Pivot3 X5-6500 User manual

X-Series Hyperconverged Nodes
Powered by Acuity 2.3
Setup & User Guide
Document Version 1.0
January 15, 2018

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Purpose
This edition applies to Pivot3’s X-Series Hyperconverged Nodes powered by the Acuity software platform (Version
2.3.1 and above) and to any subsequent releases until otherwise indicated in new editions. Specific
documentation on other Pivot3 offerings are available in the Pivot3 documentation repository.
This document contains information proprietary to Pivot3, Inc. and shall not be reproduced or transferred to
other documents or used for any purpose other than that for which it was obtained without the express written
consent of Pivot3, Inc.
How to Contact Pivot3
Pivot3, Inc. General Information: [e-mail]
221 West 6th St., Suite 750 Sales: sa[email protected]m
Austin, TX 78701 Tech Support: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone] Website: www.pivot3.com
Fax: [phone] Online Support: support.pivot3.com
About This Guide
This document provides procedures for:
•Connecting X-Series Hyperconverged Nodes powered by Acuity to the VMware and ESXi management
networks
•Combining nodes to create an Acuity vPG
This guide is written for Service Engineers and System Administrators configuring a Pivot3 X-Series Solution. The
Pivot3 nodes should be set up as described in the appropriate hardware setup guide, and the procedures in this
document require an understanding of the following:
•The operating systems installed on the application servers connected to the Acuity vPG
•Communication protocols installed on local application servers
•vSphere Client for access to VMware ESXi hosts or vCenter
© Copyright 2018 Pivot3, Inc.
All rights reserved. Specifications are subject to change without notice. Pivot3, Acuity, RAIGE, Pivot3 vSTAC, Pivot3 vSTAC OS, Pivot3 vSTAC Enterprise
HCI, Pivot3 vSTAC P Cubed, Pivot3 vSTAC R2S, Pivot3 vSTAC Edge, Pivot3 vSTAC Manager, Pivot3 vSTAC Watch, Pivot3 Virtual Security Server (VSS),
Pivot3 Enterprise HCI, and High-Definition Storage are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pivot3. All other brands or products are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. Pivot3 reserves the right to make changes or corrections to this
document as needed without notification.

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Table of Contents
SECTION 1INSTALL ACUITY-BASED PIVOT3NODES.......................................................................................................................7
INSTALL PIVOT3NODES...................................................................................................................................................................7
SECTION 2ACUITY NODES:DISKS &NETWORK PORTS .................................................................................................................8
X5-6500 (D1) FLASH ACCELERATOR NODE...................................................................................................................................8
X5-6500 (L1) FLASH ACCELERATOR NODE ...................................................................................................................................8
X5-6000 (D1) FLASH STANDARD NODE.........................................................................................................................................9
X5-6000 (L1) FLASH STANDARD NODE .........................................................................................................................................9
X5-2500 (D1) HYBRID ACCELERATOR NODE.............................................................................................................................. 10
X5-2500 (L1) HYBRID ACCELERATOR NODE .............................................................................................................................. 10
X5-2000 (D1) HYBRID STANDARD NODE.................................................................................................................................... 11
X5-2000 (L1) HYBRID STANDARD NODE .................................................................................................................................... 11
NVME PCIE FLASH LED STATUS DEFINITIONS........................................................................................................................... 12
SECTION 3CONFIGURE ESXI FOR VMWARE ACCESS ................................................................................................................... 13
CONFIGURE THE IP ADDRESSES FOR THE VMWARE MANAGEMENT NETWORK .......................................................................... 13
CONFIGURE SSH........................................................................................................................................................................... 17
SECTION 4INSTALL PLUGIN FOR WINDOWS ................................................................................................................................ 18
DOWNLOAD AND OPEN PLUGIN EXECUTABLE.............................................................................................................................. 18
FOLLOW INSTALLATION WIZARD .................................................................................................................................................. 18
SECTION 5INSTALL PLUGIN FOR LINUX ....................................................................................................................................... 26
BEFORE YOU START ...................................................................................................................................................................... 26
DOWNLOAD AND OPEN PLUGIN PACKAGE ................................................................................................................................... 26
PREPARE ENVIRONMENT............................................................................................................................................................... 26
SECTION 6NETWORK FINE TUNING ............................................................................................................................................. 32
TIME SYNCHRONIZATION .............................................................................................................................................................. 32
SECTION 7NAVIGATING THE PLUGIN............................................................................................................................................ 38
LOG IN TO VSPHERE WEB CLIENT................................................................................................................................................. 38
DASHBOARD OVERVIEW -HOME................................................................................................................................................... 38
DASHBOARD OVERVIEW –VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE GROUP ....................................................................................................... 41
PROVISIONING OVERVIEW:STORAGE PROVISIONING.................................................................................................................. 43
CONFIGURE TAB:OVERVIEW......................................................................................................................................................... 47

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ACUITY SOFTWARE PLATFORM:NODE ICONS EXPLAINED........................................................................................................... 49
TOOLBOX:OVERVIEW &REPORTING............................................................................................................................................ 50
VCENTER ALARMS &NOTIFICATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 56
TASKS............................................................................................................................................................................................. 56
WEB PLUGIN ALARMS AND LOGS.................................................................................................................................................. 57
CHANGING VMWARE VCENTER CREDENTIALS.............................................................................................................................. 58
PLUGIN TROUBLESHOOTING ........................................................................................................................................................ 58
SECTION 8CONFIGURE NIC PORTS FOR PIVOT3FEATURES ...................................................................................................... 60
CONFIGURE MANAGEMENT NIC IN PIVOT3VCENTER PLUGIN.................................................................................................... 60
SECTION 9CREATE A PIVOT3VPG ............................................................................................................................................... 61
DISCOVER NODES.......................................................................................................................................................................... 61
CREATE AN ACUITY VPG................................................................................................................................................................ 62
ADD AN N5 STORAGE NODE.......................................................................................................................................................... 63
ASSIGN IP ADDRESSES FOR ISCSI CONNECTIVITY ...................................................................................................................... 64
SECTION 10 HOST ACCESS GROUPS .......................................................................................................................................... 66
HOST ACCESS GROUP BASICS ...................................................................................................................................................... 66
CREATE A HOST ACCESS GROUP .................................................................................................................................................. 67
SECTION 11 CREATE VOLUMES &ASSOCIATED DATASTORES .................................................................................................. 69
CREATING AN ACUITY VOLUME ..................................................................................................................................................... 70
CREATING A VSTAC VOLUME........................................................................................................................................................ 71
CREATE AN N5 STORAGE VOLUME ............................................................................................................................................... 73
PERFORMANCE POLICIES .............................................................................................................................................................. 75
SERVICE LEVELS –BEST PRACTICES &BEHAVIOR....................................................................................................................... 76
ACUITY ESXI HOSTS AND MAINTENANCE MODE.......................................................................................................................... 78
ADDING ESXI HOSTS &DATASTORES .......................................................................................................................................... 78
SECTION 12 SNAPSHOT MANAGEMENT...................................................................................................................................... 81
SNAPSHOTS OVERVIEW................................................................................................................................................................. 81
PROTECTED HOSTS....................................................................................................................................................................... 82
SCHEDULES ON A VOLUME OR AN APPLICATION GROUP ............................................................................................................. 87
PROTECTION POLICIES EXPLAINED .............................................................................................................................................. 88
WORKING WITH PROTECTION POLICIES....................................................................................................................................... 88
RECOVERING A SNAPSHOT............................................................................................................................................................ 92

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3RD PARTY BACKUP APPLICATIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 96
SECTION 13 REPLICATION .......................................................................................................................................................... 97
ASYNCHRONOUS REPLICATION OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................. 97
TAKING A MANUAL SNAPSHOT WITH REPLICATION ................................................................................................................... 102
SCHEDULING REPLICATION ON A VOLUME ................................................................................................................................. 103
SECTION 14 USING PIVOT3ACUITY SOFTWARE ...................................................................................................................... 105
BEST PRACTICES ......................................................................................................................................................................... 105
SET HYPERVISOR CREDENTIALS ................................................................................................................................................. 105
SSO USER MANAGEMENT........................................................................................................................................................... 106
SSO GROUP MANAGEMENT........................................................................................................................................................ 110
ASSIGNING ADMINISTRATOR ROLES FOR THE AD USER............................................................................................................ 112
PROACTIVE DIAGNOSTICS &PHONE HOME ............................................................................................................................... 114
SECTION 15 UPGRADE ACUITY SOFTWARE ON VPGS.............................................................................................................. 117
DETERMINE UPGRADE REQUIRED............................................................................................................................................... 117
SECTION 16 MANAGEMENT THROUGH SNMP......................................................................................................................... 120
MANAGED DEVICES...................................................................................................................................................................... 120
NETWORK-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (NMS) ................................................................................................................................ 121
COMMUNITY STRINGS ................................................................................................................................................................. 121
PIVOT3MIB................................................................................................................................................................................. 121
SECTION 17 SHUTDOWN PROCEDURE ..................................................................................................................................... 123
APPLICATION SERVER VM........................................................................................................................................................... 123
PIVOT3VCENTER PLUGIN........................................................................................................................................................... 123
ACUITY ESXI HOST...................................................................................................................................................................... 124
PROCEDURE VERIFICATION AFTER POWER UP.......................................................................................................................... 124
STATUS ICONS &DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................ 125
MIGRATING TO SINGLE SIGN-ON......................................................................................................................... 127
ABOUT THIS FEATURE................................................................................................................................................................. 127
CONFIGURING PPD FOR SSO USERS ........................................................................................................................................ 128
CONFIGURING PIVOT3FOR IPV4......................................................................................................................... 129
PIVOT3VCENTER PLUGIN........................................................................................................................................................... 129
RESOLVE HOST IDENTIFIERS &ISCSI ALIASES................................................................................................... 131
IN VSPHERE WEB CLIENT............................................................................................................................................................ 131

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UNINSTALL OR UPGRADE THE VCENTER PLUGIN................................................................................................ 132
UNREGISTER PLUGIN USING INSTALLER FILE FOR WINDOWS .................................................................................................. 132
UNREGISTER PLUGIN USING INSTALLER FILE FOR LINUX ......................................................................................................... 134
UPGRADING PIVOT3VCENTER PLUGIN ...................................................................................................................................... 135
ACUITY DATA USAGE REPORTING............................................................................................................................................... 135
SNAPSHOTS &REPLICATIONS:REPORTING DISCREPANCIES EXPLAINED ................................................................................ 135
ADD UPGRADE PACKAGE TO VCSA-BASED VCENTER ......................................................................................... 137

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Section 1 Install Acuity-Based Pivot3 Nodes
This section describes how to:
•Connect Pivot3 X-Series Nodes and Ethernet switches to create an iSCSI SAN
•Connect Pivot3 X-Series Nodes to the management network Ethernet switch
Required items for this section:
•Pivot3 X5 Nodes and latest Pivot3 Bare-Metal Installation
•An industry standard 19” data center rack
•Two 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches for the Storage Area Networks
•An Ethernet switch for the management network, or if connecting to an existing management network, an
open switch port on the management network Ethernet switch for each node
NOTE: Pivot3 X-Series Nodes have two Network Interface Card (NIC) ports dedicated for iSCSI SAN connectivity.
Each SAN NIC port must be on a different subnet (no routers).
NOTE: 10GbE is required for SAN switch connections.
NOTE: Pivot3’s system architecture calls for using two physically separate switches for the SAN Networks, each
dedicated to a different subnet. This protects the Acuity vPG from a single switch failure and provides the
performance as stated in any Pivot3 testing results. Not following this guideline may result in less-than-
optimal system operation in regard to performance and system fault tolerance.
Install Pivot3 Nodes
1. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to install hardware in a standard 19” server rack.
CRITICAL: Use two separate power circuits. Each node has two power supplies, and each power supply for each
node should be connected to a different power circuit.
2. Follow the switch vendor’s instructions to install the Ethernet switches in the rack.
3. Connect the nodes to the Ethernet switches:
a. Connect the NIC ports labeled “SAN Network 0” of all nodes to the Ethernet switch for SAN Network 0.
b. Connect the NIC ports labeled “SAN Network 1” of all nodes to the Ethernet switch for SAN Network 1.
c. Connect the NIC ports labeled “Management Network” of all nodes to the Ethernet switch for the
Management Network. The Management Network is used to manage Acuity OS on all nodes and ESXi if
applicable.
d. Application Network ports are for use with the local application network if applicable. Connect as needed.
e. Connect the interlink NIC ports on each Accelerated node to each other (direct NIC to NIC, not connected
through a switch).
NOTE: For simplicity, this guide refers to “SAN Network 0” and “SAN Network 1” throughout. Local network naming
conventions may vary.

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Section 2 Acuity Nodes: Disks & Network Ports
This section describes some of the current Pivot3 hardware configurations, and more items are being added
regularly. For specific information on hardware not listed here, contact Pivot3.
X5-6500 (D1) Flash Accelerator Node
X5-6500 (L1) Flash Accelerator Node

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X5-6000 (D1) Flash Standard Node
X5-6000 (L1) Flash Standard Node

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X5-2500 (D1) Hybrid Accelerator Node
X5-2500 (L1) Hybrid Accelerator Node