environment.
Array Initialization
This section will describe the step-by-step process of using the Management Client Initialization Wizard to initialize the array. Array initialization is only required for newly deployed arrays. Previously deployed arrays moved to a new network or location should be reconfigured as if an array initialization process has already been performed, by configuring logical disks and pools as described on page 49 of this guide.
If the array is being used with an iSCSI switch, the switch should be configured before starting this step, so that the array can connect with any application servers for the host information gathering process. Ensure that all application servers are operational and connected to the switch and/or array before beginning the initialization process.
1. Start Internet Explorer and navigate to the management server’s network address and port (default port 8070). If the server has an
associated DNS entry, navigate to that address in the browser window. If the server is only identified by an IP address, navigate to that address.
Note: If the client browser cannot connect to the Storage Manager host over the network, make sure that the management server is attached to the network, the Storage Manager service is running, and that any intervening network firewalls or client firewalls have a rule that permits UDP port 2730 traffic to pass through.
2. Log on to the Storage Manager client with a previously created user name that has administrative privileges.
3. In the Storage Manager Client browser window, select File from the top toolbar, then click Initialization Wizard
from the drop-down menu.
4. At the Initialization Wizard start screen, ensure that the prerequisite steps have been performed as listed, and then click Next when everything is ready for initialization.
5. At the Disk Array Selection window, select the array to be initialized, and then click Next. Note: To be initialized, an array must be in the Not Initialized state. Arrays in a Suspended or Finished state have already been initialized and should be configured by using the steps outlined in the Configuring Logical Disks and Pools section on page 35.
Note: The wizard will only initialize one array at a time. If multiple arrays are selected, the wizard will initialize the first array and then restart the initialization process for subsequent arrays until all selected arrays have been initialized.
6. After selecting the array, a confirmation window will appear. Confirm that the correct array was selected and click Yes to continue. Otherwise, click No to go back and then select the correct array.
7. The Disk Array Connection State Confirmation window displays an example of how an array should be cabled. Verify that the array is cabled correctly and click Next, or click Cancel if there is a problem with your array’s connections. Note: This screen shows a fully configured array only. It does not show your specific
configuration.
8. After completing an initialization, an initialization file can be generated and used to configure other arrays or reconfigure the existing array. This step allows you to choose between using the initialization wizard or a previously generated installation file from another array to configure this array.
During an initial setup of an array, choose Use this wizard. Otherwise, select Use an
initialization file and type the location of that file in the field below.
After the appropriate option has been selected, click Next to continue.
9. At the Host Information Collection window, you can select Automatic collection as long as the application servers to be configured have not been configured for use with an array
previously, and as long as the Volume List Command or ControlCommand software has been installed on the desired application server(s).
If these conditions have not been met, the host information will have to be gathered and typed in
10. If automatic collection was selected, an initialization warning will appear to notify you that the operating system on the application server that the array automatically connects to can affect how the array is configured during the initialization process. If the array is being installed in an environment other than Windows, please refer to the array user manual before continuing. Otherwise, click OK to continue.
11. At the Set Network Parameters window, type in the network addressing information for each controller that will be used on the array. The IP Address for each controller should be unique and should be reserved in any DHCP server before configuring. After typing in the network information for the array, click Next to continue.
12. After you type in the network information for the array, a confirmation window will appear. Verify that the information entered was correct, and then click Set to continue.
If the information is not correct, click Back and type the information again before continuing.
13. At the Set Host Connection Port Parameters window, review the port parameters for the array. If any parameters need to be changed, highlight the port to be changed and click Edit
on the right of the port list. If an iSCSI Naming Service server is to be used, configure the iSNS Server settings by clicking the Set iSNS Server button at the left side of the window. After all ports are configured correctly, click Next to continue.
14. If any ports needed to be edited in the previous step, this port editing window will appear. Here you can modify the host port MTU, IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway address.
When you are finished editing port settings, click OK to return to the previous Set Host Connection Port Parameters window.
15. If Set iSNS Server is selected in Step 13, the Set iSNS Server settings window will appear. To register an iSNS Server, click Add and enter the IP Address and Port settings for each iSNS Server the array can connect to. Up to four iSNS Servers can be registered on each array.
When all iSNS Servers have been added, click OK to continue.
16. After you set the host connection port
parameters, a confirmation window will appear. Review the port settings and click Set to continue if they are correct. Otherwise, click
Back to return to the previous step and modify the port settings as needed.
17. At the Enter License Keys window, type in the Base Product License key from the NEC Storage software license code provided on the Program Product License Sheet that was shipped with the array. Click Enter after the code has been typed in the License Key field. When the code has been typed, click Next to continue.
Note: At this time, do not enter in other license codes. More specifically, if you enter the Access Control license key, you will need to set up Access Control or servers will not be able access the Logical Disks. Setting up Access Control is not included in the Quick Start Guide.
18. In the Select Logical Disk Binding Method window, you can choose between binding logical disks within the initialization wizard and creating logical disks after completing the initialization process.
Choosing the Bind logical disks using the wizard option allows you to use the wizard to create and bind logical disks to application servers using RAID1, RAID6 (4+PQ), or RAID6 (8+PQ) while performing the array initialization. If another type of logical disk is required, this step can be skipped by choosing the Bind logical disks later option.
After choosing the appropriate option, click Next
to continue.
19. If the Bind logical disks using the wizard
option was selected in the previous step, the Set the LD Set window will be shown. Here you can specify which operating system platform the logical disk set will be used with, and name the logical disk set.
From this window, you can also configure iSCSI CHAP Authentication settings and set access restrictions on a per-portal basis by clicking either the Authentication Settings or Access Restriction per Portal button.
After you have finished modifying the settings for the logical disk set, click Next to continue.
20. After setting the logical disk name and platform type, you can configure the initiator node that the logical disk will be bound to. Select the initiator from the Assignable Initiators section, and then click Add to assign an iSCSI Initiator to the specified Destination LD Set or select the
Type In/Edit button to manually enter an Initiator’s information.
Once an initiator has been selected for the destination logical disk set, click Next to continue.
21. The Select LD Binding Parameters window allows you to create and bind logical disks to application servers.
The following options are available when binding logical disks from the wizard:
Bind/Select – This takes you to the Bind
Pool and Bind Select window which allows you to configure and select a pool to be bound to logical disks.
LD Capacity – Set the capacity of the logical
disks.
Number of LDs – Set the number of logical disks to create.
LD Name Prefix – Add a prefix name to the
logical disk.
Quick Format – Perform a quick format of
any logical disks created.
GPT Disk Type – Enable GPT type if a
volume is larger than 2 TB.
Create Hot Spare – Assign a physical disk as a hot spare drive for the logical disk. (Recommended)
When all settings are correct, click Next to continue.
22. If you click Bind/Select in Step 21, the Bind/Select window will allow you to create a pool and assign physical drives to that pool in a specified RAID configuration.
When the needed logical drives and pools have been configured, click OK to continue.
23. After setting the logical disk binding parameters, a confirmation window will appear. Review the settings and license information listed, and if everything is correct, click Set. Otherwise, click
Back and configure the proper settings before continuing.
24. After configuring logical disks and confirming that all settings are correct, the array will begin setting the configuration and building any logical disks that may have been configured. When the initialization process is complete, an Initialization Complete window will appear.
At this point, click Finish to complete the initialization, and then confirm that all configured logical drives and application servers are connected through the Storage Manager client.
Configuring iSCSI Connections
After the array has been initialized and all needed logical drives have been configured, the iSCSI initiators on the application servers will need to be configured in order to mount any logical drives that are configured for the application server. Once configured, the logical drives created during the initialization process can be mounted by the application server.
If logical drives were not created during the initialization process or additional logical drives and pools are needed, then refer to the Configuring Logical Disks and Poolssection that appears later in this document before continuing with these steps.
Configuring the iSCSI Initiator in Windows
To configure the iSCSI initiator on a Windows server, ensure that the port IP address that the application server will connect with has been recorded and that the CHAP secret, if used, has also been recorded.
1. Launch the iSCSI Initiator properties menu by clicking Start and then iSCSI Initiator.
2. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties window, select the Targets tab. In the Targets window, select the appropriate array, and then click Log On.
3. At the Log On to Target window, select the
Automatically restore this connection when the computer starts option, and then click
Advanced. If you will be using NEC
PathManager for Multipathing, do not select “Enable multi-path”. Otherwise, refer to
Microsoft’s documentation for information about enabling mutlipathing through the Microsoft iSCSI software initiator.
4. In the Advanced Settings window, ensure that all settings are correct, and then click OK once all settings have been properly configured.
Then click OK in the Log On to Target window in order to return to the iSCSI Initiator Properties window.
5. At the iSCSI Initiator Properties window, ensure that the configured target’s status is Connected and then click OK to close the iSCSI Initiator Properties window and save the settings.
Verifying Windows iSCSI Connectivity
After confirming that the array and application server are connected from the Storage Manager client, the next step is to confirm that any logical disks that were created during the initialization process are available to the application server.
1. From the application server, log on to the server with an account that has administrative privileges. 2. From the Start Menu, open the Computer
Management MMC by clicking Administrative Tools and then Computer Management, or by right-clicking Computer and then clicking
Manage.
3. At the Computer Management window, select
Device Manager, and then click Disk Drives on the right to ensure that any logical disks are visible from the application server.
4. In the Computer Management window, select
Disk Management. If the logical drives that were bound to this application server were not initialized, a Windows Disk Initialization prompt will appear.
If the Initialize Disk prompt does appear, select the disks to initialize, choose the partition style to be used for the new logical drives, and then click
5. After any necessary disk initialization process has been completed, the new logical drives should be visible from within the Disk
Management window. The logical disks are now ready to be configured for use on the application server and formatted as needed.
If the logical drives do not appear on the application server, check all physical
connections and restart the application server. If they still do not appear or were not created during the array initialization process, attempt to create and bind logical drives through the Storage Manager client as shown in the
Configuring Logical Disks and Pools section that appears later in this guide.
Configuring the iSCSI Initiator in VMware ESX
After the array has been initialized and any logical drives that will be used by the VMware ESX host server have been configured, the iSCSI storage settings can be configured within the VMware host server to enable the drives for use on guest operating systems.
Note: This section only details the basic configuration steps needed to configure VMware ESX to work with the NEC D3-10i storage array. For more information about advanced configuration items for VMware ESX or to configure other versions of VMware to use an iSCSI array, please refer to the VMware ESX iSCSI SAN documentation at http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/.
1. Log on to the VI Client and select the host server from the listed inventory. 2. Click the Configuration tab, and then click
Storage.
3. Click Add Storage from the Storage window.
4. At the Select Storage Type window, select the
5. In the Device Location window, highlight the logical disk that you wish to configure, and then click Next.
6. At the Current Disk Layout window, click Next to continue.
7. At the Disk/LUN Properties screen, assign a Datastore Name to the logical disk, and then click Next to continue.
8. In the Disk/LUN Formatting page, you can adjust the file system values for the logical disk. By default, the entire storage space of the logical disk should be available for use.
Click Next to continue after the desired configuration has been entered.
9. At the Ready to Complete window, review the configuration information for the logical disk and then click Finish to complete the logical disk assignment.
At this point, the logical disk is ready for use by the VMware ESX server.
Configuring Logical Disks and Pools
If the step to bind logical disks was skipped during the array initialization, if the logical disks that were created are not visible from an application server, or if a new application server is being added to the array, logical disks or pools may need to be created and bound to that specific server or cluster through the Configuration Settings wizards available in the Storage Manager client.
Creating and Configuring Pools
The first step in creating a set of logical drives is to create a pool for those logical drives to be assigned to. The following process illustrates how to configure an individual pool. For more information about the pool
configuration process, please refer to the documentation that accompanied your array. 1. Navigate to the Storage Manager network
address in an Internet Explorer window, and then log on to the client with an account that has administrative privileges.
2. Select the array where logical disks and pools need to be created, click File, highlight
Configuration Settings/References, and then click Configuration Setting.
3. A window will appear warning you that array monitoring will be stopped while configuration settings are being adjusted. Click Yes to continue.
4. At the Configuration Setting menu, you can view basic array information and configure basic array functionality.
To create an individual pool from the Configuration Setting menu, click Storage Configuration Setting.
Note: For more information about the other configuration options available through the Configuration Settings menu, please refer to the documentation on the Storage Manager
5. At the LD Individual Bind/Unbind window, select
Pool Binding under the Binding Wizard
section at the bottom.
6. At the Welcome window for the Pool Binding Wizard, click Next.
7. At the Select Physical Disk Type window, select the desired physical disk type to be used in this pool, and then click Next.
8. At the Select Pool Type window, select either a dynamic or basic pool type, and then click Next.
9. At the Select RAID Type window, select the type of RAID that will be used for the logical disk set in this pool. The RAID options available will depend on whether the pool type is dynamic or basic as chosen in the previous screen. After the appropriate RAID type has been selected, click Next to continue.
10. At the Select Physical Drive window, select each physical drive to be added to the logical disk pool, and then click Add for each one
highlighted until the requisite number of drives for that pool type have been added.
11. At the Set Detailed Parameters for Pool Binding window, set the pool name and rebuild time desired for that pool, then click Next.
12. At the Confirm Pool Binding Parameters window, review the settings listed, and if they are correct,