Dell PowerFlex 4.5.x Administration Guide

Select virtual machine manager from the Target Virtual Machine Manager list.

Select the data center name from Data Center Name list.

Select a new cluster name from Cluster Name list.

Select new cluster name from New Cluster Name list.

Enables or disables a highly available cluster. You can either select or clear (default) the check box.

Enables or disables distributed resource scheduler (DRS). You can either select or clear (default) the check box.

Select a target PowerFlex gateway, which acts as an endpoint for PowerFlex API calls. During the provisioning process, PowerFlex Manager connects to the PowerFlex gateway and uses its APIs to configure all SDS and SDC parameters.

Provide a name for the protection domain. You can automatically generate the name (recommended), or specify a new name explicitly. A protection domain is a logical entity that contains a group of SDSs that provide backup for each other. Each SDS belongs to only one protection domain. Each protection domain is a unique set of SDSs. A protection domain may also contain SDTs and SDRs.

If you automatically generate the protection domain name or specify a new name explicitly for a hyperconverged or storage-only template, the PowerFlex cluster must have at least three nodes before you can publish the template and deploy it as a resource group. However, if you select an existing protection domain that is associated with another previously deployed hyperconverged or storage-only resource group, and this protection domain has at least three nodes, PowerFlex Manager recognizes the new template as valid if the cluster has fewer than three nodes. You can publish the template successfully and deploy it as a resource group, since the protection domain it uses has enough nodes.

If you choose Compute Only as the PowerFlex Role for the node component, the PowerFlex settings do not include the Protection Domain Name field.

Specify a new name for the protection domain.

If you choose to generate the protection domain name automatically, PowerFlex Manager fills this field with a default template that combines static text with variables for several pieces of the autogenerated name. If you modify the template, be sure to include the ${num} variable to ensure that the name is unique.

For details on the rules for defining a template, see the contextual help that appears when you hover over the field.

If you choose Compute Only as the PowerFlex Role for the node component, the PowerFlex settings do not include the Protection Domain Name Template field.

Provide a name for the acceleration pool. You can automatically generate the name (recommended) or select from a list of existing acceleration pools.

You can add acceleration pools to a protection domain to accelerate storage pool performance. An acceleration pool is a group of acceleration devices within a protection domain.

Define a template for generating the acceleration pool name automatically. PowerFlex Manager fills this field with a default template that combines static text with variables for several pieces of the autogenerated name. If you modify the template, be sure to include the $(num) variable to ensure that the name is unique.

For details on the rules for defining a template, see the contextual help that appears when you hover over the field.

Provide a name for the storage pool. You can automatically generate the name (recommended), select from a list of existing storage pools for the selected protection domain, or specify a unique storage pool name. If you choose to automatically generate a name, you are prompted to define a storage pool name template.

Storage pools allow the generation of different storage tiers in PowerFlex. A storage pool is a set of physical storage devices in a protection domain. Each storage device belongs to one (and only one) storage pool.

The number of storage pools that are created at deployment time depends on the number of disks available.

Select up to 6 storage pools per protection domain.

The maximum number of nodes that can be added to a protection domain is 32. The maximum number of drives that can be added to a storage pool is 320.

Set the granularity for compression by selecting Fine or Medium. The granularity setting applies to the storage pool.

Allows you to select the disk type - hard drive, SSD, or NVMe.

Define a template for generating the storage pool name automatically. PowerFlex Manager fills this field with a default template that combines static text with variables for several pieces of the autogenerated name. If you modify the template, be sure to include the ${num} variable to ensure that the name is unique.

For details on the rules for defining a template, see the contextual help that appears when you hover over the field.

If you choose Compute Only as the PowerFlex Role for the node component, the PowerFlex settings do not include the Storage Pool Name Template field.

Enables deployment with fault sets.

This option allows you to deploy a fault set enabled resource group with a new protection domain or an existing protection domain.

Specify the fault set name. You can automatically generate the name (recommended), select from a list of existing fault sets for the selected protection domain, or specify a unique fault set name. If you choose to automatically generate a name, you are prompted to define a fault set name template.

If you choose to generate the fault set name automatically, PowerFlex Manager fills this field with a default template that combines static text with variables for several pieces of the autogenerated name. If you modify the template, be sure to include the ${num} variable to ensure that the name is unique.

For details on the rules for defining a template, see the contextual help that appears when you hover over the field.

Specifies the number of fault sets to create at deployment time. PowerFlex requires a minimum of three fault sets for a protection domain, with at least two nodes in each fault set.

For a new protection domain name, you must specify a number between 3 and 16. Each fault set acts as a single fault unit. If a fault set goes down, all nodes within the fault set go down as well.

For an existing protection domain name, you must specify a number between 1 and 16. This allows you to add more fault sets to an existing protection domain. If the selected protection domain already has 3 fault sets, for example, you can specify a number as low as 1, to include an additional fault set for this protection domain.

PowerFlex Manager ensures that each new deployment has only one MDM role for each fault set. For example, if you deploy 3 fault sets, one has the primary MDM, another has the secondary MDM, and the third has the tiebreaker. You can use the Reconfigure MDM Roles wizard to change the MDM role assignments after deployment.

Specifies the target CloudLink Center for an encrypted node. The Cloud Link Center Settings are only available when the Enable Encryption option is selected in the OS Settings for the node component. For any CloudLink Center that has encryption, you must either add an existing resource group to PowerFlex Manager, or use PowerFlex Manager to create the CloudLink encryption machine groups and keystores.

PowerFlex Manager is only able to create the machine groups and keystores if the CloudLink Center exists in the management cluster. Ensure that CloudLink Center is available on the resource page.

If you select an existing protection domain under the PowerFlex Settings, you must choose a Target CloudLink Center. The other CloudLink Center settings are not available, and PowerFlex Manager uses the machine group and keystore settings for the selected target.

If you automatically generate the protection domain name or specify a new protection name explicitly, you can set the Machine Group Name and Keystore Name settings with the template.

When you deploy a template with CloudLink settings, PowerFlex Manager creates the machine groups and keystores, and then assigns the machine groups to keystores and networks. Next, it adds the machines to the machine groups, and encrypts the drives. After deployment, you can see the machines that are added to machine groups by clicking View Details on the Resources page.

When defining a template, you choose a single CloudLink Center as the target for the deployed resource group. If the CloudLink Center for the resource group shuts down, PowerFlex Manager loses communication with the CloudLink Center. If the CloudLink Center is part of a cluster, PowerFlex Manager moves to another CloudLink Center when you update the resource group details.

Allows you to provide a name for the machine group. The Machine Group Name is only available if you automatically generate the protection domain name or specify a new protection name explicitly. You can automatically generate the machine group name or specify a new machine group name explicitly.

Specify a new name for the machine group.

Allows you to provide a name for the keystore. The Keystore Name is only available if you automatically generate the protection domain name or specify a new protection name explicitly. You can automatically generate the keystore name or specify a new keystore name explicitly. Alternatively, you can choose an existing keystore from the list.

Specify a new name for the keystore.

Click Configure VDS Settings to create the virtual distributed switch (VDS) settings for the VMware cluster component in a template. PowerFlex Manager displays a wizard that allows you to provide a name for each VDS. The wizard also lets you specify how you want the port group names to be created. You can let PowerFlex Manager automatically create port group names based on the names of the networks, or you can enter the port group names yourself.

To see VDS settings previously configured for a template, you can click View VDS Settings under vSphere VDS Settings.

Specifies the name of the NAS gateway.

Determines the number of protection domains that are used for PowerFlex file configuration data. Control volumes will be created automatically for every node in the PowerFlex file cluster, and spread across the number of protection domains specified for improved cluster resiliency. To add data volumes, you need to use the tools provided on the File tab.

You can have between one and four protection domains.

Includes a separate section for each protection domain used in the template.

Includes a separate section for each storage pool used in the template.