What is “Tier 0” in Storage Environments?

Tier "0" is not new in storage market but for implementation purposes it has been difficult to accommodate because it requires best performance and lowest latency. Enterprise Flash disks (Solid State Disks) capable to meet this requirement. It is possible to get more performance for company most critical applications. The performance can be gained through using Flash drives supported in VMAX and DMX-4 systems.  Read More →

Showing posts with label Virtual Provisioning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virtual Provisioning. Show all posts

Symmetrix FA bits settting requirement for VMware host

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VMware hosts require few mandatory FA bits setting before SAN storage to be provision. Apart from FA bits a series of procedure require from installing HBAs, HBA Firmware and drivers, zoning, mapping, masking devices, to configure kernel files and devices.

Let’s assume we have already identified Symmetrix FA port for VMware host and completed zoning on switch. It is better to have separate FA pair for VMware host. (You can connect VMware host to 2 pair FA if you have enough FA resources available and going to deploy critical application which require more performance).

You can identify the FA port available on Symmetrix:

symcfg list –connections.


Verify port flag settings-

symcfg list –fa -p -v

( FA-Number and Port where your host connected/zoned)


The following FA bits/flag require being set/Enable:

                     i)    Common Serial Number (C)


                    ii)    VCM State (VCM) --- (ACLX for V-MAX)


                    iii)    SCSI 3 (SC3)


                    iv)    SPC 2


                    v)     Unique World Wide Name (UWWN)


                   vi)     Auto-negotiation (EAN)


                   vii)    Point to Point (P)

Note :- FA bit/flag requirement may vary depending on Symmetrix, but most of times you require to enable above bit for VMware host.

Create a command file for setting FA port flags, call it faflags.cmd with the below entry:

# For C-Bit

set port FA:Port Common_Serial_Number=enable;


set port FA:Port Common_Serial_Number=enable;

# For VCM-Bit

set port FA:Port VCM_State=enable;


set port FA:Port VCM_State=enable;

# For SC3-Bit

set port FA:Port scsi_3=enable;


set port FA:Port scsi_3=enable;

# For SP-2-Bit

set port FA:Port SPC2_Protocol_Version=enable;


set port FA:Port SPC2_Protocol_Version=enable;


# For UWWN-Bit

set port FA:Port Unique_WWN=enable;


set port FA:Port Unique_WWN=enable;

# For EAN-Bit

set port FA:Port Auto_Negotiate=enable;


set port FA:Port Auto_Negotiate=enable;

# For PTOP-Bit

set port FA:Port Init_Point_to_Point=enable;


set port FA:Port Init_Point_to_Point=enable;

Once you prepare command file, you can commit the file:

symconfigure –sid preview –f  faflags.cmd

Verify port flag settings once again, required FA flags should have be enabled by now-

symcfg list –fa -p -v

You are ready to provision SAN storage for VMware host now…

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EMC introduced new feature for CLARiiON with Flare release 29

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CLARiiON Flare release 29 (04.29.000.5.001) introduce support for several new features as follow:

1) Virtualization-aware Navisphere Manager - Discovery of VMware client always were difficult in earlier release but Flare 29 enables CLARiiON CX4 users and VMware administrators to reduce infrastructure reporting time from hours to minutes. Earlier releases have allowed only a single IP address to be assigned to each iSCSI physical port. With Flare 29, the ability to define multiple virtual iSCSI ports on each physical port has been added along with the ability to tag each virtual port with unique VLAN tag. VLAN tagging has also been added to the single Management Port interface. It should be noted that the IP address and VLAN tag assignments should be carefully coordinated with those supporting the network infrastructure where the storage system will operate

2) Built-in policy-based spin down of idle SATA II drives for CLARiiON CX4 - Lowers power requirements in environments such as test and development in physical and virtual environments. Features include a simple management via a “set it and forget it” policy, complete spin down of inactive drives during times of zero I/O activity, and drives automatically spin back up after a "first I/O" request is received.

3) Virtual Provisioning Phase 2 - Support for MirrorView and SAN Copy replication on thin LUNs has been added.

4) Search feature – Provides users with the ability to search for a wide-variety of objects across their storage systems. Objects can be either logical (e.g., LUN) or physical (e.g., disks).

5) Replication roles - Three additional roles have to be added in Navisphere: “Local Replication Only”, “Replication” and “Replication/ Recovery”.

6) Dedicated VMware software files - VMware software files (i.e. NaviSecCLI, Navisphere Initialization Wizard) are now separate from those of the Linux Operating System.

7) Software filename standardization - all CLARiiON software filenames beginning with FLARE Release 29

8) Changing SP IP addresses - SP IP addresses can now be changed without rebooting the SP. Only the Management Sever will need to be rebooted from the Setup page, which results in no storage system downtime.

9) Linux 64-bit server software – Native 64-bit Linux server software files simplify installation by eliminating the need to gather and load 32-bit DLLs.

10) Solaris x64 Navisphere Host Agent – Release 29 marks the introduction of Solaris 64-bit Navisphere Host Agent software. This Host Agent is backward compatible with older FLARE release.

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Table Of Post Content - On Subscriber Request.

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Virtual Provisioning with Solutions Enabler

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We have discussed about Virtual Provisioning of Symmetrix in previous post. Now, we will discuss about Virtual Provisioning Configuration. You have to understand your storage environment before you run the below mentioned command.

Configuring and viewing data devices and pools:

Data Devices are devices with datadev attribute. Only Data Devices can be part of Thin Pool. Devices with different protection scheme can be supported for use in Thin Pools. It is depending on specific Enginuity level. All devices with the datadev attribute are used for exclusively for populating Thin Pools.

Create command file (Thin.txt) with following syntax:

create dev count=10, config=2-Way-Mir, attribute=datadev, emulation=FBA, size=4602;

# symconfigure -sid 44 -file thin.txt commit –v –nop

A Configuration Change operation is in progress. Please wait...
Establishing a configuration change session...............Established.
Processing symmetrix 000190101244
{
create dev count=10, size=4602, emulation=FBA,
config=2-Way Mir, mvs_ssid=0000, attribute=datadev;
}
Performing Access checks..................................Allowed.
Checking Device Reservations..............................Allowed.
Submitting configuration changes..........................Submitted
…..
…..
…..
Step 125 of 173 steps.....................................Executing.
Step 130 of 173 steps.....................................Executing.
Local: COMMIT............................................Done.
Terminating the configuration change session..............Done.

The configuration change session has successfully completed.

# symdev list -sid 44 -datadev

Symmetrix ID: 000190101244
Device Name Directors Device
--------------------------- ------------- -------------------------------------
Sym Physical SA :P DA :IT Config Attribute Sts Cap(MB)
--------------------------- ------------- -------------------------------------
10C4 Not Visible ???:? 01A:C4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314
10C5 Not Visible ???:? 16C:D4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314
10C6 Not Visible ???:? 15B:D4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314
10C7 Not Visible ???:? 02D:C4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314
10C8 Not Visible ???:? 16A:D4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314
10C9 Not Visible ???:? 01C:C4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314
10CA Not Visible ???:? 16B:C4 2-Way Mir N/A (DT) RW 4314


Thin Pool can be created using symconfigure command and without adding data devices:

# symconfigure -sid 44 -cmd "create pool Storage type=thin;" commit –nop

Once pool is created, data devices can be added to the pool and enabled:

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About Me

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Sr. Solutions Architect; Expertise: - Cloud Design & Architect - Data Center Consolidation - DC/Storage Virtualization - Technology Refresh - Data Migration - SAN Refresh - Data Center Architecture More info:- diwakar@emcstorageinfo.com
Blog Disclaimer: “The opinions expressed here are my personal opinions. Content published here is not read or approved in advance by EMC and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of EMC.”
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