Dell PowerFlex 4.5.x Administration Guide

Existing resource groups

If you already have a cluster deployed that includes Dell-based hardware, you can discover and import these hardware resources as an existing resource group. Even though these resources were not originally deployed with PowerFlex Manager, you can take advantage of the health monitoring, compliance, and update features.

When you add an existing resource group for a PowerFlex cluster, PowerFlex Manager matches up the hosts, vCenter, and other items it finds with discovered resources in the resource list.

Only managed or reserved resources are included in the resource group. Any resource discovered as Unmanaged is missing from the resource group. If a component is missing, you can change your resource inventory, and update the resource group to reflect these changes. Go to the resources list, select the component, and mark it as Managed by selecting Change resource state to Managed. Then perform an Update Resource Group Details operation on the resource group to pull in the missing component.

Each node is identified as a PowerFlex host if the inventory for the node shows that it is present in a gateway, and it is properly configured as a Storage Data Client (SDC) and Storage Data Server (SDS) node. A PowerFlex host has the Use Node for Dell PowerFlex check box set to True in the operating system settings for the node within the resource group deployment settings.

You can perform most of the actions on an existing resource group that are available within PowerFlex Manager for a new resource group. For some configurations, PowerFlex Manager displays a yellow banner for the resource group to indicate that some features are not available.

PowerFlex Manager enables you to add an existing resource group for an environment using VMware NSX-T or NSX-V. Most resource group actions are disabled for an NSX-T or NSX-V configuration, except the ability to update the firmware and software components, remove resources (or the resource group as a whole), and update resource group details.

When you add an existing resource group for a CloudLink configuration, you choose a single CloudLink Center as the target for the 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.