Welcome to Unisphere Overviewfor VNX Series

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

This course introduces unisphere management interface including Ecosystem for the VNX series
platform. It provides details about the Dashboard, System, Host, Data Protection, and Ecosystem
(Support) sections.
This course is intended for those with a Block and a File background who are involved in managing
the VNX series platform and its Operating Environment.

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VNX Series Architectural Overview

The VNX series is designed for mid-market to enterprise environments. Unisphere management
interface for the VNX series is intuitive and enables storage administrators to perform all tasks from
one pane of glass. Unisphere Service Manager (USM) enables administrator to perform software
upgrade, collect diagnostic information, and replace hardware components.
Through this course, you will learn about the Unisphere management interface along with the
different plug-ins available.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

With the release of the VNX series platform, EMC is offering an easier way to manage their
environment with a simpler and more intuitive GUI for combined file and block management through
the Unisphere management interface. It allows a single login to manage the system through its
unified User Roles. It can also take advantage of other setup within environment through many newly
available plug-ins. Unisphere for VNX series platform can also be used to support CLARiiONs running
FLARE Release 19 or higher, or Celerra running DART 5.6 or higher.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

To open Unisphere, you must open a supported browser and type the IP Address for either Storage
Processor A or B (for VNX for Block or Unified), or the Control Station (for VNX for File or Unified).
Once you are logged in, the system opens in the Enterprise Dashboard. This view is very important
because it provides a detailed overview of the VNX series system including unified alerts, a system list,
and an overview of the storage capacity usage.
You can get more specific information when you select a specified system The Dashboard
automatically changes to the System View, and provides you a more unified look with different tabs to
facilitate the performance of multiple tasks.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

The Enterprise Dashboard provides information about the VNX system with a summarized view of the
systems, the domain, the system list, unified alerts, and EcoSystem. You can conduct a search within
the entire enterprise for many storage-related options such as Thin LUNs, clone or a snapshot using
the search bar on top of the screen. You can also change the sections seen within the Dashboard
menu by moving them around.
Additionally, you can get a quick view of the alerts and certificate counts on the system, by checking
on the lower-right right of the screen. You can also see the logged in user along with their roles. This is
done in an effort to make sure that the administrator finds out about user and privileges in a time
efficient manner.

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Unisphere for VNX Series Overview

The Enterprise Domain list allows you to manage multiple systems within the same view. One VNX
Series system can be in a domain. In this page, you have a local domain. By selecting Local under
Name, it shows you the single VNX Series system that you are currently logged into. Along with the
model name and system type, this selection provides us with the software and client revision, serial
number of the system, and the status.

With this option, it is now easier to identify the VNX for block code level and the system by clicking
the Domain tab. On the right-side, you are able to configure the domain along with managing users on
the VNX for Block system.

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Unisphere for VNX Series Overview

The Alerts tab shows all the alerts that are on the particular domain. The alerts can be sorted by
severity, date, domain, system, the message, and the code. More options are available once an alert is
selected. In this example, we selected an HBA warning, and immediately see the Details and Delete
icons become available on the bottom of the screen. The Details icons can be selected to provide
extra information about the alert including a recommended action to fix it.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

The VNX series platform has many pieces of hardware in it, and they all can be seen and managed
from under the System tab; several service or maintenance tasks can be started. On the lower rightside, you will find the Service Tasks list of the tasks that can be started from the Services Tasks section
includes the management of Connect Home, Email User, and Capture Diagnostic Data.

The first five selections within the Service Tasks section have the capability of starting Unisphere
Service Manager (USM). If USM is not installed on the management station that you are using, Install
Anywhere will automatically prompt you to do so; however you must have a valid Powerlink account.
USM is available on Powerlink, the VNX Installation Toolbox or the Apps and Tools CD. Once the
installation is completed, USM will open.

If you point your mouse on a tab, in this case the System tab <Clilck-2>, you will notice the Common
System Tasks. This feature has been added to give you a quick access to some of the most frequently
used tasks within a specific tab. In this example, you see that some of the common service tasks are
related to event notification.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

One of the most important tabs from within Unisphere is the Storage tab. Whether you want storage
for block or file, you need the Storage tab. Within this tab, you will get to create and manage CIFS
shares and NFS exports (using the Shared Folders icon), create and manage LUNs (using the LUNs
icon), create and manage File System, Storage Pools, and Volumes (using the Storage Configuration
icon). These three icons (Shared Folders, LUNs, Storage Configuration) play a major role in managing
the VNX Series system.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

The Host tab plays an important role in displaying the hosts that are connected to the VNX Series
System. Upon selecting the Host list icon, all the hosts connected to the VNX Series system are
displayed. If available, you will be able to view the IP Address, the Operating System, and the
Connection Type of the connected hosts.
Furthermore, using the Hypervisor Information Configuration on an environment where an ESX Server
is connected to the VNX Series System, you will be able to see the relationship between the LUNs, ESX
Server, and Virtual Machine. This configuration wizard helps Unisphere become VM-Aware since it is
able to poll the ESX Server for in-depth information.
Lets take a look at the Storage Group icon in the slide.

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Unisphere for VNX Series Overview

Another important icon to bring attention to is the Storage Group , clicking this icon opens the Storage
Group listing for the VNX Series system you are logged into. In the picture shown, there are two
storage groups, one of them is SG_ESX41, and the other one is filestorage. The VNX for file has six
LUNs reserved as part of the Vault area that houses the Operating Environment and other key
components of the system. Lets see them by selecting the filestorage storage. In the Details pan,
under Host, you notice the host name and IP address.. The Host name belongs to the VNX Series
system, and the IP Address belongs to the Control Station. Next is the LUN tab. The following LUNs
are all user-created LUNs that have been assigned for file usage. Notice the ID number on the LUNs,
they are all assigned from the lowest available number.
Now, lets check the File Server Private Storage Group. Under that tab, there are six LUNs; they were
automatically created by the system when the VNX Operating Environment was being installed the
first time. They can not be removed from that storage group; they can not be deleted either. To avoid
any confusion, the IDs for these LUNs are in the 16000 while the user-created LUN IDs were in the low
numbers.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

Within the Data Protection window, you are able to manage the different methods available to
protect the storage. The Snapshots option allows for LUN snapshots and File System Checkpoint
management. The Mirrors and Replications icon allows you to create and manage Mirrors and
Consistency Groups for block storage and Replication for File Storage. On the right-hand side, there
are many wizards that allow for quicker access to create and manage data protection.

Unisphere also has plug-ins that allow for direct start-up of many storage-related tasks including
RecoverPoint/SE and Atmos.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

The first plug-in that is being discussed is RecoverPoint/SE icon. Installing RecoverPoint/SE requires
the RecoverPoint Splitter enabler to be installed on the VNX Series (and/or a legacy) system. Once the
RecoverPoint Appliances are properly installed with RecoverPoint/SE using the Deployment Manager
RecoverPoint/SE Installer Wizard,the RecoverPoint icon will show up under the Data Protection tab of
Unisphere. This icon allows you to view and configure the RecoverPoint/SE environment.

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The second plug-in that we will discuss is for Atmos. VNX storage also provides Cloud support via
Atmos VE. Social media and web applications, whose interfaces of choice are REST, SOAP, or HTTP
protocols would use Atmos VE with VNX and leverage the VNX capacity to store objects . This provides
the ability to:
Have one platform to support structured and unstructured data
Create a single cloud built with n VNX systems
Leverage existing unified storage (and VMware environment)
Start small and grow
Provide an in-house storage-as-a-service alternative to external use of Amazon, Nirvanix, etc.
Provide services both from internal and external clouds simultaneously
The Atmos VE systems can be added to Unisphere and the Atmos management GUI can be launched
directly from Unisphere.

Unisphere for VNX Series Overview

This demonstration shows the Enterprise and System Dashboard of Unisphere for the VNX Series system.

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Unisphere Overview for VNX Series

The Support tab (or Ecosystem) represents a unified location where EMC has collected all the tools
necessary to help a storage administrator gain the assistance needed to maintain a VNX Series system.
Whether you want to get installation and maintenance support documentation, download files and
packages,or ask a live question to EMC Support Personnel or other administrators, use the Support
tab. It is composed of six main links: How Tos, Community, Downloads, Unisphere Help, Product
Support Page, and Search EMC Support. Each one of them focuses on one specific aspect that will
help you do your work easier.

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Unisphere for VNX Series Overview

This demonstration shows Unispheres Support tab. It provides detailed information about each one of the icons
available.

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File and block have always been available, but never in one box as the VNX Series is combining them.
Each protocol also had its own user settings and privileges. It is important to understand the new
level of settings and privileges available for the VNX Series platform. Please take a moment to review
this table.

The user roles table is shown here. Please take a moment to review this diagram.

Unisphere for VNX Series Overview

This concludes the instructional portion of this training. These are the key points that have been
covered.
Please proceed to take the assessment.

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