................................................................................51
6 About Your Host.........................................................................................................................53
Configuring Host Access........................................................................................................................................53
Using The Host Mappings Tab................................................................................................................................53
Defining A Host.................................................................................................................................................54
Removing Host Access...........................................................................................................................................55
Managing Host Groups...........................................................................................................................................55
Creating A Host Group............................................................................................................................................55
Adding A Host To A Host Group.......................................................................................................................56
Removing A Host From A Host Group...............................................................................................................56
Moving A Host To A Different Host Group.......................................................................................................56
Removing A Host Group...................................................................................................................................56
Host Topology...................................................................................................................................................57
Starting Or Stopping The Host Context Agent..................................................................................................57
I/O Data Path Protection.........................................................................................................................................57
Managing Host Port Identifiers..............................................................................................................................58

7 Disk Groups And Virtual Disks................................................................................................61
Creating Disk Groups And Virtual Disks.................................................................................................................61
Creating Disk Groups........................................................................................................................................61
Locating A Disk Group......................................................................................................................................62
Creating Virtual Disks.......................................................................................................................................63
Changing The Virtual Disk Modification Priority..............................................................................................64
Changing The Virtual Disk Cache Settings.......................................................................................................64
Changing The Segment Size Of A Virtual Disk.................................................................................................65
Changing The IO Type......................................................................................................................................66
Choosing An Appropriate Physical Disk Type........................................................................................................67
Physical Disk Security With Self Encrypting Disk..................................................................................................67
Creating A Security Key...................................................................................................................................68
Changing A Security Key..................................................................................................................................70
Saving A Security Key......................................................................................................................................71
Validate Security Key.......................................................................................................................................71
Unlocking Secure Physical Disks.....................................................................................................................71
Erasing Secure Physical Disks.........................................................................................................................72
Configuring Hot Spare Physical Disks....................................................................................................................72
Hot Spares And Rebuild...................................................................................................................................73
Global Hot Spares............................................................................................................................................73
Hot Spare Operation.........................................................................................................................................73
Hot Spare Drive Protection..............................................................................................................................74
Enclosure Loss Protection......................................................................................................................................74
Drawer Loss Protection..........................................................................................................................................75
Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping................................................................................................................................76
Creating Host-To-Virtual Disk Mappings.........................................................................................................76
Modifying And Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping................................................................................77
Changing Controller Ownership Of The Virtual Disk........................................................................................78
Removing Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping.........................................................................................................78
Changing The RAID Controller Module Ownership Of A Disk Group...............................................................78
Changing The RAID Level Of A Disk Group......................................................................................................79
Removing A Host-To-Virtual Disk Mapping Using Linux DMMP......................................................................79
Restricted Mappings..............................................................................................................................................80
Storage Partitioning................................................................................................................................................81
Disk Group And Virtual Disk Expansion..................................................................................................................82
Disk Group Expansion......................................................................................................................................82
Virtual Disk Expansion......................................................................................................................................83
Using Free Capacity.........................................................................................................................................83
Using Unconfigured Capacity..........................................................................................................................83
Disk Group Migration..............................................................................................................................................83
Export Disk Group.............................................................................................................................................83

Import Disk Group............................................................................................................................................84
Storage Array Media Scan.....................................................................................................................................85
Changing Media Scan Settings........................................................................................................................85
Suspending The Media Scan...........................................................................................................................86
8 Disk Pools And Disk Pool Virtual Disks..................................................................................87
Difference Between Disk Groups And Disk Pools..................................................................................................87
Disk Pool Restrictions.............................................................................................................................................87
Creating A Disk Pool Manually...............................................................................................................................88
Automatically Managing The Unconfigured Capacity In Disk Pools......................................................................89
Locating Physical Disks In A Disk Pool...................................................................................................................89
Renaming A Disk Pool.............................................................................................................................................90
Configuring Alert Notifications For A Disk Pool......................................................................................................90
Adding Unassigned Physical Disks To A Disk Pool................................................................................................91
Configuring The Preservation Capacity Of A Disk Pool..........................................................................................91
Changing The Modification Priority Of A Disk Pool................................................................................................92
Changing The RAID Controller Module Ownership Of A Disk Pool........................................................................92
Checking Data Consistency....................................................................................................................................93
Deleting A Disk Pool...............................................................................................................................................94
Viewing Storage Array Logical Components And Associated Physical Components ..........................................94
Secure Disk Pools...................................................................................................................................................95
9 Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks..........................................................................97
Scheduling A Snapshot Virtual Disk.......................................................................................................................97
Common Reasons For Scheduling A Snapshot Virtual Disk.............................................................................98
Guidelines for Creating Snapshot Schedules..................................................................................................98
Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Using The Simple Path......................................................................................98
About The Simple Path.....................................................................................................................................99
Preparing Host Servers To Create The Snapshot Using The Simple Path.......................................................99
Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk Using The Advanced Path...............................................................................100
About The Advanced Path.............................................................................................................................100
Preparing Host Servers To Create The Snapshot Using The Advanced Path...............................................101
Creating The Snapshot Using The Advanced Path........................................................................................102
Specifying Snapshot Virtual Disk Names.............................................................................................................103
Snapshot Repository Capacity..............................................................................................................................104
Re-Creating Snapshot Virtual Disks......................................................................................................................105
Disabling A Snapshot Virtual Disk........................................................................................................................106
Preparing Host Servers To Re-Create A Snapshot Virtual Disk.....................................................................106
Re-Creating A Snapshot Virtual Disk....................................................................................................................107
10 Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy................................................................................109
Types Of Virtual Disk Copies.................................................................................................................................110

Offline Copy....................................................................................................................................................110
Online Copy....................................................................................................................................................110
Creating A Virtual Disk Copy For An MSCS Shared Disk......................................................................................110
Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions....................................................................................................................111
Virtual Disk Copy Restrictions...............................................................................................................................111
Creating A Virtual Disk Copy.................................................................................................................................112
Setting Read/Write Permissions On Target Virtual Disk................................................................................112
Before You Begin...........................................................................................................................................112
Virtual Disk Copy And Modification Operations.............................................................................................112
Create Copy Wizard........................................................................................................................................113
Failed Virtual Disk Copy..................................................................................................................................113
Preferred RAID Controller Module Ownership.....................................................................................................113
Failed RAID Controller Module.............................................................................................................................113
Copy Manager......................................................................................................................................................114
Copying The Virtual Disk.......................................................................................................................................114
Storage Array Performance During Virtual Disk Copy.........................................................................................115
Setting Copy Priority.............................................................................................................................................115
Stopping A Virtual Disk Copy................................................................................................................................115
Recopying A Virtual Disk......................................................................................................................................116
Preparing Host Servers To Recopy A Virtual Disk.........................................................................................116
Recopying The Virtual Disk............................................................................................................................116
Removing Copy Pairs............................................................................................................................................117
11 Premium Feature—Upgrading To High-Performance-Tier............................................119
12 Device Mapper Multipath For Linux...................................................................................121
Overview...............................................................................................................................................................121
Using DM Multipathing Devices...........................................................................................................................121
Prerequisites..................................................................................................................................................121
Device Mapper Configuration Steps....................................................................................................................122
Scan For Newly Added Virtual Disks.............................................................................................................122
Display The Multipath Device Topology Using The Multipath Command......................................................123
Create A New fdisk Partition On A Multipath Device Node...........................................................................123
Add A New Partition To Device Mapper........................................................................................................124
Create A File System On A Device Mapper Partition.....................................................................................124
Mount A Device Mapper Partition.................................................................................................................124
Ready For Use................................................................................................................................................124
Linux Host Server Reboot Best Practices.............................................................................................................124
Important Information About Special Partitions...................................................................................................125
Limitations And Known Issues..............................................................................................................................125
Troubleshooting....................................................................................................................................................126

13 Configuring Asymmetric Logical Unit Access..................................................................127
ALUA Performance Considerations......................................................................................................................127
Automatic Transfer Of Ownership........................................................................................................................127
Native ALUA Support On Microsoft Windows And Linux.....................................................................................127
Enabling ALUA On VMware ESX/ESXi..................................................................................................................127
Manually Adding SATP Rule In ESX 4.1 (Update 1 And Update 2).................................................................127
Manually Adding SATP Rule In ESX/ESXi 5.0.................................................................................................128
Verifying ALUA On VMware ESX/ESXi.................................................................................................................128
Verifying If Host Server Is Using ALUA For MD Storage Array............................................................................128
Setting Round-Robin Load Balancing Policy On ESX/ESXi-Based Storage Arrays.............................................129
14 Premium Feature—Remote Replication............................................................................131
Switchable Host Access Configuration Required With Remote Replication.......................................................131
Activating Remote Replication.............................................................................................................................131
Replication Repository Virtual Disks.....................................................................................................................132
RAID Levels For Replication Repository Virtual Disks..........................................................................................132
Primary And Secondary Virtual Disk Pairs...........................................................................................................132
Using Remote Replication With Other Features...................................................................................................133
Storage Partitioning With Remote Replication.....................................................................................................133
Snapshot Virtual Disk With Remote Replication...................................................................................................133
Virtual Disk Copy With Remote Replication..........................................................................................................133
Virtual Disk Expansion With Remote Replication.................................................................................................133
Required Switch Zoning Configurations...............................................................................................................134
Zoning Guidelines for Remote Replication...........................................................................................................134
Switch Cascading.................................................................................................................................................134
Journaling File Systems And Remote Replication................................................................................................134
Prerequisites For Setting Up And Managing Remote Replication........................................................................134
Activating The Remote Replication Premium Feature And Creating Replication Virtual Disks...........................135
Activating And Creating Replication Repository Virtual Disks From The Storage Array......................................135
Activating And Creating Replication Repository Virtual Disks From An Existing Disk Group...............................136
Creating A Remote Replication.............................................................................................................................136
Selecting The Secondary Virtual Disk..................................................................................................................137
Setting The Write Mode........................................................................................................................................137
Setting Synchronization Priority And Synchronization Method...........................................................................137
Completing The Remote Replication.....................................................................................................................138
RAID Controller Module Ownership/Preferred Path............................................................................................138
Viewing Information About A Remote Replication Or Replication Repository Virtual Disk..................................139
Viewing The Storage Array Profile.................................................................................................................139
Viewing The Properties Pane.........................................................................................................................139
Viewing Logical Elements Of The Secondary Virtual Disk.............................................................................140
Viewing The Physical Components Or Logical Elements Of The Primary Virtual Disk..................................140

Virtual Disk Status Icons................................................................................................................................140
Changing Write Mode And Consistency Group Membership........................................................................141
Resynchronizing Virtual Disks........................................................................................................................141
Normally Synchronized Virtual Disks.............................................................................................................142
Changing Synchronization Priority And Method............................................................................................142
Unsynchronized Virtual Disks........................................................................................................................143
Automatically Resynchronizing Virtual Disks.................................................................................................144
Manually Resynchronizing Virtual Disks........................................................................................................144
Reversing Roles Between The Primary And Secondary Virtual Disks...........................................................144
Promoting The Secondary Virtual Disk Or Demoting The Primary Virtual Disk.............................................144
Suspending A Remote Replication.................................................................................................................145
Resuming A Remote Replication....................................................................................................................145
About Resumed Remote Replications............................................................................................................145
Testing Communication Between The Primary And Secondary Virtual Disks...............................................146
Deleting A Virtual Disk From A Replicated Pair In A Storage Array..............................................................146
15 Management Firmware Downloads...................................................................................151
Downloading RAID Controller And NVSRAM Packages......................................................................................151
Downloading Both RAID Controller And NVSRAM Firmware..............................................................................151
Downloading Only NVSRAM Firmware................................................................................................................153
Downloading Physical Disk Firmware..................................................................................................................154
Downloading MD3060e Series Expansion Module EMM Firmware.....................................................................155
Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology (SMART)...........................................................................156
Media Errors And Unreadable Sectors................................................................................................................156
16 Firmware Inventory...............................................................................................................157
Viewing The Firmware Inventory..........................................................................................................................157
17 System Interfaces.................................................................................................................159
Virtual Disk Service...............................................................................................................................................159
Volume Shadow-Copy Service.............................................................................................................................159
18 Storage Array Software.......................................................................................................161
Start-Up Routine...................................................................................................................................................161
Device Health Conditions.....................................................................................................................................161
Trace Buffers........................................................................................................................................................163
Retrieving Trace Buffers................................................................................................................................164
Collecting Physical Disk Data...............................................................................................................................164
Creating A Support Data Collection Schedule...............................................................................................165
Suspending Or Resuming A Support Data Collection Schedule....................................................................165
Removing A Support Data Collection Schedule.............................................................................................166
Event Log..............................................................................................................................................................166

Viewing The Event Log...................................................................................................................................166
Recovery Guru......................................................................................................................................................167
Storage Array Profile............................................................................................................................................167
Viewing The Physical Associations......................................................................................................................168
Recovering From An Unresponsive Storage Array Condition..............................................................................168
Locating A Physical Disk......................................................................................................................................170
Locating An Expansion Enclosure........................................................................................................................170
Capturing The State Information..........................................................................................................................171
SMrepassist Utility................................................................................................................................................171
Unidentified Devices.............................................................................................................................................172
Recovering From An Unidentified Storage Array.................................................................................................172
Starting Or Restarting The Host Context Agent Software....................................................................................173
Starting The SMagent Software In Windows................................................................................................173
Starting The SMagent Software In Linux.......................................................................................................173
19 Getting Help............................................................................................................................175
Contacting Dell.....................................................................................................................................................175

12

1
Introduction
CAUTION: See the Safety, Environmental, and Regulatory Information document for important safety information
before following any procedures listed in this document.
The following systems are included in the MD series dense storage array:
• Dell PowerVault MD3260 RAID storage arrays (SAS)
• Dell PowerVault MD3260i RAID storage arrays (1 Gbps iSCSI)
• Dell PowerVault MD3660i RAID storage arrays (10 Gbps iSCSI)
• Dell PowerVault MD3660f RAID storage arrays (Fibre Channel)
• Dell PowerVault MD3060e SAS based expansion enclosures
The MD Series Dense storage arrays are 4U rack-mounted systems, capable of accommodating up to sixty 3.5 inch or
2.5 inch physical disks. You can expand the number of physical disks up to a maximum of 120 disks (180 disks with
premium feature kit), by daisy-chaining your storage enclosure with up to two MD3060e expansion enclosures.
NOTE: Your Dell MD Series Dense storage array supports two expansion enclosures (180 physical disks) after you
install the Additional Physical Disk Support Premium Feature Key. To order the Additional Physical Disk Support
Premium Feature Key, contact Dell Support.
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager) is a graphical user interface (GUI) application
used to configure and manage one or more MD Series Dense storage arrays. The MD Storage Manager software is
located on the MD Series resource DVD.
User Interface
The Storage Manager screen is divided into two primary windows:
• Enterprise Management Window (EMW) — The EMW provides high-level management of multiple storage
arrays. You can launch the Array Management Windows for the storage arrays from the EMW.
• Array Management Window (AMW) — The AMW provides management functions for a single storage array.
The EMW and the AMW consist of the following:
• The title bar at the top of the window — Shows the name of the application.
• The menu bar, beneath the title bar — You can select menu options from the menu bar to perform tasks on a
storage array.
• The toolbar, beneath the menu bar — You can select options in the toolbar to perform tasks on a storage array.
NOTE: The toolbar is available only in the EMW.
• The tabs, beneath the toolbar — Tabs are used to group the tasks that you can perform on a storage array.
• The status bar, beneath the tabs — The status bar shows status messages and status icons related to the
storage array.
13

NOTE: By default, the toolbar and status bar are not displayed. To view the toolbar or the status bar, select
View → Toolbar or View → Status Bar, respectively.
Enterprise Management Window
The EMW provides high-level management of storage arrays. When you start the MD Storage Manager, the EMW is
displayed. The EMW has the:
•Devices tab — Provides information about discovered storage arrays.
•Setup tab — Presents the initial setup tasks that guide you through adding storage arrays and configuring
alerts.
The Devices tab has a Tree view on the left side of the window that shows discovered storage arrays, unidentified
storage arrays, and the status conditions for the storage arrays. Discovered storage arrays are managed by the MD
Storage Manager. Unidentified storage arrays are available to the MD Storage Manager but not configured for
management. The right side of the Devices tab has a Table view that shows detailed information for the selected storage
array.
In the EMW, you can:
• Discover hosts and managed storage arrays on the local sub-network.
• Manually add and remove hosts and storage arrays.
• Blink or locate the storage arrays.
• Name or rename discovered storage arrays.
• Add comments for a storage array in the Table view.
• Store your EMW view preferences and configuration data in local configuration files. The next time you open the
EMW, data from the local configuration files is used to show customized view and preferences.
• Monitor the status of managed storage arrays and indicate status using appropriate icons.
• Add or remove management connections.
• Configure alert notifications for all selected storage arrays through e-mail or SNMP traps.
• Report critical events to the configured alert destinations.
• Launch the AMW for a selected storage array.
• Run a script to perform batch management tasks on specific storage arrays.
• Import the operating system theme settings into the MD Storage Manager.
• Upgrade firmware on multiple storage arrays concurrently.
• Obtain information about the firmware inventory including the version of the RAID controller modules, physical
disks, and the enclosure management modules (EMMs) in the storage array.
Inheriting The System Settings
Use the Inherit System Settings option to import the operating system theme settings into the MD Storage Manager.
Importing system theme settings affects the font type, font size, color, and contrast in the MD Storage Manager.
1. From the EMW, open the Inherit System Settings window in one of these ways:
– Select Tools → Inherit System Settings.
– Select the Setup tab, and under Accessibility, click Inherit System Settings.
2. Select Inherit system settings for color and font.
3. Click OK.
14

Array Management Window
You can launch the AMW from the EMW. The AMW provides management functions for a single storage array. You can
have multiple AMWs open simultaneously to manage different storage arrays.
To launch the AMW:
1. In the EMW, on the Devices tab, right-click on the relevant storage array.
The context menu for the selected storage is displayed.
2. In the context menu, select Manage Storage Array.
The AMW for the selected storage array is displayed.
NOTE: You can also launch the AMW by:
– Double-clicking on a storage array displayed in the Devices tab of the EMW.
– Selecting a storage array displayed in the Devices tab of the EMW, and then selecting Tools →
Manage Storage Array.
The AMW has the following tabs:
•Summary tab — You can view the following information about the storage array:
– Status
– Hardware
– Storage and copy services
– Hosts and mappings
– Information on storage capacity
– Premium features
•Storage & Copy Services tab — You can view and manage the organization of the storage array by virtual disks,
disk groups, free capacity nodes, and any unconfigured capacity for the storage array.
•Host Mappings tab — You can define the hosts, host groups, and host ports. You can change the mappings to
grant virtual disk access to host groups and hosts and create storage partitions.
•Hardware tab — You can view and manage the physical components of the storage array.
•Setup tab — Shows a list of initial setup tasks for the storage array.
In the AMW, you can:
• Select storage array options — For example, renaming a storage array, changing a password, or enabling a
background media scan.
• Configure virtual disks and disk pools from the storage array capacity, define hosts and host groups, and grant
host or host group access to sets of virtual disks called storage partitions.
• Monitor the health of storage array components and report detailed status using applicable icons.
• Perform recovery procedures for a failed logical component or a failed hardware component.
• View the Event Log for a storage array.
• View profile information about hardware components, such as RAID controller modules and physical disks.
• Manage RAID controller modules — For example, changing ownership of virtual disks or placing a RAID
controller module online or offline.
• Manage physical disks — For example, assignment of hot spares and locating the physical disk.
• Monitor storage array performance.
15

Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Configuration Utility
NOTE: Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Configuration Utility (MDCU) is supported only on MD3260i and MD3660i
storage arrays that use the iSCSI protocol.
MDCU is an iSCSI Configuration Wizard that can be used in conjunction with MD Storage Manager to simplify the
configuration of iSCSI connections. The MDCU software is available on the MD Series resource media.
Other Information You May Need
WARNING: See the safety and regulatory information that shipped with your system. Warranty information may be
included within this document or as a separate document.
NOTE: All the documents, unless specified otherwise, are available at support.dell.com/manuals.
• The Getting Started Guide provides an overview of setting up and cabling your storage array.
• The Deployment Guide provides installation and configuration instructions for both software and hardware.
• The Owner’s Manual provides information about system features and describes how to troubleshoot the system
and install or replace system components.
• The CLI Guide provides information about using the command line interface (CLI).
• The MD Series resource media contains all system management tools.
• The Dell PowerVault MD3260, MD3260i, MD3660i, MD3660f and MD3060e Series Storage Arrays Support Matrix
provides information on supported software and hardware for MD systems.
• Information Updates or readme files are included to provide last-minute updates to the enclosure or
documentation or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or technicians.
• For video resources on PowerVault MD storage arrays, go to dell.com/techcenter.
• For the full name of an abbreviation or acronym used in this document, see the Glossary at support.dell.com/
manuals.
NOTE: Always check for updates on support.dell.com/manuals and read the updates first because they often
supersede information in other documents.
16

2
About Your MD Series Dense Storage Array
This chapter describes the storage array concepts, which help in configuring and operating the Dell MD Series Dense
storage arrays.
Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, And Disk Groups
Physical disks in your storage array provide the physical storage capacity for your data. Before you can begin writing
data to the storage array, you must configure the physical storage capacity into logical components, called disk groups
and virtual disks.
A disk group is a set of physical disks upon which multiple virtual disks are created. The maximum number of physical
disks supported in a disk group is 96 disks for RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10, and 30 drives for RAID 5 and RAID 6. You can
create disk groups from unconfigured capacity on your storage array.
A virtual disk is a partition in a disk group that is made up of contiguous data segments of the physical disks in the disk
group. A virtual disk consists of data segments from all physical disks in the disk group.
All virtual disks in a disk group support the same RAID level. The storage array supports up to 255 virtual disks (minimum
size of 10 MB each) that can be assigned to host servers. Each virtual disk is assigned a Logical Unit Number (LUN) that
is recognized by the host operating system.
Virtual disks and disk groups are set up according to how you plan to organize your data. For example, you can have one
virtual disk for inventory, a second virtual disk for financial and tax information, and so on.
Physical Disks
Only Dell supported physical disks are supported in the storage array. If the storage array detects unsupported physical
disks, it marks the disk as unsupported and the physical disk becomes unavailable for all operations.
For the list of supported physical disks, see the Support Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals.
Physical Disk States
The following describes the various states of the physical disk, which are recognized by the storage array and reported
in the MD Storage Manager.
Status Mode Description
Optimal Assigned The physical disk in the indicated slot is configured as
part of a disk group.
Optimal Unassigned The physical disk in the indicated slot is unused and
available to be configured.
Optimal Hot Spare Standby The physical disk in the indicated slot is configured as a
hot spare.
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Status Mode Description
Optimal Hot Spare in use The physical disk in the indicated slot is in use as a hot
spare within a disk group.
Failed Assigned, Unassigned, Hot Spare
in use, or Hot Spare Standby
The physical disk in the indicated slot has failed because
of an unrecoverable error, an incorrect drive type or
drive size, or by its operational state being set to failed.
Replaced Assigned The physical disk in the indicated slot has been replaced
and is ready to be, or is actively being, configured into a
disk group.
Pending Failure Assigned, Unassigned, Hot Spare
in use, or Hot Spare Standby
A Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology
(SMART) error has been detected on the physical disk in
the indicated slot.
Offline Not applicable The physical disk has either been spun down or had a
rebuild aborted by user request.
Identify Assigned, Unassigned, Hot Spare
in use, or Hot Spare Standby
The physical disk is being identified.
Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology
Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) monitors the internal performance of all physical disk
components to detect faults indicating the potential for physical disk failure. SMART uses this information to report
whether failure is imminent so that a physical disk can be replaced before failure occurs. The storage array monitors all
attached drives and notifies you when a predicted failure is reported by a physical disk.
Virtual Disks And Disk Groups
When configuring a storage array, you must:
• Organize the physical disks into disk groups.
• Create virtual disks within these disk groups.
• Provide host server access.
• Create mappings to associate the virtual disks with the host servers.
NOTE: Host server access must be created before mapping virtual disks.
Disk groups are always created in the unconfigured capacity of a storage array. Unconfigured capacity is the available
physical disk space not already assigned in the storage array.
Virtual disks are created within the free capacity of a disk group. Free capacity is the space in a disk group that has not
been assigned to a virtual disk.
Virtual Disk States
The following table describes the various states of the virtual disk, recognized by the storage array.
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Table 1. RAID Controller Virtual Disk States
State Description
Optimal The virtual disk contains physical disks that are online.
Degraded The virtual disk with a redundant RAID level contains an
inaccessible physical disk. The system can still function
properly, but performance may be affected and additional disk
failures may result in data loss.
Offline A virtual disk with one or more member disks in an
inaccessible (failed, missing, or offline) state. Data on the
virtual disk is no longer accessible.
Force online The storage array forces a virtual disk that is in an Offline
state to an Optimal state. If all the member physical disks are
not available, the storage array forces the virtual disk to a
Degraded state. The storage array can force a virtual disk to
an Online state only when a sufficient number of physical
disks are available to support the virtual disk.
RAID Levels
RAID levels determine the way in which data is written to physical disks. Different RAID levels provide different levels of
accessibility, redundancy, and capacity.
Using multiple physical disks has the following advantages over using a single physical disk:
• Placing data on multiple physical disks (striping) allows input/output (I/O) operations to occur simultaneously
and improve performance.
• Storing redundant data on multiple physical disks using mirroring or parity supports reconstruction of lost data if
an error occurs, even if that error is the failure of a physical disk.
Each RAID level provides different performance and protection. You must select a RAID level based on the type of
application, access, fault tolerance, and data you are storing.
The storage array supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10. The maximum and minimum number of physical disks that can
be used in a disk group depends on the RAID level:
• 120 (180 with premium feature kit) for RAID 0, 1, and 10
• 30 for RAID 5 and 6
Maximum Physical Disk Support Limitations
Although PowerVault MD Dense storage arrays with premium feature kit can support up to 180 physical disks, RAID 0
and RAID 10 configurations with more than 120 physical disks are not supported. MD Storage Manager does not enforce
120-physical disk limit when you setup a RAID 0 or RAID 10 configuration. Exceeding the 120-physical disk limit may
cause your storage array to be unstable.
RAID Level Usage
To ensure best performance, you must select an optimal RAID level when you create a system physical disk. The optimal
RAID level for your disk array depends on:
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• Number of physical disks in the disk array
• Capacity of the physical disks in the disk array
• Need for redundant access to the data (fault tolerance)
• Disk performance requirements
RAID 0
CAUTION: Do not attempt to create virtual disk groups exceeding 120 physical disks in a RAID 0 configuration even
if premium feature is activated on your storage array. Exceeding the 120-physical disk limit may cause your storage
array to be unstable.
RAID 0 uses disk striping to provide high data throughput, especially for large files in an environment that requires no
data redundancy. RAID 0 breaks the data down into segments and writes each segment to a separate physical disk. I/O
performance is greatly improved by spreading the I/O load across many physical disks. Although it offers the best
performance of any RAID level, RAID 0 lacks data redundancy. Choose this option only for non-critical data, because
failure of one physical disk results in the loss of all data. Examples of RAID 0 applications include video editing, image
editing, prepress applications, or any application that requires high bandwidth.
RAID 1
RAID 1 uses disk mirroring so that data written to one physical disk is simultaneously written to another physical disk.
RAID 1 offers fast performance and the best data availability, but also the highest disk overhead. RAID 1 is
recommended for small databases or other applications that do not require large capacity. For example, accounting,
payroll, or financial applications. RAID 1 provides full data redundancy.
RAID 5
RAID 5 uses parity and striping data across all physical disks (distributed parity) to provide high data throughput and
data redundancy, especially for small random access. RAID 5 is a versatile RAID level and is suited for multi-user
environments where typical I/O size is small and there is a high proportion of read activity such as file, application,
database, web, e-mail, news, and intranet servers.
RAID 6
RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5 but provides an additional parity disk for better redundancy. RAID 6 is the most versatile RAID
level and is suited for multi-user environments where typical I/O size is small and there is a high proportion of read
activity. RAID 6 is recommended when large size physical disks are used or large number of physical disks are used in a
disk group.
RAID 10
CAUTION: Do not attempt to create virtual disk groups exceeding 120 physical disks in a RAID 10 configuration
even if premium feature is activated on your storage array. Exceeding the 120-physical disk limit may cause your
storage array to be unstable.
RAID 10, a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0, uses disk striping across mirrored disks. It provides high data throughput
and complete data redundancy. Utilizing an even number of physical disks (four or more) creates a RAID level 10 disk
group and/or virtual disk. Because RAID levels 1 and 10 use disk mirroring, half of the capacity of the physical disks is
utilized for mirroring. This leaves the remaining half of the physical disk capacity for actual storage. RAID 10 is
automatically used when a RAID level of 1 is chosen with four or more physical disks. RAID 10 works well for medium-
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