Dell PowerVault MD3260 Series Deployment Manual
Dell PowerVault MD3260 Series Storage Arrays
Deployment Guide
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings
NOTE:
A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
CAUTION:
A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the
problem.
WARNING:
A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
© 2012 Dell Inc.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the Dell logo, Dell Boomi™, Dell Precision™ , OptiPlex™, Latitude™, PowerEdge™, PowerVault™,
PowerConnect™, OpenManage™, EqualLogic™, Compellent™, KACE™, FlexAddress™, Force10™ and Vostro™ are trademarks of Dell
Inc. Intel®, Pentium®, Xeon®, Core® and Celeron® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. AMD
®
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Microsoft®, Windows®, Windows Server®, Internet Explorer®, MS-DOS®, Windows Vista® and Active Directory® are either trademarks
or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Red Hat® and Red Hat
®
Enterprise Linux® are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Novell® and SUSE® are
registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the United States and other countries. Oracle® is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation
and/or its affiliates. Citrix®, Xen®, XenServer® and XenMotion® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. VMware®, Virtual SMP®, vMotion®, vCenter® and vSphere® are registered trademarks or
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Corporation.
2012 - 08
Rev. A00
Contents
Notes, Cautions, and Warnings...................................................................................................2
1
Introduction
..................................................................................................................................5
System Requirements...............................................................................................................................................5
Management Station Requirements..................................................................................................................5
Introduction To Storage Arrays................................................................................................................................5
2 Hardware Installation.................................................................................................................7
Planning The Storage Configuration ........................................................................................................................7
Connecting The Storage Array ................................................................................................................................7
Cabling The Storage Array.......................................................................................................................................7
Redundant And Non-Redundant Configurations................................................................................................8
Dual Controller Configurations...........................................................................................................................8
Cabling PowerVault MD3060e Expansion Enclosures............................................................................................13
Expanding With Previously Configured PowerVault MD3060e Series Expansion Enclosures........................13
Expanding With New PowerVault MD3060e Expansion Enclosures...............................................................14
3
Installing MD Storage Manager
.............................................................................................17
Installing Host Bus Adapters And Drivers..............................................................................................................17
Graphical Installation (Recommended)..................................................................................................................18
Console Installation ...............................................................................................................................................18
Silent Installation ...................................................................................................................................................19
Silent Installation On Windows........................................................................................................................19
Silent Installation On Linux...............................................................................................................................19
Upgrading PowerVault MD Storage Manager.......................................................................................................19
4
Post Installation Tasks
.............................................................................................................21
Verifying Storage Array Discovery.........................................................................................................................21
Initial Setup Tasks............................................................................................................................................22
5
Uninstalling MD Storage Manager
........................................................................................23
Uninstalling MD Storage Manager From Windows................................................................................................23
Uninstall MD Storage Manager From Microsoft Windows Operating Systems Other Than Microsoft
Windows Server 2008.......................................................................................................................................23
Uninstall MD Storage Manager From Windows Server 2008 GUI Versions....................................................23
Uninstall MD Storage Manager From Windows Server 2008 Core Versions...................................................23
Uninstalling MD Storage Manager From Linux......................................................................................................24
6
Appendix — Load Balancing
..................................................................................................25
Windows Load Balance Policy...............................................................................................................................25
Round Robin With Subset.......................................................................................................................................25
Changing Load Balance Policies In Windows Sever 2008 ....................................................................................25
Least Queue Depth With Subset......................................................................................................................25
Changing The Load Balance Policy Using Windows Server 2008 Device Manager Options.................................26
Changing The Load Balance Policy Using The Windows Server 2008 Disk Management Options.......................26
Setting Load Balance Policies in Linux...................................................................................................................26
1
Introduction
This guide provides information about deploying Dell PowerVault
MD3260 storage arrays. The deployment process
includes:
• Hardware installation
• Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager) installation
• Initial system configuration
Other information provided include system requirements, storage array organization, and utilities.
NOTE
: For more information on product documentation, see support.dell.com/manuals.
MD Storage Manager enables an administrator to configure and monitor storage arrays for optimum usability. The
version of MD Storage Manager included on the PowerVault MD Series resource media can be used to manage both
the PowerVault MD3260 Series and other PowerVault MD Series storage arrays. MD Storage Manager is compatible
with both Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.
System Requirements
Before installing and configuring the PowerVault
MD3260 Series hardware and software, ensure that the supported
operating system is installed and minimum system requirements are met. For more information, see the Support Matrix
at support.dell.com/manuals.
Management Station Requirements
A management station uses MD Storage Manager to configure and manage storage arrays across the network. A
management station must meet the following minimum system requirements:
• Intel Pentium or an equivalent processor (1333 MHz or faster) with 512 MB RAM (1024 MB recommended).
• 1 GB disk space.
• Display resolution of 1024x768 with 16 million colors (1280x1024 32-bit recommended).
• Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
NOTE
: Operating system installations can be either native or hypervisor guest configurations.
NOTE
: Supported hypervisors include Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, and VMware. For information
about the supported versions, see the Support Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals.
• Administrator or equivalent permissions.
Introduction To Storage Arrays
An enclosure containing physical disks accessed through RAID controller modules is called a storage array. A storage
array includes various hardware components, such as physical disks, RAID controller modules, fans, and power
supplies.
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One or more host servers attached to the storage array can access the data on the storage array. You can also establish
multiple physical paths between the host(s) and the storage array so that loss of any single path (for example, through
failure of a host server port) does not result in loss of access to data on the storage array.
The storage array is managed by MD Storage Manager running on a:
• Host server — On a host server system, MD Storage Manager and the storage array communicate management
requests and event information using SAS connections.
• Management station — On a management station, MD Storage Manager communicates with the storage array
either through an Ethernet connection to the storage array management port or through an Ethernet connection
to a host server. The Ethernet connection passes management information between the management station
and the storage array using SAS connections.
Using MD Storage Manager, you can configure the physical disks in the storage array into logical components called
disk groups and then divide the disk groups into virtual disks. Disk groups are created in the unconfigured capacity of a
storage array. Virtual disks are created in the free capacity of a disk group.
Unconfigured capacity comprises physical disks not already assigned to a disk group. When a virtual disk is created
using unconfigured capacity, a disk group is automatically created. If the only virtual disk in a disk group is deleted, the
disk group is also deleted. Free capacity is space in a disk group that is not assigned to any virtual disk.
Data is written to the physical disks in the storage array using RAID technology. RAID levels define the way in which
data is written to physical disks. Different RAID levels offer different levels of accessibility, redundancy, and capacity.
You can set a specified RAID level for each disk group and virtual disk on your storage array. For more information about
using RAID and managing data in your storage solution, see the Administrator's Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
6
2
Hardware Installation
Before using this guide, ensure that you review the instructions in the:
•
Getting Started Guide
—The
Getting Started Guide
that shipped with the storage array, provides information to
configure the initial setup of the system.
•
Dell PowerVault MD3260/3260i/3660i/3660f/3060e Storage Arrays Administrator's Guide
—The Administrator's
Guide provides information about important concepts you must know before setting up your storage solution.
See the Administrator's Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
• The Rack Installation instructions, that shipped with the storage array, provides information on how to rack your
system.
Planning The Storage Configuration
Consider the following before installing your storage array:
• Evaluate data storage needs and administrative requirements.
• Calculate availability requirements.
• Decide the frequency and level of backups, such as weekly full backups with daily partial backups.
• Consider storage array options, such as password protection and e-mail alert notifications for error conditions.
• Design the configuration of virtual disks and disk groups according to a data organization plan. For example, use
one virtual disk for inventory, a second for financial and tax information, and a third for customer information.
• Decide whether to allow space for hot spares, which automatically replace failed physical disks.
Connecting The Storage Array
The storage array is connected to a host using two hot-swappable RAID controller modules. The RAID controller
modules are identified as RAID controller module 0 and RAID controller module 1.
Each RAID controller module has four FC IN (host) port connectors that provide FC connections to the host or node. Each
RAID controller module also contains an Ethernet management port and a SAS OUT port connector. The Ethernet
management port allows you to install a dedicated management station (server or stand-alone system). The SAS OUT
port allows you to connect the storage array to optional expansion enclosures for additional storage capacity.
NOTE
: When you connect a host server to a storage array FC IN port connector, any OUT port connector of the
host bus adapter (HBA) of the server can be used.
Cabling The Storage Array
You can cable the storage array to host servers with:
• Single path data configuration — A single path configuration allows you to connect a maximum of eight hosts.
This is a non-redundant configuration.
• Dual path data configuration — A dual path configuration allows you to connect a maximum of four hosts.
7
You choose the data configuration based on:
• Number of hosts required
• Level of data redundancy required
Redundant And Non-Redundant Configurations
Non-redundant configurations are configurations that provide only a single data path from a host to the storage array.
This type of configuration is only recommended for non-critical data storage. Path failure from a failed or removed cable,
a failed HBA, or a failed or removed RAID controller module results in loss of host access to storage on the storage
array.
Redundancy is established by installing separate data paths between the host and the storage array, in which each path
is to one of the two RAID controller modules installed in the storage array. Redundancy protects the host from losing
access to data in the event of path failure, because both RAID controller modules can access all the disks in the storage
array.
Dual Controller Configurations
The following figures show two and four hosts, each connected to two RAID controller modules. Since each host has
redundant paths, loss of a single path would still allow access to the storage array through the alternate path.
Figure 1. Two Hosts Connected to Two Controllers
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