Getting to know Dell PowerFlex v3.6.x

S.M.A.R.T. hardware monitoring

The PowerFlex bare-metal solution now provides monitoring capabilities for RAID controllers and storage devices compatible with S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) protocols.

In Linux-based environments, S.M.A.R.T.-compatible HDDs, SSDs and RAID storage controllers can be monitored for S.M.A.R.T. attributes such as temperature, SSD wear level, and error counters. LEDs can also be lit on these hardware devices, to simplify physical identification for maintenance purposes.

Each hardware vendor defines specific thresholds for the S.M.A.R.T. attributes. This feature currently supports storage devices controlled by LSI, HP and Dell RAID controllers, and stand-alone devices. During system deployment, an external monitoring tool is installed as part of the LIA on each node. Additional RAID controller tools must be installed manually after system deployment: storcli for LSI RAID controllers, hpssacli for HP RAID controllers, or perccli for DELL RAID controllers. These tools are used by the system to collect the counters that are returned to the MDM.

The MDM queries the SDSs at set intervals, and stores the returned information. This information can be viewed using CLI queries. In addition, when thresholds are crossed for S.M.A.R.T. attributes, alerts are generated by the system.

When the CLI is used to query device information, physical device information, such as serial number, disk slot information, model name, vendor etc., temperature, and wear level information (for SSDs only) is included in the returned response.

For information about the use of CLI commands, see the PowerFlex CLI Reference Guide.

For information about the use of REST API URIs, see the PowerFlex User Guide.

You can use the PowerFlex GUI to monitor S.M.A.R.T.-related alerts in the Alerts view.

In addition, SNMP traps and ESRS alert codes can be used to monitor alerts triggered by devices compatible with S.M.A.R.T.