Pinnacle Systems NEXIS - 18.5 Administrator’s Guide

Avid NEXIS

Avid NEXIS Administration Guide

Version 18.5

Legal Notices

Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc.

This product is subject to the terms and conditions of a software license agreement provided with the software. The product may only be used in accordance with the license agreement.

This product may be protected by one or more U.S. and non-U.S patents. Details are available at www.avid.com/patents.

This guide is protected by copyright. This guide is for your personal use and may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, without permission of Avid. Reasonable care has been taken in preparing this guide; however, it may contain omissions, technical inaccuracies, or typographical errors. Avid Technology, Inc. disclaims liability for all losses incurred through the use of this document. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.

Part of the software embedded in this product is gSOAP software.

THE SOFTWARE IN THIS PRODUCT WAS IN PART PROVIDED BY GENIVIA INC AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

The following disclaimer is required by Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics, Inc. for the use of their TIFF library:

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software [i.e., the TIFF library] and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

This Software may contain components licensed under the following conditions:

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided " as is" without express or implied warranty.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of Daniel Dardailler not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. Daniel Dardailler makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided " as is" without express or implied warranty.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire notice is included in all copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software.

THIS SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED " AS IS" , WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. IN PARTICULAR, NEITHER THE AUTHOR NOR AT&T MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:

Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.:

“Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller’s failure to perform reseller’s obligation; or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller’s products or the software; or any other damages, including but not limited to, incidental, direct, indirect, special or consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller’s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data, even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:

“Videomedia, Inc. makes no warranties whatsoever, either express or implied, regarding this product, including warranties with respect to its merchantability or its fitness for any particular purpose.”

“This software contains V-LAN ver. 3.0 Command Protocols which communicate with V-LAN ver. 3.0 products developed by Videomedia, Inc. and V-LAN ver. 3.0 compatible products developed by third parties under license from Videomedia, Inc. Use of this software will allow “frame accurate” editing control of applicable videotape recorder decks, videodisc recorders/players and the like.”

The following disclaimer is required by Altura Software, Inc. for the use of its Mac2Win software and Sample Source Code:

The following disclaimer is required by Interplay Entertainment Corp.:

The “Interplay” name is used with the permission of Interplay Entertainment Corp., which bears no responsibility for Avid products.

This product includes portions of the Alloy Look & Feel software from Incors GmbH.

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).

This product may include the JCifs library, for which the following notice applies:

Avid Interplay contains components licensed from LavanTech. These components may only be used as part of and in connection with Avid Interplay.

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks

Avid, the Avid Logo, Avid Everywhere, Avid DNXHD, Avid DNXHR, Avid Nexis, AirSpeed, Eleven, EUCON, Interplay, iNEWS, ISIS, Mbox, MediaCentral, Media Composer, NewsCutter, Pro Tools, ProSet and RealSet, Maestro, PlayMaker, Sibelius, Symphony, and all related product names and logos, are registered or unregistered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. For a full list of Avid trademarks, see:

http://www.avid.com/US/about-avid/legal-notices/trademarks.

The following disclaimer is required by Apple Computer, Inc.:

APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

Avid NEXIS Administration Guide Version 18.5 • Created 5/29/18 • This document is distributed by Avid in online (electronic) form only, and is not available for purchase in printed form.

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Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Symbols and Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Accessing the Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Avid Training Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 1 Configuring and Managing the System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Creating the Avid NEXIS File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Binding Media Packs to the File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Setting the System Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Configuring the Notification Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Enabling Link Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Changing the Administrator Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Securing the Avid NEXIS Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Securing Access to the Management Console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Changing the BMC Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Configuring DNS Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Changing the Storage System Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Upgrading the System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Capturing System Information (Avid NEXIS Snapshots). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Working with Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Working with Snapshot Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 2 Working with the Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Opening the Management Console. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Understanding the Management Console Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Navigation Sidebar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Action Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Filtering, Sorting, and Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Updating the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Guidelines for Names and Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Customizing the System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Configuring System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Monitoring Client Bandwidth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 3 Managing Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Storage Group Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Managing Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Workspace Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Workspace Protection Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Creating a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Workspaces List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Displaying Workspace Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Resizing a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Duplicating a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Deleting a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Renaming a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Setting Event Triggers for a Workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Managing User Access Privileges for Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Workspace Redistribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Managing Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Creating a Storage Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Renaming a Storage Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Increasing a Storage Group’s Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Displaying Storage Group Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Deleting Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Managing Engines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Engines Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Displaying Engine Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Understanding Engine and Storage Controller Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Managing Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Controllers Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Displaying Controller Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Understanding Network Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Managing Media Packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Displaying Media Pack Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

About Media Pack Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Adding Unassigned Media Packs to Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

About Removing Media Packs from Storage Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Removing Media Packs from a Storage Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Displaying Drive Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

SSD Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Disk Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Identifying the Slot Number for a Failing or Failed Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Clearing a Foreign Disk Error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Unbinding Media Packs from the Avid NEXIS File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Chapter 4 Managing Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Managing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

User Flags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Creating Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Duplicating Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Changing User Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Deleting Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Disabling Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Displaying User Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Managing LDAP Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Configuring External Authentication of Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Installing the LDAP Sync Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Opening the LDAP Sync Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Using the LDAP Sync Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Managing User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Adding User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Modifying User Group Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Deleting User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Displaying User Group Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Managing Bandwidth Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Adding a Bandwidth Limit Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Displaying Bandwidth Limits Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Changing a Bandwidth Limit Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Deleting a Bandwidth Limit Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Chapter 5 Monitoring the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Monitoring Client Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Monitoring System Connection Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Connection Status Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Monitoring Redistributions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Monitoring Client Reservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Displaying Event History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Managing System Logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Displaying the System Logs Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Clearing a System Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Managing Media Pack Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Displaying Media Pack Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 6 Avid NEXIS Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Installing the Avid NEXIS Toolbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Opening the Avid NEXIS Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Connection Analyzer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Log Aggregator Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Using the Log Aggregator Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Displaying Aggregate Logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Disk Analyzer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Running Tests with the Disk Analyzer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Updating the Disk Analyzer Tool Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Saving Disk Analyzer Test Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Media Pack Parameters Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Using the Media Pack Parameters Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Retrieving Media Pack Flag Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Media Pack Log Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

vii

Using This Guide

The A vid NEXIS® software-defined storage system provides a high-performance distributed file system that contains high-capacity shared media storage for workgroups of connected devices. This user’s guide describes how to connect your client system to the storage system, mount Workspaces, and configure your system for best performance.

Unless noted otherwise, the material in this documen t appli es to the Windo ws systems.The majority of screen shots in this document were captured on a Windows system, but the information applies to all operating systems. Where differences exist, information on the differences is provided.

, Mac OS® X, and Linux operating

The documentation describes the features and hardware of al features and hardware that are covered in this guide.

Who Should Use This Guide

This guide is intended for users who need to manage the Avid NEXIS media network. You should have a basic understanding of how to use and manage the Windows operating system or the Mac OS X systems, and you should be familiar with basic workgroup and network concepts.

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

A note provides important related information, reminders, recommendations, and strong suggestions.

A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose data.

A warning describes an action that could cause you physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this document or on the unit itself when handling electrical equipment.

l models. Your system might not contain certain

A user tip provides a helpful hint that can aid users in getting the most from their system.

A shortcut shows the user keyboard or mouse shortcuts for a procedure or command.

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the order you select them. For

xample, File > Import means to open the File menu and then select the Import command.

e This symbol indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list indicate that you

perform one of the actions listed.

(Windows), (W indows only), (Mac (Macintosh only)

Bold font Bold font is primarily used in task instructions to identify user interface items and keyboard

intosh), or

This text indicates that the information applies only to the specified operating system, either Windows or Macintosh OS X.

seque

nces.

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to indicate variables.

Courier Bold font

Ctrl+key or mouse action Press and hold the first key while you press the last key or perform the mouse action. For

| (pipe character) The pipe character is used in some Avid product names, such as Interplay | Production. In this

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using your Avid product:

1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide. It is especially important to check each step of your workflow.

2. Check the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published.

Always check online for the most up-to-date release notes or ReadMe because the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To view the online versions, visit the Knowledge

Base at

3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.

4. Visit the online Knowledge Base a t www.avid.com/support. Online services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access troubleshooting tips, to download upgrades, and to read or join online message-board discussions.

www .avid.com/support.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

example, Command+Option+C or Ctrl+drag.

document, the pipe is used in product names when they are in headings or at their first use in text.

Accessing the Online Documentation

The Avid online documentation contains all the product documentation in PDF format. You can access the documentation from the Knowledge Base site specific to your release. Download and install Acrobat Reader before you access the PDF documentation.

Avid Training Services

Avid makes lifelong learning, career advancement, and personal development easy and convenient. Avid understands that the knowledge you need to differentiate yourself is always changing, and Avid continually updates course content and offers new training delivery methods that accomm odate your pressured and competitive work environment.

For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit

www .avid.com/support and follow the Training links, or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).

1 Configuring and Managing the System

This chapter describes how to complete the setup of a new Avid NEXIS system after physically installing it and installing the software, as described in the

This chapter also covers routine system management, including setting bandwidth limits, performing software upgrades, and creating snapshots for Avid Customer Care.

To make the system fully usable to clients, do the following:

1. Create the file system. See “Creating the Avid NEXIS File System” on page 1.

2. Bind Media Packs to the file system. See “Binding Media Packs to the File System” on page 2.

3. Set the system time. See “Setting the System Time” on page 2.

4. Configure notification to send email to one or more accounts when a problem occurs. See “Configuring the

Notification Service” on page 3.

5. Create one or more Storage Groups from the Media Packs, depending on your hardware and what kind of Workspace protections you want to use. See

6. Create Workspaces within the Storage Groups. See “Managing Storage” on page 23.

7. Create user or device accounts to allow clients to connect to Workspaces. You can do one or both of the following:

Avid NEXIS Setup and Maintenance Guide.

“Managing Storage” on page 23.

- Create user accounts on the Avid NEXIS system itself (see “Managing Users” on page 51).

-Configure Avid NEXI S to connect to an LDAP server to authenticate external users (see “Configuring

External Authentication of Users” on page 55).

Creating the Avid NEXIS File System

Creating a new file system is the first step to making the storage space usable after you install the Avid NEXIS software on a new Engine.

If a file system already exists, creating a new one permanently deletes it and all users, groups, Workspaces,

Storage Groups and other objects. All Media Packs are unbound; and all other settings, such as External Authentication and Notification Service, are cleared and must be reconfigured after the new file system is cr eated.

In addition, the Administrator password (if changed) reverts to the default (no password).

To create a new file system:

1. Open a browser and enter either the hostname (if DNS is configured) or the IP address of the System Director. The Management Console login window opens.

2. Enter the user name “administrator” and the administrator password (either blank, or the password you set it to during initial configuration) and click Sign In.

3. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Settings.

4. Click File System.

5. From the drop-down box, select Create New File System, then click Submit. A confirmation screen appears, asking you to confirm the

any) on the Avid NEXIS system, and create a new file system.

6. Click Continue. The Results panel displays progress messages.

configuration.

When the file system is created, you can complete the system

operation, which will destroy all existing data (if

Binding Media Packs to the File System

After you have created an active file system, bind the Media Packs to it. Binding a Media Pack formats it to a specific performance capability:

• High performance Media Packs are intended speci 4K finish and color-correction workflows. Choose the strip size of 1024KB.

• Scale-Out performance Media Packs are suitable for a broad variety of workflows up to the supported client coun

t for your Avid NEXIS model. Choose the default stri p size of 512KB.

• SSD performance Media Packs are available only on an Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD Engine and are intended for p

layback of ultra high bandwidth media. Media Packs in this Engine type are bound automatically at a strip

size optimized for the best performance.

Media Pack performance types cannot be changed while the p must unbind it and then rebind it as a different performance type (not supported on Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD En

gines.)

fically for high-bandwidth media playback, such as UHD/

ack is bound. To change its performance type, you

To bind the Media Packs:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Media Packs.

2. Select a Media Pack.

Click Bind.

4. A warning dialog is displayed asking you to confirm the operation. Click Continue.

5. In the Media Pack Bind Settings dialog box, choose the bind setting for the Media Pack:

t 512KB t 10

6. Click Save.

When the Media Pack is bound, its icon changes from white to green, and the state is Spare - Bound.

7. Create a Storage Group. See “Creating a Storage Group” on page 38.

Scale-Out Performance

24KB High Performance

Setting the System Time

You can configure the system time manually or use one or two external NTP servers. (If you configure an NTP server and enter the system time manually, the NTP server takes precedence.)

You typically set the system time or configure NTP servers during initial system setup, but you can change the system t

ime or the NTP server information (for example if the IP address of an NTP server changed) at any time.

To set system time, or add or change and NTP server:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then System Setup.

2. Click the Da

3. Do one of the following: o configure an NTP server, check the box and enter the IP addresses or host names for up to two NTP

t T

servers on your network.

o set the date and time manually, enter the current date and time in the fields, and choose a time zone

t T

from the list

Click Save.

A warning message asks you to confirm t time zone setting.

te/Time tab.

he action. Click Continue, or click Refresh to restore the previous

Configuring the Notification Service

The Notification service watches the system logs and sends email to one or more addresse s you configure. The notifications support filters that allow you to specify the type of error message that triggers an email notification and to set parameters for each type of error message—Error, Warning, and Information messages.

You can configure Avid NEXIS to send notification emails for one or more of the following subsystem categories

nd the severity level that will trigger notification:

• Server Control — Reports messages about internal operations, including problems saving metadata to disk

• System Director — Reports messages about the Avid NEXIS file system, metadata, memory, system drives, d the System Director IP address and networking

• Avid Storage General — Reports messages about Workspaces

Media Packs, and network communication errors detected by an Avid NEXIS component

• Storage Manager General — Reports messages about general Media Pack operations, such as initialization

and st

atus changes

To configure the Notification Service:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, then Notifications.

2. In the configuration panel, do the following: a. Enter the IP address for your net b. (Optional) If your SMTP server uses a port other than 25 (default), enter the port number. Port 25 is

appropria

c. Enter at least one email address that

Click Save.

3. To add more than one name, click Ad contacts you can add.

a. Enter a name for the contact in the Name field. This can

does not have to be the same as the email account name.

b. Enter a valid email address for the contact.

4. In the Filters panel, check the boxes according to which types of errors from which subsystems you want the contact

te for most cases.

s to receive notice for.

work’s SMTP (email) server.

will receive the notifications.

d in the Contacts area. There is no enforced limit to the number of

(such as changing its size), password changes,

be any name you want to assign to the user; it

5. Click Save.

- A confirmation message is displayed in the

- If you started or stopped the Notification Service , the Serv ice St ate wi ll cha nge to reflec t the n ew service

state.

(Optional) To test the notification settings, click Run Test.

6. The results of the service test are di

splayed in the Results area.

Enabling Link Aggregation

If your environment supports and requires it, you can configure link aggregation (also called redundant networking, NIC teaming, link bundling, or port tru nking) on the network ports on each controller, which provides redundancy in case one network port fails. The Avid NEXIS implementation follows the Link

ggregation Control Protocol (LACP) standard.

A You can use link aggregation regardless of

Director Appliance (however, the Avid NEXIS | PRO does not support this feature).

Before enabling link aggr egat ion, co nnect appropriate cables from both ports to a supported switch. If you enable LACP before the ports are connected or befor e enabling LACP on the switch, you can lose access to the system. See the Avid NEXIS Setup and Maintenance Guide for more information.

Enabling or disabling link aggregation requires the system to reboot.

To enable link aggregation:

Results area.

the number of controllers in each Avid NEXIS Engine or System

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then System Setup.

2. Click Interfaces.

3. In the Data Interface section, ch Click Save.

4. A warning confirmation message warns you that the engine might reboot. Click Co When the system restarts, link aggregation is enabled on the network ports on all installed controllers. If an error occurs with the LACP co

To disable link aggregation:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then System Setup.

2. Click Interfaces.

3. In the Data Interfaces section, uncheck the box for Link Aggregation. Click Save.

4. A confirmati on message warn s you th at the engi ne migh t re boot. Click Continue. When the system restarts, link aggregation is disabled on the network ports on all installed controllers. To verify or monitor the status of link aggregat

eck the box for Link Aggregation.

ntinue.

nfiguration, a status message is displayed; see NEED NEW XREF.

ion on the controllers, see “Managing Controllers” on page 42.

Changing the Administrator Password

The Management Console Administrator password is blank by default (before a file system has been created, and if it has never been changed). Avid highly recommends that you set an Administrator password when you configure the Management Console for the first time.

If you forget the Administrator password you have created, contact Avid Customer Care.

See “Guidelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19 for valid password characters and the maximum length.

To change the Administrator password:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, then Administrator.

2. Type the current Administrator password in the Current Password field (default is blank).

3. Type the new Administrator password in the New Password field.

4. Type the new Administrator password again in the Verify Password field.

5. Click Sub

- The Administrator Password is changed to the new value.

- A confirmation message appears i

mit.

n the Results area.

Securing the Avid NEXIS Infrastructure

If your environment requires tight security, you can restrict access to the Management Console using TLS (Transport Layer Security, often referred to as SSL) encryption, and you can change the BMC password.

Securing Access to the Management Console

By default, the Management Console uses unenc r yp ted HTTP. However, you can also run the Management Console using HTTPS (TLS). When TLS is enabled, the Avid NEXIS generates a self-signed certificate that pr

ompts a browser warning.

To run the Management Console unencrypted:

t Open a browser and enter: http://<IP address>

The browser bar looks like the following:

To run the Management Console encrypted:

t Open a browser and enter: https://<IP address>

The browser bar looks like the following, but the traffic is being encrypted and is secure:

Changing the BMC Password

The Avid NEXIS system has several passwords:

• The Administrator password, used when you log into the Management Console (by default, there is no assword). You can change this at any time.

• The password you use for initial system setup (

se-admin

• The password for the BMC (Baseboard Management Controll

er), which is a low-level process on the Storage

Controller that manages the BIOS, MAC addresses, and other internal functions. By default, the BMC password has been set

admin

), but this could be a security concern in some environmen ts.

If your lab environment or company requires it, you can change

at the factory to be the same as the system setup password (

the BMC password to prevent unauthorized

access to the hardware.

To change the BMC password:

1. Connect a computer or laptop to the Management Port on the Storage Controller, as shown:

2. Open a browser window and go to the address:

169.254.10.250

, which is the default IP add ress of the BMC

controller.

se-

root

3. Log in using the user name

and the password

4. In the BMC interface, click the Configuration tab.

se-admin

5. Select Users from the pull-down menu.

6. Click Modify User.

7. Click the Change Password checkbox, enter a new password in the Password and Confirm Password fields, then click Modify.

8. Click OK.

9. Log out of the BMC interface.

Configuring DNS Service

If your network environment includes one or mo re Domain Name servers, you can add the Avid NEXIS system to the DNS service, and add the DNS domain to Avid NEXIS. This enables you to open the Management Console u

sing the System Director host name, instead of the IP address. Enabling DNS also allows you to use LDAP for external user authentication; for more information, see “Configuring External Authentication of Users” on

page 55.

To configure DNS:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then System Setup.

2. In the Domain Name Service area, en

- The DNS domain you want the Avid NEXIS system to join, without the top level domain. (For example, if your domain name is Example.com, enter Example in the domain name field, but not

com”.)

“.

- One or more IP addresses for the DNS servers

- (Optional) Additional domains in your environment (i resolve a host name.

3. Click Save

If you enter an invalid IP address, an error message is displayed.

4. Add the Avid NEXIS system to your DNS service.

ter the following information:

in your environment, separated by spaces

Changing the Storage System Name

The Storage System name represents all the Avid NEXIS Engines (and the System Director Appliance, if applicable) operating as one shared-storage system.

The name can be up to 31 English alphanume and A-Z), can contain a dash or hyphen (-), and must start and end with a letter or number.

Renaming the system requires a reboot. You might want to perform this change when clients are not connected

d actively using the system.

ric characters long, any combination of upper and lower case (a-z

f applicable) to search through when trying to

Change all the non-System Director Engines first, then change the SDA or Engine running the System Director

last.

To change the Storage System Name:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then System Setup.

2. Select any Engine not running the System Director. Click System.

3. Enter a new name into the Storage Syst

A confirmation message is displayed stating that the system might reboot. Click Co When the system reboots, a messa

reconnect. The amount of time remaining until reconnection is displayed and counts down in real time. When the remaining time has elapsed, you can log into the Management Consol e again.

4. Repeat this procedure on all Engi

em Name field, then click Save.

ntinue.

ge is displayed stating that the system is rebooting and will attempt to

nes except the SDA or the one running the System Director.

5. Change the Storage System Name on the SDA or the Engine running the System Director. Make sure this is the last Engine to be changed.

When the last Engine has rebooted, clients can reconnect to the system. Users might need to refresh the host list in the Client Manager to see the new name.

Upgrading the System

When new releases of the Avid NEXIS software are available, you can upgrade the Avid NEXIS clients and system to take advantage of new features and bug fixes.

All the system components (Engines and System Director Appliance, if applicable) are updated at the same time, through one operation.

To upgrade an Avid NEXIS System:

1. On your local computer, download the new software from Avid, using your support account.

2. Unzip the software on your computer.

3. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then System Setup.

4. Click the Install tab.

5. Click Choose File (or Browse on Firefox), and navigate to the location of the software kit contents that you just unzipped.

6. Click Upgrade. The kit is installed on each member of the system, and each reboots in turn. The System Manager remains

open, displaying a series of status updates about the upgrade process, and a reboot countdown, until the last component has rebooted. (The countdown text is always centered on the display; if it is in the way, try resizing your browser window until it no longer obscures the Results panel.)

The current login session ends, closing the Management Console. When the system reboots, the login screen is displayed.

7. Log back in to the Management Console.

8. Click Dashboard (if not already displayed) and look under the System heading to confirm the new version.

Capturing System Information (Avid NEXIS Snapshots)

Avid NEXIS Snapshots capture the current state of the system and store that information for you to examine or download later . Avid Customer Care personn el can use this in formation, coupled with the system logs collected by the Log Aggregator tool (see

The following information is collected:

• System Director (Storage Controller) name, storage system name, the date the snapshot was collected, and the name of the zip file containing the snapshot

• The system component information (in .csv and .zip files), including any current warnings or errors and their details

“Log Aggregator Tool” on page 73), to diagnose and troubleshoot problems.

• System Director status and metadata

• All currently configured system preferences

Working with Snapshots

Create a snapshot if requested by Avid Customer Care.

To create a snapshot:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Snapshots. Click Take New Snapshot.

3. Enter a name for the snapshot and click Cr

eate.

The snapshot is created and the details are displayed in the Snapshots window.

To see a snapshot:

t By default, the most recent snapshot is displayed automatically. To see a different snapshot, select one from

the list.

To download a snapshot:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Snapshots.

2. Select the snapshot to download. Click Download.

3. Depending on your browser, the file might be downloaded automatically to the computer’s default

ownloads folder, or yo u are asked t o choose whether to sa ve the file or open it. Save the fil e. Avid Customer

D Care might ask you to send them that file.

4. To view the contents of the file

To delete a snapshot:

, unzip or extract the file.

t Click Delete next to the snapshot you want to delete.

A confirmati on message is displayed.

ick Continue.

t Cl

The selected snapsh

To delete all snapshots:

ot is deleted.

1. Click Delete All (next to the Take New Snapshot icon). A confirmation dialog window opens.

2. Click Continue. All snapshots are deleted.

Working with Snapshot Archives

When you create a snapshot, the Avid NEXIS Snapshots tool creates a folder which includes a compressed file containing all the collected information. You can combine all the system snapshots into an archive to keep track of the system status — for example, you can archive sn archives in a ZIP file (archivename.zip).

The compressed archive uses the same file na You can download the archive in compressed for

apshots weekly or monthly. The Snapshot tool compresses

me format as the snapshot folder.

m as a ZIP file by clicking Download.

To create a snapshot archive:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Snapshots.

2. On the Snapshots page, click Ar Click Take New Archive.

3. (If no snapshots exist, you c

4. Enter a name for the archive and click Cr

5. Click OK t

o confirm building a new archive from all current snapshots.

The archive is created and listed

chives.

annot create an archive.)

eate.

in the Archiv es drop-down list. After you create an archive, the snapshots are

no longer available to view on the Snapshots screen.

To delete a snapshot archive:

1. Click Delete next to the archive you want to delete. A confirmation dialog appears.

2. Click Continue. The selected archive is deleted.

To delete all archives:

1. Click Delete All (next to the Take New Archive icon). A confirmation dialog window opens.

2. Click Continue. All archives are deleted.

2 Working with the Management Console

The Management Console is the primary interface to the Avid NEXIS system and allows you to perform administration functions.

When you access the Management Console, the Login page opens. Enter a user name and password to log in. If you type the wrong password, an error message appears and the Login dialog box reappears.

Initially, the Administrator password is blank by default. To set an administrator password, see “Changing the

Administrator Password” on page 5.

Standard Avid NEXIS client users can log in to the Management Console, but will have limited access to the Management Console interfa ce (Dashboard an d Installers page s only). They can see certain informa tion about th e network through the Client Manager. For more information about the Client Manager, see the Help.

Opening the Management Console

The Management Console runs within one of the following qualified web browsers:

• Windows — Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome

Avid NEXIS Client

• OS X — Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome

• RedHat Linux and CentOS — Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome

Performing administrative functions in more than one instance of the Management Console at the same time can cause unexpected results.

To open the Management Console as Administrator:

1. Open your web browser and in the address bar enter either of the following:

t System Director Name (if DNS is configured; see “Configuring DNS Service” on page 9) t IP address of the System Director. (This is the IP address of the Storage Controller running the System

Director; whether in a single- or multi-Engine configuration or in a

The Login dialog box for the Management Console opens.

2. Enter the Administrator user name and password. For information on changing the administrator password, see “Changing the Administrator Password” on

page 5.

3. Click Sign In or press Enter. The Management Console Home page opens.

To log out of the Management Console:

t Open the drop-down list in the upper right corner of the screen and select Log Out.

System Director Appliance.)

The Management Console session closes (logs out) automatically after two hours for security, and you must log back in.

Understanding the Management Console Interface

The Management Console user interface has the following main components.

Callout Description

1 Navigation Sidebar — Main menus for managing the Avid NEXIS system. See “Navigation Sidebar” on

page 16.

2 Menu Selection, Messages, and Action tools area — Displays the name of the selected menu item, and action

tools

(icons) for available actions based on the objects being displayed. See “Action Tools” on page 17.

Also displays error, warning, or status messages relating to actions

operation. 3 Main page — Displays detailed information for the menu item selected in the navigation sidebar. 4 Application menu — Contains links to actions you can take on the Mana gement Console UI itself:

• Open the Classic Management Console (looks like earlier

The Classic Management Console requires Adobe Flash Player.

• Log out

Help menu — Open links to the documentation for Avid NEXIS, and a link to the disk slot diagrams for all Avid

NEXIS models

taken, such as successful completion of an

versions of the Avid NEXIS UI)

Navigation Sidebar

The Navigation sidebar is divided into the following main sections: System, Storage, Monitoring, Users, and Logs, each of which expands to display functions or objects related to that category.

System Section

The System section contains:

• Dashboard (displayed by default when you log into a running, configured system)—Displays overall health

and status information about the system.

• Bandwidth Limits—Lets you create, edit, sort and manage band width limits for clients.

• Installers—Provides links to the installers fo r the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, LDAP Sync Tool, Avid NEXIS

Client software, and Avid NEXIS software to install on other Engines.

• System Setup—Displays information about the current configuration and lets you edit various attributes and

settings.

• System Settings—Manages system preferences, the file system setup, and metadata.

• Snapshots—Lets you create a snapshot of the current state of the Avid NEXIS system.

Storage Section

The Storage section contains:

• Workspaces—Displays current Workspaces and lets you create, modify and delete Workspaces and their

attributes.

• Storage Groups—Display s current Storage Groups and le ts you create, mo dify and de lete Storage Gr oups and

their attributes.

• Engines—Displays current Engines and lets you modify some Engine attri butes.

• Controllers—Displays current Controller information and lets you modify some Controller attributes.

• Media Packs—Displays current Media Pack information and lets you modify some Media Pack attributes.

Monitoring Section

The Monitoring section contains:

• Client Bandwidth—Displays total system bandwidth use, and bandwidth consumption of each connected

system.

• Connection Status—Displays the users and other entities connected to (or logged into) the system, including

internal users such as the Storage Managers.

• Redistribution—Displays in fo rma tio n ab out any in-progress redistributions, and which Media Packs are

involved.

• Reservations—Displays any bandwidth reservations set inside the Client Manager.

Users Section

The Users section contains:

• Users—Lets you create, edit, sort and manage user accounts.

• User Groups—Lets you create, edit, sort and manage user groups.

• Notifications—Lets you configure an SMTP server for email notifications and filter which types o f system

events are sent to the contacts you configure.

• External Authentication—Lets you configure and manage external authentication servers for LDAP.

• Administrator—Lets you change the administrator password.

Logs Section

The Logs section contains:

• Event History—Displays the past 5 days (96 hours) of system status information. You can download the

istory as a zip file, and then send the file to Avid Customer Care upon request.

• System Logs—Lets you choose from various logs to display.

• Media Pack Logs—Displays log files for t

Action Tools

Depending on which section is open in the System Navigation sidebar, various action tools are displayed.

Action Tool Action Description

he Media Packs in the system.

Filter When clicked, displays filter options for the displayed objects. See “Filtering,

Sorting, and Searching” on page 18.

Redistribution Applies to Wo rkspaces only.

Allows you to start, suspend, resume, and verify Workspace redistribution.

Add Allows you to create a new workspace, user, user group, storage group,

bandwidth limit, or contact for email notification.

Refresh (or Continuous Refresh)

Refreshes the display. If a down arrow is present, lets you choose between Refresh (which refreshes the display once) or Continuous Refresh (which continues to refresh the display until either you leave the screen or disable Continuous Refresh mode).

In Continuous Refresh mode, blue text displays “Continuous refresh enabled” and the blue Refresh

icon spins.

Edit Toggles edit mode for an object, which also displays additional details for an

object. Select a different object to edit it or display its details. Click Edit again to close edit mode.

Duplicate Applies to Workspaces and users.

Lets you duplicate a Workspace or user.

Advanced Applies to Engines.

Lets you view details about the Engines in the shared-storage system, hardware

tus (fans, system temperature, and other data), and disk status (operational

sta status, slot number, SSD health if applicable, and other data).

Clear In the Logs–Event History section, clears the history status flags.

In the Logs–System Logs section, clears the log viewer.

Download In the Logs–Event History section, lets you download the event history to a file

which you can send to Avid Customer Care if requested.

Action Tool Action Description (Continued)

Dump All Logs Applies to Media Pack Logs only.

Lets you create a dumpfile of all the Media Pack logs. You can retrieve and send this file to

Disable Logs Applies to Media Pack Logs only.

Lets you disable or enable collection of Media Pack logs. The color if the action tool indicates to

• Gray — Disabled

• Blue — Enabled

A vid Customer Care if requested.

Filtering, Sorting, and Searching

You can filter, sort, and search for specific objects in most of the displays.

Sorting Objects

The sort options depend on the type of objects displayed. To display all objects, click Refresh.

Category or Object Type Sort Options

current behavior:

Bandwidth Limits Name, Bandwidth, Description Workspaces Name, Storage Group, Engine Protection Mode Storage Groups Name, Mirror Capable Engines Name, Product, Product Part Number, Serial Number, Type Controllers Host Name, BMC Version, Controller Serial Number, Engine Serial Number Media Packs Name, Host Name, State, Engine Serial Number, Storage Group Users Name, Flags, Bandwidth User Groups Name

Filtering and Searching for Objects

, Media Pack Protection Mode

You can search among all objects in a category (for example, among all users or all W o rkspaces) or you can search within a filtered list.

For example, on the Workspaces page, you can select Name from the sort options, then start typin g in the Search

ld. Only names matching or containing the typed characters are displayed. Or you can select Storage Group

fie from the sort options and type in the Search field. Only Workspaces in Storage Groups matching or containing the typed characters are displayed.

Updating the Display

You can update onscreen information to reflect recent system changes by clicking Refresh. You can also set the display to refresh continuously.

To enable Continuous Refresh:

t On any screen that displays the Refresh icon with a down arrow (drop-down menu), open the menu and select

Continuous refresh. Continuous refresh mode is enabled, th e refresh icon spins contin uously, and a status message is displayed on

e screen as long as it remains enabled.

To disable Continuous Refresh:

t Click the spinning Refresh icon, click any other action button on the screen, or click a different navigation

sidebar menu item.

Guidelines for Names and Passwords

Follow these guidelines when creating object names or passwords in the Management Console:

• Names (Storage Groups, Users, Groups) can be a maximum of 31 ASCII

• Workspace names can be up to 31 characters long, must use Unic

• The Administrator and User passwords (for accessing the Management Console) can be a maximum of 127

tes, which equals 127 ASCII characters. Other chara cter sets, such as UTF, might result in fewer characters,

by but the limit remains 127 bytes.

• Do not include a space in any name fields.

last

• Do not use a period (.) as either the first or

• Do not use the following characters in any name fields:

Character Name Character Name

^ Circumflex accent | Vertical line \ Backslash [ Left square bracket / Forward slash ] Right square bracket : Colon + Plus sign * Asterisk = Equals sign ? Question mark % Percent sign " Double quotation mark ; Semicolon

character in the names you create.

ode characters and cannot include a space.

characters in length.

< Less-than sign , Comma > Greater-than sign @ Commercial At symbol

The Management Console does not support displaying regional language characters.

Customizing the System Settings

The System Settings panel allows you to set parameters that customize the basic functionality of the Avid NEXIS system:

• General Preferences—These

• Logging Preferences—These control what t

control general system behaviors and are described in the following table.

ypes of logs are collected and the severity and verbosity of the event being logged. These are not described here; do not change these unless instructed to do so by Avid Customer Care.

General Preferences

Option Type Default Description

Total System Bandwidth (MB/sec)

Default Bandwidth for Auto Created Devices (MB/sec)

Force Manual Device Cr

eation

Default LCT Threshold (m

text (numeric)

check box Disabled If enabled, clients without an entry in the Bandwidth Limits list

text (numeric)

1000 MB/sec Total reservation bandwidth allowed by the system, in MB/sec.

When this value has been reached, Avid NEXIS will no longer ac

cept bandwidth reservations from clients.

This value does not represent the actual bandwidth capabilities of

the Avid NEXIS system. For more information about Avid NEXIS bandwidth capabilities,

0 Reservation bandwidth allowed for devices that are

automatically created at connection time. The default value (0) grants unlimited bandwidth.

are not allowed to connect. Manually create an entry for every client computer that is expected to connect to the Avid NEXIS sys

tem.

0 Defines the upper limit of the Long Command Time (LCT)

value, above which the Media Pack will report a Disk Degraded condition to the System Director.

The default value (0) sets the LCT threshold to the internal

default of 750ms.

system

see Avid NEXIS Documentation.

Default Hard Disk Error Thr

eshold

History Data Collection check box Enabled When enabled (default), collects system history data (see

Auto-Rectify check box Disabled Automatically reconciles the actual amount of used space and

text (numeric)

Configuring System Settings

To configure System Settings:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Settings.

2. Click Preferences, if not already displayed.

0 Defines the upper limit for number of hard disk errors before

the Media Pack reports a Disk Failure condition to the System Director.

The default (0) uses the internal system value of 25 errors.

“Displaying Event History” on page 68. If disabled (for support

only), the system stops collecting new data, but existing

use data is retained.

the reported amount of used spac disabled. Takes effect immediately with no restart required.

e on a system.Default value is

3. Configure the settings you want.

As soon as you make a change, the Save i

4. (Optional) To revert all options to the previously saved values, click Re Click Save.

Monitoring Client Bandwidth

The Dashboard displays system usage in MB/sec for both reads and writes. You can toggle the display to show only reads or only writes or both.

Below the Bandwidth chart, the band wid t h and writes.

con is displayed.

set.

of each connected client is displayed, with separate columns for reads

3 Managing Storage

Storage Groups are collections of Media Packs, enabling you to create large pools of storage for media files accessible within a shared-storage environment. Storag e and bandwidth among groups with different functional areas, workflow requirements, or as a means of mitigating the risk of various disk failure scenarios.

Within Storage Groups, you create Workspaces. Clients mount Workspaces to capture, edit, and play back media files.

Workspaces are virtual volumes that ex ist on Storage Groups and can be resized dynamically. Workspaces allow you to subdivide the space in the Storage

Storage Group Considerations

Before creating Storage Groups, think about how you will use them, what options your hardware supports, and what types of protections you want on the Workspaces in the Storage Groups. The total Storage Group capacity is based on the number and capacity of all the Media Packs in the group, and the types of Workspace protections you choose.

Using a single Storage group provides the highest bandwidth to all users and Workspaces. The Workspaces can use different protection modes in the same Storage Group. Unless you have specialized needs, Avid recommends creating a single Storage Group containing multiple Workspaces, each with different protection schemes as needed.

Groups to accommodate projects and users.

Groups give you flexibility in allocating storage cap acity

Storage Group Space and Media Pack Capacity

The total available Storage Group space is a multiple of the smallest Media Pack in the Storage Group. Avid recommends always using the same capacity Media Packs within a Storage Group.

For example, a Storage Group with four Media Packs, each of 20TB, has a total capacity of 80TB. However, a Storage Group with two 20TB Media Packs and two 40TB Media Packs also has a total capacity of 80TB.

Similarly, make sure to use drives of the same size within a Media Pack. M edi a Pac k c apa cit y is a multi pl e of the smallest drive in the pack. If necessary, you can use a larger capacity drive to replace a smaller one in a Media Pack, but the extra capacity of the larger drive is not used. The Media Pack will not accept a smaller drive to replace a larger drive.

Protecting Workspaces from Engine Failure (Media Mirroring)

Media mirroring is a feature that can protect Workspaces from the failure of an entire Engine in a Storage Group. It requires a shared-storage system consisting of a same type, with the same number and capacity of Media Packs. When you create a Storage Group from those Media Packs, the Storage Group is mirror capable, which allows you to create mirr or ed Workspaces in that group. All writes to a mirrored Workspace are duplicated (mirrored) to another Engine in the Storage Group, so if one entire Engine fails, the data (and the Workspace) survives.

System Director Appli ance and at least three (3) Engines of the

Avid does not recommend splitting Engines between multiple mirror-capable Storage Groups. For example, consider three Avid NEXIS | E5 Engines, each with six 60TB Media Packs. Avid recommends adding all 18 M

edia Packs to the same Storage Group (which will be mirror-capable), as shown.

You can also divide the Media Packs into one mirror-capable Stor age Group, and one no n-mirror -ca pable Storage Group:

However, Avid does not recommend creating multiple mirror-capable Storage Groups from the same set of Engines:

If the Storage Group does not initially meet the requirements to support mirrored Workspaces, you can add Engines or Media Packs later to make the Storage Group mirror-capable, as long as the Storage Group ultimately contains at least three (3) Engines of the same type with the same number and capacity Media Packs.

If a Storage Group is already mirror capable, you can add more Engines of the same type, if they have the same number of M

edia Packs, with the same capacity, as the other Engines already in the group.

You can apply mirroring to any or all of the Workspaces in t

hat Storage Group, but once applied to a W orkspace i t

cannot be changed.

Storage Group Space and Media Mirroring

Media mirroring prevents media loss if an entire Engine fails, but reduces the overall amount of usable space in the Storage Group. Because all writes to a mirrored Workspace are made to two Engines in the Storage Group, the Storage Group capacity is reduced by the amount of space used by the mirrored Workspaces.

Mirrored W orkspaces can use either one-disk or two-disk protection. The protection mode cannot be changed after

he Workspace is created. Disk protection is used with mirrored Workspaces to repair and rebuild disk failures

t within a Media Pack.

Net usable space in the Storage Group is determined as follows:

Workspace Protection Type File Size Multiplier Net Storage Group Space

Two-disk 2 (for each mirror copy), then x 1.25 =

file size x 2.5

One-disk 2 (for each mirror copy), then 1.125 =

file size x 2.25

Changes to Mirror-Capable Storage Groups

60TB Storage Group with all two-disk protected Workspaces: 60/2.5 = 24TB

60TB Storage Group with all two-disk protecte

d Workspaces: 60/2.25 = 26TB

You can add Media Packs to a mirror-capable Storage Group, and you can remove Media Packs as long as the group has enough space to maintain any current mirrored Workspaces, and remains mirror-capable. You cannot add or remove Media Packs in ways that would invalidate the mirror-capable attribute of the Storage Group. The following table shows examples of supported and unsupported changes to mirror-capable Storage Groups.

Current Storage Group Configuration Supported Operations Unsupported Operations

Three Avid NEXIS | E2 Engines  each with one 20TB Media Pack

Three Avid NEXIS | E4 Engines  each with one 60TB Media Pack

Three Avid NEXIS | E4 Engines  each with two 20TB Media Packs

Four Avid NEXIS | E2 Engines  each with one 60TB Media Pack

Three Avid NEXIS | E5 Engines  each with four 20TB Media Packs

Add more Avid NEXIS | E2 Engines  each with one 20TB Media Pack

Add more Avid NEXIS | E4 Engines  each with one 60TB Media Pack

Add more Avid NEXIS | E4 Engines  each with two 20TB Media Packs

Add more Avid NEXIS | E2 Engines  each with one 60TB Media Pack

Remove one of the Avid NEXIS | E2 Engines (if current W orkspaces)

Add more Avid NEXIS | E5 Engines  each with four 20TB Media Packs

there is enough space for the

Add a different Media Pack size Add a different Engine type Remove one Media Pack (Engine)

Add a different Media Pack size Add a different Engine type Remove one Media Pack or one Engine

Add different Media Pack size Add a different Engine type Remove a Media Pack from a subset of

the current

Remove a Media Pack Add more Media Packs to a subset of

the current Add a different Media Pack size Add a different Engine type

Engines

Storage Group Performance Options

A Storage Group can have one of the following performance options:

• High Performance—Especially suited for workflows where a small number of clients (10 or fewer) needs to rieve or push more than 400MB/s (Scale-Out Performance). Can contain only Media Packs that were

ret bound with the High Performance bind setting (see “Binding Media Packs to the File System” on page 2).

• Scale-Out Performance—Suitable for a wide variety of workflows, and use only Media Packs that were

und with the Scale-Out Performance bind setting.

• SSD Performance—Available only on an Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD engine and intend ed for playback

of ultra

high bandwidth media.

Feature Scale-Out Performance High Performance SSD Performance

Mirrored W orkspaces Yes No No Can belong to same shared-

system as other types of

storage Storage Groups

Yes Yes No

Feature Scale-Out Performance High Performance SSD Performance

Max number of Storage Groups per shared-storage system, by type

Media Pack protections for Workspaces

Supported client connection speeds

Supported number of clients See ReadMe Around 10 for best results Around 10 for best results

See the Avid NEXIS ReadMe 1, plus Scale-Out

0, 1, and 2-disk 0, 1, and 2-disk 0, 1, and 2-disk

1GbE, 2x1Gbe, 10Gbe, 2x10Gbe

Managing Workspaces

In addition to creating and deleting Workspaces, you can change the name, size, user access and permissions, and event triggers.

Workspace Considerations

Before you create Workspaces:

• Consider how you want to allocate them. For example, you can allocate them to projects, groups, individual

clients, streaming bit rates, media types, media distributors, or a combination of these.

Performance Storage Groups (for limit, see the

NEXIS ReadMe

1GbE, 2x1Gbe, 10Gbe, 2x10Gbe

Avid

)

1, by itself

40GbE

• Consider whether you want to apply access restrictions, and what type.

• Determine how much storage each Workspace requires and allocate space accordingly. This might be a

function of project size, number of clients, media duration, or media resolution.

• Determine the Workspace protection type you want. See “Workspace Protection Methods” on page 27.

• Determine Workspace performance requirements. If you have a High Performance Storage Group you can

create High Performance Workspaces. For more information see

Consider reserving some space in the Storage Group rather than assigning all of it immediately to Workspaces. Allocated space tends to be filled quickly and you might need more later to accommodate a new project or client or to extend or protect an existing Workspace. In these situations, it is easier to use space held in reserve than to take it away from an existing Workspace.

Workspace Protection Methods

Workspaces serve different purposes, and might need different levels of protection against data loss when a drive in a Media Pack fails, or when an entire Engine fails. Avid recommends protecting all your Workspaces whenever possible.

“Storage Group Considerations” on page 23.

Protecting Workspaces from Drive Failure

To protect a Workspace from drive failure, choose from the following options when you create the Workspace:

• Two Disk Protection — Workspace data can tolerate the simultaneous failure of two drives per Media Pack.

Offers the best protection but requires the most space in the Storage Group.

• One Disk Protection — Workspace data can tolerate the failure of one drive per Media Pack. Offers some

protection, but requires timely replacement of failed drives.

• Unprotected — Workspace data is lost if a single drive in any Media Pack fails. Uses the least space in the

Storage Group. Not available in a mirror-capable Storage Group.

If you want to ensure protection of your files at all times, always choose a protection mode when creating new Workspaces (before any files are stored on the Workspace). You cannot change the protection mode later.

If a Storage Group contains Workspaces with different protection modes, when Media Pack drives fail, the Workspaces with one-disk protection are rebuilt at a higher priority than those with two-disk protection. After all one-disk protected Workspaces are rebuilt, the two-disk protected Workspace rebuilds begin. The Workspaces list displays the rebuild operations pending and in progress (including percent done) for all Workspaces.

Protecting Workspaces from Engine Failure

Mirrored Workspaces protect against data loss if an entire Engine fails. To create mirrored Workspaces, the Storage Group must contain at least three Media Packs from at least three

identical Engines: three

Avid NEXIS | E2, three Avid NEXIS | E4, or three Avid NEXIS | E5 Engines, with a System Director Applian ce. In addit ion, each E ngine must contain t he same number of Media Pac ks as the others, and the Media Packs must be of equal capacity: all 20TB or all 60TB. (If a Storage Group can support Engine protection for Workspaces, the Mirror Capable column on the Storage Groups page displays Yes. See

“Storage Groups List” on page 39.)

If you enable Engine protection (mirroring) on a Workspace, you cannot disable it.

Creating a Workspace

Each Workspace can have unique access privileges, permissions, protection modes, and event triggers. At least one Storage Group must exist before you can create a Workspace; see

Each Workspace must have a unique name within the whole shared-storage system, even if you have multiple Storage Groups.

To add a new Workspace:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Click Add.

The Attributes panel opens.

3. In the Name text box, type a name for the Workspace. See “Guidelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19 for more information.

4. Choose an Engine Protection Mode (if the Storage Group supports it): either Unprotected (default) or Mirrored.

5. Choose a Media Pack Protection Mode. Each Workspace in a Storage Group can use a different mode. In a mirror-capable Storage Group, you can choose either one-disk or two-disk protection for the Workspace.

“Creating a Storage Group” on page 38.

6. (Optional) If you have multiple Storage Groups, click the Storage Group drop-down list and select the Storage

If the Storage Gro up does not support the protection mode you selected, you must choose either a different Storage

Group or a different protection mode.

The Storage Group name appears in the Storage Group text box.

7. Type a size for the Workspace in the Capacity text box. The Capacity text box contains the default size (214.74 GB), and the maximum size is shown next to it.

The minimum Workspace size is 1.073 GB.

If all storage in the Storage Group is allocated to existing Workspaces, you can recapture some space by making an existing Workspace smaller. For more information, see

8. (Optional) To set a Warning event trigger, select the type of trigger from the drop-down list (either Used % > or Unused GB <), then type in a value.

9. (Optional) To set an Error event trigger, select the type of trigger from the drop-down list (either Used % > or Unused GB <), then type in a value.

For more information, see “Setting Event Triggers for a Workspace” on page 33.

10. In the User Access pa nel, set the User and User Group access privileges (for more information, see “Setting or

Changing Workspace Acce ss Privileges” on page 34).

Group in which you want to create the Workspace.

“Resizing a Workspace” on page 31.

11. Click Save.

The new Workspace appears in the Workspaces list, and the Create Workspace dialog box refreshes to allow you to create a new Workspace.

If a Workspace with the same name exists already, an error occurs.

Workspaces List

The Workspaces list displays all Workspaces, the Storage Groups they are in, and Workspace details.

Heading Description

Name Lists the names of all Workspaces in the selected Storage Groups and an icon

Storage Group Displays the Storage Group that contains the Workspace Capacity Lists the total storage capacity of each Workspace Maximum Lists the maximum amount of storage space available for the Workspace on the

indicating the Workspace status:

• Green —Workspace is OK

• Green with UP arrow—Workspace is High Performance or SSD performance and is OK

• Yellow —Media Packs are rebuilding a drive

network

Engine Protection Mode Displays the Engine protection mode applied to the Workspaces (Mirrored or

Unprotected)

Heading Description

Media Pack Protection Mode Displays the Media Pack protection mode applied to the Workspaces (Two Disk

Protection, One Disk Protection, or Unprotected) Performance Displays the bind setting on the Media Pack (High Performance or Scale-Out) Used Displays the amount of storage space currently in use in the Workspace Unused Lists the amount of storage space that currently has no data written on it in each

Workspace Space on Disk Lists the amount of disk space actually used by the data in the Workspace, accounting

for the Workspace protection mode and some overhead. Status Displays the Workspace status, such as:

• Workspace is about to be deleted (“Delete pending”)

• Workspace is running out of space

• Workspace is full

• Redistribution pending

• Redistribution in progress

• Rebuild pending (after a drive in a Media Pack failed)

• Rebuild in progress (shows percent done)

Config Changes Displays the number of changes to a Storage Group that involve moving data — for

example, the number of times a Media Pack has been added or removed Files Lists the total number of files stored in the Workspace

To sort t he information in the Media Packs panel, click any column heading.

Displaying Workspace Details

The Workspaces panel in the Management Console displays detailed information and allows you to manage Workspaces.

To see detailed information about a Workspace:

t In the Workspaces list, either select a Workspace and click Edit, or double-click a Workspace name.

To close the Details panel:

t Click Edit or Refresh. The Details panel (Edit mode) contains the same information as the Workspaces column list and includes the

following additional functions an d information:

• Resize slider, which lets you quickly change the Workspace capacity (to change the size to a specific value,

enter a number in the Capacity field instead. See

• Number of directories in the Workspace

• Warning event trigger—the value in used percentage (%) or unused gigabytes (GB) of storage at which a

warning event is written to the Event Log

“Resizing a Workspace” on page 31.)

• Error event trigger—the value in used percentage (%) or unused gigabytes (GB) of storage at which an error

event is written to the Event Log

• User access list—all users and groups and their respective privileges. For information on access privileges,

“Managing User Access Privileges for Workspaces” on page 33.

see

Resizing a Workspace

You can change the size of a Workspace, but yo u cann ot make it smalle r tha n ei ther the amount of i n-use space or the minimum size (1.073GB). You also cannot make it larger than the remaining available space in the Storage Group.

If you have set event triggers on a Workspace, and you receive notification that a Workspace is running out of free space, you can increase its size. Alte rnatively, you might need to make a Workspace smaller to create space in the Storage Group for other Workspaces or to reserve storage for future use.

The Storage Group must contain at least as much available space as the amount by which you want to increase the Workspace. If not, add more Media Packs to the Storage Group first; see

Storage Groups” on page 45.

To change the size of a Workspace:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Double-click a Workspace.

3. Do one of the following:

“Adding Unassigned Media Packs to

t Click the handle of the Workspaces size graph, and drag it to resize the graphical display. The Workspace

size listed in the Capacity text box changes when you release the handle.

t Type a new value for the Workspace size in the Capacity text box. To undo your change, click Reset. To

confirm the new size, click Save.

After you resize a Workspace the slider graph refreshes to display the new Maximum values for all Workspaces in the list.

Duplicating a Workspace

When you duplicate a Workspace, the new Workspace inherits the attributes of the original. You can change any of the attributes on the new Workspace except the Engine protection mode and the Storage Group. The new Workspace does not contain the data from the original.

The name of the new Workspace is the same as the original, with a 1 appended, except if a Workspace with that name already exists. In such cases, the name of the new Workspace is the next available sequential number after the existing name.

For example, copying Workspace1 results in Workspace11. If Workspace11 already exists, the new one is named Workspace12. If Workspace 12 already exists, the new one is named Workspace121.

Duplicated Workspace names are created by appending a 1 (or the next available sequential digit), not by

incrementing the number by 1. Copying Workspaces can result in names that are not in sequence with the originals, and can jump to a 3-digit, 4-digit, or longer suffix depending on the existing Workspace names.

The Storage Group must contain at least as much available space as the size of the Workspace you are

duplicating.

To duplicate a Workspace:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Select the Workspace you want to duplicate.

Click Duplicate.

4. (Optional) You can change the name, size, Media Pack pr

Click Save.

5. The new Workspace appears in the Workspace li If there is not enough free space for the

Deleting a Workspace

You can delete Workspaces that are not currently being accessed by any clients, whether or not the Workspaces have media files stored on them. Deleting a Workspace returns its capacity to the amount of available space in the Storage Group.

Before deleting a Workspace, make sure that its med If you delete a Workspace that has been mapped to a

Workspace. Clients should unmap the deleted Workspace using the Avid Client Manager. For more information, see the Avid NEXIS Client Manager Installation and User’s Guide o

Redistribution starts automatically when you delete a Workspace. During periods of high client usage, this might reduce client performance, resulting in dropped frames, underruns, and failed captures. If possible, delete Workspaces during periods of light client activity. You can suspend and resume redistribution as needed.

To delete a Workspace:

otection mode, event triggers, or user access.

st, and the Details panel is refresh ed.

Workspace, an error is displayed. Change the size of the Workspace.

ia is moved, backed up, or no longer needed.

local drive by a client, the client can no longer access that

r the Client Manager Help.

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. In the Workspaces list, select th Click Delete.

3. A confirmation dialog is displayed, asking you to confirm the operation.

4. Click Continue. The Workspace is deleted.

Renaming a Workspace

You can rename a Workspace at any time, even when it is bei ng used by clie nt workstations an d mapped to a lo cal drive or by letterless mapping (to a Universal Naming Convention path) on the client system. The Workspace name will be different the next time clients need to access it.

As a best practice, Avid recommends th

To rename a Workspace:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Double-click the Workspace na

3. Type a new name in the Name text box.

e Workspace you want to delete.

at users unmount the Workspace you want to rename before you proceed.

me you want to change.

For information on valid and invalid characters, see “Gu idelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19.

4. (Optional) Click Re Click Save.

set to undo any modifications made to the Workspace information.

Setting Event Triggers for a Workspace

Event triggers will write events to the Event log when Workspace capacity is less than a specified value, or when used Workspace capacity exceeds a specified percentage. You can create triggers for both Warning and Error events:

• Warning events indicate that the amount you set, and you have time to take action (increase the size of the Workspace or change the event trigger) before it can cause problems.

• Error events indicate that the amount of used or unuse threshold that you set. Take immediate action to correct the problem.

If you have email notifications enabled, you can receive ema occur. For more information, see “Configuring the Notification Service” on page 3.

To set an event trigger:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Double-click the Workspace for whic

3. (Optional) Select one of the following from the Warning Event Trigger drop-down list: nused GB < (Trigger a warning when unused capacity falls below the specified value, in gigabytes)

t U t Used % > (T

4. Type a value in the text field for the capacity at which you want the event to be triggered.

5. (Optional) Select one of the following from nused GB < (Trigger a warning when unused capacity falls below the specified value, in gigabytes)

t U t Used % >

6. Type a value in the text field for the capacity at which you want the event to be triggered.

rigger a warning when used capacity exceeds the specified percentage value)

(Trigger warning when used capacity exceeds the specified percentage value)

of used or unused space in the Workspace is nearing a threshold that

d space in the Workspace has already met the critical

il notifications when Workspace capacity events

h you want to set a trigger.

the Error Event Trigger “used” list:

7. Click Save.

Managing User Access Privileges for Workspaces

You can set the following privileges for user and user group access to Workspaces:

Icon (Blue=enabled, white=disabled) Access Type Definition

Read/Write User (client) can mount, read and write to the Workspace

Read User (client) can mount and read from the Workspace

Icon (Blue=enabled, white=disabled) Access Type Definition

None User (client) cannot read, write, or mount the Workspace

By default, new accounts do not have access privileges to Workspaces until an administrator assigns them (see

“Creating Users” on page 52). You can customize access for each client to every

Workspace, if necessary.

You can control access either from the and group on the system)—or from the user or group level (granting access to a user or group for all or specific Workspaces, or preventing a user or a whole group of users from accessing one or more Workspaces).

To modify an individual client’s or group’s access privileges, see “C hangi ng U ser De tails” on pa ge 53. T o control

ccess to a Workspace for all users and groups, see “Setting or Changing Workspace Access Privileges” on

page 34.

You also can give users different access privileges from th group’s privileges set the baseline for all group members, and you can tailor the privileges for specific members of that group.

For example, you can grant a group read/write access, then restrict some members t Alternatively, you can give the group read-only (or no) access, but specify read or read-write access for some members of the group. This can be useful for projects that include users who need a variety of permissions.

When a user has a different access type than the group it belongs to, the User Access table displays the user’s

custom access privilege in the Effective column.

Changes to Workspace privilege

Current Privilege New Privilege Effect

None Read or Read/Write Available immediately

Workspace level (specifying the access to that Workspace for every user

ose given to the group to which they belong. The

o read-only or no access.

s take effect as follows:

Read Read/Write Available immediately Read/Write Read Apply immediately. If a file is open for writing, client retains write

Read or Read/Write None If a client is already at the Workspace selection stage when the access

Setting or Changing Workspace Access Privileges

You can set access privileges for users and user groups when the client accounts are created (see “Creating Users”

on page 52 and “Adding User Groups” on page 62), or later (see “Changing User Details” on page 53).

Alt

ernatively you can set, modify, and monitor access privileges to Workspaces without having to modify

individual client accounts.

Make sure all users have unmoun ted the Workspace before you change its access privileges.

rivilege until file is closed.

rivileges are removed, the Workspaces remain in the display. Future

p attempts to access the W orkspaces will be unsuccessful.

To set or change user or user group access to a Workspace:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Double-click a Workspace.

3. In the User Access panel , cl ick the icon for t he privil ege you are granti ng to t he users of that Workspace. The

icon turns blue when enabled and the Access value in the User Access table changes immediately.

Workspace Redistribution

Redistribution is an operation that ensures all files in a Workspace are balanced evenly across the Media Packs in the Storage Packs to ensure redundancy and protect against data loss. When re distribution occurs, it affect s all the Workspaces in a Storage Group.

Operations that initiate redistribution of data include:

• Adding or removing Media Packs from a Storage Group

• Deleting Workspaces

About Configuration Changes

The configuration of a Storage Group is based on the Media Packs that make up that group. When you add or remove Media Packs from the Storage

• A configuration change is made

Group to provide optimal file system perfo rmance. Da ta chunk s are dist ributed a cross multipl e Media

Group:

• An incremental redistribution is performed to balance the files in the Storage Group across the Media Packs Deleting Workspaces results in a redistribution but does not cause a configuration change. You can see the number

of configuration changes that have been applied to a Workspace; see After 20 configuration changes, the Workspaces page displays a warning to perform a full redistribution. You can

manually initiate a Full Redistribution for a non-mirror-capable Storage Group at any time using the Workspaces page in the the System Status Panel general status remain at Warning until a full redistribution is performed (see

a Full Redistribution” on page 36).

Redistribution Reference Information and Restrictions

After 30 configuration changes without a full redistribution, the system will perform a full redistribution automatically. This could significantly reduce system performance until the redistribution operation has completed.

•The Avid NEXIS supports add, remove, and full redistributions under load for all Storage Groups.

- A load con dition exists when the Workspace has active clients (reading and writing to the Workspace).

- A no l oad condition exists whe n a Workspace is not mounted or has inactive clients (the Workspace might

• When redistributing under load, allow the redistribution to complete before initiating a second redistribution.

• System performance can degrade significantly during redistribution in a Storage Group with the maximum client count. Reducing the number of clients allows the active clients using the Storage normally, with successful playback and captures. Perform redistributions during periods of light client

Management Console. Until then, the system continues to function, but the affected Workspaces and

be mounted but clients are not performing reads or writes).

“Displaying Workspace Details” on page 30.

“Performing

Group to function

activity, or reduce the overall load if client performance degrades (for example, the client experiences dropped frames, underruns, and failed captures). Limitations on expected client performance during redistribution include the following:

- Reducing audio tracks from 8 to 4 during playback might be required during redistribution. (Normal

eration supports 2 streams of video 8 tracks of audio.)

- Reducing the number of video streams from 2 to 1 might be required during redistribution. (Normal

eration supports 2 streams of video.)

You can suspend and resume redistribut

• The amount of time a redistribution takes depends on whether the Workspace is in a load or a no load

ndition, whether you are addi ng o r remo ving a Media Pack, and how much dat a in the Storage Group must

stributed.

be redi

• Redistributions are performed on 20 Workspaces at a time. If your Storage Group exceeds 20 Workspaces, the

orkspace status shows “Redistribution In Process” for the first 20 Workspaces and “Redistribution

ng” for the rest of the Workspaces in that Storage Group. As Workspaces finish with the redistribution,

Pendi the Workspaces with “Redistribution Pending” status start to redistribute until all the Workspaces in that Storage Group have finished the redistribution.

• Do not unbind or physically remove a Media Pack until the redistribution is complete and it has been removed

he Storage Group.

from t

Performing a Full Redistribution

If you physically remove or unbind a Media Pack from the shared-storage network before redistribution is complete, or if you physically remo ve more than one Media Pack from a Storage Group before performing

edistribution, data loss can occur.

a r If you turn off any of the Engines before redistribution is complete, data loss can occur.

In addition to automatic redistribution operations (see “Workspace Redistribution” on page 35), you can also i

nitiate redistribution manually; for example, to perform a full redistribution when the Config Changes count

exceeds 20. (For information about Config Changes, see “Displaying Workspace Details” on page 30.)

ion on all Workspaces as needed.

When the Config Changes count reaches 20, a message is displayed recommending that you perform

redistribution.

Initiating, suspending, and resuming redistribution applies to all Workspaces in the Storage Group. You can also

orm redistribution on multiple Storage Groups at the same time.

perf

To redistribute Workspaces manually:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Select a Workspace. Click the Redistribution tool icon.

4. Click Start

5. In the confirmation dialog box, click Con Files are redistributed, and the count in the Config Changes

required for the redistribution depends on the amount of d at a in the Workspaces.

Suspending Redistribution

Under some conditions, you might have to suspend or resume an in-progress redistribution.

Redistribution.

tinue.

column is reset to zero. The amount of time

The Resume Redistribution and Suspend Redistribution options can result in degraded system performance. Suspending redistributions can have serious consequences for the file system if not monitor ed closely. These two Advanced Commands options should be used by Avid Customer Care personnel or under Avid Customer Care direction.

To suspend a redistribution:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Select a Workspace. Click the Redistribution tool icon.

4. Click S Continuous Refresh is enabled automatically. All Workspac

Resuming Redistribution

If you manually suspend a redistribution, you must also manu considered temporary. Do not leave Workspaces in the suspended state for extended periods of time.

To resume a redistribution:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Select a Workspace. Click the Redistribution tool icon.

4. Click Resume Redistribution.

5. In the confirmation dialog box, click Con Redistribution is resumed for all Workspaces in the selected Storage Groups.

Verifying Redistribution

You can use the Advanced Commands to verify a redistribution. completed successfully.

Verification has minima l impact on performance and completes quickly.

To verify a redistribution:

uspend Redistribution.

es show the status “redistribution suspended.”

ally resume it. Suspending redistributions should be

tinue.

Verification makes sure that redistribution has

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Workspaces.

2. Select a Workspace. Click the Redistribution tool icon.

4. Click V Continuous refresh is automatically enabled, and the Status column di splays the state of redistribution for th at

Redistribution Status Definitions

The following table lists the status messages relating to redistribution, and a brief description.

Some Media Pack errors, not strict ly related to redistribution, can interrupt redistribution or cause it to fail. See

“About Media Pack Status” on page 44.

erify Redistribution.

orkspace.

Status Comments

initializing redistribution

redistribution pending Workspace redistribution is about to start, either automatically as the result of configuration

redistribution in pr

ogress

redistribution suspended

stalled redistribution The Media Pack is currently stalled while trying to move blocks to other Media Packs. This might

The Media Pack is determining which blocks will be moved.

hanges, or because it was manually restarted.

If a Storage Group contains more than 20 Workspaces, they are redistributed in batches of 20 at a time.

Workspaces are being evenly redistributed across all the Media Packs in the Storage Group. The time it takes to redistribute the data depends on the amount of data in the Storage Group.

Workspace redistribution was manually suspended.

a temporary condition; if it persists and the overall redistribution has been determined to be

be stalled contact Avid Customer Care.

Managing Storage Groups

T o get the best capacity and performance from your Avid NEXIS system, A vid strongly rec ommends always using the same capacity drives within a Media Pack, and creating Storage Groups with same capacity Media Packs. You can increase the amount of space in a Storage Group at any time, with some exceptions. For more information, see

“Adding Unassigned Media Packs to Storage Groups” on page 45.

If you have Media Packs of different capacities, you can

Creating a Storage Group

To create Storage Groups, select Media Packs that are bound to the Avid NEXIS file system. Ideally, add Media Packs of the same size to a Storage Group. To create a High Performance Storage Group, make sure the Media Packs are bound with the High Performance setting; see “Binding Media Packs to the File System” on page 2.

To use media mirroring, make sure the Storage Group mee

Workspaces from Engine Failure” on page 28.

To create a Storage Group:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Storage Groups.

2. Click Add.

3. In the Name text box, type a name for the Storage Group. See “Guidelines for Names and Passwords” on

page 19 for more information.

In the Media Packs panel, click Add next to the Media Packs you want to add to the new Storage Group.

4. The Media Pack state changes to Active - Bound.

If you choose incompatible Media Packs (for example, both High Perform ance and Scale-Out Performance

Media Packs), you receive an error message.

create separate Storage Groups to segregate them.

ts or can meet the requirements in “Protecting

5. Click Save.

If another Storage Group has the same name an error is displayed. The message area displays Successfully Saved.

Renaming a Storage Group

You can rename a Storage Group at any time. Storage Group names must be unique within a shared-storage system.

To rename a Storage Group:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Storage Groups.

2. Select the Storage Group you want to rename and click Edi Change the Storage Group name, then click Save.

Increasing a Storage Group’s Capacity

A Storage Group’s capacity is the product of the smallest Media Pack in it, multiplied by the total number of Media Packs in that group. For more information, see “Storage Group Considerations” on page 23.

Within a Storage Group, you can replace smaller capacity Me and remove operations, which trigger Workspace redistribution (see “Workspace Redistribution” on page 35). After a

ll the Media Packs in the Storage Group are the same (larger) size and the Workspace redistributions are

complete, the Storage Group includes the additional space. To remove (smaller) Media Packs, see “Removing Media Packs from a Storage Group” on page 46. To add (larger) Media Packs, see “Adding Unassigned Media Pa

Displaying Storage Group Details

The Storage Groups page of the Management Console allows you to create, delete, rename, and manage Storage Groups.

The Details and Media Packs panels display info rma Media Packs it contains, as seen by the System Director. Some of the information is and other information is assigned to the Media Pack by the Avid NEXIS software.

dia Packs with larger ones through a series of add

cks to Storage Groups” on page 45.

tion about the currently selected Storage Group and the

embedded in the Media Pack,

To see display or hide detailed information about a Storage Group:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Storage Groups.

2. Double-click a Storage Group.

Storage Groups List

The following information is displayed for all Storage Groups. This information is also displayed in the Details

for a selected Storage Group.

panel

Heading Description

Name Displays the name of the currently selected Storage Group Performance Displays the performance bind setting of the Media Packs in the Storage Group, which determines

hich workflow the Workspaces can support.

Heading Description(Continued)

Capacity Displays the total storage capacity of the selected Storage Group Effective Displays the effective (available) storage capacity of the selected Storage Group based on the

Pack protection types assigned to the current Workspaces in the group

Media Used Displays the amount of storage space that currently contains user data Unused Displays the amount of storage space that currently contains no data in the Media Packs assigned to

the

selected Storage Group Allocated Displays the amount of storage space assigned to Workspaces in the selected Storage Group Unallocated Displays the amount of storage space available to create more Workspaces in the selected

Storage Group Files Displays the number of files in all Workspaces in the selected Storage Group Directories Displays the number of directories in a

You can sort the information in the Storage Groups page by clicking any column heading.

Deleting Storage Groups

You can delete a Storage Group only if it is empty (does not contain Workspaces). If the Storage Group you want to delete contains Workspaces, see “Deleting a Workspace” on page 32.

To delete a Storage Group:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Storage Groups.

2. In the Storage Groups list, select the Storage Group you want to delete.

3. Click Delete

A dialog box opens asking you to confirm the action.

4. Click Ye

The Storage Group is deleted.

After the Storage Group is deleted, all of the Media Packs previously in the Storage Group appear in the Media

cks panel as Spare.

ll Workspaces in the selected Storage Group

Managing Engines

In the Storage section of the navigation sidebar, the Engines menu item displays information about all Engines connected to the shared-storage network.

Engines Page

The Engines page displays a list of all the Engines in the shared-storage system, and the following information.

Heading Description

Name Displays the user-created name of the Engine or System Director Appliance

Heading Description(Continued)

Product Displays the Avid model name of the Engine or System Director Appliance Product Part Number Displays the Avid part number of the Engine or System Director Appliance Enclosure ID Displays the number (from 00 - 99) assigned to the Engine. In a lab with many Avid NEXIS

stems, assigning an Enclosure ID can help you identify a particular Engine.

The Enclosure ID is displayed in the window on the left side of the Engine. Serial Number Serial number of the Engine or System Director Appliance Status Time The last time the System Director logged the status of the Engine Status Displays changes in the working status due to upgrade installation or failure. See

“Understanding Engine and Storage Controller Status” on page 41.

Available Lists the number of unbound (available) Media Packs in each Engine Spare Lists the number of spare Media Packs in each Engine

Active Lists the number of active Media Packs in each Engine Type Indicates the function of the Engine, and can be one of the following values:

You can sort the information by clicking any column heading. Also see “Sorting Information” on page 21.

Displaying Engine Details

To see detailed information about an Engine:

1. Do one of the following:

t Doubl

The following tabs are displayed: Details (default), Hardware, and Disks.

- Details — Displays additional information about the En

e-click an Engine name.

Select an Engine and click Advanced.

Packs physically located in that Engine.

(the Media Pack is bound but not part of

a Storage Group)

• Storage with SD—Running as a storage engine and the embedded System Director

• SDA — Running as the System Director Appliance (does not provide storage)

• Storage Engine—Running as a storage engine only

gine, such as the Storage Controllers and Media

- Hardware — Displays the status of the fans

- Disks — Displays details about the disks in the Engi

and power supplies in the Engine.

ne, such as serial number, slot number, capacity,

which Media Pack they are part of, and firmware version.

To close the Advanced panel:

t Double-click the Engine name or click Advanced.

Understanding Engine and Storage Controller Status

Engines or Storage Controllers can have one of the following status values that relate to the software installed on them, or to their validity in the configuration. If the field is empty, the Engine or Storage Controller is operating normally.

Status Description

Installing The Avid NEXIS software is being installed Install failed The software installation failed. Contact Customer Care. Install waiting The installation is in progress Install needed This status can mean either of the following, but always applies to a multi-Engine configuration:

• The System Director is running a dif

• The other Engines completed their upgrades before the communicating with the System Director before it had restarted due to its upgrade. Their version status is accurately reported but fenced themselves off the rest of the system to avoid file system corruption. T o resolve this issue, reboot the Engines displaying this status.

Install downloading The Avid NEXIS software kit is downloading from the Avid support site. Install Phase (1, 2, 3) The software installation is in the specified phase Invalid Configuration An unsupported Storage Controller is present in the Engine. Remove it and replace it with a

valid Storage Controller Maintenance Guide for the Engine model.

Managing Controllers

ferent version from the other Engines

System Director did, and were

for the Engine type. For more information, see the Setup and

In the Storage section, the Controllers menu item displays information about the Controll ers in all Engines and the System Director Appliance, if applicable, connected to the shared-storage net

Controllers Page

The Controllers page displays a list of all the Controllers in the shared-storage system, as follows.

Heading Description

Host Name Displays the name of the Engine or System Director Appliance in which the Controller is

Status Time The last time the System Director logged the status of the Engine Status Displays changes in the working status due to upgrade installation or failure. See

Avid NEXIS Version Displays the Avid version installed on the Controller BMC Version Displays the BMC version on the Controller Controller Serial Number Serial number of the Controller Engine Serial Number Serial number of the Engine in which the Controller is installed Free Memory The amount of available memory on the Controller

work.

installed

“Understanding Engine and Storage Controller Status” on page 41.

Total Memory The total amount of memory on the Controller

You can sort the information by clicking any column heading. Also see “Sorting Information” on page 21.

Displaying Controller Details

To see detailed information about a Controller:

1. Do one of the following:

t Doubl

e-click a Controller name.

Select a Controller and click Advanced.

The following tabs are displayed: Details (defau

- Details — Displays additional informat position, and more memory information. Also shows the Media Packs this Controller is managing.

- Network — Displays the interface ad Protocol) status, port information, and interface statistics. See Understanding Network Status.

- Services — Displays the services running

- System — Displays the operating system version, pro the Controller has been running since last reboot. Also display disk space usage information.

- Tools — Lets you reboot or shut down the entire system.

To close the Advanced panel:

t Double-click the Engine name or click Advanced.

Understanding Network Status

The Data Interface port is the connection between the Engine (or System Director Appliance) and the switches. Each controller has two Data Interface ports that can be connected to one or more switches. If using LACP, both ports on the controller (or controllers) must be connected to one or more switches.

lt), Network, Services, System, and Tools.

ion about the Controller , suc h as the part number , slot number and

dresses and status, including LACP (Link Aggregation Control

on this Controller and their status.

cessor type, number of processors, and how long

The Interconnect Interface is the connection between the redundant controllers.

A system can have one controller

and still use LACP. The Management Interface is typically used only to connect

the system to a computer, such as during software

installation and initial configuration. The Network status values have the following meanings:

Status Description

up LACP is enabled, port is up, and the network connection is OK down LACP is not enabled, and the port is not in use. This is not an error condition. degraded LACP is enabled, but a network error exists:

• Make sure LACP is enabled on all the connected switches

• Check the switches and your network

• Check the cables between the ports and the switches

Not Found The system has no information about the port. This is not an error condition; for example, the

ement Port is not commonly in use during normal system operation. It reports no status to the

Manag System Director.

Managing Media Packs

You can display general or detailed information and statistics for Media Packs, bind them (to add them to a Storage Group) or unbind them.

The Media Packs page displays general information about has a colored icon indicating its status:

Icon Color Description

White Media Pack is unbound (not linked to the Avid NEXIS file system) Green Media Pack is bound to the file system as Scale-Out performance and operating normally Green with up arrow Media Pack is bound to the file system as High or SSD performance and operating normally Yellow Media Pack might be experiencing degraded performance Blue An installation or software upgrade is in progress Red Problem within the Media Pack, such as a disk failure

Displaying Media Pack Details

To see detailed information about a Media Pack:

1. In the Media Packs list, double-click a Media Pack. The Details panel displays detailed information about the

types of information, such as Statistics, Performance data, and metadata.

If a Media Pack contains a replacement drive of a different size, the actual disk size is shown in the Disks list in

the Details panel, but the Media Pack uses only the amount of space that equals the smaller disk sizes. You can replace a smaller drive with a larger drive, but not vice versa.

all the Media Packs in the system. Each Media Pack

selected Media Pack. Click the tabs to see specific

About Media Pack Status

The Status column in the Media Packs list reports the status of the Media Packs logged by the System Director. For Media Packs in correct working order, no status value is shown.

When the Media Pack has reached its full allocated virtual space limit, the status Disk Full is displayed. A Media Pack can have one of the following status values, in alphabetical order.

Status Description

Disk Failure The hard disk error threshold for a disk has been exceeded and the Media Pack has set the

Disk full One or more Media Packs in a Storage Group has reached its full capacity. Even if some of

disk offline. The default threshold is 25 hard errors.

the Media Packs still have one Media Pack is filled. As data is written and deleted, some Media Packs are filled before others. During redistribution, the data is redistributed evenly among the Media Packs.

available space, the Storage Group is considered full as soon as

Status(Continued) Description(Continued)

Disk Performance Degraded Disk Performance Degraded, because either:

• A disk has logged a Long Command Time. The Avid NEXIS system periodically rs this log. The Long Command Time counter is also cleared during a reboot.

clea

• A disk has reached 75% of its hard error threshold. Reboot the Engine to clear the

sta

tus. Drive missing A drive is missing from the Media Pack Drive rebuilding The contents of a data drive are being rebuilt from the other drives in the Media Pack

r you replace a failed drive)

(afte

Missing Disks - unbound The System Director starts a Storage Manager process for every Media Pack that the

Engine can supp missing Media Pack drives.

Network degraded The IP interfaces on the Media Pack have failed or the Media Pack has experienced at

least a

10% error rate (usually due to lost packets), indicating a network communication

problem (possibly a cable or switch issue). Although the Media Pack is reporting and detecting the errors, it is usually not the Media

Pack itse could be experiencing a problem.

Offline A Media Pack was set offline by the system.

ort. If the Engine is not fully populated, the Storage Managers report the

lf that is the problem. Each Media Pack has an associated Storage Manager that

Rectifying Files The Avid NEXIS system is cleaning up deleted files and verifying existing files on Media

This occurs every time the system restarts and every 10 days thereafter, and also

Packs. when manually initiated. Each Media Pack staggers its process so that they do not run simultaneously.

Adding Unassigned Media Packs to Storage Groups

You can add bound Media Packs to an existing Storage Group or create a new Storage Group. Adding and removing Media Packs redistributes files in the Storage Group across the currently available Media

Packs. For

Y ou can add Media Packs to a Storage Group if the performance types match: for example, you can add Scale-Out

Media Packs to a Scale-Out Storage Group, or add High Performance Media Packs to a High Performance Storage Group. You cannot add Media Packs from an incompatible Engine to a mirror-capable Storage Group.

To add Media Packs to a Storage Group:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Storage Groups.

2. Select a Storage Group and click Edit.

3. Select one or more available Media Packs.

4. Click Add

more information, see“Workspace Redistribution” on page 35.

to add the selected unassigned Media Packs to the Storage Group.

The Storage Media Packs panel refreshes to display the sele

cted Media Packs added to the Storage Group.

Click Save.

5. The Media Packs are added to the Storage Group and any necessary redistribution is performed.

After 20 configuration changes, the system recommends that you perform a full redistribution. Redistribution is

not required until 30 configuration changes are recorded, in which case the redistribution occurs automatically. You can suspend and resume the redistribution as needed. See “Suspending Redistribution” on page 36.

About Removing Media Packs from Storage Groups

You can remove a Media Pack from a Storage Group for several reasons:

• To add it to another Storage Group (performance types must match)

• To remove it from the Engine

• To replace it with a larger-capacity Media Pack (see “Adding Unassigned Media Packs to Storage Grou ps” on

page 45)

bject to the following restrictions:

rom a Storage Group, but if no Workspaces exist, you can delete the

Removing a Media Pack from a Storage Group is su

• The Storage Group must have at least as much free spa remove, so the Workspaces can be redistributed (see “Workspace Redistribution” on page 35).

• You cannot remove Media Packs if the Storage Group will have less than either the used space or the al

located space. To make enough free space, you can delete files from the current Workspaces, or reduce or delete Workspaces themselves. See “Resizing a Workspace” on page 31 and “Deleting a Workspace” on

page 32.

• You cannot remove the last Media Pack f Storage Group itself, which returns the Media Pack to the spare state.

Media Packs removed from the Storage Group are returned to the system’s po Packs.

Removing a Media Pack during high client usage can reduce performance on your clients, possibly resulting in dropped frames, underruns, and failed captures. To avoid this, remove Media Packs during periods of light client activity. You can suspend and resume a redistribution as needed.

Removing Media Packs from a Storage Group

You must remove a Media Pack from its Storage Group before you can add it to a different one or remove it from the Engine altogether.

To remove Media Packs from a Storage Group:

ce as the capacity of the Media Pack you want to

ol of unassigned (spare) Media

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Storage Groups.

2. In the Storage Groups list, select the Storage Group that contains the Media Packs you want to remove, and en do one of the following:

th t Cl

ick Edit.

t Doubl The Attributes panel displays all the information on the selected Storage Group.

3. In the Media Packs panel, select the Media Pack

Click Remove.

The Media Packs panel refreshes and displays the se

5. (Optional) Click Re

6. Click Save.

e-click the Storage Group name.

s you want to remove from the Storage Group.

lected Media Packs as Spare.

set to undo any modifications made to the Storage Group information.

The Media Packs are removed from the Storage Group. You can then unbind them from the Avid NEXIS file system (see different Storage Group (see

“Unbinding Media Packs from the Avid NEXIS File System” on page 50) or add them to a

Displaying Drive Details

You can display detailed information about the drives in a Media Pack, spare drives in the Engine (if applicable), and the system drives.

To see detailed information about a Media Pack drive:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Media Packs.

2. Double-click a Media Pack name.

The blue tabs categorize related information to simplify the display.

3. Click a blue tab to see additional details.

If you replace a f ailed dri ve with a la rger drive, the actual size is shown in the Capacity field, but the Medi a Pack

treats it as the same size as the original drive. You cannot replace a larger drive with a smaller drive.

To see detailed information about a spare or system drive:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Engines.

2. Double-click an Engine name.

The blue tabs categorize related information to simplify the display.

“Adding Unassigned Media Packs to Storage Grou ps” on page 45).

To close the Details panel:

t Click Advanced in the toolbar.

SSD Health

In all Engines and the System Director Appliance, the system drives are solid-state (SSDs). In Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD

You can see the SSD drive health as follows:

• On the Engines page, click Advanced, then click Disks. SSD Health is a column in the Disks table.

• On the Media Packs page, click Advanced, then click Disks. SSD Health is a column in the Disks table. If an SSD has reached a Warning or Critical threshold (see “SSD Health Values” on page 47) the administrator is

notified and the status is displayed in the

page 3 to configure notification.

SSD Health Values

SSD health is reported as a percentage of SSD life remaining, starting at 100% (full drive life remaining) and decreasing over time. SSD life can vary, but is generally expected to be about five years, or at least as long as the life of the Engine. When an SSD reaches the Warning threshold, or even the Critical threshold, you will have enough time to order and receive a replacement.

For SSDs, such as system drives or all drives in Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD, the SSD Health is also displayed, showing a percentage of life left. When the SSD Health drops to 25% (the warning threshold) notification is sent to the administrator (see

Engines, Media Pack drives are also SSDs.

“SSD Health” on page 47).

Management Console. See “Configuring the Notification Service” on

Life Remaining Percentage Severity Level Action to Take

100-26% None None — SSD is healthy 25% Warning Order a replacement SSD. 15% Critical Replace the SSD soon.

Disk Status

The individual drives in a Media Pack and the system drives can have the following status val ue s:

Status Description

Capacity Insufficient (Applies to system drives only). The system drive is not the appropriate size for the Engine it is

Empty (Applies to system drives only). The system requires two blank metadata (system) drives. Insert

Failed The drive has failed and must be replaced. You cannot reuse it. See “Identifying the Slot Number

in. Replace the drive with one of the minimum required size.

r blank drive of the same or greater capacity as the other one.

anothe

for a Failing or Failed Drive” on page 49, and see the Avid NEXIS Setup and Maintenance Guide

for your Avid NEXIS model for instructions on replacing a drive. You must replace a failed system drive with a drive of the same or greater capacity.

Within a Media Pack, you can replace a smaller drive with a larger one (f or example, use a 6TB drive to

replace a failed 2TB drive), but the Media Pack will use only 2TB of space on the drive. You cannot replace a larger drive with a smaller one in a Media Pack.

Failing (Applies to Media Pack drives only.) The drive is failing. Although there is no way to tell how

much time you have before the drive fails, this status alerts you to obtain a replacement drive as soon as possible.

See “Identifying the Slot Number for a Failing or Failed Drive” on page 49, and see the Avid

EXIS Setup and Maintenance Guide for your

drive.

Foreign For Media Pack drives, the drive possibly came from

foreign drive configuration; see “Clearing a Foreign Disk Error” on page 49.

Incompatible The Media Pack drives are not the right type for the Engine:

• The Engine is expecting HDD Media Pack drives Initializing The Engine is starting up (for example, after a Missing/Empty A drive is missing or the slot is empty. The serial number of any missing drive is displayed with

the statu Operational The drive is functioning normally. Partition Unsupported (Applies to system drives only). The drive is partitioned for a different Engine than the one it is

in,

one partitioned correctly for this Engine. Rebuilding The data on the drive is being rebuilt from the other drives in the Media Pack, or from the other

s, to help you identify which drive is missing. You can put it into any empty slot.

or some partitions are missing or the wrong size. Remove the drive and insert a blank drive or

stem drive. This status occurs after you replace a failed drive.

Avid NEXIS model for instructions on replacing a

a different Engine. To use it, clear the

reboot) and performing internal housekeeping.

Status Description(Continued)

Spare The drive is a spare. To see all the drives in an Engine, see “Displaying Drive Details” on

page 47.

Unsupported The drive was not purchased from Avid and cannot be used in the Engine.

Identifying the Slot Number for a Failing or Failed Drive

When a drive is failing or has failed, its status is displayed in several places:

• In the System Dashboard

• On the Engines page in the Storage menu. Click Advanced, t

shown in the disk details table.

• On the Media Packs pane in the

shown in the disk details table.

Clearing a Foreign Disk Error

The Foreign Disk message is displayed in the following cases:

• When a drive came from a different Media Pa

• When the drive has been out of the Engine for longer than five minutes, and replaced by a spare drive, then

he same Engine.

reinserted into t (If a drive is removed accidentally, the Media Pack requests its return for five minute

within those five minutes, the Media Pack resumes normal op eration. After five minutes, if it was replaced by a spare drive and then reinserted, it is marked Foreign. If a spare drive did not replace the removed drive, the removed drive can rejoin the Media Pack at any time.)

You cannot clear the foreign configuration on a system drive. If a system drive is reporting a status of foreign, contact A vid Customer Care.

If the drive has failed, you cannot reuse the dri

Clearing the foreign disk configuration deletes all data on the drive, and is a permanent operation. If you are using a drive that came from a different Media Pack, make sure the original Media Pack no longer needs it.

hen click the Disks tab. The slot number is

Storage menu. Click Advanced, then click the Disks tab. The slot number is

ck (usually from a different Engine)

s. If it is reinserted

ve even if you clear the configuration.

To replace media drives, see the Avid NEXIS Setup and Maintenance Guide.

To clear the Foreign Drive status:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Engines. Click Advanced, then Disks.

2. Next to the drive, click Clear Foreign Config.

4. A di alog box opens, warning that continuing with this op erati on will permanently destroy all data on the

ive. T ype the words

5. After the old configuration is cleared, th spare (if supported in this Engine type).

Destroy My Data

in the text field and click OK to continue.

e drive gets assigned to any Media Pack tha t needs one, or becomes a

Unbinding Media Packs from the Avid NEXIS File System

You can unbind a Media Pack to move it to a different Engine, or to rebind it with a different performance type (bind setting).

Before you can unbind the Media Pack, you must remove it from its current Storage Group (if it belongs to one).

en you can physically pull the drives and insert them into another Engine.

You cannot unbind a Media Pack if it has any drive errors or is missing drives. Replace missing or failed drives.

Removing a Media Pack from a Storage Group starts a redistri same Storage Group. For more information, see “About Removing Media Packs from Storage Groups” on

page 46. When the Media Pack has been removed, i

ts state changes to Spare - Bound.

bution of all its data to other Media Packs in the

All the Media Packs you want to unbind must be in

Unbinding a Media Pack when redistribution has not completed will result in permanent data loss!

Redistribution can take a long time; use the Redistribu tion Monito r tool to tr ack the prog ress and es timate the ti me re

maining (see “Monitoring Redistributions” on page 67).

To unbind a Media Pack from the Avid NEXIS file system:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Storage, then Media Packs.

2. Select the Media Pack you want to unbind. Click Unbind.

3. A confirmation dialog appears.

4. Click Ye The selected Media Pack is removed from the Avid NEXIS file system and its stat

You can physically remove the media drives from the Engine, or rebind them with a different bind setting. See

“Binding Media Packs to the File System” on page 2.

When you insert drives into a different drive (see “Clearing a Foreign Disk Error” on page 49). The new Engine can then use Pack.

s to confirm.

Engine, they are reported as foreign; clear the Foreign Disk Error on each

the Spare state.

e changes to Unbound.

them to create a new Media

4 Managing Users

A client is any user, group, or device that needs to access the Avid NEXIS shared-storage network. Create client accounts to allow this access and prevent unauthorized users from accessing other users’ data. When you create client accounts, you set basic client information, such as user names and passwords.

User accounts have administrative privilege levels, group membership types, and Workspace access. There can be more user accounts than connected clients.

Every Avid NEXIS system has two built-in accounts that cannot be renamed or delet ed: Administrator and Guest. The Guest account has no password. The Guest account has access only to the Installers page and the Dashboard page.

Each user and user group account has an associated privilege level that controls their access to files stored in the network.

Instead of (or in addition to) manually creating accounts, you can configure external authentication to allow LDAP users to connect to the

Users must have access to at least one Workspace before they can use the shared-storage network.

The Avid NEXIS Management Console allows you to create client accounts for each client connected to the system, and maintains a record of all attached clients. The client accounts are listed in dialog boxes for each client type.

Avid NEXIS. To import LDAP users, see “Managing LDAP Accoun ts” on page 54.

Some clients might not be able to connect to the shared-storage network if the combined bandwidth requirement

of connected components equals the system limi t for bandwidth use. For information on monitoring bandwidth use, see

“Monitoring Client Bandwidth” on page 66.

Managing Users

You can create, modify, and delete user accounts, assign users to specific groups, and manage access privileges for all users.

When you double-click a user (or select a user and click Edit), Edit mode opens. Within Edit mode you can change the user name or password, set or change bandwidth allowance, set various

flags, set or change the user’s group membership, and co ntro l the user’s Workspace access.

User Flags

The User Flags options are as follows.

Flag Description

Can resize Check to allow the user to change the size of accessible Workspaces

Flag Description

Remote LDAP user If checked, indicates that the user’s account is managed by an external LDAP server Disable user Check the box to disable the user account. Disabling leaves the account in place so you can

Creating Users

To create a user account:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, then Users. Click Add.

3. Enter a name for the user, a password, the amount of system bandwidth the account can use, and set any user flags (for mor

“Guidelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19.

(Optional) In the Group Membership list, select a group a nd clic k Member to make the user a member in the

4. group.

le it again later.

enab

e information, see “User Flags” on page 51). For password limits and valid characters, see

By default, new users are not members of any group. The Non user a group membership.

The Group Membership list shows the user as a member of the group.

5. In the Workspace Access list, for each listed Workspace

By default, new users have no access to Workspaces. (For information on permissions for Workspace access in the network, see “Managing User Access Privileges for Workspaces” on page 33.)

6. Click Save.

Duplicating Users

T o quickly create additional user accoun ts based on one you have already created and modified, you can duplicate the user. Duplicated users inherit the bandwidth allocation and access privileges of the accounts from which they were created.

-Member button is inactive until you assign the

select one of the following access types:

To duplicate a user account:

1. In the Users list, select the user account you want to duplicate. Click Duplicate.

3. (Optional) Modify any of the attributes of the new user. For more information see “Changing User Details” on

page 53.

4. Click Save.

The new user appears in the Users page. Click Edit to close Edit mode.

Changing User Details

You can change a user account at any time, even when it is being actively used in your work environment, but Avid recommends that users unmount a Workspace if you are changing their access to it.

You cannot rename or delete the default Guest account, but you can change the password (default is blank; no

password), its group membership and Workspace access, and the user flags.

To modify a user account:

1. From the User list, do one of the following:

Select the user account you want to modify, and click Edit.

t Doubl

The Details panel displays information about t

2. Modify the user options, group members hips, and Workspac

“Creating Users” on page 52.

3. (Optional) Click Re

4. Click Save.

Deleting Users

You can delete any user account except the default Guest user. If you want to keep an account but temporarily prevent its access to the shared-storage network, disable it (see “Disabling Users” on page 53).

Deleting a user that belongs to a group also removes that user n in a group, the group itself is not deleted.

If you delete the client account, its connection to the System Director is br oken immediately and any mounted Workspaces are unmounted as soon as they are accessed.

To delete a user account:

1. Ensure that the client account to be deleted is not currently active.

2. From the Users list, select the user accou

e-click the user name.

he selected user account.

e access as required. For a list of options, see

set to undo any modifications made to the user information.

ame from the group list. If you remove all the users

nt you want to delete.

Click Delete.

3. A warn ing message asks you to confirm t

4. Click Continue.

Disabling Users

You can remove a user temporarily from the Avid NEXIS shared-storage network by disabling the accou nt . This preserves the client accounts (they remain in the Users list) and allows you to restore their access to the system later.

To re-enable a disabled user account, follow this procedure but uncheck the “disable user” box.

he action.

To disable a user account:

1. Make sure that the client account to be disabled is not currently active.

2. From the Users list, do one of the following:

Select the user and click Edit.

t Doubl

3. Select the “disable user” check box.

4. (Optional) Click Re

5. Click Save.

e-click the user name.

set to undo any modifications made to the user information.

Displaying User Details

The Details panel displays all information for the currently selected user.

To see information about a user:

t In the User list, do one of the following:

Select the user and click Edit.

- Double-click the user name. The Users page displays all the info

To close the User Details panel, do one of the following:

t Click Refresh.

Click Edit.

rmation for the selected user.

Managing LDAP Accounts

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an Internet protocol that some applications use to retrieve information — such as account information, allows Avid NEXIS administrators to synchronize Avid NEXIS user accounts with existing LDAP user accounts

nd to create or modify a large number of users and groups within the Avid NEXIS system.

a Avid NEXIS supports the following mechanisms for LDAP authentication:

• LDAP over TLS (Transport Layer Security). The

• SASL DIGEST-MD5. If the configured LDAP server does not

Avid NEXIS currently supports only Microsoft Active Directory, and might not be compatible with other LDAP

implementations.

When using TLS, the server can use eithe Active directory servers support DIGEST-MD5.

TLS more strictly enforces Domain Name settings than DIGEST-MD5 did. Specifically , the domain name must be

dded without the TLD (Top Level Domain); for example, enter yourDomain, not yourDomain.com. Make

re to modify your top-level domain entry and if necessary remove .com, .net, .edu, or any other TLD

su co

mponent.

To u se LDAP, you must configure DNS (see “Configuring DNS Service” on page 9) and external user

authentication (see “Configuring External Authentication of Users” on page 55).

user names, and groups — from a server. The LDAP Sync tool

System Director tries to use this first.

use TLS, the System Director uses this instead.

r a CA-signed certificate or a self-signed certificat e. Most Microsoft

The Avid LDAP Sync tool lets you:

• Display user accounts available within a given LDAP service but not in the Avid NEXIS system, and vice versa

• Search for groups and their members on an LDAP server

• Synchronize groups and user s between LDAP servers and Avid NEXIS

• Add new groups and users to the Avid NEXIS system

• Grant user memberships to groups

• Remove user membership from a group in Avid NEXIS if the user no longer belongs to that group on the LDAP server

• Generate reports of account actions and see synchronization history

Users synchronized by the LDAP Sync tool will automatically be added as “Remote” users for authentication to the LDAP server.

Users imported by the LDAP Sync Tool cannot log into Avid NEXIS until it is configured for external

authentication. For more informa tio n, see

Configure a connection by entering the LDAP server’s fully qualified name, port, and user distinguished name and password for authentication.

“Configuring External Authenti ca tio n of Use r s” on pa ge 55.

Configuring External Authentication of Users

External authentication lets you add users to the Avid NEXIS system who are already configured as LDAP accounts in your environment. When a remote LDAP user logs into the with an external LDAP server instead of the local user database t o authe nt icate the user . To enable LDAP users to access the authentication.

Configuring external authentication is optional, but recommended for large numbers of users. Otherwise you must create each user account individually; see and accounts you create on the

To use external authentication using LDAP, enable DNS. See “Configuring DNS Service” on page 9. For more information on working with LDAP users and groups, see “Managing LDAP Accounts” on page 54.

To configure external authentication:

1. In navigation sidebar, click Users, then External Authentication.

2. In the Domain section, click the Enable check box.

3. In the Domain Name text box, enter the domain name of the network to which the LDAP server belongs,

A domain name has several parts, separated by a period or dot; for example, americas.avid.com. The subdomain

in this name is “americas;” the assigned domain is “avid;” and the top-level domain (TLD) is “com.”

Avid NEXIS system, configure Avid NEXIS to use up to three external LDAP servers for

“Managing Users” on page 51. You can use both external authentication

Avid NEXIS. The system supports up to 5640 user accounts.

The Domain Name text box becomes active.

including subdomain, if applicable. Do not enter the TLD.

Avid NEXIS system, Avid NEXIS checks

Contact your IT admini strator for the L egacy Do main Name (also kn own as the N ETBIOS D omain Name) to enter into this field.

4. Click the check box to select Server 0.

The Address text box becomes active.

5. In the Address text box, enter the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the LDAP server. Use the format servername.subdomain.domain.tld; for example:

server1.americas.example.com

6. In the Port text box, enter the port number of the LDAP service; usually 389.

The Avid NEXIS system works with LDAP serve rs that use either LDAP over TLS or SASL DIGEST-MD5, but not

with LDAPS protocol using port 636 (secure socket).

7. (Optional) Repeat steps 3 – 5 (using the “Server 1” and “Server 2” check boxes) to configure additional backup LDAP servers, if applicable.

8. When finished, click Submit. The domain and LDAP server information is added to the Avid NEXIS database, and a confirmation message

is displayed in the Results area.

Installing the LDAP Sync Tool

The LDAP Sync Tool is part of the Avid NEXIS software kit, but is not installed by default.

To install the LDAP Sync Tool:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Installers.

2. Click the LDAP Sync Tool executable file appropriate for your operating system.

3. Save the executable file to your computer and install it.

Opening the LDAP Sync Tool

You can use the LDAP Sync Tool to configure LDAP connections. If you have not previously configured a connection, enter the connection name and other information specific to the particular LDAP server.

Contact your IT administrator to obtain your LDAP login information. Three failed connection attempts might result in your LDAP user account being disabled.

All connection information is stored locally for the connecting user’s account. To connect from a different

workstation or as another user, re-enter the

Alternatively, you can configure external authentication on the Avid NEXIS to add the LDAP server. See

“Configuring the Notification Service” on page 3.

To open the LDAP Sync Tool:

1. Do one of the following:

t (Windows) From the Start menu select Avid > LDAPSyncTool > Avid LDAP Sync Tool. t (Mac) Select Applications > Avid NEXIS Tools > LDAP Sync Tool.

The Avid Login dialog box opens.

Avid NEXIS and LDAP login information.

2. In the Hostname field, enter the host name of the System Director.

3. Enter the administrator password.

4. Click Connect.

t If this is your first time using this tool and an LDAP server is configured, the LDAP Group Selection list

opens. See “Synchronizing LDAP and Avi

d NEXIS Accounts” on page 58.

t If th

The Avid NEXIS system works with LDAP serve rs that use either LDAP over TLS or SASL DIGEST-MD5, but not

with LDAPS protocol using port 636 (secure socket).

t If t

is is your first time using this tool but no LDAP server is configured, the Connect to LDAP Server

dialog box opens. Enter the information for your LDAP server as shown in the example below and click Connect.

he tool has been used before on this computer, the main window opens.

Using the LDAP Sync Tool

The Account Synchronizer is the main window of the Avid NEXIS LDAP Sync Tool. Use the Account Synchronizer to search the LDAP user accounts, synchronize (reconcile) user accounts by adding or removing users from the Avid NEXIS users list, generate a report of the account You can also modify the display of the Account Synchronizer to filter out unneeded account information.

actions, and see a history of the accounts.

LDAP Sync Tool — Main Window (Account Synchronizer)

All LDAP r econciliation session data, suc h as r eports a nd history, are stored in the local user’s account. If you log

into another workstation and/or as a different user, this information will not be available.

When you first connect the selected LDAP groups against the Avid NEXIS database and builds a set of actions to reconcile the two. The mai

n window displays the complete set of groups, using buttons with colors and icons to indicate the

reconciliation status of each group.

to the Avid NEXIS and the LDAP server, the Account Synchronizer checks the users in

Icon Meaning

The group is in the LDAP database, but not in the Avid NEXIS system. The default action is to add the group and all users to the Avid NEXIS.

The group is in both LDAP and the Avid NEXIS system, but the users are different between the two:

• If the user is in LDAP but not the Avid NEXIS system, the user will be added to the Avid NEXIS system.

• If the user is in the Avid NEXIS system but not in LDAP, the user will be removed from the Avid NEXIS sys

tem.

The user will no longer share privileges with the group. The user will still be able to access the Avid NEXIS system, and

membership in other local or LDAP groups is unaffected.

• If the same user name is in both groups but they are intended for different users (for example, have different passwords), the credentials will be validated against LDAP.

LDAP supports having users with the same name but in different OUs, but Avid NEXIS does not check OUs.

The group is in both LDAP and the Avid NEXIS system, and all users are reconciled. No action is taken by default.

The user and/or group is in the Avid NEXIS system, but not LDAP.

By default, all users and groups in this entry will be permanently deleted. To prevent this, manually override the

default action before performing a Reconcile action.

The user is in only an Avid NEXIS group.

By default, all users and groups in this entry will be permanently deleted. To prevent this, manually override the

default action before performing a Reconcile action.

Click any button to see detailed information about the actions you can perform on users in each group.

Changing the Account Synchronizer Display

You can sort the columns in the display alphabetically Synchronizer display.

To sort columns:

t Click a column heading to sort the contents of the column alphabetically. Click the heading again to reverse

the sort.

To resize columns:

t Click and drag the divider between column headings.

Synchronizing LDAP and Avid NEXIS Accounts

Synchronizing the LDAP/Active Directory and Avid NEXIS user lists consists of the following steps:

• Selecting LDAP groups

• Specifying user-specific synchronization actions

• Performing the synchronization process

The synchronization process only reads the LDAP/Active Directory user list. The Avid NEXIS LDAP Sync Tool

will never alter the LDAP/Active Directory user list.

, and add or remove LDAP groups from the Account

To add groups to the Account Synchronizer display:

1. Click Select Groups.

The LDAP Group Selection window opens.

On subsequent LDAP Sync Tool sessions, the main window will open after you log in and display the selected

groups from the last session.

2. Select the groups to be synchronized.

To Select This: Do This:

Single group Click the group name. Multiple non-contiguous groups CTRL-click each name to be selected. Multiple contiguous groups Click the first group name, then SHIFT-click the last group name. All groups Press CTRL-A.

3. Click Add Selected.

The LDAP Sync Tool builds a list of sync actions for the selected groups, and displays the selected groups in

he main window.

4. (Optional) To print a report of the account list and selections, click Print.

To remove groups from the Account Synchronizer display:

1. Select one or more rows and click Clear Selected to remove the row from the Group list. Ctrl+click

(Windows) or Cmd+click (Mac) or Shift+click to select multiple rows. Click Clear All to remove all rows from the Group list.

To modify the default reconciliation actions for individual users:

1. Click the row in the Sync Status column for the appropriate group (each row in the Sync Status column is a button).

The Descriptive name window opens and displays the user names of all members of the group, as well as ac

tions to be taken.

2. You can do the following:

o show all users, including those which are already reconciled, click Show All.

t T

The “Show All” check box is disabled if all or no users in the gr o up ar e alr eady r econciled (all use rs ar e shown by

default).

o override the default action, click the check box in the “Avid NEXIS Sync Action” column to deselect

t T

it.

3. (Optional) To print a report of the user list and selections, click Print.

4. Click Close t

To synchronize LDAP/Active Directory and Avid NEXIS user databases:

t Click Synchronized Marked.

The LDAP Sync Tool performs the reconciliation actions, then displays the groups status in the main window.

To refresh selected entries:

1. Select one or more groups from the main window.

To Select This: Do This:

2. Click Reload All. Information about the selected groups is retrieved from th e LDAP server, reassessed, and displayed in the

n window.

mai

o close the user selection window and return to the main window.

To see and/or print the History log:

1. Click History. The Synchronization History window opens.

2. (Optional) To print the History Log, click Print. The Print dialog opens. (Optional) To clear the History Log, click Delete History.

3. The Delete History dialog box opens. Click Ye

s to delete the history.

4. To close the Synchronization History window, click Close.

To exit the LDAP Sync Tool

1. Do one of the following:

ick File > Exit

t Cl

ick Close Window in the upper right corner of the window.

t Cl A confirmati on windo w opens.

2. Click Ye

The application closes.

Importing LDAP Users with Incorrectly Formatted LDAP UIDs

When synchronizing users from the LDAP Synchronization Tool, the User ID (also known as the UID) must

ntain characters that Avid NEXIS allows for valid user names. The entry in the User ID column i

co Avid NEXIS Username. All LDAP user names and passwords must use only

for Names and Passwords” on page 19 for more information about valid and invalid characters.

If the User ID contains

any invalid characters:

• The user will not be added to Avid NEXIS

• The synchronization for the group is aborted

s used as the

ASCII characters. See “Guidelines

• Any subsequent user accounts in the group are not reconciled In such cases, do on

e of the following:

• Create the user in Avid NEXIS with a user name that does not contain t add them to groups.

• Update the user entry in the LDAP da tab

ase with a UID that contains no illegal characters, then run the LDAP

Sync Tool again to reconcile the users.

Disconnecting and Reconnecting the LDAP Servers

The connection status button icons indica

Connected to Avid NEXIS

Disconnected from Avid NEXIS

Connected to LDAP server

Disconnected from LDAP server

te whether you are connected to the Avid NEXIS or LDAP servers:

hese illegal characters, and manually

You can use the connection status buttons to manually disconnect from and reconnect to the LDAP server. (If the connection to the Avid NEXIS is broken, close the LDAP Sync Tool , then restart it and log in again.) The button ico

ns change depending on your current connection status.

You are disconnected from the Avid NEXIS or LDAP servers if their respective session time-out periods are

exceeded.

To disconnect from the LDAP server:

t Click LDAP.

The LDAP Sync Tool disconnects from the LDAP server, and the LDAP connection status button icon

s to Disconnected.

change

To connect (or reconnect) to the LDAP server:

1. Click LDAP.

The Connect to LDAP Server window appears.

The text fields will be filled in for you if you have previously logged into the LDAP server within the same session.

2. Click Connect.

The LDAP Sync Tool connects to the LDAP server an (connected).

Managing User Groups

User groups allow you to organize and manage users based on their common properties, such as by Workspace access, LDAP users, or other criteria.

Adding User Groups

To add a group account:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, then User Groups.

2. Click

3. Type a user group name in the Name text box.

For information on valid and invalid characters, see “Gu idelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19.

Add.

If a user group with the name already exists, an error message is displayed.

In the User Membership list, click Member next to a user name to make the user a group member. A user can belong to up to 15 user groups.

By default, new users are listed as “Non-Member.”

d the Connection status icon changes to green

5. In the Workspace Access list, set the access privilege for e per-Workspace basis (see “Setting or Changing Workspace members have the same access to any given Workspace.

By default, access privileges for new user groups are Workspace.

listed as “None” in the Access category for each

ach Workspace. Unless overridden on a per-user or

Access Privileges” on page 34), all the group

Modifying User Group Details

You can rename a user group account, change user membership, and modify Workspace access at any time, even when it is being actively used in your work environment.

Group Details includes the following information:

• Attributes—Group name

• User Membership—Lists all the users who are members of the group and how many groups the member elongs to (maximum of 15 groups)

• Workspace Access—Lists the access granted to al

To modify a user group account:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, then User Groups.

2. Double-click a user group name. The Details panel displays information about the selected user group account.

3. Modify the user group name as required. If a user group with the name already exists, an error message tells you to type a new name.

For information on valid and invalid characters, see “Gu idelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19.

4. Modify user membership for the user group as required:

Click Member to make the user a member in the user group.

Click Non-Member to remove the user from the user group.

5. Modify Workspace access for t

Click No Access to remove Workspace access privileges for the user group.

Click Read Access to set read-only Workspace access for the user group.

Click Read-Write Access to set both read and write Workspace access for the user group.

For information on permissions for W

for Workspaces” on page 33 and “Setting or Changing Workspace

he user group as required:

orkspace access in the network, see “Managing User Access Privileges

l group members for each Workspace

Access Privileges” on page 34.

(Optional) Click Reset to undo any modifications made to the client information.

7. Click Save.

Deleting User Groups

You can delete any user group except the default Guest group (of whic h the default user account, Guest, is a member). Deleting a group does not delete the user accounts who are members of the group.

To delete a user group:

1. Ensure that the user group to be deleted is not currently active.

2. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, the

3. Select the user group you want to delete. Click Delete.

4. In the confirmation box, click C

n User Groups.

ontinue.

Displaying User Group Details

The Details panel displays all information for the currently selected user group.

To see detailed information about a User group:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Users, then User Groups. The Groups page displays all the information for the selected user group. If the Details panel is not visible,

ick Details.

cl Double-click a group or select it and click Edit.

To hide the User Membership or Workspace Access panel:

t Click Edit to close edit mode.

Managing Bandwidth Limits

Some client applications try to use as much bandwidth as possible, potentially throttling other users of the system. To control this, you can modify the maximum amount of bandwidth a client can use.

You might need to set a bandwidth limit for a device such as an Avid AirSpeed server if it is consuming more

bandwidth than expected.

Adding a Bandwidth Limit Entry

Bandwidth limit entries are created in two ways: you create them on the Avid NEXIS system, or they are created automatically, when a client connects to the Avid NEXIS for the first time.

For automatically created entries, the default bandwidth is determined by the system preference setting called

Default Bandw

limit (unlimited bandwidth).

To prevent automatic creation of bandwidth limits:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Settings.

2. Click Pr

3. Check the box to Fo

To create a Bandwidth Limit specification for a client:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Bandwidth Limits.

2. Click Add.

3. Type the name of the device in the Name text box. If a device with the same name already ex

For information on valid and invalid characters, see “Gu idelines for Names and Passwords” on page 19.

4. T ype a value in the Bandwidth text box to set the amount of read/write bandwidth (in MB/s) to allocate to the

ce. A value of 0 (zero) indicates that bandwidth will not be metered.

devi

idth for Auto Created Devices (MB/sec). The default value of zero (0) means the client has no

eferences if not already selected.

rce Manual Device Creation.

ists, an error message is displayed.

5. (Optional) Type a description in the Description text box.

6. Click Save.

The Bandwidth Limits list refreshes and displays the new client.

7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 to add more clients.

Displaying Bandwidth Limits Details

The Bandwidth Limits Details panel displays the same information as the Bandwidth Limits list.

To see detailed information about a client or device:

t In the Bandwidth Limits list, double-click a name.

The Bandwidth Limits panel displays the following information:

- Name of the client

- Bandwidth limit for the client in MB/sec

- Bandwidth Mode (currently only Device Bandwidth)

- Description, if any

Changing a Bandwidth Limit Entry

You can rename an entry or change the allocated bandwidth or description at any time. Any changes take effect immediately, even if the user is connected.

To modify a Bandwidth Limit entry:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Bandwidth Limits.

2. Select the entry to modify and do one of the following:

Click Edit.

t Dou

3. Modify the options as required.

4. (Optional) Click Re

5. Click Save.

ble-click the name.

set to undo any modifications.

Deleting a Bandwidth Limit Entry

You can delete a Bandwidth Limit entry for user-created clients or any entry you have modified.

To delete a Bandwidth Limit entry:

1. Make sure that the client account is not currently connected.

2. In the navigation sidebar, click System, t

3. Select the entry to delete.

4. Click Delete.

5. In the confirmation dialog box click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the entry.

hen Bandwidth Limits.

5 Monitoring the System

This section describes monitoring and logging for the Avid NEXIS shared-storage network.

Monitoring Client Bandwidth

The Client Bandwidth page shows system usage, including total system bandwidth use, reads, writes, and consumption by each connected system.

To display client bandwidth:

t In the navigation sidebar, click Monitoring, then Client Bandwidth.

All connected clients are listed. You can sort by their name.

Monitoring System Connection Status

System connections are all clients and components of the shared-storage syste m itself that are communicating with the System Director.

Some clients might not be able to connect to the shared-storage network if the combined bandwidth requirement

of connected components equals the system limit for bandwidth use.

To display system connection status:

t In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Dashboard.

The Dashboard displays high-level status only: name, type, and number of messages

t In the navigation sidebar, click Monitoring, then Connection Status.

The Connection Status page shows more detail (see Connection Status Descriptions).

Connection Status Descriptions

The Connection Status area lists the name of the system or device making the connection, the type of connection, and the number of messages per second being transferred between the device and the system.

Heading Description

Name The name of the system connected to the Avid NEXIS. This can be an external client or a component

Avid NEXIS system itself, such as the Storage Managers.

of the

ID An internal numeric identifier used by the System Director to represent the connected system; these

identifiers are assigned when a system first contacts the System

OS The operating system running on the connected system (for example, Linux can represent

components of the

Director

Avid NEXIS system itself)

Heading Description(Continued)

Type The category or principal function of the connected system, such as Client or Storage Manager

(every Media Pack has an associated Storage Manager) License The number of licenses allotted to the connected system Messages/Second The number of messages per second being sent between the connected system and the Avid NEXIS Last Seen For inactive components, displays the date and time when the component last sent its status to the

Director; for active components, displays a zero (0) as the default value

System

For active components, displays the date and time when the component last sent its status to the

System Director.

The System Director removes information about components that have not been seen for a week,

unless the component’s bandwidth limit is configured to custom values or the Default Device

Bandwidth option in the Preferences dialog box is selected

To sort the information in the Connection Status dialog box, click any column heading.

Monitoring Redistributions

You can display detailed information about the progress of redistributions, such as the rate and remaining time, and which Workspaces and Storage Groups are involved.

To display details about redistribution:

t In the Navigation sidebar, click Monitoring, then Redistribution.

The Redistribution Monitor displays the overall system redistribution status, including a progress indicator, the redistribution rate, an estimate of the time re maining, the tot al GB to be moved, and the total GB that have been moved.

The Workspaces list below the System Information table shows more detail about the Workspaces involved in the redistribution.

Monitoring Client Reservations

You can display the status of client reservations, client system name, and the value of the reservation in MB/sec. Client reservations are not set on or by the Av id NEXIS system. Normally, bandwidth reservations are initiated

and configured automatically by Avid applications based on bandwidth requirements, but you can limit the bandwidth available to client systems. In addition, c lient wo rkstation u sers can u se the Clien t Manager to obtain a default bandwidth reservation on the

for information on setting and applying bandwidth reservat ions.

Guide

The actual bandwidth available to the client is the lowest of the following values:

• The default bandwidth requested by the Client Manager

• The maximum bandwidth assigned by the Avid NEXIS Administrator to the user

Avid NEXIS system. See the Avid NEXIS Client Installation and User’s

• The maximum bandwidth value assigned by the Management Console, either per-device or by the default

bandwidth allocation for auto-created devices

• The bandwidth limitation of the client device

To sort the information in the Reservations page, click any column heading.

To display client reservations:

t In the navigation sidebar, click Monitoring, then Reservations.

Displaying Event History

The Event History page displays the past 5 days (96 hours) of system events. You can download the history as a zip file, and then send the file to Avid Customer Care for analysis.

To open the Status History page:

t In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Event History.

The current day’s events are at the top of the list. C

Information

Upgrades

Warnings

Errors

To see all the events for a specific date:

t Click the date you want to look at.

The System Events panel automatically upda tes the displa y with detailed info rmation about th e selected day’s

orded events, including the specific time, event type, which Engine reported the event, and a description.

rec

To clear Status History Event flag:

t Click Clear History Status Flag.

The status event history panel indicator is cleared.

This command clears the status event history but does not remove any status event history entries.

To download the status history:

t Click Download.

The status event history is saved to a file (named history By default, the file is saved to the Downloads directory on the computer running the Management Console. You can then send it to Avid Customer Care.

lick the icons to show or hide events for:

.zip). If prompted to open or save the file, click Save.

Managing System Logs

The System Logs page provides a complete view of the system-generated events. The logs prov ide deta iled status information that is especially useful to Avid Customer Care personnel for monitoring system status during prolonged operations.

Displaying the System Logs Page

You can filter the log reports to display messages in a particular category (Information, Warnings, Errors), by date, time, subsystem or host (Storage Controller) that generated the event, or by words in the messages themselves.

To display the system logs:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then System Logs.

2. If multiple Engines are present, select the Engine whose logs you want to see. You can sort the Engines by name.

3. In the Select Log list, select a file to display. Your Avid Customer Care representative can guide you in

ecting the file to view.

sel The selected log is displayed.

4. If the log has multiple pages of entries, the total number of messages (log entries) is shown. Click the page

umbers or the Next Page, Previous Page, Last Page, First Page icons to display different pages of the log:

Clearing a System Log

Clearing the logs empties the log of all event entries and resets the logging process.

To clear logs:

1. Select a log to clear. Click Clear Log.

2. The event log for the selected category is cleared, and

Managing Media Pack Logs

Media Pack logs contain informatio n abo ut th e d r ive s in th e Media Packs. You can filter the information that g ets collected in the logs, if requested by Avid Customer Care to hel p resolve an issue. Norma lly you do not n eed to set or change any of the filter settings.

Displaying Media Pack Logs

The Media Pack Logs page contains information primarily for Avid Customer Care use. You can download a specific log file or all log files as instructed, and then send the file to Avid Customer Care for analysis.

To open the Media Pack Logs page:

t In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Media Pack Logs.

Filtering Media Pack Logs

You can turn certain log levels on to capture specific information as requested by Avid Customer Care.

To filter the Media Pack logs:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Media Pack Logs.

logging is reset to start recording new events.

2. Click the Filters ta

3. As instructed, choose a log level and check the boxes for

the requested filters.

Downloading a Media Pack Log

You can download a Media Pack lo

To download a Media Pack log:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Media Pack Logs.

2. Click the Logs t As instructed, choose a log and click Download next to th e log file.

ab if not already selected.

Dumping All Media Pack Logs

You can dump (download) all the Media Pack logs into a file to send to Avid Customer Care for further analysis.

To dump all Media Pack logs:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Media Pack Logs.

2. Click the Logs t Click Dump All Logs.

ab if not already selected.

A status message indicates the operation was successful. and send the dump file.

Deleting All Media Pack Logs

You can delete all the Media Pack logs.

g to send to Avid Customer Care for further analysis.

Avid Customer Care can instruct you how to find

To delete all Media Pack logs:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Media Pack Logs.

2. Click the Logs t Click Delete All Logs.

ab if not already selected.

A warn ing message indicates t storage system. Click Continue.

All the Media Pack logs are deleted.

Disabling Media Pack Logging

Normally, you can let Media Pack logs continue to accumul temporarily disable logging, delete the existing logs, re-enable logging and start a test to isolate a specific problem. Avid Customer Care will guide you in the precise order of operations based on the circumstances.

Media Pack logs are independent of each other; you can enable a nd disabl e loggin g for in dividual M edia Pac ks or several.

To disable Media Pack logs:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click Logs, then Media Pack Logs.

2. Click the Logs t Select a Media Pack, then click Disable.

ab if not already selected.

he operation will affect all Media Pack logs for all Engines in the shared -

ate. If requested by Avid Customer Care, you can

The icon turns blue, meaning that logging is disabled.

4. Repeat the last step as needed for any other Media Packs.

6 Avid NEXIS Toolbox

The Avid NEXIS Toolbox is a collect ion o f to ols y ou can use to mon itor and pe rform di agnost ic op eration s on all

Avid NEXIS hardware. The Avid NEXIS Toolbox is included in the Avid NEXIS software kit, but is not

your installed automatically. You can install it from the Management Console Installers link.

Installing the Avid NEXIS Toolbox

To install the Toolbox:

1. In the navigation sidebar, click System, then Installers.

2. Click the Toolbox file appropriate for your operating system. This downloads the file to your computer.

3. Install the file.

Opening the Avid NEXIS Toolbox

Make sure the Avid NEXIS Toolbox is installed.

To open the Toolbox:

1. Do one of the following:

t (Windows) Select Start, then Avid, then Toolbox, then Avid NEXIS Toolbox. t (Mac) Select Applications, then Avid NEXISTools, then Avid NEXIS Toolbox.

If any site security warnings open, click Yes to accept the certificate. If you are not sure about the security requirements of your shared-storage network, see your system administrator.

2. In the Login screen, enter the host name or IP address of your System Dire ctor (this might be filled in for you ) and the Administrator password, then click OK.

The Avid NEXIS T ool box opens.

From the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, you can run any of the following tools:

- Connection Analyzer Tool

- Log Aggregator Tool

- Disk Analyzer Tool

- Media Pack Parameters To ol

- Media Pack Log Viewer

Connection Analyzer Tool

The Connection Analyzer provides a quick look at the connection status of all Media Packs in the shared-storage network.

Connection Analyzer Tool

The Connection Analyzer displays connection status in a grid, using the following icons to denote the status of each Media Pack:

Icon Label Status

Session Active Source Media Pack has a session with the target Media Pack

Session Failed Source Media Pack does not have a session with the target Media Pack

No Connection Target Media Pack is not communicating with the System Director

Storage Server Not Running

System Not Responding

To open the Connection Analyzer and test the connection status of Media Packs:

1. In the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, click Connection Analyzer from the left pane. The Connection Analyzer wi nd

The tool displays results in a color-coded grid. Place your pointer over a block in the Connection States column to display a tooltip with details about the

edia Pack. If there are more Media Packs than can be displayed in the dialog box, use the scroll bars to see

a specific connection. (Optional) Click Info to display version information.

To update the status of Media Packs:

1. Click Start to update the status of Media Packs without reloading the entire list from the System Director.

2. (Optional) To stop the status update operation, do the following:

Click Stop.

Microserver failure—Failure in the request from the Agent to the Media Pack for session information—for example, a failed request resulting from the Media Pack not running or the Media Pack not servicing the request before it timed out

Communication failure—Unable to determine status—for example, the Agent is not running or there is a network problem between the Connection Analyzer tool and the Media Pack

ow opens and checks the connection stat us of all Media Packs in the network.

A confirmation dialog appears.

b. Click Ye

The update process stops and the main display returns to the previous result.

Log Aggregator Tool

The Log Aggregator tool, included in the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, allow s you to collect a full set of the event logs and system statistics of a network, including installation logs, active Media Packs, and the System Director.

To use the Log Aggregator, you must have Administrative pri the shared-storage network.

Run the Log Aggregator from a system with network access to the entire shared-storage network. Otherwise, the

tool cannot collect logs for all systems connected to the network.

vileges and be logged into a system with access to

The Log Aggregator lists all components of the shared-storage network in a tree view. You can see events:

• For all components in the shared-storage network by selecting all active A vid NEXIS systems in the Selection dow (the highest level in the tree view).

win

• For any subset of components by select ing on e or more entries in the Se lectio n window (at a level lo wer th an

e Avid NEXIS Systems in the tree view).

You can select which information — from the network, the System Director software, and Media Packs — you

t to collect in the log reports. This provides you with a system record that you can use to see error and status

wan messages. The logs provide detailed status information that is especially useful to Avid Customer Care personnel for monitoring system status during prolonged operations.

Do not use the Log Aggregator unless instructed to do so by Avid Customer Care. Improper use could result in system downtime or degraded performance.

Using the Log Aggregator Tool

To use the Log Aggregator tool:

1. In the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, click Log Aggregator in the left pane.

The Log Aggregator window opens.

2. In the Selection window, do one of the following:

t Sel t Sel

Click Configure.

4. Choose the types of data you want

5. (Optional) In the Output Directory text section, click Br

logs to be saved, if other than the default (

6. Click OK to Click Start.

ect all active Avid NEXIS systems to see events from all components in the shared-storage network. ect one or more components to see events from specific System Directors, Engines, M edia Packs, and

clients attached to the network.

collected in the event logs:

C:\Users\username

close the Aggregator Options dialog box and return to the Log Aggregator.

owse to navigate to a directory where you want the

The progress bar indicates the status of the log aggregation. The Log Aggregator displays a Success icon (green) or a Fail icon (red) for each system and component logged.

To cancel the log aggregati

Displaying Aggregate Logs

The Log Aggregator saves individual logs in a log directory called LogAggregator_date-time at the location indicated in the Output Directory section in the Log Aggregator. Subdirectories include separate logs for each component in the network for which you create d logs. The Log Aggregator also creates a compressed file containing all logs in the top-level folder (aggregator_results.zip). You can forward this compressed file to your Avid Customer Care representative if re quested.

To see saved logs:

1. Navigate to the directory where the Log Aggregator saved the collected logs.

2. Double-click the file name of the log you want to see.

Disk Analyzer Tool

The Disk Analyzer runs the following basic disk performance tests on your Media Packs, which you can run in either Sequential or in Random access mode:

•Read test

• Write test

• Read/Write test

on process, click Stop.

• Erase test You can also use the Disk Analyzer to collect statistics

redistribution actions, including the statistics generated by Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) and by local Media Pack processes — for example, statistics on Long Command Times (LCT).

S.M.A.R.T. data is also available through the Log Aggregator tool.

You can run the Disk Analyzer on more t han one Media Pack at a time, but this migh t degrade performance on the

storage network.

shared-

Do not run the Disk Analyzer unless instructed to do so by Avid Customer Care, and only during a maintenance window.

Running Tests with the Disk Analyzer Tool

To open the Disk Analyzer tool and run tests:

1. In the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, click Disk Analyzer in the left pane. The Disk Analyzer window opens.

on the status of Media Packs and network use and

2. From the Action drop-down list select one of the following:

- Execute disk tests

- Collect disk statistics

- Collect network statistics

- Collect redistribution statistics

3. In the Selection window, do one of the following:

t Sel t Sel

Click Start.

4. If you selected Execute disk tests, the Di

ect all active Avid NEXIS systems to test all Media Packs in the shared-storage network. ect one or more Media Packs to test specific components in the network.

sk Te st Options dialog box opens.

5. Configure the appropriate options for the test you want to run.

Option Description

Test Type The type of test to be performed: Read, Write, Read/Write, or Erase. Access Mode Perform sequential or random access test Duration T est duration either in minutes or number of

passes in the text field) Refresh Rate Slider bar to specify how often to refresh the test status Reattach to existing tests By default, starting a new test will abort any currently running tests and clear any

existing

results

results. Select this option to resume any currently running tests and retain the

passes (specify the number of minutes or

6. Click OK to close the Disk Test Options dialog box and return to the Disk Analyzer.

Results of the test display in the Results area. To stop the test at any time, click Stop.

Updating the Disk Analyzer Tool Display

To update the display:

t Click Refresh.

Saving Disk Analyzer Test Results

You can save the results of the Disk Analyzer tests to your local system. The test results are saved in comma separated value (CSV) format.

To save the results of the Disk Analyzer tests:

1. Click Save Results.

The Save Results window opens.

2. Browse to the location on your local system whe The test results are saved to the specified location.

Media Pack Parameters Tool

The Media Pack Parameters tool, included in the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, allows you to set an d retrieve M edia Pack logging and redistribution flags. This status information is useful to Avid Customer Care personnel for monitoring system status during prolonged operations.

Run the Media Pack Parameters tool from a system with network access to the entire shared-storage network.

Otherwise, the tool cannot collect logs for all systems connected to the network.

To use the Media Pack Flag Parameters, you must have Admini with access to the shared-storage network.

The Media Pack Parameters tool lists all components of the shared-storage net events for:

• All components in the shared-storage network — Select all active Avid NEXIS systems in the Selection dow (the highest level in the tree view).

win

• Any subset of components — Select one or more entries in the Selection window (at a level lower than the

Avid NEXIS Systems in the tree view).

re you want to save the test results and click Save.

strative privileges and be logged into a system

work in a tree view. You can see

Do not use the Media Pack Parameters tool unless instructed to do so by Avid Customer Care. Improper use could result in system downtime or degraded performance.

Using the Media Pack Parameters Tool

To use the Media Pack Parameters tool:

1. In the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, click Media Pack Parameters in the left pane.

The Media Pack Paramete

rs window opens.

2. In the Selection window, do one of the following:

t Sel t Sel

Click Configure.

ect all System Directors to see events from all components in the shared-storage network. ect one or more Media Packs to see events from specific System Directors.

The Media Pack Parameters dialog box opens.

Retrieving Media Pack Flag Parameters

To retrieve the Media Pack Parameters:

1. Configure the following options to retrieve data:

Option Description

No filtering Selects all of the parameters listed in the Media Pack Parameters window All other Media Pack Parameters Allows you to specify the data to collect by selecting one or more parameters Log Level and Throttle Do not change the Log Level or Throttle setting unless instructed to do so by Avid

Customer Care. performance.

2. Click OK to close the Media Pack Parameters dialog box. Click Start.

Improper use could result in system downtime or degraded

The Media Pack displays the retrieved information.

Media Pack Log Viewer

The Media Pack Log Viewer is a utility that displays event information about Media Packs. You cannot save the information displayed in the Log Viewer, but you can copy it to a word processing application, such as Notepad. You can also save event logs displayed in the Logging tab. The information is used primarily by Avid Customer Care personnel to help analyze problems with Media Packs.

To use the Media Pack Log Viewer:

1. In the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, click Media Pack Log Viewer. The Log Viewer opens.

If the Avi d NEXIS system has no Media Pack event logs, nothing is displayed.

2. Select an option as descri

bed in the following table.

Icon Option Description

Resume Resumes monitoring Media Pack events Pause Stops monitoring Media Pack events Clear Clears all event data from the Console View tool

Resync Restores previously-cleared event data to the Console View tool (None) Autoscroll Scrolls the display to the bottom of the page (None) Refresh Rate (sec) Sets the rate at which the Console View tool refreshes event data

Index

Access privileges

and duplicating users 52 effective 33 for Workspaces, setting 34 managing 33

new users 52 Account Synchronizer (LDAP Sync tool) 57 Accounts

Administrator 51

changing 53

creating 52

default 51

deleting 53

disabling 53

displaying details 54

duplicating 52

Guest 51

LDAP 55

See LDAP

user 51 Action tools

Add (Create) 17

Advanced 17

Clear 17

described 17

Disable Logs 17

Download 17

Dump All Logs 17

Duplicate 17

Edit mode 17

Filter 17

Redistribution 17

Refresh (and Continuous Refresh) 17 Active clients 21 Adding

Bandwidth limits 64

LDAP/Active Directory groups 59

Media Packs to Storage Groups 45

user groups 62

users 52

Workspaces 28 Administrator

account 51

password 19

changing or setting 5 forgotten 5

Advanced Workspace commands 36 Agent password 19 Aggregate logs 73, 74 Allocating Workspaces 27 Authentication

external 55 LDAP 54

Auto Refresh

disabling 18 enabling 18

Auto-Rectify 20

default value 20 Management Console preferences 20

Avid

online support 2 training services 2

Avid NEXIS infrastructure

securing 5

Avid NEXIS Snapshots

and Log Aggregator 10 creating snapshot 11 creating snapshot archives 12 deleting snapshot 11 deleting snapshot archives 12 downloading archives 11 file name format 11 output format 11 snapshot file location 11

Bandwidth

aggregate 21 client 66 displaying 65 limiting 65 managing limits 64 monitoring 21, 66 system 21

Client Bandwidth

See active clients

Bandwidth Limits tool 65

adding clients or devices 64

deleting clients or devices 65 Binding Media Packs 2 BMC

changing password 6

Changing

Bandwidth Limits 64

BMC password 6 client name 65 device name 65 device properties 65 LDAP Sync tool display 58 Storage Group name 39 Storage Groups

restrictions 23 Storage System Name 9 System passwords 5 user details 53 user groups 63 Workspace access privileges 34 Workspace name 32 Workspace size 31

Characters

invalid 19 maximum 19

Clearing

Foreign Disk error 49 LDAP Sync tool History log 60 system logs 69, 69

Client

monitoring reservations 67

Client Bandwidth

monitoring 21

Clients

active 21 adding 64 deleting 65 monitoring bandwidth 21 renaming 65

Closing

LDAP Sync tool 61 Storage Groups tool Details panel 39 Workspaces tool Details panel 30

Columns

LDAP Sync tool 58

Config Changes (Workspaces list) 29 Configuring

DNS service 9, 9 External Authentication 55 NTP servers 2

Connecting to servers (LDAP Sync tool) 61 Connection Analyzer tool

See also Toolbox checking connection status 73 described 72 icons 72 opening 73 status icons 72

Connection Status

monitoring 66

Controllers

Install Needed status

Copying

users 52

Workspaces 31

Creating

aggregate logs 74, 74 Avid NEXIS file system 1 devices 64 snapshot archives 12, 12 snapshots 11 Storage Groups 38 user groups 62, 62 users 52 Workspaces 28

Default

accounts 51 Bandwidth for Auto Created Devices 20 Hard Disk Error Threshold 20 LCT Threshold 20 Management Console password 14

Deleting

all snapshots 11 clients 65 devices 65 snapshot archives 12 Storage Groups 40 system snapshot 11 user groups 63 Users 53 Workspaces 32

Devices

adding 64 deleting 65 modifying 65 renaming 65

Disabling

accounts 53 Auto Refresh 18 link aggregation 4 users 53

Disconnecting clients

from LDAP server (LDAP Sync tool) 61

Disk Analyzer tool

described 75 disk test options 76 Media Pack statistics 75 opening 75 running disk tests 77 saving results 77 updating display 77

Disk S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, And Reporting

Technology)

See Disk Analyzer tool

Disks

Info button 41, 43 replacing SSDs 47 See also Drives

Displaying

aggregate logs 75 bandwidth limits 65 Bandwidth Limits details 65 Client Bandwidth 66 Client reservations 67 connection status 73 Engine details 41, 43 event history 68 LDAP Sync tool History log 60 Media Pack details 39, 44, 47 Media Pack drive details 47 Media Pack statistics 75 SSD health 47 Storage Group details 39, 39 System drive details 47 user details 54 user group details 64 Workspace details 30, 30

DNS service 9

configuring 9

Downloading

snapshot archives 11 System event history 68

Drives

clearing Foreign Disk error 49 displaying details 47 displaying spares 47 firmware version 41, 43 health (SSDs) 47 replacing with different size (capacity) 48 status 48

Duplicating

accounts 52 users 52 Workspaces 31

Enabling

Auto Refresh 18 DNS 9 link aggregation 4 SSL encryption 5 users 53

Engines

enclosure ID 40, 42 identifying failures 41 Info button 41, 43 information about 40, 42 Install Needed status 41 invalid Storage Controller 41 managing 40, 42 page 40, 42 status 41 System Director indicator 40, 42

Entering text 19 Event History

displaying 68 downloading file 68

file, where saved 68 Event history 68 Event triggers

about 33

setting 33 External Authentication

about 55

configuring 55

Pinnacle Systems NEXIS - 18.5 Administrator’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

1 Configuring and Managing the System

2 Working with the Management Console

3 Managing Storage

Managing Users

5 Monitoring the System

6 Avid NEXIS Toolbox

Index