Summary of the content on the page No. 1
book.book Page 1 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM
Dell PowerVault MD3600f and
MD3620f Storage Arrays
Deployment Guide
Summary of the content on the page No. 2
book.book Page 2 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Notes, Cautions, and Warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. ____________________ Information in this publication is subject to change without notice. © 2011 Dell Inc. All rights
Summary of the content on the page No. 3
book.book Page 3 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction to Storage Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Planning the Storage Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . 11 Connecting the Storage Array. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Cabling the Storage Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Redundant a
Summary of the content on the page No. 4
book.book Page 4 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Silent Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Enabling Premium Features (Optional) . . . . . . . . . 22 Upgrading PowerVault MD Storage Software . . . . . 22 4 Post Installation Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Verifying Storage Array Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Initial Setup Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 5 Uninstalling MD Storage Software . . . . 27 Uninstalling MD Storage Software From Window
Summary of the content on the page No. 5
book.book Page 5 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Installing and Removing Fibre Channel Cables. . . . . 36 C Appendix—Hardware Cabling Best Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Handling Static-Sensitive Components . . . . . . . . . 37 Host Cabling for Remote Replication . . . . . . . . . . 37 Cabling for Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Single-Controller and Dual-Controller Topologies . . . 38 Labeling Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary of the content on the page No. 6
book.book Page 6 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 6 Contents
Summary of the content on the page No. 7
book.book Page 7 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 1 Introduction NOTE: Throughout the document, Dell PowerVault MD3600f series storage array refers to both Dell PowerVault MD3600f and Dell PowerVault MD3620f. This guide provides information about deploying Dell PowerVault MD3600f and MD3620f storage arrays. The deployment process includes: • Hardware installation • Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM) software installation • Initial system configuration Other information provided include
Summary of the content on the page No. 8
book.book Page 8 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM • Display resolution of 1024x768 with 16 million colors (1280x1024 32-bit recommended) • Microsoft Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. NOTE: Operating system installations can be either native or hypervisior guest configurations. NOTE: Supported hypervisors include Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, and VMware. For information about the supported versions, see the Support Matrix at support.dell.com/
Summary of the content on the page No. 9
book.book Page 9 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Unconfigured capacity comprises physical disks not already assigned to a disk group. When a virtual disk is created using unconfigured capacity, a disk group is automatically created. If the only virtual disk in a disk group is deleted, the disk group is also deleted. Free capacity is space in a disk group that is not assigned to any virtual disk. Data is written to the physical disks in the storage array using RAID technology. RAID lev
Summary of the content on the page No. 10
book.book Page 10 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 10 Introduction
Summary of the content on the page No. 11
book.book Page 11 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 2 Hardware Installation Before using this guide, ensure that you review the instructions in the: • Getting Started Guide—The Getting Started Guide that shipped with the storage array provides information to configure the initial setup of the system. • Planning section of the Owner’s Manual—The planning section provides information about important concepts you should know before setting up your storage solution. See the Owner’s Manual at
Summary of the content on the page No. 12
book.book Page 12 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Connecting the Storage Array The storage array is connected to a host using two hot-swappable RAID controller modules. The RAID controller modules are identified as RAID controller module 0 and RAID controller module 1. Each RAID controller module has four FCIN (host) port connectors that provide FC connections to the host or node. Each RAID controller module also contains an Ethernet management port and a SAS Out port connector. The
Summary of the content on the page No. 13
book.book Page 13 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Redundancy is established by installing separate data paths between the host and the storage array, in which each path is to one of the two RAID controller modules installed in the storage array. Redundancy protects the host from losing access to data in the event of path failure, because both RAID controller modules can access all the disks in the storage array. NOTE: For detailed information about all cabling configurations including
Summary of the content on the page No. 14
book.book Page 14 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 2 Upgrade the expansion enclosure firmware to the latest version available at support.dell.com while the enclosure is still attached to the PERC H800 controller. Windows systems users can reference the DUP.exe package and Linux kernel users can reference the DUP.bin package. 3 Ensure that the storage array software is installed and up to date before adding the expansion enclosure(s). For more information, see the Support Matrix at su
Summary of the content on the page No. 15
book.book Page 15 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM • If the status LEDs are blinking amber, there is an error that can be viewed using the PowerVault MDSM. • If the status LEDs are solid blue, the storage array is ready. c When the storage array is online and ready, turn on any attached host systems. 7 After the PowerVault MD1200 series expansion enclosure is configured as an expansion enclosure of the storage array, restore the data that was backed up in step 1. After the PowerVault
Summary of the content on the page No. 16
book.book Page 16 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM a Stop all I/O to the storage array and turn off affected host systems attached to the storage array. b Turn off the storage array. c Turn off any expansion enclosure(s) in the affected system. 3 Cable the expansion enclosure(s) to the storage array. 4 Turn on attached units: a Turn on the expansion enclosure(s). Wait for the enclosure status LED to turn blue. b Turn on the storage array and wait for the status LED to indicate that the u
Summary of the content on the page No. 17
book.book Page 17 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM Hardware Installation 17
Summary of the content on the page No. 18
book.book Page 18 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 18 Hardware Installation
Summary of the content on the page No. 19
book.book Page 19 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM 3 Installing MD Storage Software The PowerVault MD series resource media contains software and drivers for both Linux and Microsoft Windows operating systems. The root of the media contains a readme.txt file covering changes to the software, updates, fixes, patches, and other important data applicable to both Linux and Windows operating systems. The readme.txt file also specifies requirements for accessing documentation, information reg
Summary of the content on the page No. 20
book.book Page 20 Friday, September 9, 2011 11:26 PM • Silent Installation—This installation procedure is useful for users that prefer to create scripted installations. Installing Host Bus Adapters and Drivers NOTE: Ensure that you read the Configuring Fibre Channel With the Dell MD3600f Series Storage Array document before continuing with this procedure. 1 Install the host bus adapters (HBAs). 2 Connect the cables. 3 Install the HBA drivers and the operating system HBA patches/hotfixes.
