User Guide · Scalable File Service User Guide Issue 05 Date 2017-04-10 HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD

Scalable File Service

User Guide

Issue 05

Date 2017-04-10

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2017. All rights reserved.No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior writtenconsent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Trademarks and Permissions

and other Huawei trademarks are trademarks of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.All other trademarks and trade names mentioned in this document are the property of their respectiveholders. NoticeThe purchased products, services and features are stipulated by the contract made between Huawei and thecustomer. All or part of the products, services and features described in this document may not be within thepurchase scope or the usage scope. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, all statements, information,and recommendations in this document are provided "AS IS" without warranties, guarantees orrepresentations of any kind, either express or implied.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made in thepreparation of this document to ensure accuracy of the contents, but all statements, information, andrecommendations in this document do not constitute a warranty of any kind, express or implied.

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.Address: Huawei Industrial Base

Bantian, LonggangShenzhen 518129People's Republic of China

Website: http://www.huawei.com

Email: [email protected]

Issue 05 (2017-04-10) Huawei Proprietary and ConfidentialCopyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

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http://www.huawei.com

mailto:[email protected]

Contents

1 Overview......................................................................................................................................... 11.1 SFS Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................11.2 Advantages of SFS......................................................................................................................................................... 11.3 Typical Application Scenarios of SFS............................................................................................................................21.4 Charging Mode of SFS................................................................................................................................................... 21.5 Relationship Between SFS and Other Services..............................................................................................................21.6 Concepts Relating to SFS............................................................................................................................................... 21.7 Limitations and Constraints............................................................................................................................................3

2 Getting Started............................................................................................................................... 52.1 Creation Process............................................................................................................................................................. 52.2 Creating a File System....................................................................................................................................................62.3 Mounting a File System to ECSs....................................................................................................................................72.4 Configuring the DNS Server.......................................................................................................................................... 9

3 Operation Guide..........................................................................................................................113.1 Viewing a File System.................................................................................................................................................. 113.2 Deleting a File System..................................................................................................................................................12

4 FAQs...............................................................................................................................................134.1 What Is SFS?................................................................................................................................................................ 134.2 Can an File System Be Mounted to a Window-based ECS Instance?..........................................................................134.3 What Access Protocols Are Supported by SFS?.......................................................................................................... 134.4 Can an File System Be Expanded?...............................................................................................................................134.5 How Many File Systems Can Be Created by Each Account?......................................................................................144.6 How Are a File System Access Permissions Controlled?............................................................................................ 144.7 How Are a File system Access Permissions Controlled?.............................................................................................144.8 How Is File System Data Stored?.................................................................................................................................144.9 How Can I Access a File System from an ECS?..........................................................................................................144.10 Can a File System Be Accessed Across VPCs?......................................................................................................... 144.11 How Is the Data Durability of a File System?............................................................................................................ 14

5 Troubleshooting Cases............................................................................................................... 155.1 Mounting an SFS File System Times Out.................................................................................................................... 155.2 Mounting a File System Fails.......................................................................................................................................155.3 An ECS Fails to Access a File System......................................................................................................................... 16

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A Change History........................................................................................................................... 18

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1 Overview

1.1 SFS IntroductionScalable File Service (SFS) provides high-performance file storage that is scalable ondemand. It can be shared with multiple Elastic Cloud Servers (ECS). The detail features are asfollows:

l SFS is accessible through NFS, a standard file protocol.l SFS offers an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). On the GUI, users can create and

configure file systems with ease, and conveniently deploy, expand, and optimize filesystems.

l SFS features robust reliability and high availability. The performance of SFS file systeminstances can be improved as file system capacity increases, making SFS applicable to awide range of application scenarios, including media processing, high-performancecomputing (HPC), content management, and home directories.

1.2 Advantages of SFSCompared with traditional shared file storage, SFS has the following advantages:

l File sharingECSs in multiple availability zones (AZ) of a region can access the same file systemconcurrently. Thus multiple ECSs can access the same file.

l Elastic expansionSFS can be expanded non-disruptively to meet your growing capacity requirements,providing a constantly sufficient capacity for your data.

l Superior performance and robust reliabilitySFS enables file system performance to increase as capacity grows, and delivers a datadurability of 99.999999%, making SFS able to support rapid service growth.

l Seamless integrationSFS supports NFS v3. A broad range of mainstream application programs can read andwrite data in file systems seamlessly through standard protocol.

l Easy operation and low costs

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File systems are accessible instantly after creation. The file system service is affordableand is charged economically by capacity use.

1.3 Typical Application Scenarios of SFSSFS applies to the following scenarios:

l Media processing

Media processing procedures generally require shared file storage. SFS file systemsenable high throughput and consistent file access, saving file storage time and providingshared paths to all users.

l Log management

Multiple ECSs store logs to an SFS file system for centralized analysis and management.

l Content management and home directories

SFS provides shared files systems to an enterprise's employees, and manages contentdata by user permission.

l HPC

An SFS file system offers higher than 10 Gbit/s aggregate bandwidth, making SFScapable of processing ultra-large data files such as satellite images. In addition, SFS'srobust reliability minimizes system failures to ensure service timeliness.

1.4 Charging Mode of SFSUsers can join the open beta test to claim a limited free trial. After commercial use, SFS ischarged by capacity use, and it does not involve minimum consumption or advanceconsumption.

1.5 Relationship Between SFS and Other ServicesSFS must be mounted to ECSs of a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). When creating an ECS forSFS, users must designate a VPC.

SFS relates to the following services:

l ECS

An SFS file system and the associated ECSs must belong to the same VPC. Shared pathsare mounted to share data.

l VPC

VPC lets you provision a logically isolated virtual network environment that you defineand manage, improving security of resources in an enterprise cloud and simplifyingnetwork deployment. Before using SFS, users must have a VPC, and assign the SFS filesystem and ECSs to the same VPC.

1.6 Concepts Relating to SFSBefore using SFS, understand the following concepts to help better use SFS.



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l NFS

Network File System (NFS) is a distributed file system protocol that allows differentcomputers and operating systems to share data over a network. Application programs onclient computers use NFS to access data on server disks. NFS is a method for sharingdisk files between UNIX-like systems. SFS supports NFS v3 currently.

l File system

A file system provides users with shared file storage service through NFS. It can be usedto access network files remotely. After users create shared directories in the managementconsole, the file system can be mounted to multiple Elastic Cloud Servers (ECSs) and isaccessible through the standard POSIX interface.

l AZ

A physical region where resources use independent power supply and networks.

Availability zones (AZs) are physically isolated but interconnected through the internalnetwork. To enhance application availability, you are advised to create instances indifferent AZs. ECSs can share the same file system across AZs of the same region.

l Region

A region refers to a geographic location. A country is divided into different regionsaccording to geographic locations. Select a region based on the principle of proximity,that is, select the closest region to minimize network latencies for maximized accessspeeds.

1.7 Limitations and ConstraintsSFS is currently in the open beta test, and has the following limitations and constraints:

l SFS supports the NFS v3 protocol only.

l SFS does not allow the setting of the read-only user permission.

l An SFS file system does not support the Representational State Transfer (REST)management interface or command-line interface (CLI) management.

l Parameters of an SFS file system cannot be modified after the SFS file system is created.

l Currently, SFS file systems can only be mounted to UNIX and Linux ECSs.

Table 1-1 lists the general versions of operating systems to which SFS file systems canbe mounted.

Table 1-1 General versions of operating systems for SFS

Operating System Version

CentOS CentOS 5,6,7 for x86

Debian Debian GNU/Linux 6,7,8 for x86

Oracle Oracle Enterprise Linux 5,6,7 for x86

Oracle Enterprise Linux UEK 5,6,7 for x86

Oracle Solaris 10,11 for SPARC

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4,5,6,7 for x86



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Operating System Version

SUSE SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10,11,12 for x86

Ubuntu Ubuntu 10,11,12,13,14,15 LTS for x86

NOTE

For the compatibility with other operating systems and versions, contact customer service.



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2 Getting Started

2.1 Creation ProcessFigure 2-1 shows the process for creating SFS.

Figure 2-1 Process for creating SFS

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2.2 Creating a File SystemYou can create a file system and mount it to ECSs. Then data can be shared using the filesystem access method.

Prerequisites1. Before creating a file system, check whether a VPC has been created. If a VPC has not

been created, create one. For details, see chapter "Creating a VPC" in the Virtual PrivateCloud User Guide.

2. Ensure whether ECSs are created and ECSs to which a file system is mounted belong tothe same VPC as the file system, see chapter "Purchasing an ECS" in the Elastic CloudServer User Guide.

Procedure

Step 1 Log in to the management console and go to the SFS page.

Step 2 Click Apply for SFS to go to the page of applying for SFS.

Step 3 On the page, set the parameters as instructed and then click Apply Now. Table 2-1 describesthe parameters.

Table 2-1 Parameter description

Parameter Description Remarks

AZ A geographic location withindependent power supplyand network facilities in aregion.

A file system can share filesacross AZs of the sameregion.

Name The name is a string of 1 to64 characters consisting ofletters, digits, underscores(_), and hyphens (-).

Example: sfs_share01

VPC VPC to which the new filesystem belongs.

Click View VPC to view theinformation about thecreated VPC.

Capacity (GB) Capacity size of the filesystem.

Value range: 10 GB to512000 GB

Quantity Number of file systems tobe created.

Default maximum: 10 (canbe created in a batch)

Step 4 Read and confirm the service agreement, and click Submit.

The file system creation is complete.



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Step 5 You are returned back to the Scalable File Service page. In the file system list, locate the newfile system by its name. In the Shared Path column, obtain the shared path, which will beused to mount the file system to the ECSs.

----End

2.3 Mounting a File System to ECSsAfter creating a file system, you need to mount the file system to ECSs so that ECSs canshare the file system.

Prerequisitesl Confirm the operating system types of ECSs. Different operating systems require

different commands to install NFS clients. For the supported types of operating systems,see 1.7 Limitations and Constraints.

l You have created a file system and have obtained the shared path of the file system.l The ECSs to which a file system is mounted belong to the same VPC as the file system.

Procedure

Step 1 Log in to the ECS as the root user.

Step 2 Install the NFS client.

1. Run the following command to check whether the NFS software package has beeninstalled in the operating system (generally available in the operating system).rpm -qa|grep nfsIf a command output similar to the following is displayed, the NFS software package hasbeen installed and you can go to Step 3. If no such command output is displayed, go toStep 2.2.libnfsidmap-0.25-11.x86_64nfs-utils-1.3.0-0.9.x86_64

2. Run the following command to install the NFS software package.

NOTE

The following commands require that ECSs be connected to the Internet. Otherwise, installingNFS clients will fail.

– On CentOS, Red Hat, and Oracle Enterprise Linux:sudo yum -y install nfs-utils

– On Ubuntu or Debian:sudo apt-get install nfs-common

– On SUSE:zypper install nfs-kernel-server

Step 3 Create a local directory for mounting the file system:

Run the mkdir Local path command, for example, mkdir /local_path.

Step 4 On the ECS, configure the DNS server IP address to resolve the domain name in the sharedpath.



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l If this IP address has already been configured, go to Step 5.

l If this IP address has not been configured, go to 2.4 Configuring the DNS Server.

Step 5 Run the following command to mount the file system to the ECS. Currently, the mountingsupports NFS v3 only. Table 2-2 describes the variables.

mount -t nfs -o vers=3,timeo=600,nolock Shared path Local path

Table 2-2 Variable description

Variable Description

Shared Path The format is File system domain name:/Path. For example,example.com:/share-xxx, as shown in Figure 1.NOTE

x is a digit or letter.

Local Path Local directory on the ECS, used to mount the file system. Forexample, /local_path.

Figure 2-2 Shared path

Step 6 Run the mount -l command to view the mounted file system. If the command output containsthe following information, the mounting is successful.xxx.com:/share-xxx on /local_path type nfs (rw,vers=3,timeo=600,nolock,addr=)

Step 7 After the mounting is successful, users can access the file system on the ECS, reading orwriting data.

NOTE

A maximum file of 240 TB can be written.

----End

Follow-Up Operation

To cancel the mounting, run the umount Local path command.

NOTICEBefore running the command, stop all read and write operations related to the file system andexit from the Local path directory. Otherwise, the unmounting fails.



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2.4 Configuring the DNS ServerThe DNS server is used to resolve domain names of file systems' shared paths. The DNSserver IP addresses are 100.125.1.26 and 100.125.1.29.

Procedure

Step 1 Log in to the ECS as the root user.

Step 2 Run the vi /etc/resolv.conf command to edit the /etc/resolv.conf file.

Above the Internet IP address, add two lines and input the DNS server IP addresses. Theformat is as follows:nameserver 100.125.1.26nameserver 100.125.1.29

Step 3 Choose to perform either of the following operations:l If you have purchased Elastic IP, go to Step 5.l If you have not purchased Elastic IP, go to Step 4.

Step 4 In /etc/resolv.conf, input a pound key (#) in front of the Internet IP address to comment it out,as shown in Figure 2-3:

Figure 2-3 Configuring DNS

Step 5 Press Esc, input :wq, and press Enter to save the changes and exit the vi editor.

Step 6 Run the following command to check whether the IP address is successfully added:

cat /etc/resolv.conf

Step 7 Run the following command to check whether an IP address can be resolved from the filesystem domain name.

nslookup File system domain name

NOTE

Obtain the file system domain name from the file system shared path.

Step 8 (Optional) In a network environment with the DHCP service, edit the /etc/resolv.conf file toprevent the file from being automatically modified upon an ECS startup, and prevent the DNSserver IP address added in Step 2 from being reset.

1. Run the following command to lock the file:chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf(Optional) Run the following command to unlock the file if needed.chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf

2. Run the following command to check whether the editing is successful.



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lsattr /etc/resolv.confIf a command output similar to Figure 2-4 is displayed, the file has been locked.

Figure 2-4 A locked file

----End



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3 Operation Guide

3.1 Viewing a File SystemAfter creating an SFS file system, you can view its information.

Procedure


Step 2 On the page, view the information about the created file system. Table 3-1 describes theparameters.

Table 3-1 Parameter description

Parameter Description

Name Name of the file system, for example, sfs_share01.

Status State of the file system, with five possible values: Available,Creating, Deleting, Unavailable, and Deletion Failed.

Capacity (GB) Capacity size of the file system.

Shared Path Shared path to the file system, in the format of File system domainname:/Path.NOTE

The shared path is too long to display completely. Expand the column to viewthe full shared path.

AZ A geographic location with independent power supply and networkfacilities in a region.

Created On Time when the file system was created.

Operation Delete the file system.

Step 3 Click the arrow in front of the file system name to view the owning VPC, which is in theformat of cert://VPC name (VPC ID), as shown in Figure 3-1:

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Figure 3-1 VPC information

----End

3.2 Deleting a File System

PrerequisiteBefore deleting the file system, firstly unmount it through ECS, see section "Follow-UpOperation" in the chapter 2.3 Mounting a File System to ECS.

Procedure


Step 2 In the list, locate the row of the file system you want to delete, and click Delete in theOperation column. In the dialog box that is displayed, confirm the information and click OK.

Step 3 Optional: If you want to delete more than one file system, select and select the filesystems to be deleted. Then click the Delete button in the list. In the dialog box that isdisplayed, confirm the deletion information and click OK.

NOTE

Only file systems in Available and Unavailable states can be deleted.

----End

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4 FAQs

4.1 What Is SFS?Scalable File Service (SFS) provides high-performance file storage that is scalable ondemand. It can be shared with multiple Elastic Cloud Servers (ECS). SFS is accessiblethrough standard file protocols, and can be integrated with users' existing applications andtools.

SFS offers an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). On the GUI, users can create andconfigure file systems with ease, and conveniently deploy, expand, and optimize file systems.

SFS features robust reliability and high availability. The performance of SFS file systeminstances can be improved as file system capacity increases, making SFS applicable to a widerange of application scenarios, including media processing, high-performance computing(HPC), content management, and home directories.

4.2 Can an File System Be Mounted to a Window-basedECS Instance?

No. Linux-based ECSs are recommended for the mounting. For the supported types ofoperating systems, see 1.7 Limitations and Constraints.

4.3 What Access Protocols Are Supported by SFS?SFS supports the standard NFS v3 protocol for file sharing.

4.4 Can an File System Be Expanded?File system does not support capacity expansion during the open beta test period.

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4.5 How Many File Systems Can Be Created by EachAccount?

Each account can create a maximum of 10 shared file systems, each one of which has a totalcapacity of 512000 GB.

4.6 How Are a File System Access Permissions Controlled?An SFS file system can only be shared by ECSs in the same VPC. After an SFS system ismounted to an ECS, the ECS instance can access the shared files and prevent ECSs of otherVPCs to access the shared files.

4.7 How Are a File system Access Permissions Controlled?The ECS to which a file system is mounted must belong to the same VPC as the file system.After a file system is mounted to an ECS, the ECS can access the shared files and preventECSs of other VPCs to access the shared files.

4.8 How Is File System Data Stored?File system data is stored using erasure code to protect data security.

4.9 How Can I Access a File System from an ECS?To access a file system, run the mounting command on a Linux-based ECS to mount the filesystem. Then you can share the files and directories of the file system.

4.10 Can a File System Be Accessed Across VPCs?No. A file system in a VPC is accessible only to one AZ or AZs in the VPC.

4.11 How Is the Data Durability of a File System?An SFS system is designed to deliver a data durability of 99.999999%. Object-based storageensures the data integrity.

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5 Troubleshooting Cases

5.1 Mounting an SFS File System Times Out

Symptoms

The mount command is executed to mount a file system to an ECS. The ECS system displaysa timed out message.

Possible Causes

The public cloud network is unstable, or routing times out for the initial access to SFS.

Fault Diagnosis

Set a longer maximum allowed duration for a timeout or mount the command again.

Procedure

Step 1 Log in to the ECS on which the file system fails to be mounted.

Step 2 Perform either of the following operations based on the actual cause:l Set a longer maximum allowed duration for a timeout, for example, to 15 seconds. Then

run the following command:mount -t nfs -o vers=3,timeo=150,nolock File system IP address:/Path Local path

l Run the mounting command again. For details, see en-us_topic_0059757445.xml.

----End

5.2 Mounting a File System Fails

Symptoms

The mount command is executed to mount a file system to an ECS. The ECS system displaysan access denied message.

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Possible CausesThe ECS on which the mounting command is executed does not belong to the same VPC asthe mounted file system.

Fault DiagnosisCreate a file system that belongs to the same VPC as the ECS and mount the file systemagain.

Procedure

Step 1 Check whether the VPC to which the ECS belongs is the VPC to which the file systembelongs.

If yes, go to Step 2.

If no, select an ECS that belongs to the same VPC as the file system, and then mount the filesystem again.

Step 2 Log in to the ECS. Run the following command to mount the newly created file system.

mount -t nfs -o vers=3,timeo=10,nolock File system IP address:/Path Local path

----End

5.3 An ECS Fails to Access a File System

SymptomsAn ECS fails to access a share. The system displays a message indicating the access request isdenied. All services on the ECS are abnormal.

Possible Causesl Possible cause 1: The file system is abnormal.l Possible cause 2: The ECS belongs to a different VPC from the file system.l Possible cause 3: After a forcible unmounting operation on the ECS, mounting fails.

Fault DiagnosisTake troubleshooting measures based on the actual cause.

Procedurel Possible cause 1: The file system is abnormal.

Log in to the management console. On the Scalable File Service page, check whetherthe file system is in the Available state.If yes, go to Possible cause 2.If no, contact Huawei technical support.

l Possible cause 2: Check whether the ECS and the file system belong to the same VPC.If yes, go to Possible cause 3.



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If no, select an ECS that belongs to the same VPC as the file system.l Possible cause 3: After a forcible unmounting operation on the ECS, mounting fails.

a. It is an inherent defect with the ECS. Restart the ECS to the resolve this problem.b. Retry mounting and check whether it is successful.

If yes, no further action is required.If no, contact Huawei technical support.



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A Change History

ReleaseDate

What's New

2017-04-10 This issue is the fifth official release.Updated the following content:l Updated the prerequisites and steps, and added a description of

mounting a file system with a domain name in section 2.3 Mounting aFile System to an ECS.

l Added section 2.4 Configuring the DNS Server.

2017-03-22 This issue is the fourth official release.Updated the following content:l Added the versions of operating systems to which SFS file systems can

be mounted.l Updated the description in section 4.8 How Is File System Data Stored?

2016-12-30 This issue is the third official release.Updated the following content:l Updated the step descriptions in the section 2.3 Mounting a File System

to ECS: deleted firewall configurations and added the operation ofcopying the shared path

l Updated the screenshots in section 3.1 Viewing a File System

2016-09-30 This issue is the second official release.Added the following content:l Added section 5.2 Mounting a File System Fails and section 5.3 An

ECS Fails to Access a File System

2016-08-25 This issue is the first official release.

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Documents

User Guide · Scalable File Service User Guide Issue 05 Date 2017-04-10 HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD