SANtricity 11.8 Solutions

Use SANtricity solutions

Web services proxy

Overview

Learn about Web Services

Web Services API overview

Compatibility and restrictions

API basics

Terms and concepts

Install and configure

Review requirements

Install Web Services Proxy

Log in to API and Unified Manager

Configure Web Services Proxy

Uninstall Web Services Proxy

Manage user access

Manage security and certificates

Manage storage systems

Manage automatic polling

Remote volume mirroring

Overview

Requirements and restrictions

Configure hardware

Import remote storage

Manage import progress

Modify connection settings

Remove remote storage object

Storage plugin for vCenter

Overview

Get started

Review requirements

Install the plugin

Configure access permissions

Log in and navigate

Discover storage arrays

Provision storage

View status

Manage certificates

Certificates overview

Use CA-signed certificates

Reset management certificates

Import certificates for arrays

View certificates

Export certificates

Delete trusted certificates

Resolve untrusted certificates

Manage arrays

Array management overview

Discover storage arrays

Rename storage array

Change storage array passwords

Remove storage arrays

Launch System Manager

Import settings

Import settings overview

Import alert settings

Import AutoSupport settings

Import directory services settings

Import system settings

Import storage configuration settings

Manage array groups

Array groups overview

Create storage array group

Add storage array to group

Rename storage array group

Remove storage arrays from group

Delete storage array group

Upgrade OS software

Upgrade overview

Perform pre-upgrade health check

Upgrade SANtricity OS

Activate staged OS software

Clear staged OS software

Manage software repository

Provision storage

Provisioning overview

Create storage

Increase capacity of a volume

Change settings for a volume

Add volumes to workload

Change workload settings

Initialize volumes

Redistribute volumes

Change controller ownership of a volume

Change cache settings for a volume

Change media scan settings for a volume

Delete volume

Configure hosts

Host creation overview

Create host access

Create host cluster

Assign volumes to hosts

Unassign volumes

Change the settings for a host

Delete host or host cluster

Configure pools and volume groups

Pools and volume group overview

Create pool automatically

Create pool manually

Create a volume group

Add capacity to a pool or volume group

Create SSD Cache

Change configuration settings for a pool

Change configuration settings for a volume group

Change SSD Cache settings

View SSD Cache statistics

Check volume redundancy

Delete pool or volume group

Consolidate free capacity for a volume group

Turn on locator lights

Remove capacity

Enable security for a pool or volume group

Remove plugin

FAQs

What settings are imported?

Why do I not see all of my storage arrays?

Why are these volumes not associated with a workload?

How does my selected workload impact volume creation?

Why do I not see all my volumes, hosts, or host clusters?

Why can I not delete the selected workload?

How do application-specific workloads help me manage my storage array?

What do I need to do to recognize the expanded capacity?

When would I want to use the assign host later selection?

What do I need to know about host block size requirements?

Why would I need to create a host cluster?

How do I know which host operating system type is correct?

How do I match the host ports to a host?

What is the default cluster?

What is redundancy check?

What is preservation capacity?

What RAID level is best for my application?

Why are some drives not showing up?

Why can I not increase my preservation capacity?

What is Data Assurance?

What is FDE/FIPS security?

What is secure-capable (Drive Security)?

How do I view and interpret all SSD Cache statistics?

What is shelf loss protection and drawer loss protection?

How do I maintain shelf and drawer loss protection?

What is optimization capacity for pools?

What is optimization capacity for volume groups?

What is resource provisioning capable?

What do I need to know about the resource-provisioned volumes feature?

What is the difference between internal security key and external security key management?

What do I need to know before creating a security key?

Why do I need to define a pass phrase?

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What RAID level is best for my application?

To maximize the performance of a volume group, you must select the appropriate RAID level.

You can determine the appropriate RAID level by knowing the read and write percentages for the applications that are accessing the volume group. Use the Performance page to obtain these percentages.

RAID levels and application performance

RAID relies on a series of configurations, called levels, to determine how user and redundancy data is written and retrieved from the drives. Each RAID level provides different performance features. Applications with a high read percentage will perform well using RAID 5 volumes or RAID 6 volumes because of the outstanding read performance of the RAID 5 and RAID 6 configurations.

Applications with a low read percentage (write-intensive) do not perform as well on RAID 5 volumes or RAID 6 volumes. The degraded performance is the result of the way that a controller writes data and redundancy data to the drives in a RAID 5 volume group or a RAID 6 volume group.

Select a RAID level based on the following information.

RAID 0

Description:

  • Non-redundant, striping mode.

  • RAID 0 stripes data across all of the drives in the volume group.

Data protection features:

  • RAID 0 is not recommended for high availability needs. RAID 0 is better for non-critical data.

  • If a single drive fails in the volume group, all of the associated volumes fail, and all data is lost.

Drive number requirements:

  • A minimum of one drive is required for RAID Level 0.

  • RAID 0 volume groups can have more than 30 drives.

  • You can create a volume group that includes all of the drives in the storage system.

RAID 1 or RAID 10

Description:

  • Striping/mirror mode.

How it works:

  • RAID 1 uses disk mirroring to write data to two duplicate disks simultaneously.

  • RAID 10 uses drive striping to stripe data across a set of mirrored drive pairs.

Data protection features:

  • RAID 1 and RAID 10 offer high performance and the best data availability.

  • RAID 1 and RAID 10 use drive mirroring to make an exact copy from one drive to another drive.

  • If one of the drives in a drive pair fails, the storage system can instantly switch to the other drive without any loss of data or service.

  • A single drive failure causes associated volumes to become degraded. The mirror drive allows access to the data.

  • A drive-pair failure in a volume group causes all of the associated volumes to fail, and data loss could occur.

Drive number requirements:

  • A minimum of two drives is required for RAID 1: one drive for the user data, and one drive for the mirrored data.

  • If you select four or more drives, RAID 10 is automatically configured across the volume group: two drives for user data, and two drives for the mirrored data.

  • You must have an even number of drives in the volume group. If you do not have an even number of drives and you have some remaining unassigned drives, go to Pools & Volume Groups to add additional drives to the volume group, and retry the operation.

  • RAID 1 and RAID 10 volume groups can have more than 30 drives. A volume group can be created that includes all of the drives in the storage system.

RAID 5

Description:

  • High I/O mode.

How it works:

  • User data and redundant information (parity) are striped across the drives.

  • The equivalent capacity of one drive is used for redundant information.

Data protection features

  • If a single drive fails in a RAID 5 volume group, all of the associated volumes become degraded. The redundant information allows the data to still be accessed.

  • If two or more drives fail in a RAID 5 volume group, all of the associated volumes fail, and all data is lost.

Drive number requirements:

  • You must have a minimum of three drives in the volume group.

  • Typically, you are limited to a maximum of 30 drives in the volume group.

RAID 6

Description:

  • High I/O mode.

How it works:

  • User data and redundant information (dual parity) are striped across the drives.

  • The equivalent capacity of two drives is used for redundant information.

Data protection features:

  • If one or two drives fail in a RAID 6 volume group, all of the associated volumes become degraded, but the redundant information allows the data to still be accessed.

  • If three or more drives fail in a RAID 6 volume group, all of the associated volumes fail, and all data is lost.

Drive number requirements:

  • You must have a minimum of five drives in the volume group.

  • Typically, you are limited to a maximum of 30 drives in the volume group.

You cannot change the RAID level of a pool. The user interface automatically configures pools as RAID 6.

RAID levels and data protection

RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 6 write redundancy data to the drive media for fault tolerance. The redundancy data might be a copy of the data (mirrored) or an error-correcting code derived from the data. You can use the redundancy data to quickly reconstruct information on a replacement drive if a drive fails.

You configure a single RAID level across a single volume group. All redundancy data for that volume group is stored within the volume group. The capacity of the volume group is the aggregate capacity of the member drives minus the capacity reserved for redundancy data. The amount of capacity needed for redundancy depends on the RAID level used.

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