Dell PowerFlex 4.6.x Install and Upgrade Guide

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Deploying PowerFlex file nodes

File storage is managed through PowerFlex file nodes, which must be created before creating file systems. PowerFlex file nodes can be created to support the SMB protocol, NFS protocol, or both. After the PowerFlex file nodes are created, you can create file systems as containers for your SMB shares for Windows users, or NFS exports for UNIX users.

The following table provides definitions for some PowerFlex file terms.

Table 1. PowerFlex file terminology This table provides definitions for some PowerFlex file terms.
Term	Definition
PowerFlex file services	A virtualized network-attached storage server that uses the SMB, NFS, FTP, and SFTP protocols to catalog, organize, and transfer files within file system shares and exports. PowerFlex file service is responsible for the configuration parameters.
PowerFlex file server	Runs the PowerFlex file services.
NAS Server	A Virtual Data Mover which provides data services to users.
Virtual Data Mover (VDM)	A single point of access to a remote resource.
File system	A storage resource that can be accessed through the file sharing protocols such as SMB or NFS.
Network file system (NFS)	An access protocol that enables users to access files and folders on a network. NFS is typically used by Linux or UNIX hosts.
Server message block (SMB)	An access protocol that allows remote file data access from clients to hosts on a network. SMB is typically used in Microsoft Windows environments.
Snapshot	A point-in-time view of data stored on a storage resource. A user can recover files from a snapshot or restore a storage resource from a snapshot.
Thin Clone	Thin clones are writable copies of a snapshot, volume, or file system that can be accessed by a host.

PowerFlex file node definition

PowerFlex file services solution that is offered with PowerFlex R650 node and PowerFlex R660 nodes only.
Single PowerFlex file cluster supports maximum of 16 nodes and a minimum of two nodes.
Expansion can be incremented in one or multiple up to a maximum of 16 nodes.

Node configurations

Dell Technologies recommends using the following configurations for the best performance and high availability of data. PowerFlex software customers can deploy PowerFlex file even with a single NIC. There are five network template options available see related information for more details.

The following tables describe the recommended PowerFlex file node configurations.

Table 2. PowerFlex R650 node file node configurationsThis table describes the recommended PowerFlex R650 node file configuration.
Config	Cores	RAM (GB)	NICs (GB)	Local storage (GB)
Small	2 x 12 (24)	128	4 * 25 GbE	BOSS 480 GB * 2 M.2
Medium	2 x 16 (32)	256	4 * 25 GbE	BOSS 480 GB * 2 M.2
Large	2 x 28 (56)	256	4 * 25 / 100 GbE	BOSS 480 GB * 2 M.2

Table 3. PowerFlex R660 nodes file node configurationsThis table describes the recommended PowerFlex R660 nodes file configuration.
Config	Cores	RAM (GB)	NICs (GB)	Local storage (GB)
Small	2 x 12 (24)	128	4 * 25 GbE	BOSS-N1 480 GB * 2 M.2
Medium	2 x 16 (32)	256	4 * 25 GbE	BOSS-N1 480 GB * 2 M.2
Large	2 x 32 (64)	384	4 * 25 / 100 GbE	BOSS-N1 480 GB * 2 M.2