vLab VNX With VMware Integration - Lab01 Unisphere Overview

Lab Guide

EMC Solutions Group

Abstract

This Lab Guide serves as a guide for a demonstration of VNX Unisphere. It provides an introduction to Unisphere and a set of lab labs to demonstrate the solution to customers.

VNX with VMware Integration - Unisphere Overview Lab Guide

2 VNX with VMware Integration - Unisphere Overview

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Table of contents

Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 5

Scope ............................................................................................................................................... 5

Terminology ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Technology overview ............................................................................................................................. 6

EMC Unisphere ................................................................................................................................. 6

EMC Unisphere features and benefits ........................................................................................... 6

Lab overview ......................................................................................................................................... 7

Lab environment ............................................................................................................................... 7

Labs .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Connecting to the lab ........................................................................................................................ 8

Lab 1 – Unisphere Overview .................................................................................................................. 9

Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Lab ................................................................................................................................................... 9

Logging into Unisphere ................................................................................................................ 9

Browsing the Unisphere console ............................................................................................... 10

Dashboard .................................................................................................................................. 10

System ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Hosts .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Support ....................................................................................................................................... 28

Lab 2 – FAST Cache Overview ............................................................................................................. 30

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 30

FAST Cache Overview ................................................................................................................ 30

Lab ................................................................................................................................................ 30

Logging into Unisphere ............................................................................................................. 30

FAST Cache Setup Overview ...................................................................................................... 31

Storage Pool FAST Cache Settings ............................................................................................. 34

Lab 3 – Storage Provisioning and FAST .............................................................................................. 36

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 36

Storage Provisioning and FAST .................................................................................................. 36

Lab ................................................................................................................................................ 36


Creating Storage Pools .............................................................................................................. 37

Review FAST Configuration ........................................................................................................ 42

Storage Pool LUN FAST Details................................................................................................... 45


Block Storage Provisioning ........................................................................................................ 47

Storage Pool Expansion ............................................................................................................. 56

Lab 4 – VNX Unified Storage – CIFS and NFS ....................................................................................... 61

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 61

VNX Unified Storage – CIFS and NFS .......................................................................................... 61

Lab ................................................................................................................................................ 61


Creating File Systems ................................................................................................................ 67

NFS Shares ................................................................................................................................ 69

CIFS Shares ............................................................................................................................... 71

File System Checkpoints ........................................................................................................... 77

Lab 5 - Unisphere Analyzer ................................................................................................................. 85

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 85

Lab ................................................................................................................................................ 85

Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 93

Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 93

Support.......................................................................................................................................... 93

Customer .................................................................................................................................. 93

EMC personnel .......................................................................................................................... 93

References ..................................................................................................................................... 93


Introduction

Unisphere overview for block and file

Example:

This Lab Guide serves as a guide to a demonstration of EMC® Unisphere for VNX

This Lab Guide provides:

An introduction to the technology components used in the solution

Unisphere Overview

FAST Cache Overview

FAST Overview

A set of illustrated labs to demonstrate the solution

Table 1 explains Unisphere and Unisphere terminology.

Table 1. Terminology

Term Description

Unisphere

Storage Groups A collection of one or more LUNs or metaLUNs to which you connect one or more servers. These LUNs are accessible only to the server that is connected to the Storage Group.

RAID types The RAID type of a LUN determines the type of redundancy, and therefore the data integrity the LUN provides. AX-Series storage systems support only the Hot Spare, RAID 5 and RAID 1/0 RAID types.

LUNs

A grouping of one or more disks or disk partitions into one span of disk storage space. A LUN/virtual disk looks like an individual disk to the server’s operating system. It has a RAID type and properties that define it.

RAID Groups A set of disks on which you create one or more LUNs. Each LUN you create on a RAID Group is distributed equally across the disks in the Group. Each RAID Group supports only one RAID Type.

Reserved LUN Pool The reserved LUN pool works with replication software, such as SnapView SAN Copy, and MirrorView, to store data or information required to complete a replication task.

Purpose

Scope

Terminology


Technology overview

EMC Unisphere features and benefits

EMC Unisphere is a web-based user interface (UI) that you can run from any computer with a supported web browser. Unisphere offers simplified array management for many tasks. It is easy to learn, so you can be productive right away. It offers:

Simplified management of EMC VNX arrays

Unified management for both block and file

EMC Unisphere


Lab overview

The environment for this lab includes the following:

VNX Block VSA

IP: 192.168.0.30

Array Credentials

Username: sysadmin

Password: sysadmin

VNX File VSA

IP: 192.168.0.35

Array Credentials

Username: nasadmin

Password: nasadmin

Windows RDP host

IP: 192.168.0.11

Windows Credentials

Username: vlab\administrator

Password: Password

This lab includes the following labs:

Lab 1: Unisphere Overview

Managing a VNX array with EMC Unisphere

Lab 2: FAST Cache Overview

FAST Cache Setup Overview

FAST Cache Storage Pool Overview

Lab 3: Storage Provisioning and FAST Overview

Creating Storage Pools

FAST Overview

Lab 4: Unified Storage – CIFS and NFS

NFS Overview

CIFS Overview

File System Checkpoints Overview

Lab 5: Unisphere Analyzer

Lab environment

Labs


Connecting to the lab

To connect to the lab launch an RDP session from the remote access drop down menu for VNX_With_VMware Integration_VC01


Lab 1 – Unisphere Overview

In this lab, you manage a VNX array using EMC Unisphere.

The lab uses:

EMC Unisphere Management console

The lab includes overviews of the following:

VNX hardware

Unisphere Analyzer

Hosts and Storage groups

Virtualization Aware Unisphere

Support features

Logging into Unisphere

1. To launch Unisphere double Click Internet Explorer on the desktop. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1. Launching Unisphere

2. Enter the following username and password and click login:

Username: sysadmin

Password: sysadmin

This opens the Unisphere Management console. (See Figure 2)

Overview

Lab


Figure 2. Log in to Unisphere

Browsing the Unisphere console

Dashboard

3. Review the All Systems Dashboard. (See Figure 3)


Figure 3. All Systems Dashboard

4. Customize the All Systems Dashboard by clicking Customize on the top right. (See Figure 4)


Figure 4. Customize the All Systems Dashboard

5. You can easily add/remove detail to the dashboard while in customize mode. Once complete click Done (See Figure 5)

Figure 5. Adding more detail to the All Systems Dashboard


6. You will now select and array to manage. From the System list click VNX-Block. (See Figure 6)

Figure 6. Selecting an array to manage

7. You are now presented with a new Dashboard relating specifically to the array VNX-Block. (See Figure 7)


Figure 7. VNX-Block Dashboard

8. You can also customize this Dashboard by clicking Customize on the top right. From the Customize menu you can add multiple options to your dashboard by dragging the icons to the dashboard. Once complete click Done. (See Figure 8)

Figure 8. Customize the dashboard for VNX-Block

System


9. Click System from the top navigation bar to review the sub sections. Note System is broken into Hardware, Monitoring and Alerts & Reports. (See Figure 9)

Figure 9. Review System Menu

10. To review the Storage Hardware of your VNX Array click Storage Hardware. (See Figure 10)

Figure 10. Selecting Storage Hardware

11. Under Disk Array Enclosures expand Bus 1 Enclosure 0 > Disks and click Bus 1 Enclosure 0 Disk 1 . Note that the relevant disk has been highlighted in the center pane. This can be used to easily identify hardware components of your VNX Array. Note also the Wizards and Service Tasks that can be performed from the right hand pane. (See Figure 11)


Figure 11. Review Storage Hardware

12. To review Unisphere Monitoring and Alerts click System > Monitoring and Alerts. (See Figure 12)

Figure 12. Accessing monitoring and Alerts

13. Monitoring and Alerts contains the following (See Figure 13)

a. Alerts – System alerts and warnings

b. Notifications – Setup notifications for specific alerts


c. QoS Manager – Allocate system resources on an application basis

d. SP Events Logs – View all events for your block system

e. Statistics – Performance analysis and resource usage statistics with Unisphere Analyzer. (For using Analyzer See Lab 5 - Unisphere Analyzer)

Figure 13. Monitoring and Alerts

Hosts 14. To access Hosts click Hosts on the navigation toolbar. (See Figure 14)

Figure 14. Accessing Hosts

15. To view all hosts connected to your array click Host List. (See Figure 15)

Figure 15. Access Host list

16. From the Host list you can see that you have 2 VMware ESXi hosts connected to your array. (See Figure 16)


Figure 16. Review connected hosts

17. EMC Unisphere is VMware Aware. To view the VMware Integration within Unisphere click Hosts > Virtualization. (See Figure 17)

Figure 17. Access Virtualization

18. Currently you do not have anything listed under the VMware Infrastructure tab. This section can be used to monitor vCenter or ESX hosts. To add your vCenter click Add. (See Figure 18)

Figure 18. Adding vCenter

19. Ensure Configure my ESX Servers managed by vCenter Servers is selected. Click Next. ( See Figure 19)


Figure 19. Adding your vCenter server

20. To add your vCenter Server click Add. (See Figure 20)

Figure 20. Adding your vCenter Server


21. Enter the following vCenter Server Credentials and click OK. (See Figure 21)

a. IP Address: 192.168.0.11

b. Username: vlab\administrator

c. Password: Password123!

Figure 21. vCenter Server Credentials

22. Click OK to accept the server Certificate. (See Figure 22)


Figure 22. Accept the vCenter Certificate

23. Click OK to acknowledge the Message below. (See Figure 23)

Figure 23. Click OK

24. Click Next. (See Figure 24)


Figure 24. Adding vCenter Server

25. Review the Summary. Click Finish. (See Figure 25)

Figure 25. Adding vCenter Server Summary


26. To complete the wizard click Finish. (See Figure 26)

Figure 26. Completing the vCenter Server Wizard

27. Under VMware infrastructure expand your vCenter Server 192.168.0.11 to see the ESXi hosts that are connected to your VNX array. Click esx01.vlab.local and review the properties of the VM NFS-SIOC under the Virtual Machines tab. Note that VM Name, Guest Host, VM IP and Guest OS are all displayed. VMware tools are required on the VM for this detail to display. This view allows the storage administrator to monitor storage usage in the VMware environment. (See Figure 27)


Figure 27. View VM details

28. Next you will see how easy it is to add additional hosts to a Storage Group using Unisphere. To do this click Hosts > Storage Groups. (See Figure 28)

Figure 28. Navigating to Storage Groups

29. Under Storage Groups click vLab Cluster and note that currently you have one ESXi host in your storage group (esxi01.vlab.local). (See Figure 29)


Figure 29. Review Existing Storage Group configuration

30. To add an additional host click Connect Hosts. (See Figure 30)

Figure 30. Add an additional host

31. Click esx02.vlab.local and click the highlighted arrow to add it to the storage group. (See Figure 31)


Figure 31. Adding esx02.vlab.local

32. Click OK. (See Figure 32)


Figure 32. Complete the Add Host Wizard

33. On the Confirmation message click Yes. (See Figure 33)

Figure 33. Confirm Add Host

34. On the results message click OK. (See Figure 34)


Figure 34. Complete the Wizard

35. Review the Storage Groups screen and note that you now have 2 hosts in the vLab Cluster Storage Group. Both of these hosts will now have access to all LUNS added to this storage group. (See Figure 35)

Figure 35. Review the vLab Cluster Storage Group

Support

36. To access the Unisphere Support section click Support. (See Figure 36)


Figure 36. Access Unisphere Support

37. From the Support section you can access the following (Due to firewall restrictions in vLab you will not be able to Enable the Support options). (See Figure 37)

a. How To’s – Procedures to help you manage and service your system

b. Community – Online collaborative resources and forums for your product

c. Downloads – Download software updates for your system using the Unisphere Service Manager

d. Unisphere Help – Comprehensive help system

e. Product Support Page – Best practice documents, white papers and Live Chat with EMC Engineers

f. Search EMC Support – General EMC support search

Figure 37. Support options

That completes Lab 1: Unisphere Overview


Lab 2 – FAST Cache Overview

FAST Cache Overview

In this lab, you will learn about FAST Cache on your VNX array using EMC Unisphere. FAST Cache is a private storage pool consisting of two or more Flash disks that is owned by the Storage Processors. FAST Cache supports read and write caching and is controlled by the SP cache. FAST Cache can be enabled for all the LUNs in a storage pool or for individual LUNs in RAID groups.

The lab uses:

EMC Unisphere Management console

The lab includes overviews of the following:


Storage Pool FAST Cache settings


1. If you are not already logged into Unisphere from the previous lab please do the following. Otherwise continue to Step 4.




Username: sysadmin

Password: sysadmin


Overview

Lab


Figure 39. Logging into Unisphere


4. Click System. (See Figure 40)

Figure 40. Accessing System

5. On the right hand pane click System Properties. (See Figure 41)


Figure 41. Accessing System Properties

6. From the VNX-Block – Storage System Properties screen click the FAST Cache tab. (See Figure 42)

Figure 42. Access FAST Cache tab

7. Here you can see that FAST Cache is enabled on your VNX Array and is currently using 2 Flash disks in a Raid 1 configuration. (See Figure 43)


Figure 43. Review FAST Cache configuration

8. To close the FAST Cache configuration screen click OK. (See Figure 44)


Figure 44. Close the FAST Cache configuration

Storage Pool FAST Cache Settings

9. You will now review the properties of a Storage Pool to see how easy it is to manage FAST Cache. To do this click Storage > Storage pools. (See Figure 45)

Figure 45. Access Storage pools

10. Right click Pool 0 - FAST Cache Enabled. Click Properties. (See Figure 46)


Figure 46. Access the properties of Pool 0

11. On the VNX-Block – Pool 0 : Storage Pool Properties screen click Advanced and note that FAST Cache is enabled at the Pool level. This means that all LUNs created from this storage pool will benefit from FAST Cache. To finish click OK. (See Figure 47)

Figure 47. Review FAST Cache settings for Pool 0

That completes Lab 2: FAST Cache Overview


Lab 3 – Storage Provisioning and FAST

Storage Provisioning and FAST

Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) lets you assign different categories of data to different types of storage media within a tiered pool. Data categories may be based on performance requirements, frequency of use, cost, and other considerations. The purpose of the FAST feature is to retain the most frequently accessed or important data on fast, high performance (more expensive) drives, and moves the less frequently accessed and less important data to less-expensive (lower-performance) drives.

FAST monitors the usage of the data in a tiered pool and then uses these statistics to automatically relocate 1 GB sub-LUN data blocks of each LUN to the storage tier that is best suited for that data. Tiered pools are heterogeneous pools that are configured with multiple classes of disk drives (Flash, FC, SAS, NL-SAS, and ATA/SATA). The sub-LUN data blocks are relocated based on one of the FAST policy settings described below. At any one time, the software supports only one data relocation operation per LUN.

In order to configure and use the FAST feature, the FAST enabler must be installed on the system. Only pool LUNs are supported.






Username: sysadmin

Password: sysadmin


Overview

Lab



Creating Storage Pools

4. To create a new storage pool you need to browse to Storage pools. Click Storage > Storage Pools. (See Figure 50)

Figure 50. Navigate to Storage Pools

5. To create a new storage pool click Create. (See Figure 51)


Figure 51. Create a new storage pool

6. VNX OE 32 brings many new enhancements to the VNX operating Environment. One such enhancement is the ability to now select different Raid levels for each disk type. Accept the defaults here for Raid type and set the number of each disk type as shown below. Please ensure to clear Perform a Background verify on the new storage. (See Figure 52)

Disk Selections should be as follows:

Extreme Performance - Number of disks = 3

Performance - Number of disks = 3

Capacity - Number of disks = 4


Figure 52. New storage Pool parameters

7. Click Advanced and note that FAST Cache is Enabled by default. Click OK to create the new pool.(See Figure 53)


Figure 53. Storage Pool FAST Cache settings

8. Click Yes to confirm the create operation. (See Figure 54)


Figure 54. Click Yes

9. Click Yes to acknowledge the Warning shown below. (See Figure 55)


10. Click OK to acknowledge the Message shown below. (See Figure 56)

Figure 56. Click OK

Please note that it may take a few minutes for the Unisphere GUI to refresh so that you can review the status of your new storage pool.

11. Once the GUI has refreshed you can now see that your storage pool is in an Initializing state. It may take a few minutes for your pool to change to a Ready State. (See Figure 57)


Figure 57. Review Pool 1 State

Review FAST Configuration

12. You will now review the FAST configuration for Pool 0. To do this right click Pool 0 – FAST Cache Enabled and click Properties. (See Figure 58)

Figure 58. Access Pool 0 Properties

13. On the General tab note that both Raid Type and Disk Type are Mixed. (See Figure 59)


Figure 59. Review Pool 0 General Tab

14. To view the FAST configuration for Pool O click Tiering. Note that Auto-Tiering is set to Scheduled. Note also the metrics for Data to Move Down/Up. In the bottom pane note that data within the pool is spread across all three disk tiers. (See Figure 60)

Figure 60. Tiering Summary for pool 0

15. To modify the Relocation schedule click Relocation Schedule. From here you can easily manage and change the Data Relocation Rate and also the Data Relocation Schedule. To finish click OK.(See Figure 61)


Figure 61. Manage Auto Tiering Data Relocation

16. Click OK to close Pool 0 Properties. (See Figure 62)

Figure 62. Close Pool 0 Properties


Storage Pool LUN FAST Details

17. To view the FAST details of a Pool LUN right click VAAI_LUN_1 and click Properties. (See Figure 63)

Figure 63. Access VAAI_LUN_1 properties

18. Click Tiering. Note the Tiering Policy is set to Start High then Auto-Tier which is the recommended setting. The following options are available under Tiering Policy.

a. Start High then Auto-Tier (recommended) — First sets the preferred tier for data relocation to the highest performing disk drives with available space, then relocates the LUNs data based on the LUNs performance statistics and the auto-tiering algorithm.

b. Auto-Tier — Sets the initial data placement to Optimized Pool and then relocates the LUNs data based on the LUNs performance statistics and the auto-tiering algorithm.


c. Highest Available Tier — Sets the preferred tier for initial data placement and data relocation to the highest performing disk drives with available space.

d. Lowest Available Tier — Sets the preferred tier for initial data placement and data relocation to the most cost effective disk drives with available space.

e. No Data Movement — No data movement between tiers. The LUN retains the initial tier settings.

Note also under Tier Details that this LUN is currently running on the highest tier. To finish click OK. (See Figure 64)

Figure 64. VAAI_LUN_1 Tiering detail


Block Storage Provisioning

19. To provision storage to a host you first need to create a new LUN. In unisphere there a several ways to do this. On the right hand pane there are Wizards for most day to day operations including a LUN provisioning Wizard which will take you through step by step provisioning storage to hosts. To begin click LUN Provisioning Wizard from the right hand pane. (See Figure 65)

Figure 65. Launch LUN Provisioning Wizard

20. Click Next to begin the Wizard. (See Figure 66)

Figure 66. Click Next


21. Click Assign LUNS to the servers & check both ESXi hosts. Click Next. (See Figure 67)

Figure 67. Choose servers to assign storage

22. Click Yes to acknowledge the Warning shown below. (See Figure 68)


23. Select your Storage System VNX-Block. Click Next. (See Figure 69)


Figure 69. Select Storage System

24. Click Pool 0 – FAST Cache Enabled. Click Next. (See Figure 70)


Figure 70. Select Storage Pool

25. Click Thin to create a virtually provisioned LUN. Click Next. (See Figure 71)

A thin LUN lets you assign more storage capacity to a host than is physically available. Storage is assigned to the server in a capacity-on-demand method from a shared pool. A thin LUN competes with other LUNs in the pool for the available pool storage. The storage system software monitors and adds storage capacity, as required, to each pool, not each LUN. This simplifies the creation and allocation of storage capacity. For thin LUNs, you must install the thin provisioning enabler on the system.


Figure 71. LUN Features

26. Use the following details for LUN Properties and click Next. (See Figure 72)

a. Number of LUNS: 1

b. User Capacity: 2GB

c. LUN Name: Lab3


Figure 72. LUN Properties

27. Click Continue without adding LUNS to a folder. Click Next. (See Figure 73)


Figure 73. Select Folder

28. Review the Summary and click Finish. (See Figure 74)


Figure 74. LUN Provisioning Wizard Summary

29. Review the Results screen and click Finish. (See Figure 75)


Figure 75. LUN Provisioning Wizard Results

30. To see your newly provisioned LUN click Hosts > Storage Groups. (See Figure 76)

Figure 76. Navigate to Storage Groups

31. Under Storage Groups click vLab Cluster. In the bottom pane click LUNS. Note that the new LUN you just provisioned is available to both ESX hosts in the storage group. (See Figure 77)


Figure 77. Storage Group LUNS

Storage Pool Expansion

One of the many benefits of EMC VNX Storage Pools is the ability to expand a pool with addition disks. VNX OE32 brings automatic re-striping of data across the additional disks. To expand a storage pool follow these steps.

32. Click Storage > Storage Pools. (See

Figure 78. Navigate to Storage Pools

33. Right click Pool 0 – FAST Cache Enabled. Click Expand. (See


Figure 79.

34. You should have 3 SAS drives available with which to expand the pool. Please ensure to deselect Perform a Background verify on the new storage. Click OK. (See


Figure 80. Expanding Storage Pool

35. Click Yes to acknowledge the Warning below. (See


Figure 81. Acknowledge the Warning

36. Click OK to acknowledge the Message below. (See

Figure 82. Acknowledge the Message

37. To monitor the progress of the automatic rebalance of data right click Pool 0 – FAST Cache Enabled. Click Properties. (See

Figure 83. Access Pool 0 Properties

38. Under Operation In Progress you can see the Rebalancing % complete details. NOTE: It may take up to 5 minutes for the rebalancing to begin. Click Refresh to monitor progress. Click OK to close. (See


Figure 84. Pool Rebalancing Statistics

That completes Lab 3: Storage Provisioning and FAST


Lab 4 – VNX Unified Storage – CIFS and NFS

VNX Unified Storage – CIFS and NFS

Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) lets you assign different categories of data to different types of storage media within a tiered pool. Data categories may be based on performance requirements, frequency of use, cost, and other considerations. The purpose of the FAST feature is to retain the most frequently accessed or important data on fast, high performance (more expensive) drives, and moves the less frequently accessed and less important data to less-expensive (lower-performance) drives.

FAST monitors the usage of the data in a tiered pool and then uses these statistics to automatically relocate 1 GB sub-LUN data blocks of each LUN to the storage tier that is best suited for that data. Tiered pools are heterogeneous pools that are configured with multiple classes of disk drives (Flash, FC, SAS, NL-SAS, and ATA/SATA). The sub-LUN data blocks are relocated based on one of the FAST policy settings described below. At any one time, the software supports only one data relocation operation per LUN.

In order to configure and use the FAST feature, the FAST enabler must be installed on the system. Only pool LUNs are supported.






Username: sysadmin

Password: sysadmin


Overview

Lab



4. This lab uses Virtual Storage Appliances (VSA) to replicate EMC arrays. For this reason you need to add the VNX-File VSA to your VNX-Block instance of Unisphere. To do this click Home. (See Figure 87)

Figure 87. Access Home

5. Click System List. (See Figure 88)

Figure 88. System List

6. To add the VNX-File VSA click Add. (See Figure 89)


Figure 89. Add VNX-File VSA

7. Enter the following IP in the Connect dialog and click Connect. (See Figure 90)

a. Connect: 192.168.0.35


Figure 90. VNX-File VSA IP

8. Click Accept. (See Figure 91)


Figure 91. Accept the license agreement

9. Enter the following details on the login screen. Click Login.(See Figure 92)

a. Name: nasadmin

b. Password: nasadmin

c. Scope: Local (You must select Local Scope from the drop down or this step will fail)


Figure 92. Login Details

10. You should now see the VNX-File appliance listed in your system list. (See Figure 93)

Figure 93. VNX-File Added

11. To manage VNX-File click All Systems > VNX-File. (See Figure 94)


Figure 94. Manage VNX-File

12. To view the storage pools for file click Storage > Storage Pools. (See Figure 95)

Figure 95. Navigate to Storage Pools For File

13. Note that you have two storage pools from which you can create File Systems. (See Figure 96)

Figure 96. Storage Pools For File

Creating File Systems

14. To create a new file system or to view existing file systems click Storage > File Systems. (See Figure 97)


Figure 97. Navigate to File Systems

15. Note that you have two existing File Systems – FS01 and FS02. To create a new File System click Create. (See Figure 98)

Figure 98. Create a new File System

16. Create the new File System with the following details and click OK. (See Figure 99)

a. File System Name: Lab4

b. Storage Pool: clar_r5_economy


c. Storage Capacity: 2048

d. Auto Extend Enabled: Selected

e. Maximum Capacity: 3072

f. Thin Enabled: Selected

g. File Level Retention: Off

h. Deduplication Enabled: Selected

Figure 99. Lab4 File System

NFS Shares

17. Now that you have created a new File System you can now create shares for users to access the File System. To do this click Storage > NFS. (See Figure 100)


Figure 100. Navigate to NFS

18. Note that you have two existing NFS Exports - /FS01 and /FS02. To create a new NFS export click Create. (See Figure 101)

Figure 101. Create a new NFS Export

19. Create the new NFs export with the following details. Click OK. (See Figure 102)

a. File System: Lab4

b. Path: /Lab4


c. Read/Write Hosts: 192.168.0.0/22

d. Root Hosts: 192.168.0.0/22

Figure 102. NFS Export Details

CIFS Shares

20. EMC VNX allows you to share the same File System as an NFS share and a CIFS share simultaneously offering more flexibility in mixed OS environments. To create a CIFS share from your File System click Storage > CIFS. (See Figure 103)


Figure 103. Navigate to CIFS

21. Currently you do not have any CIFS shares setup. To enable EMC VNX to replace your physical file servers you can setup a CIFS server in Unisphere. This step has been completed for you but to review it click CIFS Servers. You have a standalone CIFS Server available that is using a VNX Interface configured with IP 192.168.1.35.(See Figure 104)

Figure 104. Review CIFS Server

22. To create a new CIFS share click Shares > Create. (See Figure 105)


Figure 105. Create a new CIFs share

23. Create your new CIFS share with the following details and click OK. (See Figure 106)

a. CIFS Share Name: Lab4

b. File System: Lab4

c. Path: \Lab4

d. CIFS Servers: click CIFS01


Figure 106. New CIFS Share

24. Review your new share under the shares tab. (See Figure 107)

Figure 107. Review new share details

25. To access your new share you can browse to the CIFS Server by doing the following. Click Start. Enter the NetBIOS name of the CIFS Server \\cifs01 (See Figure 108)


Figure 108. Browse to cifs01

26. Enter the following credentials to connect. Click OK. (See Figure 109)

a. Username: cifs01\administrator

b. Password: Password

Figure 109. Cifs01 Credentials

27. Windows Explorer should now open and you can right click Lab4 and click Map Network Drive. (See Figure 110)


Figure 110. Map Network Drive

28. Accept the defaults and click Finish. (See Figure 111)

Figure 111. Complete the Map Network Drive Wizard


File System Checkpoints

A very useful feature of your unified VNX is the ability to take periodical snapshots of your file systems using File System Checkpoints so that your users can easily recover deleted files. To see an example of this do the following.

29. In your new mapped drive right click, click New, click Text Document. (See Figure 112)

Figure 112. Create a new text document

30. Call your new text document “New Doc”. (See Figure 113)

Figure 113. New Doc Created


31. Open your New Doc and enter the following text and save the changes. (See Figure 114)

a. Original Text

Figure 114. Enter text

32. You will now take a manual File System Checkpoint of your Lab4 file system. To do this click Data Protection > Create File System Checkpoint. (See Figure 115)

Figure 115. Create File System Checkpoint

33. Create your new checkpoint with the following parameters and click OK. (See Figure 116)

a. Production File System: Lab4

b. Checkpoint Name: New_Doc

c. Storage Pool: clar_r5_performance

d. Storage Capacity: 2048


Figure 116. Creating the File System Checkpoint

34. Now browse back to your mapped drive and delete the file “New Doc”. (See Figure 117)


Figure 117. Delete New Doc

35. Now that you have deleted your file you can restore it using the File System Checkpoint taken earlier. Right click the Lab4 mapped drive and click Restore Previous Versions. (See Figure 118)


Figure 118. Restore previous versions

36. Under Folder versions click the manual checkpoint that you took earlier and click Open. (See Figure 119)


Figure 119. Open Previous Versions

37. In the Checkpoint explorer window right click New Doc and click Copy. (See Figure 120)


Figure 120. Copy previous file version

38. Return to your mapped drive and paste the checkpoint version of the file to restore it. (See Figure 121)


Figure 121. Restore New Doc to mapped drive

39. Finally open the file to verify the text you typed earlier. (See Figure 122)

Figure 122. Verify doc contents

That completes Lab 3: VNX Unified Storage – CIFs and NFS


Lab 5 - Unisphere Analyzer Unisphere Analyzer lets you monitor the performance of storage-system components – LUNs, the storage processors (SPs) that own them, and their disk modules. Unisphere Analyzer works within storage domains that the web-based Unisphere administers. It gathers storage-system performance statistics and presents them in various types of charts. The information Analyzer provides can help you find and anticipate bottlenecks in the disk storage component of a computer system.

In this lab you will view various Analyzer options and open a pre-confgured file with detailed performance data. As this is a demo lab there is no load on the array to view performance data in realtime so the lab will only be based on archived performance data.

1. To navigate to Unisphere Analyzer click System and click Statistics. (See Figure 123)

Figure 123. Navigating to Unisphere Analyzer

2. Here you will see 4 panes for various options within Analyzer. (See Figure 124)

Figure 124. Unisphere Analyzer

3. To start and stop Analyzer gathering performance data on the array click Performance Data Logging under Settings. (See Figure 125)

Overview

Lab


Here you can specify internvals and stop automatically after a certain number of days.

As this is a demo environment there is no load on the array so click OK without starting Data Logging. You will view an existing performance file later in the lab.

Figure 125. Data Logging

4. Charts can be customized by clicking Customize Charts. (See Figure 126.)Here you can set various colours, line types and so on for the graphs.

The main section to highlight here is Advanced under Characteristics (Analyzer). Select Advanced. This displays additional advanced performance counters when analyzing performance statistics.

Click OK to apply this change. (See Figure 126). Click Ok to the Success message. (See Figure 127)


Figure 126. Chart customization options

Figure 127. Confirmation of changes saved.

5. Performance data can be viewed in real time or archive files can be viewed. To view performance details in realtime you can use the charts under Performance Charts. (See Figure 128). (Note: as there is no load on this array, you will view an archive file instead).

Figure 128. Real time monitoring


6. When analyzer is gathering data it creates .nar files on the Storage Processors. There are several extra options besides viewing these files for managing them. (See Figure 129).

If there are multiple .nar files over a period of time they can be merged together into one single file. (Merge Archive)

.nar files can be copied from the array to a local machine using the Retrieve Archive option.

.nar files can also be Dumped to an excel file if you have another application that will do analysis on the numbers.

Figure 129. Archive Management

7. To open an existing .nar file (See Figure 130):

a. click Open Archive

b. Click vLab.nar

c. Click Open


Figure 130. Opening an archive .nar file

8. You can specify time ranges to view so if you have a .nar file than spans days or weeks you can narrow down a specific time range within those days/weeks.

Click OK without changing the times. (See Figure 131)

Figure 131. Setting the Time Range

9. Right anywhere on this page to see the options available. To view as much detailed information as possible select Performance Detail. (See Figure 132)


Figure 132. Viewing Performance Detail Charts

10. You will then see options for performance counters you want to view. (See Figure 133)

You can view performance counters of LUNs, Storage Pools, Raid Groups and Storage Processors (SP). As you can see in 1 LUN is selected and Utilization is the counter selected. Details of this LUN’s performance can be seen in the chart in the right pane.

Figure 133. Performance Counters and Charts


11. Scroll down the list of LUNs and select EMCW-LUN10. In the pane under that select Response Time (ms) and Total Bandwidth (MB/s). (See Figure 134)

Now you can see various resopnse times in the chart in the right pane. The Y Axis depicts the performance counter and the X Axis depicts the time.

Figure 134. Viewing Response Time and Bandwidth for LUN EMCW-LUN10

12. Click Storage Pool and SP to browse for other performance counters to view on various components on the array. (See Figure 135 and Figure 136)


Figure 135. Viewing Storage Pool Statistics

Figure 136. Viewing SP Statistics

13. If you right click on a graph in the right pane you have the option to modify the line colours, types and so on by selecting Chart Configuration. This graph can also be saved as an image file, copied or printed. (See Figure 137)

Figure 137. Chart Options

14. When you have finished Click x on both windows to close Unisphere Analyzer.

Figure 138. Closing Analyzer


Conclusion

During this demonstration, you completed the following labs:

Unisphere overview, its features and functionality

FAST Cache Overview

Storage Pool Creation

FAST Overview

Block Storage Provisioning

CIFS and NFS Overview

File System Checkpoints overview

Unisphere Analyzer

Customer

For any issues or feedback, or for further information about EMC products, solutions, and demonstrations, contact your EMC representative.

EMC personnel

For any issues or feedback, please email [email protected]. Please include as much detail as possible to ensure your email is addressed in a timely manner.

For additional labs within this lab please download the following guides:

VMware with VNX Integration –Data Protection with VNX Snapshot and Clones.

VMware with VNX Integration –insert lab name

There VMware with VNX Integration –insert lab name

There is additional separate lab for an indepth analysis of FAST and FAST VP with Unisphere Analyzer. This lab is called Unisphere Analyzer Evaluating FAST Cache and FAST-VP.

That completes the demonstration of Unisphere Overview

Thank You

Summary

Support

References

Documents

vLab VNX With VMware Integration - Lab01 Unisphere Overview