CloudByte ECP Study Guide

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Copyright 2015 CloudByte Inc.. All rights reserved.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The software described in
this document is furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The soft-
ware may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of those agreements. No part of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose
other than the purchaser's personal use without the written permission of CloudByte Inc..
CloudByte Inc.
20863 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 530
Cupertino, CA 95014
USA
1-(408)-604-9401
engage@cloudbyte.com
www.cloudbyte.com
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I About the Guide 7
Intended audience 7
Who you are 7
Knowledge prerequisites 7
How the training is organized 9
CHAPTER II Introduction 12
What is CloudByte ElastiStor 12
CloudByte ElastiStor features 12
Licensing policy 16
CHAPTER III Installing CloudByte ElastiStor 17
Installation 17
Network configuration details 18
Installation options 18
Installing ElastiCenter and Node 20
Installing ElastiCenter HA 27
CHAPTER IV ElastiCenter | Setting up Storage 33
ElastiCenter, ElastiStor's management console 33
ElastiCenter User Interface 34
Launching CloudByte ElastiCenter 38
Authentication 38
Reset password and configure auto-alert options 39
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CloudByte ElastiStor Certified Professional Study Guide
Setting up your storage 40
Creating a Site 44
Creating an HA Group 44
Adding a Node 46
Configuring Disk Array enclosure 47
Creating a Pool 52
Creating an Account 55
Delete account user 56
Provisioning a VSM 56
Modifying QoS after provisioning VSM 61
Modifying QoS after provisioning Storage Volume 62
Modifying storage capacity 63
Configuring VSM migration 64
Migrant VSM activation 67
Provisioning storage 68
Choosing a Pool to provision VSM 71
CHAPTER V Data Access Protocols 78
Data access using iSCSI 78
Installing MPIO on Windows Server 89
Configuring Multipath on ElastiCenter 92
Configuring MPIO on Windows Server for a LUN in ElastiStor 94
Data access using CIFS 102
Data access using NFS 107
CHAPTER VI Managing | Monitoring | Reporting 109
Delegated administration 109
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Monitoring 114
CloudByte ElastiStor reporting 118
CHAPTER VII REST APIs | Quality of Service 121
Introduction to REST APIs 121
How to use CloudByte ElastiStor REST APIs 121
Obtaining the REST API key 121
Assuring Quality of Service 126
Monitoring QoS 129
QoS tips 130
IOPS conversion matrix 131
CHAPTER VIII High Availability | Backup | Recovery 138
Configuring High Availability 138
Disaster recovery and backup 144
Configuring remote disaster recovery 149
Upgrading a High Availability DR setup 152
Promoting secondary ElastiCenter and backing up configurations 153
CHAPTER IX Advanced settings | Implementation 157
VLAN interface 157
SAS multipathing 159
CHAPTER X Going Forward 162
CHAPTER XI Glossary 163
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CHAPTER I About the Guide
In this chapter
l Who this guide is for
l What’s desirable before you start
Intended audience
This guide is designed to be a study resource for ElastiStor Certified Professionals. It is a step-by-step training manual to learn and
start using CloudByte ElastiStor.
However,
l If you are already an ElastiStor user, we recommend you to follow the CloudByte ElastiStor Installation and Administration
Guide.
l If you are searching for information on CloudByte and its product line, follow the resources available on the CloudByte Web-
site.
Who you are

You are a Miriam, storage administrator with a fictitious Cloud Service Provider named WhollyCloud. WhollyCloud is a Cloud Ser-
vice Provider. Also, WhollyCloud uses CloudByte as an enterprise solution for its own private cloud. Your manager is Benjamin.
The activities provided at the end of each chapter may be considered as Miriam’s assignments in WhollyCloud.
Knowledge prerequisites
You can perform almost all the tasks, while working with CloudByte ElastiStor, using the simple and intuitive management console
CloudByte ElastiCenter. So if you are conversant with the storage concepts, working with ElastiStor is a cakewalk.
As far as the technology is concerned, CloudByte expects the users to have prior knowledge in the following areas of technology:
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Basic concepts Advanced concepts
l Basic storage concepts which include l SAN boot

DAS, NAS, and SAN. That is, you have
l Port aggregation of switch
good understanding of the underlying stor-
age protocols such as iSCSI, NFS, and l Creation and management of VLANs and native multipathing
CIFS
l REST API usage
l Deployment of Storage which includes
usage of LUN
l Consuming Storage from initiators
l Basic knowledge in hardware which

includes configurations in BIOS, con-
nection of SAS cables, SAS switches, Eth-
ernet, and VLAN configuration
Don't worry if you are not familiar with any of the areas mentioned here. Use the following links to familiarize yourself with the tech-
nologies or reaffirm your knowledge.
Section Resource
DAS l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-attached_storage
l http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/direct-attached-storage
l http://www.dellstorage.com/data-consolidation/storage-architecture/direct-attached-storage.aspx
NAS l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage
l http://compnetworking.about.com/od/itinformationtechnology/l/aa070101a.htm
l http://www.techopedia.com/definition/26197/network-attached-storage-nas
l http://www.thinkmate.com/storage/reference/what-is-nas
SAN l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_area_network
l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_unit_number
l http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/essentialguide/LUN-storage-Working-with-a-SANs-logical-unit-num-
bers
l http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/logical-unit-number
RAID l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID
l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_RAID_levels
l http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAID.html
RAID Card l http://www.netdevgroup.com/support/documentation/NETLAB_Remote_PC_Guide_Vol_2b_Dell_
R720.pdf
Link Aggregation l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_aggregation
l http://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Link_Aggregation_and_LACP_basics
VLAN l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_LAN
l http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/virtual-LAN
l http://www.techopedia.com/definition/4804/virtual-local-area-network-vlan
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Section Resource
SAN Boot l http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305547
l http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--afdH7kIfk
l http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247958.pdf
SAS Switch l http://www.lsi.com/products/pages/lsi-sas-6160-switch.aspx
l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAS_%28software%29
Multipathing l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multipath_I/O
l http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.storage.doc%2FGUID-
DD2FFAA7-796E-414C-84CE-1FCC14474D5B.html
REST API l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer
l http://www.restapitutorial.com/
l http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2217758/what-is-a-rest-api
How the training is organized
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do I need to learn CloudByte ElastiStor?
The time you need to learn CloudByte ElastiStor depends on your background and expertise in the storage domain. The fol-
lowing table provides the approximate number of days you might require to master CloudByte ElastiStor.
The product is designed to be simple. Also, the management console CloudByte ElastiCenter is very intuitive. So learning
CloudByte ElastiStor is neither painstaking nor time-consuming.
Expertise Days
Advanced user One
Intermediate user Three
Entry level user Five
Since CloudByte wants to include all catagories of trainees, the courseware is designed as a five day long training program.
Only entry level trainees need adhere to the schedule.
At the end of the training

You would be
l Conversant with all ElastiStor-related concepts

l Familiar with all features in ElastiStor
l Able to setup and run a storage infrastructure end-to-end.
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Courseware
Schedule Course Description
Chapter 1 What is ElastiStor

l What is ElastiStor
l Features
l How ElastiStor fits in to the data center
l Licensing policy
Chapter 2 Installing ElastiStor
Chapter 3 Understanding the concepts

l Accessing ElastiCenter
l ElastiCenter UI orientation
l Setting up Storage
Chapter 4 ElastiStor infrastructure

l Physical infrastructure
l Pools and RAID
l Virtual infrastructure
Chapter 5 Setting up the protocols

l Setting up protocols
l Connecting to ElastiStor
Chapter 6 Management and Administration

l Delegated administration
l Management
l Alerts and Events
l Global Settings
l Monitoring
l Reporting
Chapter 7 Using REST APIs and setting up QoS
l Provisioning using REST APIs
l QoS and penalty enforcement factors
Chapter 8
Backup, Disaster Recovery, and High Availability
l HA
l Backup and DR
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Schedule Course Description
Chapter 9
Advanced settings and Implementation
l VLANs and Multipathing
l End-to-End implementation workflow
Chapter 10 CloudByte Plug-ins
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CHAPTER II Introduction
Agenda
l Introduction to the product and the features
l How to install ElastiStor
What is CloudByte ElastiStor

CloudByte ElastiStor is a full-featured enterprise storage solution for virtualized environments. Its patented technology empowers
organizations to spin out Virtual Storage Machines (VSMs) and to scale storage performance higher or lower instantly.ElastiStor
makes storage predictable, affordable and easy, even as you scale to thousands of applications.
Installable on a wide range of industry-standard servers, ElastiStor frees enterprises and service providers from vendor lock-ins.
ElastiStor lets you custom-build storage infrastructure based on your requirements, with support for SATA, SAS, and SSD hardware
as well as NFS, CIFS, and iSCSI protocols.
CloudByte ElastiStor features

Guaranteed Storage QoS within Shared Storage
Share your storage and deliver predictable performance to every application. For the first time ever, ElastiStor allows storage end-
points to be defined beyond capacity, in terms of IOPS, throughput and latency. This allows applications with diverse workloads to
be guaranteed QoS from a shared storage platform. Together with linear scaling, a single extensible shared storage platform from
ElastiStor can now replace legacy solutions’ dedicated storage silos. By fully sharing storage and optimally utilizing resources,
ElastiStor steeply cuts down your storage footprint, leading to 80-90% cost savings over 3-5 years.
On-Demand Performance Provisioning
Do you still manually configure hardware to provision performance for any new application? Break the need for hardwiring storage
with ElastiStor’s on-demand provisioning. Just enter the required SLA/QoS parameters and let ElastiStor automate node selection
and resource allocation for you. ElastiStor includes an intelligent heuristics daemon which continuously learns the quantity of vari-
ous controller resources needed to deliver the required QoS.
vCenter-like Administration Console
ElastiStor makes managing storage as easy as managing VMs, even as you scale to hundreds of applications. Storage admins can
now comprehensively manage the entire storage cluster, spanning across multiple sites, from a single web-based console. Further,
ElastiStor gives you unprecedented access and control over resource usage within shared storage, right down to the application-
level granularity.
REST APIs and Plug-ins for Easy Integration
Every action performed at ElastiStor admin console translates into a REST based API call in the backend. Using these REST APIs,
admins can comprehensively provision and manage ElastiStor volumes from VMware vCenter, Citrix XenCenter, OpenStack Hori-
zon, or any other admin portal. Our plugin for VMware vCenter allows admins to create and manage QoS-aware VMs right from
vCenter console.
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N-way High Availability
ElastiStor enables N-way High Availability, exponentially increasing reliability (mean time to failure), compared to the standard 2-
way HA provided by existing solutions. CloudByte’s storage un-fragmentation and its patented TSM architecture make N-way HA
affordable and feasible.
Delegated Administration
A much requested feature from the cloud service providers, delegated administration empowers both CSPs and its customers to
monitor and control storage volumes. Management privileges vary based on the admin functionality – for example, a super admin can
manage the entire storage cluster, where as a customer admin can manage just the storage resources allotted to that particular cus-
tomer.
References
l CloudByte ElastiStor
l ElastiStor resources
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Is it possible to scale-out using CloudByte ElastiStor?
Each CloudByte ElastiStor Node can be scaled to 1 PB of raw storage capacity. You can linearly increase capacity and per-
formance by adding additional ElastiStor Nodes.
Can I use ElastiStor to improve the performance of storage solutions such as EMC Symmetrix or Hitachi Unified
Storage?
Like other storage systems, CloudByte ElastiStor is an independent storage system with distinct architecture.
ElastiStor does not improve performance but shares the performance between competing applications granularly in a desired
way. However, CloudByte recommends you to use raw disk for storage media rather than storage from other vendors.
How many flavors and versions of CloudByte ElastiStor are available in the market?
CloudByte ElastiStor 1.0 was the pioneering release of the product. The ongoing release is CloudByte ElastiStor 1.4.x.
Are there any CloudByte ElastiStor management plug-ins available?
Yes. The plug-ins for VMWare vCenter, Apache CloudStack, and OpenStack Cinder are available off-the-shelf.
Does ElastiStor support iPV6?
Current version of CloudByte ElastiStor does not have built in support for iPV6.
What is the skill set required to manage and configure ElastiStor?
Basic storage administration (SAN and NAS) and networking skills.
How CloudByte ElastiStor fits into data center

Take some time to inspect the following diagram:
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ElastiStor supports both NAS and SAN protocols. It is intended for use wherever applications need storage in the form of NAS and
SAN. Also, it is apt to use ElastiStor if the environment is shared in the form of server virtualization and applications that run on the
VMs compete for storage resources.
ElastiStor is a new class of storage, built ground up, to meet the requirements of shared environments such as public or private
Cloud. Multi-tenancy and secure isolation between tenants are part of the architecture and not just add-on features.
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Licensing policy
You need to install a license file to use CloudByte ElastiStor.
When you install the community edition of ElastiStor, license file is already
uploaded to ElastiCenter. You can use the product till you exceed the Storage
limit of 25TB. Perpetual licenses can be used
without additional charge and without
expiration and includes 90 days of war-
The license file has relevant details that implement license to use various fea- ranty support.
tures that you have purchased. CloudByte provides license file in the format
L4J. Subscription licenses are typically
billed on a monthly basis.
Should you have further questions, please contact either your Reseller or the Capacity-based pricing is based on
CloudByte worldwide sales department at engage@cloudbyte.com. the total storage allocated to ElastiSt-
or/actual data managed by ElastiStor
Support terms vary based on the pri-
cing model selected.
I want to evaluate CloudByte ElastiStor. How will the trial license be enforced?
When you install a the Community Edition of CloudByte ElastiStor, the free perpetual license file is, by default, uploaded.
You need not do any licensing tasks.
Can I check the past licensing activities?
In the License page, click View History. The details of the license are listed.
Can I get support from CloudByte for the Community Edition of the product?
For Community Edition, support is limited to basic setup. Contact CloudByte technical support at support@cloudbyte.com.
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CHAPTER III Installing CloudByte ElastiStor

Installation
It is easy to install CloudByte ElastiStor. Though it is not a desktop product, you still have an intuitive installation wizard that walks
you through the entire installation process and you may not need any assistance.
Firstly, go through the following illustration. It is a quick-start representation of ElastiStor installation:
CloudByte ElastiStor installation comprises the following:
n Installing ElastiCenter: Install the administrative infrastructure used to manage the Nodes.
n Installing Nodes: A Node is the storage infrastructure that is managed by ElastiCenter. You can install only one Node per
machine. An HA Group can have up to four Nodes.
Installing on production environments

CloudByte recommends you to install ElastiCenter and Nodes on separate machines.
Installing on development environments

You can install both ElastiCenter and Nodes together on the same machine. This is the typical installation used for development and
test setups. Here you play around with test data for evaluation, rather than production where you have business critical data.
The following topics explain the system requirements for installing CloudByte ElastiStor.
l CloudByte Storage Controller node is built on commodity servers.

l The connectivity between Controller and Storage is either on Ethernet (iSCSI) or on SFF-8088 SAS cables.
l ElastiStor OS is built using FreeBSD 9 as the base platform and therefore CloudByte ElastiStor’s Hardware Supported List is
similar to that of FreeBSD 9 Release version.
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Minimum hardware requirements to build CloudByte ElastiStor Node

n Supported AMD64, Intel 64 (x86-64), or i386 Processor and System Board (with Dual Core Processor and 8GB of RAM)
n Four 1 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Cards
n One or more SAS HBAs, depending on the number of disk arrays connected
n OS boot disk drive size of 20 GB. However, the recommended size is 2.4 * RAM size + 33GB
Minimum hardware requirements for CloudByte ElastiCenter

n Supported AMD64, Intel 64 (x86-64), or i386 Processor and System Board (with Dual Core Processor and 8GB of RAM)
n OS boot disk drive size of 20 GB. However, the recommended size is 2.4 * RAM size + 33GB
n 1 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Cards
For supported list of
n AMD64 Processors, see FreeBSD 9.0 supported list of AMD64 processors

n i386 Processors and System Boards of CloudByte ElastiStor, see FreeBSD 9.0 supported list of i386 Processors
n Disk Controllers of CloudByte ElastiStor, see FreeBSD 9.0 supported list of Disk Controllers
n Ethernet Interfaces of CloudByte ElastiStor, see FreeBSD 9.0 supported list of Ethernet Interfaces
Hardware Compatibility List

For the complete list of compatible hardware, see Hardware Compatibility List .
Network configuration details

You need the following network configuration details to proceed. CloudByte provides a set of values by default.
Option Description
Host Name of the host, for example CloudByte.
Root Password The password assigned to the root account. When you are in single-user mode, the system lets you log in
using this password.
IP address The standard IPv4 addresses that you want to access.
Net Mask The standard IPv4 subnet mask, for example 255.255.255.0.
Gateway The IPv4 gateway IP address, for example 10.0.0.1.
DNS The standard IPv4 address of the DNS server, for example 8.8.8.8.
Search Domain search, for example lab.engineering.cloudbyte.com.
Installation options
The installation wizard provides the following installation options.
n Only ElastiCenter: Installs only ElastiCenter, which is the central administrative console to manage your Nodes. Choose if
you prefer to install Node later. For procedures, see Installing CloudByte ElastiCenter.
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n Only Node: Installs only the Node, which is managed using ElastiCenter. Choose if you prefer to install ElastiCenter later.
For procedures, see Installing Node.
n Both ElastiCenter and Node: Installs both ElastiCenter and Node. This installation is not recommended for production
deployments. For procedures, see Installing both ElastiCenter and Node.
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Installing ElastiCenter and Node

Since Miriam is evaluating ElastiStor, she has chosen the installation option Both ElastiCenter and Node.Let us see how she pro-
ceeds.
1. Insert the CloudByte ElastiStor installation disk into your computer's DVD or CD drive and boot up your Node (ensure that
the disk drive is set as your system's primary boot device). The installation starts up and the following screen with the boot
options appear:
By default, the boot option Boot CloudByte ElastiStor is selected. So you need not interfere. To select a different boot option,
see "Boot options".
The Welcome screen appears.
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2. In the following screen, accept the license agreement.
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3. Select Both ElastiCenter and Node option. For details, see "Installation options"
The following screen appears:
Note: If you want to install ElastiCenter HA, follow the procedures in "Installing ElastiCenter HA", else select Standalone
ElastiCenter.
4. (If you have multiple disks) At prompt, select the disk where you want to install CloudByte ElastiStor.
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5. (If you have multiple Ethernet Interfaces) At prompt, select the Ethernet Interface and click OK.
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6. Specify the "Network configuration details".

7. Click OK. The following screen appears:
8. Select Continue to confirm the settings so that the installation can start up. To modify any of the values, select Back. Install-
ation starts and the wizard shows the progsress.
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9. In the following screen, specify the region you belong to:
10. Confirm the country and then confirm the time zone.
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The installation completes and the following screen appears:
After installing the packages, CloudByte ElastiStor reboots (indicated by the following screen).
Wait till the system automatically reboots. The following screen welcomes you after the reboot:
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The following screen with a login prompt indicates that installation is successful. You can proceed to configure CloudByte
ElastiStor.
Installing ElastiCenter HA
1. Follow the procedures in the section "Installing ElastiCenter" till step 3.
2. Select ElastiCenter HA.
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3. Do either of the following:

l Select primary ElastiCenter and then in the following screen, specify the ElastiCenter Management IP address.
l Select Secondary ElastiCenter and then in the following screen, specify the primary ElastiCenter IP address.
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4. Click OK.
5. Follow the procedures from step 4 in the section "Installing ElastiCenter" and complete the ElastiCenter installation process.
Help Miriam install ElastiCenter and Node separately

Miriam has successfully installed Both ElastiCenter and Node on the same machine. Now let us provide pointers for her to
installinstall ElastiCenter and Node separately.
l Installing ElastiCenter
l Installing Node
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I cannot access CloudByte ElastiCenter after successful installation. Why?
This might be because of one of the following reasons:
l Java Service is not running

l Database is not up and running
To resolve this issue, do either or both of the following:
1. In the ElastiCenter server, at command prompt, run the following command: pgrep mysql.
If you do not get the MySql process ID, run the following command to bring up the database service: service
mysql-server onerestart
2. In the ElastiCenter server, at command prompt, run the following: pgrep java.
If you don't get the Java process ID, run the following command to bring up the Java service: service cbdevman
onerestart
3. Try accessing ElastiCenter.
Can you explain the memory requirements for installing CloudByte ElastiStor?
The following table provides the details. The values are same for installing both Node and ElastiCenter. Also, the same val-
ues apply if you install both Node and ElastiCenter on the same machine:
Memory Minimum Recommended
RAM 1 GB 8 GB or higher
Hard Disk 20 GB (2.4 X RAM size + 32 GB) or higher. For example, if the RAM is 8 GB, for better performance, 52 GB
or higher is recommended
If you do not comply with the recommended hard disk memory, you might encounter a message that prompts correction (for
better performance). However, if you meet the minimum memory requirements, even if you ignore the message, installation
will be successful.
I get the message 'Installation cannot proceed as no NIC is present'. What will I do?
You encounter this issue because the NIC that you use is not supported. For a list of supported NICs and other hardware,
see the Hardware Compatibility List .
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I get the message 'Installation cannot proceed as no disk is present'. What will I do?
This is because the internal RAID/SAS card in the server is not supported. For a list of supported disks and other hardware,
see the Hardware Compatibility List .
Why am I not able to access the system after the first reboot post installation?
Verify the following:
n ElastiStor has correctly rebooted. This is indicated by the root login prompt when the installation concludes.
n Network port connectivity
n Network details are correctly added
Will the installation rollback on failure?
Yes
Explain the upgrade options for ElastiStor?
You can upgrade based on the option that you have selected in the existing installation. That is, if you have opted to install
both Node and ElastiCenter, then you have the option to upgrade both.
What happens to the installation when there is a hard disk failure?
Installation may or may not be successful, but the product is unlikely to function.
What happens if the CD ROM gets disconnected while installing?
When you reconnect, installation proceeds from the point where it stopped. But if you reboot the machine, then you have to
start the installation from the beginning.
Do I need an internet connection for installing CloudByte?
No. But it is recommended because it facilitates time synchronization with NTP.
What happens if the network connection is lost and system boots after installing?
It waits for the connectivity to be restored and then boots up.
Is it mandatory to do a disk mirror while installing?
Recommended for production environments.
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What happens to the installation during a power loss?
You have to reinstall.
Can I install ElastiStor my laptop?
Yes. If you meet the minimum hardware requirements, the installation is not device dependent.
Can I install ElastiCenter on a virtual machine?
Yes. CloudByte recommends that you have a minimum RAM of 8 GB on your VM.
Is ElastiStor installation possible over SAN boot?
Yes.
Can I downgrade my ElastiStor installation?
Not currently supported.
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CHAPTER IV ElastiCenter | Setting up Storage
In this chapter
l Understanding ElastiCenter, user-interface orientation, and how to access
l Understanding ElastiStor storage and setting up
ElastiCenter, ElastiStor's management console

Using ElastiCenter, the entire ElastiStor deployment, consisting of multiple geo-
graphical sites spanning clusters and servers, can be managed from a single browser
session.
Generate statistical and con-
Storage management tasks such as High Availability and disaster recovery can be figuration reports to help
done from the same session. Use the Graphical User Interface to manage the storage troubleshoot
environment
Delegate administration tasks
To illustrate, let us examine the processing of a file recovery request for a particular Track events
storage tenant using a legacy solution and CloudByte ElastiStor:
Globally control various settings
Legacy solution CloudByte ElastiStor
The administrator has to In CloudByte ElastiStor, using ElastiCenter, the administrators can perform
actions remotely from the management portal. The administrator can, from the
1. Manually recover the file from the DR storage same browser session,
system
1. Log in to the primary site.
2. Manually transfer to the primary site
2. Identify the storage file system that needs to be recovered.
3. Merge with the primary site.
3. Browse for the corresponding backup copies on the remote DR site.
4. Recover data with a single click.
The following illustration shows the workflow to setup a storage environment using CloudByte ElastiCenter:
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ElastiCenter User Interface

The following topics orient you with the ElastiCenter User Interface.
Navigation pane
The navigation pane in the left-hand side of ElastiCenter provides a list of options.
When you select an option, you are taken to a specific component page. Use the component pages to perform various configuration
and management tasks.
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Note:The options displayed in the navigation pane depend on the administrative privileges you have. If you are a super admin-
istrator, you have all the options. For further details, see"Managing | Monitoring | Reporting".
Content pane
The content pane displays the component pages that provide options and data to configure CloudByte ElastiStor. For example, if
you select Sites in the navigation pane, the Sites page appears.
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Summary pane
Summary pane sums up the number of storage components, such as Sites or Pools, in the storage infrastructure.
Actions pane
Action pane, in the right-hand side of the content pane, provides a list of configuration options. For example, in the HA Groups page,
go the Actions pane and add Node.
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Notification menu
The information menu in the top right-hand side of ElastiCenter lets you access Alerts, Events, Reports, and Administrator data.
You also have the option to go back to the Home page.
See Also:"Monitoring" on page 1 and "CloudByte ElastiStor reporting" on page 1
Admin options
The Admin options help you with various administrative tasks.
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See Also:CloudByte ElastiStor API Reference, "Licensing" on page 1, and "Delegated administration" on page 1
Launching CloudByte ElastiCenter

CloudByte ElastiCenter is a browser based console which you can launch using one of the popular browsers such as Mozilla Firefox
or Google Chrome.
Note:Ensure that you have updated Adobe Flash Player to the most recent version.
To access ElastiCenter,
1. Launch Mozilla Firefox Web browser.

2. Specify the URL in the following format: https://IP Address
Note:The IP Address you specify is the one that you configured in the installation screen. See Installing CloudByte
ElastiCenter for details.
Authentication
You need credentials (username and password) to log in to CloudByte ElastiCenter.
1. After installation is completed, launch ElastiCenter using the URL in the following format: https://IP Address.
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2. Specify the following default credentials :
Credentials Value
Username admin
Password password
After you log in, you can change the password.
Reset password and configure auto-alert options

After you log in, you are prompted to:
l Change your password

l Update your profile. CloudByte Technical Support might use this information to contact you when your storage infrastructure
encounters any issues.
l Review the auto-alert details that CloudByte Technical Support collects automatically. Technical Support might use the
information to resolve potential problems that your storage infrastructure encounters. You have the option not to share par-
ticular information.
To reset password and configure auto-alert options,
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1. Login to ElastiCenter using the default credentials (admin|password). The following screen appears:
2. Specify a new password and then confirm.

3. Update your profile.
4. Review the auto-alert information, and uncheck the options that you do not want to share.
5. Click Update.
Setting up your storage

In CloudByte ElastiStor, the set of configurations that you perform can be divided in to tasks related to
n Infrastructure, the base structure of your storage service

n Accounts, that you create for storage specific needs
The following illustration shows how your infrastructure and account are organized in CloudByte ElastiStor:
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The following sections explain the concepts in detail:
Site
Building your storage infrastructure starts with the creation of a Site, the fundamental infrastructure unit where your Node and stor-
age and network infrastructure reside.
The following figure depicts the structure of a Site:
The following figure explains each component of the Site:
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Accounts
After you set up the storage infrastructure, build the account infrastructure. That is, you set up the client/customer for using your stor-
age infrastructure.
The following figure explains how an account is constituted in CloudByte ElastiStor:
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The following figure explains each component associated with an account:
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Creating a Site
Use the Sites page (ElastiCenter > Sites) to create a Site.
The Sites page provides a graphical representation of the Sites that you have created. It provides the Site details such as HA
Groups, Pools, Provisioned Storage, and VSMs that you have set up.
Click any of the Site details link for specific review and configuration. For example, click HA Groups to access details of the HA
Groups associated with the Site.
To create a Site
1. In the Sites page, click Add Site in the actions pane.
The Add Site page appears.
2. Specify the following details:
Field Description
Name Unique name for the site.
Location Where the site is located.
Description A meaningful description for the Site.
3. Click Add.
Creating an HA Group
Use the HA Groups page (ElastiCenter > HA Groups) to create an HA Group.
All Nodes in the HA group you create must be on the same
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l Public network: used for management of Nodes.

l Private network: used with VSMs for data transfer.
Creation of HA Groups leads to the formation of High availability Clusters. For details, see "High Availability | Backup | Recovery"
1. In the HA Groups page, click Add HA Group.
The Add HA Group page appears.
2. Specify the following options and then click Add.
Field Description
Site The Site to which you add the HA Group.
Name Unique name for the HA Group.
Description Meaningful description for the HA Group.
IP Address Range Provide a range of dedicated IP addresses in the management network. For instance, ensure
that you do not specify the IP address used for Node, ElastiCenter, VSM, or client. Provide the
first and last IP address in the range, for example 1.1.1.100 and 1.1.1.104. The IP addresses
you specify are used to check the heartbeat between nodes.
Changing CARP IP address range

1. Bring Node1 to maintenance mode.
2. Bring Node2 to maintenance mode.
3. In the HA Groups page, select the HA Group for which you want to change the CARP IP range.
4. Click Settings in the actions pane.
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5. In the following page, click edit and then change the details.
6. Click Save.
Adding a Node
1. In the ElastiCenter navigation pane, click Nodes.
2. In the actions pane, Click Add Node.
3. In the Add Node page, specify the following details:
Field Description
Site Select a Site.
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HA Group Select the HA Group to which the Node has to be added.
Name Unique name for the Node.
IP Address IP address of the Node.
4. Click Add Node.
Deleting a Node from an HA Group

Follow the procedures to delete a Node from a single Node HA Group:
1. Delete all the Storage Volumes on the Node.

2. Delete all the VSMs on the Node.
3. Delete all the Pools on the Node.
4. Bring down the Node to maintenance mode.
5. Click the delete icon to remove the Node from HA Group.
Follow the procedures to delete a Node from an HA Group with more than one Node:
1. Bring down the Node to maintenance mode.

2. Click the delete icon to remove the node from HA Group.
Configuring Disk Array enclosure

After you add Node, you are redirected to the Node page.
When there is no Disk Array attached to the Node, the following page appears. Ensure that you attach a Disk Array to the Node and
then click Refresh Hardware.
Note: When you attach a new Disk Array to a Node, click Refresh Storage/Refresh Hardware to make the Disk Array visible
on the ElastiCenter.
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To configure a newly attached Disk Array enclosure, follow the procedures:
1. In the Node page, click the image in the section Shared Storage.
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2. Click Configure A New Disk Array. The Disk Array Configuration page appears:
3. Specify the Name, Bay Alignment, Number of columns and Number of Rows. For details, see "Configuring Disk Array
enclosure"
4. Click Next and then do the following:
l Click the option under the column Blink. For details, see "SCSI Enclosure Service "
l Specify the bay location for the disks from the drop down list under the column Bay.
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5. Click Apply. On successful configuration, the Node page appears with a representation of the shared storage:
Note:You can also partially configure a Disk Array Enclosure. Suppose you have 12 disks, you can initially configure around
8 disks and other 4 disks can be configured as per the requirement.
Configuration details
Horizontal and vertical alignments
The Disk Arrays can be idealized either in terms of horizontal or vertical alignments.
The following figure represents a vertical alignment:
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The following figure represents a horizontal alignment:
Slots per row
Slots per row is the number of disks each row can accommodate. For example, three slots per row implies that a single row can
accommodate three disks.
SCSI Enclosure Service

SCSI Enclosure Service (SES) helps monitor the status of each device in a disk array enclosure such as disk slots, fans, heat
sinks, or power supplies.
The service helps you
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l Identify a disk or verify the slot in which the disk is located.

l Locate and disable a faulty disk.
l With specific and general alerts on enclosure components.
Blink identification
Blink identification LED on the disk slot of a disk array. When you click Blink, at the physical location of the disks, the identification
LED in the specified disk slot blinks. If the disk is not in the SCSI enclosure, the LED blink does not occur.
If the disk is in the SCSI enclosure and still if the blink does not occur, verify the health of the disk.
Enclosure component alerts
CloudByte ElastiStor provides common and specific alerts for the enclosure components such as disk slots, power supplies,
voltage sensors, current sensors, temperature sensors, fans, and audible alarm.
The common alerts which apply to all components include the ones related to
l Removal and installation of the component

l State in which the component is, such as critical, non-critical, OK, or unrecoverable
Specific alerts are generated for the following enclosure components: power supply, voltage sensor, current sensor, and tem-
perature sensor.
By default, CloudByte sends alerts over mail to the email you specified when you updated your profile the first time you logged in to
CloudByte ElastiCenter. To expand the mailing list, add the IDs separated by comma in the Global settings (Information Pane >
Admin > Global Settings > alert.email.addresses).
To view alerts in CloudByte ElastiCenter, click Alerts in the information pane.
Deleting a Disk Array

1. Delete all Pools in the Disk Array.
2. In the HA Groups page, select the HA group from which Disk Array has to be deleted.
3. For the Disk Array to be deleted, click Manage Disk Array and then click the delete icon.
Creating a Pool
1. Go to the Node page (ElastiCenter > Nodes).
2. From the list of Nodes, select the one for which you create the storage Pool.
3. In the actions pane, go to the section Tasks and then click Add Pool.
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The Add Pool page appears.
4. Select the Site, HA Group, and CB Node to which the Pool belongs.
5. Specify a name for the Pool and then click Next.
6. In the following screen, specify the RAID storage type and then choose one or more of the available disks.
7. (Optional) Enable Sector Size.
Note: For optimal performance, ensure that the disks in the same Pool belong to the same disk array.
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8. Click Next. The QoS settings page appears.
Field Description
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Total IOPS The maximum per second I/O limit for a Pool.
Average The desired average latency in milliseconds per I/O. Latency is the round-trip time per I/O request-response as measured
Latency by the client.
10. Click Add Pool.
Note:The number of disks required to create a Pool depends on the RAID type and protection/performance you look for. For
example, for a high performance application, you can create RAID 10 Pool. Similarly, for a high capacity application, you can
set up RAID z1 with 8 disks.
Configuring Spare
1. Go to the Pools page (Navigation pane > Pools).
2. In the Actions pane, click Manage RAID Configuration. The Disk Group page appears.
3. In the Actions pane, select Add Spare.
4. In the Add Spare page, select a disk from the drop-down list.
5. Click Add.
Migrating a Pool
You cannot migrate a pool. Only a VSM can be migrated.
Creating an Account
Use the Account page (ElastiCenter > Accounts) to create an Account.
1. Click Add Account. The Add Account page appears.
Field Description
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Name Unique name for the account.
Description Meaningful description of the account.
Assign Admin Select the type of administrator that you want to create. When you select an administrator type, the
username and password fields appear. For details, see s
3. Click Add Account. The Account is created. The wizard prompts you to continue and provision VSM.
4. Click Provision VSM to continue.
Delete account user

1. In ElastiCenter, select Accounts in the navigation pane.
2. From the list of Accounts, select the Account from which you want to delete a user.
3. Go to the Tasks section of the actions pane and then select Account Users.
4. Click the delete icon for the account user that you want to delete.
5. At prompt, click Yes.
Provisioning a VSM
Use either the Create Account wizard or Virtual Storage Machines page (ElastiCenter > Virtual Storage Machines) to provision
VSM.
1. Click Provision VSM.
The Provision VSM page appears.
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Field Description
Account The Account for which you create the VSM.
Name A unique name for the VSM.
Capacity The amount of disk space to be allotted for the VSM.
Total IOPS The maximum per second I/O limit for the VSM.
Total When you specify the Total IOPS, CloudByte calculates the Total Throughput and is automatically added. You cannot edit
Through- this field.
put
3. Click Next and then specify the provisioning details by selecting a Pool from the list.
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4. Click Next.
5. Select the network interface details. For details, see "Advanced settings | Implementation ".
6. Specify the tenant IP address and default gateway.
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7. Click Provision.
Multipathing
Multipathing is the ability to configure a server with multiple paths to the storage for take over on network failure. CloudByte
ElastiStor supports multipathing for iSCSI. When network failure occurs, redundant network takes over and ensures that the iSCSI
LUN is available.
Note: SATA disks or any disk with SATA interface is not supported for HA and multipathing configuration.
The details of the supported Maximum Multiple Connections (MCS) per LUN are as follows:
n 8 connections per LUN

n 16 sessions per LUN
To enable multipathing,
1. In ElastiCenter, select Virtual Storage Machine.

2. In the VSM page, select the VSM for which you want to enable multipathing.
3. In the action pane, select Advanced Settings.
4. Click Edit.
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5. Specify the required details.
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Field Description
Secondary IP address Provide secondary IP address to enable multipathing.
Secondary Interface Select an interface from the list.
6. If partial failover of Pool is enabled (which is enabled by default), click yes at the prompt to disable it.
Modifying QoS after provisioning VSM

Assume that you have provisioned storage for a VSM and now you want to change the QoS settings. For example, your pool has an
IOPS limit of 100. You have provisioned VSM with 50 IOPS. You can modify the values.
Note: In the example, you can increase the value up to 100 (which means, the entire IOPS is consumed).
To modify the QoS settings,
1. In ElastiCenter, select Virtual Storage Machines.

2. Select the VSM for which you want to modify the QoS settings.
3. In the QoS settings section of the actions pane, click Basic Settings. The highlighted section displays the QoS-related set-
tings.
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4. Click the Edit icon and then modify the editable fields.
5. Click Apply.
Modifying QoS after provisioning Storage Volume

1. In ElastiCenter, select Storage Volumes.
2. Select the Storage Volume for which you want to modify the QoS settings.
3. In the Storage Volume page, click Settings.
4. Click the edit icon and then modify the QoS details.
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5. Click Save.
Modifying storage capacity

1. In ElastiCenter, select Storage Volumes.
2. Select the Storage Volume for which you want to modify the storage capacity.
3. In the following page, click Settings.
4. In the following screen, click Edit and then modify the quota.
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Note: The quota of the Storage Volume cannot exceed the VSM size.
Configuring VSM migration

The objective of VSM migration is to optimize QoS. VSM migration helps to control the QoS parameters within a Pool and to move
data.
You can migrate a VSM

l From a Pool to another within the same Node or to a different Node.
l Across Sites.
Note:When you migrate a VSM across Nodes, ensure that the Node to which the migrating VSM belongs to is not down.
1. In the VSM page, select a VSM from the list.

2. In the Actions pane, go to Migrate and then click Schedule.
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3. In the following page, specify the required details:
Field Description
Site Select a Site to migrate the VSM.
IOPS The IOPS of the primary VSM is populated by default. You can modify the
value to provision IOPS required for migration.
Throughput The throughput of the primary VSM is populated by default. You cannot
modify this value as it is depends on the values of IOPS and Block SIze.
4. Click Next.
5. Select the Pool to migrate VSM and then click Next.
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6. Select the Backup interface, IP Address, and schedule of migration (in the format minutes/hours/days/month/year).
7. Click Add to create migrant VSM.
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Migrant VSM activation

Activation consideration
l The backup interface and IP address range of the native and the migrant VSMs must be same.
Note:After activation, this backup IP address will not be active and therefore need to be removed at the Pool level.
1. In the migrant VSM page, click Settings in the Actions pane.
2. In the Settings page, click Edit and then select an interface from the drop-down list.
3. Click Save.
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4. Click the VSM, the Migrant VSM, and then click Activate.
5. At prompt, click Yes.
After the VSM migration is active, the re-mount prompt appears. Ensure that you re-mount the Storage Volumes before you proceed.
Provisioning storage
l Before you provision a Storage Volume, you must create a VSM.
l The maximum supported size of the Storage Volume depends on the available capacity of VSM.
l There is no limit to the number of Storage Volumes that you can create. But the composite capacity of the created Storage
Volumes must be less than or equal to the capacity of the VSM they belong to. For example, if the total capacity of the VSM
is 1 TB, then you can create a Storage Volume with the capacity of 1 TB or multiple storage volumes where the total capacity
of all volumes is less than or equal to 1 TB.
l You can enable both compression and deduplication on the same Storage Volume.
l File system storage (NFS and CIFS) works together on the same Storage Volume, but block level storage (iSCSI) does not.
l You can back up Storage Volume by creating snapshots and then rolling back when required.
Note: By default, ElastiStor Storage Volume is thin provisioned. You can expand the Storage Volume up to the size of the
Pool, provided the Pool has available storage.
Use the Storage Volumes page (ElastiCenter > Storage Volumes) to provision storage.
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1. Click Provision Storage.
2. The Add Storage Volume page appears.
Field Description
Account Account for which you provision the storage.
Name Unique name for the storage.
Capacity Amount of disk space to be allocated.
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Provision Shared or Dedicated. For details, see the section Difference between Shared and Dedicated in "Frequently Asked
Mode Questions".
Block Size Block size of the volume.
Average Desired average latency in milliseconds per I/O. Latency is the round trip time per I/O request-response.
Latency
Control IOPS Select the required IOPS using the slider. Qos can be enforced either throughonly IOPS or only Throughput.
Control Select the required throughput using the slider. Qos can be enforced either throughonly IOPS or only Throughput.
Throughput
4. Click Next and then select the VSM on which you want to provision the Storage Volume.
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5. Click Next. The screen to specify the advanced settings appears.
Field Description
Volume Hierarchy The VSM on which the Storage Volume is mounted.

Parent Dataset
Record Size The block size to which data has to be divided.
Synchronization Leave the default settings as it is.
Deduplication If ON, new data is deduplicated.
Compression If ON, new data is compressed.
Mount Point (Applies only for NFS and CIFS) Specify the Storage Volume mount point for the client to use the storage.
Enable NFS Select to access the Storage Volume using NFS protocol.
Enable CIFS Select to access the Storage Volume using CIFS protocol.
Enable iSCSI Select to access the Storage Volume using iSCSI protocol.
7. Click Provision.
Choosing a Pool to provision VSM

CloudByte ElastiStor follows a QOS-centric approach to provisioning. When you provision a VSM, your choice of the Pool depends
on the availability of Pools that satisfy the required throughput and IOPS.
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Selecting the Pool

1. In the ElastiCenter navigation pane, click Virtual Storage Machine.
2. Click Add VSM.
3. After you specify the VSM details such as Name and the QoS details, click Next.
4. In the following screen, select the Pool after evaluating the IOPS.
5. Click Next to specify the Network details.
Choosing a VSM to provision Storage Volume

When you provision storage, your choice depends on the availability of TSMs that satisfy the required throughput and IOPS.
To provision storage,
1. In ElastiCenter, click Storage Volumes in the navigation pane.

2. Click Provision Storage.
3. In the following screen, specify the basic storage details and then click Next.
4. Select a TSM that satisfies the QoS requirements. The graphical representation helps you with the IOPS data.
5. Click Next and then proceed to complete the provisioning.
Auto-Provisioning
Auto-provisioning is particularly helpful when you have innumerable Pools/TSMs. CloudByte ElastiStor chooses the appropriate
Pool/TSM for provisioning automatically.
To auto-provision a VSM/Storage Volume,
1. In ElastiCenter, select Global Settings.
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2. Click the Edit icon for provisioning.sb.auto and provisioning.tsm.auto.

3. In the Value column, specify yes(instead of the default nowhich implies provisioning is manual) as shown in the following
screen:
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Can I migrate a Storage Volume?
No. You can migrate only VSMs.
Can I keep Storage Volume in a sleep state?
No
Can a Storage Volume span multiple pools?
No
Will enabling compression and deduplication impact performance?
Yes, they can significantly impact. Compression and deduplication are CPU and memory intensive processes.
What is the right latency for Storage Volume?
Depends on the disk from which the Pool is created. For example, SSDs are of lower latency when compared to SATA.
Can I have Storage Volumes with same names under different accounts?
Yes
Can the storage capacity be changed after configuring a Storage Volume?
Yes
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What is the recommended storage pool RAID configuration?
If you need high performance, mirroring is recommended. For larger SATA drives (for example 4TB), CloudByte recommends
RAIDz2.
Can I create a mixed disk pool, for example with SATA and SSD disks?
Yes. But CloudByte does not recommend this because you get only the performance of the lowest disk; in this case SATA.
How many log devices can I attach to a Pool?
Depends on the workload. For instance, in a WRITE intense scenario, a higher ZIL improves your WRITE performance.
How much L2ARC should I add to the Pool?
Depends on the workload. For instance, in a READ intense scenario, a higher L2ARC improves READ performance.
How to improve the performance of L2ARC and the log device?
L2ARC and log device are intended to improve the READ and WRITE respectively. Therefore, high performance SSD stor-
age is recommended for an L2ARC or ZIL
What Pool do you recommend for a data protection use case?
A large RAIDz Group with high performance data disks and one or two parity disks are ideal.
What is the recommended RAID-Z configuration?
For RAID-Z1, RAID-Z2, and RAID-Z3 CloudByte recommends a 2^n + p configuration.
Parameter Description
n RAID-Z 1, RAID-Z 2, and RAID-Z 3.
p Parity: p=1 for RAID-Z1, p=2 for RAID-Z2 and p=3 for RAID-Z3 where RAID-Z1 = 3, 5, 9, 17, …, RAID-Z2 = 4, 6,
10, 18, …, RAID-Z3 = 5, 7, 11, 19, …
Is single parity RAID equivalent to well known RAID 5?
Almost similar but RAIDZ1 uses the features of ZFS. Also it eliminates the WRITE HOLE problem in RAID 5.
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Is double parity RAID equivalent to well known RAID 6?
Almost similar but RAIDZ2 uses the features of ZFS. Also, it eliminates the WRITE HOLE problem in RAID 5.
What is RAID triple parity and when should I use it?
RAID triple parity tolerates failure of three disks in a RAID group. Use it when you handle critical data and want to evade
chances of disk failure.
Do you recommend NFS/CIFS/ISCSI setup on the same Pool or should I have the access protocols set up on dif-
ferent Pools?
It doesn't matter. Configure based on the usage and requirement.
Can a VSM span multiple Pools?
Not in the current release.
Is Pool IOPS derived from the disk?
Disk plays a role in deriving IOPS, but is also based on RAM and L2ARC.
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CHAPTER V Data Access Protocols

Agenda
l Set up the access protocols
l Connect to ElastiStor
CloudByte ElastiStor provides LUN access using the following protocols:
l iSCSI
l CIFS
l NFS
When you create a Storage Volume, you are provided with an option to select the access protocols that you want to enable.
Deleting a Storage Volume disables the protocol access services automatically.
The following sections help you configure data access protocols supported by CloudByte ElastiStor.
Data access using iSCSI

iSCSI is Internet SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking
data storage connections. By offering SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to transmit data over intranets. For further
details, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISCSI.
iSCSI concepts
Authentication Group: A grouping of multiple iSCSI users.
Use this option if you use CHAP or mutual CHAP. You can configure Authentication group at both VSM and Storage Volume levels.
CHAP: An authentication method which uses a user/secret or IQNs for outgoing authentication. The Storage Volumes on
CloudByte ElastiStor authenticate the initiator.
Mutual CHAP: A super set of CHAP which uses peer user/peer secret for outgoing/incoming authentication between Storage
Volumes and initiator.
Initiator group: Defines who can initiate the LUN.
It is a combination of multiple IQNs. By default, CloudByte ElastiStor creates two initiator groups (all where everyone can initiate the
LUN and none where no one can). After you create the Storage Volume, when you manage the iSCSI options, you are prompted to
choose an initiator group. You can either select the default one or the ones that you create. You configure initiator group in the Stor-
age Volume.
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iSCSI configuration workflow

You configure iSCSI at the following levels:
n Account
n VSM
n Storage Volume
The following figure illustrates the work flow for configuring the iSCSI protocol options:
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Account iSCSI options
Configuring iSCSI at account level involves the following tasks:
1. In ElastiCenter, select Accounts.

2. In the Accounts page, select the account for which you want to specify the protocol options.
3. In the action pane, select the protocol option and then specify the details.
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The following options are available:
Manage iSCSI Authentication Groups
In the Add Authentication Group dialog box, specify the following details:
Field Description
Name A unique name for the authentication group.
Description A meaningful description for the authentication group.
CHAP Username Username for CHAP authentication. For uniqueness, specify the initiator IQN name as username.
CHAP Secret Password for CHAP authentication in alpha-numeric format. The password must have 12 to 16 characters.
Mutual CHAP User- Username for mutual CHAP authentication. For uniqueness, specify the initiator IQN name as username. The
name value must be same as that of the CHAP user.
Mutual CHAP Secret Password for mutual CHAP authentication (should be different from CHAP secret). The password must have
12 to 16 characters.
Initiator Groups
In the Add Intiator Group dialog box, specify the following details:
Field Description
Name Unique name of the initiator group.
Allowed Intiator List of allowed initiators, separated by comma.
Authorized Networks List of allowed networks followed by subnet mask in the format 10.0.0.0/8, sep-
arated by comma.
VSM iSCSI Options
This is the set of iSCSI options specific to a VSM. By default, CloudByte ElastiStor creates a default VSM iSCSI options group
defaultwhich contains industry standard options.
After you create the VSM, when you manage the iSCSI options, you are prompted to choose the VSM iSCSI options group. You can
either select the default one or the ones that you create.
Field Description
IQN Name Specify a unique IQN.
Number of Select the number of worker threads.

worker threads
Discovery Auth Specify the authentication method.

Method
Discovery Auth Specify the authentication group.

Group
Timeout Sets the limit on how long an I/O can be outstanding before an error occurs. Values range from 0 to 300. The default
value is 30.
NOPIN Interval The frequency of sending a NOP-IN packet in seconds. The values range from 0 to 300. The default value is 20.
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MAX R2T Specify a value between 1 and 255. The default value is 32.
Max Sessions Specify a value between 1 and 64. The default value is 8.
Max Con- Specify a value between 1 and 64. The default value is 16.
nections
First Burst Maximum data in bytes that an iSCSI initiator may send to the target during the execution of a single iSCSI command
Length unsolicited. Values range from 1 to 2^32 with a default of 65,536.
Max Burst Maximum WRITE size in bytes the target is willing to receive between R2Ts. Values range from 1-2^32. The default
Length value is 262,144.
Max Receive In bytes. Values range from 1 to 2^32. The default value is 262,144.
Data Segment
length
Max Out- Maximum number of ready to receive packets (R2Ts) the target can have as outstanding. This is for a single iSCSI
standing R2T command,where larger values should yield performance increases until MaxOutstandingR2T exceeds the size of the
largest Write I/O divided by MaxBurstLength. Values range from 1 to 255. The default value is 16.
Default time to Minimum time in seconds to wait before attempting a logout or an active task reassignment after an unexpected con-
wait nection termination/reset. Values range from 1 to 300. The default value is 2.
Default time to Maximum time in seconds after Time2Wait before which an active task reassignment is still possible after an unex-
retain pected connection termination/reset. Values range from 1 to 300. The default value is 60.
Volume iSCSI Options
This is the set of iSCSI options specific to a Storage Volume. By default, CloudByte ElastiStor creates a default Volume iSCSI
options group default which contains industry standard options. After you create the VSM, when you manage the iSCSI options,
you are prompted to choose the Volume iSCSI options group. You can either select the default one or the ones that you create.
Field Description
Status Select either Enabled or Disabled.
IQN Name Specify the unique IQN.
Authentication Specify the authentication method.

Method
Authentication Specify the authentication group.

Group
Initiator Group Specify the initiator group.
Initial Digest Select one of the advanced data integrity options.
iSCSI Block Length Select the block length.
Queue Depth Pending I/O requests for the Volume. The values range from 0-255. 0 implies that the status disabled. The default
value is 32.
Configuration scenarios
The following scenarios explain iSCSI configuration in detail:
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Scenario 1: Assigning the same iSCSI initiator groups to two Storage Volumes under a VSM
iSCSI initiator groups can be configured for only Storage Volumes based on initiator groups in the account. For example, Storage
Volumes under the VSM can have different iSCSI initiator groups.
For procedures, see "Configuring initiator group and restricting access"
Scenario 2: Assigning different authentication groups to multiple Storage Volumes under a VSM
You can have different authentication groups for VSMs and Storage Volumes.
For procedures, see "iSCSI authentication workflow"
iSCSI access control workflow

An initiator group defines who can initiate the LUN. After you create the Storage Volume, when you manage the iSCSI options, you
are prompted to choose an initiator group.
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Data access to the iSCSI Storage Volume can be restricted to either a single machine or to multiple machines in a Subnet.
Configuring initiator group and restricting access

1. In the ElastiCenter, select Accounts.
3. Select Manage iSCSI Initiator Groups in the Actions pane.
4. Select Add Initiator Group in the Tasks menu.

5. Provide the required details.
Field Description
Name Unique name of the initiator group.
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Allowed Intiator List of IQNs, separated by comma for restricting the access to iSCSI Storage Volume from multiple machines
in a Subnet.
Authorized Net- List of allowed networks, followed by subnet mask in the format 10.0.0.0/8, separated by comma.
works
6. Click OK.
7. In the Storage Volumes page, select the Storage Volume to which you want to assign the initiator.
8. Select Manage iSCSI Configuration (Actions pane > Tasks).
9. Click Edit, enter the required details, and then save the changes.
10. In the Confirmation dialog box, click Modify.
iSCSI authentication workflow

An iSCSI Authentication Group is a grouping of multiple iSCSI users. You can select the users who can access the iSCSI target.
After you create users, you can group them as iSCSI users for authentication.

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3. Select Manage iSCSI Authentication Groups in the Actions pane.
4. Click Add Authentication Group in the following page:
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5. Enter the required details and then click OK.
Field Description
CHAP Username Username for CHAP authentication. For uniqueness, specify the initiator IQN name as username. CHAP is
an authentication method which uses a user/secret or IQNs for outgoing authentication. The Storage
Volumes on CloudByte ElastiStor authenticate the initiator.
CHAP Secret Password for CHAP authentication in alpha-numeric format.The password must have 12 to 16 characters.
Mutual CHAP Username for mutual CHAP authentication. For uniqueness, specify the initiator IQN name as username.
Username The value must be same as that of the CHAP user. Mutual CHAP is a super set of CHAP which uses peer
user/peer secret for outgoing/incoming authentication between Storage Volumes and initiator.
Mutual CHAP Password for mutual CHAP authentication (should be different from CHAP secret).
Secret
Description The password must have 12 to 16 characters.
6. In the Storage Volumes page, select the Storage Volume for which you want to assign the authentication group.
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7. Select Manage iSCSI Configuration (Actions pane > Tasks).
8. Click Edit, enter the required details, and then click Save. In the following screen, you have selected CHAP as the authen-
tication method.
9. In the Confirmation dialog box, click Modify.
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Restricting access to iSCSI VSM by managing Authentication Groups
The procedures are same as in the section Restricting access to iSCSI Storage Volume by managing Authentication Groupsexcept
that, instead of Storage Volume, you have to select VSM from step 7 onward.
Installing MPIO on Windows Server

Multipath I/O (MPIO) is a Microsoft-provided framework that allows storage providers to develop Multipath solutions that contain
hardware-specific information required to optimize connectivity with storage arrays.
MPIO provides an alternate data path between storage devices and Windows operating system. MPIO is protocol-independent and
can be used with Internet SCSI (iSCSI) and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interfaces.
Installing MPIO functionality involves the following procedures:
Note: The following documentation is for Windows Server 2008. The procedures are similar for other versions of Windows
Server. However, there might be minor variations owing to the differences in UI strings and navigation.
1. On Windows Server, select Multipath I/O and then click Install (Server Manager Console > Add Features Wizard).
Note: This step can be skipped if Multipath I/O is already installed.
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2. Restart the Windows Server after you complete the installation.

3. After reboot, configure Multipath as follows:
1. Open MPIO application (Start > Administrative Tools > MPIO).
2. Click Discover Multi-paths tab.
3. Enable Add support for iSCSI devices.
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4. Click Add.
4. In the Reboot required dialog box click Yes.
After reboot, a new device called "MSFT2005IBusType 0x9" (or similar ID) appears in the MPIO Properties.
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Configuring Multipath on ElastiCenter

Prerequisites:
l In the Network Interface Cards page (Nodes> Network Interface Cards), configure static IP addresses for each inter-
face to configure multipath as shown in the following screen:
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Procedures
1. In the VSMs page, click Provision VSM and then complete the procedures to create a VSM.
2. Select the provisioned VSM and then in the VSM page select Advanced Settings.
3. In the Advanced Settings page, click Edit.
4. In the following screen, provide the required details and then click Save.
Field Description
Secondary IP Address Alternate IP Address to configure multipath for a single LUN.
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Secondary Subnet Subnet address for multipath configuration.
Secondary Interface Alternate Interface to configure multipath.
5. Provision a Storage Volume in the VSM on which Multipath I/O is configured.

6. (In the following page) Enter the required details and complete the procedures.
Configuring MPIO on Windows Server for a LUN in ElastiStor

Adding the first path to the iSCSI target
1. Add two target portal IP addresses of the Disk Station (iSCSI Initiator Properties > Discovery).
2. Select a target that uses MPIO and then click Log On (iSCSI Initiator Properties page > Target).
1. Select the option Automatically restore this connection when the computer starts.
2. Select the option Enable multi-path.
3. Click Advanced.
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3. In the Advanced Settings page, check the following options:

l Microsoft iSCSI Initiator.
l First Subnet of the Initiator Computer
l First Subnet of the DiskStation (both the IP addresses of the initiator and the target are within the same Subnet)
4. Click OK and ensure that the target has been connected.
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5. Close the iSCSI Initiator Application.
Adding the second path to the iSCSI target

1. In the iSCSI initiator properties page:
1. Select the Target to use MPIO (ensure that it is connected).
2. Click Log on.
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2. In the Advanced Settings page, check the following and then click OK.
l Microsoft iSCSI inititator
l Second Subnet of the Initiator Computer
l Second Subnet of the DiskStation (both the IP addresses of the Initiator and the Target are within the same Subnet)
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3. Select Details in the iSCSI Initiator Properties page.
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4. In the Target Properties page, click Devices tab.
99
5. Select a device name and then click Advanced
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6. Select a load balance policy and then click OK. The following screenshot shows Round Robin with Subset as the Load bal-
ance policy.
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Data access using CIFS

The Common Internet File System (CIFS), is a network protocol whose most common use is sharing files on a Local Area Network
(LAN).
The following workflow explains how to configure CIFS options:
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Configure VSM CIFS options at the VSM level. File system CIFS options can be configured at the Storage Volume level (if you have
enabled the protocol option).
VSM CIFS options

By default, CloudByte ElastiStor creates a default VSM CIFS options group with industry standard options.
After you create the VSM, Manage CIFS Configuration option can be used to manage CIFS options at VSM level. You can either
select the default one or select options from the drop down menu.
Field Description
Authentication Model By default the Authentication Model is user.
NetBios Name A unique name for the VSM CIFS options template.
Server Description A meaningful description of the VSM CIFS options template.
Workgroup The workgroup that the server will appear to be in.
DOS Charset The character set that is used while communicating with the Windows clients. The default is CP437
UNIX Charset The character set that is internally used. The default is UTF-8.
Log Level Sets the amount of log/debug messages that are sent to the log file. Default is Minimum. Keep it this
way for best performance unless more information is needed for troubleshooting.
Time Server Determines whether or not ElastiStor advertises itself as a time server to Windows clients.
File system CIFS options

By default, CloudByte ElastiStor creates a default file system CIFS options group with industry standard options. After you create
the Storage Volume, Manage CIFS Configuration option can be used to manage CIFS options at Storage Volume level.
Option Description
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Status If Enabled, CIFS Share can be accessed. If NFS is enabled on a Storage Volume, you can access CIFS share by setting
Status to enable.
Name A unique name for the file system CIFS options template.
Description A meaningful description of the CIFS options template.
Read Only If checked, prohibits write access to the share.
If selected, clients when they browse the shared directory using Windows Explorer can see the list of shares. If unse-
Browseable lected, client has to explicitly specify the full server path in Windows Explorer.
Inherit Per- If selected, permissions on new files and directories are inherited from parent directory.This option is (particularly) helpful
missions in scenarios where there are large systems with many users involved. Inheriting permissions let a single home share to
be used flexibly by each user. Leave this unselected if Type of ACL is set to Windows in the Volume's permissions.
Recycle Bin If selected, instead of purging the files, they are moved to recycle bin of CIFS share on deletion.
Hide Dot Dot files (unlike on UNIX) appear on Windows. Select the option to hide the Dot files.
Files
Hosts Allow Host-based protection feature. Comma-separated or space separated list of IP addresses that are allowed to access the
shares. If nothing is specified, the default value ALL applies.
Hosts Deny Host-based protection feature. Comma-separated or space separated list of IP addresses that are denied access to the
file system. If you specify ALL, IP Addresses that are not listed in the Host Allow field are denied permission.
CIFS authentication workflow
A CIFS Authentication Group is a grouping of multiple CIFS users. You can select the users who can access the CIFS share.

3. Select Manage CIFS Authentication Groups in the Actions pane.
4. Click Add Authentication Group in the following page:
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5. Specify the required details and then click OK.
Field Description
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User name Specify a name for the user.
Password Specify a password for the user.
Full name Specify the full name of the user.
6. In the VSM page, select the VSM for which you want to assign the authentication group.
7. Select Manage CIFS Configuration (Actions pane > Tasks).
8. Click Edit, select a Discovery Authentication Group from the drop-down list and then click Save.
9. In the confirmation prompt, click Modify.
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Data access using NFS

Network File System (NFS) allows a server to share directories and files with clients over a network.
The following section details the setup:
VSM NFS options

1. In the VSM Page, click Manage NFS Configuration (Actions > Tasks).
2. (In the following page) Click Edit, change the Number of NFS Worker Threads, and then save the settings.
File system NFS options

1. In the navigation pane, select Storage Volumes.
2. In the Storage Volume page, select the Storage Volume for which you want to specify the NFS options.
3. In the following page, select Manage NFS Configuration in the Tasks section of the actions pane.
4. In the Authorized NFS clients page, click Add NFS Clients.
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5. Specify the following NFS details:
Option Description
Network/IP Single Network ID with subnet mask (for example,10.10.1.100/8). You can also provide a comma-separated
addresses list of IP addresses for which access has to be provided (for example,10.20.10.120, 10.20.10.121) instead.
All Directories Yes the client can mount any sub directory within the Path.
Map as Root l Yesrestricts all users to root.

Users
l No restricts write or delete accesses to other users' files.
Read-only Yes prohibits writing to the share.
6. Click Add.
Can I use the same secret key for mutual authentication in the case of LUN export?
The key must be unique.
What is the maximum number of NFS or iSCSI LUNs that you can have on ElastiStor?
You can create N number of NFS or iSCSI LUNs, based on your requirement.
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CHAPTER VI Managing | Monitoring | Reporting

Agenda
l Delegate your administrative tasks
l Monitor your storage infrastructure
l Generate reports
The following sections explain the management features in CloudByte ElastiStor.
Delegated administration
Administration in CloudByte can be categorized based on services. You can have administration at the Site level or at the Account
level. Your Site can have multiple Site administrators.
Note: Currently, CloudByte ElastiStor supports only role-based administration. Future releases will have delegated admin-
istration fully implemented.
As the root administrator, you can distribute the tasks to administrators. Delegated administration is an act of providing and restrict-
ing privileges by establishing access control based on the responsibility of each individual administrator.
n Delegated administration lets you determine the actions that each administrator can take using administrative tools on dif-
ferent resources.
n Delegated administration roles are mapped to administrative functions using security policies. You can create and maintain
separate administration capabilities, depending on your needs.
n You establish delegated administration by creating role hierarchy.
n Role hierarchy enables you to keep a tight control on how delegation happens and who can delegate what to whom. One
administrator can create sub-roles for other administrators with limited administrative privileges.
Role hierarchy
The following is a pictorial representation of how role-hierarchy functions in CloudByte ElastiStor administration:
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Administrator Can Cannot
Super admin- Perform all possible actions across Sites, Accounts, and VSMs Not applicable
istrator
Site administrator l Manage permissible actions within the permitted Sites Delete/Modify/Create another Site admin-
istrator
l Manage more than one Site
l Have only read-only access
l Create/Delete/Modify Accounts (if permitted by super

administrator)
Account super l Manage only that Account l Manage anything outside the Account
dministrator
l Do everything permissible for an Account administrator l Manage anything with respect to the
infrastructure
Account admin- Manage what is permitted within the Account Manage other account admins within the
istrator Account.
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View administrator l View all the permitted Sites and underlying infrastructure l Delete/Modify/Create another View
administrator
l Have only read-only access
l View Site administrators
l View all the permitted Accounts
l View Cluster administrators and Account administrators
l Generate reports
Note: You can only have one super administrator. Only the super administrator can change his/her password. Administrators
can change their password and passwords of administrators under them.
Adding delegated administrators

Create Site administrators or view administrators
Note: You can create Site administrators or view administrators only if you are a super administrator.
1. Log in as a super administrator.

2. In the navigation pane, select Delegated Administrator. The Delegated Administrators page appears.
3. Click Add Delegated Admin.

4. In the Add Delegated Admin Details page, specify the following details:
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l Email: Specify a unique email address for the Site administrator or View administrator
l Password: Administrator password
l Delegated Admin Type:Select the type of Delegated Administrator from the drop-down menu
5. Click Next and then drag and drop one or more Sites for which you want to delegate administration as seen in the following
screen:
6. Click Add.
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Create Account administrators

You can create Account administrators for either existing or new accounts.
Create Account administrators for a new account
Note: The type of administrator that you can assign tasks to depends on the privileges you have.

2. In the Accounts page, click Add Account.
3. In the Account Details page, when you specify the account details, choose the type of administrator that you want to create
(Account Super Admin or Account Admin).
4. Specify the credentials for the administrator and then click Add Account.
Create Account administrators for an existing account
Note: The type of administrator that you can assign task to depends on the privileges you have.

2. In the Accounts page, select the account for which you want to add new administrators.
3. In the following page, click Add Administrator in the Delegated Administration section of the tasks pane.
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4. In the Add Account dialog box, specify the details and then click OK.
Global Settings
Global settings let the administrator configure various options used to control CloudByte ElastiStor. For example, email con-
figuration. To configure global settings,
1. In ElastiCenter, select Global Settings.

2. Select a target category. A list of settings is provided by default.
3. Edit the relevant settings.
Note: You cannot add new settings.
Monitoring
Monitoring provides an intuitive visualization of storage statistics.
Monitoring foregrounds relevant backend activities in an easy user interface for administrators. It provides a generic outlook of the
components such as storage, input/output, throughput, latest data, status, alerts, and system configuration.
Various dashboards dynamically represent disk utilization, storage utilization, throughput, input/output, and status of network inter-
face cards attached to the system.
Alerts and Events feature keeps a regular check on what is happening with the product. All events - even adding an additional IP
address or modifying an existing one - get registered and monitored.
The feature also provides a notification system where the administrator is informed through email/text messages when an alert is
generated in the system.
Continuous monitoring of your network
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n Helps you discover problems long before they become critical

n Enables you to take proactive measures
n Ensures that performance is always at expected levels
n Ensures that resources are effectively utilized
Monitoring in CloudByte ElastiStor

Monitoring in CloudByte ElastiStor can be classified as follows:
n Node level alerts: The alert information specific to the Node.

n Dashboard alerts: Graphical representation of monitoring statistics at granular levels.
n Events: A snapshot of all ElastiCenter-specific events.
Node level alerts
Node level alerts provide a list of alerts specific to the Nodes.
1. In ElastiCenter, click Alerts. All alerts associated with the Node are displayed.
2. Click the Acknowledge icon to acknowledge the alert and it disappears from the list. To acknowledge all the alerts, click Bulk
Acknowledge in the Actions pane.
Emailing alerts
The following settings in Global Settings let you email alerts:
l By default , alerts are not emailed. To receive alerts over email, set alert.email.enable to true . The alerts are mailed
to the email that you specified when you updated your profile. For details, see "Reset password and configure auto-alert
options". To add multiple users, add the email IDs separated by comma in alert.email.addresses.
l You can set a filter to the alerts mailed based on severity using the option alert.email.severity. By default, all alerts
are mailed (as the value set is 4).
l To specify the sender email ID, use the option alert.email.sender. If you do not specify an ID, the ElastiCenter domain
name is displayed along with IP address of ElastiCenter.
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Events
To get a list of ElastiCenter events,
1. In ElastiCenter, click Events.

2. Select Events in the Select View. All events are listed.
To get a list of specific events, go to the component page and then click Events. For example, for events related to only Storage
Volumes:
1. In the Storage Volumes page, select a Storage Volume for which you want to generate events.
2. In the following page, click Events in the actions pane.
Dashboard Alerts
Dashboard provides a visual representation of monitoring statistics such as performance, usage, capacity, and availability.
To see the details, select the component and then make a specific selection.
The following figure is a dashboard representation of the alerts
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Advanced debugging options

The Troubleshooting option provided in the Node page, Pool page, and VSM page provides a set of information that help you with
advanced debugging. The options provide information such as the following:
l For Pools: Pool I/O Status and Pool Properties

l For VSMs: NIC and Netstat information
l For Nodes: I/O Status of various disks, GMultipath status, and Camcontrol device list for all available disks
When you select an option, details are provided in a tabular format. To access the Troubleshooting option,
1. In the Node/Pool/VSM page, click a specific Node/Pool/VSM.

2. In the Actions pane, click Troubleshooting under Tasks.
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3. Select the action and then click Update.
CloudByte ElastiStor reporting

CloudByte ElastiStor provides detailed reports that you can save or print. The reports can be generated in the formats PDF, HTML,
and CSV. You can schedule reports and email the generated reports.
You can generate reports at granular levels, for instance at Account level or Pool level. Reports help you with various statistics such
as QoS data.
CloudByte provides the following reports, which you can generate, print, and circulate:
l Account IOPS Provisioning

l Pool IOPS Provisioning
l Account Storage Provisioning
l Pool Storage Provisioning
l Account QoS
l Pool QoS
l Account Storage
l Pool Storage
l Volume Usage
l HA Group Info
l Global Accounts IOPS Storage Provisioning
Note: In future releases, you can define your own reports and add new report types.
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Accessing the reports

1. In ElastiCenter, select Reports.
2. Click the respective icon to generate or schedule a report.

3. In the dialog box that appears, specify the relevant details and then click OK.
Configuring email for reports

To send the generated reports over mail, Click Generate new Report icon in the Actions pane and then specify the address to which
the report has to be mailed.
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To change the default settings for configuring email for reports, select Global Settings and then specify the details for the highlighted
options:
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CHAPTER VII REST APIs | Quality of Service

Agenda
l Managing ElastiStor with REST APIs
l How to assure Quality of Service
Introduction to REST APIs
CloudByte ElastiStor REST APIs provide a bundle of functions that encompasses all the features in the CloudByte ElastiStor
Administrator Console (CloudByte ElastiCenter). You do not need ElastiCenter to configure and manage CloudByte ElastiStor.
Rather you can use your own portal.
The CloudByte ElastiStor REST APIs provide powerful, convenient, and simple REST-based APIs which can interact with
CloudByte ElastiStor.
Click one of the following links to get a complete list of CloudByte ElastiStor REST APIs and documentation relevant to your admin-
istrative privileges:
l Super administrator APIs

l Site administrator APIs
l Account super administrator APIs
How to use CloudByte ElastiStor REST APIs

1. Install CloudByte ElastiCenter. For details, see Installing CloudByte ElastiCenter.
2. Authenticate as Administrator. For details, see Accessing CloudByte ElastiCenter.
3. Obtain the CloudByte REST API authorization token. This token is passed in each request using the API Key request para-
meter. For details, see "Obtaining the REST API key".
4. Form the request URL. For details, see "Forming the API request".
Obtaining the REST API key

1. Log in to ElastiCenter as Super Admin.
2. In the navigation pane, select Delegated Administrator. The list of administrators appears.
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3. From the list of Accounts, click the specific account for which you want to generate the API key.
4. In the following page, click Generate Keys.
5. Click Yes to confirm. The API key is generated and displayed as shown in the following screen:
Forming the API request

The following is a sample GET request:
https://<ElastiCen-
terIPaddress>/client/apicommand=listSite&apiKey=Xxj48vo357IsQ5H5KOPQksMzFBGYgTJNqgItBAulgu5YeOkwT4L8DAWUb_
p43Nlv23e4eBeuN3Ts8_0-m3AyQA&response=json
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Interpreting the URL

URL Component Description
https://<ElastiCenter IP address>/client/api? Base URL which includes the IP address to access

CloudByte ElastiCenter; the web service API entry point.
command=listSite The web service command you execute. For the complete
list of commands, see ElastiStor APIs.
apiKey=UjGmN7gGwzMhFsSese3TNNOWiXHGn53eon_7sHx3aL-9_ The API key that you generated.

t3sHAOV_rNqVzwTnrJyCaTAg9FucSBvMp49nbnfEQ
response=json Response format. This can be XML or JSON. To get an

XML response, replace json with xml in the URL.
Apart from these, the URL also has the additional parameters (required or optional) for the command.
Sample response in JSON

{ “listSiteResponse” : { “count”:2 ,”site” : [ {
“id”: “66291daa-4c40-4462-8747-926ebc488963”,
“name”: “Bangalore”,
“location”: “India”,
“managedstate”: “Available”,
“currentUsedSpace”: 29,
“currentAvailableSpace”: 9943,
“currentTotalSpace”: 9972,
“currentThroughput”: 605,
“currentIOPS”: 151,
“currentLatency”: 163,
“currentThrottle”: 20,
“controllers”: [
{
“nodePools”: “4”,
“id”: “4c6e2246-52c1-3227-b51a-9928cf3b675a”,
“clusterid”: “88bf812b-5142-4780-8ad3-13178bbf30a1”,
“name”: “host1”,
“hostname”: “Both”,
“nodeTsms”: “4”,
“ipaddress”: “10.36.36.50”
}
],
“haclusters”: [
{
“id”: “88bf812b-5142-4780-8ad3-13178bbf30a1”,
“haClusterPools”: “4”,
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“haClusterNodes”: “1”,
“name”: “Cluster1”,
“haClusterTsms”: “4”
}
],
“hapools”: [
{
“controllerId”: “4c6e2246-52c1-3227-b51a-9928cf3b675a”,
“id”: “38e66579-bb91-3de3-815a-48c35e2c5943”,
“availiops”: “50”,
“totalthroughput”: “102400”,
“name”: “Pool1”,
“poolTsms”: “1”,
“availthroughput”: “51200”,
“totaliops”: “100”
},
{
“id”: “226e2e02-a3e5-3609-b70d-aea8ef655f74”,
“name”: “Pool2”,
},
{
“id”: “810f428d-9c26-3d91-8675-62cc3ca56da0”,
“name”: “pool3”,
},
{
“id”: “11d6fd85-5782-39fe-b85d-079d73742757”,
“name”: “P4”,
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}
],
“tsms”: [
{
“id”: “1cb805fe-dd22-357e-b198-121fa08d0971”,
“name”: “T1”,
“ipaddress”: “10.37.37.51”,
},
{
“id”: “90a4e6f8-cb3c-317f-8cdf-3986e8759747”,
“name”: “T2”,
“ipaddress”: “10.37.37.52”,
},
{
“id”: “cab14af0-84b6-3761-900b-9675b32b6ba5”,
“name”: “T3”,
“ipaddress”: “10.37.37.53”,
},
{
“id”: “17b17719-137d-3f95-9f4f-468a17a45957”,
“name”: “T4”,
“ipaddress”: “10.37.37.54”,
}
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]
}, {
“id”: “74692191-75a9-4294-9b1e-402127c9e327”,
“name”: “test”,
“managedstate”: “Available”,
“revisionnumber”: 0,
“currentUsedSpace”: 0,
“currentAvailableSpace”: 0,
“currentTotalSpace”: 0,
“currentThroughput”: 0,
“currentIOPS”: 0,
“currentLatency”: 0,
“currentThrottle”: 0
} ] } }
Sample response in XML

<listSiteResponse cloud-stack-version=“1.1.0.4.2013-02-06T10:19:20Z”>
<count>1</count>
<site>
<id>ad63d28a-9de9-443f-8260-4309337f40c3</id>
<name>site</name>
<managedstate>Available</managedstate>
<revisionnumber>0</revisionnumber>
<currentUsedSpace>0</currentUsedSpace>
<currentAvailableSpace>1996</currentAvailableSpace>
<currentTotalSpace>1996</currentTotalSpace>
<currentThroughput>0</currentThroughput>
<currentIOPS>0</currentIOPS>
<currentLatency>0</currentLatency>
<currentThrottle>0</currentThrottle>
</site>
</listSiteResponse>
Assuring Quality of Service

Introduction
Assuring quality of service makes your storage performance predictable. CloudByte ElastiStor is unique in its QoS offering as it lets
you
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n Easily commission storage with guaranteed IOPS at various levels. You can decide to configure QoS at a Pool level, VSM
level, or Storage Volume level.
n Configure multidimensional QoS involving IOPS, throughput, latency, and capacity.
n Utilize untapped system resources. For example, assume that you have three VSMs but only one is active. In this case, the
active VSM can use the entire system’s capability.
n On-demand modification of settings without system restarts.
Choosing your QoS

The following points help you choose an appropriate QoS:
Endpoint: Decide at what level you want to implement QoS.
Select a capable pool: Based on VSM’s requirements, you provision it on a capable Pool that can meet the requirements. Define
the pool level QoS, based on Pool configuration and the controller level. QoS is determined based on the Pool capacity, which is the
underlying storage capability.
QoS provisioning: Understand your VSM’s QoS requirements across the data access and data protection needs. Based on the
requirement of the VSM, you can either choose QoS automatically or manually. Ensure that you are aware of the Pool settings and
how effectively you want to use it at the VSM level.
Sub-divide QoS: Within a VSM, based on varying needs, further sub-divide QoS across Storage Volume, based on the guarantee
that the administrator wants to set. For example, when a VSM is used to store logs in the database, since logs need higher IOPS
and lower throughput and latency, set it accordingly. Whereas a database requires low IOPS, high throughput, and high latency.
Configuration
Use ElastiCenter to configure QoS settings. The configuration can be at the following levels:
n Pool: For details, see Creating a Storage pool.

n Account: For details, see Creating an Account.
n VSM: For details, see Provisioning VSM.
Configuring Grace
What is Grace
Grace is the provisioning of unused IOPS/throughput of Pools to Storage Volumes based on the performance requirements. You can
configure Grace at Pool level and Storage Volume level.
For example, assume that you have a Pool with the capacity of 100 IOPS and Grace enabled. Two VSMs named VSM A and VSM
B, with a capacity of 30 IOPS and 60 IOPS respectively are created under the Pool.
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l Under VSM A (with 30 IOPS capacity), Storage Volumes named E and F are created, and assigned 10 IOPS and 15 IOPS
respectively.
l Under VSM B (with 60 IOPS capacity), Storage Volume G is created and assigned 35 IOPS.
l The grace available in this scenario is 40 IOPS.
Configuring Grace at the Pool level

Grace is enabled by default at the Pool level. You can edit Grace after creating the Pool.
To edit,
1. Go to the Pool page and then in the actions pane, click Settings.
2. Click Edit and then choose to enable/disable Grace.
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Configuring Grace at the Storage Volume level

To enable Grace at the Storage Volume level, ensure that Grace is enabled at the respective Pool level.
To edit,
1. Go to the Storage Volume page and then in the actions pane, click Settings.
2. Click Edit and then choose to enable/disable Grace.
3. Click Save.
Monitoring QoS
In the Storage Volume page, select the Volume for which you want to monitor QoS. The page that appears displays the monitoring
data.
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QoS tips
Storage capacity
Discs, storage connectivity, and type
Capability: Ensure that you are well aware of the capabilities of your storage subsystem. For example, the right interconnection
between the controller and storage, the type of disks on the disk array, and the ability to expand the capacity.
Limitations: Ensure that you have assessed the limitations. For example, increasing storage capacity does not make any sense if
the network does not support.
Controller characteristics
RAM, CPU, and network:
CPU: If the storage is more I/O bound than CPU bound, it is more effective. CPU load should not be more than 60-70 percent, or you
add more cores.
RAM: RAM determines the ability to cache. Larger RAM means more filesystem caches. In a READ-centric scenario, larger RAM
helps generate better QOS. That is, more I/O and throughput but lesser latency.
Network: Network capacity decides data access and data protection. Assure adequate network bandwidth to export performance to
clients. Network should do justice to the storage system.
Segregation: Segregate data access and data protection so that protection workloads do not interfere with data access workloads.
Pool creation
Storage group tips
As a best practice, create storage with 8 to 10 disks.
When you add storage groups, keep them identical. For example, do not add disparate groups to the same Pool. For example, if one
group has SATA disks and another group has SAS disks, then do not assign both to the same Pool. That is, do not create hybrid
Pools.
Multiple Pools within a Controller
Tips to avoid contention points: Be judicious when you add multiple Pools to a controller. For example, it does not make sense if
network bandwidth is already utilized to the maximum with the existing Pools, or CPUs are already busy serving the existing Pools.
QoS also suffers because of over provisioning.
When to combine multiple pools: When no conflict pertaining to bandwidth, CPU, or Memory exist, you can combine Pools.
Optimizing QoS
Disk characteristics: Better the disk characteristics, better the QOS. For example, the IOPS, throughput, and latency of SATA
disks are not as good as that of SS disks.
Disk layout: Better the disk layout, better the QoS. For example, keep the disk layout to 8 to 10 disks.
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Improving WRITE performance: If the application requires synchronous WRITES, associate high performing disk to the Pool to
speed up the WRITEs. This guarantees better QOS.
Improving READ performance: To improve the READ performance or increase the filesystem cache hit rate, add high performing
disks as cache devices to the Pool.
IOPS conversion matrix

The following sections provide details of the IOPS conversion matrix as implemented in CloudByte ElastiStor. The conversion mat-
rix helps you understand the penalty enforcement factors associated with the QoS.
Assume that, as a service provider, you have assigned a client a specific number of IOPS. Depending on the work load pattern, to
maintain guaranteed QoS, you might have to increase or decrease the IOPS. Based on the standard QoS characteristics CloudByte
automatically calculates the equivalent of your load.
For example, in a 100 % READ scenario, there is a surplus IOPS owing to the 0% WRITE. Similarly in a 100 percent
WRITE scenario, there is a deficit of IOPS. This demands a check and balance in the IOPS provisioning which is taken care of by
CloudByte.
Since it is imperative that IOPS provisioning conform to a specific matrix, you are provided with a set of Global Settings options
which you can tweak to maintain and optimize the performance. Note that you can also optimize the performance at per Pool level
also.
Measuring storage performance

Prior to reading the following sections, CloudByte recommends you to read the following white paper that provides an introduction to
Measuring Storage Performance.
Concepts
IOPS Description
Standard IOPS This is the benchmarked IOPS. The details are as follows: 80 READ/20 WRITE, and 4K block size. This acts
as the frame of reference for QoS in CloudByte ElastiStor.
Operating IOPS IOPS under a given workload that can be measured against the standard IOPS.
Pool IOPS The standard IOPS that can be delivered by a given pool.
Provisioned IOPS . The standard IOPS provisioned to a volume
Illustration
Consider a Pool assigned with 1300 Standard IOPS. There are three Storage Volumes with the following conditions:
Storage Volume Provisioned IOPS Block Size Workload (READ/WRITE) Operational IOPS
Volume 1 500 4K 80% /20% 500
Volume 2 200 4K 100% /0% 170
Volume 3 400 4K 0% /100% 600
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In the case of TSM 3 where WRITEs are more, operational IOPS exceeds the standard IOPS which demands the implementation of
penalty enforcement.
Penalty enforcement options

The following options in the Global Settings are used to enforce IOPS penalty:
Settings Description
qos.penalty.factor If Yes, penalty is applied based on the criteria explained above.
qos.penalty.enforcement.timeinterval Seconds after which penalty enforcement should refresh.
read.multiplication.factor For details, see the following sections
cache.multiplication.factor For details, see the following sections.
Deciding the penalty

The following workflow helps you understand the penalty factors:
Calculating the operating IOPS

Standard IOPS
1000 @80%Read, 80% Write, 4K block size
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Read/write variation
CloudByte equates one WRITE to four READS. You can tune this on per pool basis if required.
Calculation
If standard IOPS are 100 at 80 READS/20 WRITES, the following is the formula to convert the operating IOPS into standard IOPS:
Oper- At Equivalent Standard IOPS Throttle at

ating READ/WRIT- (IOPS)
IOPS E
100 100/0 80 READS +20 READS (as READs occur in place of WRITEs). Here you convert 20 WRITEs 160
to READS. That is, 20x4=80 READs. The total standard IOPS that can be consumed is 80 +
80 = 160 IOPS.
100 80/20 80 READS + 20 READS 100
100 60/40 60 READs + 40 READs (as WRITES occur in place of READs). Here you convert 20 READs 85
to WRITEs. 20 READs are equal to 20/4=5 WRITEs. The total standard IOPS that can be con-
sumed is 80+5 = 85 IOPS.
100 40/20 40 READs + 60WRITEs (as WRITEs occur in place of READs). Here you convert 40 READs 50
to WRITES. 40 READs are equal to 40/4=10 WRITEs. The total standard IOPS that can be
consumed is 40+10 = 50 IOPS.
100 20/80 20 READs + 80 WRITEs (as WRITEs occur in place of READs). Here you convert 60 READs 35
to WRITEs. 60 READs are equal to 60/4=15 WRITEs. The total standard IOPS that can be
100 0/100 0 READs + 100 WRITEs (as WRITEs occur in place of READs). Here you convert 80 READs 20
to WRITEs. 80 READs are equal to 80/4=20 WRITEs. The total standard IOPS that can be
READ/WRITE variation and block size variation

The calculation considers the following assumptions:
l X operating IOPS are converted to X1 after considering the block size variation
l X1 IOPS are converted to X2 after considering READ/WRITE variation
l Throttling happens at X2 IOPS
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What is QoS?
Assuring your client/application the promised IOPS, throughput, and latency.
Is QoS applicable only to Cloud Service Providers?
No. QoS is applicable to enterprise scenarios as well.
What is the maximum IOPS I can set?
The maximum IOPS directly depends on the underlying storage. SSD is the best choice followed by SAS and SATA.
Is QoS disk dependent?
Yes
Is QoS a licensed option?
No
What is the difference between dedicated and shared options?
Dedicated: If the Storage Volume needs exclusive QoS configuration.
Shared: If the Storage Volume can share the QoS configuration with another Storage Volume.
The following figure explains the concepts:
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For example, if both Storage Volume 1 and Storage Volume 2 are committed to busy service round the clock, Dedicated
would be your choice. Whereas, if Storage Volume 1 and Storage Volume 2 represent services in a cross-geographical setup
where activities related to Storage Volume 1 end toward the time activities related to Storage Volume 2 start, Shared would
be your choice.
Do I have to set all the QoS parameters (IOPS, Latency, and Throughput)?
No. IOPS is a must. Depending on requirement, you can choose to configure Latency and Throughput.
What is the difference between IOPS, Latency, and Throughput?
l IOPS: The READ/WRITE capability.

l Latency: Time that ElastiStor takes to acknowledge a READ/WRITE back to the client.
l Throughput: Data that can be transferred as part of READ/WRITE operations.
Is it a must to set QoS?
Yes
Can I increase/decrease QoS on the fly?
Yes
Is QoS guarantied in an HA environment?
Yes
What at the recommend QoS setting in an HA environment?
Same as standalone.
Can I set QoS for my backups?
Yes
Can I set QoS for my DR operations?
Yes
Can I get the same QoS on the secondary node in the case of a disaster?
Yes, provided you have the same or better infrastructure quality.
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How do you calculate IOPS, latency, and throughput?
Throughput = IOPS * Block Size.
Latency depends on the following factors:
l Workload characteristics such as L2ARC Size and ZIL size.

l Seek time on the disk
l Workload access patterns such as sequential, random, read only, read write, write only.
l Speed of the underlying disks, that is, if spinning disks such as SAS or SATA or faster ones such as SSDs
l Dataset cached in the ZFS L1ARC caches and ZFS L2ARC caches.
l Presence of Intent log ZIL to log the writes and respond quickly.
l How the ZIL is configured, that is if it is on spinning disks or SSD disks.
l Underlying RAID configuration, for example striped or mirrored.
l System load in terms of CPU cycles available.
What at the recommended QoS setting in an HA environment?
In multiway HA, for example in a two-way HA, each node should be provisioned a maximum of upto to 50 percent of the capa-
city.
Can I set QoS for my backups?
Not for the current release.
Can I set QoS for my DR operations?
Not for the current release.
Can I get the same QoS on the secondary node in the case of a disaster?
Yes, provided the secondary node has same system configuration as the primary.
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When do you use Grace?
Particularly useful when you check if the IOPS and throughput set for a particular Storage Volume are correct. If a particular
Storage Volume is continuously eating up grace, it is an indication that it is over-provisioned and deserves more IOPS/-
throughput.
How can I compare the QoS values of selected Volumes?
1. In CloudByte ElastiCenter, click Pools in the left pane.

2. In the Pools page, select the Pool for which you want to compare the QoS values of the selected Storage Volumes.
3. Select the Storage Volumes.
4. Select the QoS parameter (IOPS, throughput, or latency) that you want to compare.
5. Click Update.
The chart on top of the page displays the comparison with time stamp as the reference.
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CHAPTER VIII High Availability | Backup | Recovery

Agenda
l How to build a High Availability setup
l Handling disasters
l How to backup your storage
l Recovering your data
Configuring High Availability

CloudByte ElastiStor supports High Availability in two-way, three-way, and four-way configurations.
Note: SATA disks or any disk with SATA interface is not supported for HA and multipathing configuration.
Before you proceed

Ensure the following on all Nodes in the HA Group:
l Same NIC (for example, if em0 is the interface used on one Node, the same should apply for all Nodes) and same capacity
Disks are shared (across the Nodes)
l Same system hardware configuration
l Identical SAS HBA (identical firmware and driver)
Procedures
The following procedures explain how to configure a two-way High Availability setup:
1. Set up your hardware. For details see "High Availability | Backup | Recovery"
2. Create a Site. For details, see "Creating a Site ".
3. Create an HA Group. For details, see "Creating an HA Group ".
When you specify the IP address range while adding the HA Group, ensure that you specify a range that matches the number
of nodes you add.
4. Add a Node (Node1). For details, see "Adding a Node".

5. Label shared disks. For details, see "Configuring Disk Array enclosure"
Note: You can perform this step later, after you add all other Nodes. In that case, you have to refresh the hardware
(Nodes > select specific Node > select Refresh Hardware in the Tasks section of the action pane) for labeling to take
effect.
6. Add Node 2. For details, see "Adding a Node".
Now you have established a two-way HA. The following screen provides a visual representation of the configuration.
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Proceed to create Pools, VSMs, and Storage Volumes.
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Hardware setup diagram for High Availability
Bringing Node to maintenance mode

When you want to service your Node, change its status to maintenance mode. In this mode, the Node is up and controlled by the
administrator, but is not an active part of the High Availability Group.
To bring a Node to maintenance mode,
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1. Select the Node that you want to bring to maintenance mode (ElastiCenter > Nodes).
2. In the Node Page, go to the actions pane and then click Move to maintenance icon.
The Change State of Node dialog box appears.
3. Select Maintenance as the state.

4. Optionally specify a reason for changing the state and then click OK.
Take Over
When Node failure occurs, takeover happens as illustrated in the following screens:
n The following screen depicts the Node Page that lists a two-way HA. Here, Node2 is in maintenance mode.
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n In the following screen, Node1 has taken over.
Note: In ElastiStor, every Node has a designated partner. If the Node goes down, the resources of that Node are failed over
to the partner Node.
Making a Node available

After a downtime, when you bring up the Node, you have to manually change the status to Available.
1. Select the Node that you want to bring up (ElastiCenter > Node).
2. In the Node page, go to the actions pane and then click Move to available icon.
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3. Select Available as the state.

4. Optionally specify a reason for changing the state and then click OK.
HA Jobs
To view the details of the past High Availability events, perform the following procedures;
1. (In ElastiCenter)In the HA Groups page, select an HA Group for which you want to view event details.
2. In the Actions pane, click View Jobs.
You can view the details of the past HA events and the time taken to perform these events as shown in the following screen:
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The Node fails to move back to available mode. Why?
In the case of failure, verify the storage connectivity and check for any error messages in the View Jobs (HA Group > select
the specific HA Group > actions pane > Tasks). If you cannot resolve, contact Technical Support.
Disaster recovery and backup

Disaster implies an unplanned outage. The consequences can be costly to your business. Whether it be because of a severe natural
calamity, network failure, site damage, or disk failure, data storage without backup is a great risk which might cause loss of data. It
is always important that your storage system is capable of being effectively backed up and recovered with no damage to the data
that is being handled. CloudByte has a robust disaster recovery mechanism.
The CloudByte ElastiStor features such as Backup and Restore and Disaster Recovery lets you restore older point in time copy of
data, while meeting compliance requirements. Industry surveys indicate large amount of operational expenses to reconstruct lost
data. Business critical data needs to be online as fast as possible while meeting stringent RPO and RTO. ElastiStor provides local
backup as well as disaster recovery solutions. The following diagram depicts (at a high level) the backup solution with CloudByte
ElastiStor.
Configure remotely or locally
Data protection can be configured either locally or remotely.
Remote backup
Particularly helpful in scenarios such as site damage caused due to natural disasters.
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Local backup
Backup your data by scheduling snapshots.
Backup Options
Disaster recovery is possible by either backing up at tenant level or dataset level in the case of remote replication.
Optimizing Disaster Recovery Point and Time Objectives
l RPO depends on the scheduling done for Data Replication in remote tenants backup. In the best case, where it is scheduled
for every minute, RPO could be 1 minute of data.
l RTO depends on how fast the administrator on the other site gets the information that he needs to activate the backup tenant.
Disaster recovery with high availability
Supports hybrid configurations involving data replication in high availability scenarios.Configuring local backup
Backup refers to copying and archiving of data. In the event of data loss, you can use the backup to restore the original data.
You can create a
n Snapshot, which is a read-only virtual copy of your Storage Volume and VSM.
n Clone, which is a real copy of your Storage Volume
In CloudByte ElastiStor, backup operates as follows:
n The first backup is a full backup.

n The first backup is followed by incremental backups based on snapshot technology.
ElastiStor supports continuous production during snapshot recovery of a Storage Volume.
Backing up VSM
1. In ElastiCenter, select Virtual Storage Machines in the navigation pane.
2. From the list, select the VSM to create local backup.
3. In the following page, go to the Local Backup section of the Actions pane and then select either of the following options:
n Schedule: Schedule your backup by choosing a frequency.
n Snapshot: Manually create a snapshot on demand.
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Add snapshot
1. In the Local Backup section, click Create Snapshot.
2. In the Create Snapshot dialog box, specify a unique name.
3. Click OK.
Add schedule
1. In the Local Backup section, click Add Snapshot Schedule. The Add Snapshot Schedule page appears.
2. Specify the following details and then click Add.
Field Description
Name A unique name for the backup schedule.
Retention Copies Specify the number of backup copies that you want to create.
Schedule Select the frequency.
Backup best practice
As a best practice, CloudByte recommends a multiple backup schedule.
For example, you can configure a multiple backup schedule comprising
Frequency Retention copies
Every 15 minutes 4
Every hour 24
Every day 30
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Manage snapshots and schedules
To view the snapshots and schedules that you have created, click Manage Snapshots/Manage Snapshot Schedules in the local
backup section. You have options to rollback and disable the schedules/snapshots.
Backing up Storage Volume

1. In ElastiCenter, select Storage Volume in the Navigation pane.
2. From the list, select the Storage Volume to create snapshot.
3. In the following page, go to the Local Backup section of the actions pane and then click Create Snapshot.
4. In the Create Snapshot dialog box, specify a unique name for the snapshot and then click OK.
Restoring Snapshots
1. In ElastiCenter, select Storage Volumes in the Navigation pane.
2. From the list, select the Storage Volume to restore data.
3. In the following page, go to the Local Backup section of the actions pane and then click Manage Snapshots.
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4. From the list of snapshots, select the one that you want to restore, click the restore icon, and then confirm at prompt.
Add schedule
1. In the Local Backup section, click Add Snapshot Schedule. The Add Snapshot Schedule page appears.
2. Specify the following details and then click Add.
Field Description
Name A unique name for the backup schedule.
Retention Copies Specify the number of backup copies that you want to create.
Schedule Select the frequency.
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Manage snapshots and schedules
To view the snapshots and schedules that you have created, click Manage Snapshots/Manage Snapshot Schedules in the local
backup section. You have options to rollback and disable the schedules/snapshots.
Cloning the Storage Volume

You can create a READ/WRITE copy of your Storage Volume using the clone option. Unlike Snapshot which is a read-only virtual
copy, clone is a real copy of your Storage Volume. It consumes the same disk space as the parent Storage Volume.
ElastiStor uses snapshot as the point of reference for your clone. The workflow is as follows:
1. Create a Storage Volume.

2. Create a snapshot.
3. Create a Clone of the Storage Volume using Snapshot as the point of reference.
Creating a clone
1. In ElastiCenter, select Storage Volume in the navigation pane.
2. From the list, select the Storage Volume to create a clone.
3. In the following page, go to the actions pane and then select Local Backup > Create Snapshot.
4. In the Create Snapshot dialog box, specify a name and then click OK.
5. Click Manage Snapshot (actions pane > Local Backup).
6. From the list of snapshots, go to the one which you want to use as reference for creating the snapshot and then click the
Clone icon (highlighted in the circle).
7. Specify a unique clone name, where to mount the clone, and then click OK.
Configuring remote disaster recovery

The disaster recovery mechanism in CloudByte ElastiStor helps you effectively retrieve data in disaster situations.
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Currently, ElastiStor supports disaster recovery for a single Site. You can rebuild a primary Site using the disaster recovery copy.
ElastiStor provides disaster recovery across Sites over WANs.
Setting up remote disaster recovery

2. From the list of VSMs, select the one for which remote disaster recovery has to be configured.
3. In the actions pane, click Create DR VSM in Remote Backup.
Note: You have this option only if you have not created a DR VSM. If a DR VSM is created, you can modify the settings.
4. In the Add DR VSM page, select a Site on which you want to configure the DR VSM and also specify the name of DR VSM.
5. In the following page, select a Pool and then click Next.
6. Select the Backup interface, IP Address, and specify a schedule for the DR VSM (in the format minutes/hours/days/-
month/year).
7. Click Add.
Managing remote disaster recovery

For a specific VSM, use the Remote Backup section in the actions pane to configure remote disaster recovery.

2. From the list, select the VSM to manage remote disaster recovery.
3. In the actions pane, use the options in the section Remote Backup.
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Disaster recovery options

n Name: Provides details of DR VSM and displays the transfer details.
n Disable Transfer: Select and confirm to disable disaster recovery.
n Edit Schedule: Edit the disaster recovery schedule.
n Delete DR VSM: Remove a disaster recovery setup that you have configured.
Recovering data
2. From the list of VSMs, select the DR VSM that is associated with the Primary VSM where the disaster occurred.
3. In the DR VSM page, go to actions pane and then click Tasks > Activate.
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4. In the following page, specify the network settings and then click OK.
5. At confirmation prompt, click Yes.
Upgrading a High Availability DR setup

Follow the procedures to seamlessly upgrade a High Availability disaster recovery environment. Node 1 and Node 2 imply the nodes
on primary cluster. Similarly, DR Node 1 and DR Node 2 imply the nodes on the secondary cluster:
1. Upgrade ElastiCenter. For details, see Upgrading to CloudByte ElastiStor.

2. Move the Node 1 to maintenance mode. For details, see "High Availability | Backup | Recovery".
3. Upgrade Node 1. For details, see Upgrading to CloudByte ElastiStor .
4. Bring the Node 1 to Available mode. For details, see "High Availability | Backup | Recovery".
5. Move the Node 2 to Maintenance mode.
6. Upgrade Node 2.
7. Bring the Node 2 to Available mode.
8. Move the DR Node 1 to Maintenance mode.
9. Upgrade DR Node 1.
10. Bring the DR Node 1 to Available mode.
11. Move the DR Node 2 to Maintenance mode.
12. Upgrade DR Node 2.
13. Bring the DR Node 2 to Available mode.
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Confirm if the DR Transfer occurs after the upgrade as scheduled. In the case of any exceptions, contact CloudByte Technical Sup-
port.
Promoting secondary ElastiCenter and backing up configurations

Setting up and promoting secondary ElastiCenter
The following sections explain how to setup a secondary ElastiCenter (secondary setup) to ensure backup in the case your primary
ElastiCenter (primary setup) fails. If a failure occurs, you can promote your secondary setup.
Important:The primary and secondary setups cannot be used at the same time. Ensure that only the database service is
operational on the secondary setup. Promote the secondary setup only when the primary setup is down.
Prerequisites
l The primary and secondary setups are on same subnet
l ElastiCenter and Node are installed separately
Setting up the secondary ElastiCenter
The procedures involve action at both the primary and secondary setups.
Note: If you copy and paste the commands in the section, ensure that they appear correctly on the CLI.
1. (On both the setups) Log in as root and access (over SSH or directly) the command prompt on the machine where the
ElastiCenters are installed.
2. (On the secondary setup) Run the following command: service rabbitmq onestop
3. (On the secondary setup) Run the following command to ensure that the RabbitMQ service is stopped: service rab-
bitmq onestatus
4. (On secondary setup) Run the following command to ensure that no Java process is running:
ps –eaf | grep java
5. If any of the Java processes or RabbitMQ service is running, kill it using the following command: kill -9 PID_of_pro-
cess
6. Else, ensure the following:
l Size of/tpoolfolder is same on both primary ElastiCenter and secondary ElastiCenter using the following command:
zpool list
l /folder in secondary ElastiCenter database has enough space for backup. This means the available space in / dir-
ectory on the secondary ElastiCenter must be greater than the used space in /tpool directory on the primary
ElastiCenter.
7. (Optional) On the secondary setup, start the mysql service using the command: service mysql -server onestart .
8. (On the secondary setup) Run the script /usr/local/cb/bin/cb_config_slave.sh .
9. Perform the steps as shown in the following command line :
Select your choice:
1) Configure secondary ElastiCenter.
2) Promote secondary to primary ElastiCenter.
3) Exit
1
Here, you have to select 1 as highlighted.
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You have selected to configure secondary ElastiCenter.

Do you want to continue? (Yes/No) Yes
Here, you have to select Yes as highlighted.
Specify primary ElastiCenter's IP address:

20.10.97.1
Wait for the script to execute.
Stopping Tomcat and RabbitMQ services...
Tomcat and RabbitMQ services stopped.
Restarting MySql service...
MySql service started.
Starting backup of primary ElastiCenter...
Primary Elasticenter backup completed.
Starting the setting up of secondary ElastiCenter...
Setting up the secondary ElastiCenter completed.
Syncing reports...
Promoting the secondary setup

Before you proceed
If the primary setup is down, try the following before promoting the secondary setup:
l Verify the error logs in java/Rabbitmq/Mysql or the service status. For example, service mysql-server
onestatus.
l Restart the service that is not running.
If downtime prevails despite the service restart, promote the secondary setup.
Procedures
Note: If you copy and paste the commands in the section, ensure that they appear correctly on the CLI.
1. Bring down the primary ElastiCenter by stopping rabbitmq services and Java processes.
2. (On the secondary ElastiCenter console) Run the script /usr/local/cb/bin/cb_config_slave.sh .
3. Perform the steps as shown in the following command line :
Select your choice:
1) Configure secondary ElastiCenter.
2) Promote secondary to primary Elasticenter.
3) Exit
2
Here, you have to select 2 as highlighted.
You have selected to promote secondary Elasticenter to primary Elasticenter.
Do you want to continue ? (Yes/No)Yes
Here, you have to select Yes as highlighted.
Dropped secondary ElastiCenter.
Starting RabbitMQ and Tomcat services..

Promoted secondary Elasticenter to primary Elasticenter. Check catalina logs for errors(if any).
4. (On all the ElastiStor consoles) Modify the /usr/local/agent/listener/cbc_conf file by changing the IP address of
ElastiCenter. Specify the IP address of secondary ElastiCenter.
5. (On the ElastiStor console) Run the following command to restart all the python/cbc services on the Node: service -l
| grep cbc | xargs -L 1 -I {} service {} onerestart
Also, ensure that the ElastiCenter is accessible to the Nodes with same status as prior to the promotion.
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Note: During the promotion process, if a Node is offline or is powered down, then manually start the cbc_monitor_
hajobs service and point it to the promoted ElastiCenter.
Backing up configurations
How to backup and restore ElastiCenter configuration
By default, CloudByte schedules a backup everyday. You can modify the settings using the following options in Global Settings:
l devman.backup.files.retain
l devman.backup.path
l devman.backup.scheduling.interval.
But, in the case you need to do a manual backup, follow the steps:
Backing up
1. In the ElastiCenter server, at command prompt, run the following: cd /usr/local/cb/bin/

2. Run the following command to create backup file: ./backup.sh. The backup file is created in the /var/devman/backups
(unless you modify the path). The following is a sample file name: backup_Jul26_1374815679.tar.bz2.
3. Copy the file and store it elsewhere.
Restoring
1. Copy the backed up TAR file to a location on ElastiCenter, for example /var.
2. Go to the directory /usr/local/cb/bin and then run the following command: ./restore.sh <path of backedup file>.
For example ./restore.sh /var/backup_Jul26_1374815679.tar.bz2.
The configuration is restored.
How to collect logs
Do the following to collect the logs of the datacenter (both Nodes and ElastiCenter):
1. Log in as root.
2. In the ElastiCenter server, at command prompt, run the following command: cd /usr/local/cb/bin/.
3. Run the following command: python logCollector.py
4. At prompt, specify the root password for all Nodes from which you want to gather the logs.
How to backup and restore Node configuration

Backing up
By default, CloudByte schedules a daily backup in the location /cf/conf. CloudByte recommends you to move this backup daily
to a safe location. Either schedule a cron job or manually copy the files from the conf directory.
Restoring
1. Reinstall the Node with the same configurations (for example, same IP address, Hostname, and ElastiCenter details) as in
the previous installation.
2. Copy the following backed up files to the reinstalled Node:
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l config.xml file to the location /cf/conf/config.xml

l haconfig.xml file to the location /cf/conf/haconfig.xml
l ipmi.conf file to the location /usr/local/agent/listener/ipmi.conf
l cbc_node_id file to the location /usr/local/agent/cbc_node_id
l cbd_node_id file to the location /usr/local/agent/cbd_node_id
3. After copying all the files, reboot the Node.
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CHAPTER IX Advanced settings | Implementation

Agenda
l Defining VLAN interface
l Adding LAGG interface
VLAN interface
VLAN interface can be created on a NIC whenever there is a need for the interface to subscribe to a separate broadcast domain (usu-
ally needed for high traffic data networks).
Additionally, multiple VLAN interfaces can be created on a single physical NIC, thereby allowing access to multiple networks at the
same time. The VLANs act as virtual individual NICs, each belonging to a separate broadcast domain.
Adding VLAN interface

1. In the HA Groups page (ElastiCenter > HA Groups), go to the actions pane and then click Tasks > Manage VLAN Interfaces.
2. In the VLAN Interfaces page, go to the actions pane and then click Tasks > Add VLAN Interface.
3. In the Add VLAN Interface dialog box, specify the VLAN tag (which must be a numeric value) and then select the parent NIC.
4. Click OK.
Defining the VLAN Interface for the VSM
When you provision a VSM, in the networking details section of the Provision VSM Wizard, specify the VLAN interface you created
(in the Interface field).
157
LAGG interface
LAGG interface allows aggregation of multiple network interfaces into a single virtual LAGG interface, providing fault-tolerance and
high-speed multi-link throughput. The aggregation protocols supported by LAGG determines which ports are used for outgoing traffic
and whether a specific port accepts incoming traffic.
Adding LAGG interface

1. In the HA Groups page (ElastiCenter > HA Groups), go to the actions pane and then click Tasks > Manage LAGG Interfaces.
2. In the LAGG Interfaces page, go to the actions pane and then click Tasks > Add LAGG Interface.
3. In the Add LAGG Interface dialog box, specify the following details:
l LAGG ID: Unique id (numeric value) for the LAGG interface.
l Protocol Type:
l Failover: Select Failover to send traffic only through the active port. If the master port becomes unavailable,
the next active port is used. The first interface added is the master port. Any interfaces added after that are
used as failover devices. By default, received traffic is only accepted when received through the active port.
l Load Balance: Balances outgoing traffic across the active ports based on hashed protocol header information
and accepts incoming traffic from any active port. This is a static setup and does not negotiate aggregation
with the peer or exchange frames to monitor the link
l LACP:LACP negotiates a set of aggregable links with the peer in to one or more Link Aggregated Groups. Each
LAGG is composed of ports of the same speed, set to full-duplex operation. The traffic will be balanced across
the ports in the LAGG with the greatest total speed, in most cases there will only be one LAGG which contains
all ports.
158
4. Click Next.
5. From the list of available NICs, drag and drop the ones you want to assign to a LAGG.
6. Click Add.
SAS multipathing
CloudByte ElastiStor supports SAS multipathing. Having multiple physical
paths to the disk array enclosure assures effective path failover by providing
redundant paths for data access.
l By default, SAS multipathing is enabled.

By default, SAS multipathing is
enabled
l SAS multipathing is an active/passive setup
SAS multipathing is an active/passive
l At any point in time, there is only one active path for I/O setup
l If a failure occurs, instead of the active path, the one that was redund-
ant (so far) takes over avoiding any interruption to data access
At any point in time, there is only one
active path for I/O
Prerequisites
If a failure occurs, instead of the active
l Two LSI SAS616X switches path, the one that was redundant (so
far) takes over avoiding any inter-
l LSI SAS2008 HBA (at the Node side) ruption to data access
l Firmware: 07.15.08.00
l Driver: 15.00.00.00
l SAS cables
l Disk array enclosure with multiple IN ports (for example Dell MD1220)
l Controllers (for example Dell R720)
l In the Node page, clear all existing pools to avoid Pool name conflicts. To do this, first configure the Disk Array in the Node
page. Then select the Node and then at the bottom of the page, click Clear for the Pools to be deleted.
Sample setup
The following figure shows a simple SAS multipath setup:
159
Verifying the setup in ElastiCenter
When you have the multipath set up, the paths are visible in the related Node page.
1. In CloudByte ElastiCenter, click Nodes.

2. In the Nodes page, select the Node and then click Storage. The Disk Table provides the details as highlighted in the following
figure:
160
In the case of a failure, as shown in the following instance the path disappears from the table:
The figure implies that there is only a single SAS path available.
161
CHAPTER X Going Forward
CHAPTER X Going Forward
Agenda
l What's the next step?
l Getting CloudByte Technical Support
What next
Congratulations.
l You have completed the basic training in CloudByte ElastiStor.

l You are conversant with CloudByte ElastiStor and can provision storage.
l You know how to setup, configure and use access protocols.
Your next step is to focus on performance, troubleshooting, and tuning.
Support workflow
Now that you are an expert in CloudByte ElastiStor, you would start setting up the storage infrastructure at your workplace. What if
you get struck?
You have the following options:
Documentation
CloudByte provides elaborate documentation for its products. This includes Product Help, various technical articles, and knowledge
base articles. All these documents are available on search on popular search engines.
Community Forums
Join the CloudByte Forums to connect with other CloudByte users and experts on our Forums.
CloudByte Technical Support
http://www.cloudbyte.com/support/
For immediate assistance,
Email : support@cloudbyte.com
US : +1-(408)-663-6900
Toll Free : +1-855-380-BYTE(2983)
India : (91)-80-2258-2804
162
CHAPTER XI Glossary
CHAPTER XI Glossary
Terms Description
Account An entity with specific storage needs. Account represents a department of an Enterprise or a customer of a Cloud
Service Provider.
Alerts Notifications that demand action. Alerts can be on a range of issues such as network cable pullout or degradation
of a Pool.
Asynchronous rep- The process of writing data to local storage and then queuing it up for replication on remote storage at assigned
lication intervals. If the local storage fails before the data is written in remote storage, then replication fails.
Auto-Provisioning ElastiStor can automate Node selection and resource allocation if you provide the required SLA/QoS parameters.
Sensing the level of storage performance and capacity the application requires, ElastiStor automatically allots the
right Pool.
Block Size The size of a block in data storage and file systems. Block is a sequence of bytes or bits, having a nominal size.
CIFS For details, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc939973.aspx
HA Group Houses a group of Nodes. HA Group enables takeover during failures. Workload of a failed Node is assigned to
another Node in the same HA Group based on availability and performance requirements.
Dashboard A graphical representation of the key performance indicators. It presents an overview of all the Sites in ElastiCenter
in an organized manner. You can update information instantaneously.
Delegated Admin- The process of distributing administrative tasks and content in the portal to dedicated administrators. Using access
istration control lists, you determine the actions administrators take on various resources. Delegated administration roles
are mapped to administrative functions using security policies. You can create and maintain separate admin-
istration capabilities depending on your needs.
Disaster Recovery Disaster implies unplanned outage. Your storage system must be capable of effective backup and recovery so that
there is no damage to the data that is handled in the case of any adversity.
Disk Array Popularly called JBODs, disk array is a set of disks clubbed to single disk shelf.
Disk Type The type of disk supported by CloudByte ElastiStor. The supported disk types are SAS, SATA, and SSD.
Domain Search Searching the DNS to which you want to add a controller.
Event Any storage activity. ElastiStor notifies events based on the configuration.
FC (Fibre Chan- A high-speed interconnect between controllers and back-end disk enclosures. FC components include HBAs,
nel) hubs, and switches. The term also refers to a high-speed, fully duplex serial communication protocol permitting
data transfer up to 10GB per second.
FTP (File Transfer An application layer protocol used to transfer bulk-volumes of files between machines or hosts.
Protocol)
Global Settings Lets the administrator configure options that control ElastiStor.
Grace Provisioning of Pool's unused IOPS/Throughput to Storage Volumes based on their performance requirements.
High-Availability High Availability minimizes/prevents the consequences of downtime in the storage setup. A typical High Availability
environment comprises two setups: one active while the partner remains dormant. In a downtime, the passive setup
takes over the storage tasks that the active setup was performing. This effects a reversal of states each setup was
in. When the downtime is over, all events are given back to the original active setup.
Host Physical machines on which you configure ElastiStor.
Initiator Group When an initiator group is associated with a LUN, only initiators from that group can access the LUN. Initiators are
identified by unique addressing methods.
163
Terms Description
IOPS (Input/Output The number of READs or WRITEs per second. It is used to measure the performance of storage solution. Total
operations per IOPS is the average input/output operations per second, Read IOPS is the average READ operations per second,
second) and Write IOPS is the average WRITE operations per second.
iSCSI Internet Small Computer Systems Interface is a client-server protocol used to enable the transfer of SCSI packets
over a TCP/IP (Ethernet) network.
Lagg Interface Allows integration of multiple network interfaces with a single virtual interface. This helps in fault-tolerance and
high-speed multi-link throughput.
LUN (Logical Unit Unique address to identify a logical unit. Logical unit is the conceptual subunit of a storage disk or set of disks.
Number)
Mirrored Disks A High Availability setup where you have a different set of disks on each node. Active disks are replicated/mirrored
on the partnering node.
Mirroring Storing duplicate copies of data on one or more sets of additional Storage Volumes, apart from the set of Storage
Volume that stores the original data.
Monitoring Provides an intuitive visualization of storage statistics. Monitoring foregrounds relevant back end activities in an
easy user interface for the administrator.
Network Failure Indicates that the system is unable to reach the network. For example, due to physical port failure.
NFS A distributed file system protocol that lets clients access files over a network in the same way they access local stor-
age.
Physical Infra- Real entities pertaining to the hardware.

structure
Pool Physical storage devices on which you store data.
Provisioning A set of steps to allocate storage to Hosts and applications. For example, creating Storage Volumes in Pools.
QoS (Quality of Lets you easily commission storage with guaranteed IOPS at various levels. You can decide to configure QoS at a
Service) Pool level, VSM level, or Storage Volume level.
Report Detailed information related to configuration. Use Configuration Reports for component configuration details.
Dynamic Reports provide QoS statistics.
Rest APIs Every action performed at ElastiStor admin console translates into a REST based API call in the back end. This
enables administrators to fully manage ElastiStor from their portals. CloudByte plugin for VMware vCenter (also
based on REST API) enables storage management from vCenter.
Shared Disks A High Availability setup where you have a common set of disks shared between primary and secondary nodes.
The disks can be either hard disks or iSCSI disks.
Shared Storage Storage devices that are connected to and used by two or more systems.
Site Represents a data center or part of a data center. Building storage infrastructure starts with the creation of Site. It is
the fundamental infrastructure unit where your controller, storage, and network infrastructure reside.
Snapshot Copy of a Storage Volume created at specific intervals.
Storage Capacity The overall disk space (and not the free disk space).
Striping Writes data across two or more disks in an array but utilizes only a part of the space on each disk. The amount of
space used by stripe on each disk is always the same. A virtual disk may write several stripes on the same set of
disks in the array.
Synchronous Rep- The process of writing the same data to two separate volumes, stored on different physical hardware, before the
lication application receives an I/O complete message. This results in both the volumes being always in sync.
164
CHAPTER XI Glossary
Terms Description
Takeover The process of taking over the storage control activity from a node. Typically, when there is a downtime on the
primary node, the secondary node takes over the control of storage.
Thin Provisioning The process of optimizing efficiency of using the available storage space. It is the allocation of disk storage space
flexibly among multiple users, based on the minimum space each user requires at any given time.
Throughput Amount of work a system can perform at specific intervals. It is also the amount of data moved successfully from
one place to another in a given time period.
VSM (Virtual Stor- Virtual storage controller capable of hosting Storage Volumes and LUNs.
age Machine)
VSM Architecture Unique to CloudByte ElastiStor, this is a patented architecture. In a Storage Controller, each application is fully isol-
ated across all storage stack levels and unified under a Virtual Storage Machine (VSM). VSM isolation allows con-
troller resources allotted to applications to be easily monitored, controlled, and provisioned.
VMware vSphere A Microsoft Windows desktop application that enables you to access VMware ESXi and VMware vCenter.
client
ZFS (Zettabyte File ZFS is a 128-bit file system that provides features such as data integrity verification, disk management, snapshots,
System) and transactional operations.
165

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1

20863 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 530

CHAPTER I About the Guide 7

Who you are 7

How the training is organized 9

What is CloudByte ElastiStor 12

CloudByte ElastiStor features 12

CHAPTER III Installing CloudByte ElastiStor 17

Network configuration details 18

Installing ElastiCenter and Node 20

CHAPTER IV ElastiCenter | Setting up Storage 33

ElastiCenter, ElastiStor's management console 33

ElastiCenter User Interface 34

Launching CloudByte ElastiCenter 38

Reset password and configure auto-alert options 39

Setting up your storage 40

Configuring Disk Array enclosure 47

Delete account user 56

Modifying QoS after provisioning VSM 61

Modifying QoS after provisioning Storage Volume 62

Modifying storage capacity 63

Configuring VSM migration 64

Migrant VSM activation 67

Choosing a Pool to provision VSM 71

CHAPTER V Data Access Protocols 78

Data access using iSCSI 78

Installing MPIO on Windows Server 89

Configuring Multipath on ElastiCenter 92

Configuring MPIO on Windows Server for a LUN in ElastiStor 94

Data access using CIFS 102

Data access using NFS 107

CHAPTER VI Managing | Monitoring | Reporting 109

Delegated administration 109

CloudByte ElastiStor reporting 118

CHAPTER VII REST APIs | Quality of Service 121

Introduction to REST APIs 121

How to use CloudByte ElastiStor REST APIs 121

Obtaining the REST API key 121

Assuring Quality of Service 126

Monitoring QoS 129

IOPS conversion matrix 131

CHAPTER VIII High Availability | Backup | Recovery 138

Configuring High Availability 138

Disaster recovery and backup 144

Configuring remote disaster recovery 149

Upgrading a High Availability DR setup 152

Promoting secondary ElastiCenter and backing up configurations 153

CHAPTER IX Advanced settings | Implementation 157

VLAN interface 157

CHAPTER X Going Forward 162

CHAPTER XI Glossary 163

CHAPTER I About the Guide

Who you are

Basic concepts Advanced concepts

l Basic storage concepts which include l SAN boot

l Consuming Storage from initiators

l Basic knowledge in hardware which

Link Aggregation l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_aggregation

REST API l http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer

How the training is organized

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days do I need to learn CloudByte ElastiStor?

Advanced user One

Intermediate user Three