STORING THE FUTURE

InfiniBox VPLEX integration

Implementation Guide

STORING THE FUTURE

About this guide

This publication provides instructions for connecting a VPLEX system to InfiniBox.
Date
Jun-25-2015

Product version
1.0

Content
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 backend 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

Zone E1B1

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VPLEX Engine 1 Director A Port 00

InfiniBox Node 1 Port 1
InfiniBox Node 2 Port 1
VPLEX Engine 1 Director B Port 01
InfiniBox Node 1 Port 1
InfiniBox Node 3 Port 1

STORING THE FUTURE

Fabric B switch

Zone E1A2

Zone E1B2

VPLEX Engine 1 Director A Port 01

InfiniBox Node 2 Port 5
InfiniBox Node 3 Port 5
VPLEX Engine 1 Director B Port 00
InfiniBox Node 1 Port 5
InfiniBox Node 2 Port 5

AN EXAMPLES OF BROCADE ZONING CONFIGURATION

Fabric A
cfg:
zone:
zone:
alias:
alias:
alias:
alias:
alias:

VPLEX_NFINIDAT_FABA
InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABA; InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABA
InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABA
infinidat_node01_port01; infinidat_node02_port01; vplex_c1e1_a1_00
InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABA
infinidat_node01_port01; infinidat_node03_port01; vplex_c1e1_b1_01
vplex_c1e1_a1_00
50:00:XX:XX:60:XX:f1:10
vplex_c1e1_b1_01
50:00:XX:XX:70:XX:f1:11
infinidat_node01_port01
57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:11
infinidat_node02_port01
57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:21
infinidat_node03_port01
57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:31

Fabric B
cfg:
zone:
zone:
alias:
alias:
alias:
alias:
alias:

VPLEX_NFINIDAT_FABB
InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABB; InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABB
InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRA_FABB
infinidat_node02_port05; infinidat_node03_port05; vplex_c1e1_a1_01
InfiniBox_PLEXE1_DIRB_FABB
infinidat_node02_port05; infinidat_node03_port05; vplex_c1e1_b1_00
vplex_c1e1_a1_01
50:00:XX:XX:60:XX:f1:11
vplex_c1e1_b1_00
50:00:XX:XX:70:XX:f1:10
infinidat_node01_port05
57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:15
infinidat_node02_port05
57:42:XX:XX:XX:XX:28:25
infinidat_node03_port05
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.

Step 2

The Hosts & Clusters screen opens.

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

Step 3

Click on Create Cluster.

The Create Cluster screen opens.

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

Step 2

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

The Pools screen opens.

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
pools settings.
Click Create. The pool is created.
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CREATING A VOLUME
Step 1

Step 2

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

The Create Pool screen opens.

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 pools
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
Capacity

Use

Vendor

IO

VPD83 ID
Type

Thin

VIAS

------------------------------------------------ -------- --------- -------Based

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

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

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

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae
alive
traditional false
false

2G

unclaimed

NFINIDAT

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf
alive
traditional false
false

2G

unclaimed

NFINIDAT

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0
alive
traditional false
false

2G

unclaimed

NFINIDAT

VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1
alive
traditional false
false

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.

Step 7

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.
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

vendor NFINIDAT : claiming and naming NFINIDAT_volume_2.

Found unclaimed storage-volume VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0

vendor NFINIDAT : claiming and naming NFINIDAT_volume_3.

Found unclaimed storage-volume VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae

vendor NFINIDAT : claiming and naming NFINIDAT_volume_1.

Claimed 4 storage-volumes in storage array NFINIDAT

Claimed 4 storage-volumes in total.

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

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

Use

Vendor

IO

VPD83 ID
Type

Thin

VIAS

------------------------------------------------ -------- --------- -------Based

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

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

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

NFINIDAT_volume_1
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cae
alive
normal
false
false

2G

claimed

NFINIDAT

NFINIDAT_volume_2
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005caf
alive
normal
false
false

2G

claimed

NFINIDAT

NFINIDAT_volume_3
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb0
alive
normal
false
false

2G

claimed

NFINIDAT

NFINIDAT_volume_4
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000005cb1
alive
normal
false
false

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-metavolume-candidates
Name
Type

Step 3

Capacity

Vendor

IO Status

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

--------

--------

---------

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d2
traditional NFINIDAT-InfiniBox-b0f000

90G

NFINIDAT

alive

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d3
traditional NFINIDAT-InfiniBox-b0f000

90G

NFINIDAT

alive

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d4
traditional NFINIDAT-InfiniBox-b0f000

90G

NFINIDAT

alive

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d5
traditional NFINIDAT-InfiniBox-b0f000

90G

NFINIDAT

alive

Array Name

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 storagevolume_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 metavolume.
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-volumes 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

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
virtual

The list of components that support this device or system

volume.

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

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

Health

Slot

Type

Number

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

Capacity

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

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Status

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State

--------

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

------

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

-------

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d2
ok
90G

storage-volume

ok

VPD83T3:6742b0f00000042800000000000118d3
ok
90G

storage-volume

ok

Use the ll command to display the new meta-volumes 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
VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> claim
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/cluster1/system-volumes.
VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/system-volumes> ll
Name
Active

Ready

Geometry

Volume Type
Component Block

Operational Health
Block Capacity Slots

--------------------------------- ----- -------- Count

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

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

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

c1-logging-volume_vol
raid-1
2

logging-volume
262560
4K
1G

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Status
--------

ok

State
-----

ok
-

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STORING THE FUTURE

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

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

Slot

Type

Operational

Health

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

Number

------

Status

State

--

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

--------

------

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

--------

--

extent_se-logging-source01_1
1G

extent

ok

ok

extent_se-logging-source02_1
1G

extent

ok

ok

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:
VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> claim
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000003434 -n se-oralog-vmax

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> claim
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000003435 -n se-oraredo-vmax

VPlexcli:/clusters/cluster-1/storage-elements/storage-volumes> claim
VPD83T3:6742b0f0000004280000000000003436 -n se-oradata-vmax

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

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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Step 3

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.
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.

Step 4

Step 5

Click next and then commit your changes.

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
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

Step 4

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.
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

Youll 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. Youll 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 youll 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, youll 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.

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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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 Copyright INFINIDAT LTD 2015.

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