Pinnacle Systems Unity ISIS - 1.4 Administrator’s Guide

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Avid Unity ISIS™

Administration Guide

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Avid

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

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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.

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

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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.

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“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.

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“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.”

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GOT FOOTAGE?

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Send us your reels and we may use your footage in our show reel or demo!*

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*Note: Avid cannot guarantee the use of materials submitted.

Avid Unity ISIS Administration Guide • 0130-07874-01 • September 2007

Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Who Should Use This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Accessing the Online Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Avid Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 1 Installing Your Avid Unity ISIS Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Installing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Initializing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Configuring the Avid Unity ISIS Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Management Tasks and General Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

System Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Using the Administration Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Before Performing Administrative Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Opening the Administration Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Logging Out of the Administration Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Accessing the Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Command Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Storage Elements Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Chassis Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Storage Groups Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Workspaces Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Users Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

User Groups Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Devices Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Bandwidth Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Connection Status Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Preferences Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Orphaned Elements Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

System Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Organizing Display Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Moving and Rearranging Columns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Showing and Hiding Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Sorting Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Filtering the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 3 Managing the Storage Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Storage Element List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Viewing Storage Elements Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Storage Element Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Storage Element Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Adding Storage to the Media Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Adding Storage Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Rectifying Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Removing Storage Elements from the File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Identifying Storage Elements Prior to Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Removing Storage Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Removing Orphaned Storage Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Accessing the Orphaned Elements Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Orphaned Elements List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Removing Orphaned Storage Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Upgrading Storage Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Accessing the Chassis Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Chassis List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Viewing Chassis Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Chassis Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Upgrading Chassis Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Upgrading Individual Chassis Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Removing Chassis from the Chassis List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Adding and Removing Storage Elements in the Chassis List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Chapter 4 Configuring and Managing Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Accessing the Storage Groups Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Storage Group List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Viewing Storage Group Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Storage Group Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Managing Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Storage Group Usage Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Creating Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Adding Storage Elements to Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Removing Storage Elements from Storage Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Adding Storage Elements from Another Storage Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Adding Storage Elements Previously Used with Another Network . . . . . . . . . . 79

Deleting Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Chapter 5 Managing Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Allocating Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Accessing the Workspaces Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

The Workspaces List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Using the Graphical Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Viewing Workspace Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Workspaces Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Creating New Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Duplicating Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Adjusting Workspace Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Renaming Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Protecting Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Workspace Protection Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Setting Workspace Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Redistributing Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Redistribution Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Performing a Full Redistribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Using Advanced Redistribution Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Moving Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Managing Workspace Access Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Setting Workspace Access Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Deleting Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Chapter 6 Managing Client Accounts and Access Privileges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Creating Client Accounts for Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Accessing the Users Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

User Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Creating User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Duplicating Client Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Creating Client Accounts for Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Accessing the Groups Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Viewing Group Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

User Group Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Creating User Group Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Creating Client Accounts for Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Accessing the Device Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Device List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Device Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Creating Device Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Modifying Client Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Deleting Client Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Removing Clients from the Avid Unity ISIS Media Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Changing Access Privileges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Setting System Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Chapter 7 Monitoring Bandwidth Usage and System Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Monitoring Client Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Accessing the Bandwidth Monitor Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Bandwidth List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Scaling the Bandwidth List Graph Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Removing Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Monitoring System Connection Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Accessing the Connection Status Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Connection Status Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Disconnecting Components from the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Chapter 8 Configuring Failover Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Adding a System Director to an Existing File System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

IP Addresses for Existing and New System Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Setting Up the Failover Connection on the Existing System Director . . . . . . . 141

Setting Up the Failover Connection on the New System Director . . . . . . . . . . 144

Validating the Connections Between Existing and New System Directors . . . 146

Configuring the Virtual Addresses for Existing and New System Directors . . . 148

Creating a New Standby File System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Starting the Existing and New System Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Creating Failover with Two New Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

IP Addresses for First and Second System Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Setting Up the Failover Connection on the First System Director . . . . . . . . . . 151

Setting Up the Failover Connection on the Second System Director. . . . . . . . 153

Validating the Connections Between First and Second System Directors. . . . 155

Configuring the Virtual Addresses for First and Second System Directors . . . 157

Creating a New File System on the System Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Starting the First and Second System Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Stopping and Starting System Directors During Failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Appendix A Avid Unity ISIS System Director Control Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Starting the System Director Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

System Director Status Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Performance Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Status Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Starting and Stopping the System Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Resetting the Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Configuration Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Starting and Stopping the System Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Configuring General Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Working with File System Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Opening the System Director Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Active Clients Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

MetaData Status Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Advanced Settings Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Appendix B Advanced Support Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

System Administration Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Changing the Administration Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Setting up Error Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Configuring the E-mail Error Notification Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Setting Up E-mail Error Notification Contacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Configuring the Error Notification Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Starting and Stopping the ISIS Interplay Health Monitoring Service . . . . . . . . 181

Viewing the Administration Tool Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

The Avid Unity ISIS Snapshot Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Creating, Viewing, and Deleting Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Working with Snapshot Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Using the Profile Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

System Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

System Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Using System Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Accessing the Logging Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Viewing Event Logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Clearing Event Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Avid Unity ISIS Log Aggregator Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Using the Avid Unity ISIS Log Aggregator Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Creating Aggregate Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Viewing Aggregate Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Avid Unity ISIS Disk Tester Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Opening the Disk Tester Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Using the Disk Tester Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Avid Unity ISB Connection Analyzer Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Avid Unity ISIS Switch Manager Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

General Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Installers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Avid Unity ISIS Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Understanding the Agent Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

System Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Stopping and Starting Storage Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Viewing System Information for Individual Chassis Switches . . . . . . . . . . 217

Setting Chassis Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Statistics Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Using the Statistics Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Statistics Tab Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Tools Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Agent Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Using the Log Viewer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Logging Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Using Agent Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Viewing Agent Event Logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Clearing Agent Event Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Disabling Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Saving Logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Viewing and Deleting Saved Logs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Switch Infrastructure Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Switch Diagnostics Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Running Switch Infrastructure Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Resetting an Avid ISIS Engine to Factory Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Appendix C Avid Unity ISIS System Monitor Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Using the Avid Unity ISIS System Monitor Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Accessing the Avid Unity ISIS System Monitor Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Configuring the System Monitor Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Viewing Information in the System Monitor Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Displaying Rack Configurations in Separate Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Understanding the System Monitor Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Using General View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Using Status Details View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Status Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Using the Status Details Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Using Chassis Identification View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Using Blade Identification View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Using IP Addresses View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Using Temperatures View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Using Upgrades View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Modifying the System Monitor Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Appendix D Avid Unity ISIS E-mail Notification List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Using This Guide

The Avid Unity ISIS™ (Infinitely Scalable Intelligent Storage) media network provides a high-performance distributed file system that contains high-capacity shared media storage for workgroups of connected Avid

This document describes the features for all Avid Unity ISIS media networks. Therefore,

your system might not contain certain features that are covered in the documentation.

Who Should Use This Guide

This administration guide is intended for system administrators responsible for the setup and day-to-day management of an Avid to access workspaces on the network. You should have a basic understanding of how to use and manage the Windows familiar with basic workgroup and network concepts.

operating system and Mac OS® X systems, and you should be

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

editing workstations.

Unity ISIS media network, as well as for users who need

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the

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.

order you select them. For example, File > Import means to open the File menu and then select the Import command.

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

t This symbol indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list

indicate that you perform one of the actions listed.

(Windows), (Windows only), (Macintosh), or (Macintosh only)

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

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

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:

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as printed release notes,

they ship with your application and are also available online.

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

items and keyboard sequences.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

mouse action. For example, Command+Option+C or Ctrl+drag.

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as a ReadMe file, it is

supplied on your Avid installation CD or DVD as a PDF document (README_product.pdf) and is also available online.

You should 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 these online versions, select ReadMe from the Help menu, or visit

the Knowledge Base at

www.avid.com/readme.

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 at www.avid.com/onlinesupport. 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 updates, and to read or join online message-board discussions.

Accessing the Online Documentation

The Avid Unity ISIS online documentation contains all the product documentation in PDF format. You can access the documentation in the top-level AvidUnityISISDocumentation folder on the Avid

The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models. Therefore, your

system might not contain certain features and hardware that are covered in the documentation.

To access the online documentation from the installer DVD-ROM:

1. Insert the Avid Unity ISIS installer DVD-ROM into the drive.

2. Navigate to the [DVD drive]:\.AvidUnityISISDocumentation folder, and double-click the PDF file for the document you want to view.

Unity ISIS installer DVD.

How to Order Documentation

To order additional copies of this documentation from within the United States, call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). If you are placing an order from outside the United States, contact your local Avid representative.

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 accommodate your pressured and competitive work environment.

To learn about Avid's new online learning environment, Avid Learning Excellerator(ALEX),

http://learn.avid.com.

visit

For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit (800-949-2843).

www.avid.com/training or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID

1 Installing Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

This section describes what you need to do to install and initialize the Avid Unity ISIS software for the System Director file system, the software that sets up and manages the storage groups and workspaces on your Avid supplied on a DVD-ROM in the Avid

For more information, see the following topics:

• Installing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director Software

• Initializing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director

• Configuring the Avid Unity ISIS Software

Unity ISIS installation kit.

Installing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director Software

You must install Avid Unity ISIS software on the System Director that manages your media storage system. You can also install the client software on any client attached to the

Unity ISIS media network.

Avid

The Avid Unity ISIS installation software is included on the Avid Unity ISIS DVD-ROM. For specific instructions on installing the software, see the Avid any updates in the information about installation, see the Avid comes with your system.

Unity ISIS media network. This software is

Unity ISIS Setup Guide. For

Unity ISIS ReadMe that

Initializing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director

Before you log on to the Avid Unity ISIS System Administrator, you need to initialize your system by creating an active partition on the System Director’s main drive. This step is necessary in order to build an Avid attached storage elements and system metadata.

Unity ISIS file system that maintains the data on

1 Installing Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

To create an active partition:

1. Select Start > Programs > Avid Unity ISIS System Director > System Director Control Panel.

The Avid Unity ISIS System Director Control Panel opens.

2. Click the Configuration tab.

3. In the Server Control Operations area, click Stop Server. A confirmation message box opens.

4. Click OK. The System Director stops.

5. In the Major File System Operations area, click Create New Active. A confirmation message box opens.

6. Click OK. An active partition is created, and the System Director starts.

7. In the Configuration area, click General Configuration. The General Configuration Options dialog box opens.

Configuring the Avid Unity ISIS Software

8. (Optional) Type a name for the Virtual System Director. In a failover configuration, this name should be different from the network node name for the System Director.

9. Click OK.

10. Click Close.

Configuring the Avid Unity ISIS Software

You need to configure the Avid Unity ISIS software to establish a functioning media network. This configuration requires that you do the following:

• Add the storage elements to the media network (see “Managing the Storage Hardware”

on page 35).

• Create a storage group (see “Configuring and Managing Storage” on page 67).

• Create a workspace (see “Managing Workspaces” on page 81).

• Create user accounts (see “Managing Client Accounts and Access Privileges” on page

107).

For more information about the Avid Unity ISIS software and the Avid Unity ISIS System Administration tool, see

“Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software” on page 21.

1 Installing Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS

Software

Avid Unity ISIS allows you to manage very large amounts of storage that multiple clients can access to share video, audio, and effects media in an intuitive, collaborative environment.

This section provides an overview of the configuration factors you need to consider, the tasks you need to perform, and the tool you use to manage storage groups, clients, and workspaces.

For more information, see the following topics:

• Management Tasks and General Considerations

• System Capacity

• Using the Administration Tool

• Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

Management Tasks and General Considerations

The responsibilities of an administrator include the following:

• Initial setup and configuration of the workgroup: You must configure the storage elements, as well as one or more storage groups, workspaces, and user accounts.

• Day-to-day administration: You probably need to reconfigure your network to accommodate new users and evolving projects.

Avid Unity ISIS also provides monitoring functionality that allows you to check total system activity as well as that of each connected client.

• Troubleshooting: When problems occur with the storage hardware, the System Director, or a client, you need to diagnose the problem and, if possible, fix it. Avid provides easy-to-understand error, warning, and informational messages that inform you of problems, as well as tools that help you diagnose and fix problems.

Unity ISIS

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

How you answer the following strategic questions determines your priorities when making configuration decisions and trade-offs (possibly affecting several aspects of your configuration).

• What is your site type? Broadcast and post-production editing suites, for instance, require very different

administration requirements, particularly in terms of workspace-access restrictions and how often you need to reconfigure workspaces and users. For more information on managing workspaces, see

• Does your workgroup include uncompressed clients, multiple-stream clients, or high definition clients?

If so, you will need to set up special hardware and storage group configurations. For more information on managing storage groups, see

Storage” on page 67.

• Will your client users be working on individual projects with their own media or will they be collaborating on team projects that use the same source media?

These factors affect how you should allocate workspaces and user accounts. For more information on managing users and user groups, see

Access Privileges” on page 107.

• Which is more important at your site: the integrity and speed at which your media can be recovered in the event of hardware failure or maximizing available storage space?

“Managing Workspaces” on page 81.

“Configuring and Managing

“Managing Client Accounts and

Avid recommends that you always use protection to avoid data loss. However, these factors determine whether you will want to protect your workspaces.

• Is security more important than ease of access at your site? Individual password user accounts combined with tightly controlled workspace access

privileges provide the most security at the cost of restricting user flexibility. For more information on managing user accounts and access privileges, see

Accounts and Access Privileges” on page 107.

System Capacity

An Avid Unity ISIS media network provides up to 192 terabytes (TB) of storage, or 96 TB of mirrored storage, distributed across storage elements blades (ISB). The Avid Integrated Switch (ISS), the ISIS Integrated Expansion switch (IXS), power supplies, and an internal midplane

— can use either 250 GB drives or 500 GB drives.

“Managing Client

— such as Avid Unity ISIS storage

Unity ISIS Engine — the chassis holding the ISBs, the ISIS

The System Director handles file management for the system, which supports a configuration including the following:

• 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 files; however, the maximum number of files depends on the number of directories, the number of files in directories, the number of System Directors, and the length of file names

• Up to 10,000 files in a directory and 10,000 directories, although individual client accounts might require restrictions on files and directories based on performance issues

• Up to 1000 user accounts

• Up to 550 Windows and Macintosh clients with mounted workspaces; the total amount of clients is controlled by your Avid key

Unity ISIS license and System Director application

Using the Administration Tool

You use the Avid Unity ISIS System Administration tool for the configuration and day-to-day administration of workspaces, clients, and storage groups. The tool also allows you to monitor your system’s activity.

To use the Administration tool, you need to have Macromedia® Flash® Player installed on

your system

Using the Administration Tool

You open the Administration tool from the Avid Unity ISIS Home page, which also allows you to access the following support tools:

• System Monitor tool (see “Avid Unity ISIS System Monitor Tool” on page 235)

• Log Aggregator tool (see “Avid Unity ISIS Log Aggregator Tool” on page 196)

• Switch Manager tool (see “Avid Unity ISIS Switch Manager Tool” on page 206)

• Disk Tester tool (see “Avid Unity ISIS Disk Tester Tool” on page 200)

• ISB Connection Analyzer tool (see “Avi d Unity ISB Connection Analyzer Tool” on

page 204)

This section provides an overview of the Administration tool. For more information, see the following topics:

• Before Performing Administrative Functions

• Opening the Administration Tool

• Logging Out of the Administration Tool

• Accessing the Help System

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

Before Performing Administrative Functions

It is critical that clients unmount workspaces when you do the following:

• Stopping and restarting the System Director (unmount all workspaces)

• Rebooting the System Director (unmount all workspaces)

• Changing users’ or user groups’ access (unmount only the affected workspaces)

If a client is using a workspace when it is taken offline, the connection to the workspace is broken and data might be lost.

Opening the Administration Tool

The Administration tool runs as a Web service on the System Director. This allows you to open the Administration tool from any system that has an Ethernet connection to the System Director, as well as from the System Director itself.

Performing administrative functions on more than one Administration tool at the same time can cause unexpected results. For example, if two administrators are deleting the same user account at the same time, a second user account might also be accidentally deleted.

When you start the Administration tool, the Login dialog box opens. If you have specified an administration password (see Administration tool prompts you to supply that password to log in. If you type the wrong password, an error message appears and the Login dialog box reappears.

When you first install the Avid Unity ISIS software, the login password is blank by default.

To set a password for the administrator, follow the procedure described in

Administration Password” on page 176.

Regular users cannot log in to the Administration tool. However, they can view certain information about the network through the Client Manager. For more information about the Client Manager, see the Avid

Start Card. The Avid

Unity ISIS Online Library as a separate document.

Avid

Unity ISIS Client Manager User’s Guide is also included in the

“Modifying Client Accounts” on page 124), the

Unity ISIS Client Manager Help or the Avid Unity ISIS Quick

“Changing the

To open the Administration tool:

1. Open your Web browser.

2. In the address bar of your browser, do one of the following:

Using the Administration Tool

t Type

https://[

https://172.20.22.122:5015

https://[

https://AvidSysDir01:5015.

System Director IP address

System Director network pathname

]:5015

— for example,

]:5015

— for example,

If any Web site certification warnings open, click Yes to accept the certificate. If you are not sure about the security requirements of your media network, see your administrator.

The Login dialog box for the Administration tool opens.

3. Type your password. For information on changing the administrative password, see “Changing the

Administration Password” on page 176.

4. Click the Login button. The Avid Unity ISIS Home page opens.

5. Do one of the following:

t Click Administration. You can also click the Administration icon. t Click the Quick Launch menu and select Administration.

The Administration tool opens.

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

Logging Out of the Administration Tool

You can log out of the Administration tool at any time by using the Logout button in the Tabs area.

To log out of the Administration tool:

t Click the Logout [user] button.

Accessing the Help System

You can get comprehensive task-oriented, background, and reference information through the Administration tool Help.

To open the Help:

t Click the Help button.

The Help displays in a separate browser window.

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

The Administration tool, which you can run on the System Director or on any Ethernet-attached client, has a user interface where controls are grouped by function and are displayed by clicking the appropriate buttons.

Command menu

System Details area

Main display area

Details area

Toolbar

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

The Administration tool is divided into the following areas:

• The Command menu, which contains the options used for basic management functions. You can access different Command functions by clicking the tabs at the top of the Administration tool.

• The System Details area, which summarizes information about the status of your

Unity ISIS media network.

Avid

• The Main display area, which displays information about your network and allows you to configure its components

• The Details area, which displays information about the system and allows you to modify its components

You can hide the Details area by clicking the Close button.

Buttons accessible from the toolbar change depending on the active dialog box. For more information on the Administration tool interface, see the following topics:

• “Command Menu” on page 27

• “System Options” on page 32

• “Sorting Information” on page 33

Command Menu

The Command menu opens dialog boxes in the Main display area that allow you to configure your network and to perform a full range of administrative tasks from the Administration tool, including the following:

• Creating workspaces and storage groups

• Adding, deleting, and modifying client accounts

• Setting access privileges

• Setting and monitoring bandwidth usage

• Displaying information about clients and system usage

• Performing other administrative tasks, such as logging or monitoring

In addition, some Command menu selections display action markers that flash to indicate issues that require administrative attention, such as a change in storage element performance.

Action marker

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

The following table summarizes the color coding used by the action markers:

Marker Color Description

White Indicates that no storage element has been bound to the Avid Unity ISIS file

system, or that there are no storage groups or workspaces created yet

Blue Indicates that an installation or software upgrade is in progress

Orange Indicates a failed software installation or upgrade, or a hardware error

Yellow Indicates a potential problem with an Avid Unity ISIS component. It also

indicates a redistribution is in progress. For more information, see the sections on the appropriate Administration tool functions

At the top of the Command menu are tabs for the support functions. These tabs list menu options that allow you to access additional information about your system and to perform certain administrative tasks, such as monitoring and logging. For more information on the Support tabs, see

“Avid Unity ISIS System Director Control Panel” on page 161 and

“Advanced Support Tools” on page 175.

The Command menu selections are described in the following sections.

Storage Elements Option

Selecting the Storage Elements option opens the Storage Elements dialog box. This allows you to manage the storage elements connected to your media network. You use the Storage Elements dialog box to perform the following functions:

• Add storage elements to the media network

• Remove storage elements from the media network

For more information on the Storage Elements dialog box, see “Managing the Storage

Hardware” on page 35.

Chassis Option

Selecting the Chassis option opens the Chassis dialog box, which allows you to view basic information about your storage element and switch blade hardware and to perform the following functions:

• Display a list of all chassis connected to the media network

• Display information on the storage elements and switch blades in the chassis

• Upgrade all storage elements and switch blades in the chassis

• Upgrade individual storage elements and switch blades in the chassis

• Remove inactive chassis from the Chassis list

For more information on the Chassis dialog box, see “Managing the Storage Hardware” on

page 35.

Storage Groups Option

Selecting the Storage Groups option opens the Storage Groups dialog box. This allows you to set up and administer storage groups. You use the Storage Groups dialog box to perform the following functions:

• Display a list of storage groups

• Create, rename, and delete storage groups

• Add storage elements to storage groups

• Remove storage elements from storage groups

For more information on the Storage Groups dialog box, see “Configuring and Managing

Storage” on page 67.

Workspaces Option

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

Selecting the Workspaces option opens the Workspaces dialog box, which allows you to view information about each workspace and to perform the following functions:

• Create a workspace

• Delete a workspace

• Rename a workspace

• Set the protection state for a workspace

• Set user access for a workspace

• Move a workspace to another storage group

• Resize a workspace

For more information on the Workspaces dialog box, see “Managing Workspaces” on page

81.

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

Users Option

Selecting the Users option opens the Users dialog box, which allows you to view information about all user accounts and to administer use of the network. User management tasks include the following:

• Display a list of users

• Create new user accounts and user passwords

• Assign user privileges and access

• Assign user bandwidth limits

• Delete user accounts

• Modify user accounts

For more information on the Users dialog box, see “Managing Client Accounts and Access

Privileges” on page 107.

User Groups Option

Selecting the User Groups option opens the User Groups dialog box, which allows you to view information about all user group accounts and to administer use of the network. User group management tasks include the following:

• Display a list of user groups

• Add and delete user groups

• Modify user group accounts

For more information on the User Groups dialog box, see “Managing Client Accounts and

Access Privileges” on page 107.

Devices Option

Selecting the Devices option opens the Devices dialog box, which allows you to view information about all device accounts and to administer use of the network. Device management tasks include the following:

• Display a list of devices

• Add and delete device accounts

• Modify device accounts

• Assign device bandwidth limits

For more information on the Devices dialog box, see “Managing Client Accounts and

Access Privileges” on page 107.

Bandwidth Option

Selecting the Bandwidth option opens the Bandwidth Monitor dialog box and provides low-level, performance-monitoring functions. The Bandwidth option allows you to view the following information:

• A list of the individual system components connected to the media network

• A description of the current Read and Write bandwidth usage for each component

• The system bandwidth reservation for both Read and Write operations

You can also use the Bandwidth Monitor dialog box to remove individual system components from the network by revoking bandwidth reservation.

For more information on the Bandwidth Monitor dialog box, see “Monitoring Bandwidth

Usage and System Status” on page 131.

Connection Status Option

Selecting the Connection Status option opens the Connection Status dialog box and allows you to view basic information about the components connected to the network. You can also use the Connection Status dialog box to disconnect components from the network.

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

For more information on the Connection Status dialog box, see “Monitoring System

Connection Status” on page 134.

Preferences Option

Selecting the Preferences option opens the Preferences dialog box and allows you to set bandwidth requirements and to enable the automatic creation of device accounts when components are added to the media network.

For more information on the Preferences dialog box, see “Setting System Preferences” on

page 129.

Orphaned Elements Option

Selecting the Orphaned Elements option opens the Orphaned Elements dialog box and allows you to remove storage elements that are bound to the ISIS file system but no longer connected.

For more information on the Orphaned Elements dialog box, see “Removing Orphaned

Storage Elements” on page 53.

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

System Options

The System options are two buttons located in the Tabs area that allow you to do the following:

• Logout: Clicking this button logs out the current user and closes the Administration tool.

• Help: Clicking this button opens the Help, which provides procedures and reference information for all features of the Administration tool.

Organizing Display Information

You can customize the Main display area for any Command menu option by moving and hiding columns, and by sorting and filtering information.

For detailed descriptions of these procedures, see the following topics:

• “Moving and Rearranging Columns” on page 32

• “Showing and Hiding Columns” on page 32

• “Sorting Information” on page 33

• “Filtering the Display” on page 34

Moving and Rearranging Columns

To move a column in the Main display area:

1. With one of the options in the Command menu selected, click the heading of the column that you want to move.

2. Drag the column to the position you want, and release the mouse button. The column appears in the new position, and columns to the right are moved to make

room.

Showing and Hiding Columns

When you open a Command menu option (for example, the Storage Elements dialog box), the Main display area lists items in default columns. Depending on the option selected, there might be other headings available to view. You can select individual or multiple column headings to be displayed or hidden.

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

To show or hide column headings:

t With one of the options in the Command menu selected, right-click in the column

heading row and select a heading you want to show or hide. Displayed column headings are marked by a plus sign (+). You cannot hide the first

column on the left of the Main display area (usually the Name column).

Column Heading row

Sorting Information

The Administration tool interface allows you to sort information listed in the Main display area, both in the default panels (for example, the Storage Elements dialog box) or in the Details area. Sorting the information in columns arranges items in either numerical or alphabetical order. You can also perform a multilevel sort of the displayed information.

To sort information:

t With one of the options in the Command menu selected, click the column heading for

the category of information you want to sort. The information is sorted in ascending order. To reverse the sort order, click the column

heading again.

To perform a multilevel sort:

1. With one of the options in the Command menu selected, click the column heading for the first category of information you want to sort.

The items in the column are sorted in ascending order.

2 Configuring Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

2. Click a second column. The items in the second column are sorted in ascending order. The items in the first

column maintain their sort order, but with a lower priority than the second sort.

3. (Option) Click multiple columns to add levels to the sort. To cancel a multilevel sort, click a column heading that has already been sorted.

Filtering the Display

You can limit the items listed in the Main display area by setting Filter parameters. Filtering the display allows you to focus on only those items that you want to monitor. You can restore all items to the display by clearing the Filter parameters.

Category menu Parameter menu Filter text box Filter button Clear button

You cannot filter the display for the Bandwidth, Connection Status, and Preferences menu

options.

To filter the display:

1. Select one of the options in the Command menu.

2. In the Filter area, click the Category menu and select a category. The Category menu lists all of the column headings available for the selected Command

menu option.

3. (Option) Select “not” to exclude the Filter parameters from the display.

4. Click the Parameter menu and select the constraining parameter you want to use.

5. In the Filter text box, type the characters you want to use to filter the display.

6. Click Filter. The Main display area updates to display the filtered results. The Filter area displays the

number of filtered items displayed and the total number of items available for display.

Number of filtered items

To restore all items to the display:

t Click Clear.

The Main display area updates to display all items.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

This chapter describes how to configure and manage your storage hardware. You perform all storage management operations from the Avid which allows you to add, remove, configure, and manage your storage elements.

For an overview of the Administration tool and information about how to start the tool, see

“Using the Administration Tool” on page 23.

The Storage Elements dialog box of the Administration tool allows you to add and remove storage elements, upgrade the storage element software, and monitor storage element operation.

The Storage Elements dialog box contains two sections. On the left side of the dialog box the Storage Elements list displays all the storage elements available to the current user. On the right side of the dialog box, the Details area displays technical information about selected storage elements.

The Details area is visible only after you select a storage element in the Storage Elements

list.

Unity ISIS System Administration tool,

Storage element icon

Storage Elements list

Details area

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

For more information, see the following topics:

• Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box

• Adding Storage to the Media Network

• Adding Storage Elements

• Rectifying Files

• Removing Storage Elements from the File System

• Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

• Removing Orphaned Storage Elements

• Upgrading Storage Elements

• Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box

To access the Storage Elements dialog box:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens and displays the Storage Elements list.

Storage element icon

If you do not have any storage elements bound to the Avid Unity ISIS file system, a yellow action marker flashes next to the Storage Elements list. For more information about the Storage element list, see

Storage Elements Descriptions” on page 38.

Storage Element List

The following table summarizes the basic information available when you first open the Storage Elements list. Some columns are hidden by default (see

Columns” on page 32 and “Storage Element Details” on page 39).

Heading Description

Name Displays the system-created name of each storage element connected to the system

SB Name Displays the computer name of each storage element connected to the system

Status Time Lists the last time the System Director logged the storage element’s status

Status Displays any change in the working status logged by the System Director (for a

description of status messages, see “Storage Element Status” on page 41)

Type Displays the storage element category of each storage element (see “Storage

Element Details” on page 39):

• Available

•Spare

•Active

Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box

“Storage Element List” on page 37 and “Viewing

“Showing and Hiding

Used Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) in use by each storage

element

Crate Serial Displays the identification number of the unit that holds each storage element

Slot Number Displays the slot number of each storage element

You can organize the information in the Storage Elements list by showing additional

columns or by sorting or filtering displayed items. For more information on modifying the display, see

“Organizing Display Information” on page 32.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

A color-coded icon precedes the name of each storage element, providing an indication of the status of the component. The following table describes the color coding system used by the Administration tool.

Icon Color Description

White Indicates the status of the storage element is Available (the storage element is not

linked to the ISIS file system)

Green Indicates the status of the storage element is either Spare (the storage element is not

allocated to a storage group) or Active (allocated to a storage group)

Yellow Indicates one of the following:

• a problem with the storage element

• the storage element experiences degraded performance due to a reboot during an upgrade operation

Blue Indicates that an installation or software upgrade is in progress

Orange Indicates a storage element problem, including any of the following:

• a hardware error

• a failed software installation or upgrade

• a storage element disconnected due to a reboot during an upgrade operation

Viewing Storage Elements Descriptions

The Details area displays all information for the currently selected storage element. The information displayed is the information as seen by the System Director. Some of the information is embedded in the storage element, and other information is assigned to the

Unity ISIS software.

“Avid Unity ISIS Agents” on page 208.

storage element by the Avid

You can view more detailed information on storage elements by using the Avid Unity ISIS

Agent tool. For more information, see

To view information about a storage element:

1. In the Storage Elements list, select a storage element.

2. Do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the storage element name.

Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box

The Details area displays all the information for the selected storage element. For more information, see

To hide the Details area:

“Storage Element Details” on page 39.

t Click the arrow next to the storage element Details title bar.

To close the Details area:

t Click the Close button.

Storage Element Details

The following table summarizes the information available in the Details area.

Heading Status Description

Name Displays the system-created name of the selected

ISB Name Displays the computer name of the selected storage

Status Time Lists the last time the System Director logged the

Status For a description of status

messages, see “Storage

Element Status” on page 41.

storage element

element

storage element’s status

Displays any change in the working status logged by the System Director.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Heading Status Description (Continued)

Temperature Displays the last logged temperature of the storage

Type Displays the storage element category of the

Available Indicates storage elements that are not

Spare Indicates storage elements that have been added to

Active Indicates active storage elements added to a file

Blade Type Lists the storage element model:

element

selected storage element

appropriately initialized for use in a storage group; these storage elements can be used for other purposes in your environment

the ISIS file system but are not allocated for a specific purpose; spare but inactive storage elements cannot be used until allocated to a storage group

system and allocated to a storage group

• i500

• i1000

Storage Group Displays the storage group, if any, to which the

storage element is allocated

Capacity Displays the storage capacity in gigabytes (GB) of

the selected storage element

Used Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes

(GB) that currently has data written on it in the selected storage element

Unused Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes

(GB) available for use in the selected storage element

Chunk Size Displays the size of segmented media files sent

over the network

Heading Status Description (Continued)

Version Displays the software version number of each

Serial Number Displays the identification number of each storage

Offline Timeout n Indicates the amount of time (in seconds) a storage

Crate Serial Displays the identification number of the unit that

Slot Number Displays the slot number of each storage element

IP Addresses Displays the IP addresses of the selected storage

Storage Element Status

The Status column in the Storage Elements list reports the status of the storage element logged by the System Director. (The Status line in the Details area reports the same information.) If the storage element maintains a working status, the Administration tool lists no entries in the Status field. When a problem arises, or when the status of the storage element changes, the Administration tool updates the Storage Elements dialog box.

Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box

storage element

element

element is offline before the System Director logs an error message

holds each storage element

element in a separate area. To hide this area, click the arrow in the IP Addresses title bar.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

The following table summarizes the storage element status messages.

Category Status

Disk Status • Disk in test mode

General Status • Rectifying files: the storage element is cleaning up deleted files and

• Metadata error

verifying existing files

• No connection: the System Director cannot communicate with the storage element; this could be due to a networking infrastructure issue or storage element failure

• Repairing mirrors: the storage element is repairing mirrored blocks with a single point of failure

• Disk failure: the storage element is unusable for data storage and must be replaced

• Redistributing: data is being redistributed to storage elements in the storage group

• Disk performance degraded: the storage element’s performance is below the threshold for input/output functions and might impact the performance of the system

• Network degraded: the IP interfaces on the storage element has failed or the storage element experiences at least a 10% error rate (usually due to lost packets), indicating a network communication problem

• Memory error: the memory test that runs when the storage element starts or restarts reports an error; this status is persistent and indicates that the storage element has failed and should be replaced

• Metadata error: the storage element experienced an error loading metadata from the disk or writing new metadata to the disk (if mirrored, the data on the mirrored storage element is still available and no actual data loss occurs); this indicates that the storage element should be replaced

• Disk in test: the storage element is in disk test mode

• Offline: the storage element has been taken offline, usually in preparation for removal

Temperature status • Temperature above threshold: the temperature of the storage element

exceeds 60°C (140°F)

Adding Storage to the Media Network

Category Status (Continued)

Upgrade Status • Install failed

• Installing Phase 0

• Installing Phase 1

• Installing Phase 2

• Installing Phase 3

• Install Waiting

Connection Status • No Connection

Adding Storage to the Media Network

The Administration tool checks the metadata integrity and updates all data related to the storage elements connected to the network. Anytime you add or remove a storage element from your system, you can update the information in the Storage Elements dialog box.

You do not need to turn off the System Director to add or remove storage elements.

When adding storage elements to the Avid Unity ISIS engine (the chassis that holds the physical components of your Avid carefully. Do not force them into place, as damage to the disk drives might occur if they sustain any physical shock. For information on adding storage elements to your network, see the Avid

To physically add new storage elements to your media network:

1. Add the new storage elements, installing new units as described in the Avid Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

2. Start the System Director if it is not already running.

3. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

Unity ISIS Setup Guide and the Avi d Unity ISIS ReadMe.

Unity ISIS network), be sure to insert them

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

4. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens.

If the Administration tool is open when you add the storage elements, click the Refresh button to view the newly added storage elements in the Storage Elements dialog box.

If the storage elements are not listed, something might be wrong with their physical connections. Do not proceed any further, and see the Avid

Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

5. Add the new storage elements to a server (see “Adding Storage Elements” on page 44).

6. Add the new storage elements to a storage group (see “Adding Storage Elements to

Storage Groups” on page 75).

Adding Storage Elements

The storage group defines the storage elements that the network can use to store data. In order to finish configuring your Avid elements to the ISIS file system (sometimes called “linking” or “binding” storage elements), and then you must create a storage group from the available storage elements.

To add a storage element to the ISIS file system:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left.

Unity ISIS media network, you must add storage

Adding Storage Elements

The Storage Elements dialog box opens.

Select All menuSelect All buttonAdd button

3. Do one of the following: t Select the available storage element you want to add to a server. Ctrl+click to select

multiple available storage elements.

t Click the Select All button to select all storage elements. t Click the Select All menu, and select one of the following options:

- Select All Available

- Select All Spare

- Select All Active

- [Select all in] chassis

4. Click the Add button. The Storage Elements list refreshes and displays the storage element type as “Spare.” For more information about storage groups, see “Managing the Storage Hardware” on

page 35.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Rectifying Files

Once you have added storage elements to your network and configured them for storage, the storage elements stored files, cleaning up deleted files and verifying existing files. This process, called “rectifying files,” allows the ISBs to communicate with the System Director to monitor the state of its storage and clean up any files that the ISB no longer needs to store. Rectifying files occurs randomly and asynchronously during normal system operation to minimize any potential decrease in system performance. The process is indicated for each affected ISB in the Status column in the Storage Elements list.

Storage elements also rectify files when the ISB starts or restarts. When this happens — for example, when an ISB loses connectivity to the network be in sync with the data in the file system itself. Also, if a client, such as the asset manager, cannot communicate with the ISB, there might appear to be more data allocated to the ISB than the file system has allocated. To correct this, you can manually send the storage element a command to rectify its files.

You can also use the Issue Command button to clear all Network Degraded status messages from the Storage Elements list. Network Degraded status indicates a high number of errors detected by the ISB (see might not clear the status messages, so you can use the Issue Command button to clear the messages and reset the error count.

— Avid Unity ISIS storage blades (ISB) — periodically check the status of

— data stored on the ISB might not

“Storage Element Status” on page 41). Correcting the problem

You should correct the cause of the Network Degraded status messages before you clear them from the Administration tool.

To rectify files:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens.

3. Do one of the following:

t Select a storage element. Ctrl+click to select multiple storage elements. t Click the Select All button to select all storage elements. t Click the Select All menu, and select one of the following options:

- Select All Available

- Select All Spare

- Select All Active

- [Select all in] chassis

4. Click the Issue Command button. The Issue Storage Element(s) Command dialog box opens.

Rectifying Files

5. Select Initiate Block Rectify, and then click Send. The system rectifies files on the selected storage elements and changes the status in the

Storage elements list to Rectifying Files.

To clear all Network Degraded messages in the Storage Elements list:

t Select Clear Network Degraded, and then click Send.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Removing Storage Elements from the File System

When you remove storage elements from the Avid Unity ISIS file system, or when you move storage elements from one system to another, you need to unlink the storage elements from the file system.

You cannot remove a storage element that is part of a storage group. You must remove the

storage element from its storage group first so the system can redistribute data before unlinking the storage element from the file system.

Avid strongly recommends that you wait until any redistribution process completes before removing storage elements.

To remove a storage element from the ISIS file system:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left. The Storage Groups dialog box opens.

3. Select the storage group for the storage element you want to remove, and do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the storage group name.

The Details area opens.

4. In the Storage Elements list, select the storage element you want to remove. If the storage element status shows a redistribution in progress, you should wait until the redistribution completes before removing the storage element from the file system.

5. Click the Remove button. The storage element type changes from Active to Spare.

6. Click the Apply button. The Storage Elements list refreshes and displays the storage element as Spare. The

media network performs a redistribution of any data on the storage element.

7. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens.

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

8. Do one of the following: t Select the storage element you want to remove. Ctrl+click to select multiple storage

elements.

t Click the Select All button to select all storage elements. t Click the Select All menu, and select one of the following options:

- Select All Available

- Select All Spare

- Select All Active

- [Select all in] chassis

9. Click the Remove button. If you are using storage elements with mixed blade types, a dialog box opens and warns

you that using mixed blade types might not provide optimal performance for your

Unity ISIS system.

Avid

10. Click Apply.

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

You can remove and replace storage elements without stopping the System Director or turning off other components of the network. There are two principal reasons for removing storage elements from the system:

• The element has a high number of unrecoverable errors

• The element has failed or has been removed from the system

Before you remove an Avid Unity ISIS Storage Blade (ISB) from the network, you must redistribute the data stored on the ISB to other ISBs in the system. The redistribution occurs before you physically remove the ISB, and the process entails moving data to the remaining drives within the storage group. Once you redistribute the data, you add a new ISB to the system and then perform a redistribution again to place data onto the new ISB.

If you physically remove an ISB from the media network before redistribution is complete, data loss can occur.

You should maintain an unused block of storage equivalent to one ISB within the storage

group to allow redistribution from a failing ISB to other ISBs within the group.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

If possible, you should redistribute data while the drive is experiencing problems but has not yet been removed from the system. This allows the ISB having problems to participate in the redistribution process by offering data that it has to both clients and to other ISBs.

Often the ISB is still functional, but its performance is slightly degraded — for example, the

ISB might have an unrecoverable error on one of its disks, or it might have long I/O times.

If the ISB fails, or if it has been removed from the system, you can perform a redistribution from the mirrored locations associated with the ISB. However, if any other mirrored location experiences a failure while performing a redistribution, the system can lose data.

Consider the following when planning a redistribution:

• A one-to-one replacement of ISBs might leave you with less storage space in the storage group than you require. Instead, plan for using more ISBs than you need for storage and bandwidth for each storage group. This way, you can keep an optimal amount of available storage space allocated to the storage group. This allows you to quickly perform redistribution, rather than attempting a redistribution with only one spare ISB.

• In general, the removal of an ISB is quicker than an addition. This is because all of the other ISBs in a storage group participate in redistribution by moving a copy of any block held by the element to another location. The more ISBs in the storage group, the more the workload is shared. A single ISB addition is slower than a removal because the ISB receiving the data acts as a limiting factor for the redistribution.

• When you add a new ISB to the Avid Unity ISIS file system and then add it to a storage group, the system redistributes data from the existing drives in the storage group to the new element. This redistribution maintains all previously stored data, but the data might not reside on the same storage elements.

If you do not have a replacement for a failed or failing ISB, Avid recommends that you leave

it in the system. Proper airflow can be disturbed if an ISB slot is left open.

The following steps list the actions necessary for removing a storage element:

1. Identify the storage element you want to replace.

2. Remove the storage element from the storage group.

3. View the status of the redistribution and wait for redistribution to finish.

4. Remove the storage element from the file system.

5. Physically remove and replace the storage element.

6. Add new storage element to the file system.

7. Add the new storage element to a storage group.

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

For more information on the process of redistributing data and how redistribution affects system performance, see

Redistributing while adding an ISB takes longer than redistributing while removing an ISB.

“Redistribution Guidelines” on page 96.

Identifying Storage Elements Prior to Removal

To identify the storage element to be removed and replaced:

1. Open the Administration tool (see “Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24).

2. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens.

3. Locate the failing or failed storage element. For information on storage element status,

“Viewing Storage Elements Descriptions” on page 38 and “Storage Element Status”

see

on page 41.

4. Select the storage element, and do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the name of the storage element.

The Details area opens.

The Details area lists the Crate Serial number and the Slot Number of the selected storage element. This address identifies the ISB to be physically removed.

The slot numbers for storage element begin at zero (0).

IP addresses

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Removing Storage Elements

After you have identified the storage element you want to remove, you need to remove the element from the storage group and monitor the redistribution of data.

You must finish the redistribution before you physically remove the storage element. If you do not wait until the redistribution finishes, media network clients might receive multiple errors.

To physically remove a storage element from your media network:

1. Remove the storage element from its storage group. For information on removing storage elements, see

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left. The Workspaces dialog box opens.

“Removing Storage Elements from Storage Groups” on page 76.

3. Select the Workspace for the appropriate storage group.

4. Monitor the status listed in the Redistribution column. Click the Refresh button until the redistribution finishes.

The Redistribution column displays no status message when the process is complete.

Do not remove the storage element before the redistribution has completed.

5. Remove the storage element from the ISIS file system. For information on removing storage elements, see

“Removing Storage Elements from the File System” on page 48.

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

6. In the Storage Element list, select the storage element you want to remove and then click the Issue Command button.

The Issue Storage Element(s) Command dialog box opens.

7. Select Take Offline, and then click Send. The system spins down the drives in the selected storage element and changes the status

in the Storage Elements list to Offline.

8. Disconnect the storage element from the network, as described in the Avid Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

Removing Orphaned Storage Elements

The Storage Element list might display storage elements associated with a media network but with which the System Director cannot communicate. This can occur when you use the System Director Control Panel to create a new active partition on a system that already includes bound storage elements. In this case, the storage elements are “orphaned” storage elements remain bound to the network, but they cannot communicate with it. To correct the problem, you need to first remove all storage elements previously linked to the ISIS file system, and then add them again to the new system.

— the

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

The System Director also might not be able to communicate with storage elements that are bound to the ISIS file system if the System Director is offline. In this case, do not remove the orphaned storage elements; instead, you should restart the System Director.

Removing storage elements causes all data stored on them to be erased. Do not remove disconnected storage elements unless you are certain they contain no data you want to save.

For information on removing orphaned storage elements, see the following topics:

• “Accessing the Orphaned Elements Dialog Box” on page 54

• “Removing Orphaned Storage Elements” on page 55

Accessing the Orphaned Elements Dialog Box

The Orphaned Elements dialog box of the Administration tool allows you to add and remove storage elements, upgrade the storage element software, and monitor storage element operation.

To open the Orphaned Elements dialog box:

1. Open the Administration tool (see “Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24).

2. Select Orphaned Elements from the list on the left. The Orphaned Elements dialog box opens. For more information on the Orphaned

Elements dialog box, see

“Orphaned Elements List” on page 55.

Orphaned Elements list

Orphaned Elements List

The following table summarizes the basic information available in the Orphaned Elements list.

Heading Description

Name Displays the name of each storage element connected to the system

Status Displays any change in the working status logged by the System Director (for a

description of status messages, see “Storage Element Status” on page 41)

Type Displays the storage element category of each storage element:

• Available

•Spare

•Active

Capacity Displays the storage capacity in gigabytes (GB) of each storage element

Chunk size Displays the size of segmented media files sent over the network

Version Displays the software version number of each storage element

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

Crate Serial Displays the identification number of the unit that holds each storage element

Slot Number Displays the slot number of each storage element

Removing Orphaned Storage Elements

To remove orphaned storage elements, you must force-remove them from the system.

Removing storage elements causes all data stored on them to be erased. Do not remove disconnected storage elements unless you are certain they contain no data you want to save.

To remove orphaned storage elements:

1. Open the Administration tool (see “Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24).

2. Select Orphaned Elements from the list on the left.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

The Orphaned Elements dialog box opens.

3. Do one of the following: t Select the storage element you want to remove. Ctrl+click to select multiple storage

elements.

t Click the Select All button to select all storage elements. t Click the Select All menu, and select one of the following options:

- Select All Available

- Select All Spare

- Select All Active

Select All menuSelect All button

- [Select all in] chassis

4. Click the Force Remove button. A message warns you that removing storage elements erases all data on the component.

5. Click Yes. The Force Removal Text Confirmation dialog box opens.

6. Type

Remove

in the text box, and then click Remove.

The storage element is unbound from the ISIS file system and removed from the Orphaned Elements list.

Upgrading Storage Elements

You can use the Storage Elements dialog box to upgrade the software for storage elements installed in a chassis and connected to the media network.

You can also use the Chassis dialog box to upgrade storage elements. For more information,

“Upgrading Chassis Components” on page 63.

see

To upgrade a storage element:

1. Open the Administration tool (see “Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24).

2. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens.

3. Select the storage element you want to upgrade.

4. Click the Upgrade button. The Upgrade Storage Elements dialog box opens.

Upgrading Storage Elements

Upgrade installer

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

5. Select the upgrade installer from the list in the right column. The Command text box displays the location of the upgrade installer.

6. Click the Upgrade button. The Administration tool installs the necessary upgrade for the selected storage element.

You can monitor the progress of the upgrade either in the Details area of the Storage Elements dialog box or in the Avid

Unity ISIS System Monitor tool.

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

The Chassis dialog box of the Administration tool allows you to view details and to monitor the status of all chassis connected to the media network, as well as upgrade any Avid ISIS storage blade (ISB), any Avid ISIS Expansion Integrated switch (IXS).

The Chassis dialog box contains two sections. On the left side of the dialog box, the Chassis list displays all the chassis connected to the media network. On the right side of the dialog box, the Details area displays technical information about selected chassis, including details on the chassis switch and storage element (ISB) components.

The Details area is visible only after you select a chassis in the Chassis list.

Unity ISIS Integrated switch (ISS), or any Avid Unity

Chassis Details areaChassis area

Unity

Chassis list

Accessing the Chassis Dialog Box

You can organize the information in the Chassis list by showing additional columns or by sorting or filtering displayed items. For more information on modifying the display, see

“Organizing Display Information” on page 32.

To access the Chassis dialog box:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Chassis from the list on the left. The Chassis dialog box opens.

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

Chassis List

The following table summarizes the basic information available in the Chassis list.

Heading Description

Serial Number Lists the serial number of the chassis

Status Time Lists the last time the System Director logged the status of the chassis

Storage Blade Status Displays changes in the working status of ISB components due to upgrade

Switch Blade Status Displays changes in the working status of ISS and IXS modules due to

installation or failure

upgrade installation or failure

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Heading Description (Continued)

Available Lists the number of available storage elements in each chassis

Spare Lists the number of spare storage elements in each chassis

Active Lists the number of active storage elements in each chassis

Storage Blades Lists the number of ISB components installed in each chassis

Switch Blades Lists the number of ISS and IXS modules for each chassis

Power Blades Lists the number of power supply units for each chassis

Viewing Chassis Descriptions

The Details area displays all information for the currently selected chassis. The area is divided into three sections:

• Chassis Details — displays information also available in the Chassis list

• Switches — lists basic configuration and status information of all ISS and IXS modules connected to the media network

• Storage Elements — displays information also available in the Storage Elements list

The information displayed is the information as seen by the System Director. Some of the information is embedded in the chassis, and other information is assigned to the chassis by the Avid

You can sort the information in the Switches and Storage Elements sections of the Details area by clicking any column heading. For more information on sorting items in columns, see

“Sorting Information” on page 33.

You can view more detailed information on chassis components by using the Avid Unity ISIS

Agent tool. For more information, see

To view information about a chassis:

1. In the Chassis list, select a chassis.

2. Do one of the following:

Unity ISIS software.

“Avid Unity ISIS Agents” on page 208.

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the chassis name.

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

The Details area displays all the information for the selected chassis. For information on the Details area, see

To hide the Details area:

“Chassis Details” on page 61

t Click the arrow next to the Details title bar.

To close the Details area:

t Click the Close button.

Chassis Details

The following table summarizes the information available in the Details area.

Section Heading Description

Chassis Details

Serial Number Lists the serial number of the chassis

Status Time Lists the last time the System Director logged the status

of the chassis

Storage Blade Status Displays changes in the working status of ISB

components due to upgrade installation or failure

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Section Heading Description (Continued)

Switch Blade Status Displays changes in the working status of switches due

Storage Blades Lists the number of ISB components installed in each

Available Lists the number of available storage elements in each

Spare Lists the number of spare storage elements in each

Active Lists the number of active storage elements in each

Switch Blades Lists the number of switches for each chassis

Power Blades Lists the number of power blades for each chassis

Switches

In band IP Displays the internal IP addresses assigned to the CPU

to upgrade installation or failure

chassis

on the switch

Status Displays changes in the working status of the switch

Version Displays the software version number of each switch

Type Identifies the switch as one of the following:

• Integrated (ISS)

• Expansion (IXS)

Temp Lists the last logged temperature of the switch

Stack Master Indicates if an ISS or an IXS module is used as a master

switch in the stack

Stack Master IP Displays the IP addresses of the stack master, if

applicable

Base IP Displays the base IP addresses of the switch, which are

assigned during system configuration (for more information on IP addresses, see the Avid Unity ISIS Setup Guide)

Out of band IP Displays the IP addresses for the management port on the

switch

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

Section Heading Description (Continued)

Storage Elements

Name Displays the name of each storage element connected to

the system

Status Time Lists the last time the System Director logged the storage

element’s status

Status Displays any change in the working status logged by the

System Director (for a description of status messages, see “Storage Element Status” on page 41)

Type Displays the storage element category of each storage

element:

• Available

•Spare

•Active

Version Displays the software version number of each storage

element

Slot Number Displays the slot number of each storage element

Upgrading Chassis Components

You can use the Chassis dialog box to upgrade the software for all storage elements and all switch blades installed in a chassis and connected to the media network. You can also upgrade individual storage elements and switches.

You might lose network connectivity temporarily when you upgrade switch blades while the

upgrade process reboots the switches.

To upgrade all storage elements and switches in a chassis:

1. In the Chassis list, select the chassis you want to upgrade.

2. Do one of the following:

t Click the Upgrade Storage Blades button. t Click the Upgrade Switch Blades button.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

The Upgrade Storage Blades dialog box or the Upgrade Switch Blades dialog box opens.

Upgrade installer

3. Select the upgrade installer from the list in the right column. The Command text box displays the location of the upgrade installer.

4. Click the Upgrade button. The Administration tool installs the necessary upgrades for all storage elements or for

all switch blades for the selected chassis. You can monitor the progress of the upgrade either in the Details area of the Chassis dialog box or in the Avid Monitor tool.

Upgrading Individual Chassis Components

You can upgrade individual storage elements and switch blades in the Chassis dialog box. You can also upgrade storage elements by using the Storage Elements dialog box. For more information on storage element upgrades, see

“Upgrading Storage Elements” on page 57.

Unity ISIS System

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

To upgrade individual storage elements and switches in a chassis:

1. In the Details area of the Chassis dialog box, do one of the following:

t Select the switch you want to upgrade. t Select the storage element you want to upgrade.

2. Click Upgrade. The Upgrade Storage Blades dialog box or the Upgrade Switches dialog box opens.

Upgrade installer

3. Select the upgrade installer from the list in the right column. The Command text box displays the location of the upgrade installer.

4. Click the Upgrade button. The Administration tool installs the necessary upgrade for the selected storage element

or switch blade. You can monitor the progress of the upgrade either in the Details area of the Storage Elements dialog box or in the Avid

Unity ISIS System Monitor tool.

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Removing Chassis from the Chassis List

If you need to replace a chassis, you can use the Administration tool to remove the connection history of the inactive or inoperative chassis from the Chassis list in the Chassis dialog box. Once the chassis is removed from the ISIS file system, you can physically remove it from the network.

For information on removing chassis from the network, see the Avid Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

To remove a chassis from the Chassis list:

1. In the Chassis list, select the chassis you want to remove.

2. Click the Remove Status button. The chassis is removed from the Chassis list.

If you remove an active chassis by mistake, the System Director restores the chassis to the

Chassis list the next time it polls the media network (usually within 20 seconds).

Adding and Removing Storage Elements in the Chassis List

You can add and remove (bind and unbind) available or spare storage elements from the ISIS file system by using Chassis list in the Chassis dialog box. Adding and removing storage elements in the Chassis list functions the same way as selecting the “Select All Available” and “Select All Spare” options when adding or removing storage elements in the Storage Element list. For more information on adding and removing storage elements, see

Storage Elements” on page 44 and “Removing Storage Elements from the File System” on page 48.

“Adding

For information on removing chassis from the network, see the Avid Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

To add or remove storage elements by using the Chassis list:

1. In the Chassis list, select the chassis with the storage elements you want to add or remove. You can only add or remove storage elements listed in the Available or Spare columns in the Chassis list.

2. Do one of the following:

t Click the Add button to bind storage elements to the file system. t Click the Remove button to unbind storage elements from the file system

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

This chapter describes the Storage Groups dialog box of the Administration tool and the basic administrative operations you can perform from the dialog box.

For detailed descriptions of how to use the Administration tool to manage your drive

hardware, see

You use the Storage Groups dialog box of the Administration tool to add and delete storage groups, to rename storage groups, and to configure and manage storage groups.

The Storage Groups dialog box contains three sections. On the left side of the dialog box, the Storage Groups list displays all the storage groups available to the current user. On the right side of the dialog box, the Details area displays technical information about selected storage groups, and the Storage Elements area displays all storage elements available to the current user.

The Details area and the Storage Elements area are visible only after you select a storage

group in the Storage Groups list.

“Managing the Storage Hardware” on page 35.

Storage Groups list

Details area

Storage Elements area

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

When you add storage groups, a separate window opens in the Storage Group dialog box. For information on adding storage groups, see

For more information on using the Storage Groups dialog box, see the following topic:

• Accessing the Storage Groups Dialog Box

• Storage Group List

• Storage Group Details

“Creating Storage Groups” on page 73.

Accessing the Storage Groups Dialog Box

To access the Storage Groups dialog box:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left. The Storage Groups dialog box opens.

If you have not yet created any storage groups, a white action marker flashes next to the Storage Groups list.

Storage Group List

The following table summarizes the information available in the Storage Groups list.

Heading Description

Name Displays the name of the currently selected storage group

Capacity Displays the storage capacity in gigabytes (GB) of the selected storage group

Used Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has data

written on it in the selected storage group

Allocated Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) reserved for use by

workspaces in the selected storage group

Unallocated Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) available on the storage

elements and not currently reserved for the selected storage group

Files Displays the number of files in the selected storage group

Directories Displays the number of directories in the selected storage group

You can sort the information in the Storage Groups dialog box by clicking any column heading. For more information on sorting items in columns, see

page 33.

Accessing the Storage Groups Dialog Box

“Sorting Information” on

Viewing Storage Group Details

The Details area and the Storage Elements area display all information for the currently selected storage group and all information for the available storage elements. The information displayed is the information as seen by the System Director. Some of the information is embedded in the storage element, and other information is assigned to the storage element by the Avid

You can sort the information in the Storage Elements area by clicking any column heading.

For more information on sorting items in columns, see

Unity ISIS software.

“Sorting Information” on page 33.

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

To view information about a storage group:

t In the Storage Groups list, select a storage group.

The Storage Groups dialog box displays all the information for the selected storage group. If the Details area is not visible, click the Details button.

To hide the Details area or the Storage Elements area:

t Click the arrow next to the Details title bar or the Storage Elements title bar.

To close the Details area:

t Click the Close button.

Storage Group Details

The following table summarizes the information available in the details panels for storage groups and storage elements.

Heading Description

Name Displays the name of the currently selected storage group

Blade Type Lists the storage element model for the storage group:

•i500

• i1000

• [blank if mixed blade type]

Capacity Displays the storage capacity in gigabytes (GB) of the selected storage group

Accessing the Storage Groups Dialog Box

Heading Description (Continued)

Used Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has data

written on it in the selected storage group

Unused Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has no data

written on it in the selected storage group

Allocated Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) reserved for use by

workspaces in the selected storage group

Unallocated Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) available on the storage

elements and not currently reserved fo2r the selected storage group

Files Displays the number of files in the selected storage group

Directories Displays the number of directories in the selected storage group

The Storage Elements area lists the storage elements allocated to the currently selected storage group, as well as the storage elements available for allocation to the storage group. The following table summarizes the information available in the Storage Elements area. Some columns are hidden by default (see

“Showing and Hiding Columns” on page 32).

Heading Status Description

Name Displays the name of the selected storage element

Status Time Lists the last time the System Director logged the storage element’s

status

Status Displays the working status logged by the System Director

Type Displays the storage element category of the selected storage element

Available Indicates storage elements that are not appropriately initialized for use

in a storage group; these storage elements can be used for other purposes in your environment

Spare Indicates storage elements that have been added to the Avid Unity

ISIS file system but are not allocated for a specific purpose; spare but inactive storage elements cannot be used until allocated to a storage group

Active Indicates active storage elements added to a server and allocated to a

storage group

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

Heading Status Description (Continued)

Used Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently

has data written on it in the selected storage element

Crate Serial Displays the identification number of the unit that holds each storage

element

Slot Number Displays the slot number of each storage element

Managing Storage Groups

Storage groups are partitions, each containing multiple assigned storage elements. This section describes how to create and manage storage groups in your network.

For more information on managing storage groups, see the following topics:

• “Storage Group Usage Guidelines” on page 72

• “Creating Storage Groups” on page 73

• “Adding Storage Elements to Storage Groups” on page 75

• “Removing Storage Elements from Storage Groups” on page 76

• “Adding Storage Elements from Another Storage Group” on page 78

• “Adding Storage Elements Previously Used with Another Network” on page 79

• “Deleting Storage Groups” on page 80

Storage Group Usage Guidelines

You can assign all of your storage elements to one large storage group, or you can divide your storage elements among multiple storage groups. (Storage elements can be assigned to only one storage group.) To optimize performance, you can use storage groups to configure your Avid

Unity ISIS file system.

Managing Storage Groups

Avid recommends that you use all storage elements in an Avid ISIS Engine when creating a storage group, and you size larger storage groups in increments of whole ISIS engines. While storage groups can be created with a partial ISIS engine, performance and sizing scalability cannot be guaranteed.

You can divide very large storage groups (over 60 storage elements) into several storage

groups to minimize the risk of two storage elements used in a protected workspace failing at the same time. When you assign storage elements to different storage groups, however, you must be careful how you allocate bandwidth reservations for the different groups as the available bandwidth allocations for individual storage groups might differ from the total system bandwidth, depending on the number of storage elements assigned to each group.

If your environment supports clients with very high bandwidth requirements, you need to set up specific hardware and storage group configurations to support them. For more information, see the Avid

In such an environment, you can use storage groups to isolate clients that need very high bandwidth and thus eliminate the competition from other clients trying to access the same storage elements. For example, when high-definition (HD) media is in its own storage group and a single client is using the HD media, that client is serviced independently from any other clients in the workgroup. This logic can also be applied to separating audio and video media.

Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

In other situations, storage groups are more flexible, allowing you to assign storage elements in your file system configuration to storage groups with few limitations.

You must use a minimum of one storage element per storage group.

Creating Storage Groups

A storage group is a set of physical storage elements that store a subset of the complete set of media files accessible within a shared storage environment and which can accommodate different storage element types, as well as clients with different privileges and media requirements (for instance, clients that use low-resolution media and ones that use high-resolution media).

If you have bound storage elements to the ISIS file system but you have not created any

storage groups, the Create Storage Groups dialog box opens by default when you select the Storage Groups list.

To create a new storage group:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left.

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

3. Click the New button. The Create Storage Group dialog box opens.

Storage Elements area

Apply button Revert button

4. In the Name text box, type a name for the storage group (a maximum of 32 characters). The following characters are illegal in storage group names: \, /, :, *, ?, ", +, <, >, and |.

If there is already a storage group with the name entered in the Name text box, an error message tells you to type a new name.

5. In the Storage Elements area, select the storage element you want to assign to the new storage group. Ctrl+click to select multiple storage elements.

6. Click the Add button. The storage elements are allocated to the storage group. You can use the Remove button

to remove storage elements from the storage group.

7. (Option) Before you create your storage group, you can use the Revert button to undo any modifications made to the storage group information.

8. Click the Apply button to create a new storage group containing all the selected storage elements.

The new storage group appears in the Storage Groups list, and the Create Storage Group dialog box refreshes to show the storage elements still available for additional storage groups.

9. (Option) Repeat steps 5 through 9 to create new storage groups.

10. Click the Close button to close the Create Storage Group dialog box and to return to the Storage Groups dialog box.

Adding Storage Elements to Storage Groups

You can add unassigned storage elements to a storage group at any time to increase its storage capacity.

To add storage elements to a storage group:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left. The Storage Groups dialog box opens.

Managing Storage Groups

3. In the Storage Groups list, select the storage group where you want to add storage elements, and then do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the storage group name.

The Details area displays all the information on the selected storage group.

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

4. In the Storage Elements area, select all the spare storage elements you want to add to the storage group.

5. Click the Add button to add the selected spare storage elements to the storage group. The Storage Elements area refreshes to display the selected storage elements added to

the storage group.

6. (Option) Before you apply your changes, you can use the Revert button to undo any modifications made to the storage group information.

7. Click the Apply button. The storage elements are added to the storage group, and the media network performs a

redistribution of any data on the storage elements. The amount of time required for the redistribution depends on the amount of data in the storage group.

Removing Storage Elements from Storage Groups

You can remove storage elements from your storage group, as long as the following conditions are met after you have done so:

• The storage group contains at least four storage elements.

• The storage group contains enough storage elements to support the space allocated to your workspaces.

This is the total amount of storage allocated to the workspaces, not the actual amount of

data stored on the workspaces.

• The storage group contains at least the number of storage elements currently required to store the file system’s data.

Storage elements removed from the storage group are returned to the system’s pool of spare storage elements.

To remove storage elements from a storage group:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left. The Storage Groups dialog box opens.

3. In the Storage Groups list, select the storage group from which you want to remove storage elements, and then do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the storage group name.

Managing Storage Groups

The Details area displays all the information on the selected storage group.

4. In the Storage Elements area, select all the grouped storage elements you want to remove from the storage group.

5. Click the Remove button. The Storage Elements area refreshes and displays the selected storage elements as

Spare. If you try to remove too many storage elements so that the capacity of the storage group falls below either the used space or the allocated space, a dialog box opens asking you to confirm the action.

6. (Option) Before you apply your changes, you can use the Revert button to undo any modifications made to the storage group information.

7. Click the Apply button. The selected storage elements are removed from the storage group, and the media

network performs a redistribution of any data on the storage elements. The amount of time required for the redistribution depends on the amount of data in the storage group.

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

Adding Storage Elements from Another Storage Group

If you want to reassign storage elements from one storage group to another, you must remove the storage elements before adding them to a new storage group.

To add storage elements previously used in another storage group to your current storage group:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left. The Storage Groups dialog box opens.

3. In the Storage Groups list, select the storage group which contains the storage elements you want to reassign, and then do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the storage group name.

The Details area displays all the information on the selected storage group.

4. In the Storage Elements area, select all the storage elements you want to move to another storage group.

5. Click the Remove button. The Storage Elements area refreshes to display the selected storage elements as Spare.

6. Click the Apply button. The selected storage elements are removed from the storage group, and the media

network performs a redistribution of any data on the storage elements.

Managing Storage Groups

7. In the Storage Groups list, click the storage group to which you want to add the storage elements.

The Details area displays all the information on the selected storage group.

8. In the Storage Elements area, select all the spare storage elements you want to add to the new storage group.

9. Click the Add button to add the selected storage elements to the storage group. The Storage Elements area refreshes to display the selected storage elements added to

the new storage group.

10. (Option) Before you apply your changes, you can use the Revert button to undo any modifications made to the storage group information.

11. Click the Apply button. The selected storage elements are added to the storage group, and the media network

performs a redistribution of any data on the storage elements. The amount of time required for the redistribution depends on the amount of data in the storage group.

Adding Storage Elements Previously Used with Another Network

If the storage elements you want to add to your storage group were used previously in another environment, you must first connect them to your Avid and then you must add them to the ISIS file system. For information on adding storage elements to the network, see

“Adding Storage to the Media Network” on page 43.

Unity ISIS media network,

To add the storage elements to your current storage group:

1. Make sure the new storage elements are connected to the network. For information on connecting storage elements, see the Avid

Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

2. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

3. Select Storage Elements from the list on the left. The Storage Elements dialog box opens. If the Administration tool is open when you add the storage elements, click the Refresh

button to view the newly added storage elements in the Storage Elements dialog box. If the storage elements are not listed, something might be wrong with their physical

connections. Do not proceed any further, and see the Avid

Unity ISIS Setup Guide.

4. Add the new storage elements to the ISIS file system (see “Adding Storage Elements”

on page 44).

5. Add the new storage elements to your storage group (see “Adding Storage Elements to

Storage Groups” on page 75).

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

6. Click the Apply button. A dialog box opens asking you to confirm the action.

7. Click Yes. The selected storage elements are added to the storage group.

Deleting Storage Groups

You can delete any storage group that does not have any workspaces on it. As a result, all storage elements previously assigned to the storage group return to the system’s pool of spare storage elements.

To delete a storage group:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. If any workspaces exist on the storage group you want to delete, first delete the workspace (see

3. Select Storage Groups from the list on the left. The Storage Groups dialog box opens.

“Deleting Workspaces” on page 106).

4. In the Storage Groups list, select the storage group you want to delete.

5. Click the Delete button. A dialog box opens asking you to confirm the action.

6. Click Yes. The storage group is deleted.

After the storage group is deleted, all of the storage elements previously in your storage group will appear in the Storage Elements area as Spare.

5 Managing Workspaces

Workspaces are virtual volumes that exist on storage groups and can be resized dynamically. Workspaces allow you to segment your storage elements easily to accommodate projects and users.

This section describes how to create, rename, and delete workspaces. It also tells you how to manipulate the amount of storage allocated to each workspace, how to move a workspace and its contents to another storage group, and how to protect a workspace against drive failure.

For more information, see the following topics:

• Allocating Workspaces

• Accessing the Workspaces Dialog Box

• Creating New Workspaces

• Duplicating Workspaces

• Adjusting Workspace Size

• Renaming Workspaces

• Protecting Workspaces

• Redistributing Data

• Moving Workspaces

• Managing Workspace Access Privileges

• Deleting Workspaces

Allocating Workspaces

Before you create workspaces, you should consider how you want to allocate them. For example, do you want to allocate them to accommodate projects, groups, individual clients, streaming bit rates, media types, media distributors, or a combination of these?

Once you create a plan to allocate workspaces, you’ll need to determine how much storage each workspace requires and allocate space accordingly. This might be a function of project size or the number of clients, or it might be a function of media duration or media resolution.

5 Managing Workspaces

For instance, if you plan to capture high-definition (HD) media to a workspace, you need to create a workspace with more than two storage elements. (Assigning a full chassis of storage elements to an HD workspace would perform better in this example.)

When sizing workspaces in a multiple workspace configuration, you should consider reserving some space rather than assigning all of it immediately. Once space is allocated, it tends to be filled quickly and you might need space 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.

When allocating and sizing workspaces, you should also consider whether access restrictions are required and whether protection for data integrity is necessary for each workspace.

Accessing the Workspaces Dialog Box

You perform workspace functions in the Workspaces dialog box of the Administration tool, which allows you to do the following:

• Create, delete, and rename workspaces

• Manipulate the amount of storage allocated to each workspace

• Protect a workspace against drive failure by duplicating files on more than one drive (a form of mirroring)

• Monitor how much free space exists on each workspace, and how much unallocated space exists in each storage group

• Move a workspace and its contents to another storage group

To open the Workspaces dialog box:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left.

Accessing the Workspaces Dialog Box

The Workspaces dialog box opens. If you have not yet created any workspaces, a white action marker flashes next to the Workspaces list.

Workspace list

For more information on the Workspaces list, see the following topics:

- The Workspaces List

- Using the Graphical Display

- Workspaces Descriptions

The Workspaces List

The Workspaces list displays all workspaces, the storage groups on which they reside, and details about each workspace. Workspace names are preceded by an icon identifying protected and unprotected workspaces.

Icon Description

Protected workspace

Unprotected workspace

5 Managing Workspaces

The following table describes the information in the Workspaces list.

Heading Description

Name Lists the names of all workspaces in the selected storage groups

Capacity Lists the total storage capacity of each workspace in gigabytes (GB)

Workspace Size graph

Maximum Lists the maximum amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) available for the

Used Lists the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has data

Unused Lists the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has no data

Protected Lists the amount of storage space assigned to each workspace for mirrored files

Redistribution Displays the status of any current redistribution:

Config Changes Displays the number of changes to a storage group that involve moving data —

Storage Group For each workspace, lists the storage group on which it is located

Displays a graphical representation of the used and available space for each workspace (for information on using the Workspace Size graph, see “Using the

Graphical Display” on page 85)

workspace on the network

written on it in each workspace

• In Progress

• Stalled

• Pending

• Requires Full Redistribution

for example, the number of times an ISB has been added or removed

Files Lists the total number of files stored on the network for each workspace

You can sort the information in the Workspaces list by clicking any column heading. For

more information on sorting items in columns, see

“Sorting Information” on page 33.

Using the Graphical Display

The Workspaces Size graph provides a quick way to view how much storage capacity is currently allocated to each workspace and how much of that storage space currently has data written on it. The graph represents the following:

• Used space: total drive space in the storage group allocated to each workspace

• Unused space: total drive space in the storage group still available for allocation to each workspace

You can resize the graph to expand or reduce the size of the graph.

To resize the Workspaces Size graph, do one of the following:

Accessing the Workspaces Dialog Box

Workspace Size graph

Used space Unused space

t Click the Decrease Size button to reduce the size of the graph. t Click the Increase Size button to expand the size of the graph.

You can also use the Workspaces Size graph to adjust the size of the workspaces by dragging the resize handles. For information on resizing workspaces, see ‘

Workspace Size” on page 91.

“Adjusting

5 Managing Workspaces

Viewing Workspace Details

The Workspaces dialog box displays all the information for the selected workspace.

To view information about a workspace:

t In the Workspaces list, select a workspace.

The Workspaces dialog box displays all the information for the selected workspace. If the Details area is not visible, click the Details button.

Workspaces Descriptions

The Details area and the User Access panels display all information for the currently selected workspace. The following table summarizes the information available in the Details area.

Heading Description

Name Displays the name of the currently selected workspace

Storage Group Lists the storage group on which the selected workspace was created

Capacity Displays the storage capacity in gigabytes (GB) of the selected

workspace; the minimum and maximum limits for workspace size is listed next to the Size text box

Used Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has

data written on it in the selected workspace

Accessing the Workspaces Dialog Box

Heading Description (Continued)

Unused Displays the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has

no data written on it and is available to the selected workspace

Protected Lists the amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that is protected for

the selected workspace

Files Displays the number of files used by the selected workspace

Directories Displays the number of directories used by the selected workspace

Redistribution Displays the status of any current redistribution:

• In Progress

• Stalled

• Pending

• Requires Full Redistribution

Config Changes Displays the number of changes to a storage group that involve moving

data — for example, the number of times an ISB has been added or removed

Protection Indicates if protection for the workspace is enabled (selected) or disabled

(not selected)

The User Access area lists all users and user groups and their access privileges. (For information on access privileges, see

“Managing Workspace Access Privileges” on page

103.) The following table summarizes the information available in the User Access area.

Heading Description

Name Lists the names of the users and user groups on the network

Type Displays the client category (user or user group) for each client in the Name list

Access Lists the access privileges for each client in the Name list

Effective Lists the effective access privileges for each client in the Name list

Reason Lists the reason for any difference between the access privileges assigned to a user and

the effective access assigned to a user as a member of a user group

You can sort the information in the User Access area by clicking any column heading. For

more information on sorting items in columns, see

“Sorting Information” on page 33.

5 Managing Workspaces

Creating New Workspaces

Workspaces are locations to store and segregate data. You can allow users to access some or all of the workspaces, and you can assign permissions for how each user can access the data in a workspace.

If you have created storage groups but you have not created any workspaces, the Create

Workspace dialog box opens by default when you select the Workspaces list.

To create a new workspace:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left.

3. Click the New button. The Create Workspace dialog box opens.

4. In the Name text box, type a name for the workspace (a maximum of 31 characters). The following characters are illegal in workspace names: \, /, :, *, ?, ", +, <, >, and |. Also, you cannot use a period (.) as either the first or the last character in a workspace name.

Creating New Workspaces

If there is already a workspace with the name entered in the Name text box, an error message tells you to type a new name.

5. Click the Storage Group menu, and select the storage group on which you want to create the workspace.

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

6. Click the Sub Group menu, and select the substorage group on which you want to create the workspace.

The substorage group name appears in the Sub Group text box.

7. Type a size for the workspace in the Capacity text box. The minimum size and the maximum size allowed are listed next to the Capacity text box.

If all storage in the storage group is allocated to existing workspaces, you can make an existing workspace smaller. For information on resizing workspaces, see

Workspace Size” on page 91.

8. (Option) Select Protection: enabled to protect the workspace. (For more information on workspace protection, see

9. In the User Access area, set the User and User Group access privileges. (For information on setting access privileges, see

10. Click the Apply button to create a new workspace containing the selected storage group and users.

“Protecting Workspaces” on page 94.)

“Changing Access Privileges” on page 128.)

“Adjusting

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

11. (Option) Repeat steps 5 through 10 to create new workspaces.

12. Click the Close button to close the Create Workspace dialog box and to return to the Workspaces dialog box.

The new workspace appears in the Workspaces list.

(Macintosh only) If you access the Administration tool from a Macintosh system and create

a workspace, the Macintosh operating system creates hidden files in the /volume/[workspace you must first manually delete these files.

name] directory of your system. If you want to delete the workspace,

5 Managing Workspaces

Duplicating Workspaces

When you duplicate workspaces, they inherit the attributes (storage group, capacity, and protection status) of the workspace from which they were created.

The contents of the original workspace are not duplicated.

To duplicate a workspace:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left.

3. In the Workspace list, select the workspace you want to duplicate.

4. Click the Duplicate button. The Duplicate Workspace dialog box opens.

Adjusting Workspace Size

5. (Option) Modify any of the attributes of the new workspace. For information on modifying workspaces, see the following topics:

- “Adjusting Workspace Size” on page 91

- “Renaming Workspaces” on page 92

- “Protecting Workspaces” on page 94

- “Managing Workspace Access Privileges” on page 103

6. Click the Apply button to create a new workspace containing the attributes of the selected workspace.

The duplicate workspace appears in the Workspace dialog box, and the Duplicate Workspace dialog box refreshes to allow you to duplicate a new workspace. The new workspace has a default name each time you click the Apply button to create another duplicate workspace.

If there is no room for a workspace of the same size as the original, the operation fails and displays a “Not enough unallocated space on the partition” error message.

7. Click the Close button to close the Duplicate Workspace dialog box and to return to the Workspaces dialog box.

— workspace n, where n is an integer that is incremented

Adjusting Workspace Size

There are occasions when you must change the size of workspaces. For example, you might need to make a workspace larger to create room for a capture procedure planned for later in the day or for some new media files. Alternatively, you might need to make a workspace smaller to create space for other workspaces or to reserve storage for another day.

Do not adjust workspaces while clients are writing files to them.

To adjust the size of a workspace:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left.

5 Managing Workspaces

The Workspaces dialog box opens.

Workspaces Size graph handle

3. In the Workspaces list, select a workspace.

4. Do one of the following:

Details areaWorkspaces list

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 updates as you drag the handle.

t Click the Details button, and type a new value for the workspace size in the

Capacity text box in the Workspace Details area.

5. Click the Apply button.

You cannot reduce workspace size below the storage space listed next to the Capacity text

box as the minimum size, which indicates the amount already allocated to files. (For empty workspaces, the minimum workspace size is 1 GB.) You also cannot increase workspace size above the storage space listed as the maximum size.

Renaming Workspaces

You can rename a workspace at any time, even when it is being used by client workstations and mapped to a local drive or by letterless mapping (to a Universal Naming Convention path) on the client system. The only effect on users is that the workspace name will be different the next time they need to access it.

Renaming Workspaces

To rename a workspace:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left. The Workspaces dialog box opens.

3. In the Workspaces list, click the workspace name you want to change.

4. If the Details area is not visible, do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the workspace name.

The Workspaces Details area displays all the information on the selected workspace.

5. Type a new name in the Name text box. The following characters are illegal in workgroup names: \, /, :, *, ?, ", +, <, >, and |. Also, you cannot use a period (.) as either the first or the last character in a workspace name.

6. (Option) Before you apply your changes, you can use the Revert button to undo any modifications made to the workspace information.

7. Click the Apply button.

5 Managing Workspaces

Protecting Workspaces

The Protection option offers high levels of data integrity by ensuring that two copies of media data are written onto different physical drives to avoid data loss in the event of drive failure. This allows workspaces that are protected to be repaired very quickly with no data loss upon drive failure.

The disadvantage is that protected workspaces use twice as much space as unprotected workspaces. However, because of the data protection and recovery speed that protection offers, Avid recommends that you always protect your workspaces.

Workspace Protection Recommendations

Because of the potential impact of a drive failure, Avid recommends protecting all your workspaces whenever possible. If you want to ensure protection of your files at all times, always enable the Protection option when creating new workspaces (before any files are stored on the workspace).

If you are not sure that all files on a given workspace are protected, select the workspace and enable the Protection option for the workspace. This protects all new files added to the workspace, and adds protection to any existing files in the workspace that are not already protected.

Avid Unity ISIS allows clients to access protected workspaces that have more than one storage element missing from the workspace’s storage group. However, protected storage groups with more than one storage element missing are unstable. Some or all of the files the storage groups contain might not be available for use. The administrator should repair these workspaces at the earliest opportunity.

When you are deciding to use protection, Avid recommends you consider the following:

• Storage groups with an even number of storage elements provide the best performance and the best data distribution for all video resolutions.

• Storage groups with an odd number of storage elements might not provide adequate performance for some video resolutions, such as 1:1 or 2:1.

• If you are not going to protect a workspace, the storage group can contain any number of storage elements.

Setting Workspace Protection

You can use the Workspaces dialog box to enable or disable workspace protection.

To enable protection for a workspace:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left. The Workspaces dialog box opens.

3. In the Workspaces list, click the workspace you want to protect.

4. If the Details area is not visible, do one of the following:

t Click the Details button. t Double-click the workspace name.

The Workspaces Details area displays all the information on the selected workspace.

Protecting Workspaces

5. Select Protection: enabled to protect the workspace. Protection is enabled for the workspace, and the icon next to the workspace name

changes from Unprotected to Protected.

6. (Option) Before you apply your changes, you can use the Revert button to undo any modifications made to the workspace information.

7. Click the Apply button.

5 Managing Workspaces

To disable protection for a workspace:

1. In the Workspaces list, click the workspace from which you want to remove protection.

2. In the Details area, deselect Protection: enabled to remove protection from the workspace.

Protection is disabled for the workspace, and the icon next to the workspace name changes from Protected to Unprotected.

3. Click the Apply button.

Redistributing Data

Redistribution is an operation that ensures all files on a workspace are balanced evenly across the storage elements in the storage group to provide optimal file system performance. Data chunks are distributed across multiple storage elements to ensure redundancy and protect against data loss. Redistribution occurs automatically in the following circumstances:

• Adding a storage element to a storage group

• Removing a storage element from a storage group

• Moving a workspace from one storage group to another

• Removing protection from a protected workspace

• Protecting an unprotected workspace

You can also initiate a manual redistribution of data.

Redistribution Guidelines

You can start a redistribution when a workspace is in a load or a no load condition:

• A load condition occurs when the workspace has active clients (clients reading and writing to the workspace).

• A no load condition occurs when a workspace has inactive clients (clients that have the workspace mounted but are not performing reads or writes).

Whenever you perform a redistribution, you should observe the following guidelines:

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

Redistributing Data

• System performance can degrade up to 20% during redistribution in a workspace with maximum client count. Reducing the number of clients by 20% allows the active clients using the workspace to function normally, with successful playback and captures. Reducing the overall load by 20% of the maximum capacity might be needed in the event of client performance degradation.

• The amount of time a redistribution takes varies depending on whether the workspace is in a load or a no load condition, whether you add or remove an ISB, and how much data in the storage group must be redistributed. For more information on redistribution times, see the Avid

• Do not physically remove an storage element until it has been removed from the storage group, the redistribution is complete, and it has been removed from the file system.

Unity ISIS ReadMe.

If you physically remove an storage element from the media network before redistribution is complete, or if you physically remove more that one storage element from a storage group before performing a redistribution, data loss can occur.

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 operation supports 2

• Reducing the number of video streams from 2 to 1 might be required during redistribution. (Normal operation supports 2 streams of video.)

Performing a Full Redistribution

In addition to automatic redistribution operations (see “Redistributing Data” on page 96), redistribution can also be invoked manually. The most common situation where you need to perform a full redistribution is when the Config Changes count exceeds 10. (For information about Config Changes, see

When the Config Changes count reaches 10, a message warns you to perform a

redistribution.

When redistributing files manually, you should apply the redistribution to all workspaces. Avid does not recommend performing a full redistribution on some workspaces and not on others.

“Workspaces Descriptions” on page 86.)

streams of video 8 tracks of audio.)

To redistribute workspaces manually:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left. The Workspaces dialog box opens.

5 Managing Workspaces

3. Select the workspaces whose files you want to redistribute. When undertaking a full redistribution, select all workspaces.

4. Click the Full Redistribution button. A confirmation message box opens.

5. Click OK. Files are redistributed, and the count in the Config Changes column is reset to zero. The

amount of time required for the redistribution depends on the amount of data in the workspace.

6. If storage elements have rebooted following the completion of a full redistribution, do the following:

a. Click the Advanced Commands button.

The Advanced Workspace Commands dialog box opens.

b. Select Verify Redistribution, and then click Send.

Using Advanced Redistribution Commands

Under some conditions, you might have to suspend or resume an in-progress redistribution. You can do this with the Advanced Commands options available on the toolbar in the Workspaces dialog box.

Redistributing Data

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

You can also use the Advanced Commands to verify a redistribution. Verification checks that all bad blocks on the appropriate storage element have been deleted and that the redistribution has completed successfully. You should use the Verify Redistribution command whenever storage elements are rebooted following a redistribution example, after you upgrade your system. In this case, storage elements might report a “Repairing Mirrors” status on reboot; verifying the redistribution replays the redistribution operation using the current configuration and restores the status to normal.

Verification causes minimal impact on performance and completes quickly.

To suspend a redistribution:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left. The Workspaces dialog box opens.

3. Select the workspace whose files are currently being redistributed.

— for

5 Managing Workspaces

4. Click the Advanced Commands button. The Advanced Workspace Commands dialog box opens.

100

5. Select Suspend Redistribution.

6. Click Send.

When you manually suspend a redistribution, you must also manually resume it. Suspending redistributions should be considered temporary be left in the suspended state for extended periods of time.

To resume a redistribution:

1. Open the Administration tool. (For information on opening the Administration tool, see

“Opening the Administration Tool” on page 24.)

2. Select Workspaces from the list on the left. The Workspaces dialog box opens.

3. Select the workspace whose redistribution status is Stalled.

4. Click the Advanced Commands button. The Advanced Workspace Commands dialog box opens.

— workspaces should not

Pinnacle Systems Unity ISIS - 1.4 Administrator’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

Who Should Use This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

Accessing the Online Documentation

How to Order Documentation

Avid Training Services

1 Installing Your Avid Unity ISIS Software

Installing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director Software

Initializing the Avid Unity ISIS System Director

Configuring the Avid Unity ISIS Software

Management Tasks and General Considerations

System Capacity

Using the Administration Tool

Before Performing Administrative Functions

Opening the Administration Tool

Logging Out of the Administration Tool

Accessing the Help System

Understanding the Administration Tool Interface

Command Menu

Storage Elements Option

Chassis Option

Storage Groups Option

Workspaces Option

Users Option

User Groups Option

Devices Option

Bandwidth Option

Connection Status Option

Preferences Option

Orphaned Elements Option

System Options

Organizing Display Information

Moving and Rearranging Columns

Showing and Hiding Columns

Sorting Information

Filtering the Display

3 Managing the Storage Hardware

Accessing the Storage Elements Dialog Box

Storage Element List

Viewing Storage Elements Descriptions

Storage Element Details

Storage Element Status

Adding Storage to the Media Network

Adding Storage Elements

Rectifying Files

Removing Storage Elements from the File System

Removing Storage Elements from the Media Network

Identifying Storage Elements Prior to Removal

Removing Storage Elements

Removing Orphaned Storage Elements

Accessing the Orphaned Elements Dialog Box

Orphaned Elements List

Removing Orphaned Storage Elements

Upgrading Storage Elements

Managing the Avid Unity ISIS Chassis

Accessing the Chassis Dialog Box

Chassis List

Viewing Chassis Descriptions

Chassis Details

Upgrading Chassis Components

Upgrading Individual Chassis Components

Removing Chassis from the Chassis List

Adding and Removing Storage Elements in the Chassis List

4 Configuring and Managing Storage

Accessing the Storage Groups Dialog Box

Storage Group List

Viewing Storage Group Details

Storage Group Details

Managing Storage Groups

Storage Group Usage Guidelines

Creating Storage Groups

Adding Storage Elements to Storage Groups

Removing Storage Elements from Storage Groups

Adding Storage Elements from Another Storage Group