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1 VNX Fundamentals
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThiscoursecoverstheEMCVNXSeries.ItincludestheEMCVNXSeriesmodels,architecture,
features,functions,capabilities,andmanagement.TheperipheralproductsassociatedwithVNX
areintroduced.
VNX Fundamentals 2
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThismodulefocusesontheVNXproductbenefitsandusecases.Peripheraland/oradjacent
products,toolsandoptionsareconsideredandpositionedatafundamentallevel.
VNX Fundamentals 3
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
TheVNXSeriesunifiesEMCsfilebasedandblockbasedofferingsintoasingleproductthatcanbe
managedwithoneeasytouseGUI.Inaddition,Objectstoragesolutions areavailablethatmake
use ofthe VNXstoragesystems.
TheVNXSeriesisastoragesolutiondesignedforawiderangeofenvironmentsthatinclude
midtiertoenterprise.ThebackendstorageconnectivityisviaSerialattachedSCSI(SAS)which
providesupto6Gb/sconnection.
TheVNXunifiedstorageplatformssupporttheNASprotocols(CIFSforWindowsandNFSfor
UNIX/Linux,includingpNFS),patentedMultiPathFileSystem(MPFS)aswellnativeblockprotocols
(iSCSIandFiberChannel).
VNXisoptimizedfor:
CoreITapplicationsliketransactionalworkloads Oracle,SAP,SQL,ExchangeorSharePoint.
Servervirtualizationandendusercomputing/VDI.
Applicationsthatneedtraditionalfile,orblockorunifiedstorage.
VNXisalsoagoodfitforpartnerleadconfigurationsoptimizedforvirtualapplicationswith
VMwareandHyperVintegration.
TheVNXwithMCx(multicoreoptimization)architectureunleashesthepowerofFlash,takingfull
advantageofthelatestIntelmulticoretechnologywiththeintroductionofMCx.
VNX Fundamentals 4
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThepressureinExchange environmentstoeliminatebackupwindowsandreducerecoverytimesis
stronger thaneverbefore.Withdynamic,policybasedprotectionmanagement,thesedynamic
environmentscaneasilyexceeddemandingrecoveryobjectivesusingEMCVNXadvanced
technologiessuchassnapshotsandcontinuosprotectiontechnology.Italsohelpsefficientlyuse
storageresourcesandoptimizeprotectionforMicrosoftExchange.TheVNXstoragearray
performance isoptimalunderheavyExchangeworkload.
Traditionally,thebestpracticesforoptimizingstorageperformanceinvolvedmanual,resource
intensiveprocesses.TheVNXallowsSQL administratorstoleverageaneasytouseandpotentially
handsoffmechanismforoptimizingtheperformanceofthemostdemandingapplications.
Automatingthemovementofdatabetweenstoragetierssavesbothtimeandresources.TheVNX
eliminatestheneedtospendhoursmanuallymonitoringandanalyzingdatatodetermineastorage
strategy,thenmaintaining,relocatingandmigratingLUNs(VNXlogicalvolumes)totheappropriate
storagetiers.
VNX Fundamentals 5
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
Online TransactionProcessing(OLTP)databaseapplicationstendtobemissioncriticalandusually
havestringentI/Olatencyrequirements.Traditionally,theseOLTPdatabasesaredeployedona
hugenumberofrotatingFibreChannel(FC)spindlestomeetthelowI/Olatencyrequirement.
Consequently, theeffectivecapacityutilizationofthesespindlesisverylow.VNXreducetheneed
tobuymoredrivestokeepupwithdatabasegrowth.AlsotheVNXautomaticallyand
nondisruptivelymigrateshotandcolddatabetweentheavailablestoragetiers,therebyimproving
theeffectivestorageutilization.
ThecommonbusinessrequirementinSAP environmentsisreducingTCOwhileimproving
performanceandserviceleveldelivery.Frequently,responsivenesstosensitiveSAPapplications
hasdeterioratedovertimeduetoincreaseddatavolumes,unbalanceddatastores,andchanging
businessrequirements.ByusingVNXwithblockdata,SAPdeploymentscangainasignificant
performanceboostwithouttheneedtoredesigntheapplications,adjustthedatalayouts,or
reloadsignificantamountsofdata.WithautomatedsubLUNleveltiering andextendedcache,
Administratorscanproperlybalancedatadistributionacrossthetiersthatallowscapacityand
performanceoptimization.
VNX Fundamentals 6
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
TheVNXSeriesisoptimizedforvirtualization,andthussupportsallleadingHypervisors,simplifies
desktopcreationandstorageconfiguration.VNXleveragesadvancedtechnologiestooptimize
performanceforthevirtualdesktopenvironment,helpingsupportservicelevelagreements.
Virtualizationmanagementintegration allows theVMwareadministratorortheMicrosoftHyperV
administratortoextendtheirfamiliarmanagementconsoleforVNXrelatedactivities.
VMwarevStorageAPIsforArrayIntegration(VAAI)forbothSANandNASconnections, allows the
VNXtobefullyoptimizedforvirtualizedenvironments.EMCVirtualStorageIntegrator(VSI)is
targetedtowardstheVMwareadministrator.VSIsupportsVNXprovisioningwithinvCenter,full
visibilitytophysicalstorage,andincreasesmanagementefficiency.
IntheMicrosoftServer2012andHyperV3.0space,theArrayOffloadedDataTransfer(ODX)
allowstheVNXtobefullyoptimizedforWindowsvirtualenvironments.Thistechnologyoffloads
storagerelatedfunctionsfromtheservertothestoragesystem.
EMCStorageIntegrator(ESI)forWindowsprovidestheabilitytoprovisionblockandfilestoragefor
MicrosoftWindowsorforMicrosoftSharePointsites.
VNX Fundamentals 7
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
EMCVNXforfileprovidesaGUItoolthatdirectlyappliestheGPOsecuritysettingstothefile
systems.IthasthesameeffectasapplyingthesecurityupdatefromaWindowsserver,butittakes
significantlyshortertimetodosoonlargeanddeepdirectories,becausethesecuritysettingsare
managedlocallyontheVNX.
VNX Fundamentals 8
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThismodulecoveredtheVNXsolutionanditsbenefits,thekeyusecases,andtheperipheral
productsassociatedwithVNXstoragesystems.
VNX Fundamentals 9
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ThismodulefocusesontheVNXmodulararchitecture,terminology,components,configurations,
andmodels.
VNX Fundamentals 10
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TheVNXmodulararchitectureisdesignedtodeliveranativeblockandfilesolutionwithdedicated
componentsthatareoptimizedforthespecificusecaseandthatleveragethehardwareandcore
technologiesacrossboththefileandblockimplementations.
ThispictureillustratesaunifiedstorageproductwithscalableDataMovers,ControlStation(not
shown),storageprocessors,I/O(Input/Output)modules,linkcontrolcards(LCC),diskdrives,and
powersupplies.
VNX Fundamentals 11
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VNXdiskdrivesareheldinDiskArrayEnclosuresorDAE.Astoragepoolisasinglerepositoryof
physicaldisksfromwhichLUNsmaybecreated.StoragecanbeprovisionedfromeitherPools or
RAIDGroups.ARAIDgroupisasetofdisks(upto16inagroup)withthesametype,capacityand
redundancy,onwhichtheAdministratorcancreateoneormoreClassicLUNs.APoolisacollection
ofdisksthatarededicatedto createLUNs.APoolissomewhatsimilartoaRAIDgroup.However,a
Poolcancontainafewdisksorhundredsofdisks,whereasaRAIDGroupislimitedto16disks.
Poolscanbeheterogeneous(madeupofmorethanonetypeofdrive)orhomogeneous
(composedbyonlyonetypeofdrive).
ALUN(Logicalunitnumber)istheidentifyingnumberofaSCSIoriSCSIobjectthatprocessesSCSI
commands.TheLUNisthelastpartoftheSCSIaddressforaSCSIobject.TheLUNisanIDforthe
logicalunit,butthetermisoftenusedtorefertothelogicalunititself.
VNX Fundamentals 12
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StorageprocessoristhecoreoftheVNXplatform.ItdeliverstheVNXBlockcomponentsand
servicesandrunsVNXOEforBlock.ThestorageprocessorsupportsblockdatawithUltraFlexI/O
(Coveredlaterinthismodule)technologythatsupportsFibreChannel,iSCSI,andFCoEprotocols.It
providesaccessforallexternalhostsandthefilesideoftheVNXarray.
TheVNXplatformstorageprocessorsbydesignoperateinActive/Activemode.ActiveActive
impliesthatbothcontrollersareactive/onlineandreceivinghostI/Osimultaneouslyforthe
backendstorage.
VNX Fundamentals 13
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TheVNXDataMoverXBladerunstheVNXOperatingEnvironmentforFile,whichisoptimizedto
movedatabetweenthestorageandtheIPnetwork.TheData Moversprovidehighlyavailablefile
levelaccesstousersandapplicationsviaNFS,CIFS,andMPFSprotocols.TheUltraflextechnology
providesEthernetaccessover1or10Gb/susingeitheropticalorcoppercables.TheData Mover
XBladestoresandaccessesdatathroughtheStorageProcessors.AVNXDataMovercanbe
configuredasastandbyDataMoverwhichservesasahotspareforuptosevenprimaryoronline
DataMovers.IfaprimaryDataMovershouldgodownthestandbyDataMovertakesitsplacewith
littleornodisruptionofservice.
VNX Fundamentals 14
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TheControlStationisincludedinallVNXUnifiedandVNXFilestoragearraystoprovide
managementandmonitoringfunctions.TheControlStationrunsacustomizedLinuxkerneland
operatesVNXforfilemanagementservices.AsecondControlStationmaybepresentinsome
modelsforredundancy.
TheControlStationalsoprovidesasecureAdministrative interfacetoallfileservercomponents a
singlepointofmanagementforthewholeVNXsolution,whichcanbeisolatedtoasecure,private
network.
TheControlStationsoftwareisusedtoinstallandconfigurethesystem,monitorthehealthofthe
primaryDataMoversandinitiatefailovertothestandbyDataMoversiftheprimarybladefails.Itis
alsousedtomonitortheenvironmentalconditionsandperformanceofallcomponents;and
implementthecallhomeanddialinsupportfeatures.
VNX Fundamentals 15
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TheDiskProcessorEnclosure(DPE)is3UinsizeandincludesredundantStorageProcessors,two
PowerSupply/CoolingModules,andthefirstsetofdiskdrives.ThebasicdifferencebetweenaDisk
ProcessorEnclosure(DPE)andaStorageProcessorEnclosure(SPE)isthattheDPEscontainboth
StorageProcessoranddisks.TheSPEdoesnotcontaindisks.
TheStorageProcessorEnclosure(SPE)is4UinsizeandhouseseachStorageProcessor(SPBand
SPA),Ultraflex I/Omodules,Managementmodules,andPowerSupply/Coolingmodules.
AllDiskArrayEnclosures(DAEs)accommodatetwoorfourLinkControlCards(LCC),andtwoPower
Supply/Coolingmodules(PSAandPSB).TheLCCsmainfunctionistobeaSASexpanderand
provideenclosureservicesforalldriveslots.EachLCCindependentlymonitorstheenvironmental
statusoftheentireenclosureandcommunicatesthestatustothestorageprocessors.
ADataMoverEnclosure(DME)isrequiredforfilelevelaccess.ADMEcontainsoneortwoData
MoverXBlades.EachXbladehasFibre ChannelportstoaccessdatathroughtheSPsaswellas
Ethernetportstoprovidefiledataaccesstousersandapplications.
VNX Fundamentals 16
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ThepowersuppliesprovidetheinformationnecessaryforUnispheretomonitoranddisplaythe
ambienttemperatureandpowerconsumptionofthepowersupply.Thepowersuppliesarefield
replacebleunits(FRUs).Each powersupplyincludestwopowerLEDsandastatusLED.Thepower
suppliesprovideadaptivecooling,inwhichanarrayadjuststhepowersupplyfanspeedstospin
onlyasfastasneededtoensuresufficientcooling.ThePowerSuppliesarehotswappableand
redundant.
TheStandbyPowerSupplyprovidesbatterypowertoDPEandpowertotheDAEandSPEonsome
VNXmodel.TheVNXwithMCxusesaDPEwhichhastheSPSbuiltwithintheVNXSP(BatteryOn
Board) exceptfortheVNX8000(SPEbased)whichusesindependentSPSs.
TheVNXseriesplatformcansupportuptotwostandbypowersuppliesordualSPS.
VNX Fundamentals 17
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VNXSeriesusesI/OModulesinvariouscombinationsforfrontandbackendconnectivity.EachI/O
moduleisprotocolindependentandhotswappable.
OptionsforblockI/OincludeFibreChannel,FibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)andiSCSI.Options
forfileI/Oincludeboth1Gb/sand10Gb/sEthernetwitheithercopperoropticalconnections.
VNX Fundamentals 18
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TheVNXseriesshipsasablockonly,fileonlyorUnifiedfileandblocksystem. Thethreebasic
configurationsare:
Block Supportsblockdata
File Supportsfiledata
Unified Supportsblockandfiledata
Aunifiedconfigurationhasthesamecomponentsasafileconfiguration.
VNX Fundamentals 19
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TheVNXwithMCxarchitecture consistsof5VNXSeriesplatformsthatwillscaleupto6petabytes.
TheVNXwithMCxarchitectureunleashesthepowerofFlashtoaddressthehighperformance,
lowlatencyrequirementsofvirtualizedapplications.
VNXSeriesmodelsarecomprisedof5000,7000and8000classsystems.Theavailablemodelsare
VNX5200,VNX5400,VNX5600,VNX5800,VNX7600,andVNX8000.Thehardwareandconnectivity
optionsscalewitheachmodel,providingmorepowerandoptionsthroughoutthemodelrange.
AsseenearliertheVNXwithMCxarchitecturetakesfulladvantageofthelatestIntelmulticore
technologywiththeintroductionofMCx.MCxdistributesallVNXdataservicesacrossallcores up
to32.
VNX Fundamentals 20
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Thepreviousgenerationarecomprisedof5000and7000classsystems.Theavailablemodelsare
VNX5100(Blockonly),VNX5300,VNX5500,VNX5700,andVNX7500.Thehardwareand
connectivityoptionsscalewitheachmodel,providingmorepowerandoptionsthroughoutthe
modelrange.
VNX Fundamentals 21
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VNXSeriesgatewayplatformsareNASheads,only.Theseplatformsaccessexternalstoragesuchas
blockbasedVNX,CLARiiON,Symmetrix,orcombinationsoftheseplatformsforoptimal
performanceorTCO.VNXgatewaysallowthebackendstoragetobepooledamongtheNAS,MPFS
andFC/iSCSISAN,whichimprovesstorageusageandconsolidatesmanagement.Gatewaysare
idealforenvironmentswithexistingFibreChannel/iSCSISANs.
AVNXgatewayisverysuitedwhenbothperformanceandcapacityscalingarerequired.AVNX
gatewaysupportsuptofourbackendarraysconcurrently,deliveringincreasedI/Obandwidthto
thefrontendXBlades.
VNX Fundamentals 22
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TheVNXF,allflashconfigurations,arebasedontheVNX7600andleveragetheMCxmulticore
storagesoftwareoperatingenvironment.TheVNXFisspecificallyconfiguredasanallflasharray
andthereforedoesnotincludetieredstorage.Theflashstorageimplementsenterprisemulticell
(eMLC)flashtechnology.
VNXFisavailableinfourpreconfiguredblockonly,fixedcapacityconfigurations:ClassicLUN,dual
nodesymmetricActiveActive,preconfiguredRAID5(8+1),withoptionalblockdeduplicationand
compression.
VNXFisoptimizedforvirtualizationandensuresthedeploymentofvirtualizedapplicationson
hypervisor technologies,clouddeployments,hightransactions,andhighdemanddatabases.(Visit
http://support.emc.comfordetails)
VNXFdoesnotincludetieredstorage,HDDs(asdatadrives),Fileprotocols(NFSandCIFS),
additionalIOmodules,orRAIDtypesotherthanwhatispreconfigured.
VNX Fundamentals 23
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Atmos VE(virtualedition)withVNXinavirtualizedinfrastructurecanbedeployedtosupport
web/cloudapplicationsandstorageasaservice.Atmos VEonVNXhasfourkeycomponents:VNX
storage,vSphere,Atmos VMsandApplicationintegrationpointsoraccessmethods.
ThekeyhereisthatapplicationsconsumingstoragefromanyVMwillseethesystemasthelarge
objectstorewithaunifiednamespace.
VNX Fundamentals 24
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThismodulecoveredthearchitectureandcomponentsoftheVNXstoragesolution.Alsothis
moduleidentifiedconfigurationsandmodels oftheVNXstoragesolution.
VNX Fundamentals 25
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThismodulefocusesontheVNXfeatures,capabilitiesandtheusageoftheseinanITenvironment.
Itexplainsthehighavailability,storageefficiency,local,performance,andadditionalfeatures.This
modulewillalsodescribetheVNXsoftwaresuitesandpacks.
VNX Fundamentals 26
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
Thislessoncovers thevariousVNXseriessoftwaresuites.
VNX Fundamentals 27
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TheVNXSeriesarrayssoftwarepackagingcomesinavarietyofsuites.Thesevarioussuiteseach
containauniquesetofsolutionstoimproveefficiencyand availabilitybysimplifyingand
automatingmanystoragetasks.Functionalityispurchased intheformofaSuiteandcombinations
ofSuitesarepackagedintosoftwarepacks.TheTotalEfficiencypackcontainsallofthesoftware
suiteswhiletheTotalProtectionPackonlycontainstheprotectionssuites.Thefollowingsuitesare
availablefortheVNXarrays.
FASTSuite Automaticallyoptimizesthearrayforthehighestsystemperformanceandthe
loweststoragecostsimultaneously.
SecurityandComplianceSuite Keepsdatasafefromchanges,deletions,andmaliciousactivity.
LocalProtectionSuite Isusedforprotectingandrepurposingdata.
RemoteProtectionSuite Protectsdatafromlocalizedfailures,outages,anddisasters.
ApplicationProtectionSuite Automatesapplicationcopiesandprovescompliance.
VNX Fundamentals 28
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThislessoncoversHardwareandComponentRedundancy,LUNTrespassandVNXActive/Active
mode,SymmetricActive/Activemode,andNetworkhighavailabilityfeatures.
VNX Fundamentals 29
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VNXavailabilityandredundancyfeaturesinclude:
Dualstorageprocessorswithmirroredwritecache.Eachstorageprocessorcontainsbothprimary
cacheddataforitsLUNsandasecondarycopyofthecacheforitspeerstorageprocessor.
ScalableandredundantXBlades(orDataMovers).
SecondControlStationmaybepresentinsomemodelsforredundancy.
RAIDprotectionlevels0,1/0,5,and6areavailableandcancoexistinthesamearray
simultaneouslytomatchdifferentprotectionrequirements.
Eachdiskdrivehastwodataports.Thisgivestwoseparatepathstoeachdrive.IfanSPfails,or
anycomponentofthepathfails,thedrivecanstillbeaccessedbytheotherSP.
Proactivehotsparingenhancessystemrobustnessanddeliversmaximumreliabilityand
availability.
Redundantpowersupplies.
Batterybackuptoallowforanorderlyshutdownandcachedestagingtovaultdiskstoensure
dataprotectionintheeventofapowerfailure.
Intheeventofapowerfailure,theVaultdrives(firstfourdisksoffirstenclousure)providethe
destageareafordatainwritecachethatisnotyetcommittedtothedisk.
VNX Fundamentals 30
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
LUNsaremanagedandaccessedbyasingleSP.ThisprocessiscalledLUNownership.LUN
ownershipisautomaticallyassignedtostorageprocessorsinaroundrobinfashionwhenaLUNis
bound.
BothSPsinaVNXarrayhaveaccesstoeveryLUN,I/OtoeachLUNcomesonlyfromtheSPthatis
theLUNowner.Intheexampleontheleft,SPAownsLUN0.
Ifapathgoesoffline,forexample,ifSPAisbeingrebootedduetoasoftwareupgrade,allLUNs
fromthatSPwillbeTrespassedtotheotherSP.
WiththeAsymmetricLogicalUnitAccess,orALUA,(arequestforwardingimplementation) anI/O
receivedbyanSPthatdoesnotownaLUNisredirectedtotheotherSPwithoutLUNtrespassing.
ThisimplementationshouldnotbeconfusedbyanactiveactivemodelbecauseI/Oisnotserviced
bybothSPsforagivenLUN.TheLUNownershipisstillinplace.I/OisredirectedtotheSPowning
theLUN.
Intheeventofafrontendpathfailure,thereisnoneedtotrespassLUNsimmediately.TheUpper
RedirectordriverwillroutetheI/OtotheSPowningtheLUNsthroughtheCMIchannel.
Intheeventofabackendpathfailure,thereisnoneedtotrespassLUNsimmediately.TheLower
RedirectorwillroutetheI/OtotheSPowningtheLUNsthroughtheCMIchannel.Thehostis
transparenttothisredirection.
VNX Fundamentals 31
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
NowwithVNXwithMCxarchitectureEMChasintroducedthefirstphaseofanactive/activeaccess
model.SymmetricActive/ActiveallowsclientstoaccessaClassicLUN(notsupportedonpool
LUNs)simultaneouslythroughbothSPsforimprovedreliability,easeofmanagementandimproved
performance.Sinceallpathsareactive,thereisnoneedforthestorageprocessorto"trespass"to
gainaccesstotheLUNownedbytheotherstorageprocessoronapathfailure,eliminating
applicationtimeouts.ThesameistrueforanSPfailure,astheSPmerelypicksupalloftheI/Os
fromthehostthroughthealternateoptimizedpath.ThiscapabilityenablesadditionalLUN
performance,asthereismorebackendbandwidththatcanbeservedbyasingleSPorFEport.
VNX Fundamentals 32
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ForhighavailabilityVNXusesEthernetChannelandLinkAggregationControlProtocol(LACP).
EthernetChannelcancombinesmultiplephysicalports(two,four,oreight)intoasinglevirtual
deviceforthepurposeofprovidingfaulttoleranceforEthernetportsandcabling.Ifalinkislost,
thelinkfailsovertoanotherwithinthechannel.Alltrafficonthechannelisthendistributedacross
theremainingactivelink.
LinkAggregationControlProtocol(LACP)isanalternativetoEtherChannel.TheIEEE802.3adLink
AggregationControlProtocolallowsmultipleEthernetlinkstobecombinedintoasinglevirtual
device.LACPsupportslinkaggregationswithtwoormoreports.
Althoughtlinkaggregationprovidesmoreoverallbandwidththanasingleport,theconnectionto
anysingleclientrunsthroughonephysicalportandisthereforelimitedbythebandwidthofthe
port.
VNX Fundamentals 33
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
EMCVNXFailSafe NetworkorFSNprovideshighavailabilityintheeventofanEthernetswitch
failurebyconnectingthetwocomponentsoftheFSNtoseparateswitches.UnlikeEtherChannel
andLACP,FSNcanmaintainfullbandwidthwhenfailedover,giventhesamebandwidthonboth
theactiveandpassiveconfigurations.Theydonotrequireanyspecialswitchconfiguration.FailSafe
Networksareconfiguredassetsofports,FastEtherChannels,LinkAggregations,orcombinationsof
these.
OnlyoneconnectioninanFSNisactiveatatime.IftheFailSafe devicedetectsthattheactive
connectionhasfailed,theDataMoverautomaticallyswitchestothesurvivingpartnerwiththe
sameidentityasthefailedconnection.
VNX Fundamentals 34
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
TheVNXCA(Continuous Availability)providesforincreasedapplicationavailabilityoptionswith
theabilitytotransparentlymoveapplicationdatabetweenstoragearraysorbetweendatacenters.
Itprovidestheabilitytoscalecapacity,IOthroughputandperformance,allaccomplishednon
disruptively.
VNXCAisbasedontheVNX5400andleveragesEMCVPLEXtechnology.EMCVPLEXallows
customerstomoveapplicationsanddatabetweenVNXarrayswithinadatacenteroracrossdata
centerswithoutimpactinghostsorusers.VNXCAalsosupportsFibreChannelBlockonly
architecture.
TheVNXCAusecases,inadditiontoaddressingthecontinuousavailabilityexamples,include:
Applicationanddatamobility
NondisruptiveITrefreshes
LoadbalancingwithinaVNXCA4orbetweenVNXCAs
EnhancedVMwarecapabilitiesacrossVNXCAsusingvMotion,DRS,HAand/orFT
ExtendOracleRACoverdistance
StretchotherpopularserverclustersacrossVNXCAarrays
VNX Fundamentals 35
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
VNXCAisavailableintwoconfigurations:
VNXCA2(2storagecontrollers)istheentrysolution,withtheintentionofnondisruptively
expandingwithadditionalcapacity,storageandperformance.TheVNXCA2consistsofone
VNX5400(blockonly)withtheappropriatecapacity(upto250drives),oneVPLEXenginewith
twoFibre Channel switches(thatareinternaltotheVNXCA).
VNXCA4(4storagecontrollers)isidealforacontinuouslyavailablestoragearchitecturethat
allowsmorestoragetobevirtualizedandenablescrossarraymobility,workloadbalancing,and
uninterruptedmaintenanceonthearray.Thisoptionoffersoptimalperformanceandcapacity.
TheVNXCA4consistsoftwoVNX5400s(blockonly)withappropriatecapacity(upto500
drives),oneVPLEXengineandtwoFibre Channel switches(thatareinternaltotheVNXCA).
VNX Fundamentals 36
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
ThislessoncoversthestorageefficiencyfeaturesincludingVirtualProvisioning,BlockDeduplication
andCompression,FileDeduplicationandCompression,FileLevelRetention(FLR),andUserQuotas.
VNX Fundamentals 37
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VNXVirtualProvisioningimprovesstoragecapacityutilizationbyonlyallocatingstorageasneeded.
FilesystemsaswellasLUNscanbelogicallysizedtorequiredcapacities,andphysicallyprovisioned
withlesscapacity.ThismeansstorageneednotsitidleinafilesystemorLUNuntilitisused.
VNXVirtualProvisioningsafeguardsallowuserstokeepatrackofthinlyprovisionedfilesystems
andLUNs.Byreportingonactualphysicalusage,totallogicalsize,andavailablecapacity,
administratorscanbothpredictandsetalertstoavoidrunningoutofphysicalcapacity.
VNX Fundamentals 38
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VNXwithMCxarchitectureplatforms,supportBlockleveldeduplication.
Deduplication ofdatahappensatan8KBblockgranularityandrequiresan8KBmapping.Itcanbe
setatthepoolLUNlevelandThin,ThickandDeduplicated LUNscanbestoredinasinglePool.The
deduplication domainisthepoolitself;deduplication doesnottakeplaceacrosspools.
Deduplication occursoutofbandandisthrottledtominimizehostI/Oimpact.
TheBlockCompressionfeatureprovidesafurtherreductionofcapacitysavingsinitiallyprovided
byVirtualProvisioning(compressionrequiresThinLUNs).
TheBlockCompressionfeatureusesstandarddatacompressionalgorithmstoreducespace
allocatedtoLUNs.BlockcompressionmaybeappliedtoClassicLUNsorPoolLUNs.
BlockCompressionoperatesinthebackground,whiletheLUNsareavailableforhostaccess.All
compressionanddecompressionprocessesarehandledbyVNX,sonoservercyclesareconsumed
intheprocess,andnoadditionalserversoftwareisrequired.Whensufficientnewdataiswritten
toacompressedLUN,thesystemwillautomaticallyattempttocompresstheuncompresseddata
inthebackground.
VNX Fundamentals 39
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VNXalsosupportfileleveldeduplication andcompression.VNXforFileperformsalldeduplication
processingasabackground,asynchronousoperationthatactsonfiledataafterithasbeenwritten
intothefilesystem.Itdoesnotprocessactivedataordataasitiswrittenintothefilesystem.
Deduplication activitycanbethrottledtoavoidimpactonprocessesservingclientI/Os.Once
candidatefileshavebeenidentifiedfordeduplication,twoactivitiestakeplace:
Compression:CompressionisaccomplishedbyusingcomponentssimilartothoseusedinVNXfor
blockLUNcompression.
Deduplication:Fileleveldeduplication orsingleinstancingisaccomplishedbyusingcomponents
ofanotherEMCproductcalledAvamar whichduplicatesfileidentificationalgorithms(file
identificationforsingleinstanceisaccomplishedusingahashingalgorithmfromAvamar).
VNX Fundamentals 40
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VNXFileLevelRetentionisacapabilityavailabletoVNXforFilethatprotectsfilesinaNAS
environmentfrommodificationanddeletionuntilauserspecifiedretentiondate.FLRenables
organizationstocreateapermanentunalterablesetoffilesanddirectoriesandensuresthe
integrityofthedata.AttheNASlevelthiseffectivelyprovideswhatistraditionallyknownasWrite
OnceReadMany(WORM)accesswithintheVNXforFile,andalsoincludestoolstohelpusers
manageFLRautomatically.
VNX Fundamentals 41
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Aquota isalimitplacedonthenumberofallocateddiskblocksand/orfilesthatauser/group/tree
canhaveonaproductionfilesystem(PFS).Inotherwords,quotasprovideawayofcontrollingthe
amountofdiskspaceandthenumberoffilesthatauser/group/treecanconsume.Quotascanbe
managedviatheVNXControlStation(CLIorGUI)orviaWindows.
Limitingusageisnottheonlyapplicationofquotas.Thequotatrackingcapabilitycanalsojusttrack
andreportusage.
Therearethreetypesofimplementationchoices.Theyarehardquota,softquota,andtracking.
Hardquota:Deniesspaceondiskandgeneratesanerrorwhenthequotaisreached.
Softquota:Offersagraceperiodbeforestartingtodenyspaceondisk.
Tracking:Diskusageistracked,butnolimitsareimposed.
VNX Fundamentals 42
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ThislessoncoverstheVNXperformancefeaturesincludingFASTVP and FASTCache.
VNX Fundamentals 43
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VNXstoragesystemssupportanoptionalFASTCacheconsistingofastoragepoolofFlashdisks
configuredtofunctionasFASTCache.ThiscacheprovideslowlatencyandhighI/Operformance
withoutrequiringalargenumberofFlashdisks.ItisalsoexpandablewhileI/Otoandfromthe
storagesystemisoccurring.TheFASTCacheisbasedonthelocalityofreferenceofthedataset.By
promotingthedatasettotheFASTCache,thestoragesystemservicesanysubsequentrequestsfor
thisdatafasterfromtheFlashdisksthatmakeuptheFASTCache;thus,reducingtheloadonthe
disksintheLUNsthatcontainthedata(theunderlyingdisks).FASTCacheconsistsofoneormore
pairsofmirroreddisks(RAID1)andprovidesbothreadandwritecaching.Forreads,theFAST
CachedrivercopiesdataoffthedisksbeingaccessedintotheFASTCache.Forwrites,FASTCache
effectivelybuffersthedatawaitingtobewrittentodisk.Inbothcases,theworkloadisoffloaded
fromslowrotatingdiskstothefasterFlashdisksinFASTCache.Theperformanceboostprovidedby
FASTCachevarieswiththeworkloadandthecachesize.
VNX Fundamentals 44
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VNXFASTVP tracksdatainaPoolatagranularityof256MB aslice andranksslicesaccording
totheirlevelofactivityandhowrecentthatactivitytookplace.Slicesthatareheavilyand
frequentlyaccessedaremovedtothehighesttierofstorage,typicallyFlashdrives,whilethedata
thatisaccessedleastaremovedtolowerperforming,buthighercapacitystorage typicallyNL
SASdrives.ThissubLUNgranularitymakestheprocessmoreefficient,andenhancesthebenefit
achievedfromtheadditionofFlashdrives.
Therankingprocessisautomatic,andrequiresnouserintervention.Relocationofslicesoccurs
accordingtoaschedulewhichisuserconfigurable,butwhichdefaultstoadailyrelocation.Users
canalsostartamanualrelocationifdesired.
VNX Fundamentals 45
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ThislessoncoverstheVNXlocalprotectionfeaturesthatareusedforprotectingandrepurposing
data.ItincludesanoverviewofVNXSnapSure (File),VNXSnapshot(Block),VNXSnapView (Block),
andRecoverPoint/SECDP.
VNX Fundamentals 46
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VNXSnapSure isaLocalProtectionSuitesoftwarepackagethatcreatesapointintimeviewofa
filesystem.AlsoSnapSure createsacheckpointfilesystemthatisnotacopyoramirrorimageof
theoriginalfilesystem.Rather,thecheckpointfilesystemisaviewofwhattheproductionfile
systemlookedlikeataparticulartime.
VNXSnapSure savesdiskspaceandtimebyallowingmultiplesnapshotversionsofaVNXfile
system.Theselogicalviewsarecalledsnapshots.SnapSure snapshotscanbereadonlyor
read/write.
VNX Fundamentals 47
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VNXSnapshotisaLocalProtectionSuitesoftwarepackagethatimprovetheSnapView Snapshot
capabilitiesbybetterintegratingwithpools.VNXSnapshotsisapointintimecopyofasourceLUN
usingredirectonfirstwritemethodology.
VNX Fundamentals 48
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VNXSnapView isasoftwareproductthatrunontheVNX.SnapView createsblockbasedlogical
pointintimeviewsofproductioninformationusingsnapshotsandpointintimecopiesusing
clones.Snapshotsuseonlyafractionoftheoriginaldiskspace,whileclonesrequirethesame
amountofdiskspaceasthesource.SnapView allowsmultiplebusinessprocessestohave
concurrent,parallelaccesstoinformation.
VNX Fundamentals 49
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RecoverPointallowsuserstorecoverapplicationsusingDVRlikerollbacktoanypointintime
withoutimpacttotheproductionapplicationortoongoingprotection.RecoverPointCDPisa
continuoussynchronousproductthatmirrorsSANvolumesinrealtimebetweenoneormore
arraysatalocalsite.RecoverPointCDPmaintainsahistoryjournalofallchangesthatcanbeused
torollbackthemirrorstoanypointintime.
RecoverPoint/SEisappliancebased,whichenablesittobettersupportlargeamountsof
informationstoredacrossaheterogeneousserverandstorageenvironment.
VNX Fundamentals 50
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ThislessoncoverstheVNXremoteprotectionfeaturesthatareusedtoprotectdatafromlocalized
failures,outages,anddisasters.ItincludesanoverviewofSANCopy,VNXMirrorView (Block),VNX
Replicator(File),andRecoverPoint/SECRR.
VNX Fundamentals 51
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
SANCopyallowsfastbulktransferofdatabetweenEMCVNXstoragesystems,orbetweenVNX
andCLARiiON orSymmetrix systems(othervendorsystemsarenotdiscussedhere).The(full
mode)SANCopySourceLUNislikelytobeapointintimecopybecauseofthewaySANCopy
functionswhenfulldatacopiesareused.IfIncrementalmodeisused,thenthesourceLUNmaybe
theproductionLUN,andcanbeonline.
SANCopyrequiresnospecialsoftwaretobeloadedonthepeerstoragesystems.
VNX Fundamentals 52
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MirrorView isastoragesystembasedsoftwarethatprovidesareplicationsolutionforFCoriSCSI
hostenvironments.Itcanbeimplementedinasynchronousmodeoranasynchronousmode
dependingonRTO(RecoveryTimeObjective)andreplicationdistancerequirements.MirrorView
mirroringisused forDisasterRecovery.
Afteradisaster,MirrorView letsdataprocessingoperationsresumewithminimaloverhead.
MirrorView enablesaquickrecoverybycreatingandmaintainingacopyofthedataonanother
storagesystem.
VNX Fundamentals 53
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VNXReplicatorisanIPbasedreplicationsolutionthatproducesareadonly,pointintimecopyof
asourcefilesystem.TheVNXReplicatorserviceperiodicallyupdatesthiscopy,makingitconsistent
withtheproductionfilesystem.Replicatorusesinternalcheckpointstoensureavailabilityofthe
mostrecentpointintimecopy.TheseinternalcheckpointsarebasedonSnapSure technology.This
readonlyreplicacanbeusedbya DataMoverinthesameVNXcabinet(localreplication),oran
DataMoverataremotesite(remotereplication)forcontentdistribution,backupandapplication
testing.
VNX Fundamentals 54
Copyright 2014 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved.
RecoverPoint/SECRR(ContinuousRemoteReplication) isacomprehensivedataprotection
solutionthatprovidesbidirectionalsynchronousandasynchronousreplication.RecoverPoint/SE
CRRallowsuserstorecoverapplicationsremotelytoanysignificantpointintimewithoutimpactto
theproductionoperations.
WhenanapplicationserverissuesawritetoaLUNthatisbeingprotectedbyRecoverPoint,this
writeisduplicatedbyanarraysplitterrunningintheVNXstorageprocessororoptionallyonthe
applicationhost.TheVNXarraywillinterceptallwritestoLUNsbeingprotectedbyRecoverPoint,
andwillsendacopiestotheRecoverPointappliance.Inallcases,theoriginalwritetravelsthough
itsnormalpathtotheproductionLUN.
Oncetheappliancereceivesthewrite,redundantblocksareeliminated,thewritesaresequenced
andstoredwiththeircorrespondingtimestampinformation.Thepackageisthencompressed,and
sentacrosstheIPnetworktotheremoteappliance.Atremotesitethedataisuncompressedand
writtentothejournalvolume.Oncethedatahasbeenwrittentothejournalvolume,itis
distributedtotheremotevolumes,ensuringthatwriteordersequenceispreserved.
VNX Fundamentals 55
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ThislessoncoverstheVNXadditionalfeaturesandfunctionsincludingVPLEX Continuous
Operations,NetworkDataManagement(NDMP)protocolbackup,EMCCommonEventEnabler,
andHostEncryption.
VNX Fundamentals 56
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ByleveragingVNXwithVPLEX,whichallowstheadministratortohavetheexactsameinformation
intwoseparatelocationsaccessibleatthesametimefrombothlocations,companiescanachieve
improvedlevelsofcontinuousoperations,nondisruptivemigrations/technologyrefresh,and
higheravailabilityoftheirinfrastructure.
VPLEXwithVNXtransparentlyrelocatesdataandapplicationsoverdistance,protectsthedata
centeragainstdisaster,andenablesefficientdatamobilitybetweensites.VPLEXallowsload
balancingacrosstwoVNXarrays.ExtendlocalVMwarefunctionalitybeyondasingleVNXarrayand
extendOracleRACandotherclustersoverdistance(VPLEXistheonlysolutioncertifiedbyVMware
andOracle.)VPLEXallowstoorganizationsdeliveronanactive/activeVNXdataaccessstrategy
overdistance.
VNX Fundamentals 57
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VNXsupportsNDMP(NetworkDataManagementProtocol)whichisanindustrystandardTCP/IP
basedprotocolspecificallydesignedforbackupinaNASenvironment.NDMPallowsan
administratortocontrolthebackupandrecoveryofanNDMPserverthroughanetworkbackup
application,withoutinstallingthirdpartysoftwareontheserver.Itcommunicateswithseveral
elementsinthebackupenvironment(NAShead,backupdevices,backupserver,etc.)fordata
transferandenablesvendorstouseacommonprotocolforthebackuparchitecture.Datacanbe
backedupusingNDMPregardlessoftheoperatingsystemorplatform.
OnVNX,theDataMoverfunctionsastheNDMPserver.NDMPseparatesthecontrolanddata
transfercomponentsofabackuporrestoreoperation.TheactualbackupsarehandledbytheData
Mover,whichminimizesnetworktraffic.
VNX Fundamentals 58
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CEE(Common EventEnabler) isacapabilityavailabletoVNXforFilethatprovidesanintegration
pointbetweenbestofbreedthirdpartystoragemanagementapplicationtoolsandVNXforFile
(NAS).Inessence,CEEprovidesanalertingfacilitysuchthatthirdpartyapplicationscantake
actionsagainstNASclientactivitiesontheVNX.
EMCVNXAntivirusAgentprovidesanAntivirussolutiontoclientsusingaVNXsystem.Itusesan
industrystandardCIFSprotocolinaMicrosoftWindowsServerdomainaswellassupporting
Windowsclients.TheAntivirusagentusesthirdpartyantivirussoftwaretoidentifyandeliminate
knownvirusesbeforetheyinfectfilesonthestoragesystem.
TheEMCCommonEventEnabler(CEE)wasformerlyknowasVNXEventEnabler(VEE).
VNX Fundamentals 59
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VNXHostEncryptionprovidesdataencryptionatthestoragedeviceleveltoprotectdatafrom
unauthorizedaccessorfromtheremovalofadiskdriveorarrayfromasecuredenvironment.It
makesuseofPowerPath EncryptiontechnologyandleveragesRSAKeyManagertocentrally
manageandautomateencryptionkeys.PowerPath Encryption isahostbaseddataatrest
encryptionthatutilizesPowerPath andRSAKeyManagerfortheDatacentertoprotect
customersagainstunauthorizedaccessorinadvertentlossofunprotectedinformation.
VNX Fundamentals 60
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ThismodulecoveredtheVNXfeatures,capabilities,andsoftwaresuitesandpacks.
VNX Fundamentals 61
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ThismoduleprovidesanoverviewofbasicVNXmanagementoptionsandlisttheperipheral
productsassociatedwithVNX.
VNX Fundamentals 62
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ThislessoncoversVNXmanagementSuiteofferings.Additionally,italsocoversEMC
ProSphere,whichiscloudmanagementsoftwaretomanageVNXinvirtualandcloud
environments.
VNX Fundamentals 63
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EMCUnisphere providesaflexible,integratedexperienceformanagingVNXstoragesystems.
Unispheres wizardshelptheusertoprovisionandmanagethestoragewhileautomatically
implementingbestpracticesfortheconfiguration.
Unisphereiscompletelywebenabledforremotemanagementofthestorageenvironment.
UnisphereManagementServerrunsontheSPsandtheControlStation.
AdministrativeusersmustauthenticatetotheVNXwhenusingUnisphere.TheVNXprovides
flexibleoptionsforadministrativeuseraccounts.FordeploymentswheretheVNXwillbe
administeredbymultiplepeople,theVNXofferstheabilityforcreatingmultipleunique
administrativeaccounts.Differentadministrativerolescanbedefinedfortheuseraccountsto
distributedifferentadministrativetasksfortheusers.
VNX Fundamentals 64
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AdministrationoftheVNXsystemcanalsobeperformedwithacommandlineinterface(CLI).
AdministrativeusersmustauthenticatetotheVNXwhenusingCLIinterfaceaswell.Blockenabled
systemshaveahostbasedSecureCLIsoftwareoptionavailableforblockadministrativetasks.The
CLIcanbeusedtoautomatemanagementfunctionsthroughshellscriptsandbatchfiles.The
Navisphere SecureCLIisaclientapplicationthatallowssimpleoperationsontheEMCVNXSeries
platformandsomeotherlegacystoragesystems.
FileenabledVNXsystemsuseacommandlineinterfacetotheControlStationforfile
administrativetasks.IfVNXforFileorUnifiedispresent,thenitcanbeconnectedtoitviaserialor
SSHtotroubleshootmanyVNXforFilehardwarecomponents.
VNX Fundamentals 65
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UnisphereRemoteissoftwarethatprovidescentralizedmultiboxmonitoringofhundredsofVNX
systemswhethertheyresideinadatacenteroraredeployedinremoteandbranchoffices.Itgives
userstheabilitytomonitorthehealthandalertsoflargenumbersofVNXsystemsfromacentral
console.UnisphereRemoteisavirtualappliancethatrunsinaVMwarevirtualenvironment.
VNX Fundamentals 66
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UnisphereAnalyzeristheVNXperformanceanalysistool.UnisphereAnalyzerisanapplicationto
helpidentifybottlenecksandhotspotsinVNXstoragesystems,andenableuserstoevaluateand
finetunetheperformanceoftheirVNXsystem.
Datamaybecollectedbythestoragesystem,orbyaWindowshost,runningtheappropriate
software,intheenvironment.Differentperformancemetricsarecollectedfromdisks,Storage
Processors,LUNs,cache,andSnapView snapshotsessions.Datamaybedisplayedinrealtime,or
forlateranalysis,savedasa.nar (UnisphereArchive)file.
ForFilebaseddetailedmonitoring,usershaveaccesstothenativemonitoringcapabilityof
UnisphereforFileandadditionalmonitoringisavailablefortheVNXforFilecomponentsinthe
separatelylicensedDataProtectionAdvisorforFileServerofferingthatprovidesdetailedreporting
notonlyonreplicationconfigurationsbutVNXforFileingeneral.
VNX Fundamentals 67
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UnisphereQualityofServiceManager(UQM)measures,monitors,andcontrolsapplication
performanceontheVNXstoragesystem.UQMcanbeapowerfultoolforevaluatingthestorage
systemtodeterminethecurrentservicelevelsandtoprovideguidanceonwhatservicelevelsare
possible,giventhespecificenvironment.
UQMmaybemanagedbyUnisphereGUI,SecureCLI,orUnisphereClient.
BecauseUQMisarrayresident,thereisnohostcomponenttoload,andnoperformanceimpacton
thehost.
UQMcontrolsarrayperformancebyallocatingresourcestouserdefinedclassesofI/O.This
resourceallocationallowsthespecifiedI/Oclassestomeetpredefinedperformancegoals.
VNX Fundamentals 68
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VNXMonitoringandReportingisacosteffectivesoftwaresolution.Accessiblefromawebportal
ithasatreeviewformatthatdrillsdownintoseveralsummaryorfilteredviews.VNXMonitoring
andReportingisalimitedversionofWatch4NetforVNX.Itprovidesbasicmonitoringandreporting
capabilitiesforVNXadministrators.VNXMonitoringandReportingautomaticallycollectsblockand
filestoragestatisticsalongwithconfigurationdata,andstoresthemintoadatabasethatcanbe
viewedfromdashboardsandreports.Watch4Netoffersacustomreportdevelopmentframework
extendingthepreconfiguredVNXreportsandcreatesnewreportstomeetspecificreportingneeds.
Itprovidesrealtime,historicalandprojectedvisibilityintonetwork,datacenter,storageandcloud
infrastructureperformance.Userswhohavemorecomplexenvironments,ormorecomplexneeds,
canuseWatch4netorupgradetoWatch4net.
VNX Fundamentals 69
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EMCProSphereiscloudstoragemanagementsoftwaredesignedtomonitorandanalyzestorage
servicesacrossthevirtualinfrastructure.ProSpherecancollectresourceandperformancedatafor
EMCSymmetrix,VNXandCLARiiON storagearrays.
ProSphere's federatedarchitectureaggregatesinformationacrosssitestosimplifythemanagement
betweendatacentersfromasingleconsole.ProSphereismanagedfromawebbrowsertoallow
easyaccessovertheInternetforremotemanagement.
VNX Fundamentals 70
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Thislessoncoverstheintegrationbetweentheautomationtoolsforvirtualizedandapplication
environmentandVNXmanagement.
VNX Fundamentals 71
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EMCAppSync protectsvirtualizedMicrosoftapplicationsinEMCVNX(block)environments.Itis
designedtoprovidebettermanagementofprotectionandreplicationforcriticalapplicationsand
databases.EMCsadvancedtechnology snapshotsandcontinuousdataprotection enable
instant,granularrestoresandzerodatalossreplicationandcanbemanagedfromacentrallocation
usingEMCAppSync.
ReplicationManagerisatooldesignedtoautomatethecreation,management,anduseofEMC
pointintimereplicas(snapshots,clones,mirrors).Noscriptingisrequired.ReplicationManager
autodiscoverstheenvironment(applicationhost,associatedstorage,andunderlyingreplication
technology)andenableseasypointandclickmanagementbyintegratingthetechnologystack
fromtheapplicationtothestorageandreplicas.
VNX Fundamentals 72
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EMCStorageIntegrator(ESI)forWindowsisatooltargetedatWindowsandMicrosoft
applicationsadministrators.ESIforWindowsprovidesstorageviewingandprovisioningcapabilities.
ESIalsoenablestheusertocreateafileshareandmountthatfileshareasanetworkattached
driveintheWindowsenvironment.
ESIsupportstheEMCVNXseries,theEMCVNXe series,EMCCLARiiON,theEMCSymmetrix VMAX
andtheEMCSymmetrix VMAXe.
ESIsupportsHypervvirtualdisksinrelease1.3.
VNX Fundamentals 73
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VMwarevSphere StorageAPIs(ApplicationProgrammingInterface)ArrayIntegration(VAAI)isa
storageintegrationfeaturethatincreasesvirtualmachinescalability.VAAIconsistsofasetofAPIs
thatallowsvSphere tooffloadspecifichostoperationstoEMCstoragearrays.Thesearesupported
withVMFS(VirtualMachineFileSystem)andRDM(RawDeviceMapping)volumes.
VAAIforSAN enablesverytightintegrationbetweentheVNXplatformandVMwarevSphere.VAAI
forNASminimizestheimpactofhighI/OvirtualizationtasksonESXi hosts.
VNX Fundamentals 74
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StorageAnalyticsforVNXisastandalonesoftwareproductthatcomprisesofalightversionof
VMwarevCenter OperationsManagerEnterprisetoolandtheEMCAdapterforVNX.
VMwarevCenter OperationsManagerprovidesautomatedoperationsmanagementusingpatented
analyticsandanintegratedapproachtoperformance,capacityandconfigurationmanagement.The
EMCAdapterforVNXisbundledwithaconnectorthatenablesvCenter OperationsManagerto
collectperformanceandcapacitymetrics,andproactiveinformationtohelpadministratorsmake
informeddecisions,heatmapsetc.
VirtualStorageIntegrator(VSI)isaplugintotheVMwarevCenter managementsoftware.It
allowstheVMwareadministratortoprovision,monitor,andmanageVMwarevSphere datastores
onEMCstoragearraysdirectlyfromvCenter,simplifyingmanagementofthevirtualized
environment.VSIempowersVMadministratorstoviewstorageandVMwareperformancemetrics
fromasingleview.
VNX Fundamentals 75
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VMwarevCenter SiteRecoveryManager(SRM)automatesVMwaresitefailover.Itisintegrated
withvCenter andEMCStorageArraysandmanagedthroughavCenterclientplugin.
SRMleveragesthedatareplicationcapabilitiesoftheunderlyingstoragesystemthroughan
interfacecalledaStorageReplicationAdapter(SRA).SRMsupportsSRAsforVNXReplicator,VNX
MirrorView,andEMCRecoverPoint.
EachEMCSRAisasoftwarepackagethatenablesSRMtoimplementdisasterrecoveryforvirtual
machinesbyusingVNXstoragearraysthatrunreplicationsoftware.SRAspecificscriptssupport
arraydiscovery,replicatedLUNdiscovery,testfailoverfailback,andactualfailover.Disaster
recoveryplanprovidestheinterfacetodefinefailoverpoliciesforvirtualmachinesrunningonNFS,
VMFS,andRDMstorage.
VNX Fundamentals 76
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ThismodulecoveredthenativeVNXmanagement options,theadditionaloptionsformanaging
VNXandtheperipheralproductsassociatedwithVNX.
VNX Fundamentals 77
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ThiscoursecoveredtheVNXstoragesolutionmodels,features,datafeatures,architecture,and
management.
ThisconcludestheVNXFundamentalstraining.
VNX Fundamentals 78