Table of Contents - i

Table of Contents

Storage Arrays................................................................................................................................................................1Storage Concepts Tutorial.........................................................................................................................................1

What steps do I take to configure my storage array?........................................................................................1Using the Storage Management Software..........................................................................................................1Storage Array Environment.................................................................................................................................2How do I allocate my capacity?......................................................................................................................... 3

Configuring Your Storage Array................................................................................................................................ 3Planning Your Storage Array Configuration........................................................................................................4Storage Array Password Protection....................................................................................................................4

View Options..............................................................................................................................................................7Viewing a Storage Array Profile..........................................................................................................................7Viewing Storage Array Capacity....................................................................................................................... 10Viewing Storage Array Logical Components and Associated Physical Components.......................................11Viewing the Storage Array Mappings............................................................................................................... 11Viewing the Physical Associations....................................................................................................................12Viewing Storage Array Connections................................................................................................................. 12Viewing Operations in Progress....................................................................................................................... 12Viewing Battery Backup Information.................................................................................................................13

Locate Options.........................................................................................................................................................13Locating a Storage Array..................................................................................................................................14

Configuration Options.............................................................................................................................................. 14Using the Automatic Configuration Wizard.......................................................................................................14Saving a Storage Array Configuration..............................................................................................................18Loading a Storage Array Configuration............................................................................................................ 19

Premium Feature Options....................................................................................................................................... 20Using a Trial Version of a Premium Feature....................................................................................................20Enabling Premium Features..............................................................................................................................20Disabling Premium Features.............................................................................................................................21Viewing Premium Features............................................................................................................................... 21Obtaining a Feature Key File............................................................................................................................21Enabling the Premium Features Pack..............................................................................................................22What happens when the storage array reboots?............................................................................................. 22

Recovery Guru.........................................................................................................................................................22Recovering from Storage Array Problems........................................................................................................23Recovery Guru Procedures Reference.............................................................................................................23

Performance Monitor............................................................................................................................................... 29Learn About Performance Monitor....................................................................................................................29Interpreting Performance Monitor Data............................................................................................................ 30Real-time Graphical Performance Monitor....................................................................................................... 32Real-time Textual Performance Monitor........................................................................................................... 34

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Background Performance Monitor.................................................................................................................... 36What are invalid objects in the Performance Monitor?.................................................................................... 38

Change Options.......................................................................................................................................................39Renaming a Storage Array............................................................................................................................... 39Changing or Setting an Administrator Password or a Monitor Password for Your Storage Array.................... 40Changing the Cache Settings of the Storage Array......................................................................................... 41Changing the Default Host Type of a Storage Array........................................................................................41Changing the Failover Alert Delay....................................................................................................................42Changing the Tray ID........................................................................................................................................42Setting the Tray Components........................................................................................................................... 42Changing the Tray Order in the Physical Pane................................................................................................44Changing the Battery Settings.......................................................................................................................... 45Resetting the Battery Age.................................................................................................................................45Smart Battery Settings...................................................................................................................................... 46Setting the Storage Array Controller Clocks.....................................................................................................46

Host Mappings..............................................................................................................................................................51Define Options......................................................................................................................................................... 51

Defining a Host Group...................................................................................................................................... 51Defining a Host................................................................................................................................................. 51Using the Define Host Wizard.......................................................................................................................... 52Using the SANshare Storage Partitioning Wizard............................................................................................ 56SANshare Storage Partitioning Tutorial............................................................................................................ 59Defining Additional Mappings............................................................................................................................59

Change Options.......................................................................................................................................................61Changing a Mapping.........................................................................................................................................61Changing the Host Operating System on an Individual Host Port................................................................... 62

Moving a Host from One Host Group to Another Host Group................................................................................62Removing a Host, a Host Group, or a Mapping..................................................................................................... 63Renaming a Host Group or a Host.........................................................................................................................65Removing an Access Volume Mapping.................................................................................................................. 65Restricted Mappings................................................................................................................................................ 66

Host Port Identifiers.....................................................................................................................................................70Adding a Host Port Identifier...................................................................................................................................70Editing a Host Port Identifier................................................................................................................................... 71Removing a Host Port Identifier..............................................................................................................................72Replacing a Host Port Identifier.............................................................................................................................. 72

Disk Pools..................................................................................................................................................................... 75Learn About Disk Pools and Disk Pool Volumes....................................................................................................75Creating a Disk Pool Manually................................................................................................................................79Automatic Disk Pool Configuration..........................................................................................................................80Adding Unassigned Drives to a Disk Pool..............................................................................................................81Removing Drives (Capacity) from a Disk Pool....................................................................................................... 82

Table of Contents - iii

Is there a limit on the number of drives I can remove?..........................................................................................84Deleting a Disk Pool................................................................................................................................................84Locating a Disk Pool............................................................................................................................................... 85Renaming a Disk Pool.............................................................................................................................................85Changing the Controller Ownership of a Disk Pool................................................................................................ 86Configuring the Preservation Capacity of a Disk Pool............................................................................................86Configuring the Alert Notifications for a Disk Pool..................................................................................................86Changing the Modification Priority of a Disk Pool.................................................................................................. 87Secure Disk Pools................................................................................................................................................... 87Why would I want to manually configure a disk pool?........................................................................................... 88What does the mixed indication mean in the details?............................................................................................ 89Why would I want to reserve free capacity?...........................................................................................................89What types of volumes will be created?................................................................................................................. 90Why aren’t all unassigned drives listed?.................................................................................................................90Consequences of Changing the Quality of Service Attributes of a Disk Pool........................................................ 91Why are remaining capacity alerts important?........................................................................................................91

Volume Groups.............................................................................................................................................................93Locating a Volume Group........................................................................................................................................93Using the Create Volume Group Wizard.................................................................................................................93

Create Volume Group Wizard - Introduction.................................................................................................... 94Create Volume Group Wizard - Volume Group Name & Drive Selection.........................................................94Create Volume Group Wizard - RAID Level and Capacity...............................................................................95Create Volume Group Wizard - Manual Drive Selection..................................................................................96

Choosing an Appropriate Drive Type...................................................................................................................... 97Change Options.......................................................................................................................................................98

Changing the Controller Ownership of a Volume Group or a Volume..............................................................98Changing the RAID Level of a Volume Group................................................................................................. 99

Adding Free Capacity to a Volume Group............................................................................................................100Deleting a Volume Group...................................................................................................................................... 102Renaming a Volume Group...................................................................................................................................103Secure Volume Groups......................................................................................................................................... 103Viewing the Volume Group Properties.................................................................................................................. 104Clearing a Volume Group......................................................................................................................................105Migrating Volume Groups...................................................................................................................................... 106

Exporting a Volume Group..............................................................................................................................106Importing a Volume Group..............................................................................................................................106

Volumes....................................................................................................................................................................... 108Learn About Volumes............................................................................................................................................ 108

Thin Volumes...................................................................................................................................................109Comparison of Types of Volumes...................................................................................................................110Creating a Volume from a Volume Group...................................................................................................... 111Creating a Standard Volume from a Disk Pool.............................................................................................. 113

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Creating a Thin Volume from a Disk Pool......................................................................................................114Creating a Repository Volume from a Volume Group.................................................................................... 116Creating a Repository Volume from a Disk Pool............................................................................................117What is the difference between the physical capacity and the virtual capacity of a thin volume?.................. 119How are the physical capacity candidates ranked?....................................................................................... 119Tips on Choosing a Physical Capacity Candidate..........................................................................................120Tips on Storage Provisioning..........................................................................................................................120

Change Options.....................................................................................................................................................120Changing the Volume Modification Priority.....................................................................................................120Changing the Volume Cache Settings............................................................................................................121Changing the Segment Size of a Volume...................................................................................................... 123Changing the Media Scan Settings................................................................................................................ 124Changing the I/O Type....................................................................................................................................125Changing the Repository Settings of a Thin Volume..................................................................................... 125Viewing and Saving the Repository Expansion History of a Thin Volume..................................................... 126

Learn About Increasing the Capacity of a Volume............................................................................................... 126Increasing the Capacity of a Volume in a Volume Group.............................................................................. 128Increasing the Capacity of a Volume in a Disk Pool...................................................................................... 129Increasing the Physical Capacity of a Thin Volume....................................................................................... 130Increase Volume Capacity: Additional Instructions.........................................................................................131Increasing the Capacity of a Snapshot (Legacy) Repository Volume............................................................ 136

Disabling Data Assurance..................................................................................................................................... 138Deleting Volumes...................................................................................................................................................138

Deleting Volumes............................................................................................................................................ 138Recovering from a Volume Deletion Failure...................................................................................................140Deleting a Missing Volume............................................................................................................................. 141Why can I not delete a volume?.................................................................................................................... 141

Maximum Capacity of a Volume........................................................................................................................... 142Renaming a Volume.............................................................................................................................................. 142Viewing Standard Volume Properties....................................................................................................................142

Controllers...................................................................................................................................................................147Upgrading Firmware for Your Controllers..............................................................................................................147

Upgrading the Controller Firmware.................................................................................................................147Upgrading the Controller Firmware or NVSRAM Packages...........................................................................148Upgrading the Controller Firmware and the NVSRAM (Activate Now or Later)............................................. 149Downloading the NVSRAM.............................................................................................................................150Activating the Controller Firmware and the NVSRAM....................................................................................151

Change Options.....................................................................................................................................................152Changing the Preferred Loop ID of a Host Port.............................................................................................152Changing the Network Configuration Settings of a Controller........................................................................152

Viewing the Controller Properties..........................................................................................................................154Viewing the Status of the Controller Tray Components................................................................................. 155

Table of Contents - v

Viewing the Status of the Drive Tray Components........................................................................................ 156Host Card Diagnostics...........................................................................................................................................156

Canceling the Current Host Card Diagnostics................................................................................................157Starting the Host Card Diagnostics................................................................................................................ 157Displaying the Host Card Diagnostic Results.................................................................................................158

Controller Ownership............................................................................................................................................. 159I/O Data Path Protection.................................................................................................................................159

Drives...........................................................................................................................................................................161Upgrading Firmware for Your Drives.....................................................................................................................161

Understanding Drive Firmware....................................................................................................................... 161Steps to Upgrade the Drive Firmware............................................................................................................163Viewing the Progress of the Drive Firmware Download.................................................................................165Why is my firmware download progressing so slowly?..................................................................................166Where can I view the status of a drive undergoing reconstruction?.............................................................. 166

What is tray loss protection?.................................................................................................................................166What is drawer loss protection?............................................................................................................................167Locate Options.......................................................................................................................................................168

Locating a Drive.............................................................................................................................................. 168Locating a Drive Tray......................................................................................................................................168Locating Drive Trays on a Drive Channel...................................................................................................... 169

Hot Spare Drive Options....................................................................................................................................... 169Assigning and Unassigning Hot Spare Drives................................................................................................170Manually Assign a Hot Spare Drive............................................................................................................... 171

Using Hot Spare Drives.........................................................................................................................................172Tips for Providing Hot Spare Coverage..........................................................................................................172Tips and Examples for Allocating Capacity.................................................................................................... 172Tips for Assigning Hot Spare Drives.............................................................................................................. 174Tips for Updating Your Drive and ATA Translator Firmware.......................................................................... 175Rules for Assigning Hot Spare Drives............................................................................................................175Reviewing Hot Spare Drive Coverage............................................................................................................176

Security Capable Drives........................................................................................................................................ 176Drive Security with Full Disk Encryption.........................................................................................................176Creating a Security Key..................................................................................................................................178Changing a Security Key................................................................................................................................ 179Saving a Security Key.....................................................................................................................................179Validating a Security Key................................................................................................................................ 180Importing a Security Key to Unlock Secure Drives........................................................................................ 180Erasing Secure Drives.................................................................................................................................... 181Using Enterprise Security Key Manager.........................................................................................................182

Viewing Drive Properties....................................................................................................................................... 182Reviving a Drive.................................................................................................................................................... 184Failing a Drive........................................................................................................................................................184

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Replacing Drives....................................................................................................................................................185Replacing Drives............................................................................................................................................. 185When should I replace a drive?......................................................................................................................186Why do I have a missing drive?.....................................................................................................................187

Network Settings........................................................................................................................................................ 191Network Configuration Settings............................................................................................................................. 191

Which do I choose – DHCP or manual configuration?.................................................................................. 191What is a DHCP server?................................................................................................................................ 192How do I configure my DHCP server?........................................................................................................... 192Why do I need to change the controller network configuration?.................................................................... 192Where do I get the network configuration?.................................................................................................... 193

What are ICMP PING responses?........................................................................................................................ 193When should I refresh the port configuration or the iSNS server from the DHCP server?................................... 193What do I do after I configure the Ethernet management ports?......................................................................... 193Setting Advanced Network Configuration..............................................................................................................193Setting the Speed of the Ethernet Ports...............................................................................................................194

iSCSI Settings.............................................................................................................................................................196iSCSI Sessions...................................................................................................................................................... 196

What information can I view for this iSCSI session?..................................................................................... 196Why would I want to end an iSCSI session?................................................................................................. 197iSCSI Login Parameters................................................................................................................................. 198

iSCSI Target Authentication...................................................................................................................................199Changing the Initiator Authentication Settings................................................................................................199iSCSI Authentication Methods........................................................................................................................ 199When should I use multiple authentication types simultaneously?................................................................ 199

iSCSI Mutual Authentication..................................................................................................................................200Where can I find the initiator permissions?.................................................................................................... 200iSCSI Authentication Methods........................................................................................................................ 200mutual authentication...................................................................................................................................... 200Renaming a Remote Initiator User Label....................................................................................................... 200

iSCSI Target Identification..................................................................................................................................... 201Why can I not change the iSCSI target name?............................................................................................. 201Why should I define an alias?........................................................................................................................ 201Hints for Defining a Meaningful Alias............................................................................................................. 201

iSCSI Target Discovery..........................................................................................................................................202Which discovery methods are automatically supported?............................................................................... 202Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS)...........................................................................................................202What happens when I use an iSNS server?.................................................................................................. 202un-named discovery session.......................................................................................................................... 202

Configuring Advanced IP Settings.........................................................................................................................203Virtual Local Area Network (Virtual LAN or VLAN)........................................................................................ 203Ethernet priority............................................................................................................................................... 203

Table of Contents - vii

Configuring Advanced iSCSI Host Port Settings.................................................................................................. 203How is the iSCSI network listening port different from the iSNS listening port?............................................ 203jumbo frames...................................................................................................................................................203TCP listening port........................................................................................................................................... 203

iSCSI Statistics...................................................................................................................................................... 204What are the iSCSI statistics packages?....................................................................................................... 204MAC Transmit and MAC Receive Statistics................................................................................................... 204Ethernet TCP/IP Statistics...............................................................................................................................205iSCSI Target Statistics and Local Initiator Statistics.......................................................................................206DCBX Operational State Statistics................................................................................................................. 207LLDP TLV Statistics........................................................................................................................................ 207DCBX TLV Statistics....................................................................................................................................... 207What is the difference between raw statistics and baseline statistics?.......................................................... 208

Setting Up the iSER Network Protocol Over InfiniBand....................................................................................... 208Step 1: Configure the iSER Target Identification and Authentication Settings............................................... 209Step 2: Configure the IP Address and Port Combination for the IB HIC........................................................210Step 3: Run iSCSI Target Discovery on the Host.......................................................................................... 210Step 4: Connect to Storage Array from Host................................................................................................. 211Step 5: Map iSER Hosts to Volumes............................................................................................................. 211

iSCSI Statistics...................................................................................................................................................... 212What are the iSER statistics packages?........................................................................................................ 212What is the difference between raw statistics and baseline statistics?.......................................................... 214

Copy Services.............................................................................................................................................................215Snapshots (Legacy)...............................................................................................................................................215

Create Snapshot (Legacy) Volume Wizard: Process Overview..................................................................... 215About Scheduling Snapshots (Legacy)...........................................................................................................222Using the Create Snapshot (Legacy) Volume Wizard....................................................................................223Reusing Snapshot (Legacy) Volumes: Additional Instructions....................................................................... 251Disabling a Snapshot (Legacy) Volume..........................................................................................................260Re-creating a Snapshot (Legacy) Volume......................................................................................................261Viewing Snapshot (Legacy) Volume Properties..............................................................................................261Viewing Snapshot (Legacy) Repository Volume Properties........................................................................... 262Viewing the Logical Associations for a Snapshot (Legacy) Volume...............................................................263

Snapshot Images...................................................................................................................................................263About Snapshot Operations............................................................................................................................264Managing Snapshot Image Operations.......................................................................................................... 272Managing Snapshot Image Schedules........................................................................................................... 275Performing Rollback Operations..................................................................................................................... 278Managing Snapshot Group Operations.......................................................................................................... 282Managing Snapshot Volume Operations........................................................................................................ 288Managing Consistency Group Operations......................................................................................................297Managing Consistency Group Snapshot Volume Operations........................................................................ 306

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Managing Overall Repository Operations.......................................................................................................313Managing Revive Operations..........................................................................................................................318

Volume Copies.......................................................................................................................................................319Learn About Offline and Online Volume Copy............................................................................................... 319Understanding the Create Copy Wizard.........................................................................................................327Using the Create Copy Wizard to Create an Offline Copy.............................................................................330Using the Create Copy Wizard to Create an Online Copy.............................................................................333Using the Copy Manager................................................................................................................................336Setting the Target Volume Read-Only Attribute..............................................................................................339Target Volume Permissions for Offline and Online Copy Operations.............................................................340How do I use unconfigured capacity for the snapshot repository volume?.................................................... 341Volume Copy and Data Assurance Restrictions.............................................................................................341Viewing Volume Copy Properties................................................................................................................... 342

Asynchronous Mirroring.........................................................................................................................................343About Asynchronous Mirroring........................................................................................................................343Activating and Deactivating Mirroring............................................................................................................. 351Creating an Asynchronous Mirror Group........................................................................................................354Creating an Asynchronous Mirrored Pair....................................................................................................... 357Removing an Asynchronous Mirrored Pair from an Asynchronous Mirror Group.......................................... 364Managing Asynchronous Mirror Groups......................................................................................................... 365Suspending and Resuming Asynchronous Mirror Groups............................................................................. 372

Synchronous Mirroring...........................................................................................................................................374About Synchronous Mirroring..........................................................................................................................374Performance Considerations for Synchronous Mirroring................................................................................377Activating Synchronous Mirroring Premium Feature...................................................................................... 378Deactivating Synchronous Mirroring............................................................................................................... 381Creating the Synchronous Mirroring Relationship.......................................................................................... 381Monitoring the Synchronous Mirroring Status................................................................................................ 385Suspending a Mirrored Pair............................................................................................................................ 387Resuming a Mirrored Pair...............................................................................................................................388Viewing Mirror Repository Volume Properties................................................................................................ 388Changing the Synchronous Mirroring Options................................................................................................389

SSD Cache.................................................................................................................................................................. 404Learn About SSD Cache.......................................................................................................................................404Learn About SSD Cache Performance Modeling Tool..........................................................................................405Tips on Interpreting and Saving SSD Cache Statistics........................................................................................ 406Tips on Interpreting Results of the SSD Cache Performance Modeling Tool....................................................... 408Why aren’t all unassigned drives listed?...............................................................................................................411

Advanced.....................................................................................................................................................................412Maintenance Options.............................................................................................................................................412

Upgrading Firmware for Your Controllers....................................................................................................... 412Upgrading Firmware for Your Drives.............................................................................................................. 417

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Upgrading Firmware for Your Environmental Services Module (ESM)...........................................................421Monitoring the Status of the Download.......................................................................................................... 422Understanding the Possible Firmware Download Errors................................................................................423Downloading the Tray Configuration Settings................................................................................................ 426Firmware Inventory..........................................................................................................................................427Viewing the Firmware Inventory..................................................................................................................... 427Using Persistent Reservations........................................................................................................................427Enabling a Pre-read Redundancy Check....................................................................................................... 431Updating the JRE Used by SANtricity............................................................................................................ 431

Troubleshooting Options........................................................................................................................................435Viewing and Saving the Error Details.............................................................................................................435Collecting Support Data Manually.................................................................................................................. 435Collecting the Drive Data................................................................................................................................436About Using the Event Log Viewer................................................................................................................ 437Resolving the Critical Events.......................................................................................................................... 442Viewing the Drive Channel Status.................................................................................................................. 443Capturing the State Information......................................................................................................................443Running the Controller Diagnostics................................................................................................................ 444Running the Read Link Status Diagnostics....................................................................................................445Cache Backup Device Diagnostics.................................................................................................................447Cache Memory Diagnostics............................................................................................................................ 448Placing a Controller in the Online Status....................................................................................................... 449About Controllers in the In Service Mode...................................................................................................... 450Placing a Controller into the In Service Mode................................................................................................450About Controller Fault Isolation Diagnostics...................................................................................................450Running Controller Fault Isolation Diagnostics...............................................................................................452About Host Interface Card Diagnostics.......................................................................................................... 452Running Host Interface Card Diagnostics...................................................................................................... 453Retrieving Trace Buffers................................................................................................................................. 454Running Configuration Database Diagnostics................................................................................................ 455Running the Cable Diagnostics...................................................................................................................... 455Controller Health Image.................................................................................................................................. 456Collecting I/O Path Statistics.......................................................................................................................... 458

Recovery Options.................................................................................................................................................. 459Initializing a Drive............................................................................................................................................459Initializing a Volume........................................................................................................................................ 460Initializing a Thin Volume................................................................................................................................460Initializing a Volume Group............................................................................................................................. 464Placing Volumes Online.................................................................................................................................. 464Resetting a Storage Array Configuration........................................................................................................465Resetting a Controller..................................................................................................................................... 465Placing a Controller Online and Offline.......................................................................................................... 466Placing a Controller Into or Out of Service Mode.......................................................................................... 467

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Enabling Data Transfer................................................................................................................................... 468Redistributing the Volumes............................................................................................................................. 468Failing a Drive................................................................................................................................................. 469Reconstructing a Drive....................................................................................................................................470Defragmenting a Volume Group..................................................................................................................... 470Checking Data Redundancy........................................................................................................................... 470Viewing the Unreadable Sectors Log............................................................................................................. 472Recovering from an Unresponsive Storage Array Condition..........................................................................473Starting or Restarting the Host-Agent Software on the Windows OS............................................................ 475Starting or Restarting the Host-Agent Software on the UNIX (Linux) OS...................................................... 476Replacing Drives............................................................................................................................................. 476Preparing for Removal.................................................................................................................................... 478

Essential Terms to Know.......................................................................................................................................... 483asynchronous mirrored pair...................................................................................................................................483asynchronous mirror group....................................................................................................................................483asynchronous mirroring......................................................................................................................................... 483consistency group..................................................................................................................................................483disk pool.................................................................................................................................................................483free capacity...........................................................................................................................................................484host.........................................................................................................................................................................484host bus adapter (HBA).........................................................................................................................................484host group..............................................................................................................................................................484hot spare drive.......................................................................................................................................................484in-band management.............................................................................................................................................484iSCSI initiator......................................................................................................................................................... 484logical unit number (LUN)..................................................................................................................................... 485mapping..................................................................................................................................................................485out-of-band management.......................................................................................................................................485premium feature.....................................................................................................................................................485Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)....................................................................................................485repository................................................................................................................................................................485snapshot (legacy)...................................................................................................................................................486snapshot group...................................................................................................................................................... 486snapshot image......................................................................................................................................................486snapshot volume....................................................................................................................................................486SSD cache.............................................................................................................................................................486storage array..........................................................................................................................................................486storage partition..................................................................................................................................................... 487thin volume.............................................................................................................................................................487unconfigured capacity............................................................................................................................................487volume....................................................................................................................................................................487volume group......................................................................................................................................................... 487

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Frequently Asked Questions.................................................................................................................................... 488What happens when I import a volume group?....................................................................................................488What is a learn cycle?...........................................................................................................................................488What are the volume I/O characteristics?.............................................................................................................489What if my system has only one controller?.........................................................................................................490What is preferred ownership?............................................................................................................................... 490What RAID level is best for my storage configuration?........................................................................................490Which resynchronization method should I choose?..............................................................................................491Which data am I collecting in a customer support bundle?..................................................................................493What is a volume group, a disk pool, a volume, and a hot spare drive?............................................................. 496What is tray loss protection?.................................................................................................................................497What is drawer loss protection?............................................................................................................................497What is a write consistency group?...................................................................................................................... 498Which write mode should I use?...........................................................................................................................499What preparation tasks are required?...................................................................................................................500Why would I use storage partitions?.....................................................................................................................500How do I match a host port identifier to a host?.................................................................................................. 501What is a host group?...........................................................................................................................................501Should I save the host definition to a script?....................................................................................................... 502Where can I find more information about drive channels?................................................................................... 502Where can I find information about internal ports?...............................................................................................502What are the Enterprise Management Window and the Array Management Window?........................................503What is auto-negotiate?.........................................................................................................................................504What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?...................................................................................................504What IPv6 address notations are acceptable?..................................................................................................... 505What are in-band management connections and out-of-band management connections?..................................505Why would I replace a host adapter port?............................................................................................................506What are port speed and duplex mode?.............................................................................................................. 506What is IPv6 stateless address auto-configuration?............................................................................................. 506How do I create CHAP secrets?...........................................................................................................................507What do I do after I automatically configure host access?...................................................................................508What do I do after I manually configure host access?......................................................................................... 509What do I do after the automatic configuration has started?................................................................................510How do I configure a storage array?.................................................................................................................... 510What if alerts are disabled?.................................................................................................................................. 511What is an unresponsive storage array?.............................................................................................................. 511Why would I want to remove individual management connections?.................................................................... 511Changing the Tray ID............................................................................................................................................ 512

What if the tray ID number I want to use is already taken?...........................................................................512What is an expansion tray?............................................................................................................................ 512Why would I change the tray ID?...................................................................................................................512

Resetting the Age of the Battery...........................................................................................................................512How will I know when my battery is reaching expiration?..............................................................................512

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Should I reset my battery age?...................................................................................................................... 513What happens if I do not replace my battery?............................................................................................... 513

Pre-read Redundancy Check Settings..................................................................................................................513Enabling Pre-read Redundancy Check.......................................................................................................... 513

Redistributing Volumes.......................................................................................................................................... 513When should I delete a volume?....................................................................................................................513When should I stop I/O?.................................................................................................................................514Why would I want to redistribute my volumes?..............................................................................................514

What data am I retrieving during a controller health image?................................................................................514

Learn More About...................................................................................................................................................... 517Learn About Storage Arrays..................................................................................................................................517Learn About Storage Management Software........................................................................................................518

Learn About the Array Management Window................................................................................................ 518Learn About Using the Array Management Window Online Help.................................................................. 527Keyboard Accessibility.................................................................................................................................... 530

Learn About Configuring a Storage Array.............................................................................................................531Learn About Unresponsive Device Conditions............................................................................................... 531Data Protection Strategies.............................................................................................................................. 532Learn About Creating Volumes.......................................................................................................................540Learn About Creating Snapshot (Legacy) Volumes....................................................................................... 543Learn About SANshare Storage Partitioning.................................................................................................. 552Learn About Mapping......................................................................................................................................556

Learn About Maintaining a Storage Array.............................................................................................................557Problem Notification........................................................................................................................................ 557Learn About the Read Link Status Diagnostics..............................................................................................558Learn About the Controller Diagnostics..........................................................................................................559About Using the Event Log Viewer................................................................................................................ 560Learn About Using the Recovery Guru.......................................................................................................... 561Learn About Missing Volumes........................................................................................................................ 562Learn About Volume Group Migration............................................................................................................ 566

Learn About Tuning Storage Array Performance..................................................................................................568Learn About Volume Copy and Performance.................................................................................................568Interpreting Performance Monitor Data.......................................................................................................... 569Learn About Cache Settings and Performance..............................................................................................571Controller Ownership and Performance......................................................................................................... 572Segment Size and Performance.....................................................................................................................572RAID Levels and Performance....................................................................................................................... 573Volume Modification Priority and Performance...............................................................................................574

Learn About Firmware........................................................................................................................................... 574Learn About the Controller Firmware............................................................................................................. 574Understanding Drive Firmware....................................................................................................................... 575Learn About the Nonvolatile Static Random Access Memory (NVSRAM)..................................................... 575

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Learn About Drive Security................................................................................................................................... 576Learn About Read/Write Accessibility.............................................................................................................576Learn About the Security Key Identifiers........................................................................................................576

Learn About Data Assurance................................................................................................................................ 576Solid State Disks................................................................................................................................................... 577Learn About InfiniBand.......................................................................................................................................... 578Learn About Using the Unreadable Sectors Log.................................................................................................. 578

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SANtricity v11.20 Array Management Window Help - 1

Storage Arrays

Storage Concepts Tutorial

What steps do I take to configure my storage array?

To configure a storage array, you must prepare to correctly set up the features used to store your data. When youprepare your configuration, you make sure that your storage needs are met.

1. Prepare your configuration. Evaluate your data storage needs and the administrative tasks. Determine thecapabilities of the hardware. Decide how you want to organize your data. Determine how your data is madeavailable, and decide how you will back up your data.

2. Configure a new storage array, and set the storage array options, such as password protection and emailnotifications.

3. Set up the host on the network. Configure the storage array host so that it can access the volumes and volumegroups that you create. One or more hosts can access the volumes.

4. Configure volumes and volume groups. Also, create hot spare drives to automatically replace a non-working drive.

5. Configure your data copying features, if available. If you have premium features, configure these features tomake a copy of your data. Premium features include SANshare Storage Partitioning, Snapshot (Legacy) Volume,Volume Copy, and Synchronous Mirroring.

Using the Storage Management Software

The storage management software has two management windows: the Enterprise Management Window (EMW)and the Array Management Window (AMW). The EMW and the AMW let you configure, manage, and maintain yourstorage array.

Enterprise Management Window

The EMW is the first window to appear when you start the storage management software. The EMW performs thesemanagement tasks:

Discovers hosts and storage arrays automatically on your local sub-network

Provides the ability to manually add and remove hosts and storage arrays

Monitors the health of storage arrays and reports a high-level status by using the applicable icons

Provides the ability to configure alert notifications through email or SNMP

Loads the applicable AMW for a selected storage array to allow detailed configuration and managementoperations

Runs a script to perform batch management tasks on a specific storage array

A local configuration file stores all of the information about storage arrays that you have added and any email orSNMP destinations that you have configured.

2 - SANtricity v11.20 Array Management Window Help

The Enterprise Management Window contains two tabs:

Devices – Shows discovered storage arrays and their status. This tab also shows unidentified storage arrays.Setup – Allows you to perform initial setup tasks for the storage management software.

Array Management Window

The AMW configures and maintains the logical components and the physical components of a storage array. TheAMW also lets you view and define mappings. The AMW performs these management tasks:

Provides the ability to configure volumes, disk pools, and volume groups from your storage capacity

Defines hosts and host groups, granting access to sets of volumes called storage partitions

Monitors the health of the storage array components and indicates the status of the storage array componentusing applicable icons

Provides you with the applicable procedures to recover from a failed logical component or a failed physicalcomponent

Presents a view of the storage array Event Log

Presents profile information about the physical components, such as the controllers and the drives

Provides controller management options, such as changing the ownership of a volume or placing a controlleronline or offline

Provides drive management options, such as assigning hot spare drives and drive initialization

Monitors storage array performance

The AMW is specific to an individual storage array. You can manage only a single storage array within the AMW. Youcan start other AMWs from the EMW to simultaneously manage several storage arrays.

The Array Management Window contains six tabs:

Summary – This tab provides a graphical summary of the storage array.Performance – This tab allows you to view real-time performance data in a table format, as a single graph, or asa dashboard that shows six graphs on one screen. You can also view background performance data for a sessionthat is currently in progress or for a session that you previously saved.

Storage & Copy Services – This tab shows the organization of the storage array by volumes, disk pools, volumegroups, and other logical components. This tab is divided into two panes: the Logical pane on the left and theProperties pane on the right.

Host Mappings – This tab lets you define host groups, hosts, host bus adapter (HBA) host ports, and othertopological elements, and lets you define and change mappings.

Hardware – This tab shows the organization of the storage array by controllers, drives, and other hardwarecomponents. This tab is divided into two panes: the Physical pane on the left and the Properties pane on the right.

Setup – This tab allows you to perform initial setup tasks for the storage array.

Storage Array Environment

Storage array environments can be direct attached storage (DAS) or storage area network (SAN).

A SAN and a DAS use different procedures to attach a host to a controller. In a SAN environment, the host is attachedto the controller through a switch. This attachment permits multiple hosts to be connected to multiple controllers. In aDAS environment, the host is attached directly to the controller. SAN permits multiple hosts to access multiple storagearrays, and DAS is a direct connection between the host and the storage array.

SANtricity v11.20 Array Management Window Help - 3

How do I allocate my capacity?

The drives in your storage array provide the physical storage capacity for your data. Before you can store data, youmust configure the physical storage capacity into components, known as volume groups, disk pools, and volumes.

Volume groups and disk pools are a set of drives that the controller collects together. Volume groups have thesecharacteristics:

They appear as one larger drive.

They increase the performance of the storage array.

They let the controller write to the multiple drives in the volume group or disk pool at the same time.

They protect your data.

They use Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology.

They are created from unconfigured capacity on your storage array.

The volume is a logical entity that your host uses to store data. Volume groups and disk pools can hold one or morevolumes. You create volumes from free capacity in the volume group or disk pool.

Information about Allocating Capacity

Keep this information in mind to help you configure your storage array capacity:

Make sure that some non-configured capacity stays in the form of one or more unassigned drives. Keep someunconfigured capacity so that you have capacity available for additions or changes to your configuration. Youmight need unconfigured capacity for one of these modifications:

Creating one or more snapshot (legacy) volumes

Expanding a snapshot (legacy) repository volume

Configuring one or more hot spare drives

NOTE Hot spare drives apply only to volume groups. Disk Pools do not use hot spare drives.

You have a limited number of drives that you can use to create a volume group or disk pool. The limit is based onthe total number of drives in your configuration. If you use too many unassigned drives to create the volume groupor disk pool, the storage management software might suggest one of these solutions:

Decrease the number of drives in the volume group or disk pool that you are trying to create.

Increase the number of volume groups or disk pool that you are trying to create.

Mixing drives with different media types or interface types within one volume group or disk pool is not permitted.For example, you cannot mixSerial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives with Fibre Channel (FC) drives, and you cannotmix hard drives with Solid State Disks (SSDs).

The operating system (OS) for your host might have specified limits about how many volumes the host canaccess. Keep these limits in mind when you create volumes for a particular host.

Configuring Your Storage Array

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Planning Your Storage Array Configuration

When you configure your storage array, you must determine how much storage space, data availability, andredundancy is necessary. Different types of applications must have different storage capacities. Also, consider whattypes of data redundancy tasks you want to complete. For example, if you want to identify hot spare drives, or if youwant to make space for a full copy of your data.

Keep these variables in mind when you configure your storage array:

Drive media type and interface type

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) level

Data organization

System limitations

Amount of data to store

Hot spare drives

Snapshot (Legacy) volumes

Volume copy

Storage Array Password Protection

You can configure each storage array with an Administrator password and a Monitor password to protect it fromunauthorized access. The system asks for the Administrator password when an attempt is made to change thestorage array configuration, such as when a volume is created or deleted. In addition, you can require a Monitorpassword to access all View operations on the storage array.

ATTENTION Possible loss of data – Running configuration commands on a storage array can cause seriousdamage, including data loss. For this reason, you should always set an Administrator password for your storage array.

If you remove all drives from a storage array, the password used on that storage array will not work because thepassword is stored on a reserved area of each drive on the storage array. To correct this condition, add one of theoriginal drives to the storage array.

You cannot change a password for a storage array unless you first supply the current Administrator password. If youhave forgotten the password, contact your Technical Support Representative.

Understanding the Administrator Password and the Monitor Password

You can choose to set two different types of passwords for your storage array: an Administrator password and aMonitor password. Setting an Administrator password for your storage array protects it from users who unknowingly ormaliciously run destructive commands. These commands include any functions that change the state of the storagearray, such as creating volumes and modifying the cache settings. Setting a Monitor password allows users, who arenot authorized to modify storage array configurations, to view storage array configurations and to monitor storagearray health conditions.

You cannot set the Monitor password until you set the storage array’s Administrator password. The Administrator isthe only person who can change the Monitor password. You cannot change the storage array’s configuration with theMonitor password. You can choose to set the Administrator password and the Monitor password one at a time, or bothwithin the same session in the Set Password dialog.

SANtricity v11.20 Array Management