Dell PowerVault MD3220i- Manuals

14 Contents Removing the RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Installing the RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . . . . 211 Removing a Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . . . . . ....

16 Contents 20 Troubleshooting: Your Array . . . . . . . . . 249 Safety First—For you and Your Array . . . . . . . . . 249 Troubleshooting Storage Array Startup Failure . . . . 249 Troubleshooting Loss of Communication . . . . . . . 249 Troubleshooting External Connections . . . . . . . . 249 Troubl...

Contents 17 21 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Contacting Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 book.book Page 17 Wednesday, May 26, 2010 2:14 PM

Introduction 19 1 Introduction See the Safety, Environmental, and Regulatory Information document for important safety information before following any procedures listed in this document. About This Document This guide familiarizes you with the functions of the MD3200i Series storage array. The guid...

20 Introduction • Mounting rails (2) (optional)• Dell PowerVault MD3200i Series resource media • The Rack Installation Instructions included with your rack solution describes how to install your enclosure into a rack. • Getting Started With Your System provides an overview of enclosure features, set...

Planning: About Your Storage Array 23 2 Planning: About Your Storage Array Overview The MD3200i Series storage array is designed for high availability, offering redundant access to data storage. It features support for both single and dual RAID controller configuration. The Dell™ PowerVault™ MD3200i...

24 Planning: About Your Storage Array Hardware Features Front-Panel Features and Indicators Figure 2-1. Front-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell™ PowerVault™ MD3200i Figure 2-2. Front-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerVault MD3220i 1 2 3 5 4 6 1 2 3 4 6 5 book.book Page 24 Wednesday, May 26, 2...

Planning: About Your Storage Array 27 Back Panel Features and Indicators Figure 2-4. Back-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerVault MD3200i Series 1 600W Power supply/cooling fan module 2 RAID Controller Module 0 3 RAID Controller Module 1 4 600W Power supply/cooling fan module 1 2 3 4 book.book...

28 Planning: About Your Storage Array Hard-Drive Indicator Patterns Figure 2-5. Hard Drive Indicators 1 hard-drive activity indicator (green) 2 hard-drive status indicator (green and amber) 1 2 book.book Page 28 Wednesday, May 26, 2010 2:14 PM

Planning: About Your Storage Array 29 Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features The MD3200i Series storage array includes two integrated, hot-swappable power supply/cooling fan modules. Both modules must be installed to ensure proper cooling. Each module contains two separate cooling fans. The system re...

30 Planning: About Your Storage Array Power Indicator Codes Figure 2-6. Power Indicator Codes Item LED Type Icon Description 1 DC power The LED lights green when the DC output voltage is within the limit. If this LED is off, it indicates that the DC output voltage are not within the limit. 2 Power s...

Planning: RAID Controller Modules 31 3 Planning: RAID Controller Modules RAID Controller Modules The RAID controller modules provide high-performance, advanced virtual disk configuration, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem management. Each RAID controller module contains 2 GB of cache that is mirrore...

32 Planning: RAID Controller Modules RAID Controller Module Connectors and Features Figure 3-1. MD3200i Series iSCSI RAID Controller Module Item Component Function 1 SAS OUT port Provides SAS connection for cabling to an expansion enclosure. 2 iSCSI IN port 0 Provides host-to-controller iSCSI 1Gbps ...

34 Planning: RAID Controller Modules RAID Controller Module—Additional Features Battery Backup Unit Each RAID controller contains a two-cell lithium ion nanopolymer battery backup unit (BBU). It provides power to the RAID controller module in the event of a power outage. For information on removing ...

Planning: RAID Controller Modules 35 System Password Reset The storage array system password can be reset if it is forgotten. To reset the password, push and hold down the password reset switch for at least 5 seconds. The password is deleted. See Figure 3-1 to locate the password reset switch.The RA...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 37 4 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts This chapter explains terms and concepts used for configuration and operation of MD3200i Series storage arrays. Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, and Disk Groups Physical disks in yo...

38 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts NOTE: The MD3200i storage enclosure must contain at least two physical disks for proper operation. This is necessary because the physical disks are used to store configuration information. Physical Disk States The storage array recognizes ...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 39 If a disk drive rebuild fails because of a source drive failure or because the drive is too small, the MDSM reports a failure of the physical disk even though the LED state on the drive indicates the rebuild was aborted (green for 3 second...

40 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 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 di...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 41 Each RAID level provides different performance and protection. You should 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. Th...

42 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 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 dat...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 43 The segment size or stripe element size specifies the size of data in a stripe written to a single disk. The storage array supports stripe element sizes of 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512 KB. The default stripe element size is 128 KB.Stri...

44 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts A consistency check is similar to a background initialization. The difference is that background initialization cannot be started or stopped manually, while consistency check can. NOTE: Dell recommends that you run data consistency checks ...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 45 • Foreground initialization• Consistency check• Rebuild• Copy back. If a redundant RAID controller module fails with existing virtual disk processes, the processes on the failed controller are transferred to the peer controller. A transfer...

46 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts • If I/O activity stretches beyond the segment size, you can increase it to reduce the number of disks required for a single I/O. Using a single physical disk for a single request frees disks to service other requests, especially when you ...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 47 • Virtual disk RAID level migration• Segment size migration • Virtual disk capacity expansion• Disk group expansion • Disk group defragmentation. If a redundant RAID controller module fails with an existing disk group process, the process ...

48 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts NOTE: Setting a high priority level impacts storage array performance. It is not advisable to set priority levels at the maximum level. Priority should also be assessed in terms of impact to host server access and time to complete an opera...

50 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts • Enabling premium features before migration—Before migrating disk groups and virtual disks, enable the required premium features on the destination storage array. If a disk group is migrated from a MD3200i storage array that has a premium...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 51 • Host server-to-virtual disk mappings are shared between RAID controller modules in the storage array. • A unique LUN must be used by a host group or host server to access a virtual disk. • Not every operating system has the same number o...

52 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk When you create a snapshot virtual disk, it automatically creates a snapshot repository virtual disk. A snapshot repository is a virtual disk created in the storage array as a resource for a snapshot virtua...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 53 Source Virtual Disk When you create a virtual disk copy, a copy pair consisting of a source virtual disk and a target virtual disk is created on the same storage array. When a virtual disk copy is started, data from the source virtual disk...

54 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts You can copy data from a virtual disk in one of two ways: • By taking a point-in-time snapshot of the data • By copying the data to another virtual disk using a virtual disk copy You can select a snapshot virtual disk as the source virtual...

Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 55 • Physically removed • Updating firmware • Involved in an event that caused failover to the alternate controller Paths used by the preferred RAID controller module to access either the disks or the host server are called the preferred path...

56 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts paths to the RAID controller module that owns the virtual disk equally for I/O activity. Paths to the secondary RAID controller module are ignored until ownership changes. The basic assumption for the round-robin policy is that the data pa...

58 Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 10 Type a file name in the File name text box. NOTE: The .perf extension is the default. 11 Select a file type from the Files of type list.• Use the Report format (ASCII text) file type if you want to save the data to a report form for vie...

Configuration: Overview 59 5 Configuration: Overview Dell™ PowerVault™ Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM) online help contains information on the how to use the MDSM application to perform the configuration and management tasks described in this document. You can access online help by clicking Help...

60 Configuration: Overview Enterprise Management Window The EMW provides high-level management of storage arrays. When you start MDSM, the EMW opens. The EMW has these tabs: • Devices tab—Provides information about the storage arrays. • Setup tab—Presents the initial setup tasks that guide you throu...

Configuration: Overview 61 Inheriting the System Settings Use the Inherit System Settings option to import the operating system theme settings into the MDSM. Importing system theme settings affects such features as font type, font size, color, and contrast in the MDSM. 1 Open the Inherit System Sett...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 63 6 Configuration: About Your Storage Array Out-of-Band and In-Band Management You can manage a storage array in two ways: • Out-of-band management • In-band management Out-of-Band Management Using the out-of-band management method, data is separate from comm...

64 Configuration: About Your Storage Array In-Band Management Using in-band-management, commands, events, and data travel through the host-to-controller interface. Unlike out-of-band management, commands and events are mixed with data. NOTE: For detailed information on setting up in-band and out-of-...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 65 NOTE: For Linux, set the default gateway so that broadcast packets are sent to 255.255.255.0. For Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®, if no gateway exists on the network, set the default gateway to the IP address of the NIC. NOTE: MDSM uses TCP/UDP port 2463 for co...

66 Configuration: About Your Storage Array NOTE: When adding a storage array using in-band management with iSCSI, a session must first be established between the initiator on the host server and the storage array. For more information, see "Configuration: Using iSCSI" on page 81. NOTE: The h...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 67 • Configure the storage array—Create disk groups, virtual disks, and hot spare physical disks by using the Automatic configuration method or the Manual configuration method. For more information, see the PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager online help t...

68 Configuration: About Your Storage Array • In the AMW, select Storage Array  Blink  Storage Array . The LEDs blink on the physical disks in the storage array. 2 After locating the storage array, click OK . The LEDs stop blinking. 3 If the LEDs do not stop blinking, select Storage Array  Blin...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 69 5 Click Yes . The new storage array name appears in the Select storage array table. 6 Repeat step 2 through step 4 to name or rename additional storage arrays. NOTE: Avoid arbitrary names or names that might lose meaning in the future. Setting a Password Yo...

70 Configuration: About Your Storage Array 6 Click OK . NOTE: You are not prompted for a password when you attempt to change the storage array configuration in the current management session. Password Guidelines Follow these guidelines when you create a password: • Use secure passwords for your stor...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 71 Adding/Editing a Comment to an Existing Storage Array A descriptive comment, with an applicable storage array name, is a helpful identification tool. You can add or edit a comment for a storage array in the EMW only.To add or edit a comment: 1 In the EMW, s...

72 Configuration: About Your Storage Array Enabling Premium Features You can enable premium features on the storage array. To enable the premium features, you must obtain a feature key file specific to the premium feature that you want to enable from your storage supplier. To enable premium features...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 73 2 Select or enter the percentage of unwritten data in the cache to trigger a cache flush in Start flushing . 3 Select or enter the percentage of unwritten data in the cache to stop a cache flush in progress in Stop flushing . 4 Select the appropriate Cache ...

74 Configuration: About Your Storage Array 3 Click OK . 4 If you have set a password for the selected storage array, the Enter Password dialog appears. Type the current password for the storage array. 5 Click OK . Configuring Alert Notifications MDSM can send an alert for any condition on the storag...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 77 • You must use fully qualified e-mail addresses, for example, [email protected]. • You can configure multiple e-mail addresses before you click OK . Configuring SNMP Alerts To add a management console to the list of addresses configured to receive SNMP aler...

78 Configuration: About Your Storage Array • Replacing an SNMP address—Select the SNMP address in the Configured SNMP addresses area, type the replacement community name in Community name and the trap destination in Trap destination , and click Replace . • Deleting an SNMP address—Select the SNMP ad...

Configuration: About Your Storage Array 79 A learn cycle starts automatically when you install a new battery module. Learn cycles for batteries in both RAID controller modules in a duplex system occur simultaneously.Learn cycles are scheduled to start automatically at regular intervals, at the same ...

80 Configuration: About Your Storage Array 1 In the AMW, select Storage Array  Synchronize RAID Controller Module Clocks . 2 If a password is set, in the Enter Password dialog, type the current password for the storage array, and click Synchronize . The RAID controller module clocks are synchronize...

Configuration: Using iSCSI 81 7 Configuration: Using iSCSI Changing the iSCSI Target Authentication To change the iSCSI target authentication: 1 In the AMW, select the Setup tab. 2 Select Manage iSCSI Settings . The Manage iSCSI Settings window is displayed and by default, the Target Authentication ...

82 Configuration: Using iSCSI Entering Mutual Authentication Permissions Mutual authentication or two-way authentication is a way for a client or a user to verify themselves to a host server, and for the host server to validate itself to the user. This validation is accomplished in such a way that b...

Configuration: Using iSCSI 83 Initiator CHAP Secret The initiator CHAP secret is set on the host using the iSCSI initiator configuration program provided with the host operating system. If you are using the mutual authentication method, you must define the initiator CHAP secret when you set up the h...

84 Configuration: Using iSCSI Changing the iSCSI Target Identification You cannot change the iSCSI target name, but you can associate an alias with the target for simpler identification. Aliases are useful because the iSCSI target names are not intuitive. You should provide an iSCSI target alias tha...

Configuration: Using iSCSI 85 • Select Specify Configuration , and type the IPv4 address to activate the target discovery. • Type the iSNS server IP address in the IPv6 settings area to activate the target discovery. After you manually enter an IP address, you can also click Advanced to configure th...

Configuration: Using iSCSI 87 Advanced iSCSI Host Ports Settings NOTE: Configuring the advanced iSCSI host ports settings is optional. Use the advanced settings for the individual iSCSI host ports to specify the TCP frame size, the virtual LAN, and the network priority. NOTE: Changing any of these s...

88 Configuration: Using iSCSI Viewing or Ending an iSCSI Session You might want to end an iSCSI session for the following reasons: • Unauthorized access—If an initiator is logged on whom you consider to not have access, you can end the iSCSI session. Ending the iSCSI session forces the initiator to ...

Configuration: Using iSCSI 89 Viewing iSCSI Statistics and Setting Baseline Statistics To view iSCSI statistics and set baseline statistics: 1 In the AMW toolbar, select Storage Array  iSCSI  Statistics . The View iSCSI Statistics window is displayed. 2 Select the iSCSI statistic type you want to ...

Configuration: Event Monitor 91 8 Configuration: Event Monitor An event monitor is provided with Dell™ PowerVault™ Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM). The event monitor runs continuously in the background and monitors activity on the managed storage arrays. If the event monitor detects any critical...

92 Configuration: Event Monitor NOTE: It is recommended that you configure the event monitor to start by default on a management station that runs 24 hours a day. Windows To enable or disable the event monitor: 1 Click Start  Settings  Control Panel  Administrative Tools  Services . or Click Sta...

Configuration: About Your Host 93 9 Configuration: About Your Host Configuring Host Access Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM) software is comprised of multiple modules. One of these modules is the Host Context Agent. The host context agent is installed as part of the MDSM installation and runs cont...

94 Configuration: About Your Host • Create a host and assign an alias or user label.• Add or associate a new host port identifier to a particular host.• Change the host port identifier alias or user label.• Move or associate a host port identifier to a different host.• Replace a host port identifier...

96 Configuration: About Your Host The Preview window is displayed. 11 Click Finish . Removing Host Access To remove host access: 1 In the AMW, select the Mappings tab, select the host node in the Topology pane. 2 Perform one of these actions:• Select Mappings  Remove . • Right-click the host node, ...

Configuration: About Your Host 97 • Right-click the storage array or the Default Group, and select Define  Host Group from the pop-up menu. 4 Type the name of the new host group in Enter new host group name . 5 Select the appropriate hosts in the Select hosts to add area. 6 Click Add . NOTE: To rem...

98 Configuration: About Your Host 4 Click Yes . The host is moved to the selected host group with the following mappings:• The host retains the specific virtual disk mappings assigned to it.• The host inherits the virtual disk mappings assigned to the host group to which it is moved. • The host lose...

Configuration: About Your Host 99 • Changing a host type MDSM automatically detects these changes for any host running the host agent software. Starting or Stopping the Host Context Agent The host context agent discovers the host topology. The host context agent starts and stops with the host. The t...

100 Configuration: About Your Host 4 Click Action  Start . I/O Data Path Protection You can have multiple host-to- array connections for a host. Ensure that you select all the connections to the array when configuring host access to the storage array. NOTE: See the Deployment Guide for more informa...

Configuration: About Your Host 101 Managing Host Port Identifiers You can manage the host port identifiers that are added to the storage array. You can: • Add—Add or associate a new host port identifier to a particular host.• Edit—Change the host port identifier alias or user label. You can move (as...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 103 10 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Creating Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Disk groups are created in the unconfigured capacity of a storage array, and virtual disks are created in the free capacity of a disk group. The maximum number of p...

104 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks A disk group should be organized according to its related tasks and subtasks. For example, if you create a disk group for the Accounting Department, you can create virtual disks that match the different types of accounting performed in the department:...

106 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Locating a Disk Group You can physically locate and identify all of the physical disks that comprise a selected disk group. An LED blinks on each physical disk in the disk group.To locate a disk group: 1 In the AMW, select the Logical tab. 2 Select th...

108 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks • Customize settings . 6 Click Next . 7 In the Customize Advanced Virtual Disk Parameters window, select the appropriate Virtual Disk I/O characteristics type. You can select: • File system (typical)• Database• Multimedia• Custom NOTE: If you select C...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 109 3 In the toolbar, select Virtual Disk  Change  Modification Priority . The Change Modification Priority window is displayed. 4 Select one or more virtual disks. To select nonadjacent virtual disks, press <Ctrl> click. To select adjacent virtua...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 111 Changing the Segment Size of a Virtual Disk You can change the segment size on a selected virtual disk. During this operation, I/O performance is affected, but your data remains available.Guidelines to proceed with changing the segment size: • You can...

112 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks The segment size modification operation begins. The virtual disk icon in the Logical pane shows an Operation in Progress status while the operation is taking place. NOTE: To view the progress or change the priority of the modification operation, selec...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 113 NOTE: If you selected the Custom option, select your preferred dynamic cache read prefetch setting (enabled/disabled) and segment size (8KB to 512KB). 2 Click OK . Choosing an Appropriate Physical Disk Type You can create disk groups and virtual disks...

116 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Creating a Security Key When you create a security key, it is generated by and securely stored by the array. You cannot read or view the security key. A copy of the security key must be kept on some other storage medium for backup in case of system fa...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 117 The pass phrase that you enter is masked. NOTE: Create Key is active only if the pass phrase meets the above mentioned criterion. 5 In Confirm pass phrase , re-enter the exact string that you entered in Pass phrase . Make a record of the pass phrase t...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 119 Saving a Security Key You save an externally storable copy of the security key when the security key is first created and each time it is changed. You can create additional storable copies at any time. To save a new copy of the security key, you must ...

120 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Unlocking Secure Physical Disks You can export a security-enabled disk group to move the associated physical disks to a different storage array. After you install those physical disks in the new storage array, you must unlock the physical disks before...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 121 Configuring Hot Spare Physical Disks Guidelines to configure host spare physical disks: • You can use only unassigned physical disks with Optimal status as hot spare physical disks. • You can unassign only hot spare physical disks with Optimal, or Sta...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 123 Hot Spares and Rebuild A valuable strategy to protect data is to assign available physical disks in the storage array as hot spares. A hot spare adds another level of fault tolerance to the storage array.A hot spare is an idle, powered-on, stand-by ph...

124 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks the failed physical disk to the hot spare physical disk. When you have physically replaced the failed physical disk, a copyback operation occurs from the hot spare physical disk to the replaced physical disk.If there are secure disk groups and securit...

128 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Modifying and Removing Host-to-Virtual Disk Mapping You can modify or remove a host-to-virtual disk mapping for several reasons, such as an incorrect mapping or reconfiguration of the storage array. Modifying or removing a host-to-virtual disk mapping...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 129 8 Restart the host applications. Changing Controller Ownership of the Virtual Disk If the host has a single data-path to the MD storage array, the virtual disk must be owned by the controller to which the host is connected. You must configure this sto...

130 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 3 Perform one of these actions:• Select Mappings  Remove . • Right-click the virtual disk, and select Remove Mapping from the pop-up menu. 4 Click Yes to remove the mapping. Changing the RAID Controller Module Ownership of a Disk Group You can change...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 131 The ownership of the disk group is changed. I/O to the disk group is now directed through this I/O path. You are finished with this procedure. NOTE: The disk group might not use the new I/O path until the multi-path driver reconfigures and recognizes ...

132 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Restricted Mappings Many hosts are able to map up to 256 logical unit numbers (LUNs) (0 to 255) per storage partition. However, the maximum number of mappings differs because of operating system variables, failover driver issues, and potential data pr...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 133 • You cannot move a host with a restricted host type into a storage partition that already has LUNs mapped that are greater than what is allowed by the restricted host type. For example, if you have a restricted host type that allows only LUNs up to 3...

136 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks Storage Partitioning A storage partition is a logical entity consisting of one or more virtual disks that can be accessed by a single host or shared among hosts that are part of a host group. The first time you map a virtual disk to a specific host or...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 137 NOTE: You can include a secondary virtual disk in a storage partition. However, any hosts that are mapped to the secondary virtual disk has read-only access until the virtual disk is promoted to a primary virtual disk, or the mirror relationship is re...

138 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 5 Click Add . A message prompts you to confirm your selection. 6 To add the capacity to the disk group, click Yes . You can also use the Command Line Interface (CLI) on both Windows and Linux hosts to add free capacity to a disk group. See the CLI Gui...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 139 For more information, see the PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager online help topics. Disk Group Migration Disk group migration allows to you export a disk group so that you can import the disk group to a different storage array. You can also expo...

140 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 2 Stop all I/O, and unmount or disconnect the file systems on the virtual disks in the disk group. 3 Back up the data on the virtual disks in the disk group. 4 Locate the disk group, and label the physical disks. 5 Place the disk group offline. 6 Obta...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 141 NOTE: Some settings cannot be imported during the import disk group procedure. The following settings are removed/cleared during the procedure: • Persistent reservations • Host-to-virtual disk mappings • Virtual disk copy pairs • Snapshot virtual disk...

142 Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks • Recovered media error—Data could not be read by the physical disk on the first attempt but was successfully read on a subsequent attempt. Data is rewritten to the physical disk and verified and the error is reported to the event log. • Redundancy mi...

Configuration: Disk Groups and Virtual Disks 143 8 Click OK . Suspending the Media Scan You cannot perform a media scan while performing another long-running operation on the disk drive such as reconstruction, copy-back, reconfiguration, virtual disk initialization, or immediate availability formatt...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 145 11 Configuration: Premium Feature— Snapshot Virtual Disks NOTE: If you ordered this feature, you received a Premium Feature Activation card shipped in the same box as your Dell PowerVault MD storage array. Follow the directions on the card to...

146 Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks repository uses less disk space than a full physical copy, because the only data blocks that are stored in the snapshot repository virtual disk are those that have changed since the time of the snapshot.When you create a snapshot virtual disk...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 147 • Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk Name—A user-specified name that helps you associate the snapshot repository virtual disk to its corresponding snapshot virtual disk and source virtual disk. • Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk Capacity—The sn...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 149 6 Enter the snapshot repository virtual disks capacity as a percentage of the source virtual disks capacity and click Next . The Preview window containing the summary of the snapshot virtual disk is displayed. 7 Click Finish . The Completed w...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 153 If you want to use a snapshot regularly, such as for backups, use the Disable Snapshot and Re-create Snapshot options to reuse the snapshot. Disabling and re-creating snapshots preserves the existing virtual disk-to-host mappings to the snaps...

154 Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 8 In the Snapshot virtual disk parameters area, select the relevant mapping option, you can select:• Automatic • Map later with Storage Partition 9 In the Snapshot repository virtual disk parameters area, enter the system behavior when:• The ...

156 Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks Snapshot Repository Capacity If you receive a warning that the capacity for the snapshot repository virtual disk is approaching its threshold, you can increase the capacity of a snapshot repository virtual disk by using one of the following m...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 159 Re-creating Snapshot Virtual Disks You can re-create a snapshot virtual disk that you have previously disabled. CAUTION: Possible loss of data redundancy – If the snapshot virtual disk is in Optimal status, it is first disabled prior to being...

160 Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks NOTE: If you do not intend to re-create the snapshot virtual disk at a later time, in the Logical pane, select the snapshot virtual disk, and select Virtual Disk  Delete to remove it. The associated snapshot repository virtual disk is also ...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks 161 3 Click the Summary tab, then click Disk Groups & Virtual Disks to ensure that the snapshot virtual disk is in Optimal or Disabled status. 4 Remove the drive letter(s) of the source and (if mounted) snapshot virtual disk in Windows or unm...

164 Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy • Copying data for improved access—As your storage requirements for a virtual disk change, you can use a virtual disk copy to copy data to a virtual disk in a disk group that uses drives with larger capacity within the same storage array. Copying ...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 165 Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions After the virtual disk copy is complete, the target virtual disk automatically becomes read-only to the hosts. The target virtual disk rejects read and write requests while the virtual disk copy operation has a ...

166 Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy • A virtual disk can be selected as a target virtual disk for only one virtual disk copy at a time. • A virtual disk copy for any virtual disk cannot be mounted on the same host as the source virtual disk. • Windows does not allow a drive letter t...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 167 • The Create Copy Wizard , which assists in creating a virtual disk copy • The Copy Manager , which monitors virtual disk copies after they have been created Before you Begin A virtual disk copy fails all snapshot virtual disks that are associated...

168 Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy Failed Virtual Disk Copy A virtual disk copy can fail due to these conditions: • A read error from the source virtual disk• A write error to the target virtual disk• A failure in the storage array that affects the source virtual disk or the target...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 169 Copy Manager After you create a virtual disk copy by using the Create Copy Wizard, you can monitor the virtual disk copy through the Copy Manager. From the Copy Manager, a virtual disk copy may be re-copied, stopped, or removed. You can also modif...

170 Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 5 In the Select source virtual disk are, select the appropriate virtual disk and click Next.The Select Target Virtual Disk and Copy Priority window is displayed. 6 In the Select target virtual disk area, select the appropriate virtual disk 7 In th...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 171 • Before the virtual disk copy begins• While the virtual disk copy has a status of In Progress• When you re-create a virtual disk copy To set copy priority: 1 In the AMW, select Virtual Disk  Copy  Copy Manager . The Copy Manager window is displ...

172 Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy Recopying a Virtual Disk You can recopy a virtual disk when you have stopped a virtual disk copy and you want to start it again or when a virtual disk copy has failed.The Recopy option overwrites existing data on the target virtual disk and makes ...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy 173 5 Follow any additional instructions for your operating system. Failure to follow these additional instructions can create unusable virtual disk copies. NOTE: If your operating system requires additional instructions, you can find those instructio...

174 Configuration: Premium Feature—Virtual Disk Copy NOTE: There are five copy priority rates available: lowest, low, medium, high, and highest. If the copy priority is set at the lowest rate, I/O activity is prioritized, and the virtual disk copy takes longer. If the copy priority is set to the hig...

Configuration: Premium Feature—Upgrading to High-Performance-Tier 175 13 Configuration: Premium Feature— Upgrading to High-Performance- Tier The High Performance Tier premium feature on an MD3200i Series array increases the performance of the system beyond that of a MD3200i Series array operating at...

Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux 177 14 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Overview The MD3200i Series storage array uses a Linux operating system software framework, known as Device Mapper (DM), to enable multipath capabilities on Linux Host Servers. The DM multipath f...

178 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Using DM Multipathing Devices NOTE: Using or modifying any nodes other than the multipathing device nodes can result in array or file system problems, including loss of communication with the array and corruption of the file system. Avoid accessin...

Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux 179 NOTE: Any arrays configured with MDCU automatically adds to the list of Devices in the PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager Enterprise Management Window (EMW). Device Mapper Configuration Steps To complete the DM multipathing configuration and ...

Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux 183 NOTE: To ensure data integrity protection, reboot a Linux host server attached to an MD3200i Series storage array using the procedure given below. Linux Host Server Reboot Best Practices Its is recommended that you follow the procedures shown belo...

184 Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux Only multipathing device nodes and partition nodes created using the directions provided above should be mounted or in any way accessed by the host system or its users. Limitations and Known Issues • In certain error conditions with the no_path_re...

Configuration: Device Mapper Multipath for Linux 185 • I/O may hang when a Device Mapper device is deleted before the volume is unmounted. • If the scsi_dh_rdac module is not included in initrd, slower device discovery may be seen and the syslog may become populated with buffer I/O error messages. •...

Management: Firmware Downloads 187 15 Management: Firmware Downloads Downloading RAID Controller and NVSRAM Packages A version number exists for each firmware file. The version number indicates whether the firmware is a major version or a minor version. You can use the Enterprise Management Window (...

188 Management: Firmware Downloads Downloading Both RAID Controller and NVSRAM Firmware NOTE: I/O to the array can continue while you are upgrading RAID controller and NVSRAM firmware. NOTE: Dell recommends that the firmware and NVSRAM be upgraded during a maintenance period when the array is not be...

190 Management: Firmware Downloads The Select File dialog appears. 13 Select the file to download. 14 Click OK . 15 If you want to download the NVSRAM file with the RAID controller module firmware, select Download NVSRAM file with firmware in the Select files area. Any attributes of the firmware fil...

192 Management: Firmware Downloads NOTE: The Details pane shows the details of only one storage array at a time. If you select more than one storage array in the Storage array pane, the details of the storage arrays are not shown in the Details pane. 9 Click NVSRAM in the Download area. NOTE: If you...

194 Management: Firmware Downloads 3 In the Selected Packages area, click Add . Navigate to the location of the packages and click OK . The selected package is added to the Packages to be transferred area. 4 Click Next . The Download Physical Disk Firmware - Select Physical Disks window is displayed...

196 Management: Firmware Downloads • The download succeeded—The statuses of all the expansion enclosures show Complete. You can close the Download environmental (EMM) Card Firmware dialog by clicking Close . The expansion enclosure EMM cards are now operating with the new firmware. • The download fa...

Management: Installing Array Components 197 16 Management: Installing Array Components Recommended Tools You may need the following items to perform the procedures in this section: • Key to the system keylock• #2 Phillips screwdriver• Wrist grounding strap book.book Page 197 Wednesday, May 26, 2010 ...

198 Management: Installing Array Components Front Bezel (Optional) Removing the Front Bezel 1 Using the system key, unlock the front bezel (if locked). 2 Lift up the release latch next to the keylock. 3 Rotate the left end of the bezel away from the front panel. 4 Unhook the right end of the bezel a...

Management: Installing Array Components 199 Hard Drives SAFETY: Models AMT, E03J, and E04J Models AMT, E03J, and E04J are intended for installation only in restricted access locations as defined in cl 1.2.7.3 of IEC 60950-1:2005.Depending on your configuration, your array either supports up to 24 2....

200 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 16-3. Removing and Installing a 2.5-Inch Hard-Drive Blank Installing a Drive Blank 1 If installed, remove the front bezel. See "Removing the Front Bezel" on page 198. 2 Insert the drive blank into the drive bay until the blank is fully seate...

202 Management: Installing Array Components Installing a Hard Drive CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and ...

Management: Installing Array Components 205 Installing a Hard Drive Into a Drive Carrier 1 Insert the hard drive into the hard-drive carrier with the connector end of the drive at the back. See Figure 16-5. 2 Align the screw holes on the hard drive with the back set of holes on the hard-drive carrie...

206 Management: Installing Array Components 5 Connect all the power cables to the array. 6 Turn on the array and the host server. Figure 16-7. Removing and Installing a RAID controller module Blank Installing a RAID Controller Module Blank To install a RAID controller module blank, align the blank w...

Management: Installing Array Components 207 Removing a RAID Controller Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone se...

208 Management: Installing Array Components Installing a RAID Controller Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone ...

Management: Installing Array Components 209 Figure 16-9. Opening and Closing the RAID Controller Module Closing the RAID Controller Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your produc...

210 Management: Installing Array Components RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit Removing the RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your pr...

Management: Installing Array Components 211 Installing the RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by th...

214 Management: Installing Array Components Installing a Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or t...

Management: Installing Array Components 215 Control Panel Removing the Control Panel 1 Turn off the array and host server. 2 Disconnect all the power cables connected to the array. 3 Remove the hard drives from:– slots 0 to 2 in PowerVault MD3200i – slots 0 to 5 in PowerVault MD3220i See "Removi...

216 Management: Installing Array Components Figure 16-14. Removing and Installing the Control Panel—PowerVault MD3220i Installing the Control Panel 1 Align the control panel with the slot on the array. 2 Slide the control panel into the array until:– The release tab clicks into place in PowerVault M...

Management: Installing Array Components 217 Backplane WARNING: Whenever you need to lift the array, get others to assist you. To avoid injury, do not attempt to lift the array by yourself. CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooti...

220 Management: Installing Array Components Installing the Backplane 1 Align the holes on the backplane with the holes on the array. 2 Tighten the captive screw to secure the backplane to the chassis. See Figure 16-16 for PowerVault MD3200i or Figure 16-17 for PowerVault MD3220i. 3 Replace the screw...

Management: Firmware Inventory 221 17 Management: Firmware Inventory A storage array is made up of many components, which might include RAID controller modules, physical disks, and enclosure management modules (EMMs). Each of these components contains firmware. Some versions of firmware are dependen...

Management: System Interfaces 223 18 Management: System Interfaces Microsoft Services Virtual Disk Service The Microsoft ® Virtual Disk Service (VDS) is a component of the Windows ® operating system. The VDS component utilizes third-part vendor specific software modules, known as providers, to acces...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 225 19 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software Start-Up Routine Look and listen during the array’s start-up routine for the indications described in Table 19-1. For a description of the front- and back-panel indicators, see "Planning: About Your ...

226 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software • On the Devices tab, in either the Tree view or the Table view, double-click a storage array. Alternatively, you can right-click a storage array and select Manage Storage Array from the pop-up menu. • On the Setup tab, select Manage a Storage Array ....

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 229 NOTE: MDSM may take a few minutes to update a status change to Unresponsive or from Unresponsive. A status change from or to Unresponsive depends on the network link to the storage array. All other status change updates faster. Storage Array Support D...

230 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software WARNING: Use this option only under the guidance of your Technical Support representative. To automatically collect the support bundle data: 1 In the AMW, select Advanced  Troubleshooting  Support Data  Automatic Settings . 2 Select Automatically c...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 231 The physical disk data collection is completed and saved at the location that you entered. 4 Click OK . Event Log You can use the Event Log Viewer to view a detailed list of events that occur in a storage array. The event log is stored on reserved are...

232 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software Recovery Guru The Recovery Guru is a component of MDSM that diagnoses critical events on the storage array and recommends step-by-step recovery procedures for problem resolution. In the AMW, to display the Recovery Guru, perform one of these actions: ...

234 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software For more information, see the PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager online help topics. Viewing the Logical Associations You can use the Associated Logical Elements option to view the logical associations among different virtual disks in a storage a...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 235 The View Associated Physical Components dialog appears with blue dots next to the physical components that are associated with the selected node. 3 To close the View Associated Physical Components dialog, click Close . Finding Nodes You can use the Fi...

236 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 6 To search for all nodes based on their virtual disk capacity, perform these steps: a Select Find all virtual disks with capacity . b Type the capacity in the GB box. c Specify that the capacity to be matched is less than, equal to, or greater than t...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 237 1 On the Logical tab of the AMW, select one of these virtual disks, and go to the indicated step:• Snapshot virtual disk—Go to step 2.• Snapshot repository virtual disk—Go to step 3.• Source virtual disk—Go to step 4.• Target virtual disk—Go to step 5...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 239 14 Remove the host with the Unresponsive status from the EMW, and select Add Storage Array to add the host again. 15 If the host does not return to Optimal status, go to step 16. 16 Ensure that the host is turned on and operational and that the host a...

240 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software (TCP/IP) connections that can be made to the RAID controller module before it stops responding to subsequent connection attempts. The type of management operations being performed and the number of management sessions taking place together determine t...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 241 Locating an Expansion Enclosure You can use the Blink option to physically locate and identify an expansion enclosure in the storage array.The LED activation varies according to the type of expansion enclosure that you have. • If you have an expansion...

242 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software Capturing the State Information Use the Troubleshooting  Capture State Information option to capture information about the current state of your storage array and save the captured information to a text file. You can then send the captured informatio...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 243 SMrepassist Utility SMrepassist (replication assistance) is a host-based utility for Windows platforms. This utility is installed with MDSM. Use this utility before and after you create a virtual disk copy on a Windows operating system to ensure that ...

244 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software Unidentified Devices An unidentified node or device occurs when MDSM cannot access a new storage array. Causes for this error include network connection problems, the storage array is turned off, or the storage array does not exist. NOTE: Before begin...

Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 245 ping <host-name-or-IP-address-of-the-host> . If the network can access the host, continue to step c. If the network cannot access the host, skip to step d. c Remove the host with the unresponsive status from the MDSM, and add that host again. If...

246 Troubleshooting: Your Storage Array Software 5 Make sure that the controller firmware is compatible with MDSM on your management station. If the controller firmware was upgraded, the MDSM might not have access to the storage array. A new version of MDSM might be needed to manage the storage arra...

Troubleshooting: Your Array 249 20 Troubleshooting: Your Array Safety First—For you and Your Array CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the o...

250 Troubleshooting: Your Array Troubleshooting Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone ...

Troubleshooting: Your Array 251 Troubleshooting Array Cooling Problems CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service a...

Troubleshooting: Your Array 253 Troubleshooting RAID Controller Modules CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service ...

254 Troubleshooting: Your Array e Check the link status LED. If the link status LED is not green, replace the cables. If the problem is not resolved, see "Getting Help" on page 259. Troubleshooting Hard Drives CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You shou...

Troubleshooting: Your Array 255 Troubleshooting Array and Expansion Enclosure Connections 1 Verify that the RAID controller module port link status LED and the RAID controller module status LED are solid green for each port that is connected to a cable. If the LEDs are not solid green, see "Plan...

256 Troubleshooting: Your Array • Hard drives• RAID controller modules• Power supply/cooling fan modules• Control panel• Backplane 3 Let the system dry thoroughly for at least 24 hours. 4 Reinstall the components you removed in step 2. 5 Connect all the cables and turn on the array.If the array does...

Troubleshooting: Your Array 257 Troubleshooting RAID Controller Modules Conditions Certain events can cause a RAID controller module to fail and/or shut down. Unrecoverable ECC memory or PCI errors, or critical physical conditions can cause lockdown. If your RAID storage array is configured for redu...

258 Troubleshooting: Your Array PCI Errors The storage array firmware can detect and only recover from PCI errors when the RAID controller modules are configured for redundancy. If a virtual disk uses cache mirroring, it fails over to its peer RAID controller module, which initiates a flush of the d...

Getting Help 259 21 Getting Help Contacting Dell For customers in the United States, call 800-WWW-DELL (800-999-3355). NOTE: If you do not have an active Internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog. Dell provides several...