Domain
| If using a domain user, the name of the domain (not relevant for Linux)
| |
Username
| The name of the user.
- Linux nodes: Enter either
root or a non-root sudo user, indicated by appending "(sudo)" to the end of the username (default:
root). For more information on deploying with a non-root user, see "Deployment of a non-root user".
- Windows nodes: Enter a user with administrator rights (default:
administrator).
| |
Password
| Password used to log in to the node. This should be the password of the user entered in the
Username column.
To authenticate with SSH instead of node passwords, see "Using SSH authentication on the
PowerFlex Gateway.
| Yes
|
Operating System
| The server’s operating system:
linux or
windows
| Yes
|
IPs
| IP address to be used for multiple purposes. Use this field to designate one IP address that will be assigned to all of the following: MDM IP, MDM Mgmt IP and SDS All IP. This option is provided for use cases where separate networks for data and management are not required.
| |
Is MDM/TB
|
The MDM role to deploy on this node:
Primary, Secondary, TB, Standby-Secondary, Standby-TB, or blank (if not an MDM).
For more information, see "The MDM cluster" in the Architecture section of
Getting to Know
PowerFlex.
| Yes
|
MDM Mgmt IP
| The IP address for the management-only network.
The management IP address is not required for:
Tiebreaker, Standby
Tiebreaker, and any host that is not an MDM. In such cases, leave this field blank.
| |
MDM IPs
| MDM IP addresses used to communicate with other
PowerFlex components in the storage network. This is required for all MDMs,
Tiebreakers and Standbys. Leave this field blank for hosts that are not part of the MDM cluster.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
| |
MDM Name
| The name to be assigned to an MDM node, up to 31 characters in length.
MDM names must be unique and may not contain spaces. Ensure that each server on which MDM is installed has a unique hostname.
| |
perfProfileForMDM
| Optional performance profile to set for MDMs:
High (default) or
Compact. When this field is left empty, the default option is applied. High performance is required for the Fine Granularity data layout feature.
| |
Virtual IPs
| A virtual IP address (VIP) for each possible manager MDM.
This virtual IP address can be used for communication between the MDM cluster and SDCs on the
PowerFlex data networks (not applicable for the management network). Only one virtual IP address can be mapped to each NIC, with a maximum of four virtual IP addresses per system.
| |
Virtual IP NICs
| The NIC to which the virtual IP addresses are mapped. Maximum length of 11 characters.
| |
Is SDS
| Deploy the SDS component on this node:
Yes or
No | Yes
|
SDS Name
| The name for the SDS node, up to 31 characters in length.
The name must not contain spaces. Ensure that each server on which SDS is installed has a unique hostname.
| |
SDS All IPs
| SDS IP addresses to be used for communication among all nodes.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
NOTE: When using this option, all roles use the same IP addresses, and there is no need to fill the SDS\SDC only columns.
| |
SDS-SDS Only IPs
| SDS IP addresses to be used for communication among SDS nodes. When the replication feature is used, these addresses are also used for SDS-SDR communication.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
| |
SDS-SDC Only IPs
| SDS IP addresses to be used for communication among SDS and SDC nodes only.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces. For SDC-only nodes, enter the IP address in this column.
| |
Protection Domain
| The Protection Domain to which to assign this SDS or SDR. The name can be up to 31 characters in length.
| |
Fault Set
| The Fault Set to which to assign this SDS.
NOTE: When using Fault Sets, you must assign a minimum of three, and follow the guidelines described in “Fault Sets” in the Architecture section of
Getting to Know
PowerFlex.
| |
SDS Storage Device List
| Storage devices to be added to an SDS. For more than one device, use a comma-separated list, with no spaces. Ensure that the device names and paths do not contain any special characters, such as:
?,
`,
!,
@,
# Ensure that devices are prepared as described in "Configuring direct attached storage" in the Architecture section of
Getting to Know
PowerFlex.
Device name format on Linux:
/dev/sdb,/dev/sdcWhen specifying the SDS device path on a Linux node, use the path according to how it is listed in
cat/proc/partitions (and not according to the output of
fdisk -l). Use persistent device names.
For example:
fdisk output:
/dev/mapper/samah-lv1, /dev/sdb cat /proc/partitions output:
dm-3, sdb Use these values in the CSV file:
/dev/dm-3,
/dev/sdb To enable volume creation, you must add (at least) one device to (at least) three SDSs, where each SDS is in a separate Fault Set, and each device has a minimum of 130 GB free storage capacity (an SDS which has not been assigned to a Fault Set is treated as a Fault Set of its own). You can do that via the CSV file, or at a later stage. The maximum number of devices per SDS is listed in the “Product limits” table in the
Getting to Know
PowerFlex guide.
Device data is erased when devices are added to an SDS. When adding a device to an SDS,
PowerFlex will check that the device is clear before adding it. An error will be returned, per device, if it is found not to be clear.
PowerFlex might not perform optimally if there are large differences between the sizes of the devices in the Storage Pool—for example, if one device is as big as the rest of the devices. After adding devices, you can define how much of the device capacity is available to
PowerFlex by using the SCLI command
modify_sds_device_capacity.
For optimal performance, try to balance the number of devices of a Storage Pool, and the capacity of those devices among the relevant SDSs.
When adding devices that were used in a previous
PowerFlex system, follow the instructions in "Prepare previously used SDS devices".
| |
StoragePool List
| Sets Storage Pool names, up to 31 characters in length. Use this option in one of the following ways to assign Storage Pools to the devices in the
SDS Storage Device List:
- A comma-separated list of StoragePool names; the length of the list must be the same length as the list of devices in the
SDS Storage Device Names list. In this case, the Storage Pools will be mapped to the devices in that list, respectively. The list must be comma-separated, with no spaces.
- If one Storage Pool is entered here, the same Storage Pool will be mapped to all the devices in the
SDS Storage Device List.
- If no Storage Pool is listed here, one will be automatically created during installation, named
default.
| |
SDS Storage Device Names
| Sets names for devices.
Assigns device names to the devices in the
SDS Storage Device List, respectively. The amount of names must equal the amount of devices. Comma-separated, no spaces.
| |
SDS Storage Device Path
| The length of the SDS device path must not exceed 63 characters. For example, this path for the following NVMe disk under
/dev/disk/by-id is not supported because it is too long:
/dev/disk/by-id/Dell_Express_Flash_NVMe_PM1725_1.6TB_SFF_______S2JPNA0J500141 Alternatively, this equivalent name is supported:
/dev/disk/by-id/nvme-eui.002538957100082e | |
perfProfileForSDS
| Optional performance profile to set for SDSs:
High (default) or
Compact When this field is left empty, the default option is applied. High performance is required for the Fine Granularity data layout feature. For more information, see "Configure performance profile during deployment".
| |
Is SDC
| Yes or
No.
| Yes
|
perfProfileForSDC
| Optional performance profile to set for SDCs:
High (default) or
Compact. When this field is left empty, the default option is applied. High performance is required for the Fine Granularity data layout feature. For more information, see "Configure performance profile during deployment".
| |
SDC Name
| Sets a name for the SDC, which can be up to 31 characters in length. Ensure that each server on which SDC is installed has a unique hostname.
| |
RFcache | Install the
RFcachexcache package on an SDS:
Yes or
No (default).
NOTE: If you wish to configure
RFcache devices as part of the deployment, set this column to
Yes,
RFcache SSD Device List column to a list of comma-separated devices, and the
RFcache Accelerated StoragePool List to a corresponding comma-separated list of Storage Pools.
NOTE: Ensure that the
RFcache feature is supported by the Linux Kernel version used in your system. For more information, refer to the
Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide.
| |
RFcache SSD Device List
| List of SSD devices to provide
RFcache acceleration for Medium Granularity data layout Storage Pools. Up to eight devices, comma-separated, with no spaces. Ensure that the device names and paths do not contain any special characters, such as:
?,
`,
!,
@,
# If
RFcache is
Yes, and this field is left blank, you can add
RFcache devices after installation.
NOTE: The
RFcache feature is only supported by 512 Byte devices for the cache use case.
RFcache is not supported on 4K devices used for cache. However,RFcache acceleration of 4K storage devices is supported.
| |
RFcache Accelerated StoragePool List
| The names of the Storage Pools for which
RFcache acceleration is to be provided.
The amount of StoragePool names must equal the amount of devices in the
RFcache SSD Device List. Comma-separated, no spaces.
The specified Storage Pools must be defined in
StoragePool List.
| |
NVDIMM Acceleration Device List
| List of NVDIMM devices used to provide acceleration for Storage Pools using Fine Granularity data layout. Up to six devices, comma-separated, with no spaces. Ensure that the NVDIMM devices are configured for DAX mode.
| |
NVDIMM Acceleration Pool List
| Sets NVDIMM Acceleration Pool names.
Assigns NVDIMM Acceleration Pools to the devices in the
NVDIMM Acceleration Device List, respectively. The amount of NVDIMM Acceleration Pools must equal the amount of devices. Comma-separated, no spaces.
| |
Is SDR
| Deploy the SDR component on this node:
Yes or
No (default).
A minimum of two SDRs per peer system must be deployed for the replication feature.
SDRs must be deployed on nodes that also contain the SDS component.
| |
SDR Name
| The name of the SDR node, up to 31 characters in length. The name must not contain spaces. Default: empty field.
| |
SDR Port
| The port used by the SDR. Default: 11088
| |
SDR Application IPs
| The IP addresses through which the SDC communicates with the SDR. When an application writes data, it will work with the SDR through these IP addresses.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
The same IP addresses can be used for Application, Storage, External. IPv6 is supported.
| |
SDR Storage IPs
| The IP addresses through which the SDR communicates with the MDM for server side control communications.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
The same IP addresses can be used for Application, Storage, External. IPv6 is supported.
| |
SDR External IPs
| The IP addresses through which the SDR communicates with peer systems' SDRs.
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
The same IP addresses can be used for Application, Storage, External. IPv6 is supported.
| |
SDR All IPs
| SDR IP addresses to be used for communication among all nodes (including all three roles)
Maximum of eight addresses, comma-separated, no spaces.
This is the default setting.
| |
perfProfileForSDR
| Optional performance profile to set for SDRs:
High (default) or
Compact. When this field is left empty, the default option is applied. High performance is required for the Fine Granularity data layout feature. For more information, see "Configure performance profile during deployment".
| |
Is Vasa Provider
| A VASA provider is used (for VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) support):
Yes means that the node contains a VASA provider. Any other value means that it does not contain one.
A cluster may contain a single VASA provider, three VASA providers, or none. VASA providers must be installed on nodes where SDC is also installed.
NOTE: You can only add VASA providers to a system that previously contained no VASA providers. You must begin from a state where no VASA providers are installed in the cluster.
| |
Vasa Provider IP
| The IP address of the VASA provider
NOTE: If no IP address is defined in this column, the IP address will be taken from the "IPs" column.
| |
Storage Pool Configuration section | Optional section of the CSV file that lets you configure properties for each of the Storage Pools to which the SDS devices are assigned
| |
ProtectionDomain
| The Protection Domain to which the Storage Pool belongs
| |
StoragePool
| The Storage Pool name
| |
Media Type
| The expected device media type in the Storage Pool:
HDD or
SDD | |
External Acceleration
| External acceleration type, if used:
- Read—All devices are accelerated by a non-PowerFlex read cache
- Write—All devices are accelerated by a non-PowerFlex write cache
- ReadAndWrite—All devices are accelerated by both non-PowerFlex read and write cache
| |
Data Layout
| Data layout type:
- FG—Fine Granularity layout
- MG—Medium Granularity layout
| |
Fine Granularity ACCP
| The name of the Fine Granularity Acceleration Pool associated with the Storage Pool
| |
Zero Padding
| Zero padding enabled on the Storage Pool (mandatory for Fine Granularity):
- Yes—zero padding enabled
- No—zero padding disabled
| |
Compression Method
| The compression method used in the Fine Granularity Storage Pool. Compression method might affect performance. For more information about recommended use cases, refer to the
Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide.- None—no compression is used
- Normal—compression is enabled
| |
Replication journal capacity percentage
|
The percentage of capacity dedicated to the replication journal: a value between 1–100
The percentage is calculated from the net capacity, and not from the total capacity.
Use the information provided in the
Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide to calculate the percentage of capacity that is required.
This calculation also applies to expansion use cases where SDR is being added to an existing system.
Each Protection Domain that contains SDRs should have at least one Storage Pool with replication journal capacity higher than 0%.
Each SDR needs at least 108 GB of replication journal capacity in order to work. Take this into consideration when calculating capacity requirements.
| |