POWER SOLUTIONS May 200382

STORAGE ENVIRONMENT

In today’s network environments, storage needs continue

to grow, and heterogeneous network topologies are

common. Network attached storage (NAS) systems provide

a high-performance storage solution that addresses these

two issues. NAS systems can be deployed rapidly because

of their ability to seamlessly connect to an existing network

infrastructure, and additional storage can be added easily

without any disruption or downtime to the user. Networks

that use multiple file-access protocols—such as Common

Internet File System (CIFS), Network File System (NFS),

Novell® NetWare®, and

Apple® AppleTalk® file

systems—can share the

same data stored in a

NAS system. Most impor-

tantly, NAS systems are

easy to set up and con-

figure and can be used

with tools that already

exist in an enterprise

environment.

This article explores the tools that can be used to con-

figure, monitor, and manage Dell™ PowerVault™ NAS sys-

tems. These tools include the Dell PowerVault NAS Manager

(included in all PowerVault systems); Dell OpenManage™

Server Administrator and Dell OpenManage IT Assistant

(included in PowerVault 770N and 775N systems); and

EMC® VisualSAN® software for storage management in

Dell |EMC storage area network (SAN) environments.

NAS Manager offers management tools for PowerVault NAS systemsIn enterprise environments, remote configuration and

systems management capabilities are important because

they allow administrators to manage all devices within

a network from a central location. Dell PowerVault

NAS systems—including the PowerVault 725N, 770N, and

775N—are Microsoft® Windows® Powered server

appliances. Dell PowerVault NAS Manager has a Web-

based user interface that can be run from a Windows,

UNIX®,Linux®, NetWare, or Apple client. Because the NAS

Manager uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol

Managing Dell PowerVault NAS SystemsAs storage needs grow, organizations that have heterogeneous network topologies oftenopt to extend their storage capabilities by using network attached storage (NAS)systems. Dell provides a myriad of tools to manage Dell™ PowerVault™ NAS systems,including the Dell PowerVault NAS Manager, Dell OpenManage™ Server Administrator,Dell OpenManage IT Assistant, and—for NAS systems running in Dell|EMC storage areanetwork (SAN) environments—EMC0 VisualSAN0. Such tools help to reduce IT complex-ity by simplifying and centralizing NAS management.

BY ERIN GEANEY

NAS systems can be

deployed rapidly because

of their ability to seam-

lessly connect to an exist-

ing network infrastructure.

and requires administrator authentication and secure credentials,

it offers a secure method for configuring and managing NAS

systems remotely.

The NAS Manager provides basic functionality required to

manage the entire spectrum of Dell PowerVault NAS systems. This

includes systems with internal Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) stor-

age, systems with SCSI RAID storage, and systems with external Fibre

Channel RAID storage in a direct attach or SAN configuration. The

tool is easy to use and enables an administrator to have a NAS system

in a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) environment up

and running in 15 minutes.

To connect a NAS system to an existing network, power the

system up, connect a network cable from the PowerVault system’s

network interface card (NIC) to the LAN, and run the NAS Man-

ager from a client system on the same network (see Figure 1). From

the NAS Manager, administrators can add users and create file

shares in minutes (see Figure 2), enabling users to immediately begin

sharing and storing files on the NAS system from any

Windows, UNIX, Linux, NetWare, or Apple client.

Configuring the NAS system The NAS Manager helps administrators perform many basic con-

figuration tasks. Consider a scenario in which an organization

deploys a PowerVault 77xN NAS system with a PowerEdge Expandable

RAID Controller (PERC) connected to a PowerVault 22xS SCSI enclo-

sure. The IT administrator can use the NAS Manager to change the

default system name. If any additional software was purchased, such

as Dell Storage Manager software, the administrator can update

the NAS system remotely using the remote software update feature

in the NAS Manager.

Next, the administrator can use the NAS Manager to add local

users to the NAS system. Because the organization in this example

has also deployed an external storage enclosure (the PowerVault

22xS), the administrator can use the Disks and Volumes tab on the

NAS Manager user interface to create RAID virtual disks and add

volumes to these disks. The administrator can then create shares

on these volumes to produce a home directory for each user.

Checking system status informationThe NAS Manager also provides

status information about the health

of the NAS system. The four status

types are Normal, Informational,

Warning, and Critical. Typically,

systems are in a healthy state

(Normal); however, a system state

of Warning or Critical may require

user intervention. The status page

of the NAS Manager gives details

on the Informational, Warning, and

Critical messages, and adminis-

trators can configure the NAS

Manager to send e-mail alerts for

these status messages.

These messages are a subset

of messages in the Windows

Powered Event Viewer. Adminis-

trators can get more detailed information by downloading the full

Windows system logs, security logs, and application logs through

the NAS Manager. Furthermore, the NAS Manager contains a

system statistics page that shows performance statistics such as

CPU usage.

Adding storage without downtimeThe NAS Manager allows organizations to add storage without

incurring downtime. To accommodate growing storage needs, com-

panies can purchase new hard drives and insert them into an exter-

nal storage enclosure, such as a PowerVault 22xS SCSI enclosure.

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www.dell.com/powersolutions POWER SOLUTIONS 83

Windows client UNIX client NetWare client

Linux server(applications)

Application server

Apple client

Shared backuplibrary

SCSI LVD SCSI

Dell PowerVault 775N NAS system

Figure 1. Accessing the NAS Manager from a Windows, UNIX, Linux, NetWare, or Apple client Figure 2. Adding users to a NAS system through the NAS Manager

Because the NAS Manager

uses the SSL protocol and

requires administrator

authentication and secure

credentials, it offers a

secure method for config-

uring and managing NAS

systems remotely.

The hard drives are hot-pluggable, so they can be added when the

system is running.

Using the NAS Manager, administrators can expand the exist-

ing volume to accommodate the new hard drives in two simple steps:

on the Volume tab, under the Disks primary tab, click “Prepare for

Expand,” then click “Expand,” and the new disk becomes part of

the existing volume. The administrator has increased the storage

on the NAS system and avoided downtime.

Extending NAS Manager capabilitiesSome advanced functions cannot be performed through the NAS

Manager, especially in environments that have complex network con-

figurations. For these more advanced tasks, an administrator can

launch a Terminal Services session directly into the system. Termi-

nal Services can be launched through the Maintenance tab of the

NAS Manager, and administrators can log in using an administra-

tor name and password. From the Terminal Services session, admin-

istrators can perform advanced tasks, such as setting up a cluster

or using other Windows utilities.

Administrators also can use the

NAS Manager user interface to

access the features and capabilities

of other utilities such as the Dell

ActiveArchive™ software utility,

which runs on the PowerVault

NAS system, and the Microsoft

Multiple Device Manager (MDM),

which is a component of the

Microsoft Server Appliance Kit (SAK).

Dell ActiveArchive allows

administrators to take point-in-time

persistent images of a volume on

a PowerVault NAS system. These

persistent images are stored on the volume in the ActiveArchives

directory. If a user accidentally deletes a file or needs to access an

older version of a file, an administrator can recover the old file from

a saved persistent image. From the NAS Manager, administrators

can change the settings of Dell ActiveArchive and set up schedules

to capture persistent images at certain intervals.

MDM is an extensible script execution method that can automate

the management of multiple PowerVault NAS systems from a cen-

tral console: the NAS Manager (see Figure 3). MDM alleviates the

complexity of managing multiple systems. Administrators can exe-

cute any script or binary on a set of PowerVault NAS systems in the

network. In an MDM environment, administrators configure one

system as the MDM controller and all others as the MDM devices.

The MDM controller can take control of the MDM devices and send

the scripts to those systems.

Other tools can help manage PowerVault NAS systemsIn addition to the NAS Manager configuration tool, administrators

can manage PowerVault 770N and 775N systems using other enter-

prise management tools: Dell OpenManage Server Administrator,

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant, and—for NAS systems in Dell |EMC

SAN environments—EMC VisualSAN. This flexibility enables admin-

istrators to manage and monitor NAS systems using the tools they

already employ to manage their organization’s enterprise servers.

Dell OpenManage Server Administrator is a Web-based tool used

for managing servers. Server Administrator is preloaded on PowerVault

770N and 775N NAS systems, and the Server Administrator console

is accessible through the NAS Manager Maintenance tab by

clicking “Server Administrator.” From the Server Administrator con-

sole, administrators can run online diagnostics on devices such as

the CPU, memory, and hard drives (see Figure 4). Administrators

can also monitor Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

events and hardware settings, including system temperature

STORAGE ENVIRONMENT

POWER SOLUTIONS May 200384

Figure 3. Simplifying the management of multiple NAS systems using MDM Figure 4. Running diagnostics through the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator console

Administrators also can

use the NAS Manager

user interface to access

the features and capabili-

ties of other utilities such

as the Dell ActiveArchive

software utility.

and fan speeds (see Figure 5).

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant

is a one-to-many management tool

that allows administrators to dis-

cover, monitor, track, and inven-

tory systems. PowerVault 770N

and 775N NAS systems come pre-

loaded with Dell OpenManage

Server Agent, which enables use

of the IT Assistant tool. Using a

single IT Assistant console, admin-

istrators can manage both servers

and NAS systems, and view their

SNMP alerts and hardware infor-

mation (see Figure 6).

EMC VisualSAN is a manage-

ment tool for Dell|EMC SAN envi-

ronments. PowerVault 770N and

775N NAS systems can be

deployed in a Dell|EMC SAN envi-

ronment, and the VisualSAN tool

can be used to manage them (see Figure 7). VisualSAN is a cen-

tralized console for discovery, representation, event management,

and asset reporting of SAN components, including NAS systems in

the SAN. This tool allows administrators to manage all devices in

the SAN through one console. VisualSAN also integrates with the

tools already available on these devices. For example, through

VisualSAN, an administrator can launch the NAS Manager.

NAS management tools facilitate NAS system administrationNAS systems offer an excellent storage solution for organizations that

have heterogeneous networks and expect storage growth. These sys-

tems create a storage infrastructure that scales well to handle require-

ments of ever-increasing data.

Dell offers a variety of software designed to facilitate the man-

agement of PowerVault NAS systems, including the NAS Manager

and other enterprise management tools, such as Dell OpenManage

Server Administrator, Dell OpenManage IT Assistant, and EMC

VisualSAN. These management tools help to reduce IT complexity

by centralizing and simplifying the management of storage in enter-

prise networks.

Erin Geaney (us_power_solutions@dell.com) is a NAS system engineer at Dell. Erin has

a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Virginia.

STORAGE ENVIRONMENT

www.dell.com/powersolutions POWER SOLUTIONS 85

Figure 7. Using VisualSAN to manage PowerVault 770N and 775N NAS systems

Figure 6. Using Dell OpenManage IT Assistant to discover, monitor, track, and inventory servers andNAS systems

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Figure 5. Using the Server Administrator console to monitor SNMP events

Administrators can manage

PowerVault 770N and

775N systems using other

enterprise management tools:

Dell OpenManage Server

Administrator, Dell

OpenManage IT Assistant,

and—for NAS systems in

Dell|EMC SAN environ-

ments—EMC VisualSAN.