D-Link DSN-5410-10, DSN-4200, DSN-4000, DSN-5000-10, DSN-5110-10 Software User's Manual
...
D-Link xStack Storage iSCSI SAN Arrays
Managed SAN Solutions
(DSN-1100-10, 2100-10, 3200-10, 3400-10, DSN-4100, DSN-4200, DSN4000, 5110-10, 5210-10, 5410-10, 5000-10)
Management Center Software User’s Guide
Version 1.4
© 2010 D-Link Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Copyright © 2010 D-Link Systems, Inc.™
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ii Contents
Updated for software version 2.7.0 and added more summary information
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Export of technical data contained in this document may require an export license from the
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Document Revision Level
Revision Date Description
1.0 July 2008 Version 1.0 – Initial release based on Software version 2.0.0
1.1 September 2008 Version 1.1 – Updated for software version 2.5.0 and redundant controller support
1.2 January 2009 Version 1.2 – Updated for software version 2.5.1 and minor formatting corrections
1.3 May 2010
1.4 July 2010 Version 1.4 – Updated for software version 2.8.0
Version 1.3 –
to Chapter 1
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide iii
Preface
This document is intended to assist users with configuring and managing storage on xStack
Storage® systems from D-Link Systems.
Audience
This document is intended for storage managers and administrators responsible for using the
xStack Storage Management Center to configure and manage the xStack Storage array from
D-Link Systems Inc. This document assumes that the user is computer literate, familiar with
storage array products, and has a basic understanding of storage products and concepts.
Typographic Conventions
Notes
Notes provide information that deserves special attention. They are preceded by:
Cautions
Cautions contain information which, if not followed, can cause damage to the
xStack Storage array and possible loss of data. They are preceded by:
Warnings
Warnings contain information which, if not followed, can cause damage to the
xStack Storage array and to the person installing it. They are preceded by:
iv Contents
Contact Information
You can find software updates and user documentation on the D-Link website.
D-Link provides free technical support for customers within the United States and within
Canada for the duration of the warranty period on this product.
U.S. and Canadian customers can contact D-Link Technical Support through our website, or
by phone.
Tech Support for customers within the United States:
D-Link Technical Support over the Telephone
Please see our support site for current number:
• http://support.dlink.com
• Monday to Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm PST/PDT
D-Link Technical Support over the Internet:
• http://support.dlink.com
Tech Support for customers within Canada:
D-Link Technical Support over the Telephone
Please see our support site for current number:
• http://support.dlink.ca
• Monday to Friday 7:30am to 9:00pm EST/EDT
D-Link Technical Support over the Internet:
http://support.dlink.ca
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide v
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Product Overview .................................................................................... 2
1.2 Terminology and Concepts .......................................................................... 2
1.3 Storage Pools and Drives ............................................................................ 3
1.4 Volumes ................................................................................................ 4
1.5 Tasks .................................................................................................... 6
1.5.1 Initialize a Parity Volume.................................................................. 6
1.5.2 Rebuild a Volume ........................................................................... 6
1.5.3 Scan a Volume ............................................................................... 7
1.5.4 Grow (Expand) a Volume .................................................................. 7
1.5.5 Reconfigure a Volume ...................................................................... 7
1.6 Network Portals ....................................................................................... 7
1.7 VLANs ................................................................................................... 8
1.8 LAGs .................................................................................................... 8
1.9 iSCSI Target Nodes ................................................................................... 8
1.10 iSCSI Log-In, Sessions and Connections ......................................................... 8
1.11 Multiple Connections per Session ................................................................ 8
Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software ........................................................................ 9
2.1 Key Features .......................................................................................... 9
2.2 Compatibility and Minimum System Requirements ........................................... 10
2.3 Understanding the Basics ......................................................................... 10
2.3.1 Understanding the User Interface ...................................................... 11
2.3.2 Menu Bar and Toolbar .................................................................... 11
2.3.3 View Panel ................................................................................. 13
2.3.4 Main Display ................................................................................ 14
2.3.5 Action Panels .............................................................................. 14
2.3.6 Detail Tabs ................................................................................. 15
2.3.7 Status Bar .................................................................................. 15
2.4 Getting Help ......................................................................................... 15
2.5 READ THIS SECTION - If You Read Nothing Else In This Guide .............................. 16
Chapter 3 Getting Started .......................................................................................................................... 17
3.1 Connecting and Logging In ........................................................................ 18
3.1.1 Using the Start-up Wizard ............................................................... 18
3.1.2 Logging in from the Home Page ........................................................ 24
3.2 Setting the System Date and Time .............................................................. 26
3.3 Customizing the Date and Time Display ........................................................ 28
3.4 Configuring User Accounts ........................................................................ 29
3.4.1 Changing the Default Admin Login Password ........................................ 29
3.4.2 Adding Admin Accounts .................................................................. 30
3.4.3 Adding User Accounts .................................................................... 31
3.4.4 Modifying Accounts ....................................................................... 32
3.4.5 Deleting User Accounts .................................................................. 32
3.5 Logging Out .......................................................................................... 33
3.6 Exiting the xStack Storage Management Center .............................................. 33
3.7 Shutting Down the xStack Storage Array ....................................................... 34
vi Contents
Chapter 4 Managing Volumes ................................................................................................................... 35
4.1 Understanding the Volume View ................................................................. 36
4.2 Creating Volumes ................................................................................... 37
4.2.1 Letting the Wizard Choose the Best Volume Organization......................... 39
4.2.2 Making Your Own Volume Selection Choices ......................................... 45
4.3 Performing Volume Actions ....................................................................... 51
4.3.1 Modifying iSCSI Initiator Access to Volumes .......................................... 51
4.3.2 Scanning a Volume ........................................................................ 53
4.3.3 Destroying a Volume ...................................................................... 54
4.3.4 Growing a Volume ......................................................................... 55
4.3.5 Reconfiguring a Volume .................................................................. 56
4.4 Using the Detail Tabs .............................................................................. 59
4.4.1 Changing Volume Names and Viewing Volume Information (Properties Tab) .. 59
4.4.2 Viewing Extents on a Volume (Extents Tab) .......................................... 60
4.4.3 Viewing Reconfiguration Information (Reconfigure Tab) .......................... 62
4.4.4 Enabling or Disabling CHAP Security for Volumes (Security Tab) ................. 63
4.4.5 Viewing or Changing Advanced Settings (Advanced Settings Tab) ............... 65
4.4.6 Enabling or Disabling CHAP Security for Initiators (Security Tab) ................ 68
4.5 Removing iSCSI Initiators .......................................................................... 69
Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage ..................................................................................................... 71
5.1 Understanding the Physical Storage View ...................................................... 72
5.2 Performing Drive Actions .......................................................................... 73
5.2.1 Initializing a Drive ......................................................................... 73
5.2.2 Downing a Drive ........................................................................... 74
5.2.3 Reserving Spare Drives ................................................................... 75
5.3 Using the Detail Tabs .............................................................................. 76
5.3.1 Viewing Drive Properties (Properties Tab) ........................................... 76
5.3.2 Viewing Extents on a Drive (Extents Tab) ............................................ 77
5.3.3 Viewing SMART Data and Attributes (SMART Data and SMART Attributes Tabs) 78
Chapter 6 System Administration ............................................................................................................. 81
6.1 Understanding the System Administration View .............................................. 82
6.1.1 Single-Controller Systems................................................................ 82
6.1.2 Dual-Controller Systems ................................................................. 83
6.2 Using the Detail Tabs .............................................................................. 85
6.2.1 Viewing System Summary Information (Summary Tab) ............................. 85
6.2.2 Viewing Historical Information (History Tab) ........................................ 85
6.2.3 Controller Details (Controller Tab) .................................................... 87
6.2.4 Viewing Scheduled Activities (Tasks Tab) ............................................ 88
6.2.5 Saving the Current Configuration (Control Tab) ..................................... 89
6.2.6 Restoring a Configuration (Control Tab) .............................................. 91
6.2.7 Restoring Factory Default Settings (Control Tab) ................................... 92
6.2.8 Upgrading Software (Control Tab) ..................................................... 92
6.2.9 Restarting the xStack Storage (Control Tab) ......................................... 93
6.2.10 Shutting Down the xStack Storage (Control Tab) .................................. 94
6.2.11 Selecting a Battery Policy and System Failure Policy (System Policy Tab) .... 94
6.2.12 Configuring User Accounts (Settings Tab) ........................................... 95
6.2.13 Viewing or Changing Advanced Settings (Advanced Settings Tab) .............. 96
Chapter 7 Managing Management and Ethernet Ports and Portals ..................................................... 101
7.1 Understanding the Network Settings View .................................................... 102
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide vii
7.2 Working with Management Ports ............................................................... 103
7.2.1 Viewing or Changing Management Port Settings ................................... 103
7.2.2 Pinging from a Management Port ..................................................... 104
7.3 Viewing or Changing the Ethernet Port Settings ............................................. 105
7.4 Working with Network Portals .................................................................. 107
7.4.1 Creating Network Portals ............................................................... 107
7.4.2 Deleting a Network Portal .............................................................. 108
7.4.3 Pinging from a Network Portal ........................................................ 109
7.5 Grouping and Ungrouping Ports ................................................................. 110
7.5.1 Grouping Ports ............................................................................ 111
7.5.2 Ungrouping Ports ......................................................................... 113
7.5.3 Removing Ports from a LAG ............................................................ 113
7.6 Working with VLANs ............................................................................... 114
7.6.1 VLAN-Enabling a Port .................................................................... 115
7.6.2 Removing a Port from a VLAN ......................................................... 115
7.6.3 VLAN-Enabling a Group ................................................................. 115
7.6.4 Removing a Group from a VLAN ....................................................... 115
Chapter 8 Performing System Actions ................................................................................................... 117
8.1 Adding an xStack Storage ........................................................................ 117
8.2 Removing an xStack Storage ..................................................................... 118
8.3 Force System Failover ............................................................................ 119
Chapter 9 Best Practices ......................................................................................................................... 121
9.1 Saving Configuration Settings ................................................................... 122
9.2 Resetting Display Preferences .................................................................. 122
9.3 Working with Firewalls ........................................................................... 122
Chapter 10 Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................... 125
10.1 Downloading a System Diagnostic Capture .................................................. 126
10.2 Possible Problems and Recommended Corrective Actions ................................ 127
Appendix A Menu Summary.................................................................................................................... 129
Appendix B Factory Default Settings ..................................................................................................... 133
Appendix C Recording Your Configuration Settings ........................................................................... 137
C.1 Recording Volumes .............................................................................. 137
C.2 Recording iSCSI Initiator Access .............................................................. 139
C.3 Recording Groups ............................................................................... 141
C.4 Recording Network Portals .................................................................... 142
C.5 Recording Scheduled Tasks .................................................................... 143
C.6 Admin Login Password .......................................................................... 144
C.7 Configuration Files .............................................................................. 145
C.8 Management Port Settings ..................................................................... 146
C.9 Data Port Settings ............................................................................... 147
C.10 Email Settings .................................................................................... 148
iSNS Settings ............................................................................................ 148
C.12 SNMP Settings .................................................................................... 148
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xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide ix
Chapter 1 Introduction
This chapter provides an introduction to the D-Link xStack Storage SAN system, and the
terminology and concepts associated with it.
Topics in this chapter include:
Section 1.1, Product Overview
Section 1.2, Terminology and Concepts
Section 1.3, Storage Pools and Drives
Section 1.4, Volumes
Section 1.5, Tasks
Section 1.6, Network Portals
Section 1.7, VLANs
Section 1.8, LAGs
Section 1.9, iSCSI Target Nodes
Section 1.10, iSCSI Log-In, Sessions and Connections
Section 1.11, Multiple Connections per Session
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 1
1.1 Product Overview
The D-Link xStack Storage system is an intelligent, high-performance Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)
or 10GbE storage solution designed for businesses that want to improve the reliability,
availability, serviceability, and performance of their storage systems. It provides a range of
benefits and features from its ability to use familiar, proven, and widespread networking
technologies like IP and Ethernet for storage solutions.
Complete configuration and management are available through the intuitive, graphicalbased Management Console interface. A variety of network configurations are easily
established using the storage system’s volume management, initiator, target, network
portal, and Link Aggregation Group (LAG) features. Advanced features such as battery policy
settings and SNMP settings can also be set.
1.2 Terminology and Concepts
The purpose of the xStack Storage system is to virtualize disk storage for use by a customer’s
host computers (servers). At its front end, the xStack Storage system uses the iSCSI protocol
over Ethernet to connect to the customer’s servers. At its back end, the xStack Storage
system connects to a bank of Serial ATA (SATA), Serial-attached SCSI (SAS), or Solid State
Devices (SSD) drives.
Figure 1-1 shows a typical xStack Storage system configuration. The Storage Area Network
(SAN) shown is an Ethernet network used solely for exchanging data between the customer's
servers and the xStack Storage system. The Ethernet bandwidth used by the servers
exchanging data with the xStack Storage system can be very high. Using a separate Ethernet
to act as a SAN keeps that data from interfering with the customer's existing LAN and
improves security.
Figure 1-1. Storage System Diagram
2 Chapter 1 Introduction
The xStack Storage system performs its virtualization task by presenting volumes that the
servers see as disks or drives or SCSI Logical Units, depending on the server operating
system’s terminology. Volumes are created by organizing blocks of storage from the drives.
iSCSI is an end-to-end storage block protocol that makes it possible to transfer storage data
reliably over any IP-based network, including the Internet. The iSCSI drafts and RFCs are
published by the IETF, but based on the SCSI specifications from the ISO's Technical
Committee Ten (T10), the ANSI-accredited body responsible for developing and maintaining
the core SCSI standard. To the committee, iSCSI is another SCSI transport and just as
officially sanctioned (though technically it's a superset of SCSI, providing additional
functionality through unique commands and data formats used for secondary services such as
authentication).
From the network's perspective, iSCSI is just another service that runs over TCP/IP. It can
use the same networking stack as other applications, with clients requesting data from
servers. The main difference is that its function is more specialized. Whereas other Layer 7
protocols such as SMTP are agnostic toward the technologies used at their endpoints, iSCSI is
designed as a way to extend an existing storage technology across IP networks.
For iSCSI purposes, the SCSI protocol is conceptually similar to TCP/IP's client/server
architecture. Every SCSI link involves a host adapter, called an initiator, and a storage
device, called a “target.” The customer's server will act as the initiator and the xStack
Storage system will act as the target. Traditionally, a local SCSI bus connects a single initiator
to up to seven targets, but a SAN allows an unlimited number of each. The initiator's iSCSI
stack packs SCSI commands and data into IP packets, which are then unpacked by the target
for processing as if they had originated locally.
The iSCSI protocol defines two types of iSCSI Nodes:
The initiator node
The target node
The iSCSI initiator node consists of an initiator name and a set of properties. The server’s
operating system provides software to define and configure its iSCSI initiator node. The
xStack Storage system serves as one or more iSCSI target nodes and automatically assigns
target node names using the standard naming convention defined in the iSCSI protocol.
The xStack Storage system provides the customer a method to create Volumes. Each Volume
is a unit of storage of a specific size with a RAID organization, as described later in this
document. Every volume creation automatically includes the creation of an iSCSI target
node; i.e. there is a one-to-one relationship between iSCSI Target Nodes and Volumes in an
xStack Storage system. An iSCSI target node name is automatically created by the xStack
Storage system using the standard naming convention with the Volume Name in a wellknown position in that name. The xStack Storage system manages initiator access to a
target node as part of volume management. For example, the customer grants an initiator
access to a target node by granting access to the Volume. The server (iSCSI initiator) can
find its storage by finding a known volume name in a list of discovered target node names.
1.3 Storage Pools and Drives
Storage space is managed on the xStack Storage system through storage pools. The
placement of a drive in a storage pool controls the way that drive can be used. There are
four types of storage pools (see Table 1-1).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 3
Table 1-1. Types of Storage Pools
Volume
Storage Pool Usage
Available Pool
Base Pool
Spare Pool
Unusable Pool Two types of drives appear in the Unusable Pool:
When a new system is installed, all new drives are placed in the Available Pool. The drives
remain in the Available Pool until they are needed for use in a volume.
1.4 Volumes
A volume is a set of blocks of storage that are organized and presented for use by a
customer’s server (an iSCSI initiator node). Every volume must be associated with a storage
pool, which limits the drives that can be used to hold data for that Volume (only drives in
that pool can be used for this volume). Only drives in the Base Pool can be used for volumes.
Disk drives available for use, but with no data stored on them at this time. A
drive in the Base Pool will be used in the creation of a new Volume any time it is
required. That drive is automatically moved to the Base Pool at that time with no
manual interaction.
Disk drives currently being used to hold Volume data or ready to be used to hold
volume data.
A drive that can only be used in case of a failure of a drive in the Base Pool. A
drive becomes a Spare only when a customer administrator so designates.
Drives not available for use either because they have already failed and have
not been removed from the enclosure
Drive inserted into the xStack Storage system that were previously used by an
xStack Storage system. Such a drive can be Initialized by the Administrator to
make the drive available for use (which automatically moves the drive to the
Available Pool)
The iSCSI initiator node sees the volume as a contiguous series of numbered blocks in the
same way that it would see the storage space on a single disk drive. The xStack Storage
system constructs a volume from extents, where each extent is a block of storage from a
single drive. A volume typically consists of extents from several drives. A volume of n blocks
is shown in Figure 1-2.
0
Extent 1
n-1
Extent x
Figure 1-2. Internal Structure of a Volume
Volumes can be organized in several ways (see Table 1-2)
4 Chapter 1 Introduction
Table 1-2. Ways to Organize Volumes
Organization Definition Redundant Striped Storage Cost
JBOD One copy of the data is written to the selected Extents. No No 1x
Mirror
Stripe
Stripe Mirror
Parity
Two copies of all data are written to independent
Extents.
Distributes one copy of the data among several drives
to improve the speed of access.
Distributes the data among several drives and then
keeps a mirror copy of the blocks on each drive
Distributes one copy of the data among several drives
and adds parity blocks spread throughout the volume to
protect against the loss of any single drive.
Yes No 2x
No Yes 1x
Yes Yes 2x
Yes Yes x + 1
For organizations that are striped, the data distributed among multiple drives is organized in
a series of “stripes”. Each stripe consists of a fixed number of blocks on each drive. The
fixed number of blocks used on each drive is called a “chunk.” This can be viewed as an
array where each row is a stripe and each column is a drive. The term “Member” is defined
as the number of columns in this array. The xStack Storage system can allocate the required
space very flexibly (i.e., an entire member does need to reside on a single drive). Within
each member, extents can be obtained from as many drives as necessary.
Organizations that are redundant provide protection against loss of data in the event of a
failure of any one drive. This adds a storage cost in that some storage will be used for
redundancy rather than for customer data. Redundancy requires that the volume data be
stored on separate drives, so that data integrity is maintained in the event of a drive failure.
For a parity organization, the xStack Storage system distributes the volume into the array
described for a stripe organization, and reserves one chunk from each stripe to hold the
parity information. The parity information provides redundancy without having to keep a
complete copy of the data. If any single drive fails, the parity calculation mechanism can be
applied to the data on the remaining drives to provide full access (reading and writing) of all
data.
Further, the parity calculation mechanism can be used to recreate the data with fresh parity
protection onto a new drive to re-gain redundancy. However, this protection comes at a
cost: the storage requirement for the volume is increased by one member. For example, if a
10 GB striped volume was distributed among four members, each member would need 2.5
GB of space. To make a parity volume of 10 GB using four members, for instance, each
member would need 3.33 GB of space: one chunk in each stripe would be used to hold
parity. In other words, to hold the space for parity in a 4-member volume, the xStack
Storage system needs to use 1/3 more space than the initiator can access. From another
point of view, 1/4 of the space used by that volume is not available to the initiator. The 10
GB volume can also be created using 2.5 GB members if five members are used.
As a result, the additional storage cost for a parity volume of four members is 25% (i.e., 25%
of the space is not user data, but redundancy data). For a 5-member parity volume, the
additional cost is 20%.
For a mirror organization, the xStack Storage system divides the volume into two members,
each of which contains one full copy of the data. Each member must be allocated on
separate drives. The cost of a mirror volume is that data must be stored twice (i.e., for a
volume of size x bytes, the xStack Storage system needs 2x bytes, or 100%).
For a stripe mirror organization, the xStack Storage system distributes volume into
members, as in a striped organization, and then doubles the number of members to allow for
the second data copy. As in a mirror organization, the storage cost is double.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 5
For each volume, the xStack Storage system must determine the organization and the size of
the volume. For striped organizations, the xStack Storage system must further determine the
chunk size, and the number of drives across which the data is to be divided.
There are two ways to create a volume in an xStack Storage system:
Automatically: You can answer questions about the required redundancy, size, and usage
characteristics of the volume. The storage system then determines the remaining
parameters needed to allocate the storage space and create the volume.
Manually: You can select the organization and all other parameters described above and
either selects the drives that can be used for the volume or lets the storage system
select the drives. The storage system then finds the storage space on the given drives to
allocate and create the Volume.
Disk space is assigned to a volume in extents. The extents that make up a volume can be
seen on the xStack Storage Management Console. The extents are organized into members.
The definition of a member varies with the organization:
For a striped organization, a member is defined above.
For a mirror organization, there are two members, one for each copy of the data.
A stripe mirror organization has a member for each stripe, as defined above, plus a
second member (for each stripe) to hold the data copy. Therefore, if a stripe mirror
organization has x stripes, it has 2x members.
1.5 Tasks
The xStack Storage system can automatically or at your demand perform activities that take
time and consume the controller’s resources. You can control, to some degree, when tasks
are performed. You can suspend and resume any task. Some tasks can be cancelled and
some can be scheduled on a recurring, periodic interval. The xStack Storage system can
perform the tasks described in the following sections.
1.5.1 Initialize a Parity Volume
Some volume organizations (e.g., parity) require Initialization. The Initialization task
performs this action. This task can be performed while an initiator is accessing (reading and
writing) data. An Initialization task can be suspended and resumed, but cannot be cancelled.
1.5.2 Rebuild a Volume
When a drive fails, every redundant volume that occupied space on that drive can be
rebuilt.
For mirror protection, data can be copied from the remaining copy.
For parity protection, data can be recreated from the remaining data and parity
information.
Volume rebuilds look for a spare or available drive that is the same type (SAS/SATA/SSD) and
capacity as the drive that failed or was removed. If a matching drive cannot be found, the
system will attempt to allocate any other similar type drive from the spare or available pool
for the rebuild. If a similar drive type is not available, the system will use any spare or
available drive, even if it is a different type. Finally, if there is no spare or available drive,
the system will use any available capacity on any drive that is already in use. To reserve a
drive as a spare, select the drive in the Physical Storage View, and click on the "Reserve as
Spare" item.
6 Chapter 1 Introduction
If a replacement drive is found, then the storage system performs one Rebuild task for each
extent on the failed drive rebuilding that extent onto 1) the same position it previously
occupied on the failed drive, if the replacement drive is the same size or larger, or 2) the
next available space on the replacement drive, if the replacement drive is smaller than the
failed drive. So, if the replacement drive is the same size or larger than the failed drive,
the replacement drive appears to be a “clone” of the failed drive. If the replacement drive
is smaller than the failed drive, then the replacement drive contains the same extents in the
same order, but with the empty space removed from between the allocated extents.
If no replacement drive could be found, then each extent on the failed drive is rebuilt
individually, if possible, onto any space that can be found in 1) any drive(s) in the Base Pool,
2) one or more drives in the Spare Pool, or 3) one or more drives in the Available Pool.
A Rebuild task can be suspended and resumed, but cannot be cancelled.
1.5.3 Scan a Volume
You can scan a volume for media errors by starting a Volume Scan task. This task reads every
block in the volume to ensure there are no errors. If there are errors, this task fixes them if
possible. The system administrator can cancel, suspend or resume a Media Scan task. You
can also schedule a Volume Scan for a future time and/or at a recurring interval.
1.5.4 Grow (Expand) a Volume
You can increase the size of a volume. If the volume’s organization requires initialization,
the initialization of the new storage capacity is performed with a Grow task. A Grow task
can be suspended and resumed, but it cannot be cancelled. An initiator can access the new
space in a volume while the Grow task is being performed.
1.5.5 Reconfigure a Volume
The xStack Storage system allows Administrators to change the RAID characteristics and/or
size of an existing volume. When you reconfigure a volume, you can specify the RAID
organization, hard disk drives to be used, stripe width, and size of the reconfigured volume.
In most cases, to perform the reconfiguration, the storage system must copy all the data
from the disk space originally allocated to the Volume onto new disk space. In general,, a
good rule of thumb to follow is to have sufficient capacity to support the total capacity of
the current and new volumes. For example, to reconfigure a 100 GB volume to 150 GB, you
should have a total of 250 GB of free disk space available for the period of time that the
Reconfigure operation takes place.
Some reconfigure operations, however, may only need the difference in space free, since
the originally allocated disk space can be reused. This means, that if you’re reconfiguring a
100 GB volume to 150 GB, only 50 GB of free space will be required instead of 250 GB.
A Reconfigure task can be suspended and resumed, but it cannot be cancelled.
1.6 Network Portals
A Reconfigure operation can take a considerable amount of time. The
volume remains usable at its original size during this operation. When a
volume is reconfigured, you can observe the progress of the operation. When
the Reconfigure operation completes, the reconfigured volume can be used
with its new size and RAID organization.
A network portal is a combination of an IP address, a subnet mask, and a port number. In
iSCSI, the standard port is number 3260, which is the port used by the storage system. Each
iSCSI Target Node identifies the network portals through which initiators can access the
storage system.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 7
1.7 VLANs
1.8 LAGs
The xStack Storage system can use a Virtual LAN (VLAN) as a filter to identify the incoming
packets it is to use on each LAG port. For each LAG port on which VLAN is to be enabled, a
VLAN ID must be defined. On a VLAN-enabled LAG port, only packets with the given VLAN ID
will be processed and all outgoing packets will be tagged with that VLAN ID.
The xStack Storage system manages the physical data ports on the enclosure's back panel
using the concept of LAG ports. In a simple configuration, a LAG port associates a
single Ethernet port (i.e., a physical data port) with a network portal (that defines an IP
address). In this case, which is the default, there are no LAG ports shown on the
Management Console and no management is necessary.
Some server Operating Systems can aggregate multiple Ethernet ports into a LAG port and
provide increased bandwidth. For example, aggregating two GbE ports could, theoretically,
provide up to 2 Gb/s of throughput. Should a customer wish to utilize this feature, the
Management Console can be used to replace the standard one-to-one relationship of
Ethernet port to Network Portal with a LAG.
LACP protocols are not supported. Static LAG configurations are the only
supported option.
1.9 iSCSI Target Nodes
An iSCSI target node is the method of providing a permissible access to storage on an xStack
Storage system. One target node is automatically generated for each volume. The target
node name includes the volume name with any spaces and other special characters removed.
Access to that volume is granted to an initiator via its iSCSI Initiator Node name. Optionally,
a CHAP secret can be specified for a volume for additional security authentication.
1.10 iSCSI Log-In, Sessions and Connections
When an iSCSI initiator node needs access to the volumes in an xStack Storage system, it
must log in to the target node associated with that volume. When the log in is accepted, an
iSCSI session and an iSCSI connection is established. An initiator can log in to the same target
node a second time, creating a second iSCSI connection within the original iSCSI session.
1.11 Multiple Connections per Session
An initiator can log into a target more than once to establish multiple connections for a
single session. Multiple connections can be used to increase bandwidth and provide
redundancy.
8 Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
The right management software can help you enhance the performance and functionality of
your storage investment. The xStack Storage Management Center from D-Link Inc has been
designed and optimized from the ground up to deliver the command and control foundation
you need to efficiently manage your xStack Storage infrastructure.
The xStack Storage Management Center is an intuitive Java-based graphical application that
provides anytime, anywhere access and control to your xStack Storage arrays. By providing
increased visibility with unified views of your storage environment along with powerful
feature-rich offerings and point-and-click simplicity, the xStack Storage Management Center
empowers you to maximize your investment in xStack Storage arrays while enjoying lower
total cost of ownership.
This User’s Guide describes how to use the xStack Storage Management Center to configure,
provision, and manage the storage on xStack Storage arrays. It includes an overview of the
xStack Storage Management Center, a description of its user interface, and step-by-step
instructions for performing configuration and management activities.
2.1 Key Features
The following list summarizes a few key features of the xStack Storage Management Center:
Feature-rich embedded IP-based Management Center lets you install, configure, and
maintain all of your online network storage with unparalleled ease and flexibility
Easy wizard-based installation slashes configuration time allows you to focus your
valuable resources on supporting users instead of maintaining equipment
Remote configuration and monitoring of xStack Storage arrays
For the latest information about hardware and software supported by your
D-Link DSN iSCSI SAN Array, please consult the Interoperability Matrix found
on the D-Link Systems Inc Web site: http://www.dlink.com
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 9
2.2 Compatibility and Minimum System Requirements
Running the xStack Storage Management Center requires a host computer system connected
to the management port of an xStack Storage array. The host system must have an installed:
Network-interface card (NIC) initially configured for the same Internet Protocol (IP)
subnetwork (192.168.1.x) as the xStack Storage management port.
Web browser (Windows Internet Explorer v6.0 or later, FireFox 2.0 on Linux)
Version of the latest Java Runtime Environment (JRE). If the latest version of JRE is not
installed, you will be able to download it if the host system has Internet access. The
minimum version of JRE is v1.6.0.0.
In addition:
The xStack Storage arrays must be powered-up and the Ready Light on the front panel of
all arrays must be ON (green).
If your management host has a firewall, see section 9.3 for best practices on using your
xStack Storage solutions in a firewall environment.
2.3 Understanding the Basics
The xStack Storage Management Center is a graphical Web-based interface used to perform
centralized storage configuration, management, administrative, and network activities for
one or more xStack Storage systems (see Figure 2-1). These activities are performed in their
own screens (or “views”).
The xStack Storage Management Center supports the following four views:
Volume View – lets you view, configure, and manage storage volumes.
Physical Storage View – lets you view and manage xStack Storage hard disks.
System Administration View – lets you perform system administrator activities such as
setting up user accounts, upgrading software, and selecting an xStack Storage battery
policy.
Network Settings View – lets you view and configure the settings for the management
and iSCSI data ports.
For your convenience, there are a number of ways to move from one view to another:
Click commands on the pull-down View menu.
Click icons in the View panel.
Click buttons in the toolbar.
The information shown in the views is a point-in-time snapshot. To update the information
shown, either click Refresh All on the View menu or press the F5 key.
10 Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
Menu Ba
r
View Panel
Action Panel
Status Bar
Main Display
2.3.1 Understanding the User Interface
Figure 2-1 shows the different areas of the xStack Storage Management Center main window.
The following sections describe these areas. For a summary of the commands and menus on
the menu bar, refer to Appendix A.
and Toolbar
Detail Tabs
Figure 2-1. xStack Storage Management Center Main Window
2.3.2 Menu Bar and Toolbar
The menu bar appears at the top of the xStack Storage Management Center main window
(see Figure 2-2). The menu bar contains commands for performing activities relative to the
current view. In the Volume View shown in Figure 2-1, the Volumes menu provides
commands for managing volumes. Menus and commands change when you switch views. If
you switch from Volume View to Physical Storage View, the Volume menu changes to
Storage and all the volume-related commands in the Volume menu change to commands
relevant to managing the physical storage on the xStack Storage array.
The toolbar appears below the menu bar and provides buttons for frequently performed
activities in the current view. If you place the pointer over a button in the toolbar, a tooltip
identifies the button’s function. Figure 2-3, shows the tooltip that appears when the pointer
is moved over the Volume View button on the toolbar. The buttons displayed on the toolbar
change depending on the current view. If you prefer to hide the toolbar, uncheck Show
Toolbar on the View menu.
Figure 2-2 shows an example of how the menu bar and toolbar appear in the Volume View.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 11
Menu bar
Volume View
Button
2.3.2.1 Shortcut Menu
The previous section explained how the menus, commands, and toolbar can be used to
perform activities. As an added convenience, some tasks can also be performed by pressing
the right mouse button and clicking an option from a shortcut menu that appears.
Toolbar
Figure 2-2. Menu Bar and Toolbar
Figure 2-3. Tooltip
In Volume View, for example, selecting a volume in the Main Display and pressing the right
mouse button displays the shortcut menu in Figure 2-4. You can then select an option from
the shortcut menu to perform the desired task.
Figure 2-4. Shortcut Menu for Volume View Main Display
12 Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
2.3.3 View Panel
The View panel appears below the toolbar. The View panel shows the IP address of each
xStack Storage that has been added to the Management Center (an xStack Storage must be
added to the console in order to be managed by it). In Figure 2-5, two xStack Storage
systems have been added to the Management Center, one with an IP address of
192.168.59.25 and another with the IP address 192.168.60.12.
While you can add many xStack Storage systems to the Management Center, the console lets
you access one xStack Storage at a time. To identify the xStack Storage that is currently
being managed, the IP address of the currently managed system appears in a box along with
color-coded icons that indicates its operating status. In the View panel in Figure 2-5, the
xStack Storage corresponding to IP address 192.168.59.25 is being managed. The checkmark
and OK next to this IP address, and the green color coding of the IP address itself, indicate
that this xStack Storage is operating normally.
When the IP address of the currently managed xStack Storage is highlighted, the Volume
View is displayed. Below the IP address of the currently managed xStack Storage are links
you can click to display the other console views for that array. In Figure 2-5, clicking
Physical Storage displays the Physical Storage View of the xStack Storage corresponding to
IP address 192.168.59.25.
If you add an xStack Storage system to the Management Center (described in section 8.1),
you can log in to that system by clicking its IP address in the View pane. In Figure 2-5,
clicking the IP address 192.168.60.12 will display the login page for the xStack Storage
associated with that IP address.
Figure 2-5. View panel
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 13
2.3.4 Main Display
The Main Display appears to the right of the View panel. The Main Display shows information
relevant for the current view. For example, when the Volume View is displayed (as shown in
Figure 2-6), the Main Display provides radio buttons for sorting the information shown by
volume name or iSCSI initiator, along with the volumes and iSCSI initiators associated with
the xStack Storage being managed.
2.3.5 Action Panels
Figure 2-6. Main Display in Volume View
Below the View panel are action panels. Most views show two action panels.
The top panel contains actions relevant to the current view and any item selected in the
Main Display. The top panel acquires its name from the current view. In Volume View, for
example, the top panel becomes the Volume Actions panel and contains actions associated
with volumes. If you switch to Physical Storage View, the tops panel changes to the Drive
Actions panel and displays actions related to drives. If there are no actions available for the
current view, such as in System Administrator View, the top panel disappears.
There are times when the top panel and the Detail Tabs below the Main Display work
together. In Volume View, for example, clicking Show Advanced Extents in the Volume
Actions panel (see Figure 2-7) displays advanced extent information in the Extents tab.
The System Actions panel appears below the top panel. The System Actions panel contains
either five or six actions (depending on whether the xStack Storage system is capable of
supporting single or dual controllers) and is displayed for all views.
Figure 2-7. Volume Actions and System Action Panels
14 Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
2.3.6 Detail Tabs
Detail Tabs appear below the Main Display. When you display a view, activities and
information associated with the selected item in the view appear in these tabs in the Detail
Tabs area. These tabs will change when you switch views or select a different item from the
current view. In the Volume View, the tabs in Figure 2-8 appear, allowing you to view and
perform volume-related activities.
2.3.7 Status Bar
The status bar appears at the bottom of the main window. If an action (such as an alert or
event) requires your attention, it appears as a clickable link on the left side of the status
bar. On the right side of the status bar is an activity indicator that moves from side to side
to indicate when activity is being performed; otherwise, the activity indicator sits dormant.
For users who prefer the status bar to be hidden, uncheck Show Status Bar on the View
menu.
Clickable Event Link
2.4 Getting Help
The xStack Storage Management Center provides a comprehensive online help system that is
available by clicking the Help button on the toolbar (see Figure 2-10). The help system is
optimized for fast access and contains information about every component in the xStack
Storage Management Center. When you click the help button, a question mark gets
appended to the pointer. You can then click an area on the main window to display a help
topic for that area. Help is also available for xStack Storage wizards by pressing the F1 key.
Figure 2-8. Detail Tabs in Volume View
Figure 2-9. Status Bar
Activity Indicator
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 15
Figure 2-10. Help Button
2.5 READ THIS SECTION - If You Read Nothing Else In This Guide
Table 2-1 identifies the tasks that can be performed using the xStack Storage Management
Center. These tasks are organized into three groups:
Required tasks that all users must perform
Recommended tasks that D-Link Networks recommends that you perform
Optional tasks that are suggested but not required to use the xStack Storage
Table 2-1. xStack Storage Management Center User Tasks
Task See Section
Required Tasks
1. Log in to the xStack Storage Management Center for the first time. 3.1
2. Complete the Start-up Wizard (first-time login only). 3.1.1
3. Change the default admin login password. 3.4.1
4. Set up users (if users other than the administrator will be accessing the xStack Storage Management
Center).
5. Create one or more volumes. 4.2
6. Grant access to all initiators. 4.3.1
Recommended Tasks
1. Save the configuration file. 6.2.5
2. Grant individual iSCSI initiators access to volumes. 4.3.1
3. Check drive status periodically. 5.1
4. Check the drives’ SMART status (SATA drives only). 5.3.3
5. Set up one or more spare drives. 5.2.3
6. Change the hostname to simplify for identification and troubleshooting. 7.2
Optional Tasks
1. Make sure the Battery Policy setting is correct for your application. 6.2.11
All of the other activities described in this document are optional.
3.4.2
16 Chapter 2 Overview of the Management Center Software
Chapter 3 Getting Started
This chapter describes how to get started using the xStack Storage Management Center. The topics
covered in this chapter are:
Section 3.1, Connecting and Logging In
Section 3.2, Setting the System Date and Time
Section 3.3, Customizing the Date and Time
Section 3.4, Configuring User Accounts
Section 3.5, Logging Out
Section 3.6, Exiting the xStack Storage Management Center
Section 3.7, Shutting Down the xStack Storage Array
Before proceeding, be sure all the minimum system requirements in
section 2.2 have been met.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 17
3.1 Connecting and Logging In
After confirming that the minimum system requirements in section 2.2 have been met, use the
following procedure to connect and log in to the xStack Storage Management Center.
1. Start a Web browser on the PC connected to the xStack Storage management port.
2. In the browser’s address bar, type the following default IP address: https://192.168.1.1
and press Enter. If you receive a browser certificate warning prompt as shown in Figure 3-1,
select the “Continue to this website” option to proceed.
3. One of the following actions occurs:
– For your initial login, the Start-up Wizard appears and you should proceed to
section 3.1.1.
– For all subsequent logins, the home page appears and you should proceed to section 3.1.2.
3.1.1 Using the Start-up Wizard
The xStack Storage Management Center provides a straightforward, easy-to-use Start-up Wizard
for the initial configuration and setup of your storage environment. The Start-up Wizard
incorporates a series of intuitive point-and-click pages that start automatically, guiding
administrators through the first-time setup.
The Start-up Wizard greets you with the Welcome page in Figure 3-2.
Figure 3-1. Certificate Warning
18 Chapter 3 Getting Started
Figure 3-2. Welcome Page
From the Welcome page, perform the following steps to set up the xStack Storage system for
initial use.
1. Click the I Accept the End User License Agreement button on the Welcome screen. The
Admin Account page in Figure 3-3 appears.
You must accept the End User License Agreement to proceed with the Startup Wizard. To download the End User License Agreement to your computer,
click Click here to download the End User License Agreement on the
Welcome screen.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 19
Figure 3-3. Admin Account Page
2. The Admin Account page allows you to set the password for the administrator account.
(Additional administrative accounts can be set up after completing the initial Start-up
Wizard.) If you want to change the default password, type a case-sensitive password in the
Password field and then retype the same password in the Re-type Password field. For
security, each typed password character appears as a bullet (•). Record the admin password in
Table C-6.
3. Click Next to continue. The Management Port page appears (see Figure 3-4).
20 Chapter 3 Getting Started
Figure 3-4. Management Port Page
4. The Management Port page provides fields for entering an IP address, subnet, default
gateway, and host name of the xStack Storage management port. The settings you specify
must be compatible with your local network and accessible to client computers that may be
used to access the xStack Storage Management Center. By default, the host name is blank,
and you should change this to one that is more meaningful. If you do not need a default
gateway, you should specify a value of “0.0.0.0” for that field.
5. Click Next to continue. The Data Port page appears once for each data port on your system
(see Figure 3-5).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 21
Figure 3-5. Data Ports Page
6. The Data Ports page lets you specify the IP addresses, network masks, and gateway addresses
for each iSCSI data port. Specifying these addresses at this time is optional. To skip this
screen, click Skip to Email Notification. However, if you skip this screen, you will need to
specify these addresses through the xStack Storage Management Center before you can use
the data ports. If you specify these settings now, record them in Table C-9 and click Next
when finished.
After skipping or completing the fields on the Data Ports page, the Email Notification page
appears (see Figure 3-6).
22 Chapter 3 Getting Started
Figure 3-6. Email Notification Page
7. The Email Notification page lets you enable the storage system’s email notification feature. If
you check Enable Email Support to enable this feature, specify the SMTP server IP address
and port number, an email address to be shown as originating the email, and an email address
where email messages are to be sent. Enter the required settings and record them in Table C-
10. Entering this information at this time is optional; you can enable Email Notification at a
later time using the Advanced Settings tab in the System Administration View (refer to section
6.2.13).
If you wish to have multiple recipients for the e-mail notifications, you must
create an alias e-mail address on your e-mail server as a distribution list,
and then specify that alias e-mail address in this page.
8. Click Next. A summary screen similar to the one in Figure 3-7 appears.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 23
9. With the Summary page displayed, review the settings you selected. If you need to change a
setting, click Previous until you arrive at the appropriate page, then make the desired
changes and click Next until you reach the Summary page.
If you are satisfied with the settings on the Summary page, click Finish to commit the
settings. After you click Finish, the storage system restarts, your settings take effect, and the
login screen in Figure 3-8 appears. Should you need to change the settings in the future, refer
to the appropriate section in this document for instructions.
This completes the Start-up Wizard. After the storage system restarts, the home page appears
(see section 3.1.2).
3.1.2 Logging in from the Home Page
The xStack Storage Management Center home page has the following three links (see Figure 3-8):
Click here to run the xStack Storage Management Center now – displays a log in screen
similar to the one in Figure 3-9.
If you are having problems starting the xStack Storage Management Center Click here – lets
you install Java (including Java Web Start) and try to log in again.
Figure 3-7. Summary Screen
Click here to install the xStack Storage Advanced Features for Windows – lets you install
the xStack Storage command-line interface (CLI) and Microsoft Virtual Disk Services (VDS). For
information about using these advanced features, refer to the D-Link Virtual Disk Services
Guide and the xStack Storage Command Line Interface Reference Guide.
24 Chapter 3 Getting Started
Figure 3-8. xStack Storage Management Center Home Page
Figure 3-9. xStack Storage Management Center Login Screen
The xStack Storage Management Center requires the latest version of Java
Runtime Environment (JRE). If the latest version of JRE is not installed on
the management PC, xStack Storage will let you download it if the PC has
Internet access. The minimum version of JRE is v1.6.0.0.
1. In the View panel, click the xStack Storage you want to log in to if it is not already selected.
2. Enter your username and case-sensitive password in the appropriate text boxes. The first time
you log in, use the following default username and case-sensitive password:
Default username: admin
Default password: admin
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 25
If you create another account with admin and add/edit user privileges and
then delete the default admin account, write the new username and
password on a piece of paper. Otherwise, if you lose this information, you
will need to contact D-Link technical support.
3. To log in to the selected xStack Storage array without having to enter your user name and
password each time, check Remember me and log in automatically. A browser cookie will be
placed on the management PC that will let the xStack Storage Management Center know who
you are the next time you log in and log you in automatically. (If you use a different PC, you
will need to log in again.)
If other people use the management PC, you may not want to check
Remember me and log in automatically. If you do, the other people will
automatically be logged in to the xStack Storage resources. In this case, you
may prefer simply to enter a username and password for each login.
4. Perform one of the following steps:
Click the Log In button below the Password field.
Click Log In in the System Actions panel.
In the View panel, right-click the IP address of the xStack Storage you want to log in to and
click Log In from the shortcut menu.
A connection message appears as you log in to the xStack Storage, then the Volume View is
displayed.
3.2 Setting the System Date and Time
The xStack Storage maintains the current date and time. You may need to change these settings
the first time you configure the xStack Storage, if time changes occur in your area, or if you
transport the xStack Storage to another location. If you change these settings, restart the xStack
Storage for the new settings to take effect.
You can also specify an IP address of a third-party NTP (Network Time Protocol) server, which will
allow your xStack Storage system to automatically synchronize its date and time to that server
every hour. To enable NTP support, enter a valid IP address for a third-party NTP server (such as
“192.43.244.18” for time.nist.gov). For a list of available NTP servers, please see:
http://www.ntp.org.
Alternatively, you can click on the “Synchronize Remote Time” button to use the date and time
of your host computer system.
To set the date and time, perform the following procedure from any view.
1. In the View panel, click System Administration.
2. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
The Advanced Settings tab appears in the Detail Tabs area (an example is shown in Figure
3-10).
26 Chapter 3 Getting Started
Figure 3-10. Advanced Settings Tab
3. Double-click on the current date and time value for the Remote System Time item, then type
the new date and/or time and press the Enter key. You can also click on the calendar button
at the far right of the date and time field to display a calendar pop-up to simplify the date
selection (an example is shown in Figure 3-11).
Figure 3-11. Calendar Pop-Up Dialog Box
4. Alternatively, you can double-click on the NTP (Time Server) IP Address item and enter an IP
address for a third-party NTP server, or you can click on the “Synchronize Remote Time”
button to get the date and time from your local computer system.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 27
5. Click on the Apply button.
3.3 Customizing the Date and Time Display
The xStack Storage also maintains the current time zone. You may need to change these settings
the first time you configure the xStack Storage, if time changes occur in your area, or if you
transport the xStack Storage to another location. If you change these settings, restart the xStack
Storage for the new settings to take effect.
To customize the display of the date and time, perform the following procedure from any view.
1. On the Tools menu, click Customize Time Display. The Customize Time Display dialog box
appears (see Figure 3-12).
Figure 3-12. Customize Time Display Dialog Box
2. Select the appropriate time option. If you select Other, use the drop-down list to select the
appropriate time zone.
3. By default, time settings will be applied to all xStack Storage arrays being managed. To apply
the settings to just the current system, check the “Only change setting for...” checkbox.
4. Click OK.
5. Restart the xStack Storage for the new settings to take effect.
The system date and time is reflected in the Remote System Time advanced
setting of the System Administration View (see Table 6-4).
28 Chapter 3 Getting Started
3.4 Configuring User Accounts
The xStack Storage Management Center comes with one administrative account called admin. The
administrative account has permission to modify passwords and create, modify, and delete
accounts. Additional administrative accounts can be set up if desired.
You can also set up user accounts. Users can access the xStack Storage Management Center and
modify passwords only. Users cannot create, modify, and delete accounts (these tasks are
reserved for administrators only).
3.4.1 Changing the Default Admin Login Password
The xStack Storage Management Center comes with one administrative account called admin
whose default login password is admin. To prevent unauthorized users from accessing the console
as admin, it is strongly recommended that you change the default login password.
Write the new login password on a piece of paper and keep the paper in a
safe place. If you lose the login password, you may have to contact D-Link
technical support.
To change the default admin login password:
1. In the View panel, click System Administration.
2. Click the User Accounts tab.
The User Accounts tab appears in the Detail Tabs area (see Figure 3-13).
3. If admin is not selected in the left pane, click admin.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 29
Figure 3-13. User Accounts Tab
4. In the New Password field, enter a case-sensitive password for the admin account.
The Confirm New Password field becomes available.
5. In the Confirm New Password field, retype the same case-sensitive password that you typed
in the previous step.
For security, each typed password character appears as a bullet (●).
7. Click the Modify button.
The login password for admin is changed.
After changing the default admin login password, you must specify the new
password when logging in to this xStack Storage as admin.
8. Record the new admin password in the Table C-6.
3.4.2 Adding Admin Accounts
An admin account consists of a unique user name and password, and a selection to grant
permission for managing accounts.
To add admin accounts:
1. Click System Administration in the View panel.
2. Click the User Accounts tab.
The User Accounts tab displays your user account settings (an example is shown in Figure
3-13).
3. Click the Add User button.
4. In the User Name field, replace the name shown with the name of the admin whose account
you are creating.
5. Confirm that Admin Privileges is checked. (If it is not checked, check it.)
6. In the New Password field, enter the case-sensitive password that this admin must specify to
log in to the xStack Storage Management Center.
The Confirm New Password field becomes available.
7. In the Confirm New Password field, re-enter the same case-sensitive login password that you
typed in the previous step.
8. Click the Apply button.
The admin account is added to the list at the left side of the tab.
9. To add more admin accounts, repeat steps 3 through 8.
30 Chapter 3 Getting Started
3.4.3 Adding User Accounts
A user account consists of a unique user name and password. Individuals with user accounts can
modify passwords only.
To add user accounts:
1. In Volume View, click System Administration in the View panel.
2. Click the User Accounts tab.
The User Accounts tab displays your user account settings (an example is shown in Figure
3-13).
3. Click the Add User button.
4. In the User Name field, replace the name shown with the name of the user whose account you
are creating.
5. Uncheck Admin Privileges to deny permission for administrative activities.
6. In the New Password field, enter the case-sensitive password that this user must specify to
log in to the xStack Storage Management Center.
The Confirm New Password field becomes available.
7. In the Confirm New Password field, re-enter the same case-sensitive login password that you
typed in the previous step. Figure 3-14 shows an example of how the User Accounts tab
appears when adding a user account named User1.
Figure 3-14. User Accounts Tab
8. Click the Add button.
The user account is added to the list at the left side of the tab.
9. To add more user accounts, repeat steps 3 through 8.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 31
3.4.4 Modifying Accounts
There may be times when the administrator needs to edit an account. For example, you may want
to change a user’s login password or promote the user to admin so the user can create, modify,
and delete user accounts.
1. In the View panel, click System Administration.
2. Click the User Accounts tab.
The User Accounts tab appears in the Detail Tabs area (see Figure 3-15).
Figure 3-15. Modifying a User Account Named User1
3. In the left column, click the user account you want to modify.
4. To change the login password for this user account, enter a new case-sensitive password in the
New Password field, retype the same password in the Confirm New Password field, and type
the user’s current password in the Old Password field.
5. To change the user’s ability to change administrative settings, either check or uncheck the
Admin Privileges item to allow or deny permission for administrative activities.
6. Click the Apply button.
The user account is modified.
7. To modify more users, repeat steps 3 through 6.
3.4.5 Deleting User Accounts
If you no longer need a user account, use the following procedure to delete it.
No warning message appears prior to deleting a user account. Therefore, be
sure you do not want to keep the account before deleting it.
32 Chapter 3 Getting Started
1. In the View panel, click System Administration.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. In the left column, click the user account you want to delete.
4. Click the Remove User button.
6. To delete more user accounts, repeat steps 3 and 4.
3.5 Logging Out
The admin account cannot be deleted unless at least one additional account
is created with admin and permission to modify user accounts; thereafter,
the admin account can be deleted. However, if you lose the password for
the new account, you may have to contact D-Link technical support.
The User Accounts tab displays your user account settings (an example is shown in Figure
3-15).
The user account is deleted from the left column.
When you finish working with the current xStack Storage, you can log out using any of the
following methods:
Click Log Out on the File menu.
Click Log Out in the System Actions panel.
Right-click the IP address of the xStack Storage in the View panel and click Log Out from the
shortcut menu.
Performing any of these steps displays the login screen and keeps the xStack Storage Management
Center running. You can then log in to the same or another array in the View panel by starting
with step 3 in section 3.1, or perform any of the actions in the System Actions panel.
3.6 Exiting the xStack Storage Management Center
To end your current management session, use the following procedure to exit from the xStack
Storage Management Center. If you want to power off the xStack Storage array, use the procedure
in section 3.7 after performing the following procedure.
No warning message appears prior to exiting the xStack Storage Management
Center. Therefore, be sure you want to exit before clicking Exit on the File
menu
1. On the File menu, click Exit.
The xStack Storage Management Center closes.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 33
3.7 Shutting Down the xStack Storage Array
If you no longer want to use the xStack Storage array, use the following procedure to shut it down.
The following steps are required for shutting down the xStack Storage array.
Failing to use this procedure to shut down the array will result in battery
power degradation if a UPS is not used. If the battery charge exhausts, you
will lose data.
1. Log off from all initiators.
2. In the View panel, click System Administration.
3. Click the Control tab.
The Control tab appears in the Detail Tabs area (see Figure 3-16).
4. Click Shutdown.
5. Wait for the Ready LED on the array front panel to go off. Then manually power off your
xStack Storage array and any expansion arrays according to the instructions in the Hardware
Reference Guide for your system, if they do not automatically power off.
34 Chapter 3 Getting Started
Figure 3-16. Control Tab
Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
This chapter describes how to manage volumes on an xStack Storage. A volume is a set of
storage blocks organized and presented for use by a customer’s server (an iSCSI initiator
node). The iSCSI initiator node sees the volume as a contiguous series of numbered blocks,
called Virtual Logical Block Numbers (VLBNs), in the same way that it would see the storage
space on a single disk drive. The xStack Storage builds a volume from extents. A volume
typically consists of extents from several drives.
Volumes are managed in the Volume View. Volume View is the initial view that appears
when you log in to the xStack Storage Management Center. If you are in a different console
view, you can display the Volume View by performing any of the following steps:
Clicking Volume on the View menu.
Clicking an xStack Storage IP address in the View panel.
Clicking the Volume View button on the toolbar:
The topics covered in this chapter are:
Section 4.1, Understanding the Volume View
Section 4.2, Creating Volumes
Section 4.3, Performing Volume Actions
Section 4.4, Using the Detail Tabs
Section 4.5 Removing iSCSI Initiators
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 35
4.1 Understanding the Volume View
In the Volume View, the Main Display shows information about the volumes on the xStack
Storage array. The information shown can be sorted by volume name or by iSCSI initiator
using the two radio buttons in the Main Display.
By default, the Sort by Volume button is selected (see Figure 4-1). When this button is
selected, the Main Display provides a volume-centric view of the volumes on the xStack
Storage and any unused iSCSI initiators. If you click the Sort by Initiator radio button,
information in the Main Display is resorted to an iSCSI initiator-centric view, with iSCSI
initiators displayed above the volumes associated with them (see Figure 4-2).
If you click a volume in the Main Display:
An icon to the left of the Detail Tabs shows the composition of the volume you selected
(for example, parity, JBOD, etc.).
The Volume Actions panel lets you grant or revoke iSCSI access to the volume; scan,
destroy, grow, or reconfigure the volume; and view advanced extent information. See
section 4.3. If you are using a DSN-5000 Series array with dual controllers and those
controllers are unable to bind, the Volume Actions panel is replaced with an Unable to
Bind action panel that allows you to take corrective action.
The Detail Tabs let you rename and view volume information, view extent information,
enable Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP), set a CHAP password,
grant or revoke iSCSI initiator access to the volume, and view or define advanced
settings. See section 4.4.
Volumes (Shaded
Volume is Selected)
Unused iSCSI
Initiator
Information about the
Selected Volume
Appears Here
36 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-1. Volume View Sorted by Volume
iSCSI Initiator
Volume Associated
with the iSCSI Initiator
Information about the
Selected Volume
Appears Here
Figure 4-2. Volume View Sorted by Initiator
4.2 Creating Volumes
Adding volumes defines what volumes are accessible through the xStack Storage target. The
xStack Storage Management Center provides a Create Volume Wizard that makes volume
creation as easy as answering a few questions. Options are provided that allow you to either
customize the volume or have the Wizard fine-tune the volume for you. As you create
volumes, record the information in Table C-1.
1. In the Volume View, perform one of the following steps:
– In the System Actions panel, click Volume Creation Wizard.
– On the Tools menu, click Volume Creation Wizard.
– On the toolbar, click the Volume Creation Wizard button:
Any step launches the Create Volume Wizard (see Figure 4-3).
Drives that have volumes cannot be reserved for use as spares. If you intend
to use a drive as a spare, perform the procedure in section 5.2.3 before
creating volumes on the drive.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 37
Figure 4-3. Create Volume Wizard Welcome Screen
2. To skip the Welcome page in the future, check Don’t show this dialog when staring this
wizard.
3. Click Next.
The Volume Name screen appears (see Figure 4-4)
Figure 4-4. Volume Name Screen
4. In the Volume Name field, enter a name for the volume. Volume names can contain
from 1 to 63 alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, and 0-9). Spaces and special characters,
such as parentheses, dashes, and question marks are also permitted, although those
special characters will not be included in the IQN target name that is automatically
generated by the storage system for the volume.
38 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
It is not possible to specify a Volume Name that is already used by another
existing volume. The target name and durable name shown in the volume
Properties tab in Volume View incorporate the Volume name (without any
spaces or special characters) and are guaranteed to be worldwide unique
(see section 4.4.1).
5. Perform one of the following steps:
– To have the Wizard help you choose the best volume organization, click Help me
choose the best volume organization, click Next, and refer to section 4.2.1,
below. This method is the fastest way to create a volume and is recommended for
basic users.
– To make your own volume selections, click Let me make my own choices
(Advanced), click Next, and go to section 4.2.2. This method is for advanced users
who want to customize or fine-tune the volume.
4.2.1 Letting the Wizard Choose the Best Volume Organization
If you selected Help me choose the best volume organization and clicked Next, the
Volume Use screen appears (see Figure 4-5). This screen lets you choose from one of several
predefined volume plans or walks you through options that let you customize the volume.
To walk through the choices, select Walk me through the choices, click Next, and
proceed to step 1 below.
To select a predefined plan for this volume (refer to Table 4-1 for detailed information),
select the appropriate plan and click Next to display the Volume Size screen in Figure
4-9. Then skip to step 5 to proceed.
1. If you selected Walk me through the choices and clicked Next, the Data Protection
screen appears (see Figure 4-6).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 39
Figure 4-5. Volume Use Screen
Table 4-1. Pre-defined Volume Organization and Characteristics
Usage Volume Organization Chunk Size Minimum Drives Required
Email Server Stripe/Mirror 1024 KB 4
Database Server Stripe/Mirror 1024 KB 4
Web Server Stripe/Mirror 1024 KB 4
File Server Parity 1024 KB 3
Workstation Primary Boot Disk Mirror 1024 KB 2
Workstation Additional Storage Parity 1024 KB 3
Streaming Media Server Stripe 2048 KB 2
Disk-to-Disk Backup Parity 2048 KB 3
IP Surveillance Parity 2048 KB 3
2. With the Data Protection screen displayed, select whether you want to protect the
volume against data loss or maximize volume capacity on the drive. Click Next.
If you selected Very Important, the Storage Efficiency screen appears (see Figure 4-7)
and you should proceed to the next step. If you selected Less Important, the Number of
Drives screen appears (see Figure 4-8) and you should skip to step 4.
40 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-6. Data Protection Screen
Figure 4-7. Storage Efficiency Screen
3. Select the option that best describes the protection you desire against data loss if a
drive should fail. Click Next.
If you select Complete Copy, the Number of Drives screen appears (see Figure 4-8) and
you should proceed to the next step. Otherwise, the Volume Size screen appears (see
Figure 4-9) and you should skip to step 5.
4. Select whether you want to distribute the same amount of storage over many drives to
improve performance or to use the fewest drives possible. Click Next.
The Volume Size screen appears (see Figure 4-9).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 41
Figure 4-8. Number of Drives Screen
Figure 4-9. Volume Size Screen
5. In the Volume Size screen, use the Capacity field and drop-down list to specify the size
to be allocated for this volume. Do not exceed the maximum volume size shown in this
screen. Click Next.
The resulting volume capacity may be slightly different than the nominal
size specified, depending on the type of volume, the chunk size, and the
number of drives used.
By default, a block size of 512 bytes is assumed for all SCSI communication
between your host server and all volumes. However, if you wish to access a
volume that is larger than 2TB from a host operating system that only
supports 32-bit addressing (such as Windows XP), you must change the block
size setting for that volume from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes using the Advanced
Volume Setting tab (see section 4.4.5) before you establish an iSCSI session
and connection to that volume. Once a new block size has been selected
and used for a connection to a volume, the block size must not be changed.
You can also change the system-wide default block size for all new volumes
by using the Advanced Settings tab in the System Administration view (see
section 6.2.13). However, changing the system-wide default block size will
have no effect on any existing volumes.
The Grant Access screen appears (see Figure 4-10).
42 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-10. Grant Access Screen
6. By default, all iSCSI initiators will have access to the volume you create. If you prefer,
you can grant access to one or more iSCSI authorized initiators listed in the screen, grant
access to an initiator not in the list, or not grant access to an initiator at this time. If
you decide to select multiple iSCSI initiators from the list, you can use the following
shortcuts:
– For adjacent iSCSI initiators, click the first one, then hold down the Shift key and
click the last one. The first and last initiators, and all the initiators between them,
get selected.
– For non-adjacent initiators, click the first one, then hold down the Ctrl key and click
each subsequent initiator.
– To deselect an initiator, hold down the Ctrl key and click an initiator that is
selected.
7. Click Next.
The Ready to Create Volume screen appears (see Figure 4-11).
If you decide not to grant access to an initiator now, you can do so at a later
time (see section 4.3.1).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 43
Figure 4-11. Ready to Create Volume Screen
8. If you are satisfied with your selections, click Finish to create the volume. Otherwise,
click the Back button to return to the screen where you need to change a selection.
Then click Next until you return to this screen and click Finish to create the volume.
If the volume is created, a message similar to the one in Figure 4-12 appears.
Figure 4-12. Successfully Created Volume Message
9. Click Close to close the Wizard and return to the Volume View.
44 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
4.2.2 Making Your Own Volume Selection Choices
If you selected Let me make my own choices (Advanced) in the Volume Name screen and
clicked Next, the Volume Composition screen appears (see Figure 4-13). Use the following
procedure to complete the volume creation process and record your settings in Table C-1.
Figure 4-13. Volume Composition Screen
1. In the Volume Composition screen, select a composition type. The choices are:
– Stripe/Mirror – creates a RAID 1 mirror for each RAID 0 stripe element. A
Stripe/Mirror volume supports an even number of members from 4 to 32, and
provides improved data redundancy and performance.
– Parity – provides redundancy that helps detect data integrity defects and increases
data resiliency with respect to individual drive failure. A Parity volume supports
from 3 to 17 members, although the effective storage capacity of the volume will be
reduced by one drive, which is reserved for parity data.
– Mirror – creates an exact copy of a set of data on two or more drives for data
redundancy. A Mirror volume supports an even number of members from 2 to 16.
– Stripe – splits data evenly across two or more drives for improved performance;
however, there is no parity information for redundancy. A Striped volume supports
from 2 to 16 members.
– JBOD - uses two or more physical drives to create one logical drive, with no data
redundancy. A JBOD volume supports a minimum of 1 drive and can span across
additional drives if the capacity required exceeds that which a single drive can
provide.
2. Click Next.
If you selected Stripe/Mirror, Parity, or Stripe, a Stripe Width screen similar to the
one in Figure 4-14 appears and you should proceed to the next step. Otherwise, the
Number of Drives screen appears (see Figure 4-15) and you should skip to step 5.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 45
Figure 4-14. Stripe Width Screen
3. The Stripe Width screen shows the volume composition selection you made in the
Volume Composition screen. Use the Number of Members in Stripe box to specify the
number of the members that will be in the stripe. Click Next.
The Number of Drives screen appears (see Figure 4-15).
4. By default, the Wizard will select the disks for your volume. If you prefer, click Let Me
Select the Disks and select one or more disks you want to be part of the volume. If you
decide to select multiple disks from the list, you can use the following shortcuts:
– For adjacent disks, click the first one, then hold down the Shift key and click the
last one. The first and last disks, and all the disks between them, get selected.
– For non-adjacent disks, click the first one, then hold down the Ctrl key and click
each subsequent disk.
46 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-15. Number of Drives Screen
– To deselect a disk, hold down the Ctrl key and click a disk that is selected.
Each disk can contain a maximum of 256 extents.
5. Click Next.
If you selected Stripe/Mirror, Parity, or Stripe, a Stripe Depth screen similar to the
one in Figure 4-16 appears and you should proceed to the next step. Otherwise, the
Volume Size screen appears (see Figure 4-17) and you should skip to step 8.
Figure 4-16. Stripe Depth Screen
6. By default, the Wizard will select the stripe depth (chunk size) for volumes configured as
stripe/mirror, parity, or stripe. If you prefer, use the Stripe Depth drop-down list to
select from one of the commonly used chunk sizes. Click Next.
The Volume Size screen appears (see Figure 4-17).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 47
Figure 4-17. Volume Size Screen
7. In the Volume Size screen, use the Capacity field and drop-down list to select the size to
be allocated for this volume. Do not exceed the maximum volume size shown in the
screen. Click Next.
The resulting volume capacity may be slightly different than the nominal
size specified, depending on the type of volume, the chunk size, and the
number of drives used.
By default, a block size of 512 bytes is assumed for all SCSI communication
between your host server and all volumes. However, if you wish to access a
volume that is larger than 2TB from a host operating system that only
supports 32-bit addressing (such as Windows XP), you must change the block
size setting for that volume from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes using the Advanced
Volume Setting tab (see section 4.4.5) before you establish an iSCSI session
and connection to that volume. Once a new block size has been selected
and used for a connection to a volume, the block size must not be changed.
You can also change the system-wide default block size for all new volumes
by using the Advanced Settings tab in the System Administration view (see
section 6.2.13). However, changing the system-wide default block size will
have no effect on any existing volumes.
The Grant Access screen appears (see Figure 4-18).
48 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-18. Grant Access Screen
8. By default, all iSCSI initiators will have access to the volume you create. If you prefer,
you can grant access to one or more iSCSI initiators listed in the screen, grant access to
an initiator not in the list, or not grant access to an initiator at this time. If you decide
to select multiple iSCSI initiators from the list, you can use the following shortcuts:
– For adjacent iSCSI initiators, click the first one, then hold down the Shift key and
click the last one. The first and last initiators, and all the initiators between them,
get selected.
– For non-adjacent initiators, click the first one, then hold down the Ctrl key and click
each subsequent initiator.
– To deselect an initiator, hold down the Ctrl key and click an initiator that is
selected.
9. Click Next.
The Ready to Create Volume screen appears (see Figure 4-19).
If you decide not to grant access to an initiator now, you can do so at a later
time (see section 4.3).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 49
Figure 4-19. Ready to Create Volume Screen
10. If you are satisfied with your selections click Finish to create the volume. Otherwise,
click the Back button to return to the screen where you need to change a selection.
Then click Next until you return to this screen and click Finish to create the volume.
If the volume is created, a message similar to the one in Figure 4-20 appears.
Figure 4-20. Successfully Created Volume Message
11. Click Close to close the Wizard and return to the Volume View.
50 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
4.3 Performing Volume Actions
After you create volumes, you can use the Volume Actions panel to perform the following
activities:
Grant or revoke volume access to iSCSI initiators. See section 4.3.1.
Scan a volume. See section 4.3.2.
Destroy a volume. See section 4.3.3.
Grow a volume. See section 4.3.4.
Reconfigure a volume. See section 4.3.5.
Show advanced extents in the Extents tab. See section 4.4.2.
4.3.1 Modifying iSCSI Initiator Access to Volumes
During the volume creation process, you can grant or revoke volume access to iSCSI
initiators. To change this setting, use the following procedure and record your settings in
Table C-2.
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Volumes menu, click Modify Initiator Access.
– Click Modify Initiator Access in the Volume Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Modify Initiator Access from the shortcut
menu.
– Click the Initiator Access tab.
Any of these steps displays the Initiator Access tab (see Figure 4-21).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 51
Figure 4-21. Initiator Access Tab
3. If the top option is checked, all iSCSI initiators can access the selected volume. To
change this selection, uncheck this option and select one of the following:
– Grant access to Initiator. Enter the name of an initiator that will have access to this
volume. To enable CHAP, check Require CHAP Logon Authentication, enter a CHAP
secret (12 to 16 characters) in the CHAP Secret field, and re-enter the same CHAP
secret in the Confirm CHAP Secret field (or you can enable CHAP later – see section
4.4.4). Click Apply.
– Grant access to an iSCSI Initiator in this list. Select the iSCSI initiators to which you
want to grant access to this volume and click Apply.
– Revoke Access for an iSCSI Initiator in this list. Select the iSCSI initiators to which
you want to deny access this volume and click Apply.
4. Record your settings in Table C-2.
If you revoke access, the iSCSI initiator moves below Unused Initiators if
Sort by Volume is selected in the Volume View. You can then use the
procedure in section 4.5 to remove unused iSCSI initiators if desired.
52 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
4.3.2 Scanning a Volume
After you create a volume, you can scan it for errors. This task reads every block in the
volume to ensure that parity and media are correct. If parity errors are found, this task
corrects the errors.
To scan a volume:
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Volumes menu, click Scan Volume.
– Click Scan Volume in the Volume Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Scan Volume from the shortcut menu.
Any of these steps displays the Scan Volume dialog box (see Figure 4-22).
3. To scan the selected volume now, be sure Scan Volume now is selected. Skip to step 5.
4. To scan the selected volume at a later time, click Scan Volume later. Then:
– Under Scan Frequency, specify how often the scan is to be performed.
– Click the icon next to the right of the Date and time drop-down list and select a
date and time from the pop-up calendar (see Figure 4-23).
5. Click OK.
6. Record the scheduled task in Table C-5.
If you schedule the scan, you can use the Schedule tab in the System
Administration View to view, suspend, or delete this scheduled action (see
section 6.2.4).
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 53
Figure 4-22. Scan Volume Dialog Box
4.3.3 Destroying a Volume
If you no longer need a volume, you can remove or “destroy” it. Destroying a volume does
not “sanitize” data on the drive(s).
To destroy a volume:
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Volumes menu, click Destroy Volume.
– Click Destroy Volume in the Volume Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Destroy Volume from the shortcut menu.
Any of these steps display the message in Figure 4-24.
Figure 4-23, Pop-up Calendar
54 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
3. Click OK to destroy the selected volume or Cancel to keep the volume.
4.3.4 Growing a Volume
There may be times when you want to increase the capacity of a volume, while preserving
the original composition of the volume. In this case, you can “grow” the volume.
To grow a volume:
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
Figure 4-24. Warning Message when Destroying a Volume
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Volumes menu, click Grow Volume.
– Click Grow Volume in the Volume Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Grow Volume from the shortcut menu.
Any of these steps displays the Grow Volume dialog box (see Figure 4-25). This dialog
box shows the current size of the volume and the maximum size that you can grow it,
based on the available disk space and the number of drives required for the volume
composition. However, you cannot shrink the size of the volume below its current size.
Figure 4-25. Grow Volume Dialog Box
3. Using the New Volume Size controls, increase the size of the volume as required. Do not
exceed the Maximum size shown.
4. Click OK.
5. Record the new size in Table C-1.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 55
After the volume is grown, the size of the file system that resides on the
volume may also need to be increased. For more information, refer to your
host operating system documentation (for example, Windows Disk
Management).
4.3.5 Reconfiguring a Volume
After you create a volume (and it has finished initializing if it is a Parity volume), you can
reconfigure its composition, stripe width and depth (if appropriate), number of drives, or
volume size. When you reconfigure a volume, a Reconfigure tab in the Detail Tabs lets you
view information about the volume being reconfigured (see section 4.4.3). During the
volume reconfiguration process, the volume remains online and all of your original data is
still available.
Although the nominal size of the volume may not change, the physical storage capacity that
is needed to accommodate a new volume composition may differ from the original volume.
Therefore, you must ensure that sufficient available capacity exists before attempting to
reconfigure an existing volume.
The volume keeps its original composition until it is reconfigured. After it is
reconfigured, the Reconfigure tab is removed from the Detail Tabs and the
volume icon in the Volume View changes, if necessary, to indicate the
volume’s new composition.
To reconfigure a volume:
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Volumes menu, click Reconfigure Volume.
– Click Reconfigure Volume Access in the Volume Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Reconfigure Volume from the shortcut menu.
Any of these steps displays the Volume Composition screen of the Create Volume
Wizard (see Figure 4-26).
56 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-26. Volume Composition Page
3. See section 4.2.2 to complete this procedure (including specifying the volume
composition, capacity, stripe width, drive, and chunk size) and record your settings in
Table C-1. The Ready to Create Volume screen shown in Figure 4-27 allows you to
confirm your selections for the reconfiguration.
4. Select Finish in the Ready to Create Volume screen to begin the reconfiguration process.
The Finish Reconfigure screen shown in Figure 4-28 appears.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 57
Figure 4-27. Ready to Reconfigure Volume Screen
Figure 4-28. Finish Reconfigure Screen
5. Select Close to exit from the Volume Reconfigure Wizard.
During the volume reconfiguration, the Main Display in the Volume View can be used to
view the progress of the reconfiguration. In Figure 4-29, the Main Display shows that the
reconfiguration of the volume is 3% complete. In addition, the activity indicator in the
status bar moves from side to side. At the end of the reconfiguration, the Starting
Reconfiguring screen appears, the reconfigured parameters appear in the Reconfigure tab
in Volume View, and the activity indicator stops moving.
Figure 4-29. HR Documents Volume Being Reconfigured
If you reconfigure a volume, you can use the Schedule tab in the System
Administration View to view, suspend, or delete this action (see section
6.2.4).
58 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
4.4 Using the Detail Tabs
When sorted by Volume name, the Volume View provides the following Detail Tabs:
The first tab inherits its name from the volume selected in the Main Display. You can use
this tab to change the name of the selected volume or view information about it. See
section 4.4.1.
The Extents tab displays basic or advanced information about the extents associated
with a volume. See section 4.4.2.
The Security tab lets you enable or disable CHAP security or change the CHAP secret for
a volume. See section 4.4.4.
The Initiator Access tab lets you grant or revoke iSCSI access to a volume. See section
4.3.1.
The Advanced Settings tab lets you view or change advanced settings for a volume. See
section 4.4.5.
The Reconfigure tab appears when a volume is being reconfigured. See section 4.4.3.
When sorted by Initiator name, the Volume View provides the following Detail Tabs:
The Security tab lets you enable or disable CHAP security or change the CHAP secret for
an initiator. See section 4.4.6.
4.4.1 Changing Volume Names and Viewing Volume Information (Properties Tab)
When a volume is selected in the Main Display, the volume name is inherited by the first tab
in the Detail Tabs. In Figure 4-30, for example, the volume named MS Exchange is selected
in the Main Display and appears on the first tab.
This tab provides a Name field for changing the name of the selected volume, along with the
following read-only information about the selected volume:
The volume’s target and durable names.
The volume’s type (e.g., parity), size, status, chunk size, and health.
The iSCSI initiator(s) associated with the selected volume.
To change the name of the selected volume:
1. In the first tab of the Detail Tabs, click in the Name field.
2. Delete the current name shown and enter the new name for the selected volume.
3. Click the Apply button.
The new name appears in the Main Display and at the top of the first tab.
Since duplicate volume names are not permitted, you cannot rename a
volume using a name that already exists for another volume.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 59
Information about this
selected volume…
…is displayed in this tab
Figure 4-30. Information about a Selected Volume Shown in the First Tab
4.4.2 Viewing Extents on a Volume (Extents Tab)
An extent (also known as a “physical extent”) is a contiguous set of logical blocks (LBs) on a
drive. A volume typically consists of extents from several drives.
When a volume is selected in the Main Display, you can use the Extents tab to view
information about the extents on the selected volume. Initially, the Extents tab shows basic
extent information, as shown in Figure 4-31. This read-only screen provides drive links below
the first Description column that, when clicked, display the selected drive in the Extents
tab of the Physical Storage View (see section 4.4.2).
60 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-31. Extents Tab (Basic Information)
You can use one of the following methods to display advanced extent information in the
Extents tab for the selected volume:
On the Volumes menu, check Show Advanced Extents.
Check Show Advanced Extents in the Volume Actions panel.
Press the right mouse button and click Extent Table View (Advanced) from the shortcut
menu.
Press the F9 key.
Figure 4-32 shows an example of the advanced extent information displayed in the Extent
tab.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 61
Figure 4-32. Advanced Extent Information in the Extents Tab
4.4.3 Viewing Reconfiguration Information (Reconfigure Tab)
If the volume selected in the Main Display is being reconfigured (see section 4.3.5), a
Reconfigure tab appears between the Extents and Security tabs. This read-only screen
shows the description and status of the drive being reconfigured. Clicking a drive link in the
first Description column displays the Physical Storage View of the drive you selected. When
the reconfiguration process completes, this tab disappears automatically.
62 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-33. Reconfigure Tab
4.4.4 Enabling or Disabling CHAP Security for Volumes (Security Tab)
When you create a volume, you can enable CHAP. If you want to change this setting, you can
use the Security tab to enable or disable CHAP, or change the CHAP secret. Record your
settings in Table C-1.
4.4.4.1 Enabling CHAP Security
To enable CHAP security:
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
2. Click the Security tab.
The options in Figure 4-34 appear.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 63
Figure 4-34. Security Tab for a Volume
3. Check Require CHAP Logon Authentication.
4. In the CHAP Secret field, enter the case-sensitive password that will be used by the
target to authenticate an initiator. Then re-enter the same password in the Confirm
CHAP Secret field. The CHAP secret must be from 12 to 16 characters long. For security,
each typed character appears as a bullet (●).
5. Click Apply.
4.4.4.2 Changing the CHAP Secret
To change the CHAP secret:
1. In the Volume View, click the volume in the Main Display whose CHAP secret you want to
change.
2. Click the Security tab.
The options in Figure 4-34 appear.
3. Delete the entry in the CHAP Secret field and enter a new case-sensitive password that
will be used by the target to authenticate an initiator. Then repeat this step in the
Confirm CHAP Secret field. The CHAP secret must be from 12 to 16 characters long. For
security, each typed character appears as a bullet (●).
4. Click Apply.
5. Record your settings in Table C-1.
64 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
4.4.4.3 Disabling CHAP Security
To disable CHAP security:
1. In the Volume View, click the volume in the Main Display whose CHAP security you want
to disable.
2. Click the Security tab.
The options in Figure 4-34 appear.
3. Uncheck Require CHAP Logon Authentication.
4. Click Apply.
5. Record your settings in Table C-1.
4.4.5 Viewing or Changing Advanced Settings (Advanced Settings Tab)
When a volume is selected in the Main Display, the Advanced Settings tab lets you view or
change advanced settings for that volume. Figure 4-35 shows the Advanced Settings tab and
Table 4-2 describes the settings that can be modified. Table 4-3 describes the values that
are fixed and cannot be modified.
To change a setting:
1. In the Volume View, click a volume in the Main Display.
2. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
The advanced settings are displayed (see Figure 4-35).
3. In the Value column, perform one of the following steps:
– If the value is selected from a drop-down list, click in the field and select the
desired value.
– If the value is entered in the field, double-click in the field and enter the desired
value.
4. Click Apply.
These settings are for expert users who understand networking concepts
and terminology.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 65
Figure 4-35. Advanced Volume Settings
Table 4-2. Advanced Volume Settings
Settings (can be modified) Description
First Burst Length Maximum amount, in bytes, of unsolicited data that an initiator can send to a
target during the execution of a single SCSI command. This amount includes the
immediate data, if any, and the sequence of unsolicited Data-Out PDUs, if any,
that follow the command. The allowable selections include 8192, 16384 and
32768. The default selection is 8192 bytes.
Default Time To Wait Maximum time to wait, in seconds, for a login PDU to be received from the target
in response to a login request sent by the initiator before failing the connection
attempt. The allowable range is 0 to 3600 seconds. The default is 2 seconds.
Maximum R2T Outstanding Maximum number of outstanding ready-to-send (R2T) requests that are allowed
for each task within this session. The allowable range is 1 to 8. The default is 8.
Maximum Connections Maximum number of connections that will be allowed within this session. The
allowable range is 1 to 8. The default is 8.
Primary Header Digest Method Primary header digest used by the volume. Choices are:
No Digest (default)
CRC32C
Secondary Header Digest Method Secondary header digest used by the volume. Choices are:
No Digest
CRC32C (default)
Primary Data Digest Method Primary data digest used by the volume. Choices are:
No Digest (default)
CRC32C
66 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Settings (can be modified) Description
Secondary Data Digest Method Secondary data digest used by the volume. Choices are:
No Digest
CRC32C (default)
Maximum Data Segment Length Received The longest data segment (in bytes) that the volume can receive. Choices are:
8192
16384
32768 (default)
Primary Authentication Method Primary authentication method used by the volume. Choices are:
CHAP
None (default)
Secondary Authentication Method Secondary authentication method used by the volume. Choices are:
CHAP (default)
None
Is Read Only? Allows the volume to be set to Read-Only. The available choices are:
Do not set as Read Only (default)
Set as Read Only
Disable the iSCSI Sync Cache command?
(Sync Cache becomes NOP)
Read-Ahead Cache Size (KBytes) Allows you to specify the size of the Read-Ahead data buffer size. Enter this value
Optimize for Multi-track Audio? Allows the volume caching to be optimized for multi-track audio streams. The
Block Size (bytes) The block size (measured in bytes) that is used by the host operating system to
Choices are:
Yes (default)
No
as a number of KBytes. The default setting is product of the chunk size and the
stripe width. This setting can significantly affect your data throughput.
available choices are:
Yes
No (default)
access the data on the selected volume. Choices are:
512 (default)
4096
The 4096 setting can be used by 32-bit operating systems to access volumes that
are larger than 2TB, up to a maximum of 16TB. However, once an iSCSI session
and connection are established to the volume, this setting will have no effect until
the current iSCSI connection is closed and a new iSCSI connection is opened.
Values (cannot be modified) Description
Maximum Burst Length Maximum length, in bytes, of the SCSI data payload in a sequence of input (Data-
Default Time To Retain Length of wait time, in seconds, negotiated between the initiator and the target
Error Recovery Level The level of error recovery that the initiator and the target negotiated. Higher
Initial R2T Indicates whether the initiator must wait for a R2T request before sending data to
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 67
Table 4-3. Advanced Volume Values
In) PDUs or solicited output (Data-Out) PDUs. This value is set to 262,144 bytes.
before trying an explicit/implicit logout or an active task reassignment after an
unexpected connection termination or a connection reset. This value is always 20
seconds.
numbers represent more elaborate recovery schemes. This item is always set to
a value of 0 (session recovery class). For more information, refer to the iSCSI
specification.
the target. This item is always enabled.
Values (cannot be modified) Description
Immediate Data Indicates whether the initiator and target have agreed to allow the transmission of
immediate data in the session. (Immediate data is data that the initiator
piggybacks onto an iSCSI command PDU.) This item is always disabled.
Data PDU In Order Indicates whether the data PDUs within a sequence of data PDUs must be
located at continuously increasing addresses, with no gaps or overlay between
PDU’s. This item is always enabled.
Data Sequence In Order Indicates whether sequences of data PDUs must be transmitted by using
continuously increasing offsets, except during error recovery. This item is always
enabled. This value indicates the ordering of the sequences themselves, not the
ordering of the data PDUs within each sequence. The Data PDU In Order setting
indicates the ordering of the data PDUs within each sequence.
4.4.6 Enabling or Disabling CHAP Security for Initiators (Security Tab)
You can enable or disable CHAP for a specific iSCSI initiator, or change the change the CHAP
secret using the Security tab that appears when the Volume View is sorted by Initiator name.
4.4.6.1 Enabling CHAP Security
To enable CHAP security:
1. In the Volume View sorted by Initiator, click on a specific iSCSI initiator (other than “All
Initiators”) in the Main Display.
The Security Tab in Figure 4-36 appears.
68 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Figure 4-36. Security Tab for an Initiator
2. Check Require CHAP Logon Authentication.
3. In the CHAP Secret field, enter the case-sensitive password that will be used by the
target to authenticate an initiator. Then re-enter the same password in the Confirm
CHAP Secret field. The CHAP secret must be from 12 to 16 characters long. For security,
each typed character appears as a bullet (●).
4. Click Apply.
5. Record your settings in Table C-1.
4.4.6.2 Changing the CHAP Secret
To change the CHAP secret for an iSCSI initiator:
1. In the Volume View sorted by Initiator, click the iSCSI initiator in the Main Display whose
CHAP secret you want to change.
The Security Tab in Figure 4-36 appears.
2. Delete the entry in the CHAP Secret field and enter a new case-sensitive password that
will be used by the target to authenticate an initiator. Then repeat this step in the
Confirm CHAP Secret field. The CHAP secret must be from 12 to 16 characters long. For
security, each typed character appears as a bullet (●).
3. Click Apply.
4. Record your settings in Table C-1.
4.4.6.3 Disabling CHAP Security
To disable CHAP security:
1. In the Volume View sorted by iSCSI initiator, click the iSCSI initiator in the Main Display
whose CHAP security you want to disable.
The Security Tab in Figure 4-36 appears.
2. Uncheck Require CHAP Logon Authentication.
3. Click Apply.
4. Record your settings in Table C-1.
4.5 Removing iSCSI Initiators
To remove an iSCSI initiator:
1. In the Volume View, click an iSCSI initiator.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 69
Clicking the Sort by Initiator button displays iSCSI initiators without iSCSI
sessions below initiators with active sessions in the Main View.
2. Perform one of the following steps to remove the selected iSCSI initiator:
– On the Initiators menu, click Remove Initiator.
– In the Initiator Actions panel, click Remove Initiator.
– Press the right mouse button, then click Remove Initiator from the shortcut menu.
To avoid possible data loss or corruption, do not remove an iSCSI initiator
when there is disk input/output (I/O) activity occurring between the
initiator and the array.
70 Chapter 4 Managing Volumes
Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage
This chapter describes how to manage the physical storage on an xStack Storage. Physical
storage is managed in the Physical Storage View. If you are in a different console view, you
can display the Physical Storage View by performing any of the following steps:
Clicking Physical Storage on the View menu.
Clicking Physical Storage in the View panel.
Clicking the Storage View button on the toolbar:
The topics covered in this chapter are:
Section 5.1, Understanding the Physical Storage View
Section 5.2, Performing Drive Actions
Section 4.3, Using the Detail Tabs
The DSN-5210, DSN-5410 and DSN-5000 units can all support SATA hard
drives when a single controller is used. However, the use of SAS hard
drives is required for High Availability (HA) operation.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 71
5.1 Understanding the Physical Storage View
In the Physical Storage View, the Main Display shows the following information about each of
the xStack Storage drives:
The total number of drives
The drive number
The total capacity
The percentage of capacity used
The status
If you click a drive in the Main Display:
The Drive Actions panel lists the actions you can perform on the selected drive. See
section 5.2. If you are using a DSN-5000 Series primary array with dual controllers and
those controllers are unable to bind, the Drive Actions panel is replaced with an Unable
to Bind action panel that allows you to take corrective action.
The Detail Tabs let you view the properties and extents associated with the drive, as
well as SMART data and SMART attributes for SATA drives. See section 5.3.
Drives appear here
(shaded drive is
selected)
Information about the
selected drive
appears here
72 Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage
Figure 5-1. Physical Storage View
5.2 Performing Drive Actions
When you select a drive in the Main Display, you can use the Drive Actions panel to perform
the following activities:
Initialize a drive. See section 5.2.1.
Down a drive. See section 5.2.2.
Reserve spare drives. See section 5.2.3.
Show advanced view in the Extents tab. See section 5.3.2.
5.2.1 Initializing a Drive
The xStack Storage Management Center allows you to initialize a new drive that has never
been used in the storage array, or initialize a drive that has been previously “downed” (see
next section). Initialization is typically required when the drive’s Connection State is
Normal, but its status appears as Needs Attention.
To initialize a drive:
1. In the Physical Storage View, select a drive in the Main Display.
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Physical Storage menu, click Initialize Drive.
– Click Down Drive in the Physical Storage Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Down Drive on the shortcut menu.
Any of these steps displays the message in Figure 5-3.
Figure 5-2. Initialize Drive Confirmation
3. Click Yes to continue, or click No to cancel.
Initializing a drive will destroy any existing volume data that was
stored on that drive.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 73
5.2.2 Downing a Drive
The xStack Storage Management Center provides a Down Drive feature that lets you remove
a drive from the system in an orderly way. Using this feature, you can, for example, replace
a smaller drive with a larger drive.
The Down Drive operation requires all space used on the selected drive to be relocated onto
different drives. The Down Drive feature handles this requirement by performing a
reconfigure task on every volume that uses space on the drive. This operation is conducted
for any type of volume, including redundant and non-redundant organizations.
To down a drive:
4. In the Physical Storage View, select a drive in the Main Display.
5. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Storage menu, click Down Drive.
– Click Down Drive in the Drive Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Down Drive on the shortcut menu.
Any of these steps displays the message in Figure 5-3.
There must be sufficient available capacity on other hard drives to
accommodate the relocation of all volumes. It must also be possible
to maintain the drive allocation rules for each of the volumes that are
to be relocated (for example, parity volumes require at least three
different drives to be used).
Figure 5-3. Down Drive Started Message
6. Click OK in to begin the Down Drive operation.
The message in Figure 5-4 appears.
Figure 5-4. Down Drive Started Message
7. Click OK in the box to remove the message.
74 Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage
If you down a drive, you can use the Schedule tab in the System
Administration View to view or suspend this action (see section 6.2.4). A
down drive operation cannot be cancelled or deleted. To view the progress
of the down drive operation, refer to the Schedule tab in the System
Administration View.
5.2.3 Reserving Spare Drives
A spare is a drive that is present in the system but normally unused until another active
drive fails. At that time, the volumes from the failed drive are automatically rebuilt using
the spare drive.
Prior to initially using your system, you should reserve one ore more spare
drives. After a drive has been allocated to a volume, it can no longer be
reserved as spare.
To reserve spare drives:
1. In the Physical Storage View, select a drive in the Main Display.
A drive can be reserved as a spare so long as no volumes have been created
on the drive. If you select a drive that has volumes, the Reserve Drive as
Spare option in step 2 will not be available.
2. Perform one of the following steps:
– On the Physical Storage menu, click Reserve Drive as Spare.
– Click Reserve Drive as Spare in the Physical Storage Actions panel.
– Press the right mouse button and click Reserve Drive as Spare on the shortcut
menu.
A check mark appears next to Reserve Drive as Spare on the Storage menu, in the
Drive Actions panel, and on the shortcut menu to show that the selected drive is
designated as a spare.
3. To remove the selected drive as a spare, perform any of the steps in step 2 to remove
the check mark.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 75
5.3 Using the Detail Tabs
Physical Storage View provides the following Detail Tabs:
The Properties tab shows a drive’s properties. See section 5.3.1.
The Extents tab displays basic or advanced information about the extents associated
with a drive. See section 5.3.2.
The SMART Data tab shows SMART overview, self-test, and offline data collection
information for a SATA drive. See section 5.3.3. This tab does not appear when a SAS
drive is selected in the Main Display.
The SMART Attributes tab shows SMART attributes for a SATA drive (this information is
defined differently by each drive vendor). See section 5.3.3. This tab does not appear
when a SAS drive is selected in the Main Display.
5.3.1 Viewing Drive Properties (Properties Tab)
When a drive is selected in the Main Display, you can use the Properties tab to view
characteristics about the drive, as shown in Figure 5-5. The SMART Data and SMART
Attributes tabs only appear for SATA drives. If the drive is capable of reporting the
technology type (such as “HDD” or “SDD”),that information will appear next to the drive
type field that shows “SATA” or “SAS”.
76 Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage
Figure 5-5. Drive Properties Tab
5.3.2 Viewing Extents on a Drive (Extents Tab)
An extent is a contiguous set of logical blocks (LBs) on a drive. An extent is also called a
physical extent.
When a drive is selected in the Main Display, you can use the Extents tab to view
information about the extents on the selected drive. Initially, the Extents tab shows basic
extent information, as shown in Figure 5-6. This read-only screen provides volume name
links below the first Description column that, when clicked, display the selected volume in
the Extents tab of the Volume View (see section 4.4.2).
You can use one of the following methods to display advanced extent information in the
Extents tab for the selected volume:
On the Volume Actions menu, check Show Advanced View.
Check Show Advanced Extents in the Drive Actions panel.
Press the right mouse button and click Show Advanced View from the shortcut menu.
Figure 5-7 shows an example of the advanced view displayed in the Extent tab.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 77
Figure 5-6. Extents Tab (Basic View)
Press the F9 key.
Figure 5-7. Extents Tab (Advanced View)
5.3.3 Viewing SMART Data and Attributes (SMART Data and SMART Attributes Tabs)
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) is a monitoring system for SATA
drives to detect and report on various indicators of reliability, with the hope of anticipating
failures. SMART is not supported on SAS drives. With SMART, a SATA disk's integrated
controller works with various sensors to monitor various aspects of the drive's performance,
determines from this information if the drive is behaving normally or not, and makes
available status information to software that probes the drive and look at it.
The xStack Storage primary array collects the SMART information and displays it on the
following read-only tabs:
Smart Data. Shows SMART overview, self-test, and offline data collection information
for a SATA drive (see Figure 5-8).
Smart Attributes. Shows SMART attributes that are defined differently by each vendor
(see Figure 5-9).
SMART is supported on SATA drives only, not on SAS drives.
The use of SATA drives is not recommended because they cannot be used in
High Availability configurations.
78 Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage
Figure 5-8. SMART Data Tab
Figure 5-9. SMART Attributes Tab
When a SATA drive exceeds a SMART Threshold value, the system will
automatically “down” that drive. For more information about the “Down
Drive” operation, refer to Section 5.2.2.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 79
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80 Chapter 5 Managing Physical Storage
Chapter 6 System Administration
This chapter describes how to perform system administration activities. System
administration tasks are performed from the System Administration View. If you are in a
different console view, you can display the System Administration View by performing any of
the following steps:
Clicking System Administration on the View menu.
Clicking System Administration in the View panel.
Clicking the System Administration View button on the toolbar:
The topics covered in this chapter are:
Section 6.1, Understanding the System Administration View
Section 6.2, Using the Detail Tabs
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 81
6.1 Understanding the System Administration View
The System Administration View varies depending on whether your xStack Storage system is
capable of supporting single or redundant controllers. Dual-controller configurations are
only available when an additional controller is installed in the system, and only the DSN5000 Series can support dual-contollers.
6.1.1 Single-Controller Systems
The Main Display for xStack Storage systems with a single controller displays icons that show
the following information:
Total amount of storage and the amount of storage available
Number of volumes that have been configured
Number of initiators defined and the number of initiators currently connected
Below the Main Display are four Detail Tabs that show the history, controller information,
scheduled tasks, and system administration settings. Refer to Section 6.2 for a description of
the Details Tabs. The System Administration View only displays a System Actions panel.
Figure 6-1. System Administration View (Single Controller Systems)
82 Chapter 6 System Administration
6.1.2 Dual-Controller Systems
The Main Display shows a tree-view of the top-level system and one or two controllers, along
with the status of controller (OK, Needs Attention, Failed or Not Present). The software
version also appears for each controller that has a status of OK.
Hardware note:
For the DSN-5110-10, the additional controller is the DSN-510, for the DSN5210-10, the additional controller is the DSN-520 and for the DSN-5410-10,
the additional controller is the DSN-540.
Please note that controllers cannot be mixed within a system. A DSN-540
controller cannot be used as a second controller in a DSN-5210 system. A
DSN-520 controller cannot be used as a second controller in a DSN-5410
system, etc.
Below the Main Display are Detail Tabs that show information about the item selected in the
Main Display. When the System Administration item is selected in the Main Display, three
Detail Tabs appear to show the System Summary, Scheduled Tasks, and System
Administration Settings, as shown in Figure 6-2.
Figure 6-2. System Administration View – System Selected (Dual Controller Systems)
When one of the Controller items is selected in the Main Display, two Detail Tabs show the
history and controller information, as shown in Figure 6-3.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 83
Dual controller systems provide redundancy for High Availability. Under normal conditions,
both controllers in the Primary Array function as a “Bound” pair. They operate together
and all system activity on the primary controller is mirrored to the redundant controller. In
the event of a controller failure, the system will automatically transfer all system
configuration information (including Management Port and Data Port IP addresses) and any
cached data to the redundant controller, without any interruption to the host servers.
When a controller failure occurs, the remaining controller becomes a “Survivor”, and the
failed controller is allowed to restart and REBIND. If the failed controller is unable to
REBIND due to a hardware failure, it is held in a non-functional state. After repairing or
replacing the failed controller, the system will automatically return to a BOUND state.
If the controllers are unable to bind during the system startup process, the system state will
appear as “Unable to Bind”, and the reason for the failure will appear in the Main Display.
At a minimum, both controllers must be equipped with the same number of iSCSI data ports
and the same amount of Buffer Memory, and must be running the same version of software.
Figure 6-3. System Administration View – Controller Selected (Dual Controller Systems)
Refer to Section 6.2 for a description of the Details Tabs. The System Administration View
only displays a System Actions panel, which includes a “Force System Failover” selection
for testing the automated controller failover.
84 Chapter 6 System Administration
6.2 Using the Detail Tabs
System Administration View provides the following Detail Tabs:
The Summary tab shows an overview of system resources. See section 6.2.1.
The History tab shows historical information. See section 6.2.2.
The Controller tab shows hardware and software revisions and status of the controller.
See section 6.2.3.
The Tasks tab shows the status of tasks that have been scheduled. See section 6.2.4.
The Control tab lets you:
– Save the current xStack Storage configuration. See section 6.2.5.
– Restore a previously saved configuration file. See section 6.2.6.
– Restoring factory default settings. See section 6.2.7
– Upgrade software. See section 6.2.8.
– Restart the xStack Storage. See section 6.2.9.
– Shut down the xStack Storage. See section 6.2.10.
The System Policy tab lets you specify a battery policy. See section 6.2.11
The User Accounts tab lets you setup Administrative and User accounts. See sections
6.2.12 and 3.4.
The Advanced Settings tab lets you view and change system settings. See section
6.2.13.
6.2.1 Viewing System Summary Information (Summary Tab)
The Summary tab in the System Administration View shows the following general statistics
about the system:
• Total amount of storage and the amount of storage available
• Number of volumes that have been configured
• Number of initiators defined and the number of initiators currently connected
• The current Write-Cache mode (Write-Through or Write-Back)
The Summary tab only appears for dual-controller systems. This is the same summary
information that appears in the Main View of single-controller systems.
6.2.2 Viewing Historical Information (History Tab)
The History tab in the System Administration View provides an historical list of
informational, warning, and error items (see Figure 6-4). Each row in the tab corresponds to
an item. The items are date and time stamped, with the most recent item appearing at the
top of the list. The time zone configured for the array appears in parentheses on the tab
label; in Figure 6-4, the array is configured for Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). The icon in the
left column indicates the severity of the item (Information, Warning or Error). When you
select an item, detailed information about the item appears on the right side of the tab.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 85
When You Select
an Item Here…
You can save the event history as a text file in comma-separated format on your local
computer.
1. Perform one of the following steps:
Information
about that
Item Appears
Here
Figure 6-4. History Tab
– On the Tools menu, click Save Event History.
– In the System Actions panel, click Save Event History.
Any of these steps displays the Save Event History dialog box (see Figure 6-5).
2. Select the path where you want the event log to reside.
3. Click the Save button.
4. When the message in Figure 6-6 tells you that the event history file has been saved
successfully, click OK to remove the message.
86 Chapter 6 System Administration
Figure 6-5. Save Event History Dialog Box
Figure 6-6. Event History File Save Message
6.2.3 Controller Details (Controller Tab)
The Controller tab in the System Administration View displays status information about the
controller (see Figure 6-7). If your xStack Storage system is equipped with dual controllers,
the Controller tab label appears as either “Controller 0” or “Controller 1”, depending on
which controller you selected in the Main View. Table 6-1 lists the information appears on
the Controller tab.
Item Description
Status OK or Failed
State Single-controller systems appear as “Standalone”, while dual-controller systems appear as
“Bound”, “Survivor” or “Unable to Bind”.
Health Healthy or Unhealthy
Battery State OK or Failed
Controller Type ATX-based systems (DSN-1000/2000/3000 series) or SFF (for DSN-5000 Series systems)
Controller Slot Id Single-controller systems will always show Slot 0, while dual-controller systems will show Slot
0 or 1 depending on which controller was selected in the Main View
Date/Time The current system date and time
Persistence Data State Only used for diagnostic purposes; this item should normally appear as: "Unchanged "
Drive Slot Count The number of drive slots that are defined for the controller
Ethernet Data Port Count The number of iSCSI data ports that are available on the controller
Buffer Memory Dimm Count The number of memory modules that are installed for Buffer Memory
Buffer Memory Size The amount of Buffer Memory that is detected
System Memory Dimm Count The number of memory modules that are installed for System Memory
System Memory Size The amount of System Memory that is detected
NAND Memory Size The amount of NAND Memory that is detected
Serial Number The serial number of the controller
Software Current Version The version of the software that is running on the controller
Alternate Software Version The alternate version of software that is stored in the inactive partition
Mfg Board Revision The manufacturing revision of the controller assembly
Mfg Product Id The manufacturing product number
Table 6-1. Controller Tab Information
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 87
Figure 6-7. Controller Tab (Controller 0 shown)
6.2.4 Viewing Scheduled Activities (Tasks Tab)
The Tasks tab in the System Administration View lets you view, suspend, or delete activities
that you have scheduled, as shown in Figure 6-8. Each row in the tab corresponds to an
activity that has been scheduled. Examples of activities that can be scheduled include
volume scanning, volume reconfiguration, and downing of a drive. The tab provides
Suspend, Cancel, and Delete buttons for suspending, canceling, or deleting scheduled
activities.
To suspend a scheduled activity, click the activity and click the Suspend button. The
Suspend button toggles to Resume for this activity. To resume a suspended activity,
click the activity again and click the Resume button.
To delete a scheduled activity, click the scheduled activity and click the Delete button.
To cancel a scheduled activity that is being performed or is suspended, click the activity
and click the Cancel button. If the task is set to recur, this procedure only cancels the
current operation. To cancel all future occurrences of the activity, use the Delete
button to delete the scheduled task.
88 Chapter 6 System Administration
Figure 6-8. Schedule Tab
6.2.5 Saving the Current Configuration (Control Tab)
Best practices dictate that you save the xStack Storage configuration after you configure the
array for the first time and, thereafter, each time you change the configuration. You can
then use the procedure in section 6.2.6 to restore the configuration if necessary, without
having to re-enter the settings from scratch. Saving the current configuration also allows you
to propagate the configuration to other xStack Storage systems that will use the same
settings.
When you save the current configuration, the following settings are saved in a configuration
file:
Management port IP address
All targets
All the initiators that have access to the targets, including their access rights and CHAP
secrets
All volumes and access parameters
User account information
Battery policy
Advanced system settings (including e-mail, iSNS and SNMP parameters)
To save the current configuration:
1. In the System Administration View, click the Control tab to display the Control dialog in
Figure 6-9.
xStack Storage Management Center Software User’s Guide 89
Figure 6-9. Control Tab
2. Under XStack Storage Configuration, click the Save button.
The Save dialog box appears (see Figure 6-10).
3. Using the Save Configuration dialog box, go to the location where you want to store the
configuration file.
4. In the File Name field, enter a name for the configuration file. The extension .gcf is
appended to the end of the file name automatically.
When naming the configuration file, assign a name that will make it easy to
differentiate this file from other configuration files. For example, you can
use the current date and time or a particular configuration as part of the file
name.
5. Click the Save button.
The configuration file is saved.
90 Chapter 6 System Administration
Figure 6-10. Save Configuration Dialog Box
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