InfiniBox - VPLEX integration.pdf

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InfiniBox VPLEX integration

Implementation Guide

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About this guide This publication provides instructions for connecting a VPLEX system to InfiniBox.

Date Product version Content

Jun-25-2015 1.0 Initial release.

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Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................... 1

ZEROING THE VOLUMES METADATA ..................................................................................................................... 1

Provisioning InfiniBox storage for VPLEX ........................................................... 3

ZONING CONFIGURATION ..................................................................................................................................... 3 INFINIBOX PROVISIONING .................................................................................................................................... 5

VPLEX Provisioning ......................................................................................... 11

CREATING A NAME MAPPING FILE FOR VPLEX FOR THIRD-PARTY ARRAYS .......................................................... 11 CREATE A META-VOLUME ................................................................................................................................... 14 CREATE A LOGGING DEVICE ................................................................................................................................ 17 CREATE A USER DEVICE ....................................................................................................................................... 18

EMC VPLEX-assisted data relocation ............................................................... 20

MIGRATION PROCEDURE .................................................................................................................................... 20 MIGRATION STEPS .............................................................................................................................................. 21 MIGRATION EXAMPLE USING THE UNISPHERE FOR VPLEX UI .............................................................................. 22

Considerations and best practices ....................................................................29

BEST PRACTICES RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN PROVISIONING VIRTUAL DEVICES ................................................ 29

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Introduction

The procedures in this document describe the configuration steps required to configure the INFINIDAT InfiniBox for use with EMC VPLEX, a virtual storage technology that connects to multiple storage arrays, allowing for data migration and mirroring across sites.

Zeroing the volumes metadata

The metadata and logging volumes must be zeroed before they can be used. Use a utility (like dd) to write zeros across the volume.

This will erase all of the data from the volume.

Example: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdbg conv=notrunc

METADATA VOLUMES

Metadata volumes are critical to the proper function of the VPLEX system. VPLEX Meta Data Volumes, or Meta Volumes, contain information about devices, physical-to-virtual device mappings and other internal system configuration data. The importance of the information on these volumes justifies a high level of Meta Volume data redundancy. Meta Volumes are provisioned as RAID 1 along with a minimum of two additional point-in-time copies (one 24 hours old, the other 48 hours old). It is highly recommended that Meta Volumes RAID 1 members be stored on two physically separate storage arrays, using array-provided RAID protection for each member.

LOGGING VOLUMES

A logging volume is dedicated capacity for tracking any blocks written to a cluster. A logging volume is a required prerequisite to creating a distributed device and a remote device. Logging volumes keep track of any blocks written during inter-cluster link failure. The system uses the information in logging volumes to synchronize the distributed devices by sending only changed block regions across the link.

USER DATA VOLUMES

VPLEX virtualizes physical storage array devices and applies three layers of logical abstraction to the storage volumes. VPLEX uses extents to divide storage volumes and applies various RAID geometries (i.e. RAID-0, RAID-1, or RAID-c) to them within in the device layer. Devices are built using one or more extents and can be combined into more complex RAID schemes and device structures as desired (i.e. storage volumes encapsulation which consist in importing back-end array into an instance of VPLEX and used while keeping their data intact).

VIRTUAL VOLUMES

At the top layer of the VPLEX storage structures are virtual volumes. Virtual volumes are the elements VPLEX exposes to hosts using its front-end (FE) ports. Access to virtual volumes is

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controlled using storage views. They act as logical containers determining host initiator access to VPLEX FE ports and virtual volumes.

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Provisioning InfiniBox storage for VPLEX

Provisioning of InfiniBox storage to work with VPLEX takes the following steps:

Zoning configuration

InfiniBox provisioning

Zoning configuration Zone the InfiniBox storage array to the VPLEX back-end ports. Follow the recommendations in the “Implementation and Planning Best Practices for EMC VPLEX Technical Notes”.

Note: To ensure high data availability, present the each node of the storage array to each director of the VPLEX along separate physical paths.

The general rule is to use a configuration that provides the best combination of simplicity and redundancy. For back-end Storage connectivity the recommended SAN topology is a dual SAN fabric design to supply redundant and resilient inter-hardware connectivity.

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Each director in a VPLEX cluster must have a minimum of two paths to every local back-end storage array and to every storage volume presented to VPLEX.

InfiniBox contains three or more independent interconnected nodes. Each node should have a minimum of two ports connected to the VPLEX back-end ports via physically separate SAN fabrics.

When configuring mirroring or migration across arrays, it is suggested that each array be accessed through different back-end director ports

A maximum of 4 active paths per director to a given LUN is recommended. This is considered optimal because each director will load balance across the four active paths to the storage volume.

ZONING RECOMMENDATIONS

Physical connectivity

Each VPLEX Director is connected to two FC Switches (Fabric A and Fabric B)

Each InfiniBox Node is connected to two FC Switched (Fabric A and Fabric B)

Even Numbered (0,2) VPLEX Director ports are connected to Fabric A

Odd Numbered (1,3) VPLEX Director ports are connected to Fabric B

InfiniBox Fabric A ports use HBA-1 (Ports 1-4)

InfiniBox Fabric B ports use HBA-2 (Ports 5-8)

Logical zoning

Zone VPLEX director A-00 ports to Port 1 of InfiniBox Node 1 and Node 2

Zone VPLEX director B ports to one group of Port 5 on each InfiniBox Nodes.

Repeat for additional VPLEX engines.

Create a separate host-initiator for each VPLEX cluster.

Map Volumes to allow access to the appropriate VPLEX initiators for each port groups.

SAMPLE SINGLE ENGINE DUAL FABRIC ZONING

Fabric switch A Zone E1A1 VPLEX Engine 1 Director A Port 00

InfiniBox Node 1 Port 1


Zone E1B1 VPLEX Engine 1 Director B Port 01



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Fabric B switch Zone E1A2 VPLEX Engine 1 Director A Port 01



Zone E1B2 VPLEX Engine 1 Director B Port 00



AN EXAMPLES OF BROCADE ZONING CONFIGURATION

Fabric A

cfg: VPLEX_NFINIDAT_FABA InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABA; InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABA

zone: InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABA

infinidat_node01_port01; infinidat_node02_port01; vplex_c1e1_a1_00

zone: InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABA

infinidat_node01_port01; infinidat_node03_port01; vplex_c1e1_b1_01

alias: vplex_c1e1_a1_00

50:00:XX:XX:60:XX:f1:10

alias: vplex_c1e1_b1_01

50:00:XX:XX:70:XX:f1:11

alias: infinidat_node01_port01

57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:11


57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:21


57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:31

Fabric B

cfg: VPLEX_NFINIDAT_FABB

InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABB; InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABB

zone: InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABB

infinidat_node02_port05; infinidat_node03_port05; vplex_c1e1_a1_01

zone: InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABB

infinidat_node02_port05; infinidat_node03_port05; vplex_c1e1_b1_00

alias: vplex_c1e1_a1_01

50:00:XX:XX:60:XX:f1:11

alias: vplex_c1e1_b1_00

50:00:XX:XX:70:XX:f1:10


57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:15

alias: infinidat_node02_port05 57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:25


57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:35

InfiniBox provisioning

Hosts, and then clusters must be created on InfiniBox in order to map provisioned storage volumes. Hosts are groupings of initiators that are associated to a physical host, and clusters are user defined as a grouping of those hosts. Each zoned initiator for the VPLEX Engine should be grouped into a single Host. These host engines should be created into a VPLEX cluster.

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Once created, storage volumes can be mapped to all grouped initiators of a given connected host. This section describes host/cluster creation, volume creation and then volume to cluster mapping.

InfiniBox provisioning takes the following steps:

Creating a host

Creating a cluster

Creating volumes

Mapping volumes to clusters

CREATING A HOST

Suggestions for friendly host names are ones that describe the host being created. For example, if creating a host for VPLEX Cluster 1 Engine 1, one might enter Plex-C1E1. Using names that help identify the initiators facilitates maintenance and lifecycle activities.

Step 1 On the InfiniBox GUI, click the Hosts & Clusters button on the toolbar on the left.

The Hosts & Clusters screen opens.

Step 2 Click on Create Host.

The Create Host screen opens. Insert a name for the host and click Create. The host is created.

CREATING A CLUSTER

Step 1 On the InfiniBox GUI, click the Hosts & Clusters button on the toolbar on the left.

The Hosts & Clusters screen opens.

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Step 2 Click on Create Cluster.

The Create Cluster screen opens. Insert a name for the cluster and click Create. The cluster is created.

Step 3 Click the cluster and add host(s). 1. Click the Hosts tab on the Clusters screen.

2. Click the Add Host button. 3. Type the first letters of the host name. Available hosts are displayed on

screen.

Click them one by one. Click the Add button.

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The hosts are added to the cluster.

CREATING A POOL

Step 1 On the InfiniBox GUI, click the Pools button on the toolbar on the left.

The Pools screen opens.

Step 2 Click on Create Pool. The Create Pool screen opens. Insert a name for the pool and provision physical capacity. By default, the virtual capacity is coupled with the physical. It is possible to decouple them, of course.

Optionally, click the Advanced button to change the default values of more of the pool’s settings. Click Create. The pool is created.

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CREATING A VOLUME

Step 1 On the InfiniBox GUI, click the Volumes button on the toolbar on the left. The Volumes screen opens. -OR- Right-click the pool and select Create Volume from the menu.

The Create Pool screen opens.

Step 2 Insert a name for the volume and provision its capacity. Set the pool that the volume belongs to (no need to set this, if you create the volume from the pool’s screen). Click Advanced to create several volumes at once.

Click Create. The volume is created. In our example, 10 volumes were created and they are available on the Volumes screen:

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MAPPING A VOLUME TO A CLUSTER

Step 1 Select a cluster and click Map Volume.

Step 2 Select volumes from the list and click Map.

The volumes are mapped to the cluster.

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VPLEX Provisioning

In order to present devices to hosts, there are a number of steps to follow when provisioning storage on the VPLEX:

LUNs created on the InfinBox are mapped to the VPLEX ports. Appropriate zoning must be configured on the fibre channel switch that is attached to both devices.

VPLEX is configured to claim the mapped LUNs. Extents are created on the claimed LUNs.

Stripes, mirrors or concatenated (RAID 0,1, and C geometries respectively) devices can be provisioned by combining the created extents depending on application performance/resilience and capacity requirements. Additionally encapsulated (1:1 mapped) devices can be created when claimed LUN data is required to be preserved and ‘imported’ into the VPLEX

The aforementioned device raid geometries can be spanned across VPLEX clusters to provide geographically diverse VPLEX raid configurations

Distributed devices consist of same sized devices created on VPLEX clusters. Consistency groups ensure consistency across distributed devices.

Virtual device are created from these device types and are then exported to connected hosts.

Creating a VPLEX name mapping file for InfiniBox

Create a mapping file to batch claim multiple LUNs exported from the Infinibox array:

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Step 1 Login to the vplexcli.

Step 2 Change context to the storage volumes on the VPLEX cluster being exported to. For example:

VPlexcli:/>cd /clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes>

Step 3 List all storage volumes:

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> ll

Name VPD83 ID

Capacity Use Vendor IO Type Thin VIAS

---------------------------------------- -------------------------------

--------- -------- --------- -------- Status ----------- Rebuild

Based

---------------------------------------- -------------------------------

--------- -------- --------- -------- ------ ----------- ------- -

----

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae 2G unclaimed NFINIDAT

alive traditional false false

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf 2G unclaimed NFINIDAT


VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0 2G unclaimed NFINIDAT


VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1 2G unclaimed NFINIDAT


Step 4 Cut and paste the command output and save it to a file on the management server.

Step 5 Each claimed lun needs a unique name – preselect a unique string that will help identify LUNs to be claimed. Names:

Can only begin with an underscore or a letter

Can only contain letters numbers hyphens or underscores for remaining characters

Cannot exceed 58 characters

Should end in an underscore

Cannot end in a hyphen Examples:

InfiniBox_20140101

InfiniBox_aa3721_

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Step 6 Type the following command on the management server:

awk '{print $2, "claim_name_"NR" "}' /tmp/file1 > /tmp/filename.txt

Where: file1 is the name of the file you saved the storage volume output to claim_name is the unique name you selected for the luns to be claimed as filename.txt is a name that you will use during the claiming wizard step.

Edit filename.txt to add the phrase Generic storage-volumes to the very top of the file. TIP: The Linux based VPLEX management console includes vim which can be used to create and edit files text files.

Step 7 Enter the following command to claim the LUNs using the VPLEX claimingwizard.

Example:

service@VPLEX01:/tmp> vplexcli

Trying ::1...

Connected to localhost.

Escape character is '^]'.

Enter User Name: service

Password:

creating

logfile:/var/log/VPlex/cli/session.log_service_localhost_T10175_201502051

90610

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VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes>

claimingwizard -f /tmp/NFINIDAT.txt -c cluster-1

Found unclaimed storage-volume VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1

vendor NFINIDAT : claiming and naming NFINIDAT_volume_4.

Found unclaimed storage-volume VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf


Found unclaimed storage-volume VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0


Found unclaimed storage-volume VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae


Claimed 4 storage-volumes in storage array NFINIDAT

Claimed 4 storage-volumes in total.


VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> ll

Name VPD83 ID

Capacity Use Vendor IO Type Thin VIAS

---------------------------------------- -------------------------------

--------- -------- --------- -------- Status ----------- Rebuild

Based

---------------------------------------- -------------------------------

--------- -------- --------- -------- ------ ----------- ------- -

----

NFINIDAT_volume_1

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae 2G claimed NFINIDAT

alive normal false false

NFINIDAT_volume_2

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf 2G claimed NFINIDAT


NFINIDAT_volume_3

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0 2G claimed NFINIDAT


NFINIDAT_volume_4

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1 2G claimed NFINIDAT


Create a meta-volume

As discussed, VPLEX requires four LUNs (min 78GB) for metadata volumes.

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Step 1 Export the LUNs from the array.

Step 2 Use the configuration show-meta-volume-candidates command to display possible candidates.

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes> configuration show-meta-

volume-candidates

Name Capacity Vendor IO Status

Type Array Name

---------------------------------------- -------- -------- ---------

----------- ----------------------

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d2 90G NFINIDAT alive

traditional NFINIDAT-InfiniBox-b0f000







Step 3 Use the meta-volume create command to create a new meta-volume. The syntax for the command is:

meta-volume create --name meta-volume_name --storage-volumes storage-

volume_1,storage-volume_2,storage-volume_3

Where:

meta-volume_name is a name assigned to the meta-volume.

storage-volume_1 is the VPD (vital product data) name of the meta-volume.

storage-volume_2 is the VPD name of the mirror. The mirror can consist of multiple storage volumes (which will become a RAID 1), in which case you would include each additional volume, separated by commas. The meta-volume and mirror must be on separate arrays, and should be in separate failure domains. This requirement also applies to the mirror volume and its backup volume. Note: Storage volumes must be unclaimed and on different arrays.

VPlexcli:/> meta-volume create --name c1_meta --storage-volumes

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d2,

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d3

This may take a few minutes...

Meta-volume c1_meta is created at /clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes.

Step 4 Use the ll command to display the new meta-volume’s status, verify that the attribute active shows a value of true.

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes> ll c1_meta

/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/c1_meta:

Attributes:

Name Value

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---------------------- ------------

active true

application-consistent false

block-count 23592704

block-size 4K

capacity 90G

component-count 2

free-slots 64000

geometry raid-1

health-indications []

health-state ok

locality local

operational-status ok

ready true

rebuild-allowed true

rebuild-eta -

rebuild-progress -

rebuild-status done

rebuild-type full

slots 64000

stripe-depth -

system-id c1_meta

transfer-size 128K

vias-based false

volume-type meta-volume

Contexts:

Name Description

---------- -------------------------------------------------------------

------

components The list of components that support this device or system

virtual

volume.

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/c1_meta> ll components/

/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/c1_meta/components:

Name Slot Type

Operational Health Capacity

---------------------------------------- Number -------------- Status

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State --------

---------------------------------------- ------ -------------- -------

---- ------ --------

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d2 0 storage-volume ok

ok 90G

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d3 1 storage-volume ok

ok 90G

Use the ll command to display the new meta-volume’s status, verify that the attribute active shows a value of true.

Create a logging device

Step 1 On VPLEX, claim the devices:

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> claim

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000303442 -n se-logging-source01


VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000303443 -n se-logging-source02

Step 2 On VPLEX, create extents:

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> extent

create -d se-logging-source01, se-logging-source02

Step 3 Create the logging volume. The syntax for the command is:

logging-volume create --name name --geometry [raid-0 |raid-1] --extents

context-path --stripe-depth

Where:

--name - The name for the new logging volume

--geometry - Valid values are raid-0 or raid-1

--extents - Context paths to one or more extents to use to create the logging volume.

--stripe-depth - Required if --geometry is raid-0. Strip depth must be: greater than zero, but not greater than the number of blocks of the smallest element of the RAID 0 device being created and a multiple of 4 K bytes.

extents extent_se-logging-source01_1,extent_se-logging-source02_1

Logging-volume 'c1-logging-volume_vol' is created at /clusters/cluster-

1/system-volumes.

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes> ll

Name Volume Type Operational Health

Active Ready Geometry Component Block Block Capacity Slots

------------------------------- -------------- Status State ---

--- ----- -------- Count Count Size -------- -----

------------------------------- -------------- ----------- ------ ---

--- ----- -------- --------- -------- ----- -------- -----

c1-logging-volume_vol logging-volume ok ok -

- raid-1 2 262560 4K 1G -

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VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/c1-logging-volume_vol> ll

components/

/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes/c1-logging-volume_vol/components:

Name Slot Type Operational Health

Capacity

------------------------- Number ------ Status State --

------

------------------------- -------- ------ -------------- -------- --

------

extent_se-logging-source01_1 0 extent ok ok

1G

extent_se-logging-source02_1 1 extent ok ok

1G

Create a user device

Storage presented to the back end is provisioned to hosts through the front end. Advanced provisioning options allow devices to be striped, mirrored, and concatenated as required by the host and application environments.

On a cluster, click on Storage Array, select the array and then “Show Logical Units”. These are the devices that the cluster can see; ensure that the cluster can see the LUNs you intend to use to create your devices.

Step 1 Claim the storage volume. In order to use the LUNs, the VPLEX must first claim them. You can use the VPLEX cli to claim the devices:


VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000003434 -n se-oralog-vmax


VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000003435 -n se-oraredo-vmax


VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000003436 -n se-oradata-vmax


Step 2 Create extents. In order to create the extents, click Provision Storage, Cluster-1, physical storage, Storage Volumes, you should see your newly claimed volumes as well as any other devices; they can be used or unclaimed. Provision Storage > Cluster-1 > Physical Storage

Click create extents.

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Select the devices and click “Add”

Next

Commit The VPLEX will automatically populate the left side with any possible candidates; choose the LUNs you want and add them to the right side. Click Next and then Finish.

Step 3 Create Devices from extents. From the extents, devices can be created, either using a 1:1 mapping of extent to device, or multiple extents per device. Provision Storage > Cluster-1 >Devices

Click Create

Select the devices

Devices can be created in different configurations: RAID-0, RAID-1, RAID-C

and 1:1 mapping of extents to devices.

Automatically create a virtual volume on each device: “NO”

o DO NOT create a virtual volume at this time. You will not be able to

create a distributed device if the virtual volume already exists on the

device.

Click next and then commit your changes.

Step 4 Create Virtual Volumes In order to create a virtual volume click Provision Storage, Cluster-1, Virtualized Storage and Virtual Volumes: Provision Storage > Cluster-1 >Virtual Volumes

Click “Create from Devices”

Select devices

add virtual volumes

ok

Step 5 Create Storage View

Add Initiators (Hosts, HBAs)

Go to Provision Storage and select cluster > Initiators.

Select the unregistered initiator and click Register.

Type a meaningful name for the initiator or accept the one provided.

Select a host type and click OK

add ports (FE ports VPLEX)

Add virtual volumes

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EMC VPLEX-assisted data relocation

VPLEX migrations are non-disruptive. The applications do not need to be stopped in order to migrate storage. VPLEX is fully heterogeneous. It supports both EMC and non-EMC arrays.

There are two primary use cases for data relocation:

Tech-refresh of an old array: In this use case, a new array is placed under VPLEX management. Volumes from an existing array are migrated onto the new array. Typically, the older array is then retired or repurposed.

Load balancing across arrays: In this use case, there are multiple arrays behind VPLEX. Either because of capacity reasons or performance reasons or the need for some specific capability, volumes need to be moved from one array to another. Both arrays continue to be kept in service after the volume moves are complete.

VPLEX Local can be used to accomplish both use cases above.

VPLEX Metro adds one more variant to the above scenarios:

Migrating across arrays across data centers. VPLEX Metro extends the pool of arrays that you can manage beyond the confines of your data center.

Available operations:

Extent - performs intra-cluster move of data from one extent to another.

Device - performs intra-cluster move of data from one device to another.

Batch - a CLI only option that groups extent or device mobility jobs into a batch job.

Migration procedure

1. Create a batch migration plan. A plan is a file that identifies the source and target

devices and other attributes.

2. Check the plan and then start the migration session.

3. Verify the status of the migration.

4. Verify that the migration has completed. When the migration completes the

percentage done will show 100.

5. Once the synchronization completes, the migration session can be committed.

6. Clean up the migration. This dismantles the source device down to the storage volume

and the source storage device is changed to an unclaimed state.

7. Remove all information about the migration session from the VPLEX.

8. Post-Migration task, depends if you want to redeployed the devices for other uses in

the VPLEX or if the source storage system needs to be removed by performing the

necessary masking, zoning, and other configuration changes.

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Migration Steps

Initial

state

Host writing I/Os to VPLEX virtual volume.

Step 1 Add target array and expose volumes to VPLEX.

Step 2 Establish mirror between source volume and target volume.

From here, you have two options, it dependent on the scale of the operations.

Migrate on a volume-by-volume bases.

Migrate as a batch (especially useful for the tech refresh scenario).

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Step 3 VPLEX ensures that the volumes on the two arrays are in sync. Host READ I/Os are

directed to the source leg. Host WRITE I/Os are sent to both legs of the mirror. After both volumes are in complete sync, I/Os continues until you decide to disconnect the source volume. Even after the volumes are in sync, you have the option to remove the destination volume and go back to the source.

Step 4 Once volumes are in sync, disconnect the source volume / array. From the host standpoint, quite literally, it does not know that anything has changed.

Migration Example using the Unisphere for VPLEX UI

Step 1 Identify Volume(s) to be migrated. For each volume, identify the geometry (RAID type), members (devices) and device size. Taking note of volume size (Blocks x Block size). The size of the volumes must be the same or larger size that the source devices to be replaced.

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Step 2 Select add remote mirror.

Step 3 Select the device that you want to mirror and then click next.

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Step 4 On the next screen select each source and target device. Click both devices and Add Mirror.

Step 5 Click next to synchronize data, which will bring you to the consistency group page.

At this time you can choose to create a new group, add to an existing group or no group at all. We will create a new Consistency Group at this time.

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Step 6 Commit your changes.

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Step 6 If you check Distributed Devices now, you will see your newly created mirrored device.

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Step 7 You’ll notice that you have an “unexported” tag under the service status. This means that the device has not yet been masked to an initiator and therefore now storage views exist for this volume.

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Step 8 If you go back to Cluster-1 and then click on Storage Views. You’ll see that there already exists a view that includes the initiator as well as the ports on the Vplex that present storage out to hosts. Go to the Virtual Volumes tab and you’ll see the volumes that are already presented out to the host. Add your virtual volume.

If you go back to Virtual Volumes in the Distributed Storage tab, you’ll see that the service status is now ‘running’ instead of unexported. This also means that the host can now see the newly created device.

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Considerations and best practices

Schedule data migration during off-hours to minimize the impact of an increased workload on the back end

Consider pausing data migration during critical hours of production and resuming it during off-peak hours.

Up to 25 migration sessions can run concurrently on a VPLEX system. Additional sessions can be defined and queued for execution. When a running session completes, a queued session will begin.

Migrate one server or cluster at a time.

The default transfer size value is 2 MB. It is configurable for 4 KB to 32MB. When the transfer size is set large, migration will be faster but potentially could impact performance on the front end. Smaller transfer size will result in less front-end impact but migrations will take longer.

A batch can process either extents or devices, but not a mix of both.

Batch mobility can only be performed via the CLI.

Best practices recommendations when provisioning Virtual Devices

CONSIDERATIONS FOR META-VOLUMES:

For each VPLEX cluster, allocate four storage volumes of at least 80 GB as metadata volumes.

Configure the metadata volumes for each cluster with multiple back-end storage volumes provided by different storage arrays of the same type.

Use Infini-RAID for metadata volumes. The data protection capabilities provided by these storage arrays ensure the integrity of the system's metadata.

Read caching should be enabled.

A hot spare meta-volume must be preconfigured in case of a catastrophic failure of the active meta-volume.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR LOGGING DEVICES

VPLEX uses logging devices to track changes during a loss of connectivity or loss of a volume that is a mirror in a distributed device.

STORING THE FUTURE

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Use Infini-RAID for logging volumes. The data protection capabilities provided by the storage array ensure the integrity of the logging volumes.

Each VPLEX cluster should have sufficient logging volumes to support its distributed devices. The logging volume must be large enough to contain one bit for every page of distributed storage space. See EMC documentation.

For logging volumes the best practice is to mirror them across two or more back-end arrays to eliminate the possibility of data loss on these volumes.

You can have more than one logging volume, and can select which logging volume is used for which distributed device.

The logging devices can experience significant I/O bursts during and after link outages. The best practice is to stripe each logging volume across many [TG1] disk for speed and also to have a mirror on a separate back-end array.

Volumes that will be used for logging volumes must be initialized (have zeros written to their entire LBA range) before they can be used.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR USER VOLUMES

Extents should be sized to match the desired virtual volume's capacity. Do not create smaller extents and then use devices to concatenate or stripe the extents. When disk capacities are smaller than desired volume capacities, best practice is to create a single slice per disk, and use RAID structures to concatenate or stripe these slices into a larger user volume.

Each storage view contains a list of host/initiator ports, VPLEX FE ports, and virtual volumes. A one-to-one mapping of storage view and host is recommended.

Each storage view should contain a minimum of two director FE ports, one from an A director and one from a B director.

A storage view should contain a recommended minimum of two host initiator ports.

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