server isilonsd edge with isilonsd management emc · update 1, or 6.0 update 2 l access vmware...

EMCIsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD ManagementServerVersion 1.0.1

Installation and Administration Guide

Copyright © 2015-2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.

Published March 2017

Dell believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED “AS-IS.“ DELL MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND

WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION, AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF

MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. USE, COPYING, AND DISTRIBUTION OF ANY DELL SOFTWARE DESCRIBED

IN THIS PUBLICATION REQUIRES AN APPLICABLE SOFTWARE LICENSE.

Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.

Published in the USA.

EMC CorporationHopkinton, Massachusetts 01748-91031-508-435-1000 In North America 1-866-464-7381www.EMC.com

2 IsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD Management Server 1.0.1 Installation and Administration Guide

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This section contains the following topics:

l About this guide................................................................................................... 4l Isilon OneFS storage and architecture................................................................. 4l EMC IsilonSD Edge storage and architecture.......................................................5l EMC IsilonSD Edge installation requirements.......................................................6l Identify systems compatible with EMC IsilonSD Edge........................................ 10l EMC IsilonSD Edge licensing overview............................................................... 10l Recommended reading....................................................................................... 13

Introduction 3

About this guideThis guide can be used with OneFS versions 8.x.x.x and IsilonSD Management Serverversion 1.0.1.

VMware administrators and storage administrators can use this guide to deploy andadminister IsilonSD Management Server for deploying and configuring OneFS as avirtual machine on VMware ESXi hosts. In order to use this guide effectively,administrators must be familiar with the VMware vSphere infrastructure, ESXi hostadministration, and virtual machine deployment and configuration procedures.

The following conventions are adopted in this guide to represent the first andsubsequent occurrences of the frequently-used terminology in a section:

First occurrence in the title andintroductory paragraph

Subsequent occurrences

EMC IsilonSD Edge IsilonSD Edge

IsilonSD cluster cluster

IsilonSD node node

IsilonSD Management Server management server

IsilonSD Management Plug-in management plug-in

VMware vCenter server vCenter

For a description of the terminology that is referenced in this guide, see the EMCIsilonSD Edge Terminology section.

Isilon OneFS storage and architectureIsilon OneFS consists of a number of rackable EMC Isilon nodes that run OneFS. Thenodes are clustered together to provide scale-out file services that are resilient tonode and drive failures.

OneFS implements network RAID capabilities. Files stored in the cluster are stripedacross multiple nodes through a forward error correcting scheme that is ageneralization of the RAID-5 and RAID-6 technologies. Through the protectionsettings, a storage administrator can specify the number of simultaneous node anddrive failures to tolerate before data becomes unavailable. The protection settings canbe specified at individual file and directory levels.

On top of the file system is a clustered and scalable network protocols stack thatimplements dynamic IP migration and data-access mechanisms, such as NFS version3/4, CIFS/SMB, HDFS, FTP, Isilon Swift, and HTTP. The implementation supportssimultaneous access to the same data through these network protocols along withscalable fault-tolerant file-locking mechanisms across the cluster.

OneFS networking considerationsAn EMC Isilon cluster accesses two networks:

l The cluster’s back-end network over which the nodes of the cluster communicatewith each other. The back-end network is usually isolated from devices that arenot in the cluster.

l The front-end network over which clients can move data in and out of the cluster.

Introduction


When configuring an EMC Isilon cluster, a storage administrator must allocate tworanges of IP addresses in different IP subnets—one for each of the back-end andfront-end networks.

OneFS storage considerationsAn EMC Isilon node has a boot device, a journaling device, and a fixed set of datadrives for its storage requirements. The drives and devices are typically not sharedwith the other nodes.

Configuring a OneFS clusterConfiguring a OneFS cluster involves racking the Isilon nodes, connecting their back-end interfaces to the back-end switch, and powering on the nodes. After this processis completed successfully, an unconfigured node is added. Starting with this node, youcan create a new cluster or you can join the node to an existing cluster that isaccessible over its back-end network. You can then configure the cluster through oneof the nodes and join additional unconfigured nodes to the cluster. A OneFS clustersupports a minimum of three nodes.

EMC IsilonSD Edge storage and architectureEMC IsilonSD Edge creates OneFS virtual clusters through the resources available onVMware ESXi hosts. The OneFS clusters are deployed as virtual machines (VMs) anddrives are hosted on data disks.

IsilonSD Edge components include IsilonSD Management Server, IsilonSDManagement Plug-in, and the OneFS virtual machine files. The management plug-in isbundled with the management server and automatically installs when the managementserver is deployed on an ESXi host and a VMware vCenter server is registered.

The management plug-in enables you to create an IsilonSD cluster by choosing ESXihosts and drives on those hosts. A maximum of six nodes, which are actually OneFSvirtual machines, can be added to a cluster. In order to maintain the same protectionmodel that is followed for physical EMC Isilon clusters, a one-to-one correspondenceis maintained between an ESXi host and a node. Similarly, a one-to-onecorrespondence is maintained between a drive that is accessible to a node and aphysical drive. All these checks are performed by the management server.

When the management server deploys nodes, it prevents two or more nodes of thesame cluster from sharing the same ESXi host. When selecting physical drives for anode, the management server prevents hosting of more than one virtual disk on anysingle drive.

EMC IsilonSD Edge networking considerationsThe OneFS data-path requires a minimum of two NICs to provide connectivity forback-end and front-end networks respectively. In an EMC IsilonSD Edge deployment,a node has virtual NICs allocated to it that are plumbed into virtual switches. Werecommend that you connect the back-end and front-end Ethernet networks to twodifferent subnets. The front-end Ethernet subnet is for client and management accessand must be always accessible. A management or service IP address must be allocatedto the cluster in the same subnet as the front-end IP range. The management serverinteracts with the cluster through this IP address. We recommend that you create acluster with the maximum possible range of IP addresses considering futurerequirements. A supportability consideration for nodes is that their serial port devicemust be accessible over the network. This is accomplished through a virtual serial portconcentrator (vSPC) that runs on the management server. The ESXi host of a nodemust be able to establish a TCP connection to port number 8080 on the managementserver. Make sure that there is a proper route and there is no firewall set up betweenthe hosts and vCenter.

Introduction

EMC IsilonSD Edge storage and architecture 5

EMC IsilonSD Edge storage considerationsIn EMC IsilonSD Edge, the boot disk and journal disk of a node are backed by storagedevices. These devices determine the reliability of a node. The throughput and latencyof the journal disk determines the write throughput and latency of the node. Hence werecommend that you host a journal disk over a flash-backed storage device. Insummary, each node requires as many unique storage devices as the number of datadisks required for a node. The storage device on a given host cannot be sharedbetween the data disks of same node.

Note

IsilonSD Edge supports only direct-attached disks and VMFS-5 datastores (datadisks) that are created from the direct-attached disks. Fibre Channel SAN and iSCSIdrives or VMFS-5 datastores that are created using those drives are not supported.

The architecture of a three-node cluster is shown in the following figure:

EMC IsilonSD Edge installation requirementsBefore you deploy IsilonSD Management Server and an IsilonSD cluster, verify thatthe following requirements are satisfied.

Software and hardware requirements

Component Requirement Recommendation

VMware vCenter l VMware vCenter version 5.5Update 2, 5.5 Update 3, 6.0, 6.0Update 1, or 6.0 Update 2

l Access VMware vCenter throughthe VMware vSphere Web Client(browser-based client)

Host l VMware ESXi version 5.5 Update2, 5.5 Update 3, 6.0, 6.0 Update 1,or 6.0 Update 2

l Minimum number of hosts—3 with1 node per ESXi host per cluster

Introduction



l Maximum number of hosts—6 with1 node per ESXi host per cluster

Web browser Latest versions of Mozilla Firefox orGoogle Chrome

Note

VMware vSphere Web ClientIntegration Plug-in might not work ifyou access Chrome version 42.0 andlater and Mozilla firefox version 39.0and later. If you encounter issues, referto the following articles to fix theissues:

l http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2114800

l http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2125623

We recommend that youuse Mozilla Firefox todeploy the OVAtemplates. For all of theother IsilonSD clusterand node managementtasks, you can use thelatest versions of MozillaFirefox or GoogleChrome.

RAM Minimum unused RAM—6 GB per node

vCPU Minimum vCPUs—2 per node

Drive type SATA, SAS, SSD

Virtual infrastructure EMC IsilonSD Edge is supported onsystems that meet the minimumdeployment requirements and are builtwith Virtual SAN-certified components.For more information, see the Identifysystems compatible with EMC IsilonSDEdge section.

Storage requirements


Data disks l Either 6 or 12 defined data disks

l Minimum size of each data disk—64GB

l Maximum size of each data disk—2TB

l Minimum cluster capacity—1152 GB(Calculated as shown: Minimum disksize * # of drives per node * 3(minimum number of nodes))

Introduction

EMC IsilonSD Edge installation requirements 7

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2114800









l Maximum cluster capacity—Variesdepending on your licenses and theresources available on your system.

Journal disk l Number of journal disks per node—1

l SSD with at least 1 GB of free spaceper node

Boot disk l Number of boot disks per node—1

l SSD or HDD with at least 20 GB offree space.

Total disks (data disks,journal disks, and bootdisks put together)

l Minimum number of disks per node—8 (6 data disks, 1 journal disk, and1 boot disk)

Note

If the journal disk and boot disk areon the same drive, the minimumnumber of disks per node is 7.

l Maximum number of disks per node—14 (12 data disks, 1 SSD forjournal disk and 1 boot disk)

Note

In some cases, either the ESXi host or vCenter is unable to recognize the SSDs andthe SSDs are incorrectly displayed as HDDs. To fix this issue, connect to the ESXihost through the SSH client and run the following commands:

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp=VMW_SATP_LOCAL --device <disk-naa> --option "enable_ssd"esxcli storage core claiming unclaim --type=device --device <disk-naa>esxcli storage core claimrule loadesxcli storage core claimrule runesxcli storage core claiming reclaim -d <disk-naa>esxcli storage core device list -d <disk-naa> |grep SSD

Where disk-naa is the Network Address Authority identifier for the disk. Forexample, you can specify naa.6b8ca3a0f14b6f001c26242406e51fcf for disk-naa.See http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2013188 for more information.

Networking requirements


Internal network (back-end)

1 GB/10 GB Ethernet l We recommend a 10GB Ethernet for back-end networking.

Introduction





l Isolate back-endnetwork and ideallyroute it through adedicated VLAN orphysical switch.

l Configure LACP or aport channel group toimprove the back-endnetwork reliability andto increase theintercluster trafficthroughput.

Internal IP addresses l One IP address per node.

l The IP addresses that youconfigure for the nodes must becontiguous.

External network (front-end)

1 GB/10 GB Ethernet l We recommend a 10GB Ethernet for front-end networking.

l The front-end networkmust be a differentEthernet network thanthe back-end network.If this is not the case,make sure that thefront-end network is ona different IP subnetthan the back-endnetwork.

External IP addresses l One IP address per node.

l One IP address perSmartConnect zone. At least oneSmartConnect zone is requiredfor a cluster.

l Make sure that you allocate theIP address range based on themaximum number of nodes thatyou plan to deploy in the clustertaking future requirements intoconsideration. For example, for asix-node cluster, you mustallocate six IP addresses for thenode and one IP address forSmartConnect.

l The IP addresses that youconfigure for the nodes must becontiguous.

Introduction

EMC IsilonSD Edge installation requirements 9

Other networking requirementsA few other networking requirements follow:

l Nodes must be on the same Ethernet network.

l The Ethernet network must allow broadcasts to be propagated between thenodes.

l IsilonSD Management Server supports the vSPC (Virtual Serial PortConcentrator) service to provide serial console access to nodes. The vSPC servicelistens on port 8080. Make sure that port 8080 is open and available on the ESXihost for the vSPC connections. ESXi firewall settings can prevent transmissions.To avoid this issue, we recommend that you add a Firewall Rule Set for the serialport network connections before you connect network-backed virtual serial ports.Connect to the serial port output through a network with the virtual serial portconcentrator option enabled to allow only outgoing communication from the host.

Security requirementsBefore you deploy IsilonSD clusters, refer to the OneFS Security Configuration Guidefor mandatory security requirements for protecting the clusters against networkspoofing, sniffing, and tampering threats.

Identify systems compatible with EMC IsilonSD EdgeEMC IsilonSD Edge is supported on all of the VMware Virtual SAN compatible systemsthat meet the minimum deployment requirements. You can identify the compatiblesystems through the following procedure.

Procedure

1. Browse to the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vsan.

2. Select Virtual SAN from the What are you looking for field.

3. Select a ready node profile from the Ready Node Profile section to determinethe approximate configuration that meets your needs.

4. Select the supported version of VMware ESXi , for example, ESXi 5.5 U2, asthe host from the Ready Node Supported Releases section.

5. Select the other attributes depending on your workload profile as described inthe Virtual SAN Hardware Quick Reference Guide.

6. Click Update and View Results.

7. From the list of available Virtual SAN-supported platforms and approximateconfigurations, select the systems that are configurable to meet the IsilonSDEdge minimum deployment requirements, and include enterprise-quality diskdrives.

A few recommended systems include Dell PowerEdge R720, HP ProliantDL380p, and Supermicro XPRO-2887R, as these systems have been testedextensively.

8. On the page that appears when you click Build Your Own based on CertifiedComponents, select the drives to populate the systems that you selected in theprevious step.

EMC IsilonSD Edge licensing overviewWith EMC IsilonSD Edge, you can configure one license per cluster to manage yourstorage requirements. This license contains a cluster license and a OneFS features

Introduction


http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vsan

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vsan

license. These two licenses determine the maximum number of nodes, capacity,memory, vCPU, disks, and IsilonSD cluster features that are available to you.

You can install IsilonSD Edge by configuring the free license that is bundled with theinstallation package. However, this license does not support all of the cluster features.To access advanced cluster features, you must purchase a license that supports thesefeatures. After obtaining the license keys, you can activate the licenses throughIsilonSD Management Server.

For questions related to the licensing support, contact the EMC eLicensing team. Forinformation regarding the purchase of licenses, contact your EMC Isilon salesrepresentative.

Note

If you have deployed an IsilonSD cluster by configuring the free license, you are notentitled to any support from EMC Isilon for product-related questions. You can postyour questions at https://community.emc.com/community/products/isilon forassistance.

The following table summarizes the availability of the cluster features depending onthe type of licenses you have configured for your installation.

Feature Function Free license Paid license

CloudPools Creates file poolpolicies that archivefiles to the cloud

no yes

NFS, SMB,HTTP, FTP,HDFS

File-sharing andtransfer protocols

yes yes

InsightIQ Monitors andanalyzes theperformance of acluster to help youoptimize storageresources andforecast capacity

yes yes

SyncIQ Asynchronouslyreplicates data onanother cluster andsupports failoverand failbackbetween clusters

no yes

SmartLock Protects criticaldata from malicious,accidental, orpremature alterationor deletion.

no yes

Introduction

EMC IsilonSD Edge licensing overview 11

https://community.emc.com/community/products/isilon


Note

IsilonSD Edge supportsthe SmartLocksoftware module bothin the enterprise andcompliance modes.However, if the clusteris running in compliancemode, you cannot addnew nodes to thecluster. Also, theIsilonSD cluster maynot comply with SECregulations.

SmartConnectAdvanced

Manages round-robin connections,CPU utilization,connectioncounting, andthroughputbalancing

yes yes

SmartPools Groups nodes andfiles into pools

yes yes

SmartDedupe Saves storagespace on a clusterby reducingredundant data

yes yes

SmartQuota Monitors andenforcesadministrator-defined storagelimits

yes yes

SnapShotIQ Creates snapshotsto protect dataagainst accidentaldata deletion andmodification andrestores modified ordeleted data

yes yes

Isilon Swift Provides object-based storagecapabilities

yes yes

Two-wayNDMP backup

A Network DataManagementProtocol (NDMP) inwhich a datamanagementapplication (DMA)

no no

Introduction



on a backup serverinstructs a BackupAccelerator node onthe cluster to backup data to a tapemedia server that isattached to theBackup Acceleratornode

Three-wayNDMP backup

A Network DataManagementProtocol (NDMP) inwhich a datamanagementapplication (DMA)on a backup serverinstructs the clusterto back up data to atape media serverthat is attachedeither to the LAN ordirectly to the DMA

yes yes

Recommended readingWe recommend that you consult the following documentation as you install and runEMC IsilonSD Edge.

l EMC IsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD Management Server Release Notes available on the EMC IsilonSD Edge Info Hub page on the EMC Isilon Community Network

l The following documentation which is accessible from the release-specific links onthe Isilon Info Hubs page:

n Isilon OneFS Release Notes

n Isilon Supportability and Compatibility Guide

n OneFS Web Administration Guide

n OneFS CLI Administration Guide

n OneFS Backup and Recovery Guide

n OneFS Event Reference

l vCenter Server 5.5 Update 2 Release Notes




Introduction

Recommended reading 13

https://community.emc.com/docs/DOC-49267

https://community.emc.com/docs/DOC-44304

https://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-vcenter-server-55u2-release-notes.html

https://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsphere/55/vsphere-vcenter-server-55u3-release-notes.html



Introduction


CHAPTER 2

Summary of EMC IsilonSD Edge Installation


l EMC IsilonSD Edge installation overview............................................................ 16l Download the EMC IsilonSD Edge installation files............................................. 16l EMC IsilonSD Edge installation workflow............................................................ 17

Summary of EMC IsilonSD Edge Installation 15

EMC IsilonSD Edge installation overviewYou must download the EMC IsilonSD Edge installation files or copy and save the URLof the installation files to start the installation.

All the components mentioned in the EMC IsilonSD Edge storage and architecturesection must be deployed successfully to enable the software-defined storage feature.Deployment of each component follows a separate workflow. The process is describedin detail in the subsequent sections.

Download the EMC IsilonSD Edge installation filesFollow this procedure to download the EMC IsilonSD Edge installation files. ContactEMC Isilon Technical Support if you have any questions regarding the installationpackage.

Procedure

1. Perform one of these steps depending on whether you are using a free licenseor have purchased a license of IsilonSD Edge:

l If you have purchased a license of IsilonSD Edge, go to EMC Online Supportand select the desired versions of the following files from the Downloadsfor IsilonSD Edge page. Refer to the Compatibility matrix for EMC IsilonSDEdge section in EMC IsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD Management Server ReleaseNotes for information about the compatible versions of VMware ESXi,management server, and OneFS VMs.

n Expand the PRODUCT TOOL section to download the managementserver OVA file for installing the management server for the first time.Download the management server RPM file from the same location forupgrading the management server.

n Click Browse Products > IsilonSD Edge on the left pane to select thedesired version of the OneFS VM.

n Click Documentation to access the documentation for OneFS andIsilonSD Edge. You can access the IsilonSD Edge Info Hub, EMC IsilonSDEdge With IsilonSD Management Server Installation and Administration Guideand EMC IsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD Management Server Release Notesdirectly from the Downloads for IsilonSD Edge page.

l If you have not purchased a license but would like to try out the most recentversion of IsilonSD Edge, download or copy the URL of the installationarchive from the EMC IsilonSD Edge community page.

The installation archive consists of the following files:

l EMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.ova—The IsilonSD ManagementServer installation image that includes IsilonSD Management Plug-in

l EMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.rpm—The latest upgraded image ofIsilonSD Management Server

l EMC_IsilonSD_EDGE_OneFS_VM_X.X.X.X.ova—OneFS image built forvirtual environment

l OneFS_vX.X.X.X_Install.tar.gz—The latest upgraded image ofOneFS



https://support.emc.com/downloads/39972_IsilonSD-Edge

https://www.emc.com/products-solutions/trial-software-download/isilonsd-edge.htm

l EMC IsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD Management Server Installation andAdministration Guide—A document with instructions for installing andadministering IsilonSD Edge

l EMC IsilonSD Edge With IsilonSD Management Server Release Notes—Releasenotes for IsilonSD Edge

l The installation files for Isilon InsightIQ

2. If you are copying the files, copy them to a virtual machine disk on the samenetwork as the VMware ESXi host where you want to install the managementserver.

EMC IsilonSD Edge installation workflowAfter downloading the binary files for installing IsilonSD Management Server and theOneFS virtual machine files, you can install EMC IsilonSD Edge.

The management server binary file includes a free license and IsilonSD ManagementPlug-in.

The workflow for installing IsilonSD Edge follows. Detailed instructions are given in theprevious and subsequent sections.

Procedure

1. Contact your EMC Isilon sales representative to verify that you have theappropriate license keys based on your cluster requirements.

2. Verify the prerequisites for installing IsilonSD Edge. If you ignore this step, youmight run into problems. For more information, refer to the details in the EMCIsilonSD Edge installation requirements section.

3. Download the IsilonSD Edge installation package to a location on your system.For more information, refer to the details included in the Download the EMCIsilonSD Edge installation files section.

4. Deploy the management server on the VMware ESXi host to create a virtualmachine. For more information, refer to the details included in the Working withIsilonSD Management Server section.

5. Log in to the stand-alone management server interface, add license keys, andregister one or more VMware vCenter servers. For more information, refer tothe details included in the Working with IsilonSD Management Server section.

6. Connect to vCenter through the VMware vSphere Web Client. Make sure thatyou are able to see the management plug-in in vCenter.

7. Deploy IsilonSD clusters and add nodes depending on your licenses. For moreinformation, refer to the details included in the Deploying IsilonSD Clusterschapter.


EMC IsilonSD Edge installation workflow 17

CHAPTER 3

Working With IsilonSD Management Server


l IsilonSD Management Server overview.............................................................. 20l Deploy IsilonSD Management Server................................................................. 20l Connect to IsilonSD Management Server...........................................................23l Register a vCenter server.................................................................................. 26l Unregister a vCenter server............................................................................... 28l Register an EMC IsilonSD Edge license..............................................................28l Unregister an EMC IsilonSD Edge license.......................................................... 30l Manage OVA templates..................................................................................... 30l Change the password for IsilonSD Management Server..................................... 31l Configure the network settings for IsilonSD Management Server......................32

Working With IsilonSD Management Server 19

IsilonSD Management Server overviewIsilonSD Management Server serves as a gateway for deploying OneFS clusters onVMware ESXi. These clusters that are deployed on the ESXi hosts are called IsilonSDclusters. You must successfully deploy and configure the management server todeploy the IsilonSD clusters. The management server manages IsilonSD licenses whichin turn determine the software modules that are available to you for accessing theadvanced cluster capabilities. The management server orchestrates the functioning ofmultiple versions of IsilonSD clusters through licensing.

Two types of users typically access the management server:

l Administrator—Manages the back-end tasks that are associated with themanagement server, some of which are as follows:

n Back up and restore the management server database

n Connect to the management server through the SSH client and collect logs

n Gather the management server's serial console information

n Upgrade the management server

l Admin—Manages the front-end tasks that are associated with the managementserver user interface, some of which are as follows:

n Add and remove licenses

n Register VMware vCenter server instances

n Change the management server user interface password

n Manage the OVA template that is used for deploying an IsilonSD cluster

Each of these user types have their own credentials for logging in to the managementserver.

Deploy IsilonSD Management ServerIsilonSD Management Server is deployed on a VMware ESXi host from an OpenVirtualization Application (OVA) file. We recommend that you deploy the managementserver on an ESXi host that is different from the ESXi host you will access later todeploy an IsilonSD cluster.

Procedure

1. Log in to the VMware vSphere Web Client through the following URL:

https://<vcenter_dnsname_or_ip_address>:9443/vsphere-client/The vSphere Web Client opens.

2. On the vCenter home page, click vCenter > Hosts and Clusters.



3. Select a local host from a cluster and click Actions > Deploy OVF Template.

The Deploy OVF Template wizard appears.

Note

When you try to deploy the management server from VMware vSphere WebClient through Google Chrome version 42 or later, or Mozilla Firefox version 39or later, error messages might appear. If you do encounter issues, follow theworkarounds that are recommended in the articles http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2114800 and http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2125623.

4. On the Select source page, provide the complete URL to the OVA file.Alternatively, browse to the folder where you have downloaded theEMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.ova file, select the file, and then clickNext.


Deploy IsilonSD Management Server 21







5. On the Review details page, review the details, and then click Next.

6. On the Select name and folder page, perform the following actions:

a. Change the default name for the management server, if necessary.

b. Select a folder or datacenter within the inventory where the managementserver will reside.

c. Click Next.

7. On the Select a resource page, select a host to deploy and run themanagement server.

8. On the Select storage page, select the following parameters:

a. A virtual disk format.

b. A virtual machine storage policy, if applicable.

c. A datastore for storing the virtual machine configuration files on thedestination resource that you selected in the previous step.

d. Click Next.

9. On the Setup networks page, configure the networking parameters:

Note

The Setup networks page appears in the list as shown only after you haveselected a destination resource.

a. Select the source and destination networks.



b. Select the IP protocol.

c. Set the network allocation to DHCP.

If you select static, assign the appropriate network information.

d. Click Next.

10. On the Ready to complete page, review the details for all the settings.

11. After you have confirmed and accepted all the settings, click Power on afterdeployment to power on the management server.

12. Click Back to return to the previous screens to make any changes.

13. To accept all of the deployment settings and close the Deploy OVF Templatewizard, click Finish.

The Recent Tasks column shows the progress of deployment. If the template isuploaded successfully, the management server is added to your VMwareinventory.

Connect to IsilonSD Management ServerYou must connect to IsilonSD Management Server for registering a VMware vCenterserver, adding licenses, selecting OneFS virtual machine templates, and for changingthe administrator password.

Before you begin

Before you proceed, make sure that the management server virtual machine has beendeployed successfully.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, select Hosts and Clustersfrom the right pane.

2. Browse and select the host on the left pane where you deployed themanagement server virtual machine.

3. Click the Related Objects tab on the right pane and click VM Network.

4. From the list of virtual machines, select the management server virtual machinethat you deployed previously, right-click, and click Power > Power On.

5. Right-click the management server virtual machine and click Open Console.

The video console of the management server virtual machine opens. You areprompted to change the administrator password as illustrated in the followingscreen:


Connect to IsilonSD Management Server 23

Note

An administrator performs back-end tasks associated with a managementserver. For more information about this user type, see the IsilonSD ManagementServer overview section.

6. Provide a strong password by following these guidelines:

l The password should have a minimum of eight characters.

l The password should not contain commonly used strings, user names, oraccount names.

l The password should have at least three or four character sets that includeuppercase characters, lowercase characters, numerals, and symbols.

l The password should not contain spaces.

Note

As you set the administrator password, be aware that you cannot recover thispassword if it is forgotten or lost. The administrator credentials are required forbacking up the IsilonSD cluster configuration data, which is a critical process forprotecting against the loss or unavailability of the IsilonSD Management Server.

The management server virtual machine restarts and refreshes to display twoURLs as shown in the following example:



l The first URL https://<management_server_url>:9443/ enablesyou to access the stand-alone management server user interface so you canmanage the management server virtual machine.

l The second URL https://<management_server_appliance_url>:5480/ enables you to access the management server appliance to managethe network settings and Proxy server settings of the management server.

7. To change the timezone, click Set Timezone.

8. Record both the URLs from the console.

9. Open a web browser (preferably the latest version of Mozilla Firefox) andconnect to the stand-alone management server user interface through the firstURL that was displayed in the console.

For example, type the following URL in a web browser to open the stand-alonemanagement server as shown in the subsequent screen:

https://10.28.51.58:9443/

10. Type admin for the user name and sunshine for the password to log in.

11. Review the end user license agreement, click I accept the terms of the licenseagreement, and then click Submit.


Connect to IsilonSD Management Server 25

12. Change the default admin password sunshine to a password of your choice.You must provide the changed password to log in to the management serversubsequently.

The stand-alone management server user interface appears as shown:

Register a vCenter serverYou must register a VMware vCenter server in order to deploy IsilonSD ManagementPlug-in.

Before you begin

Make sure that the vCenter server version is supported by IsilonSD ManagementServer. Also, the vCenter server must not have another management server instancealready installed on it. If that is the case, uninstall all the instances of the managementserver before you proceed.

Procedure

1. Connect to the management server as described in the Connect to IsilonSDManagement Server section.

2. On the Managed Virtual Infrastructure page of the management server, click+ to open the Register vCenter dialog box.



3. Specify a custom name for vCenter, for example, type my-vcenter in theCustom Name field.

4. Specify the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address of thevCenter server in the IP Address/Name field.

5. Specify the vCenter login credentials in the corresponding fields.

These are the same credentials that you would provide for logging into vCenter.

6. Click Save.

The system registers vCenter and installs the management plug-in on thatserver.

7. Log in to the VMware vSphere Web Client and perform the following steps tomake sure that vCenter is registered successfully:

a. On the vCenter home page, click Administration > vCenter ServerExtensions on the left pane. You will see IsilonSD Management Plug-in onthe right pane as shown:

b. On the right pane, click IsilonSD Management plug-in and then click theSummary tab. The following screen appears that provides information aboutthe management server that is connected to the vCenter.


Register a vCenter server 27

Unregister a vCenter serverYou can unregister a previously registered VMware vCenter server.

You typically unregister vCenter when you upgrade IsilonSD Management Server. Youalso unregister vCenter when you restore IsilonSD cluster configuration data.

Procedure

1. On the Managed Virtual Infrastructure page of the management server, selecta vCenter instance and click -.

2. On the Remove vCenter dialog box, provide the user name and password forthat vCenter instance.

3. Click Remove.

Note

To remove or disable unwanted instances of IsilonSD Management Plug-in fromvCenter, see this article.

Register an EMC IsilonSD Edge licenseYou can add and register one or more EMC IsilonSD Edge licenses. The licenses thatyou register determine the number of nodes that you can add to your IsilonSD cluster.

With the IsilonSD Management Server user interface open, follow this procedure foreach license key that you want to register.

Procedure

1. In the stand-alone management server user interface, click the License tab.The following screen appears:



https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1025360

A single free license is registered by default.

Note

You are not entitled to any support with this license.

2. To add your purchased license, click +. The Add License dialog box appears.

3. Add your license key in the License Key field, and click Next.

4. Read the software license and maintenance agreement.

5. Click I accept the terms of the license agreement, and then clickAcknowledge.

The <license>.csv file downloads automatically.

6. Save this license file locally.

7. Click Close.

The license key appears on the License Management page.

8. Send the license file to the Licensing and Support team at [email protected] to complete the license registration process.


Register an EMC IsilonSD Edge license 29

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Unregister an EMC IsilonSD Edge licenseYou can unregister an EMC IsilonSD Edge license that you previously registered.

With the IsilonSD Management Server user interface open, follow this procedure foreach license key that you want to unregister.

Procedure

1. In the stand-alone IsilonSD Management Server user interface, click theLicense tab.

2. From the License Management page, select a license key, and click -.

3. On the Remove License dialog box, click Remove.

The license key is unregistered.

Manage OVA templatesYou can upload the OneFS virtual machine that is bundled as an OVA template withyour installation package. Through the uploaded OneFS virtual machine template, youcan create an IsilonSD node in a VMware vCenter server. You can also delete an OVAtemplate or select a default template from the existing list.

Procedure

1. Click the Templates tab in the stand-alone IsilonSD Management Server userinterface.

2. To add an OVA template, perform the following actions:

a. Click + to open the Add Template dialog box.

b. Specify the URL of the EMC_IsilonSD_<version>.ova file to upload it.Alternatively, click Browse, and then click the specified area in the dialogbox to browse to the location where you have saved the template file, andupload the file. You can also drag and drop the file to the specified area inthe dialog box.

The OVA image or the OneFS build image is uploaded to IsilonSDManagement Server.



3. If you have uploaded multiple versions of the OVA template, for example, if youhave uploaded EMC_IsilonSD_8.0.0.0.ova andEMC_IsilonSD_EDGE_OneFS_VM_8.0.1.ova, perform the followingactions:

a. Select the required OVA template.

b. Click Set as Default to set the selected OVA template as the default.

The default template will be used for all the future cluster creation and nodeaddition tasks.

4. To remove an OVA template, perform the following actions:

a. Set another template as the default.

b. Select the template that you want to remove.

c. On the Templates page, click – to open the Remove Template dialog boxand remove the template.

Note

You cannot remove a template that you have set as the default.

Change the password for IsilonSD Management ServerIf you are required to periodically change the password for security reasons, followthis procedure.

Procedure

1. In the stand-alone IsilonSD Management Server user interface, click theSettings tab.

2. Type the old password, provide the new password, and reconfirm the newpassword in the corresponding fields.


Change the password for IsilonSD Management Server 31

For more information on setting a strong password, refer to step 5 in theConnect to IsilonSD Management Server section.

3. Click Save.

Configure the network settings for IsilonSD ManagementServer

If you want to reconfigure the network settings or the time zone for IsilonSDManagement Server, you can use the IsilonSD Management Server appliance. Themanagement server appliance is different from the stand-alone management serverinterface and must be used with discretion.

Procedure

1. To connect to the management server appliance, open a web browser and, inthe address bar, enter the second URL that is described in the Connect toIsilonSD Management Server section. Add 5480 for the port number.

For example, open a web browser and type the following URL:

https://10.28.51.58:5480/

2. Log in by providing the administrator credentials. The management serverappliance appears as shown:

Note

For more information about the administrator credentials, see the Connect toIsilonSD Management Server section.

3. Click the Time Zone tab and select a time zone for your system.

4. Click the Network tab and then click the Address tab.

5. Select a value for the IPv4 addressing.

6. Click Save Settings.

7. If you want to configure a proxy server, click the Proxy tab, and then select theUse a proxy server check box.

8. Specify the following values:

l The HTTP address for the proxy server

l The port number that is assigned to the proxy server



l The user name and password for the proxy server

9. Click Save Settings.

10. Log out of the management server appliance.


Configure the network settings for IsilonSD Management Server 33

CHAPTER 4

Deploying IsilonSD Clusters


l Deploying and configuring IsilonSD clusters....................................................... 36l IsilonSD cluster and node management tasks.....................................................36l Select a license key............................................................................................36l Select a host...................................................................................................... 38l Specify the storage settings.............................................................................. 39l Configure the IsilonSD cluster identity settings.................................................. 41l Configure the network settings..........................................................................42l View the summary and deploy the IsilonSD cluster.............................................44l Connect to the serial console of an IsilonSD node..............................................45

Deploying IsilonSD Clusters 35

Deploying and configuring IsilonSD clustersYou can use IsilonSD Management Plug-in to deploy and configure IsilonSD clusters.After successfully registering a VMware vCenter server through the IsilonSDManagement Server user interface, the management plug-in gets installed within thatvCenter server instance.

The management plug-in also enables you to scale the clusters by adding nodes. Thenumber of nodes that you can add to your cluster depends on the number of licensesyou own and on the underlying virtualization infrastructure.

You can also use the management plug-in to configure storage for the clusters,provided you configure direct attached storage through RAID, LUNs, or raw disks, andmake them available to the ESXi host. The management plug-in thereafter createsvirtual disks, formats the disks, and makes them available to the clusters.

IsilonSD cluster and node management tasksYou can perform most of the IsilonSD cluster and node management tasks through theIsilonSD web administration interface. However, you can perform the following tasksonly through IsilonSD Management Plug-in in VMware vCenter.

l Deploying a cluster

l Deleting a cluster

l Upgrading licenses on a cluster

l Adding nodes to a cluster

l Removing nodes from a cluster

l Adding drives

l Removing drives

l Smartfailing nodes

l Smartfailing drives

Note

After you deploy or delete clusters or add or remove nodes from the clusters, makesure to back up the cluster configuration data stored within the management serverdatabase. The backup can protect the configuration in case the management server isunavailable. See the Backup IsilonSD cluster configuration data section for details. Toback up the cluster configuration data, you must use the administrator password thatyou have set previously using the instructions in the Connect to the IsilonSDManagement Server section. If forgotten, the administrator password cannot berecovered or reset.

Select a license keyYou must select the appropriate license key to deploy the IsilonSD clusters and addnodes to the clusters.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters, andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you want to deploy the cluster.



2. Click the Manage tab and then click the IsilonSD Clusters tab.

3. Click Accept Certificate on the security message window to open a newtabbed page within the same browser for accepting the SSL certificate forIsilonSD Management Server.

Note

If you have not specified the correct FQDN or IP address of the vCenter serverin the System Name [FQDN or IP address] field in the Network Settingspage on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance Deployment screen, you willnot be able to proceed further even if you have accepted the SSL certificate.Reason being that vCenter encodes the system name (PNID) in the SSLcertificate of the system so that the components can communicate with oneanother using this name. You cannot change the vCenter system name (PNID)after the vCenter instance is deployed. Refer to https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2130599 for specific details. To overcome this issue, redeploy vCenter with thecorrect FQDN or IP address. Alternatively, perform these steps:

a. Connect to the serial console of the management server through an SSHclient.

b. Run nslookup <vCenter_system_name (PNID)>

c. If the nslookup command fails, modify the /etc/hosts file to add theentry that maps the vCenter system name(PNID) to the vCenter IP address.

4. Click Create IsilonSD Cluster on the welcome page.

Alternatively, click + on the left pane of the screen that appears when you clickthe IsilonSD Clusters tab, and perform the next set of actions that aredescribed in this section.

5. On the first page, provide the following details:


Select a license key 37

HTTPS://KB.VMWARE.COM/KB/2130599

HTTPS://KB.VMWARE.COM/KB/2130599

a. In the Select a license area, select a license key to deploy the cluster.

b. Depending on the selected license, recommended values for each of thenode configuration parameters are listed in the OneFS VM Configurationarea. Change the values as necessary.

Note

If the data disk size is less than 64 GB, an error message appears. Werecommend that you increase the cluster capacity to fix the error. For moreinformation about how the total data disk size is calculated, see the EMCIsilonSD Edge installation requirements section.

In the OneFS Features area, the cluster features that are available to youare listed. You cannot change this list.

6. Click Next.

The license key is validated. If successful, you can select the hosts on the nextpage. If unsuccessful, an error message appears. Fix the error to move to thenext page.

Select a hostYou must select a host within a datacenter to deploy your IsilonSD cluster. All thehosts that you select for a given cluster must reside within the same datacenter.

Before selecting a host, you must have successfully performed the tasks summarizedin steps 1 through 4. Proceed to step 5 for instructions on selecting a host.

Procedure







4. Specify the license and OneFS virtual machine configuration requirements todeploy the cluster, and click Next.

5. Select the hosts by providing the following details:

a. Select three or more physical hosts from the Hosts Selection area. Theresources available on the selected hosts are populated in the SelectedHosts area.

Note

Make sure that all the hosts that you select are synchronized with the sameNTP server.

6. Click Next.

The selection is validated. If successful, you can configure the storage and portdevices for the cluster on the next page. If unsuccessful, an error messageappears. Fix the error as indicated in the message to move to the next page.

Specify the storage settingsFor the hosts that you selected previously, you can provision storage either byaccepting the default disk selection or by selecting one or more disks based on yourcluster capacity requirement. You can also configure front-end and back-end portgroups for the host.

You cannot select SAN devices for storage.

Before selecting the storage settings, you must have successfully performed the taskssummarized in steps 1 through 5. Proceed to step 6 for instructions on specifying thestorage settings.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters, andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you want to deploy the IsilonSDcluster.


Specify the storage settings 39




4. Specify the license and OneFS virtual machine configuration requirements todeploy the cluster and click Next.

5. Select the hosts to deploy the cluster and click Next.

6. Select the storage and port groups by providing the following details:

a. Most of the settings, including the data disks, journal disks, and boot disksunder the IsilonSD Disk Type column are selected by default. To change thedefault configuration, clear the disk selection from the Name column andselect the desired disks for the first host. The number of disks that youselect here must be the same as the number of disks that you selectedpreviously for configuring the IsilonSD cluster.

Before selecting the disks, review the details in the following columns:

l The Type column lists whether the selected disk is a VMFS 5 datastoreor a disk.

Note

VMFS-5 datastores created using Fibre Channel SAN and iSCSI drivesare not supported.

l The Capacity column lists the total capacity of the disk.

l The Free Space column lists the free space available on the disk.

b. From the External Network Port Group area, select a primary front-endnetwork for the host.

c. From the Internal Network Port Group area, select a primary back-endnetwork for the host.



Note

Make sure that the back-end network is reachable from all of the hosts.

d. Click Next Host and configure the storage and network settings for thesecond host.

e. After you are done configuring the settings for all the hosts, click CompleteHost.

7. Click Next.

All the settings are validated. If successful, you can configure the clusteridentity settings on the next page. If unsuccessful, an error message appears.Fix the error as indicated in the message to move to the next page.

Configure the IsilonSD cluster identity settingsYou can specify identity attributes for the IsilonSD cluster and your contactinformation, so, if you have purchased a license, EMC Isilon Technical Supportpersonnel and event notification recipients can contact you.

Before configuring the cluster identity settings, you must have successfully performedthe tasks summarized in steps 1 through 6. Proceed to step 7 for instructions onconfiguring the cluster identity settings.

Procedure





4. Specify the license and OneFS virtual machine configuration requirements todeploy the cluster, and click Next.


6. Specify the storage and port group settings for the cluster and click Next.

7. Specify the cluster identity settings by providing the following details:


Configure the IsilonSD cluster identity settings 41

a. In the Enter Cluster identity data area, specify the following attributes:

l A cluster name that begins with a letter and has a total length of up to 11characters. For example, if you provide a name einstein, the IsilonSDnode name appears as IsilonSD-einstein-1, where 1 is the nodenumber that gets incremented automatically for every node that you add.

l A password for the cluster.

l An administrator password for the cluster.

l A character encoding set. UTF-8 is the default.

l A timezone.

b. If you have purchased a license, in the Contact Information area, providethe following details:

l Your company name

l Your name

l Your email address

l Your phone number

8. Click Next.

All the specified attributes are validated. If successful, you can configure thenetwork settings on the next page. If unsuccessful, an error message appears.Fix the error as indicated in the message to move to the next page.

Configure the network settingsYou can configure the internal and external network interfaces for an IsilonSD cluster.

All the IsilonSD nodes access two networks: an external network and an internalEthernet network. Additionally, nodes communicate with each other through anEthernet network. Each node uses a separate IP address to access each of thenetworks. Thus, a three-node cluster uses three IP addresses.

Before configuring the network settings, you must have successfully performed thetasks summarized in steps 1 through 7. Proceed to step 8 for instructions onconfiguring the network settings.



Procedure




Alternatively, click + on the left pane of the screen that appears when you clickthe IsilonSD Clusters tab, and perform the next set of actions described in thissection.




7. Specify the cluster identity settings and click Next.

8. Specify the network settings by providing the following details:

a. In the Enter external network data area, specify the following values:

l A netmask for the external network.

l A low IP address and a high IP address for the external IP range of yournetwork.

l An MTU value. The default value is 1500.

l The gateway IP address of your network to configure the gateway serverthrough which the cluster communicates with the clients outside of thenetwork.

l One or more comma-separated IP addresses of your DNS servers.

l Search domains for the external network. You can designate up to threeDNS servers and up to six search domains for your external network.

b. In the Enter internal network data area, specify the following values:

l A netmask for the internal network. Make sure that this netmask is notthe same as the netmask for the external network. This is because theexternal network and the internal network addresses cannot be in thesame IP subnet.

l A low IP address and a high IP address for the internal IP range of yournetwork.

Note

An internal network is a private network accessed by the cluster for intra-node communication. The internal network should not be routable on thecorporate network. It should also not overlap with the IP addresses in theexternal network configuration.

c. In the SmartConnect area, specify the SmartConnect zone name andservice IP address.

A sample screen with all the settings is shown:


Configure the network settings 43

9. Click Next.

All the values that you specified are validated. If successful, you can view asummary of the cluster configuration settings on the next page.

View the summary and deploy the IsilonSD clusterYou can view a summary of the IsilonSD cluster configuration settings to make surethat the cluster is deployed successfully.

Before deploying the cluster, you must have successfully performed the taskssummarized in steps 1 through 8. Proceed to step 9 for instructions on reviewing allthe settings and deploying the cluster.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you want to deploy the cluster.



Alternatively, click + on the left pane of the screen that appears when you clickthe IsilonSD Clusters tab, and perform the next set of actions described in thissection.




7. Specify the cluster identity settings and click Next.

8. Specify the network settings and click Next.

9. Review the settings for the storage and ports, the cluster identity attributes,and the internal and external networks.

The settings appear as shown:



10. Click Previous to change any settings.

11. Click Create to accept the cluster deployment settings and to deploy thecluster.

After the nodes in the cluster are deployed successfully, they boot up.Depending on the configuration of your cluster, this process may take sometime. We recommend that you stay on this page until the process is completedsuccessfully.

If desired, you can perform the following actions to view the status of the nodeconfiguration process:

a. Connect to the serial console of the management server through an SSHclient.

b. Retrieve the port numbers of the nodes.

c. Connect to the serial consoles of the nodes to view the progress.

Note

If there are issues with a cluster created using a purchased license and youwant to recreate the cluster, delete the cluster to unlock the license before youproceed.

Connect to the serial console of an IsilonSD nodeYou can retrieve the serial console information of an IsilonSD node and then connectto it. Serial console information is helpful if you want to view the status of the nodeconfiguration process when you are deploying an IsilonSD cluster. Serial consoleinformation is also helpful when a node panics and you want to connect to the nodeand retrieve the stack traces for debugging purposes.

Procedure

1. Connect to IsilonSD Management Server through the SSH client by providingthe administrator credentials.


Connect to the serial console of an IsilonSD node 45

2. Run the following command to view the serial port numbers of each of thenodes in the cluster:

vSPCClient

The output is shown in the following example:

IsilonSD-Demo-1:503d73af0286db2c-98bf32f7d143119a:50000IsilonSD-Demo-2:503d15544faa0f09-fe681f6157766dd1:50001IsilonSD-Demo-3:503db7bda1697ad4-a8f47d6a1c5b0eed:50002

If there are multiple clusters, run the following command for each of theclusters to identify their port numbers:

vSPCClient | grep <cluster_name>

Note

After you delete a cluster, the serial port numbers of the nodes in the clusterwill be displayed for up to 24 hours when you run the vSPCClient command.This happens because the vSPCClient service maintains a one-to-onerelationship between the port numbers and virtual machines (nodes) and cannotdetermine immediately whether a node is powered off or deleted.

3. Run the following command to connect to the management server and view theserial console of a node:

telnet <management-server-ip> <port-number-of-node>

For example, run the following command to connect to the management serverand view the serial console of a node with serial port number 50000:

telnet 10.28.59.81 50000

4. Repeat the previous step to view the serial consoles of all the nodes that youare adding to the cluster.

If the nodes are being formatted, the process is shown. After all the nodes areformatted, they are automatically joined to the cluster. After the initialconfiguration, a login prompt appears in the serial console corresponding toeach of the nodes.

5. To log in to the nodes, type the credentials that you provided during the clusterdeployment.

6. Run the isi status command to view the details for all the nodes in thecluster.

You can connect to the clusters and nodes through either of the followingmethods:

l Typing the IP address of the cluster through an SSH client connection.



l Accessing the web administration interface through the URL https://<node_ip_address>:8080


Connect to the serial console of an IsilonSD node 47

CHAPTER 5

Managing IsilonSD Clusters


l Managing an IsilonSD cluster............................................................................. 50l View and manage IsilonSD cluster information...................................................50l Add nodes to an IsilonSD cluster........................................................................53l Smartfail an IsilonSD node................................................................................. 55l Smartfail a drive.................................................................................................57

Managing IsilonSD Clusters 49

Managing an IsilonSD clusterAfter successfully deploying an IsilonSD cluster, you can view the cluster and nodedetails, upgrade a cluster, delete a cluster, add or remove nodes from the cluster, andsmartfail or smartstop nodes and drives.

Note

l IsilonSD nodes do not manage or monitor the physical drives installed on the hostmachines. Use VMware vCenter or other vendor-specific utilities to monitor thehealth of the drives and to track if firmware updates are required.

l If you have smartfailed a drive or node through the OneFS web administrationinterface or through any other process that OneFS automatically triggers, werecommend that you remove the corresponding virtual machine or drive using thesmartfail options available in the Nodes and Drives areas on the IsilonSD Clusterstab in VMware vCenter. For more information, see the Smartfail an IsilonSD nodeand Smartfail a drive sections.

View and manage IsilonSD cluster informationYou can view information about the deployed IsilonSD clusters. You can also upgradeto a newer license or delete a cluster.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters andselect the datacenter where you have deployed the cluster.

2. Click the Manage tab and then click the IsilonSD Clusters tab. The followingscreen appears:

3. On the left pane, select the cluster for which you want to view the details. Thefollowing screen appears:



4. Click the Summary tab.

In the Details area, you can view details related to the raw capacity, capacityused, capacity available, SmartConnect IP, SmartConnect name, license key,license model, and OneFS version.

5. If necessary, click that appears in the SmartConnect IP row to modify theSmartConnect IP address using the Change SmartConnect IP dialog box.

Note

l If you have more than one groupnet:subnet combination, you can change theSmartConnect IP address to a value that lies within the groupnet0:subnet0combination.

l Make sure that you do not rename groupnet0 or subnet0 or you do notchange the SmartConnect IP through the OneFS web administration orcommand-line administration interface. If you do so, the cluster cannot bemanaged through IsilonSD Management Plug-in within vCenter.

6. If necessary, in the Details area, click Upgrade to open the Upgrade Licensewizard as shown to upgrade to a new license that supports additional featuresor more nodes.


View and manage IsilonSD cluster information 51

Note

You can perform this action only if you have purchased a new license and haveregistered the license through the stand-alone management server userinterface before the upgrade.

7. The New Events area lists any events related to the node operations as shown:

8. If necessary, on the left pane, click to delete the cluster.

Note

You cannot reimage a cluster through the isi_reimage -fmb <build>command. To reimage the cluster, delete the cluster as described in this step,and then recreate it through the Create IsilonSD Cluster wizard.



Add nodes to an IsilonSD clusterYou can scale an IsilonSD cluster by adding nodes to it. Make sure that you add asmany nodes as necessary to a cluster before moving the cluster into SmartLockcompliance mode. You cannot add nodes to a cluster running in SmartLock compliancemode. Also, the SmartLock software module is available only if you have purchased alicense.

Before you begin

Before you add nodes to a cluster, make note of the following items:

l View the cluster and node details to make sure that you can add more nodes to thecluster.

l Make sure that you have reserved enough internal and external IP addresses forthe new nodes.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters andselect the datacenter where you have deployed the cluster.


3. From the left pane, select the cluster to which you want to add nodes.

4. On the right pane, click the Nodes tab.

The details of the nodes that belong to the cluster are displayed as shown:

5. Click + on the Nodes tab to add nodes to the cluster through the Add Nodewizard that appears as shown:


Add nodes to an IsilonSD cluster 53

Note

You cannot add nodes to an existing cluster using an OVA template that ishigher in version than the cluster version. For example, you cannot add nodesusing the template EMC_IsilonSD_EDGE_OneFS_VM_8.0.1.ova to acluster that has been previously deployed using the templateEMC_IsilonSD_Edge_8.0.0.0.ova.

6. If you have not already reserved internal and external IP addresses for the newnodes, follow the instructions in the wizard to reserve the IP addresses.

7. Specify the number of nodes to add and click Next.

8. On the next page, select the hosts from the list and click Next. For moreinformation, see the Select a host section.

9. On the next page, specify the storage information for each of the nodes clickNext. For more information, see the Select the storage settings section.

10. View a summary of the node configuration that appears as shown:

11. Click Save to save the node configuration settings and proceed with theconfiguration.

12. Click the refresh button to view the progress of the node configuration in theRecent Tasks pane. For more information, see the View the summary and deploythe IsilonSD cluster section.



13. Connect to IsilonSD Management Server through the SSH client and view theserial consoles of the newly added nodes to determine the status of the nodeconfiguration. For more information, see the Connect to the serial console of anIsilonSD node section.

After the node is configured and joined to the cluster, it appears in the Nodesarea.

Smartfail an IsilonSD nodeYou can smartfail an IsilonSD node if you want to remove the node from the cluster.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters, andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you deployed the IsilonSDcluster.


3. From the left pane, select the cluster that has the node you want to smartfail.

4. Click the Nodes tab. The details corresponding to the nodes and drives in thecluster appear in the Nodes and Drives areas respectively.

5. Select a node to smartfail from the list in the Nodes area.

6. On the Smartfail Node window, click - and then click Yes to begin the smartfailprocess.

The status of the node changes in the Nodes area and a Stopfail buttonappears in the Status column as shown.

For more information on the node status, see the Reviewing the status ofIsilonSD nodes section.

7. Click the refresh button at the top-right corner of the Nodes area to view thestatus of the smartfail operation.

8. Depending on whether you want to smartfail the node or not, perform one ofthe following actions:

l Click the Stopfail button to stop the smartfail process and restore the nodeto its original configuration. The node rejoins the cluster.

l Allow the node to smartfail. The node status changes in the Nodes areaafter the node smartfails successfully as shown:


Smartfail an IsilonSD node 55

Reviewing the status of IsilonSD nodesYou can review the status of the nodes in an IsilonSD cluster to track the health of anIsilonSD cluster.

The following table describes all the possible node states that you might encounter:

Node status Description

Healthy The node is up and running.

Down The node is down.

Read-only The read-only node can be smartfailed and later on deleted. Anode running in read-only mode behaves like an acceleratornode. It can read and write data to the shared /ifs partition.However, it cannot write that data to its own journal or localdrives.

SmartFailing The node is being smartfailed and the process can be stopfailed,if necessary.

SmartFailed The node has been smartfailed and removed from the cluster.However, the virtual machine associated with the node stillexists and must be deleted.

Not part ofCluster

The node did not exist previously in the cluster and is beingadded through the Create IsilonSD Cluster wizard or the AddNode wizard that appears when you try to add a node to anexisting cluster.

Remove a smartfailed IsilonSD nodeYou can remove an IsilonSD node after it smartfails successfully.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters, andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you deployed the IsilonSDcluster.


3. From the left pane, select the cluster that has the node you have smartfailedand want to remove.

4. Click the Nodes tab on the right pane and from the Nodes area, select the

smartfailed node and click .



5. On the Remove Node dialog box, click Yes to permanently remove the nodefrom the cluster and retrieve the license that was initially configured to createthe node.

Smartfail a driveYou must smartfail a drive before it can be removed from an IsilonSD cluster.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you have deployed the cluster.


3. From the left pane, select the cluster with the node that you want to smartfail.

4. Click the Nodes tab.

A list of all the nodes and drives in the cluster appear in the Nodes and Drivesareas, respectively.

5. Click a node from the list in the Nodes area to view the drive informationcorresponding to that node in the Drives area.

6. Click the SmartFail button corresponding to the drive that you want tosmartfail.

7. On the Smartfail Drive dialog box, click Yes to begin the smartfail process.

8. At the top-right corner of the Drives area, click the refresh button to view thestatus.

The SmartFail button changes to StopFail in the Drives area. The drive state isdisplayed as SMARTFAIL to indicate that the drive is being smartfailed. TheStopFail button changes to Remove after the drive has been successfullysmartfailed. The drive state changes to REPLACE to indicate that the drive isready to be removed and replaced.

Note

For more information about the different drive states, see the Reviewing thedrive states section.

9. To abort the smartfail process, click the Stopfail button that is shown in thefollowing screen:


Smartfail a drive 57

Reviewing the drive statesYou can review the details about the different drive states in an IsilonSD cluster.

The following table describes all the possible drive states that you might encounter:

Drive state Description

HEALTHY The drive is functioning correctly.

SMARTFAIL The drive is in the process of being removedsafely either because of an I/O error or byuser request.

REPLACE The drive was smartfailed successfully and isready to be removed.

PREPARING The drive is undergoing a format operation.The drive state changes to HEALTHY when

the format is successful.

PRESENT The drive is a boot drive and cannot besmartfailed.

JOURNAL The drive is a journal drive and cannot besmartfailed.

EMPTY The drive has been removed and is ready tobe replaced.

Remove a smartfailed driveYou can remove a drive after it is smartfailed successfully.

Procedure

1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client home page, click Hosts and Clusters andfrom the left pane, select the datacenter where you have deployed the cluster.

2. Click the Manage tab and then click the Manage IsilonSD Clusters tab.

3. In the Clusters section, select the cluster with the node that has the drive youhave smartfailed.



4. Click the Nodes tab.

A list of all the nodes and drives in the cluster appear in the Nodes and Drivesareas respectively.

5. Click a node from the list in the Nodes area that has the drive you havesmartfailed.

6. In the Drives area, click the Remove button corresponding to the smartfaileddrive that you want to remove.

7. On the Remove Drive dialog box, click Yes to confirm the removal of the drive.

The drive is removed from the cluster and the Add button appears in place ofthe Remove button.

Add a drive to an IsilonSD clusterYou can add a drive to an IsilonSD cluster only after you successfully smartfail andremove an existing drive.

Procedure

1. Smartfail and remove a drive as described in the Smartfail a drive and Remove asmartfailed drive sections.

2. In the Drives area that appears on the Nodes tab for a selected cluster andnode, click the Add button, corresponding to the drive that you previouslyremoved.


Add a drive to an IsilonSD cluster 59

3. On the Add Drive wizard, select a datastore to create a hard disk as shown:

4. Click Add to add the drive to the cluster.

The drive status shows PREPARING when the drive is being added to thecluster as shown:

Click the refresh button at the top-right corner of the Drives area to monitorthe status. The drive status changes to HEALTHY after the drive is successfullyadded to the cluster.



CHAPTER 6

Managing IsilonSD Cluster Configuration Data


l Backing up and restoring IsilonSD cluster configuration data.............................62l Backup IsilonSD cluster configuration data........................................................ 62l Restore IsilonSD cluster configuration data....................................................... 63l Migrate serial port information...........................................................................64

Managing IsilonSD Cluster Configuration Data 61

Backing up and restoring IsilonSD cluster configuration dataAfter adding or removing IsilonSD clusters, you must backup the cluster configurationdata stored in the database of the IsilonSD Management Server. In a disaster recoverysituation involving the loss or unavailability of the management server, you can restoredata from the most recent backup session.

The cluster configuration data that gets backed up includes the EMC IsilonSD Edgelicenses, cluster and node information and VMware vCenter server information.Templates or log files stored in the management server are not backed up, andtherefore, cannot be restored.

In summary, back up the management server database at regular intervals,specifically, whenever you perform one of the following operations because theychange the database:

l Add a new cluster or node

l Add a new license

l Upgrade a cluster

l Register a new vCenter

l Delete a cluster or node

When you back up and restore data to a newer version of the management server, forexample, when you back up data to management server version 1.0.1, you can migratethe serial port information for the existing cluster to point to the newer version of themanagement server. This process enables serial port connections.

Backup IsilonSD cluster configuration dataYou can back up IsilonSD cluster configuration data.

Before you begin

You must always create backups on an NFS mount. However, make sure that the NFSis not mounted at /home/administrator. Otherwise, the backup operation fails.

You are provided with a backup and restore script called isi_backup_restore.pywithin the management server virtual machine. You must run this script by logging intothe management server.

Procedure

1. Connect to the management server through an SSH client with administratorcredentials.

2. Run the following command to back up the cluster configuration data from themanagement server:

isi_backup_restore.py backup backup_path

For the backup_path variable, provide the NFS mount point for the backupoperation. If an NFS mount point is not created, mount an NFS share for thebackup operation and make sure that you have created a file systems table(fstab) entry for it.



For example, run the following command to back up the cluster configurationdata from the management server:

isi_backup_restore.py backup /mnt/backup

Restore IsilonSD cluster configuration dataYou can restore IsilonSD cluster configuration data from a previous backup session.

You can restore data to the same IsilonSD Management Server or to a new version ofthe management server. To restore data in the latter case, follow the procedures inthis document to deploy the management server and then restore data to the newlydeployed server. After restoring data, make sure that the backed up data is accessible.

Procedure

1. Unregister vCenter from the previously installed management server.

2. Connect to the management server through an SSH client with administratorcredentials.

3. Stop the virtmgmt service by running the following command:

sudo service virtmgmt stop

4. Run the following command to restore data:

isi_backup_restore.py restore <backup_name>

For the backup_name option, provide the name of the backup file with thecomplete path to restore the data from.

For example, run the following command to restore data:

isi_backup_restore.py restore /mnt/backup/isi_sd_back/<datetime>isilonSD.bak

5. Start the virtmgmt service by running the following command:

sudo service virtmgmt start

6. Log in to the stand-alone management server, unregister, and re-register theVMware vCenter server. The restore operation does not reestablish a sessionwith vCenter automatically.

7. Add the necessary OVA templates to upload the OneFS virtual machine files.

8. Log in to https://<vcenter_ip_address/FQDN>:5480 and restart thevSphere Web Client. This step eliminates issues that you might encounter withthe management plug-in. Refer to the VMware vSphere documentation set forinstructions on restarting the vSphere Web Client.


Restore IsilonSD cluster configuration data 63

Migrate serial port informationYou can migrate the virtual serial console of all the IsilonSD nodes in an existingIsilonSD cluster from a previous version of IsilonSD Management Server to anupgraded version that is currently installed.

Procedure

1. Connect to the upgraded version of the management server through an SSHclient using administrator credentials.

2. Run the following command:

isi_backup_restore.py restore --migrate backup_name

Where:

Parameter Description

backup_name The name of the backup file with the complete path torestore data from. For example, run the following command:

isi_backup_restore.py restore /mnt/backup/isi_sd_back/<datetime>isilonSD.bak

--migrate Indicates that the virtual serial consoles on the machines thatare going to be restored must be reconfigured with the IPv4address of the current machine.

Alternatively, run the vm_console_migrator script independent of theisi_backup_restore.py script to migrate the serial port information for theexisting cluster to point to the upgraded version of the management server asfollows:

vm_console_migrator [-h] [-v]

Where -h shows the help and -v runs the script in the verbose mode. Both areoptional arguments.

Note

When you use the migrate option or the vm_console_migrator script tomigrate the serial port, all of the nodes managed by the management server willreboot.



CHAPTER 7

Upgrading EMC IsilonSD Edge


l Performing an upgrade...................................................................................... 66l Upgrade the OneFS image on IsilonSD clusters................................................. 66l Upgrade IsilonSD Management Server...............................................................66

Upgrading EMC IsilonSD Edge 65

Performing an upgradeThe process of upgrading EMC IsilonSD Edge involves upgrading to a later version ofthe OneFS operating system on an IsilonSD cluster or upgrading IsilonSD ManagementServer.

Note

If you are upgrading the licenses of IsilonSD Edge, follow the instructions in thesection View and manage IsilonSD cluster information.

Upgrade the OneFS image on IsilonSD clustersYou can upgrade the OneFS image on an IsilonSD cluster at any point by downloadingand reinstalling the latest OneFS build image. This process follows the same workflowas that of upgrading physical OneFS clusters.

A brief summary of the upgrade process is given in this section. For detailedinformation, see the OneFS Upgrade Planning and Process Guide.

Procedure

1. Extract the OneFS build image, OneFS_vX.X.X.X_Install.tar.gz, fromthe installation package if you are using a free license of IsilonSD Edge. If youhave purchased a license, download the OneFS build image from EMC OnlineSupport.

2. Copy the OneFS build image to any node on your cluster.

3. Open a secure shell (SSH) connection to the cluster that is associated with thenode where you have copied the OneFS build image.

4. Log in to the cluster with administrator credentials.

5. Run the following command to upgrade the cluster:

isi upgrade cluster start <path_to_OneFS_vX.X.X.X_Install.tar.gz>

Upgrade IsilonSD Management ServerYou can upgrade to a later version of IsilonSD Management Server through the RPMpackage manager utility.

Procedure

1. If you are using a free license of IsilonSD Edge, extract theEMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.rpm file from the installation archive,EMC_IsilonSD_Edge.zip, that you downloaded for the initial installation ofEMC IsilonSD Edge from EMC IsilonSD Edge community page. If you havepurchased a license, go to EMC Online Support and download the managementserver RPM file from the PRODUCT TOOL section.

2. Create a /tmp folder in the same folder where you had initially saved theEMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.ova file.



https://support.emc.com/downloads/15209_Isilon-OneFS

https://support.emc.com/downloads/15209_Isilon-OneFS

https://www.emc.com/products-solutions/trial-software-download/isilonsd-edge.htm

https://support.emc.com/downloads/39972_IsilonSD-Edge

3. Copy the EMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.rpm file into the /tmp folder.

4. Remove the registered VMware vCenter servers.

5. Run the following command from the /tmp folder to upgrade to a newer versionof the management server:

sudo rpm -Uvh EMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.rpm

Note

If you are upgrading from management server version 1.0.0 to a later version,run the following command from the /tmp folder:

sudo rpm -Uvh --oldpackage EMC_IsilonSD_Edge_ms_X.X.X.rpm

You can also specify --force instead of --oldpackage to perform theupgrade.

6. Register the vCenter server again to update IsilonSD Management Plug-in asfollows:

a. Log in to the management server through the URL https://<management_server_name_or_ip_address>:9443 withadministrator credentials.

b. Add the vCenter servers back that you removed in step 4.


Upgrade IsilonSD Management Server 67

CHAPTER 8

ESRS Support for EMC IsilonSD Edge


l Configuring ESRS Support for EMC IsilonSD Edge............................................ 70l Configure ESRS support for EMC IsilonSD Edge............................................... 70l Update the serial numbers of IsilonSD nodes to support ESRS........................... 71

ESRS Support for EMC IsilonSD Edge 69

Configuring ESRS Support for EMC IsilonSD EdgeIf you have purchased a license for EMC IsilonSD Edge, you can configure support forEMC Secure Remote Services (ESRS) on your IsilonSD cluster. However, ESRScannot be configured while deploying IsilonSD clusters through IsilonSD ManagementPlug-in. ESRS configuration is supported only through the OneFS web or command-line administration interface.

ESRS monitors your cluster, and with your permission, allows remote access to IsilonTechnical Support personnel to gather cluster data and troubleshoot issues.

ESRS requires a unique identifier to connect to the ESRS Gateway for cluster andnode monitoring. The identifiers of each of the IsilonSD clusters are unique. However,in the case of the IsilonSD nodes, the identifiers are unique only for those nodes thatare deployed using IsilonSD Management Server 1.0.1 and later versions. In this case,the nodes are uniquely identified using the following serial number format:

<product_type>-<SWID>-<MAC_addr>

Where:

l product_type is always set to SV100 for IsilonSD Edge

l SWID represents the 8-digit software ID of IsilonSD Edge which is unique for eachIsilonSD cluster

l MAC_addr represents the last six digits of your VMware vSphere MAC addresswhich is unique for all the nodes in a specific cluster and for the VMware vCenterinstance where the nodes are deployed

For example, to support ESRS, the serial number of an IsilonSD node must follow theformat SV100-12345678-987654.

For the nodes that have been deployed using versions of IsilonSD Management Serverearlier than 1.0.1, you must update the serial numbers of the nodes to match the serialnumber format that is described previously.

Configure ESRS support for EMC IsilonSD EdgeYou can configure ESRS support for EMC IsilonSD Edge using IsilonSD ManagementServer versions 1.0.1 and later.

Procedure

1. Install ESRS gateway server version 3.x.

2. Configure ESRS using the installed gateway server either using the OneFS webor command-line administration interface.

3. Upgrade to IsilonSD Management Server version 1.0.1 or later if you are usingthe earlier versions of the management server.



Update the serial numbers of IsilonSD nodes to supportESRS

With a purchased license of EMC IsilonSD Edge, you can update the serial numbers ofIsilonSD nodes that are deployed using IsilonSD Management Server version 1.0.0 to aformat that enables ESRS support.

Before you begin

Make sure that you are running management server version 1.0.1 or later.

Procedure

1. Connect to any node in a cluster that is deployed using a purchased license ofIsilonSD Edge.

2. Run the serial_sync script as follows:

serial_sync [-h] --vcenter [vCenter] [-v] cluster

Where:

l vcenter—The hostname of the VMware vCenter instance where thecluster is currently deployed.

l cluster—The name of the cluster in which the serial numbers must beupdated.

Note

To update the serial number, the nodes in the cluster are automatically rebootedas soon as you run the serial_sync script.


Update the serial numbers of IsilonSD nodes to support ESRS 71

CHAPTER 9

EMC IsilonSD Edge Terminology


l EMC IsilonSD Edge terminology.........................................................................74

EMC IsilonSD Edge Terminology 73

EMC IsilonSD Edge terminologyThe following terms are referenced in this guide.

Term Definition

OneFS A distributed file system that combines filesystem, volume manager, and data protectioncapabilities into a single software layer andruns on an EMC Isilon storage cluster.

Host A physical server with a Hypervisor.

IsilonSD cluster A virtual cluster formed through the OneFSvirtual machines hosted by multiple physicalhosts.

IsilonSD node An instance of a OneFS virtual machineinstalled on VMware ESXi.

IsilonSD Management Server A server that primarily provides services toIsilonSD Management Plug-in.

IsilonSD Management Plug-in The IsilonSD cluster management userinterface that is accessible from withinVMware vCenter. The plug-in is bundled withthe IsilonSD Management Server installationfiles.

Storage device A DAS (JBOD or internal) or RAID disk.

Disk A virtual machine disk (vmdk).

Boot disk A disk that stores the software image of anIsilonSD node.

Journal disk A disk that is internal to an IsilonSD nodewhere file system journaling takes place. Theperformance of IsilonSD Edge variesdepending on the endurance level andperformance of the storage device you haveconfigured for journaling.

Data disk A disk that stores all of the protected data.

Cluster capacity An aggregate of all the data disks across all ofthe IsilonSD nodes.

Raw disk capacity The total amount of actual disk spaceavailable without accounting for the OneFSfile system protection.

Usable disk capacity The total amount of disk space available afteraccounting for the RAID overhead.

Per-disk capacity Calculated as follows: If n is the number ofnodes and d is the number of disks per node,the per-disk capacity is (Total clustercapacity requested) / (n*d).



Term Definition

Internal network A network accessed for inter-virtual-nodeconnectivity and for internal messages.

External network A network used for client connections to anIsilonSD cluster over the Ethernet. IsilonSDcluster supports standard networkcommunication protocols including NFS,SMB, HTTP, and FTP.


EMC IsilonSD Edge terminology 75

server isilonsd edge with isilonsd management emc · update 1, or 6.0 update 2 l access vmware...

Documents