Dell MD3600F, MD3620F User Manual
Dell PowerVault MD3600f and
MD3620f Storage Arrays
Owner’s Manual
Regulatory Model: E03J Series and E04J Series
Regulatory Type: E03J001 and E04J001
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if
instructions are not followed.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal
injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this publication is subject to change without notice.
© 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, OpenManage™, PowerEdge™, and
PowerVault™ are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft
and Windows Server
United States and/or other countries; Red Hat
trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and other countries; SUSE
of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries; VMware
Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
®
are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
®
, Windows®, Internet Explorer®, MS-DOS®,
®
and Red Hat Enterprise Linux® are registered
®
is a registered trademark of VMware,
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is a registered trademark
Regulatory Model: E03J Series and E04J Series
Regulatory Type: E03J001 and E04J001
2011-05 Rev. A00
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Inside the Box of the Dell PowerVault MD3600f
Series Storage Array
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Dell PowerVault MD3600f
Series Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Dell PowerVault Modular
Disk Storage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Other Information You May Need
. . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2 Planning: About Your Storage Array . . . . 23
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Hardware Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Front-Panel Features and Indicators
Back Panel Features and Indicators
Hard–Drive Indicator Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features
Power Indicator Codes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
. . . . . . . 24
. . . . . . . . 27
. . . . . . . . 29
3 Planning: RAID Controller Modules . . . . 31
RAID Controller Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Contents 3
RAID Controller Module Connectors and Features . . . 32
Host Channel LED Link/Rate Indications
RAID Controller Module—Additional Features
Battery Backup Unit
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Storage Array Thermal Shutdown
System Password Reset
Cache Functions and Features
Cache Mirroring
Write–Back Cache
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
. . . . . . . . 34
. . . . . 34
. . . . . . . . . 35
Write–Through Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
SFP Transceivers, Fiber Optic, and SAS Cables. . . . . 36
Interoperability of 2 Gbps, 4 Gbps,
and 8 Gbps Devices
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4 Planning: MD3600f Series Storage
Array Terms and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, and Disk Groups. . . . . 39
Physical Disks
Physical Disk States
Self-Monitoring Analysis and
Reporting Technology
Virtual Disks and Disk Groups
Virtual Disk States
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
. . . . . . . . . . . 41
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4 Contents
RAID Levels
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
RAID Level Usage
Segment Size
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Virtual Disk Operations
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Virtual Disk Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Background Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Foreground Initialization
Consistency Check
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Media Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Cycle Time
Virtual Disk Operations Limit
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
. . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Disk Group Operations
RAID Level Migration
Segment Size Migration
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Virtual Disk Capacity Expansion . . . . . . . . . . 49
Disk Group Expansion
Disk Group Defragmentation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
. . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Disk Group Operations Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
RAID Background Operations Priority . . . . . . . . . 50
Virtual Disk Migration and Disk Roaming
Disk Migration
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
. . . . . . . . 51
Disk Roaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Advanced Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Host Server–to–Virtual Disk Mapping
. . . . . . . 53
Host Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Snapshot Virtual Disks
Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
. . . . . . . . . . 55
Virtual Disk Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Virtual Disk Recovery
Using Snapshot and Disk Copy Together
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
. . . . . . 57
Multi–Path Software
Preferred and Alternate
Controllers and Paths
Virtual Disk Ownership
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Contents 5
Load Balancing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Monitoring MD3600f Series System Performance
. . . 59
5 Configuration: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Enterprise Management Window
Array Management Window
. . . . . . . . . 64
. . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 Configuration: About
Your Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Out–of–Band and In–Band Management . . . . . . . . 67
Storage Arrays
Adding Storage Arrays
Setting Up Your Storage Array
Locating Storage Arrays
Naming or Renaming Storage Arrays. . . . . . . . 72
Setting a Password
Viewing Storage Array Connections . . . . . . . . 74
Adding/Editing a Comment to an
Existing Storage Array
Removing Storage Arrays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Enabling Premium Features
Failover Alert Display
Changing the Cache Settings
on the Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Changing Expansion Enclosure ID Number
Changing the Enclosure Order
in the Physical Pane
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
. . . . . . . . . . . 70
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
. . . . 77
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6 Contents
Configuring Alert Notifications
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Configuring E–mail Alerts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Configuring SNMP Alerts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Battery Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Setting the Storage Array RAID Controller
Module Clocks
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
7 Configuration: Event Monitor . . . . . . . . . 85
Enabling or Disabling the Event Monitor . . . . . . . . 86
Windows
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8 Configuration: About Your Host . . . . . . . . 87
Configuring Host Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Using the Mappings Tab
Defining a Host
Removing Host Access
Managing Host Groups
Creating a Host Group
Moving a Host to a Different Host Group
Removing a Host Group
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
. . . . . . 92
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Host Topology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Starting or Stopping the Host Context Agent
I/O Data Path Protection
Managing Host Port Identifiers
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Contents 7
. . . . 93
9 Configuration: Disk Groups
and Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Creating Disk Groups and Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . 99
Creating Disk Groups
Locating a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Creating Virtual Disks
Changing the Virtual Disk
Modification Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Changing the Virtual Disk Cache Settings
Changing the Segment Size of a Virtual Disk
Changing the I/O Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Choosing an Appropriate Physical Disk Type . . . . . 109
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
. . . . 105
. . . 107
Physical Disk Security With Self Encrypting Disk
Creating a Security Key
Changing a Security Key
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
. . 110
Saving a Security Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Unlocking Secure Physical Disks
. . . . . . . . . 117
Erasing Secure Physical Disks . . . . . . . . . . 117
Configuring Hot Spare Physical Disks. . . . . . . . . 118
Hot Spares and Rebuild
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Global Hot Spares. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Hot Spare Operation
Hot Spare Drive Protection
Enclosure Loss Protection
Host-to-Virtual Disk Mapping
Creating Host-to-Virtual Disk Mappings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
. . . . . . . . . . . . 121
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
. . . . . 124
Modifying and Removing
Host-to-Virtual Disk Mapping
. . . . . . . . . . . 126
Changing Controller Ownership
of the Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
8 Contents
Removing Host-to-Virtual Disk Mapping . . . . . . 128
Changing the RAID Controller Module
Ownership of a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Changing the RAID Level of a Disk Group
. . . . . 129
Restricted Mappings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Changing the RAID Controller Module
Ownership of a Virtual Disk or a Disk Group
Changing the RAID Level of a Disk Group
Storage Partitioning
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
. . . . 131
. . . . . . . . 133
Disk Group and Virtual Disk Expansion . . . . . . . . . 135
Disk Group Expansion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Virtual Disk Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Using Free Capacity
Using Unconfigured Capacity
Disk Group Migration
Export Disk Group
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
. . . . . . . . . . . 137
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Exporting a Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Import Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Importing a Disk Group
Storage Array Media Scan
Changing Media Scan Settings
Suspending the Media Scan
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
. . . . . . . . . . 140
. . . . . . . . . . . . 141
10 Configuration: Premium Feature—
Snapshot Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk
Using the Simple Path
About the Simple Path
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Contents 9
Preparing Host Servers to Create the
Snapshot Using the Simple Path
. . . . . . . . . 145
Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk
Using the Advanced Path
About the Advanced Path
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Preparing Host Servers to Create the
Snapshot Using the Advanced Path
. . . . . . . 149
Creating the Snapshot
Using the Advanced Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Specifying Snapshot Virtual Disk Names
. . . . . . . 153
Snapshot Repository Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Re-creating Snapshot Virtual Disks
Disabling a Snapshot Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . 157
. . . . . . . . . . . 158
Preparing Host Servers to Re-create a
Snapshot Virtual Disk
Re-creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
. . . . . . . . . 160
11 Configuration: Premium Feature—
Virtual Disk Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Creating a Virtual Disk Copy for
an MSCS Shared Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Virtual Disk Read/Write Permissions
Virtual Disk Copy Restrictions
Creating a Virtual Disk Copy
Before You Begin
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Virtual Disk Copy and
Modification Operations
Create Copy Wizard
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
. . . . . . . . . 163
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
10 Contents
Failed Virtual Disk Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Preferred RAID Controller Module Ownership
Failed RAID Controller Module
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
. . . . . 167
Copy Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Copying the Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Storage Array Performance
During Virtual Disk Copy
Setting Copy Priority
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Stopping a Virtual Disk Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Recopying a Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Preparing Host Servers to
Recopy a Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Recopying the Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Removing Copy Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
12 Configuration: Premium Feature—
Upgrading to High–
Performance Tier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13 Configuration: Premium Feature—
Remote Replication
Switchable Host Access Configuration
Required With Remote Replication
Activating Remote Replication
Replication Repository Virtual Disks
RAID Levels for Replication
Repository Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
. . . . . . . . . 177
. . . . . . . . . . . 178
. . . . . . . . 178
Contents 11
Primary and Secondary Virtual Disk Pairs . . . . 179
Using Remote Replication
With Other Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Storage Partitioning With
Remote Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Snapshot Virtual Disk With
Remote Replication
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Virtual Disk Copy With Remote Replication . . . 181
Virtual Disk Expansion With
Remote Replication
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Required Switch Zoning Configurations . . . . . 182
Zoning Guidelines for Remote Replication
Switch Cascading
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
. . . . 182
Journaling File Systems and
Remote Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Setting Up and Managing
Remote Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Activating the Remote Replication Premium
Feature and Creating
Replication Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Activating and Creating Replication
Repository Virtual Disks From
the Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Activating and Creating Replication
Repository Virtual Disks From an
Existing Disk Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Creating a Remote Replication
. . . . . . . . . . 186
Selecting the Secondary Virtual Disk. . . . . . . 187
Setting the Write Mode
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Setting Synchronization Priority and
Synchronization Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Completing the Remote Replication
. . . . . . . 189
RAID Controller Module
Ownership/Preferred Path . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Viewing Information About a Remote
Replication or Replication
Repository Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
12 Contents
Viewing the Properties Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Viewing Logical Elements of the
Secondary Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Viewing the Physical Components or
Logical Elements of the Primary Virtual Disk. . . . 193
Virtual Disk Status Icons
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Changing Write Mode and Consistency
Group Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Resynchronizing Virtual Disks
Normally Synchronized Virtual Disks
. . . . . . . . . . . 196
. . . . . . . . 196
Changing Synchronization
Priority and Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Unsynchronized Virtual Disks
. . . . . . . . . . . 199
Automatically Resynchronizing Virtual Disks . . . 200
Manually Resynchronizing Virtual Disks
. . . . . . 200
Reversing Roles Between the Primary
and Secondary Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Promoting the Secondary Virtual Disk or
Demoting the Primary Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . 202
Suspending a Remote Replication . . . . . . . . . 202
Resuming a Remote Replication
. . . . . . . . . . 203
About Resumed Remote Replications . . . . . . . 203
Testing Communication Between the
Primary and Secondary Virtual Disks
. . . . . . . 204
Deleting a Virtual Disk From a Replicated
Pair in a Storage Array
Deleting a Primary Virtual Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
. . . . . . . . . . . 205
Deleting a Secondary Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . 206
Deleting a Primary Virtual Disk in a
Replicated Pair From a Storage Array
. . . . . . . 206
Deleting a Secondary Virtual Disk in a
Replicated Pair From a Storage Array . . . . . . . 207
Removing a Remote Replication From a
Storage Array. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Deactivating the Remote Replication
on the Storage Array
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Contents 13
Disabling the Remote Replication
Premium Feature
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
14 Configuration: Device Mapper
Multipath for Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Using DM Multipathing Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Prerequisites
Device Mapper Configuration Steps . . . . . . . 213
Limitations and Known Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Troubleshooting
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
15 Management: Installing
Array Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Front Bezel (Optional)
Removing the Front Bezel
Installing the Front Bezel
Hard Drives
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Removing a Drive Blank
Installing a Drive Blank
Removing a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Installing a Hard Drive
Removing a Hard Drive
From a Hard-Drive Carrier . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Installing a Hard Drive
Into a Drive Carrier
RAID Controller Module
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
14 Contents
Removing a RAID Controller Module Blank . . . . 229
Installing a RAID Controller Module Blank. . . . . 230
Removing a RAID Controller Module
Installing a RAID Controller Module
. . . . . . . . 231
. . . . . . . . 232
Opening the RAID Controller Module . . . . . . . 233
Closing the RAID Controller Module
. . . . . . . . 234
RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit
. . . . . 235
Removing the RAID Controller
Module Backup Battery Unit
. . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Installing the RAID Controller
Module Backup Battery Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Removing a Power
Supply/Cooling Fan Module
. . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Installing a Power
Supply/Cooling Fan Module
Control Panel
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Removing the Control Panel
. . . . . . . . . . . . 238
. . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Installing the Control Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Backplane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Removing the Backplane
Installing the Backplane
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
16 Management: Firmware Downloads . . . 247
Downloading RAID Controller
and NVSRAM Packages
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Downloading Both RAID Controller
and NVSRAM Firmware
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Downloading Only NVSRAM Firmware
. . . . . . . . . 250
Contents 15
Downloading Physical Disk Firmware . . . . . . . . 253
Downloading MD1200 Series Expansion
Module EMM Firmware
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting
Technology (SMART)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Media Errors and Unreadable Sectors
. . . . . . . . 257
17 Management: Firmware Inventory . . . . 259
Viewing the Firmware Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . 259
18 Management: System Interfaces. . . . . . 261
Microsoft Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Virtual Disk Service
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Volume Shadow-Copy Service . . . . . . . . . . 261
19 Troubleshooting: Your Storage
Array Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Start–Up Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Device Health Conditions
Storage Array Support Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
16 Contents
Automatically Collect the Support Bundle Data
Collecting the Physical Disk Data
Event Log
Recovery Guru
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
. . . . . . . . . . . 268
. . . 267
Storage Array Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Viewing the Logical Associations
Viewing the Physical Associations
. . . . . . . . . . . . 272
. . . . . . . . . . . 273
Finding Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Using Go To
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Recovering From an Unresponsive
Storage Array Condition
Locating a Physical Disk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Locating an Expansion Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Capturing the State Information
SMrepassist Utility
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Unidentified Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Recovering From an Unidentified Storage Array
. . . . 282
Starting or Restarting the Host
Context Agent Software
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
20 Troubleshooting: Your Array . . . . . . . . . 289
Safety First—For You and Your Array . . . . . . . . . . 289
Troubleshooting Storage Array Startup Failure
Troubleshooting Loss of Communication
Troubleshooting an SFP Transceiver
. . . . . . . . . . 289
Troubleshooting External Connections
. . . . . 289
. . . . . . . . 289
. . . . . . . . . 292
Contents 17
Troubleshooting Power
Supply/Cooling Fan Module
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Troubleshooting Array Cooling Problems . . . . . . . 293
Troubleshooting Expansion
Enclosure Management Modules
. . . . . . . . . . . 294
Troubleshooting RAID Controller Modules
Troubleshooting Hard Drives
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
. . . . . . 295
Troubleshooting Array and
Expansion Enclosure Connections
. . . . . . . . . . 297
Troubleshooting a Wet Storage Array . . . . . . . . . 298
Troubleshooting a Damaged Array
Troubleshooting RAID Controller Modules
Conditions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
. . . . . . . . . . 299
. . . . . . 300
21 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
18 Contents
1
Introduction
NOTE: Throughout the document, Dell PowerVault MD3600f series storage array
refers to both Dell PowerVault MD3600f and Dell PowerVault MD3620f.
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 MD3600f Series storage
array. The guide is organized according to the tasks that you must complete
after receiving your Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series storage array.
Planning—Information about the storage array and its features.
Configuration—Tasks that must be completed to ensure that your storage
array performs optimally.
Management—Tasks the may be performed to ensure the storage array
components are up to date and performing properly, including removal and
installation of storage array components.
Troubleshooting—Tasks that you must complete to resolve problems that
may occur with the storage array.
Additional information on these and other topics can be found in the Dell
PowerVault MD3600f and MD3620f Storage Array Deployment Guide,
available at support.dell.com/manuals.
Introduction 19
Inside the Box of the Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series Storage Array
Unless specified, MD3600f Series represents Dell PowerVault MD3600f and
Dell PowerVault MD3620f.
Your MD3600f Series product package includes:
• Dell PowerVault MD3600f
• Small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceiver (2 per controller)
• Fiber optic cables (optional)
• Power cables (2)
• Bezel (optional)
• Mounting rails (2) (optional)
• Dell PowerVault MD3600f
•The
•The
Rack Installation Instructions
describes how to install your enclosure into a rack
Getting Started With Your System
features, setting up your enclosure, and technical specifications
Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series Storage Array
The Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series is a 2U rack-mounted external
redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage array capable of
accommodating up to 12 3.5" or 24 2.5" 6.0-Gbps Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS)
disks. The MD3600f Series storage arrays can be daisy-chained with MD1200
Series expansion enclosures, providing access to a maximum of 96 disks in the
entire storage array. Connectivity between the storage array and the host
server is provided by a Fibre Channel (FC) host bus adapter (HBA).
Series
storage array
Series
resource media
included with your rack solution
provides an overview of enclosure
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM) is a graphical user
interface (GUI) application, used to configure and manage one or more
MD3600f Series Storage Arrays. The MDSM software is located on the
MD3600f Series resource media.
20 Introduction
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.
•
Getting Started Guide
storage array.
•
Deployment Guide
both software and hardware.
•
Storage Manager CLI Guide
command line interface (CLI).
• Resource media contains all system management tools.
•
Configuring Fibre Channel with the Dell MD3600f Series Storage Array
provides information regarding configurations, host bus adapter (HBA)
installation, and zoning. This document is available at
support.dell.com/manuals.
•
Systems Support Matrix
hardware for MD systems. The document is available at
support.dell.com/manuals
•
Dell PowerEdge Cluster Documentation
•
Release notes
to the enclosure or documentation or advanced technical reference
material intended for experienced users or technicians.
• This document as well as Dell PowerVault MD 1200 series installation
guide is available at
MD1200 expansion enclosures.
or readme files are included to provide last-minute updates
provides an overview of setting up and cabling your
provides installation and configuration instructions for
provides information about using the
provides information on supported software and
.
is available at
support.dell.com/manuals
dell.com/ha
for users who incorporate
.
NOTE: Always check for updates on support.dell.com/manuals and read the
updates first because they often supersede information in other documents.
Introduction 21
22 Introduction
2
Planning: About Your Storage Array
Overview
The MD3600f Series storage array is designed for high availability, offering
redundant access to data storage. It’s features support for both single and dual
RAID controller configuration.
The Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series storage array provides Fibre Channel
(FC) connectivity to the host server and enables access for up to eight nonredundant servers or four redundant servers.
The MD3600f Series storage array includes a number of components. These are:
• RAID controller module(s)
•PSU/fan modules
• Disk drives (also called physical disks/hard drives in this document)
• An optional front panel bezel
• A system enclosure, into which, the other components are plugged
Planning: About Your Storage Array 23
Hardware Features
1
2
3
5
4
6
1
2
3
4
6
5
Front-Panel Features and Indicators
Figure 2-1. Front-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerVault MD3600f
Figure 2-2. Front-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerVault MD3620f
24 Planning: About Your Storage Array
Figure 2-3. Front-Bezel Features and Indicators
1
2
3
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
1 Enclosure status LED The enclosure status LED lights when the
2 Power LED The power LED lights green when at least one
Icon Description
enclosure power is on.
Lights blue during normal operation.
Blinks blue when a host server is identifying the
enclosure or when the system identification
button is pressed.
Lights amber as enclosure boots or is reset.
Blinks amber when the enclosure is either in a
fault state or the hosts are not using the preferred
path to a virtual disk.
power supply is supplying power to
the enclosure.
Planning: About Your Storage Array 25
Item Indicator, Button, or
Connector
3 Split mode LED This LED should be unlit as the split mode
4 System identification
button
5 Hard drives PowerVault MD3600f—Up to 12 3.5" SAS hot-
6Enclosure mode
switch
Icon Description
function is not supported by the MD3600f Series
Storage Arrays.
The system identification button on the front
control panel can be used to locate a particular
enclosure within a rack. When the button is
pushed, the system status indicators on the
control panel and the RAID controller module(s)
blink blue until the button is pushed again.
swappable hard drives.
PowerVault MD3620f—Up to 24 2.5" SAS hotswappable hard drives.
The function of this switch is not applicable to
your storage array. However, if MD1200 Series
expansion enclosures are daisy chained to the
storage array, the enclosure mode switches of the
MD1200 Series expansion enclosures must be set
to the Unified-Mode position.
NOTE: This switch must be set prior to turning on
the MD1200 Series expansion enclosure. Changing
the switch setting after the expansion enclosure is
turned on has no effect on enclosure configuration
until the expansion enclosure goes through a
complete power cycle.
26 Planning: About Your Storage Array
Back Panel Features and Indicators
1
2
4
3
1
Figure 2-4. Back-Panel Features and Indicators—Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series
1 600W Power supply/cooling fan
module
3 RAID Controller Module 1 4 600W Power supply/cooling fan
2 RAID Controller Module 0
module
Planning: About Your Storage Array 27
Hard–Drive Indicator Patterns
1
2
Figure 2-5. Hard Drive Indicators
1 hard-drive activity indicator (green) 2 hard-drive status indicator (green
28 Planning: About Your Storage Array
and amber)
Drive-Status Indicator Pattern Condition
Off The physical disk is:
• not yet discovered by the host server
• has been spun down for removal
• not supported for the RAID controller
module or is not in the physical disk slot
NOTE: The drive status indicator remains
off until all hard drives are initialized after
system power is turned on. Drives are not
ready for insertion or removal during this
time.
Steady green Physical disk is online
Green flashing (On 250 ms, Off 250 ms) Physical disk is being identified
Green flashing (On 400 ms, Off 100 ms) Physical disk rebuilding
Amber flashing (On 150 ms, Off 150 ms) Physical disk failed
Flashing green, amber, and off (Green On
500 ms, Amber On 500 ms, Off 1000 ms)
Flashing green, amber, and off (Green 3
seconds, amber 3 seconds, and off 3
seconds)
Physical disk failure predicted (SMART)
Physical disk rebuild aborted
Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features
The MD3600f 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
requires at least one of the cooling fans to function to avoid overheating.
A power supply/cooling fan module can be replaced without powering down
the system. For information on removing and replacing the modules, see
"Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module" on page 237.
CAUTION: A power supply/cooling fan module can be removed from a powered-
on enclosure for a maximum period of 5 minutes. Beyond that time, the system may
automatically shut down to prevent damage.
Planning: About Your Storage Array 29
Power Indicator Codes
1
2
3
5
4
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 supply/cooling
fan fault
3 AC power The LED lights green when the AC input voltage
4 Power connector Connect the external power supply to
5 Power switches (2) The power switch controls the power supply
The LED lights amber when the DC output
voltage is not within the limit or a fault with the
fan is detected.
If this LED is off, it indicates that no fault
condition is present.
is within the limit.
If this LED is off, it indicates either there is no
power or the AC input voltage is not within
the limit.
this connector.
output to the enclosure.
30 Planning: About Your Storage Array
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