NEXIS

NX216 Avid NEXIS System Administration

Copyright and Disclaimer
Copyright © 2019 Avid Technology, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, photographing, and recording, for any purpose, without the express written permission of
Avid Technology, Inc.
The media provided with this book, and any accompanying course material, is to be used only to complete the
exercises and projects contained herein. Rights are not granted to use the footage/sound materials in any
commercial or non-commercial production or video.
Product features, specifications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice.
Trademarks
Avid, the Avid Logo, Avid Everywhere, Interplay, ISIS, Avid NEXIS, Media Composer, Pro Tools and Sibelius,
and all related product names and logos, are registered or unregistered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay
Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. For a full list of Avid trademarks, see: http://www.avid.com/US/about-avid/legal-notices/
trademarks
Acknowledgments
Avid Worldwide Learning Services would like to thank all Avid Certified Instructors for their ongoing suggestions
and comments, based on their experience in the classroom and their professional expertise, which have resulted
in the continued improvement of Avid’s curriculum.
The sale or distribution of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchase this book without a cover,
you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the
publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped” book.
NX216-NEXIS-v2019.4-June 2019
PN: 9329-65725-00 Rev. D
Table of Contents
Course Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Goals of the course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
Course Prerequisites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
Learning Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
Avid Worldwide Learning Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
Contact Avid Worldwide Learning Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ii
Other Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Avid Knowledge Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Course Outline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Day 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Module 1 Introduction to Avid NEXIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Avid NEXIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
NEXIS Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Avid NEXIS Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
The Avid Ecosystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Avid NEXIS Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Media Packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Storage Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Avid NEXIS Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Avid NEXIS Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Avid NEXIS|PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Avid NEXIS Enterprise with Embedded System Director - NEXIS FS|Foundation . . . . .7
Avid NEXIS Enterprise with System Director Appliance - NEXIS FS|Extended . . . . . . .8
Avid NEXIS Enterprise with System Director Appliance - FS|Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . .8
NEXIS Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Module 2 Avid NEXIS Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Avid NEXIS Hardware Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Avid NEXIS | PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Avid NEXIS|PRO V1 Storage Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Avid NEXIS|PRO V2 Storage Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Avid NEXIS | E2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Avid NEXIS|E2 Storage Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Avid NEXIS|E2 SSD Storage Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Avid NEXIS | E4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Avid NEXIS|E4 Storage Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Avid NEXIS | E5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Avid NEXIS|E5 Storage Controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Avid NEXIS | E5NL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Avid NEXIS|E5NL Storage Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
System Director Appliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Avid NEXIS Engine Comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Metadata Drive Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Supported Cabling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Twinaxial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
QSFP+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
NEXIS | PRO UPS Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
External Switch Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Module 3 Avid NEXIS Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Opening the Avid NEXIS Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Management Console and NEXIS Agent Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Navigation Sidebar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
System Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Storage Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Monitoring Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Users Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Logs Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Action Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Filtering, Sorting, and Searching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Sorting Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Updating Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Logging Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Updating the Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Guidelines for Names and Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Module 4 Media Packs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Media Packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
What is a Media Pack? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Scale Out VS High Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
SSD Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
NEXIS Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Binding and Unbinding Media Packs to or from the File System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
ii
Media Pack Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Media Pack Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Disk Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Disk Status Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Foreign Drive Error. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
SSD Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Orphaned Media Packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Module 5 Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Storage Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Client Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Storage Group Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Workspace Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Allocating Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Adjusting Workspace Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Renaming a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Workspace Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Engine Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Data Protection and Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Redistributing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Full Redistribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Suspend and Resume Redistribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Maintaining a Free Space Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Deleting a Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Module 6 Users and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

User Management Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Maintaining Avid NEXIS Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Creating User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Modifying and Deleting User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Avid NEXIS Users and Windows Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Remote LDAP Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Working with Avid NEXIS User Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Using Bandwidth Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Setting bandwidth limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Module 7 Replacing Defective Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Replacing a Defective Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Identifying a Failed drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Drive Serial Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Removing and Replacing a Failed Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Drive Rebuild Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Forcing a Drive to Become Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
iii
Replacing a Defective Storage Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Replacing a Defective Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Avid NEXIS Log Aggregator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Module 8 Avid NEXIS Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Avid NEXIS Client Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Embedded Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Jumbo Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Slower than 1Gb Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Avid NEXIS Client Manager Version Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Installing Avid NEXIS Client Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Client Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Windows 10 Updates Might Prevent Client Manager from Connecting to Systems. 89
Microsoft Hotfix KB3033929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The Avid NEXIS Shared Storage Network Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
The Client Manager Tray Icon (Windows Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Mounting and Unmounting Workspaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Client Manager Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Clearing Cached Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Using PathDiag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Diagnostic Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Module 9 Advanced NEXIS Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Monitoring Redistribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Using the Notification Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Configuring the Error Notification Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
System Administration Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
System Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
System Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Avid NEXIS Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
NEXIS Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
The Connection Analyzer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Disk Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Media Pack Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Media Pack Log Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
LDAP Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
LDAP Sync Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Synchronizing LDAP and Avid NEXIS Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
NEXIS Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
iv
Course Introduction
The Avid NEXIS System Administration course provides an
in depth understanding of how to administer and maintain
an Avid NEXIS system.
The course covers a range of administration topics as well
as basic maintenance and troubleshooting of the Avid
NEXIS | PRO, E2, E4 and E5 hardware.
This course prepares candidates for the Avid Certified
NEXIS System Administration certification exam, as well as
being the foundation of the program for candidates
pursuing the certification path to become an Avid Certified
Support Representative for Avid NEXIS.
Goals of the course

This course is designed to provide fundamental skills for system
managers or administrators. The goals are to:
• Create and manage workspace
• Check system status
• Troubleshoot issues
• Create and understand user accounts
• Connect to clients
• Mount/dismount workspaces
• Configure a multi-engine system
• Deal with hardware failures
Audience
• Engineers tasked with maintaining and troubleshooting the NEXIS hardware.
• Media Managers responsible for Workspace management and media deletion.
Course Prerequisites
The student should be familiar with the Avid editing applications and terminology.
Learning Path
The following courses are also available to help you learn more about your Avid system. A complete
listing of Avid courses can be found at www.avid.com/education.
Avid Worldwide Learning Services

As the recognized leader in media and entertainment production solutions, Avid is committed to
your success. Through a combination of up-to-date courseware, educational best practices, and
industry-experienced instructors, Avid makes learning interesting and rewarding.
Contact Avid Worldwide Learning Services

For information about Avid Learning Services offerings, visit the Avid web site, www.avid.com/
training or from within North America, call 800 867 AVID (2843). From elsewhere, call 978 275-2071.
To offer feedback on this or any other Learning Services offering, send e-mail to training@avid.com.
ii
Other Resources
Other Resources
Avid Technology, Inc. offers additional resources that you can use to enhance your understanding of
the product.
Avid Knowledge Base

The Knowledge Base is a repository for thousands of technical documents, file downloads, and
tutorials. It can be accessed at http://www.avid.com/learn-and-support#Avid-Knowledge-Base-
Search.
Course Outline
Day 1
Module Duration 
(in minutes)
Course overview 5
1 Avid NEXIS Introduction 60

2 Avid NEXIS Hardware 70
3 Avid NEXIS Management Console 120
Lunch
3 Avid NEXIS Management Console (Continued) 60
4 Media Packs 40
5 Workspaces 30
6 Users and Groups 20
7 Replacing Defective Hardware 60
8 Avid NEXIS Clients 90

9 Advanced NEXIS Software 60
iii
iv
Module 1 Introduction to Avid NEXIS
In this module you will learn the basics of Avid NEXIS®,
including hardware and software, specifications and
limitations.
Objectives: In this module, you will learn about:
• Avid NEXIS
• Avid NEXIS Components
• Avid NEXIS Architecture
• Avid NEXIS Clients
• Avid NEXIS Capacity
Duration: 60 minutes
Module 1: Introduction to Avid NEXIS
Avid NEXIS
Avid NEXIS is the world’s first and only software-defined storage platform that enables true storage
virtualization for any media application, delivering unmatched flexibility, scalability, control, and
extensibility.
Avid NEXIS also reduces cost by having one set of storage devices for all the client systems rather
than each editor having individual storage hardware. The centralization of the storage hardware
allows it to be in a secure climate and controlled location, thus reducing potential system downtime.
NEXIS Benefits
Avid NEXIS is an Ethernet-based, shared storage network which allows multiple editing systems and
other clients to connect to one set of storage.
Avid NEXIS:
• Enables multiple clients to write to the same volume
• Allows multiple users to access the same media simultaneously
• Using Avid Media Composer; allows multiple users to access the same bins and projects
simultaneously
– Projects and bins don’t need to be copied from one system to another
– Multiple users can read and play from the same bin simultaneously
– Only one user has write access to a bin at one time to prevent conflicts
• Allows for up to 6.4PB (PetaBytes) of online storage
• Supports 1 or 2 Disk Protection to protect important media files
• Supports Engine Mirroring to protect data in the event of engine failure
• Uses an Ethernet network
• Can work in conjunction with local storage
• Makes it simple to add additional drive space to a project
2
Avid NEXIS Components
Avid NEXIS Components

Every Avid NEXIS system contains the following three components:
• System Director
The System Director is the brains of the Avid NEXIS system, it directs all data flow into and out
of the storage controlling where each piece of data is stored. Depending on the capacity
required, the System Director can be built into one of the Avid NEXIS Engines or a stand alone
System Director Appliance.
• Storage
Each Avid NEXIS Engine adds storage capacity and bandwidth to the Avid NEXIS system.Avid
NEXIS Enterprise Engines contain 1TB, 2TB, 6TB or 10TB data drives, Avid NEXIS PRO utilizes 2TB
or 4TB drives.
• Switch
Ethernet switches connect the various components of the Avid NEXIS system and allow
communication between each device. Several switch manufacturers and models are supported
providing a switch to meet every need.
3
The Avid Ecosystem

Avid NEXIS is a part of the larger Avid suite of products including Avid Interplay and Media
Composer which allow for complete end-to-end workflow.
As shown in the diagram Avid NEXIS storage is the center of a larger installation which includes asset
management in Avid Interplay, craft editors in Avid Symphony, Media Composer and NewsCutter,
Journalist systems using Avid Instinct and other editors using Interplay Assist. Ingest and playout are
handled by Avid Airspeed controlled by Interplay Capture and iNEWS Command respectively.
Data may be archived using Interplay archive to a tape backup system not shown in the diagram.
The various computers in this large environment need not be physically located together though it
is common for Avid NEXIS, Interplay and Interplay Archive systems to share a machine room. Client
systems, particularly low bandwidth clients like those using proxy video resolutions, can be long
distances away from their storage. This is often accomplished through the use of remote Ethernet
switches which either extend the Avid NEXIS network or are part of the house Ethernet network.
4
Avid NEXIS Architecture
Avid NEXIS Architecture

An Avid NEXIS system is made up of one or more NEXIS Storage Engines a System Director that is
either part of a NEXIS Storage Engine or a System Director Appliance and a network switch. In
software NEXIS hardware is organized through Media Packs, Storage Groups and Workspaces.
Media Packs
Each Avid NEXIS Engine contains a number of data drives organized into 10 drive Media Packs.
Media Packs are similar to virtual drives in that the 10 drives will be utilized as one large unit. The
smallest individually manageable unit of storage in Avid NEXIS is a single Media Pack.
Storage Groups
The Media Packs are then organized into Storage Groups. Storage Groups allow data to be stored
across multiple Media Packs aggregating the space and bandwidth of those Media Packs into one
usable whole.
Unlike local storage Avid NEXIS breaks each file into 512KB or 1024KB chunks, those chunks are then
assigned equally to all of the Media Packs in a Storage Group and within the Media Pack chunks are
distributed equally to each drive ensuring that each drive in each Media Pack has approximately the
same amount of data.
5
Workspaces
Workspaces are virtual drives where users will store data. Each Workspace is and allocation of a
single Storage Group and the data in the Workspace is stored on all of the drives in the Media Packs
that make up the Storage Group. Data protection is configured at the workspace level.
Three methods of data protection are available:
• Two Disk data protection writes two parity chunks for every eight data chunks. Similar to RAID 6
ensuring that data will not be lost in the case of two simultaneous drive failures. This results in
20% of available disk space being used for data protection instead of actual data.
• One Disk data protection writes one parity chunk for every nine data chunks. Similar to RAID 5,
this protection method is safe against a single disk failure while utilizing 10% of available disk
space for data protection.
• Mirroring data protection writes a copy of each chunk to a Media Pack in a different physical
NEXIS Engine. Introduced in NEXIS v7.0, this protection type requires at least three identical
NEXIS Engines and requires simultaneous use of Two Disk data protection. Mirror data
protection in conjunction with Two Disk data protection allows for at least 5 simultaneous disk
failures anywhere in the NEXIS system.
Users can also choose to not protect their data at all. Similar to RAID 0 in the event of a disk failure
this data will be lost.
Avid NEXIS Clients

Avid NEXIS supports a variety of Avid and non-Avid client systems including:
• Avid Media Composer
• Avid Pro Tools
• Avid Interplay
• Adobe Premiere
• Final Cut Pro
For more information on specific client applications, consult the Avid NEXIS Client Guide.
Clients can connect to the Avid NEXIS via a 1Gb network cable, 2x 1Gb (2Gb) network cables, a single
10Gb or two 10Gb (20Gb) connections or a 40Gb connection. Connections slower than 1Gb are not
supported.
Note: Clients connecting to the Avid NEXIS system at 10Mb or 100Mb will not be able to transfer data to
or from the Avid NEXIS system.
6
Avid NEXIS Capacity
Avid NEXIS Capacity

The Storage and File Count capacities of Avid NEXIS are dependant on the type of NEXIS system and
System Director utilized.
Table 1
Embedded Embedded System System
System System Director Director
Director Director Appliance Appliance
PRO Enterprise Enterprise Enterprise
Media Packs 1-4 1-4 1-24 1-64
Files and Folders 3 Million 8 Million 20 Million 20 Million
Clients 24 40 165 330
Maximum 2,400MB/s 12,000MB/s 72,000MB/s 192,000MB/s
Bandwidth
Avid NEXIS|PRO
Avid NEXIS|PRO is designed for small productions. It utilizes its own NEXIS|PRO storage engine
which is also capable of acting as a System Director.
• 20 to 80TB, 1-4 Avid NEXIS|PRO Engines
• 3 Million Files and Folders
• 24 Active, 30 Connected Clients
• Maximum 2,400MB/s system bandwidth
Note: NEXIS PRO is not compatible with AVID NEXIS Enterprise
Avid NEXIS Enterprise with Embedded System Director - NEXIS FS|Foundation

When used for smaller productions NEXIS Enterprise storage engines can act as their own System
Director eliminating the need for additional hardware.
• 10 to 240TB, 1-4 Media Packs
• 40 Clients
7
Avid NEXIS Enterprise with System Director Appliance - NEXIS FS|Extended

The addition of a System Director Appliance significantly increases the capability of an Avid NEXIS
Enterprise installation.
• 10TB to 2.4PB, 1-24 Media Packs
• 165 Clients
Note: The FS Extended License is included with the Avid NEXIS System Director Appliance
Avid NEXIS Enterprise with System Director Appliance - FS|Advanced

An Avid NEXIS Enterprise system utilizing a System Director Appliance may have increased
capabilities when given an Advanced license.
• 10TB to 6.4PB, 1-64 Media Packs
• 330 Clients
NEXIS Cloud
NEXIS Cloud utilizes the NEXIS Management Console and Client Manager to manage and access
storage hosted on Microsoft Azure. This feature was added to v18.6 as nearline storage. As of v18.6
NEXIS Cloud storage does not support real time media playback. Administration of Avid NEXIS Cloud
is basically the same as an on-premise NEXIS with a few exceptions as noted in the Media Pack and
Workspace modules.
Avid NEXIS v2019.4 introduced Avid NEXIS Cloudspaces, these cloud-based Workspaces can be used
as nearline storage along with an on-premises Avid NEXIS system. As with NEXIS Cloud, Cloudspaces
are optimized for data transfer not for media playback.
As of this writing NEXIS Cloud and Cloudspaces deployment is done exclusively by Avid.
NEXIS Cloud and Cloudspaces support up to 2PB of storage.
Summary
In this module you learned about:
• Avid NEXIS Components
• Avid NEXIS Architecture
• Avid NEXIS Clients
8
NEXIS Cloud
Review Questions
1 What are the three main Avid NEXIS hardware components? (See page 3)
2 What are the three types of data protection available in Avid NEXIS? (See page 5)
3 What is the maximum number of files on an Avid NEXIS system? (See page 7)
4 What client connection speeds are supported? (See page 6)
5 Name a limitation of Avid NEXIS Pro. (See page 7)
9
10
Module 2 Avid NEXIS Hardware
In this module you will learn about the different hardware
components of Avid NEXIS. After completing the module,
you should be able to identify the differences between an
Avid NEXIS | PRO, E2, E2 SSD, E4, E5 and E5NL and describe
the System Director Appliance.
• Avid NEXIS Hardware Components
Module 2: Avid NEXIS Hardware
Avid NEXIS Hardware Components

In this module you will learn about the Avid NEXIS hardware, what each component is called, what
it looks like, and how it is used. Every Avid NEXIS Engine is made up of three basic hardware
components: the drives, the Storage Controller and the power/fan modules. Different Avid NEXIS
Engines support different versions of each component but the basic structure is always the same.
Avid NEXIS | PRO

Each Avid NEXIS|PRO engine is capable of acting as a System Director while also being storage.
NEXIS|PRO does not support stand alone System Directors.
Each Avid NEXIS | PRO Engine contains the following hardware:
• 2x 200GB or 480GB Metadata drives
• 1 Media Pack containing 10x 2TB or 4TB drives
• 1 Storage Controller
• 2x 764W Power Supply / Fan Modules
The Metadata drives are generally located in slots 0 and 1 in the upper left of the chassis with the
Media Pack drives filling slots 2 through 11.
Avid NEXIS|PRO V1 Storage Controller

The Avid NEXIS | PRO v1 Storage controller meets the following specifications:
• 4 Core CPU
• 16GB RAM
• 10Gb SFP+ data interface
The NEXIS|PRO v1 controller is installed in the top slot if the engine has 2TB drives and the bottom
slot if the engine has 4TB drives.
12
Avid NEXIS|PRO V2 Storage Controller

The V2 NEXIS|PRO controller is the same “Controller 10” used in the NEXIS E2. Although they use
the same controller a NEXIS|PRO with a v2 controller is not an E2. The v2 controller is always
installed in the bottom controller slot.
The Avid NEXIS | PRO v2 Storage controller meets the following specifications:
• 6 Core CPU
• 16GB RAM
Note: Although the Avid NEXIS | PRO and Avid NEXIS | E2 are both built on a similar 2U chassis an Avid
NEXIS | PRO cannot be upgraded to become an Avid NEXIS | E2.
Avid NEXIS | E2
Both Avid NEXIS | E2 and E4 can be used as both storage and System Director or in addition to a
System Director Appliance.
The Avid NEXIS | E2 Engine contains the following hardware:
• 1 Media Pack containing 10x 2TB, 6TB or 10TB drives
• 1 or 2 Storage Controllers
Avid NEXIS|E2 Storage Controller

The Avid NEXIS | E2 Storage controller meets the following specifications:
• 6 Core CPU
• 16GB RAM
The E2 Storage controller is labelled “Controller 10”
13
Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD

Introduced in ISIS v7.9 the E2 SSD supports customers requiring extremely fast performance such
as the playback of ultra high bandwidth media.
The Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD Engine contains the following hardware:
• 1 Media Pack containing 10x 1TB, or 2TB drives
• 1 Storage Controller
Avid NEXIS|E2 SSD Storage Controller

The Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD Storage controller meets the following specifications:
• 6 Core CPU
• 16GB RAM
• 40Gb QSFP+ data interface
The E2 SSD Storage controller is labelled “E2 SSD Controller”
Note: Unlike Avid NEXIS|E2 the E2 SSD Storage Controller is installed in the bottom slot
Avid NEXIS | E4
• 1 or 2 Media Pack(s) each containing 10x 2TB, 6TB or 10TB drives
14
Media Pack drives filling slots 2 through 11 and 12 through 21. In a fully populated Avid NEXIS | E4
drive slots 22 and 23 will contain hot spare drives. If the Engine is half populated slots 12 and 13
may contain optional hot spare drives.
If spare drives are not present the slots will be covered with blank plates.
Note: Some earlier versions of Avid NEXIS will give a warning for every drive not present when an E4
engine was partially populated. This behavior was fixed in NEXIS v6.2.2. In later versions there will
still be an informational message if not all Media Packs are present.

The Avid NEXIS | E4 Engine controller meets the following specifications:
• 8 Core CPU
• 32GB RAM
Note: Although they have different internal specs the E2 and E4 controllers are externally identical.
15
Avid NEXIS | E5
Avid NEXIS | E5 increased storage and bandwidth density. Unlike other Avid NEXIS hardware, the E5
requires a System Director Appliance.
• 2x 800GB Metadata drives
• 4 to 8 Media Pack(s) each containing 10x 2TB, 6TB or 10TB drives
• 2 Spare drives
• 2x 2200W 220V Power Supplies
• 5x Fan Modules
The Metadata drives are generally located in the rear left-most slot of each drawer in the chassis
with the Media Pack drives filling the rest of the slots. A half populated NEXIS | E5 Engine has Media
Packs 0 and 1 in the upper drawer starting in the front row of the drawer and progressing to the rear
with a spare drive following the last Media Pack drive. Media Packs 2 and 3 are in the bottom drawer
starting from the front and progressing to the rear with a spare drive following the last Media Pack
drive. See the Installation module for more information on drive locations.
Each NEXIS | E5 Engine must contain at least 4 Media Packs, configurations of 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Media
Packs are all supported. When installing Media Packs, start with the front of the upper drawer,
install half of the Media Packs, then install the rest of the drives in the lower drawer.
Unlike other Avid NEXIS Engines, the E5 requires a QSFP+ to connect to the Ethernet switch. Not all
Avid approved network switches contain QSFP+ slots, when planning for a NEXIS E5 engines be sure
your network has QSFP+ ports available to support the engines.
16

The Avid NEXIS | E5 Engine controller meets the following specifications:
• 12 Core CPU
• 128GB RAM
• 40Gb QSFP+ data interface
Note: Although visually similar to the E4/SDA Engine Controller, the E5 Engine controller can be easily
identified by its 40Gb QSFP ports.
17
Avid NEXIS | E5NL

Avid NEXIS | E5NL a high density, cost effective on-premises nearline storage tier for media
workflows.Network connectivity is cost effective 10Gbps Ethernet (SFP+) supporting optical or
direct attach cables to a 10Gbps Ethernet switch interface. The E5NL requires a System Director
Appliance.
• 2x 800GB Metadata drives
• 4 to 8 Media Pack(s) each containing 10x 12TB drives
• 2 Spare drives
• 2x 2200W 220V Power Supplies
• 5x Fan Modules
E5NL drives follow the same rules as the E5 with only 12TB drives being supported.
Unlike the E5 the E5NL uses a 10Gb network interface.
Avid NEXIS|E5NL Storage Controller

The Avid NEXIS | E5NL Engine controller meets the following specifications:
• 12 Core CPU
• 128GB RAM
The E5NL Storage controller is labeled “E5NL Controller”
18
System Director Appliance

The System Director Appliance extends the functionality of the Avid NEXIS system by increasing the
maximum number of Media Packs, files and clients.
Physically the System Director Appliance is the same as an Avid NEXIS | E2 but it utilizes the same
Storage Controller card as the Avid NEXIS | E4. The System Director Appliance contains 2 400GB
Metadata drives and zero data drives. Each of the data drive slots is occupied with a blank plate
which is necessary for proper air flow.
The Avid NEXIS | System Director Appliance Engine controller meets the following specifications:
• 8 Core CPU
• 32GB RAM
The SDA Storage controller is labelled “SDA Controller”
19
Avid NEXIS Engine Comparison

Table 1 Comparison of Avid NEXIS Engines
NEXIS | PRO NEXIS | E2 NEXIS|E2 NEXIS | E4 NEXIS | E5, NEXIS |

SSD E5NL SDA
Number of 1 1 1 1 or 2 4 to 8 0
Media Packs
Supported Drive 2TB or 4TB 2TB, 6TB or 1TB or 2TB 2TB 6TB, or 2TB, 6TB or N/A
Size 10TB 10TB 10TB 
12TB - E5NL
Maximum 40TB 100TB 20TB 200TB 800TB N/A
Capacity 960TB - E5NL
Metadata Drive 200GB or 200GB or 400GB 200GB or 800GB 400GB

480GB 400GB 400GB
Storage v1, 4 Core 6 Core 6 Core 8 Core 12 Core 8 Core

Controller 16GB RAM 16GB RAM 16GB RAM 32GB RAM 128GB RAM 32GB RAM
v2, 6 Core
16GB RAM
Network 10Gb SFP+ 10Gb SFP+ 40Gb QSFP+ 10Gb SFP+ 40Gb QSFP+ 10Gb SFP+
interface
Power Supply 2x 764W 2x 764W 2x 764W 4x 580W 2X 2200W 220V 2x 764W
Size 2RU 2RU 2RU 4RU 5RU 2RU
Metadata Drive Sizes

Avid NEXIS Engines each use 2x SSD drives to store Metadata information. These two Metadata
drives must meet the following size specification. In the past larger drives have been used but are
not required.
Table 2 Minimum Metadata Drive size required for each NEXIS Engine
NEXIS Engine Minimum

SSD Size
NEXIS|PRO 200GB
NEXIS|E2 200GB
NEXIS|E2 SSD 400GB
NEXIS|E4 200GB
20
Table 2 Minimum Metadata Drive size required for each NEXIS Engine
NEXIS Engine Minimum

SSD Size
NEXIS|E5 800GB
NEXIS|SDA 400GB
Clients
Avid NEXIS clients will each connect to an Ethernet switch via an Ethernet cable. A client utilizing a
single 1Gb connection is a 1Gb client. Two 1Gb connections makes for a 2Gb client. A 10Gb network
adapter card (NIC) can be added to a client computer to make a 10Gb client and two 10Gb
connections can be used to make a 20Gb client. For maximum bandwidth 40Gb clients are
supported. Both copper (RJ45) and optical fiber connections are supported.
All client connection types are supported with either copper or fiber cables. Copper Ethernet is
limited to 100 meters maximum, depending on the quality of fiber used Ethernet over fiber can
extend up to 300 meters.
Note: Connections slower than 1Gb are not supported and may cause issues in Avid NEXIS versions pre-
v7.1.1.
21
Table 3 Maximum Resolution by Connection Type
Connection Max Bandwidth Bandwidth

1Gb 100MB/s 56MB/s
2Gb 200MB/s 150MB/s
10Gb 900MB/s 356MB/s
20Gb 1700MB/s 760MB/s
40Gb 4,000MB/s N/A
Note: Maximum client bandwidth is separate from Storage Group bandwidth. Be sure your Storage
Group has sufficient bandwidth before adding a client to it.
22
Supported Cabling
Avid supports the following cable types for Avid NEXIS systems.
Supported Cables
Cable Connection Function Connector Style and Maximum Cable Length
Type
Ethernet network Connects: RJ45 connector
cable,  1Gb, 2Gb and 10Gb Avid 100 Meters; If using CAT5e the cable must be rated for
CAT5e, CAT6, NEXIS clients 350 MHz for maximum length.
CAT6a, or CAT7
The minimum Gig Ethernet cable length for Avid network
products is 6 feet or 2 meter.
Optical cables Connects: The maximum length for 10 Gb Ethernet cable is defined
NEXIS Engines to by the core diameter (measured in microns) and modal
Ethernet Switches bandwidth (in units of MHz*km).
Avid supports multi-mode fiber cable using 850 nm
transceivers (1000Base-SX, short distances).
10Gb and 10Gb Avid Specifications for these cables can be found in the ISO
NEXIS clients 11801 structured cabling document.
OM1 (62.5/125):
Ethernet Switches to • 1Gb Ethernet, 275 meters (SX)
other Ethernet Switches • 10Gb Ethernet, 22 meters (SR)
OM2 (50/125):
• 1Gb Ethernet 550 meters (SX)
• 10Gb Ethernet 82 meters (SR)
OM3 (50/125):
OM4 (50/125):
Avid supports single-mode fiber cable using
1310 nm transceivers (long distances):
• SMF ITU G.652.A/B 9 micron cable up to 10 km
23
Supported Cables
Cable Connection Function Connector Style and Maximum Cable Length
Type
Twinax Connects third-party Cable 470-AAVJ-SFP+ to SFP+ 10Gb Copper Twinax
switches to the Avid Direct Attach, 3 m
NEXIS, or 10 Gb SFP+
port on switch to 10 Gb
SFP+ port on the Avid
NEXIS
Used with NETGEAR AXC761-10000S: 10GSFP+ Cu (passive) cable with

XS712T SFP+ connectors on both ends, 1m (3.3 ft)
AXC763-10000S: 10GSFP+ Cu (passive) cable with
SFP+ connectors on both ends, 3m (9.8 ft)
Caution: When connecting to a 10 Gb port, it is important to follow two rules:
• Ensure that the cable has the required modal bandwidth for the distance of the run.
• Make sure that all multimode cables between an Avid NEXIS port and the other end of the cable run are
of the same diameter (for example, 50/125 um or 62.5/125 um).
Single mode transceivers are Class 1 laser product per IEC 60825-1 Amendment 2(2001) and IEC 60825-2
1997. Operating this product in a manner inconsistent with intended usage and specification may result in
hazardous radiation exposure.
Note: If you need to run your cable greater distances, call Avid Customer Support for supported cable and
accessory information.
Twinaxial
Twinaxial (or twinax) cables can be used instead of SFP+ adapters and fiber cable at considerable
cost savings. In most cases the cable distance from an Avid NEXIS Engine to a network switch is short
so twinax cables are acceptable. For longer runs, from the network switch to a client for example
fiber with SFP+ adapters will be required.
Avid has tested and sells 1 and 3 meter twinax cables. Twinax is limited to 10 meter cables which
may work in the Avid NEXIS environment but have not explicitly been tested.
Specific Twinax model numbers can be found in the Avid NEXIS Network and Switch Guide.
Note: Twinaxial cables are manufacturer specific. Dell twinax cables will only work with Dell switches,
Cisco twinax cables will only work with Cisco switches. Either manufacture cable will work to
connect to an Avid NEXIS engine.
24
QSFP+
Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) is used to connect the Avid NEXIS | E5 to an Ethernet
switch. For specific models of QSFP cables consult the Avid NEXIS Network and Switch Guide.
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

Avid highly recommends you create a separate derived power system for your Avid NEXIS system.
This provides protection against sudden power surges or losses that could cause you to lose files or
experience data corruption.The power outlets need to be from the same distribution panel. This
helps prevent ground loops that can be caused by plugging equipment into power sources with
different ground potentials. Make sure there is adequate, dedicated power for the UPSs.
You should have all the electrical work at your site done by a licensed electrician. All the electrical
changes must meet country, state, and local electrical codes.
Make sure there is adequate power and the correct receptacle type for each hardware component,
the rack power strips, and the UPSs. Do not use extension cords to plug in any of the hardware
components.
NEXIS | PRO UPS Requirements

There is a known issue with the NEXIS | PRO and power fluctuations. To properly support an Avid
NEXIS | PRO, a UPS must specify a transfer time of <10MS in order to prevent power loss. More
information is detailed in the Avid NEXIS Setup and Maintenance Guide.
This issue is fixed with NEXIS | PRO firmware r4.1.16c, customers with NEXIS | PRO should install
the AvidNEXISSetup_Pro_firmware_r4.1.16c.bin file on each of their Avid NEXIS | PRO systems.
External Switch Support

Avid supports switches produced by a variety of third-party manufacturers. Third-party switches
connect all of the Avid NEXIS components into one system. An Avid NEXIS system can be made up
of one Ethernet switch or several in one or multiple locations. Some advantages of using multiple
switches include:
• Increased Client Count
Adding multiple switches will add client ports. Use of several smaller third-party switches can
add client count for lesser cost.
• Increase Distance to the NEXIS Engines
1Gb copper Ethernet supports a maximum cable length of 100m. 10Gb fiber from one switch to
another can extend up to 10Km giving much greater flexibility in network design and
installation.
• Layer 3 Routing
Third-party switches can route traffic from one network to another. This can be useful in passing
data between multiple Avid NEXIS systems or from a Avid NEXIS to or from a house network.
25
Summary
In this module you learned about the hardware components of the Avid NEXIS system.
26
Review Questions
1 What are the three major hardware components of an Avid NEXIS Engine? (See page 12)
2 What are the differences between an Avid NEXIS|E2 and Avid NEXIS PRO? (See page 13)
3 How many Media Packs are supported in an Avid NEXIS|E4? (See page 14)
4 Why would you utilize multiple third-party switches in an Avid NEXIS system? (See page 25)
27
28
Module 3 Avid NEXIS Management Console
In this module you will learn how to log into the Avid NEXIS
Management Console. We will discuss the layout of the
web page and how to quickly verify the health of the
system.
• Opening the Avid NEXIS Management Console
• Navigation Sidebar
• Filtering, Sorting, and Searching
• Guidelines for Names and Passwords
Duration: 2 hours
Module 3: Avid NEXIS Management Console
Opening the Avid NEXIS Management Console

The Avid NEXIS Management Console is used for the initial setup of the Avid NEXIS system and its
daily administration including adding/modifying Workspaces, users, and groups to accommodate
new and evolving projects. The Management Console is also useful for troubleshooting when
problems occur with the storage hardware, the System Director, or a client. Avid NEXIS provides
easy-to-understand error, warning, and informational messages.
The Management Console tool runs as a Web service on the System Director. This allows you to
open the Management Console tool from any system that has an Ethernet connection to the System
Director, as well as from the System Director itself.
Connecting to the Management Console is supported with the following web browsers
• Internet Explorer
• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari
Note: Different versions of Avid NEXIS have different Avid NEXIS Management Console functionality.
Although most functions are the same, there are options in newer versions which were not present
in older versions. The following pages refer to Avid NEXIS v19.4, if your system differs from what is
presented here please consult the Avid NEXIS Administration Guide for the version of Avid NEXIS
running on your system.
Adobe Flash and the Avid NEXIS Management Console

Versions of the Avid NEXIS Management Console prior to v2018.5 require a specific version of
Adobe Flash. Google Chrome will often automatically update Adobe Flash beyond the version
supported by the NEXIS Management Console. This can cause problems opening the Management
Console thus one of the other supported web browsers is probably a better choice.
Note: In v2018.5 and later Adobe Flash is no longer required by the Avid NEXIS Management Console
To access the Avid NEXIS Management Console:

1 Open the Web browser.
2 In the address bar of the browser, enter one of the following:
– http://[System Director IP address] — for example, https://172.20.22.122
– http://[System Director network pathname] — for example, https://AvidSysDir01
3 Enter your Password. By default the password is blank.
4 Click the Login button.
The Avid NEXIS Management Console opens.
30
Opening the Avid NEXIS Management Console
31
Management Console and NEXIS Agent Passwords

The Avid NEXIS Management Console and NEXIS Agent passwords conform to the following rules.
• If a NEXIS File System is not present the NEXIS Agent password (se-admin by default) must be
used
• Once a NEXIS File System is created the default Management Console password is blank
• The NEXIS Agent password will allow access to the Management Console
• If the Management Console password is 8 characters or fewer it will allow access to the NEXIS
Agent
• If the Management Console password is 9 characters or longer it will NOT allow access to the
NEXIS Agent.
Navigation Sidebar
The Navigation sidebar is divided into the following main sections: System, Storage, Monitoring,
Users, and Logs, each of which expands to display functions or objects related to that category.
System Section
The System Section Contains
• Dashboard (displayed by default when you log into a running, configured system)—Displays
overall health and status information about the system.
• Bandwidth Limits—Lets you create, edit, sort and manage bandwidth limits for clients.
• Installers—Provides links to the installers for the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, LDAP Sync Tool (on-
premise only), Avid NEXIS Client software, and Avid NEXIS software to install on other Engines
(on-premise only).
• System Setup—Displays information about the current configuration and lets you edit various
attributes and settings.
• Settings—Manages system preferences, the file system setup, and metadata.
• Snapshots—Lets you create a snapshot of the current state of the Avid NEXIS system.
Storage Section
The Storage section contains:
• Workspaces—Displays current Workspaces and lets you create, modify and delete Workspaces
and their attributes.
• Storage Groups—Displays current Storage Groups and lets you create, modify and delete
Storage Groups and their attributes.
32
Navigation Sidebar
• Engines (on-premise only)—Displays current Engines and lets you modify some Engine
attributes.
• Controllers (on-premise only)—Displays current Controller information and lets you modify
some Controller attributes.
• Media Packs—Displays current Media Pack information and lets you modify some Media Pack
attributes.
Monitoring Section
The Monitoring section contains:
• Client Bandwidth—Displays total system bandwidth use, and bandwidth consumption of each
connected system.
• Connection Status—Displays the users and other entities connected to (or logged into) the
system, including internal users such as the Storage Managers.
• Redistribution (on-premise only)—Displays information about any in-progress redistributions,
and which Media Packs are involved.
• Reservations—Displays any bandwidth reservations set inside the Client Manager.
Users Section
The Users section contains:
• Users—Lets you create, edit, sort and manage user accounts.
• User Groups—Lets you create, edit, sort and manage user groups.
• Notifications—Lets you configure an SMTP server for email notifications and filter which types
of system events are sent to the contacts you configure.
• External Authentication (on-premise only)—Lets you configure and manage external
authentication servers for LDAP.
• Administrator—Lets you change the administrator password.
Logs Section
The Logs section contains:
• Event History—Displays the past 5 days (96 hours) of system status information. You can
download the history as a zip file, and then send the file to Avid Customer Care upon request.
• System Logs—Lets you choose from various logs to display.
• Media Pack Logs—Displays log files for the Media Packs in the system.
33
Action Tools
Depending on which section is open in the System Navigation sidebar, various action tools are
displayed.
34
Filtering, Sorting, and Searching
Filtering, Sorting, and Searching

You can filter, sort, and search for specific objects in most of the displays.
Sorting Objects
The sort options depend on the type of objects displayed. To display all objects, click Refresh.
Updating Information
You can update onscreen information to reflect recent system changes by clicking Refresh. You can
also set the display to refresh continuously.
When Continuous Refresh is enabled the refresh icon turns green and rotates. Click the rotating icon
to disable continuous refresh
35
Logging Out
You can log out of the Avid NEXIS Management Console at any time by clicking the user name in the
in the top-right corner of the Management Console, in the drop down choose Log out.
Updating the Display

You can select multiple items in many Management Console windows, as follows, similar to
selecting multiple items in Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder:
Guidelines for Names and Passwords

Follow these guidelines when creating object names or passwords in the Management Console:
• Names (Storage Groups, Users, Groups) can be a maximum of 31 ASCII characters in length.
• Workspace names can be up to 31 characters long, must use Unicode characters and cannot
include a space.
• The Administrator and User passwords can be a maximum of 127 bytes, which equals 127 ASCII
characters.
• Other character sets, such as UTF, might result in fewer characters, but the limit remains 127
bytes.
• Do not include a space in any name fields.
• Do not include a space in any name fields.
• Do not use a period (.) as either the first or last character in the names you create.
36
Guidelines for Names and Passwords
• Do not use the following characters in any name fields:
Summary
In this module you learned how to log into the Avid NEXIS Management Console. You also got an
overview of the Action Tools. This will help you easily navigate the Management Console.
37
Review Questions
1 How do you access the Avid NEXIS Management Console? (See page 30)
2 What is the default Management Console password? (See page 32)
3 What can you modify in the Storage section of the Navigation Sidebar? (See page 32)
4 How long can User passwords beGuidelines for Names and Passwords? (See page 36)
38
Module 4 Media Packs
In this module you will learn how to bind Media Packs to
the File System, the various Media Pack and disk statuses
and how to deal with Orphaned Media Packs.
• Media Packs
• Media Pack Status
• Disk Status
• Orphaned Media Packs
Module 4: Media Packs
Media Packs
In this module you will learn how to add Media Packs to the file system, thus beginning the process
of Avid NEXIS management.
What is a Media Pack?

A Media Pack is a group of data drives in an Avid NEXIS Engine which can be used for storage. Each
Media Pack contains ten data drives. Ideally all of the drives in a Media Pack will be of the same size
but it is possible to mix drive sizes in a Media Pack. Be aware that if drive sizes are mixed the Media
Pack will conform all drives to the smallest drive used. Thus if a Media Pack contains nine 6TB drives
and one 2TB unit all of the drives will provide 2TB each. The Media Pack will immediately report a
usable storage capacity of 20TB.
Each Avid NEXIS |PRO and NEXIS | E2 contains one Media Pack, Avid NEXIS | E4 Engines contain one
or two Media Packs depending on how many drives are installed.
Table 1 Media Packs per NEXIS Engine

NEXIS Engine Number of Media
Packs
PRO 1
E2 1
E2 SSD 1
E4 1 or 2
E5 and E5 NL 4 to 8
SDA 0
Scale Out VS High Performance

Avid NEXIS offers two choices for Media Pack Performance. The default setting, Scale Out is the
classic performance level offering 400MB/s per Media Pack, it supports large client count with
predictable Storage Group performance. High Performance Media Packs will produce 600MB/s
each for high performance Storage Groups to support a maximum of 10 clients working with high
bandwidth media.
An Avid NEXIS system can have multiple Media Packs each using High Performance or Scale Out.
Avid recommends making separate Storage Groups for each Media Pack performance type.
Using two High Performance Media Packs in an Avid NEXIS|E4 Engine will produce approximately
1200MB/s which is more than the E4’s 10Gb/s connection to the switch can support. Be aware than
an E4 Engine using High Performance Media Packs will only be able to utilize around 1000MB/s.
Note: High Performance Media Packs are not supported in Avid NEXIS|E5 or E5NL Engines
40
Media Packs
SSD Performance
E2 SSD Media Packs use a special SSD performance type. The SSD performance type offers
3,000MB/s read and 2000MB/s write speeds. SSD Media Packs cannot be mixed in a Storage Group
with any other performance type. Configurations with greater than 4 Media Packs must always
include a System Director Appliance. Prior to v2018.4 E2 SSD configurations were limited, check the
Avid NEXIS Readme for your version of Avid NEXIS for more information.
NEXIS Cloud
Avid NEXIS Cloud storage utilizes Microsoft Azure storage. The Storage presents to the NEXIS
Management console as a single Media Pack of up to 2PB with its own Cloud performance type and
data protection. Other than binding the Media Pack to the File System no other actions need to be
taken to support the Media Pack.
Binding and Unbinding Media Packs to or from the File System

An Avid NEXIS Engine cannot be used for storage until it has been added to the Avid NEXIS File
system at which point it becomes a Media Pack. As a Media Pack it can be organized for use in the
Avid NEXIS system. Once an Avid NEXIS Engine has been connected to the network switch it will
show up in the Management Console and be available to be bound to the File System
To add a Media Pack to the File system, In the Media Packs page select the NEXIS Engine and click
the Bind button. Select either “Scale Out” or “High Performance”. SSD and Cloud Media Packs will
automatically set to their preferred performance type.
Note: Avid NEXIS|E5 and E5NL Media Packs do not support High Performance and will auto-configure to
scale-out.
To remove a Media Pack from the File System select the Media Pack and click the Unbind button.
Note: To Unbind a Media Pack from the File System it cannot be part of a Storage Group. If the Media
Pack is part of a Storage Group the Unbind button will be unavailable.
Media Pack Details

The Details area displays all information for the currently selected Media Pack. The information
displayed is the information as seen by the System Director. Some of the information is embedded
in the Media Pack, and other information is assigned to the Media Pack by the Avid NEXIS software.
t To display the Details area, double-click the Media Pack or select the Media Pack and click the
Details button.
41
The following table lists and describes the information available when you first open the Media
Packs list:
Heading Description
Name Displays the name (created automatically) of each Media Pack
bound to the system.
Performance Displays the performance type of the Media Pack, either Scale Out,
High Performance, or SSD
Host Name Displays the name of the Storage Controller.
Status Time The last time the System Director logged the Media Pack’s status.
Status Changes in the working status logged by the System Director.
State Displays the Media Pack state (Spare, Bound, Unbound).
Uptime The length of time that the Media Pack has been running
continuously.
Capacity The total capacity of each Media Pack.
Usable Displays the amount of storage space remaining.
Used The amount of storage space in use on each Media Pack.
Version The version of software installed on this NEXIS Engine
42
Media Packs
Heading Description
Engine Serial Number Displays the serial number of the Engine.
Storage Group The Storage Group, if any, to which the Media Pack is allocated.
A color-coded status icon precedes the name of each Media Pack, providing an indication of the
status of the component. The following table describes the color coding system used by the Avid
NEXIS Management Console.
Icon Color Status

White Media Pack is unbound (not linked to the Avid Storage file system).
Green Media Pack is bound to the file system.
Yellow Indicates a problem with the Media Pack, or degraded

performance.
Blue An installation or software upgrade is in progress.
Red Media Pack problem, such as a disk failure.
43
Media Pack Status

The Status column in the Media Packs list reports the status of the Media Pack logged by the System
Director. (The Status line in the Details area reports the same information.)
If the Media Pack maintains a working status, the Management Console lists no entries in the Status
field. When a problem arises, or when the status of the Media Pack changes, the Management
Console updates the Media Pack’s dialog box.
Category Status
General • Disk failure (Error): The hard disk error threshold for a disk has been exceeded and the
Status Media Pack has set the disk offline. The default threshold is 25 hard errors.
• Disk Full (Error): One or more Media Packs in a Storage Group has reached its full capacity.
Even if some of the Media Packs still have available space, the Storage Group is considered
full as soon as one Media Pack is filled. As data is written and deleted, some Media Packs
are filled before others. During redistribution, the data is redistributed evenly among the
Media Packs.
• Network degraded (Error): One or more of the network connections on the Media Pack is
down or the Media Pack is experiencing at least a 10% received packet failures over the last
10 minutes, indicating a network communication problem.
• Rectifying files (Warning): Avid NEXIS is cleaning up deleted files and verifying existing
files. This occurs every time the Media Pack restarts and every 10 days thereafter, and also
when manually initiated. Each Media Pack staggers their process so that they do not run
simultaneously.
• Disk performance degraded (Warning): The Media Pack’s performance is below the
threshold for input/output functions and might impact the performance of the system.
• No connection (Warning): The System Director cannot communicate with the Media Pack.
This could be due to a networking infrastructure issue or Media Pack failure.
• Redistributing (Warning): Data is being redistributed to Media Pack in the Storage Group.
• Drive Missing: A drive is missing from the Media Pack
• Drive Rebuilding: The contents of a data drive are being rebuilt from the other drives in the
Media Pack (after you replace a failed drive)
• Missing Disks - unbound: The System Director starts a Storage Manager process for every
Media Pack that the Engine can support. If the Engine is not fully populated, the Storage
Managers report the missing Media Pack drives.
• Offline: A Media Pack was set offline by the system.
• Temperature above threshold: The Media Pack temperature exceeds 60°C (140°F).
• Missing Spare drive (Info): The spare drive is either missing or cannot be detected.
• Invalid drive (Info): The drive detected is not an Avid Qualified drive.
NEXIS • Cloud Account credential not valid: The cloud account and access key are not valid or
Cloud Only have not yet been entered to access the cloud provider and enable I/O to Avid NEXIS |
Cloudspaces
• Cloud BW Test In Progress: The cloud Media Pack is currently running a cloud bandwidth
test to determine current potential read/write bandwidth from the Avid NEXIS system to the
cloud provider
• Cloud communication issues: The cloud Media Pack is not currently able to communicate
with the cloud provider through the data center. The Avid NEXIS Cloudspace is not
accessible.
44
Media Packs
Category Status
Upgrade • Install failed
Status • Installing
Disk Status
Avid NEXIS allows you to see the status of each individual drive in the Media Pack, any spare drives
that might be present, and the status of the Metadata drives in the Avid NEXIS Engine. Individual
drives can be monitored from the Management Console. More detailed information on drive status
is available from within the NEXIS Agent for that Media Pack.
To see detailed information about a Media Pack drive:

1 In the Media Packs list, select a Media Pack.
2 Do one of the following:
• Click Details.
• Double-click the Media Pack Name.
The Details panel displays all the information for the selected Media Pack, such as the Storage
Controller that manages the Media Pack and details about its disks.
To see detailed information about a spare or system drive:

1 In the Engines list, select an Engine.
• Click Details.
• Double-click the Engine Name.
The Details panel displays all the information for the selected Engine, such as its Storage Controller,
Media Packs, spare drives (if applicable) and system drives.
Disk Status Messages

The individual drives in a Media Pack and the system drives can have the following status values:
45
Disk Status
• Capacity Insufficient: The system drive is not the appropriate size for the Engine it is in.
Replace the drive with one of the minimum required size.
• Empty: (Applies to system drives only). The system requires two blank metadata (system)
drives. Insert another blank drive of the same capacity as the other one.
• Failed: The drive has failed and must be replaced. You cannot reuse it.
• Failing: The drive is failing. Although there is no way to tell how much time you have before
the drive fails, this status alerts you to obtain a replacement drive as soon as possible.
• Foreign: For Media Pack drives, the drive possibly came from a different Engine. To use it,
clear the foreign drive configuration;
• Incompatible: The Media Pack drives are not the right type for the Engine
• Initializing: The Engine is starting up (for example, after a reboot) and performing internal
housekeeping.
• Missing/Empty: A drive is missing or the slot is empty.
• Operational: The drive is functioning normally.
• Partition Unsupported: (Applies to system drives only). The drive is partitioned for a
different Engine than the one it is in, or some partitions are missing or the wrong size.
Remove the drive and insert a blank drive or one partitioned correctly for this Engine.
• Rebuilding: The data on the drive is being rebuilt from the other drives in the Media Pack, or
from the other system drive. This status occurs after you replace a failed drive.
• Spare: The drive is a spare.
• Invalid/Unsupported: The drive was not purchased from Avid and cannot be used in the
Engine.
46
Media Packs
Foreign Drive Error

The Foreign Drive message is displayed in the following cases:
• When a drive came from a different Media Pack (usually from a different Engine).
• When the drive has been out of the Engine for longer than five minutes, and replaced by a spare
drive, then reinserted into the same Engine.
If a drive is removed accidentally, the Media Pack requests its return for five minutes. If it is
reinserted within those five minutes, the Media Pack resumes normal operation. After five
minutes, if it was replaced by a spare drive and then reinserted, it is marked Foreign. If a spare
drive did not replace the removed drive, the removed drive can rejoin the Media Pack at any
time.
Note: You cannot clear the foreign configuration on a system drive. If a system drive is reporting a status
of foreign, contact Avid Customer Support.
If the drive has failed, you cannot reuse the drive even if you clear the configuration.
Note: Clearing the foreign disk configuration deletes all data on the drive, and is a permanent operation.
If you are using a drive that came from a different Media Pack, make sure the original Media Pack
no longer needs it.
To clear the Foreign Drive status using the Management Console:

1 Open the NEXIS Management Console.
2 In the navigation bar, click Storage, then Engines
3 Click Advanced, then Disks.
4 Next to the drive, click Clear Foreign Config.
5 Accept the warning
6 After the old configuration is cleared, the drive gets assigned to any Media Pack that needs one, or
becomes a spare (if supported in this Engine type).
To clear the Foreign Drive status using the NEXIS Agent:

1 Open the NEXIS Agent.
2 Click Advanced, then Disks.
3 Select the drive, then click Clear Foreign Config.
4 A dialog box opens, warning that continuing with this operation will permanently destroy all data
on the drive. Type the words Destroy My Data in the text field and click OK to continue.
5 After the old configuration is cleared, the drive gets assigned to any Media Pack that needs one, or
becomes a spare (if supported in this Engine type).
47
SSD Health
In all Engines and the System Director Appliance, the system drives are solid-state (SSDs). In Avid
NEXIS | E2 SSD Engines, Media Pack drives are also SSDs.
SSD health is reported as a percentage of SSD life remaining, starting at 100% (full drive life
remaining) and decreasing over time. SSD life can vary, but is generally expected to be about five
years, or at least as long as the life of the Engine. When an SSD reaches the Warning threshold, or
even the Critical threshold, you will have enough time to order and receive a replacement.
You can see the SSD drive health as follows:
• On the Engines page, click Advanced, then click Disks. SSD Health is a column in the Disks table.
• On the Media Packs page, click Advanced, then click Disks. SSD Health is a column in the Disks
table.
If an SSD has reached a Warning or Critical threshold the administrator is notified and the status is
displayed in the Management Console.
Orphaned Media Packs

Orphaned Media Packs are connected to a file system that is not currently in use, for example when
a Media Pack is moved from one Avid NEXIS environment to another, or when you create a new
active partition on a system that already includes bound Media Packs. The “Force Remove”
command removes the file system binding from the Media Pack and makes it available for use in the
current file system.
To Force Remove a Media Pack:
1 Select the Media Pack and click Force Remove.
A message warns you that removing Media Packs erases all data on the component.
2 Click Yes.
The Media Pack is unbound from the File System and reboots. After reboot it will appear in the
Media Pack page.
48
Media Packs
Summary
In this module you learned about how to create Media Packs, bind them to a Storage Group, create
Workspaces and finally grant permission to those Workspace by creating Avid NEXIS users. You
learned about how to track the health of the Avid NEXIS Engine and viewed messages you may see
in the Status tab.
49
Review Questions
1 How do you find detailed information about a Media Pack? (See page 41)
2 What happens if you mix drive sizes in a Media Pack? (See page 40)
3 What is a foreign disk? (See page 47)
4 What is an Orphaned Media Pack? (See page 48)
50
Module 5 Workspaces
In this module you will learn how to create Workspaces and
manage them effectively.
• Storage Groups
• Workspace Strategies
• Allocating Workspaces
Module 5: Workspaces
Storage Groups
A Storage Group is a number of Media Packs collected together to create a virtual volume. This
virtual volume is then divided into Workspaces. The number of Media Packs contained in the
Storage Group will determine both its maximum storage capacity and maximum bandwidth. Each
Storage Group must contain at least one Media Pack.
To maximize the usefulness of the Media Pack storage, Avid recommends putting all the Media
Packs into the same Storage Group. If you have Media Packs of different capacities, you can create
separate Storage Groups to segregate them. If any Media Pack in a Storage Group is smaller than
the others, then every Media Pack in the Storage Group is treated as the smallest size. Avid advises
that Media Packs of different sizes always be assigned to different Storage Groups.
With an embedded System Director, that is a System Director running on an Avid NEXIS Engine, a
maximum of 4 Media Packs are supported. Using a System Director Appliance up to 48 Media Packs
are supported.
Client Bandwidth
Each client connected to the Avid NEXIS system will require some of the system’s bandwidth. For
video playback clients the bandwidth required will be equal to the bandwidth of the video being
played multiplied by the number of streams being played simultaneously. Clients transferring data
to or from the Avid NEXIS system will be able to utilize higher bandwidth, in some cases up to the
limit of their network connection. Often this transfer of data is referred to as a “push-pull”
workflow.
Storage Group Bandwidth

Avid NEXIS Storage Groups scale linearly with each additional Media Pack, each adding its
bandwidth to the total bandwidth of the Storage Group. A Storage Group with 2 scale-out Media
Packs has a total bandwidth capability of 800MB/s, with 4 scale-out Media Packs there is 1600MB/
s and so on.
52
Workspace Strategies
Workspace Strategies
Workspaces are virtual drives, which provide client access to the storage contained within the
Storage group. Because of the virtual nature of Workspaces they can be resized at any time. This
makes adding storage space to a project simple, as well as allowing for multiple Workspaces to help
manage your media. With support for up to 1,024 Workspaces with an embedded System Director
or 3072 with a System Director Appliance Avid NEXIS can meet any media management need.
Since Workspaces are easy to create, they are useful as a way of managing media. Some sites opt to
make a Workspace for each user of the system. That user then manages the Workspace in a manner
similar to local storage; he or she is responsible for ingesting and deleting media and keeping their
Workspace tidy.
Non-Interplay sites tend to have a larger number of smaller Workspaces allowing for control of data
through Workspace manipulation. When Avid Interplay is in use, a smaller number of larger
Workspaces is common. Control management responsibility is shifted to Interplay which can give
more granular control of files and file access.
Allocating Workspaces
Workspaces are virtual volumes that exist on Storage Groups and can be resized dynamically.
Workspaces allow you to segment your Storage Groups easily to accommodate projects and users.
To allocate Workspaces based on user and project needs, you'll need to determine how much
storage each Workspace requires and allocate space accordingly. For instance, this might be a
function of project size or the number of clients. The size of the project is a function of duration and
media resolution. You should also consider whether access restrictions are required and whether
protection for data integrity is necessary for each Workspace.
The Workspaces list displays all Workspaces, the Storage Groups on which they reside, and details
about each Workspace. The colored dot to the left of the workspace name indicates the status of
the workspace.
53
The following table lists and describes the information that displays in the Workspaces pane.
Heading Description
Name Names of all Workspaces in the selected Storage Groups.
Storage Group Displays the Storage Group that contains the Workspace.
Capacity Total storage capacity of each Workspace.
Maximum Maximum amount of storage space available for the Workspace on

the Storage Group.
Performance Displays the Performance mode of the Media Packs in the Storage
Group
Engine Protection Mode Displays the status of Engine Mirroring
Media Pack Protection Displays the protection mode applied to the Workspaces.
Mode
Used Amount of storage space in gigabytes (GB) that currently has data
written on it in each Workspace.
Unused Amount of storage space that currently has no data written on it in

each Workspace.
Space on Disk Lists the amount of disk space actually used by the data in the
Workspace, accounting for the Workspace protection mode and
some overhead.
Status Displays the Workspace status, such as:

• Delete Pending
• Workspace space low
• Workspace full
• Rebuild in process
Config Changes Number of changes to a Storage Group that involve moving data, for
example, the number of times an Media Pack has been added or
removed.
Files Total number of files stored on the network for each Workspace.
54
Creating New Workspaces

Workspaces are locations to store and segregate data. You can allow users to access some or all of
the Workspaces and you can assign permissions for how each user can access the data in a
Workspace.
To create a Workspace:
1 From the Storage section of the Management Console click Workspaces.
The Workspaces page opens.
2 Click +.
The Create Workspace dialog box opens.
3 In the Name field, type a name for the Workspace.
55
4 Click the Storage Group menu, and select the Storage Group in which you want to create the
Workspace.
Note: Once a Storage Group has been selected it cannot be changed
5 Click the Engine Protection menu and (if available) select the available Engine protection option:
• Mirrored - Data is written simultaneously to two different Avid NEXIS Engines
• Unprotected - Data is written to only one Avid NEXIS Engine, protection only occurs at the
Media Pack level
Note: Once a workspace is created its Protection Mode cannot be changed.
6 Click the Media Pack Protection menu and select the available Workspace protection option:
• Two Disk Protection — Workspace data can tolerate the failure of two drives in the same Media
Pack at the same time. Offers the best protection but requires the most space in the Storage
Group.
• One Disk Protection — Workspace data can tolerate the failure of one drive in the Media Pack.
Offers some protection, but requires timely replacement of failed drives.
• Unprotected — Workspace data is lost if a single drive in the Media Pack backing the Workspace
fails. Uses the least space in the Storage Group.
Note: Once a workspace is created its Protection Mode cannot be changed.
7 In the Capacity text box type a size for the Workspace. The minimum size is listed in the Capacity
text box, and the maximum size is listed to the right of the Capacity text box.
8 In the User Access area, select the User and User Group access privileges.
9 Click Apply to create a new Workspace containing the selected Storage Group and users.
10 Click Close to close the Create Workspace dialog box to return to the Workspaces tool.
Note: An Avid NEXIS system can contain no more than 3072 Workspaces if it has an SDA or 1024 with an
embedded System director. Any attempt to create more Workspaces that allowed will result in the
error “The Maximum Number of Workspaces Already Exist.”
Adjusting Workspace Size
There are occasions when you must change
the size of Workspaces. For example, you may
need to enlarge the Workspace to create
room for a capture procedure planned for
later in the day or for some new media files.
Alternatively, you might need to make a
Workspace smaller to create space for other
Workspaces or to reserve storage for future
use.
To resize a Workspace, do one of the following:
• Click the Resize slider in the Workspace size bar graph, drag and release.
56
• Double-click on a Workspace name or click and choose details to enter the detail pane, there
type a new number into the Capacity box and press apply. In either case the workspace resize is
applied immediately.
The Workspace size bar graph is a logarithmic representation of the Workspace, each line indicates
double the size of the previous. This allows the graph to indicate a large amount of data in a
relatively small space but also can make it difficult to accurately set the size of a Workspace. Most
users will probably prefer to change workspace size by entering a new value in the detail pane.
Renaming a Workspace
You can rename a Workspace at any time including when it is being used by client workstations and
mapped to a local drive or by letterless mapping (to a Universal Naming Convention path) on the
client system. The only effect on users is that the Workspace name will be different the next time
they access it.
Note: It is not recommended to rename the Workspace because client systems may have difficulty using
the renamed Workspace. After a mapped Workspace has been renamed it must be remapped on
each client system.
If the site has Interplay, the Media Indexer must be manually reconfigured with the new Workspace
name. The Interplay Database will also require an update to reflect this new information.
57
Workspace Protection
To ensure protection of your files Avid NEXIS provides three levels of data protection; One Disk
Protection and Two Disk Protection. Two Disk Protection uses two chunks of parity information for
eight chunks of actual data. When using Two Disk Protection the Workspace will utilize 20% more
space than an Unprotected Workspace.
One Disk Protection uses a single parity chunk for every nine chunks of actual data, this results in a
Workspace that occupies 10% more space than an Unprotected Workspace.
Unprotected Workspaces utilize no parity data and thus have no protection against disk failure, in
the event of a disk failure all data on the workspace will be lost.
Engine Protection
Avid NEXIS Engine protection mirrors data by writing it to two different NEXIS Engines at the same
time. This type of data protection requires a Storage Group containing at least three identical NEXIS
Engines. Mirrored data protection protects data against NEXIS Engine failure but costs half of the
free space available on the system. Mirrored data protection requires the simultaneous use of One
Disk or Two Disk Media Pack protection. One Disk Protection utilizes 10% of disk space along with
the 50% Mirroring requires meaning 55% of storage space is utilized for protection. Two Disk
protection utilizes 20% of disk space along with the 50% Mirroring data requires utilizes a total of
60% of free space while providing maximum data protection.
Avid states that Mirroring plus Two Disk Protection protects against “Any 5 disk failures” across the
system while Mirroring plus One Disk Protection protects from “Any 3 disk failures”.
Data Protection and Bandwidth

To protect data both Media Pack and Engine protection utilize extra data written to the data drives.
This extra data takes up free space as explained above but also requires some system bandwidth to
be written. This means that write speeds will be slower depending on the kind of protection type
selected. For One Disk protection write speeds will lower 10%, for Two Disk its 20% and for
Mirroring which includes Two Disk protection write speeds lower by 60%. One disk protection plus
mirroring lowers write speed by 55%.
Its important to note that this is not bandwidth lost, the Media Packs are still operating at their
normal bandwidth, this bandwidth is utilized to write the protection data to ensure that data will
not be lost in the case of disk failure.
Redistributing Data
Data redistribution is an operation that ensures all stored files on a Workspace are distributed
evenly across the Media Packs in the Storage Group to provide optimal file system performance.
Operations that involve an automatic redistribution of data are:
• Adding or removing a Media Pack to or from a Storage Group.
• Deleting a Workspace which contains data.
58
To determine the duration of the redistribution for adding or removing a Media Pack to or from a
Storage Group first determine the amount of data to be moved. For example if removing a Media
Pack which contains 10TB of data 10TB of data will be moved. If adding a Media Pack to a Storage
Group which contains 30TB of data each Media Pack will end up with 25% of 30TB so 7.5TB will be
moved to the new Media Pack.
Once you know how much data will be moved determine the rate of movement.This will be limited
by a single engine being added or removed. Reads are completed at full Media Pack bandwidth,
Scale-Out is 400MB/s, High Performance is 600MB/s and SSD is 3,000MB/s. Media Pack write
performance is detailed in the following table.
Table 2 Write Bandwidth by Media Pack Type
Protection Type Scale-Out High Performance SSD

Unprotected 400MB/s 600MB/s 2000MB/s
1 Disk 360MB/s 540MB/s 1800MB/s
2 Disk 320MB/s 480MB/s 1600MB/s
Finally deduct the impact of client activity from the speed of the system and divide the amount of
data to be moved by the rate of movement. For example to add a single Media Pack to a Storage
Group containing a single Media Pack with 10TB of data each Media Pack will end up with 5TB or
5,000GB. If all Workspaces were Two Disk Protection and zero clients are active the rate is 320MB/
s or 19.2GB/m or about 1.1TB/hr. Thus to move 5TB will take just over 4.5 hours.
With only two Media Packs removal time would be the same since the process is limited by the
write speed of a single engine. If the Storage Group contained 3 Media Packs with 15TB of data and
one Media Pack was removed the amount of data to be removed is still 5TB but now the write
bandwidth of the two Media Packs remaining is 640MB/s (320*2) so the read speed of the Media
Pack being removed (400MB/s) is the limiting factor. 400MB/s is 24GB/min or about 1.4TB/hr so this
redistribution would complete in just under 4 hours.
Prior to NEXIS version 7.5 adding a Media Pack two or from a Storage Group containing mirrored
workspaces could not be completed while the system was in use or “under load”. The NEXIS system
would stop all client activities, process the Redistribution, then resume client activities. In NEXIS
version 7.5 and later Redistribution under load is supported in all cases.
Deleting a Workspace is a special kind of redistribution which is processed in the background. It is
effectively instantaneous although there may be a short delay before the space is available for use.
Full Redistribution
When you add or remove one or more Media Packs from a Storage Group, the system performs an
incremental redistribution of the affected Workspace(s) in order to have minimal impact on system
performance. Each incremental redistribution is considered a configuration change.
You can view the number of configuration changes that have been applied to a Workspace in the
Details area of the Workspaces tool.
59
After twenty configuration changes, the system prompts you to perform a full redistribution. You
can manually initiate a full redistribution at any time using the Workspaces tool in the Management
Console. If you do not initiate full redistribution, the system continues to function, but the affected
Workspaces, and System at a Glance general status will both remain at Warning until a full
redistribution is performed.
After 30 configuration changes without a full redistribution, the system will perform a Full
Redistribution automatically. This could significantly reduce system performance until the
redistribution operation has completed.
Due to the nature of NEXIS Full Redistribution will be infrequent, many sites will never need a Full
Redistribution.
Note: Performing a full redistribution while one or more Media Packs are reporting a non-OK status can
result in errors or data loss. When you try to initiate a full redistribution when one or more Media
Packs are not reporting an OK (green) status. Be sure to check the health of all your Media Packs
before performing a Full Redistribution.
Suspend and Resume Redistribution

Under some conditions, you might have to suspend or resume an in-progress redistribution. You can
do this with the Advanced Commands options available in the Workspaces page, which also lets you
suspend or resume redistribution of all Workspaces associated with the same Storage Groups. If you
suspend a redistribution you MUST remember to resume that redistribution in the future. Failure
to complete redistributions can cause unpredictable system behavior which might result in data
loss.
Maintaining a Free Space Workspace

Avid NEXIS can operate correctly without errors and at full bandwidth even at 100% full and thus
Avid does not recommend keeping any extra free space on the system. However when the system
is 100% full users will no longer be able to save new data to workspaces. Once space has been
allocated it can be difficult to get back to allocate to other purposes. For that reason it makes sense
to reserve some space for use in case of emergency.
60
To assure that your Storage Group is not 100% used, create a new Workspace in this Storage Group,
label it “Freespace” and do not give anyone access to this Workspace. This Workspace can be any
size you want although anything over 5% is probably excessive.
Deleting a Workspace
You can delete Workspaces that are not currently accessed by any clients. You can also delete
Workspaces whether or not they have media files stored on them. You can delete multiple
Workspaces at one time. If you need to delete a Workspace, make sure that its media is no longer
needed, is moved, or is backed up. You then can safely delete the Workspace.
The delete workspace icon is always at the right of the workspace entry. If the browser window isn’t
large enough to show all of the workspace information at once you may have to scroll to the right
to find the delete icon.
Note: Once a Workspace has been deleted the data is GONE. There is no method for recovering the data.
Use caution in deleting workspaces.
Summary
In this module you learned about how to create and manage Workspaces.You also learned the
causes of Redistribution and reserving free space on an Avid NEXIS.
61
Review Questions
1 What is a Workspace? (See page 53)
2 What is the maximum number of Workspaces? (See page 53)
3 What actions trigger data redistribution? (See page 58)
4 How much free space does Avid NEXIS require? (See page 60)
62
Module 6 Users and Groups
In this module you will learn how to manage Avid NEXIS
Users and Groups.
• Maintaining Avid NEXIS Users
• Working with Avid NEXIS User Groups
• Using Bandwidth Limits
Module 6: Users and Groups
User Management Strategies

User accounts exist to grant access to your Avid NEXIS storage. Users can be the people accessing
your Avid NEXIS storage or systems, like Avid Airspeed or Interplay, that access the storage for a
special purpose. In either case, the user account controls access to Workspaces, helps ensure data
is contained in its proper place, and can prevent data from being accidentally deleted.
Maintaining Avid NEXIS Users

The Users tool in the Avid NEXIS Management Console allows you to perform the following actions:
• Create, modify, and delete user accounts.
• Assign users to specific groups.
• Manage access privileges for all users.
Creating User Accounts

The Users dialog box contains two sections.
• On the left side of the dialog box, the Users list displays all the current user accounts.
• On the right side of the dialog box, the Details area displays information about selected users,
including user group membership and Workspace access.
64
The following table lists and describes the information you can view about your Avid NEXIS users:
Panel Heading Description

Attributes Name User name.
Password Allows modification of the password used to log in to the
system.
Verify Provides verification for the new password.
Bandwidth Sets a bandwidth limitation for the user.
User Flag Can Resize Enables or disables user privilege for resizing Workspaces.
Remote LDAP Enables or disables user LDAP authentication and group
User privileges.
Disable User Disables the user.
Group Membership Name Lists the names of available groups.

Membership Lists the user’s membership status for each group (member
or nonmember).
Workspace Access Name All available Workspaces.

Access Access privileges for the selected user.
Effective Effective access privileges for the selected user.
Reason Reason for any difference between the access privileges
and the effective access assigned the selected user.
Note: User passwords may contain up to 127 characters.
To create a user:
1 Click + at the top of the dialog.
If + is inaccessible the new user dialog is probably already open.
The Create User dialog box opens.
65
2 Enter the Name, Password and Verify the password.
Note: For security the password displays as a series of asterisks * in the Password and Verify fields. When
the password has been set the password field displays as an empty field.
3 Select the appropriate User Flags (see table below).
Check box Privilege Recommended

Checkbox State
Can Resize Allows the user to resize Workspaces. Unchecked for most users
Remote LDAP This is automatically checked if you import Windows As needed

User Users through the LDAP Sync Tool (discussed later
in this module).
Disable User Disables a user account without deleting the user As needed
4 (Optional) Grant your user Group Membership.
5 Grant your user proper Read or Read/Write access to Workspaces.
6 Click Apply.
Modifying and Deleting User Accounts

You can rename an account, change the password, change the allocated bandwidth, edit privileges,
change group membership and change Workspace access permissions with the user details dialog.
For example, you can change user passwords to accommodate a new user, reestablish access for an
existing user who has forgotten the password, or disable access to an account.
To modify a user account:
1 Double click on the User or select the user and click Details.
2 Make modifications in the Details dialog box.
3 Click Apply to apply and save the changes.
To delete a user account:
1 Select the User and click Delete.
The Delete Confirmation window displays.
2 Click Yes.
The user is deleted from the system.
66
Duplicating User Accounts

When you duplicate a user account, the duplicated account inherits the bandwidth allocation and
access privileges of the accounts from which is was created.
To duplicate a user:
1 In the Users list, select the user account you want to duplicate.
2 Click Duplicate.
The Duplicate User dialog box opens.
3 Make modifications on the user you may wish to update. Change user Name and Password.
4 Click Apply to create a new user containing the attributes of the selected user.
5 Click Close to close the Duplicate User dialog box and return to the Users tool.
Avid NEXIS Users and Windows Users

If the Avid NEXIS Username and Password matches the Windows username and password, the Avid
NEXIS Client Manager can Auto Login, or automatically connects and mounts the Workspaces on
the local machine.
Note: Editing clients do not require the Windows logon match the Avid NEXIS client logon but doing so
allows the Client Manager to auto connect on login simplifying workflow.
Creating and a Windows User

1 Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, select Manage.
2 Select Local Users and Groups as shown in the following figure.
3 Right-click in an open space and choose New User.
4 Enter the Username and desired information.
67
Remote LDAP Users

Instead of (or in addition to) manually creating accounts, you can configure external authentication
to allow LDAP users to connect to the Avid NEXIS.
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an Internet protocol that some applications use to
look up information — such as account information, user names, and groups — from a server. The
LDAP Sync tool allows Avid NEXIS administrators to synchronize Avid NEXIS user accounts with
existing LDAP user accounts and to create or modify a large number of users and groups within the
Avid NEXIS system.
The LDAP Sync Tool imports users from the domain and creates them on the Avid NEXIS
automatically checking “Remote LDAP User”. Once created user workspace access and group
membership can be set the same as any other user.
Note: Avid NEXIS currently supports only Microsoft Active Directory, and might not be compatible with
other LDAP implementations
Once Remote LDAP User is checked the System Director will authenticate the user from the
Windows domain and not maintain a password for that user. This simplifies password management
for users, when their password changes on the domain their Avid NEXIS login is automatically
updated.
One challenge with Remote LDAP users is that the System Director will cache the user’s password
for 30 minutes when they login. So if a user logs in, changes their domain password and logs out
they will need to use their old password to login anytime in the next 30 minutes.
Note: If System Director network access to the domain is lost Remote LDAP Users will not be able to login
to Avid NEXIS until that network connection is restored.
68
Working with Avid NEXIS User Groups

Avid NEXIS user Groups allow you to more easily manage large numbers of users and workspaces
by granting access to a number of workspaces at one time. Groups work best when there are a
number of users that need to access the same workspaces. For instance in a television station there
might be 5 editors assigned to work on the morning show, another 5 editors assigned to work on
the noon show, 7 editors assigned to the evening show and a final 5 assigned to the late night show
with some users crossing over to work on multiple shows. By creating a group for each show
workspace access can be assigned to the group, then as users are added to the group they
automatically gain access to those workspaces. Some users may need access to additional
workspaces which can be granted individually to just that user.
Your Avid NEXIS system can contain up to 1000 groups and each user can be a member of up to 15
groups at a time allowing for a high degree of customization to fit your specific needs.
To view more information about a group either double- click the group in the list or select it and
click Details.
69
Creating and Removing Avid NEXIS Groups

To create a new group:
1 In the System section, click the Groups icon.
The Group Tool opens.
2 Click New.
The Create Group dialog box opens.
70
3 Configure your Group information.
The following table lists and describes the information available in the Details section.
Area Heading Description

Attributes Name User group name
User Membership Name Names of all users

Membership User’s membership status for each user group (member or
nonmember)
Membership Count User’s membership status for each user group (member or
nonmember)
Workspace Access Name Names of available Workspaces

Access Access privileges for the selected user group
4 Click Apply to create the new group and Close to close the dialog box.
71
Using Bandwidth Limits

An important feature of User accounts is the ability to limit a user’s bandwidth. This slows client
access to and from the Avid NEXIS system to prevent users from slowing the entire ISIS system by
using more than their fair share of bandwidth.
Normally, audio and video playback systems limit their own bandwidth through their own
limitations of the number of streams of video they can play. Bandwidth limitations are generally
only applied to clients that transfer data rather than streaming video. This will include devices such
as, Avid Airspeed or Avid Pro Tools when using the drive cache option.
Every client computer that uses the Client Manager to connect to the Avid NEXIS network will be
listed in Bandwidth Limits in the System section of the Avid NEXIS Management Console. On the
Bandwidth Limits page, the Name column displays the computer name of the system connecting
to the Avid NEXIS, as shown in the following figure.
Like Users, you can define the maximum bandwidth for a Device. Unlike Users Device Bandwidth is
specific to a particular client computer.
Device bandwidth is a limitation; the maximum bandwidth that device can ever use. You can use
the Device bandwidth setting to limit the bandwidth a client system may access preventing
accidental overload of your system.
Setting bandwidth limitations

Setting a bandwidth limit on editing clients, such as an Avid NewsCutter client, can adversely affect
playback performance when the Avid NEXIS system is under load. This is due to the way Media
Composer, NewsCutter and Symphony buffer data before playback. During buffering the client
system can require double its normal playback bandwidth so any device limitation should take this
requirement into account. For instance if a client system was expected to require no more than 2
streams of DNxHD 145 the bandwidth required would be 290Mb/s (ie 145x2) which is 37MB/s (290/
8 rounded up to the next whole number). If a device bandwidth limitation was set to 37MB/s
playback would fail with a “buffer underrun” error. For proper playback the limitation would be set
to no less than 74MB/s. For more information consult the Avid NEXIS Performance and
Redistribution Guide.
72
Summary
In this module you learned about creating users and granting user access to Workspaces. You also
learned ow to use groups to manage a number of users and using devices to manage client system
bandwidth.
73
Review Questions
1 Why would you want to match the Avid NEXIS user account with a Windows user account? (See page
67)
2 Why would you check “Remote LDAP User”? (See page 68)
3 How many groups can a user be a member of in Avid NEXIS? (See page 69)
4 How would you set a bandwidth limitation? (See page 72)
74
Exercise: Creating Avid NEXIS Workspaces and Users

In this lab exercise you will learn how to create Avid NEXIS Workspaces and users, and grant
permission to those users.
Creating an Avid NEXIS Workspace

1 Login into the Avid NEXIS Management Console.
2 Select the Workspaces System Setting.
3 Create a new Workspace.
Note: Remember to follow the Avid recommended naming conventions.
Creating an Avid NEXIS User

1 Select the Users System Setting.
2 Create a new user.
3 Grant you user Read/Write permission to the Workspace you created.
When we discuss the Avid NEXIS Client Manager you will be able to confirm that your user has
proper access to the Workspace.
75
76
Module 7 Replacing Defective Hardware
This module presents procedures to successfully replace
defective Avid NEXIS hardware.
• Replacing a Defective Drive
• Replacing a Defective Storage Controller
• Replacing a Defective Power Supply
• Avid NEXIS Log Aggregator
Duration: 2 hours
Module 7: Replacing Defective Hardware
Replacing a Defective Drive

Hardware can and does fail, as an Avid NEXIS administrator, it is imperative to be proactive in your
routine maintenance. When a drive requires replacement, contact Avid so that a replacement can
be shipped immediately to your site. The Avid NEXIS|E4 allows for one or two hot spare drives to
be installed and available for immediate drive replacement. Each Avid NEXIS|E5 Engine ships with
two hot spare drives. Avid NEXIS|E2 and Avid NEXIS|PRO can not contain hot spare drives so a shelf
spare drive is a good idea. In larger installations it makes sense to have more than one spare drive
available. Also if multiple drive sizes are in use across multiple Avid NEXIS Engines a spare drive in
each size should be retained.
In a pinch a larger drive can be used to replace a smaller unit but the larger drive will behave like a
smaller drive, the extra space will be unusable.
Identifying a Failed drive

The Avid NEXIS Storage Controller will detect any failed drives and automatically remove them from
the RAID set, the drive fault LED illuminates and “Disk Failure” appears as a Media Pack Error status.
If a hot spare drive is available in the Avid NEXIS Engine (E4 or E5) the status will display as “Drive
Rebuilding” with the percentage of rebuild completion.
If the failed drive is a system drive it should be replaced immediately, if both system drives fail users
will not be able to access the Media Pack at all and the Media Pack data might be lost.
If the failed drive’s fault LED fails to illuminate the slot number for the drive can be found from the
details pane of the Media Pack in the Management Console. Drives are numbered 0-11 in NEXIS|E2
and NEXIS|PRO Engines and 0-22 in NEXIS|E4 Engines with drive 0 in the upper left most slot and
the slot numbers increasing left to right in rows as detailed below.
In NEXIS|PRO, E2, E4 and SDA the last five digits of each drive’s serial number are included on the
drive label located on the front of each drive carrier. Also included is the size and type of drive.
Above left: 2TB, 7200rpm media drive with serial number ending 01AV4
Above right: 400GB, Solid State metadata drive with serial number ending 014KR
78
Avid NEXIS|E5 drive numbering starts with drive zero at the left front of the top drawer proceeding
left to right from the front of the drawer to the rear ending with drive 41. Drive 42 is the front left
of the bottom drawer, drive 83 is the right rear.
Drive Serial Number
Avid will request the Serial Number of the defective drive before a replacement can be sent.This
information can be found from the disks pane for that Media Pack in the Management Console.
As noted above the last five digits of the drive serial number are located on the front of the drive
carrier.
79
Removing and Replacing a Failed Drive

Once a drive has been identified as failed it is no longer in use by the Avid NEXIS Engine and can be
safely removed. Unlock the drive carrier using the torx screwdriver provided, open the catch and
remove. Insert a replacement drive, close the catch and lock the drive carrier. The drive will
automatically become a spare drive. If another spare drive has already been used to replace the
failed drive this drive simply becomes a new spare. If the failed drive has not yet been replaced a
rebuild will automatically initiate.
Note: E5 drives do not have drive locks
Drive Rebuild Duration

The speed of drive rebuild will depend on:
• The size of the drive
• The amount of data on the drive
• Client load on the Media Pack
With no I/O on the system, the fastest a drive can be rebuilt is 40MB/sec (for Scale-Out
Performance) or 60MB/sec (for High Performance). On a Media Pack that is under full load (at
complete bandwidth capacity), the minimum repair rate is 512KB/s. As the drive is rebuilt it begins
contributing to the overall Media Pack performance rate for both reads and writes, so during the
rebuild, the rate of 40MB/sec or 60MB/sec gradually decreases.
To determine the duration of a drive rebuild determine the amount of data on the drive by dividing
the amount of data on the Media Pack, as shown in the Management Console, by ten. So if the
Media Pack contains 5TB of data, each drive will contain approximately 500GB.
Assuming no client load a drive with 500GB of data would rebuild in about three and a half hours.
Client load will directly impact the duration of a drive rebuild, if 50% of the Media Pack’s 400MB/s
were in use the rebuild would take about seven hours and so on.
To help prevent data loss, Workspaces with 1 Disk Protection enabled will rebuild before
Workspaces with 2 Disk Protection.
80
Table 3 Drive Rebuild Time
Performance Type Drive Size Rebuild Time for One Drive

Scale-Out 10TB 70 Hours
6TB 42 Hours
2TB 14 Hours
High Performance 10TB 50 Hours
6TB 30 Hours
2TB 10 Hours
SSD Performance 9.6TB 3 Hours
19.2TB 6 Hours
Forcing a Drive to Become Spare

Occasionally a replacement drive will refuse to become a spare drive. Often this will be
accompanied with a “foreign disk” status. Most often this will happen when a drive is taken from
one Avid NEXIS Engine and included in another. This “foreign disk” status can be cleared with the
“Clear Foreign Config” command from the NEXIS Agent.
Note: Improper use of “Clear Foreign Config” can result in data loss. If you have any doubts about issuing
this command contact Avid Support.
To Clear Foreign Config first log into the Media Pack via the Management Console. In the details
pane for the Media Pack double click the IP address of the Media Pack which will open the NEXIS
Agent. Go to the Advanced Tab in the Media Pack, click on “All Disks” at the bottom left. Find the
foreign disk in the list and check the box next to it. Then click “Clear Foreign Config”, type “Destroy
My Data” and click OK. With its foreign config cleared the drive will now become a spare.
81
Replacing a Defective Storage Controller

The Storage Controller controls all access of the NEXIS Engine, during a hardware failure the NEXIS
Engine will not be available. In the initial release Avid NEXIS supports only a single Storage
Controller although Avid has announced that support for multiple Storage Controllers will be
forthcoming.
Storage Controller replacement is straightforward, when a Storage Controller failure has been
detected remove the failed Storage Controller and replace with a new one. Be sure to note the cable
connections to the existing Storage Controller before removal so you can easily connect the new
one the same way.
Often a failed Storage Controller will first be identified by an inability to utilize its associated Media
Pack or Packs. If you are then unable to log into the Storage Controller it will most likely need
replacement.
Note: All Avid NEXIS hardware is hot-swappable, do not turn off the Avid NEXIS Engine before removing
hardware.
Replacing a Defective Power Supply

As with a failed Storage Controller replacing a failed power supply is a straightforward process of
removing the old power supply and inserting a replacement. Although all Avid NEXIS hardware is
hot swappable it is best to remove power from the hardware to be removed prior to removing it
from the Avid NEXIS Engine.
82
Avid NEXIS Log Aggregator
Avid NEXIS Log Aggregator

Avid Customer Care has requested that all hardware failures be accompanied by a full set of logs for
that Avid NEXIS Engine. The easiest way to retrieve those logs will be through the Avid NEXIS Log
Aggregator. The Log Aggregator is located in the Avid NEXIS Toolbox which installs locally on your
computer from the Installers page of the Management Console.
To use the Log Aggregator, you must have Administrative privileges and be logged into a system with
access to the shared storage network.
Click the check box to the left of the System Director, this will cause all of the boxes in the tree to
also be checked.
Choose an Output Directory on your computer for the logs to be saved to.
Click the green start button.
The logs will be saved into the Output Directory, a compressed file containing all of the logs
(aggregator_results.zip) will be saved in the top level of that directory. Provide that file to Avid
Customer Care when requesting replacement hardware.
Summary
In this module you learned how to successfully replace failed Avid NEXIS hardware. You also learned
about obtaining logs for Avid Customer Care. This information will help you better prepare for, and
maintain your Avid NEXIS environment.
83
Review Questions
1 How do you know which drive to replace? (See page 78)
2 How do you find the Serial Number for the defective drive? (See page 79)
3 Should you shut down your NEXIS Engine when replacing hardware? (See page 82)
4 How do you obtain NEXIS logs? (See page 83)
84
Module 8 Avid NEXIS Clients
In this module you will learn about Avid NEXIS Clients,
client hardware and the Avid NEXIS Client Manager. You
will understand how to mount Workspaces and configure
user preferences like auto mounting.
• Avid NEXIS Client Hardware
• Avid NEXIS Client Manager Version Considerations
• Installing Avid NEXIS Client Software
• The Avid NEXIS Shared Storage Network Connection
• Mounting and Unmounting Workspaces
• Client Manager Preferences
• Using PathDiag
Module 8: Avid NEXIS Clients
Avid NEXIS Client Hardware

Most clients connecting to Avid NEXIS systems will utilize 1Gb network connections, either a single
connection or two connections may be used depending on the network bandwidth required. When
using two 1Gb connections a client called dual connected and is considered to be 2Gb. Clients
requiring greater bandwidth can utilize a 10Gb network interface card (NIC) to become 10Gb
clients. Dual connected 10Gb clients are considered to be 20Gb. When extremely high bandwidth
is required clients can utilize a 40Gb connection.
The list of approved network adapter cards for Avid NEXIS clients can be found in the Avid NEXIS
ReadMe.
Embedded Network Adapter

Many client computers already ship with a network interface card (NIC) which is supported for
connecting to an Avid NEXIS system. These include:
• All Macintosh Clients
• HP Z8/Z6/Z4
• HP Z840/Z440
• Second Generation HP Z820/Z420
Other client systems might also be supported, check the configuration guide for your model
workstation.
Jumbo Frames
Normal Ethernet packets (frames) are 1500 bytes, any packet larger than 1500 bytes is a Jumbo
Frame. Ideally jumbo frames allow a larger amount of data to be transmitted by a given number of
packets. Unfortunately there isn’t a real standard for what jumbo frames means and various
manufacturers of switches, network cards and operating systems each implement their own idea
packet size. When attempting jumbo frames it is important that all devices in the data path from the
client to the Avid NEXIS system support at least the packet size being transmitted, otherwise packets
could be dropped.
Avid NEXIS does NOT support jumbo frames. On Windows clients and Macintosh 1Gb clients this is
normally not a problem as jumbo frames are disabled by default. Macintosh 10Gb clients generally
have jumbo frames ENABLED by default. The Avid NEXIS client should disable jumbo frames
automatically but occasionally that doesn’t work out.
Clients with jumbo frames enabled will be able to read from the Avid NEXIS but not write to it.
86
Jumbo Frames
Set 10Gb MTU

By default the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) size for 10Gb network adapters for Macintosh
clients is set to 9000 bytes which causes Jumbo frames.
With the MTU set to 9000b the NEXIS Client Manager will be unable to pass any data to the Avid
NEXIS although the client software will still be able to log in and Workspaces will still mount. To
correct this the MTU size must be changed to 1500b.
1 Open System Preferences.
2 Open the Network Preferences.
3 In the left sidebar select the Myricom adapter.
4 If you see a lock icon in the bottom left corner click the lock icon and enter the administrative
password.
5 Click Advanced.
6 Click the Ethernet tab.
7 From the Configure pop up menu choose Manually.
8 From the MTU pop up menu choose Custom.
9 Enter 1500.
10 Click OK, then click Apply to save your changes.
87
Slower than 1Gb Clients

Client systems attempting to connect to Avid NEXIS with network adapters slower than 1Gb/s will
find that they can connect to the NEXIS and mount workspaces but can neither read nor write data.
This is caused by an incompatibility with the Storage Manager Process that controls the Media
Packs. All NEXIS clients must utilize at least a 1Gb connection.
Avid NEXIS Client Manager Version Considerations

The Avid NEXIS Client Manager application connects Avid NEXIS clients to the Avid NEXIS
infrastructure, allows for mounting workspaces and controls the drive letter to which the
workspaces is mounted.
Generally speaking the Client Manager software will work as long as the version installed on the
client system is the same version or newer than the System Director the client system is trying to
connect to. Trying to connect to a System Director with an incompatible version of software results
in an “Authentication Failed” error message the same as when an incorrect password has been
entered. When an incorrect password is entered there is a delay while authentication is attempted
before the error is shown. When a software mismatch is present the error is presented immediately
allowing for easier detection of the actual problem.
The Avid NEXIS Client Manager can also connect to Avid ISIS infrastructure 4.7.5 and later allowing
Avid NEXIS clients to also access Avid ISIS storage.
Installing Avid NEXIS Client Software

Do one of the following to install the Avid NEXIS client software:
• Load the software on each client from the installation media.
• Store the client software on the corporate network and allow users to access it and load it.
• If the latest client installers are installed on the Avid NEXIS system, you can use the
Management Console to install the software from the System Director.
Note: You must be an administrator to install the software.
Client Licensing
Each client that connects to the Avid NEXIS system must be included in the System Director license
count for your system. It is not necessary to order special licenses for each client.The type of System
Director File System controls the number of clients allowed on that Avid NEXIS system.
• Avid NEXIS|PRO - 24 Active, 30 Connected
• Avid NEXIS|FS Foundation (embedded System Director) - 40 Clients
• Avid NEXIS|FS Extended (System Director Appliance) - 165 Clients
• Avid NEXIS|FS Advanced (System Director Appliance plus license) - 330 Clients
88
Installing Avid NEXIS Client Software
Windows 10 Updates Might Prevent Client Manager from Connecting to Systems

After you update a Windows 10 client using Windows Updates (specifically, after installing
KB3176495 or Windows Creators Update Version 1703 [OS Build 15063.138]) the Client Manager
might not display or be able to connect to any Avid NEXIS systems. This is caused by Automatic
Driver updates in Windows overwriting the Avid.FOS driver which controls the client’s connection
to NEXIS. If this happens, close and quit the Client Manager, then uninstall and reinstall the Avid
NEXIS client software on the system.
Instructions to disable Windows 10 automatic driver updates are in the Avid NEXIS Readme.
Microsoft Hotfix KB3033929

The Avid NEXIS Client driver for Windows uses an SHA-2 certificate. On Windows 7 and Windows
Server 2008 R2 clients, the Avid NEXIS v6.0 Client software will install, but the Client Manager will
not see any Avid NEXIS or ISIS systems. Make sure Windows Updates are enabled, or install
Microsoft Hotfix KB3033929, which allows applications with an SHA-2 certificate to run. (further
details here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=46148).
Check if Microsoft Hotfix KB3033929 is installed

1 Open the Windows control panel
2 Browse to Programs and Features
3 Choose View Installed Updates
4 Use the search bar in the upper right to find KB3033929
89
The Avid NEXIS Shared Storage Network Connection

The Client Manager automatically checks for all System Directors available in the Avid NEXIS shared
storage network. You can use the Client Manager to connect to the network, and you can set the
Client Manager to reconnect automatically when you reboot your system.
90
Logging in to the Avid NEXIS Shared Storage Network

If your system is connected to an Avid NEXIS shared storage network, you can use the Client
Manager to mount a Workspace before you begin your work session.
To connect to the Avid NEXIS network:

• (Windows) If the Client Manager icon is not available in the Windows taskbar, select Start > All
Programs > Avid > NEXIS Client > NEXIS Client Manager.
• (Windows) Click the Client Manager icon in the Windows taskbar.
• (Windows) Right-click the Client Manager icon and select Avid NEXIS Client Manager.
• (Macintosh) Double-click the Client Manager alias icon on the desktop, or double-click the
Client Manager alias icon in the dock.
• (Macintosh) If the Client Manager alias icon is not available, select Go > Applications, and then
double-click the AvidNEXIS folder. In this folder, double-click the NEXISClientManager icon.
The NEXIS Client Manager opens.
2 From the Systems list select the System Director to which you want to connect, do one of the
following:
• Double-click on the System Director.
• Click Connect To Selected System Director.
The Login window opens.
• (Windows) Type your account name in the Username text box, and type your password in the
Password text box.
• (Windows) If your NEXIS system is configured to use the Windows user name and password for
your local system, select OS Login. By default, the Username and Password text boxes are
inactive when you select this option.
• (Macintosh) Type your Avid NEXIS account name in the Username text box, and type your
password in the Password text box.
4 Click the Connect button.
When the connection is successful:
• The Disconnect becomes available when the connection is complete.
• The Change Password and Launch Management Console buttons become active.
5 If you used the OS Login option, and you want to connect to the network automatically every time
you start your system, select the Auto-Connect box.
91
The Client Manager Tray Icon (Windows Only)

When the Client Manager is running, an icon appears in the Windows system tray. The tray icon
color indicates the client connection status:
Icon Status
(Black) Client Manager is running, but there are no active NEXIS connections.
(Blue) Client is connected to one or more NEXIS systems, but there are no
mounted Workspaces.
(Green) Client is connected to one or more NEXIS systems, and there are one
or more mounted Workspaces.
(Orange) Indicates a connection error.
Tip: Hover over the tray icon to display a tooltip.
92
Changing Your Password

You can use the Client Manager to change the password you use to log on to your Avid NEXIS user
account.
Note: If your user name and password are different for your client system and your Avid NEXIS account,
your system cannot automatically reconnect to the media network when you restart your system.
To change your Avid NEXIS account password:

1 Open the Client Manager.
2 Log into the NEXIS system for which you want to change your password.
3 Click the Change Password icon.
The Change Password dialog opens.
4 Type your existing password in the Old Password text box.
5 Type your new password in the New Password text box.
6 For confirmation, type the password again in the New Password (again) text box.
7 Click OK.
93
Opening the NEXIS Management Console from the Client Manager

You can open the NEXIS Management Console from the Client Manager window after you have
connected to an NEXIS system. From the Management Console login screen you can access the
complete Management Console documentation using the Help link.
To open the NEXIS Management Console:

t Click the Launch Management Console icon from the login window.
Your default web browser opens to the Avid NEXIS Management Console login window.
Note: The Avid NEXIS Management Console display might differ according to your user account’s access
privileges and the version of Avid NEXIS used on your system.
94
Mounting and Unmounting Workspaces

Your Avid NEXIS user account must have access to at least one Workspace.
When you have one or more Workspaces mounted and the connection to the System Director is
subsequently lost. A message in the taskbar (for Windows systems) or the dock (for Macintosh
systems) indicates the Workspace is unavailable.
The Client Manager then automatically attempts to reestablish the connection with the System
Director. When the connection is successfully reestablished, a message in the taskbar or dock
informs you of the connection state.
To mount an Avid NEXIS Workspace on your system:

The Workspaces list opens. The Online field displays a green ball for Workspaces that are currently
mounted. You can filter the Workspaces list by Workspace name.
• Select the desired workspace and click Mount Selected Workspace(s) or Assign Mount Point to
Selected Workspace.
• Click to select a Workspace, then right-click, and select Mount.
• Right-click, and select Assign Mount Point: from the menu.
Note: Selecting this option overrides the current drive mapping option settings for the selected
Workspace.
The Client Manager mounts the selected Workspace on your client and the Online icon for the
mounted Workspace changes to green. The Workspaces list displays the drive the Workspace is
mounted to. If you use letterless drive mappings, the Workspaces list displays “UNC path” next to
the Online icon.
3 (Optional) If you want the selected Workspace remounted the next time you log in, do one of the
following:
• Click Toggle Auto Mount for the Selected Workspace.
• Right-click, and select Enable auto mount.
The next time you log in to your client system, the Client Manager automatically mounts the
selected Workspace.
95
To mount multiple Avid NEXIS Workspaces on your system:

The Workspaces list opens. The Online field displays a green ball for Workspaces that are currently
mounted. You can filter the Workspaces list by Workspace name.
2 Select one or more Workspaces:
• To select multiple non-contiguous Workspaces press Control+click.
• To select a range of contiguous Workspaces click on the first Workspace row in the range, then
Shift+click on the last.
• To select all Workspaces right-click in the Workspaces list and select Select all.
• To select all Workspaces press Control+A.
3 Right-click, and select Mount.
The Client Manager mounts the selected Workspaces on your client and the Online icons for the
mounted Workspaces change to green. The Workspaces list displays the drives the Workspaces are
mounted to. If you use letterless drive mappings, the Workspaces list displays “UNC path” next to
the Online icons.
4 (Optional) If you want the selected Workspaces remounted the next time you log in, click Toggle
Auto Mount for the Selected Workspace.
The next time you log in to your client system, the Client Manager will automatically mount the
selected Workspaces.
To unmount an Avid NEXIS Workspace on your system:

The Workspaces list opens.
Bold font is used to indicate Workspaces which are currently mounted.
You can filter the Workspaces list by Workspace name.
2 Select one or more Workspace:
• Click the Unmount Selected Workspace.
• Click to select a Workspace, then right-click, and select Unmount.
The Client Manager unmounts the Workspace from your client, the green icon is removed from the
Online field for this Workspace.
96
To unmount multiple Avid NEXIS Workspaces on your system:

The Workspaces list opens.
Bold font is used to indicate Workspaces which are currently mounted.
You can filter the Workspaces list by Workspace name.
• To select multiple non-contiguous Workspaces press Control+click.
• To select a range of contiguous Workspaces click on the first Workspace row in the range, then
Shift+click on the last.
• To select all Workspaces right-click in the Workspaces list and select Select all.
• To select all Workspaces press Control+A.
3 Right-click, and select Unmount.
The Client Manager unmounts the Workspaces from your client, and the green icons are removed
from the Online field for those Workspaces.
Configuring Workspace Mount Points

The Client Manager allows you to configure the drive letter used when mounting
Avid NEXIS Workspaces. This allows you to prevent Workspaces from being assigned drive letters
you want reserved for other uses.
Note: The Client Manager skips fixed drives and drive letters that are already in use.
If your system requires using Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths for all mounted
Workspaces rather than drive letters, you can use Client Manager to set this as the default mapping
for Workspaces. Interplay Media Indexers require their workspaces to be mounted by UNC path.
Media Composer has difficulty using workspaces mounted as a UNC since there is no way to enter
a UNC path in the Media Creation settings or Open Project dialog. Media already existing on a
workspace mounted as a UNC path can be read but Media Composer is unable to write to that
workspace. This means the workspace is effectively read-only.
In some cases this might be a desirable trait for workspaces that contain media like music which
users might read from but never write to. By mounting the workspace as a UNC path the user has
access to the media without tying up a drive letter.
The Mac OS binds a UNC path to a mount point of the same name, thus no additional settings are
required for Mac clients.
97
To configure the drive letter for mounting Workspaces:

2 From the Workspace list, select a Workspace.
3 Right-click the selected Workspace, and select Assign Mount Point…
The Assign Mount Point dialog box opens.
Note: The dialog box will differ according to the NEXIS version. The example above shows NEXIS 3.5.
4 Click Select drive letter and select the drive letter you want to use for mounting Workspaces.
Option Description
Next available drive (letter:) Mounts the Workspace to the next available drive letter,
working backward from drive Z:
Select drive letter Mounts the Workspace to the selected available drive letter.
UNC (\\path) Uses a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path for the
mounted Workspace instead of a drive letter.
5 Click OK.
98
Client Manager Preferences

The NEXIS Client Manager preferences are accessed by clicking the preferences buttons at the top
of the Client Manager interface.
Selecting Client Types

You can set your client type to the following level, depending on your bandwidth requirements:
• 40Gb - (2018.9 and later) This setting is for Avid systems utilizing a 40Gb connection
• Ultra High Resolution: This setting is intended for systems utilizing a 20Gb, 10Gb or 2Gb
connection to the NEXIS infrastructure.
• High Resolution: This setting is intended for Avid editing systems or Avid Interplay Assist using
Avid DNxHD® resolutions like DNxHD 145/120 and uncompressed SD. In addition to higher
bandwidth allocations, high resolution clients have shorter time-out values.
• Medium Resolution: This setting is intended for Avid editing systems using standard definition
resolutions. This is the default client type setting.
• Low Resolution: This setting is intended for Avid editing systems using proxy video. The
Avid NEXIS system assigns this client type an oversubscription shut off and smaller read/write
sizes. This setting can be helpful to clients connected to unsupported switches or using
unsupported client computers.
To set a client type:

The Client Manager opens.
2 Click General Preferences.
The General Preferences dialog box opens.
3 Click the Client Type menu, and select the appropriate client type:
• 40Gb
• Ultra High Resolution
• High Resolution
• Medium Resolution
• Low Resolution
4 Click Apply.
5 Click Close.
99
Configuring Windows Network Profiles

Network profiles are used by Windows to distinguish between Public, Private, and Domain network
connections. Because each network profile uses its own security settings, you must configure the
Client Manager settings so that the appropriate ports are opened for each applicable network
profile on your system.
Note: You only need to configure Client Manager settings for the network profiles that are connected to
your NEXIS system. If you are unsure which network connections are used with your NEXIS system,
see your network administrator.
To configure the Client Manager settings for Windows Vista or Windows 7 network profiles:
1 Verify which network connection profile(s) are used to connect to your NEXIS system by doing the
following:
a Click Start > Control Panel.
The Windows Control Panel opens.
b Click Network and Internet.
The Network and Internet window opens.
c Click Network and Sharing Center.
The Network and Sharing Center window opens.
The Network and Sharing Center window lists the network connections present on your system and
which network profile has been applied to them. You can find this information in the View your
active networks section.
The three possible network profiles are the following:
• Domain network
• Public network
• Private network
When you have determined which network profile has been applied to the connection(s) to your
NEXIS system, you can go to the next step.
100
2 Start Client Manager software and click the General Preferences button.
The General Preferences window opens.
3 In the Profiles section, select the applicable network profile types to enable Firewall configuration.
Note: You need to enable Firewall configuration for only the network profiles that are connected to your
NEXIS system.
4 Click Apply.
5 Click Close.
6 Restart your Windows Vista system for the Firewall configuration to take effect.
101
Remote Hosts
If your system connects to the Avid NEXIS media network as a routed client, you need to add the
server name of your System Director in order for the Client Manager to connect to it. If your system
does not use a DNS server to configure your network connections, you can also type the IP
addresses of the remote host, but you cannot use the virtual server name or virtual IP addresses.
To add a Remote Host:

1 Open the Remote Hosts Preference.
2 Click Add.
3 In the text box, type the server name or IP address of the Avid NEXIS System Director to which you
want to connect, and then click OK.
You cannot use the virtual server name or the virtual IP address of the remote host.
4 Click Apply.
102
Clearing Cached Data

The Client Manager maintains information on site settings in cache files, and the tool appends data
each time you open the Client Manager. You can clear the cached information, for example to
remove settings for users no longer working on a specific system, by deleting the cache files.
To clear cached data:
1 In the Advanced section, do one of the following:
– Click the Clear button for each cache file you want to clear.
– Click the Clear All button to clear all cached data.
2 Click Apply.
Network Interface Setting
To select the Network Interface:

2 From the Systems section of the Client Manager window, click the Network Interface Settings button
The Network Interfaces dialog box opens.
3 Make sure your NEXIS Ethernet network connection is selected.
4 Click the Protocols button and verify that all available options are checked.21
5 Click the green check mark to apply the changes or click the red X to close the dialog box without
any changes.
103
Using PathDiag
Avid PathDiag is a diagnostic utility that allows you to validate your Avid NEXIS Storage Group by
quantifying the throughput of Windows or Macintosh editing applications accessing Avid NEXIS
Workspaces. The Avid PathDiag tool can also test the throughput from local Storage Elements and
any other shared storage to which a client has access.
Although the Avid NEXIS Benchmark Utility provides many of the same tools as PathDiag many users
find its interface cumbersome and difficult to use. The benefit in the Benchmark Utility is its ability
to test the network speed of many clients from one workstation which is most useful when first
building an Avid NEXIS system. PathDiag’s simplicity is advantageous when testing a single system
for example when you are troubleshooting why that system is dropping frames.
Starting Avid PathDiag Tool
To start Avid PathDiag tool, do one of the following:

t (Windows) Select Start > All Programs > Avid > NEXIS Client > PathDiag.
t (Macintosh) Select Go > Applications, and then double-click the AvidNEXIS folder. In this folder,
double-click the PathDiag icon.
The Avid PathDiag tool opens.
104
Using PathDiag
The PathDiag Tool Interface

The primary user interface of PathDiag tool consists of a single window from which you can select
the test to be performed, start and stop the selected test, and view the test results as the test
progresses. You access auxiliary controls through dialog boxes.
q w e r t
y u
1 Settings area
2 Messages area
3 Results area
4 Control area
5 Start and Stop buttons
6 Test results graph
7 Zoom slider control
105
Settings Area
The Settings area in the main window displays the name of the currently selected test, the test
duration, and the path to the storage that will be tested.
The Setup button allows you to change the test settings.
Control Area
The Control area in the main window has Start and Stop buttons along with test timing information.
Messages Area
The Messages area provides test progress and diagnostic information about the operation of the
utility. If you need to troubleshoot, the detailed text information in these messages might be
helpful.
Results Area
The Results area provides the following numerical test results:
Item Displays
IOs The current number of I/O operations that have been completed during the
test
Current Rate The calculated throughput or bandwidth (in megabytes per second [MB/s]) for
(MB/s) recent I/O operations that have been completed
Average Rate The average throughput or bandwidth (in megabytes per second) for the
(MB/s) duration of the test
Errors The number of errors encountered during testing. This is the total of all errors
generated for both read and write operations and can include errors related to
the following:
• Opening or closing data files
• Validity of the specified file system path
• User access privileges
• Read or write operations
Text indicators on the left of the Results area show the file access protocol used and the operation
performed in the current phase of testing.
106
Using PathDiag
Test Results Graph

The Test Results graph plots results measured over time. It is particularly useful when you want to
observe trends or patterns in performance.
For example, if another process is running that creates a periodic high demand on the storage
subsystem being tested, you might see this as a periodic drop in observed throughput in the Test
Results graph.
The Test Results graph shows the following:
Item Description
Average Read or The average throughput or bandwidth (in megabytes per second), plotted
Average Write over time
Recent Read or The calculated throughput or bandwidth (in megabytes per second) for recent
Recent Write I/O operations, plotted over time
Peak Read or The peak latency for individual I/O operations (either reads or writes) that
Peak Write MS/ have been completed over a short period of time. A high measurement
100 indicates a longer period of time was needed for the operation to complete.
Because only the highest (peak) measurement over a short period of time is
displayed, a single high peak could be accompanied by many low-latency
operations that do not appear in the graph.
Note: When you run the Network Connectivity test, the Test Results graph is replaced with a table of
results generated by the test.
Diagnostic Tests
The Settings area of the PathDiag tool displays the currently specified test parameters. Before
running the test, you must mount at least one Workspace to which you have read/write access in
the Avid NEXIS Client Manager.
Setting Up a Custom Test

In addition to the standard predefined tests, the PathDiag tool allows you to configure custom tests.
Note: To view the selection of standard tests, in the PathDiag tool Settings dialog box click Standard
Tests.
107
To access the custom test settings options:

1 In the PathDiag tool Settings dialog box, click Custom Test.
The dialog box expands to display the Custom Test Settings area.
2 Adjust the custom test parameters described in the following table, as required:
Parameter Description
File Access PathDiag tool supports more than one interface or protocol for accessing data.
Method This option allows you to control which interface is used. This setting should
remain on “Automatically Select”
Reads versus PathDiag tool supports testing that focuses on Reads or Writes, or that alternates
Writes between Reads and Writes. Select a testing mode:
• Writes, then Reads: The utility alternates between Write and Read tests.
Approximately half of the test duration is allocated to reading, and the other half
is allocated to writing.
• Writes Only: The utility writes test data files and measures the throughput
obtained during Write operations.
• Reads Only: The utility reads test data files and measures the throughput
obtained during Read operations.
Note: One or more test data files are written as sample data for testing
however, the Writes required to set up the test are not included in the
throughput measurements.
108
Using PathDiag
Parameter Description (Continued)

Transfer Size This option controls the amount of data the test utility attempts to read or write
(KB) during a single I/O. A larger transfer size will result in more efficient and thus
faster data transfer. Very large transfer sizes may result in transfer failures at the
NIC. Generally 1Gb clients will be restricted to 16MB (16384) or smaller. 2Gb and
faster clients can utilize 32MB (32768) transfers.
Transfer Rate The utility can attempt to perform I/O at a variety of fixed transfer rates. This is
(KB/S) useful for simulating the behavior of applications that have a known data rate.
A special unlimited transfer rate setting is also available. When you select the
unlimited transfer rate, the PathDiag tool performs I/O operations as fast as
possible while being affected by all aspects of the total system being exercised.
Max File Size This option controls the maximum size of test data files created for Reads or
(MB) Writes. This option might affect throughput measurements. For example, at any
given data rate, a smaller file is opened and closed more often than a larger file,
creating more overhead. The default file size is 100 MB.
Use named This option changes the way that the Path to Test parameter is used, and the
common file option is intended for advanced users only. When you select this option, the Path
for Reads to Test parameter must specify a full path, including a file name. The test utility
uses the named file for its Read tests.
The utility creates the file if it does not exist and deletes it at the end of testing. For
this reason, the named file should not already exist unless you want it to be
deleted when the test is completed. With this option selected, you can run
PathDiag tool on multiple clients simultaneously and supply the same file name.
This allows PathDiag tool applications running on multiple clients to read a
common file. (The file is created as needed, and the last PathDiag tool application
to stop deletes the file.)
3 Adjust the custom test parameters as shown in the following table:
Custom Test 1 Gb Client (Not bandwidth 2 Gb or faster Client (Not

Settings limited) bandwidth limited)
File Access Method Automatically select Automatically select
Reads vs. Writes Reads only, then Writes only Reads only, then Writes only
(perform the tests separately) (perform the tests separately)
Transfer Size 16384 32768
Transfer Rate Unlimited Unlimited
Maximum File Size 100 100
4 Click OK.
109
Starting and Stopping the Test

You start and stop the currently configured test using the Start and Stop buttons.
To start the currently configured test:

t Click Start in the PathDiag tool main window.
The test runs for the specified duration and then stops automatically. The elapsed time a test has
been running and the remaining time are displayed in the Control area.
If you selected the Loop option in the PathDiag tool Settings dialog box, the test runs indefinitely. In
this case, the word LOOP appears in the Time Remaining display in the main window.
To stop the currently running test:

t Click Stop in the PathDiag tool main window.
Test Results
This section provides information to help you interpret test results displayed in the PathDiag tool
main window.
Average Rate Calculation

The average data rate is calculated over the duration of the test. This calculation includes the time
the utility requires to open and to close the test files; the test file size (which you can configure for
custom tests) can affect the overall measured throughput.
If the throughput is slow as the test is starting, this might be reflected in the average rate. For
example, if the target bandwidth is 4.0 MB/s, the actual average rate calculated at the conclusion of
the test might be 3.98 or 3.99 MB/s.
110
Using PathDiag
Performance Graph
The graph of results over time can help experienced users obtain information about system
performance.
The following are a few items to observe:
• Trends: Does the system perform at a consistent rate over time? Is there an upward or
downward trend in performance measured over time?
If you notice a trend, it might be helpful to perform testing over a longer period of time to
determine if the trend continues over longer durations or if a recurring pattern emerges.
• Patterns: Is there a momentary drop in performance that occurs at consistent or varied
intervals?
Patterns can emerge as a result of implementation details and the configuration of a particular
system (for example, caching strategies or physical memory), or they might indicate a load on a
system that is occurring periodically.
• Changes in performance as load varies: What occurs when a subsystem is placed under a load
by other users (or PathDiag tool is running on another client)?
It might be easier to observe these interactions by inspecting the plot of performance results
over time.
111
Measurement Strategy
Throughput measurements are plotted periodically (every n seconds) and represent a snapshot of
performance at the time of the plot. This is done to limit the amount of data that is plotted, which
otherwise could include a very large number of data points. As a result, the performance graph
could miss a momentary drop or increase or a peak in performance that occurs between plot points.
The average rate calculation reflects the impact of such a dip or spike, even if the actual size of a
momentary variation does not appear in the graph.
Test Result Interpretation

If your results fall below optimal performance, you can check to see if your bandwidth is limited.
You can use the NEXIS Management Console to check your user bandwidth in the Users list in the
Users dialog box and your device bandwidth in the Device list in the Device dialog box. If your
bandwidth requirements are greater than the reservations set in the Management Console, your
NEXIS administrator can adjust the limits.
These results represent guidelines for Avid-qualified systems. Your system performance might vary.
112
Using PathDiag
Walkthrough: Setting up Clients

In this walkthrough you will learn how to setup client systems.
To Setup an NEXIS client:

1 Connect an Ethernet cable from the client to the NEXIS.
2 Assign an IP address on the client.
3 Connect to the IMC on the NEXIS.
4 Download and install the client software.
5 Mount NEXIS Workspaces.
6 Use PathDiag to confirm bandwidth from the client to the NEXIS.
Summary
• Avid NEXIS Client Hardware
• Avid NEXIS Client Manager Version Considerations
• Installing Avid NEXIS Client Software
• Mounting and Unmounting Workspaces
• Using PathDiag
113
Review Questions
1 What color icon indicates a problem mounting Workspaces? (See page 92)
2 When should you label a client “Ultra high resolution”? (See page 99)
3 How do your change your NEXIS client password? (See page 93)
4 What tool do you use to test the speed of a client connection? (See page 104)
5 Why would you mount Workspaces with a UNC on Windows clients instead of a drive letter? (See
page 97)
114
Module 9 Advanced NEXIS Software
In this module you will learn about advanced Avid NEXIS
troubleshooting tools. These tools will compliment those
shown in the previous module.
• Monitoring Redistribution
• Using the Notification Service
• System Administration Tools
• NEXIS Agent
Module 9: Advanced NEXIS Software
Monitoring Redistribution
You can display detailed information about the progress of redistributions in the Redistribution
Monitor tool.
The Redistribution Monitor tool displays a table listing the status of redistributions, the rate and
remaining time of the redistribution, and other information.
The Redistribution monitor is most useful for getting an idea how long a redistribution will take to
complete. It will also show if a Media Pack has gotten stuck in its redistribution. If you find a Media
Pack stuck during a redistribution contact Avid support.
116
Using the Notification Service
Using the Notification Service

You can configure the System Director software to notify you when problems occur. A notification
service regularly polls the client log file and, if any errors are logged, sends a concise summary of
those errors to one or more email accounts.
To configure the email error notification service:

1 Open the NEXIS Management Console and in the Advanced section select Notification Service.
2 In the Configuration area, configure the parameters as follows:
• SMTP Server: Specify the IP address or host name of your SMTP server.
• SMTP Port: Specify the port number of your SMTP server. The default value (25) is appropriate
in most instances.
• Poll Frequency (seconds): Specify the frequency (by setting an interval in seconds) with which
the error notification service checks for problems.
• Email Address: Type the email address of your NEXIS administrator or other primary contact for
the error notification service.
3 Click Save.
To add an email account to the Contact list:

1 In the Contacts area of the Notification Service Control Panel, click New.
2 In the Contact text box, type a name for the contact account.
3 In the Email text box, type the email address to which the message should be sent.
4 Click Save.
117
5 Repeat these steps for each new contact.
To edit an existing contact:

1 Click any of the fields in the Contact list for the contact you want to edit.
2 Change the Name and Email address information.
3 Click Submit.
To remove a contact:
1 Next to the contact you want to remove from the Contact list click Delete.
A dialog box opens, prompting you to confirm that you want to delete the contact.
2 Click OK.
To test the contact configuration:

t In the Configuration section click the Test button.
The SMTP Session Transcript window opens and displays the results of the test.
Note: For a list of errors, information, and warning events consult the Readme file for your version of
NEXIS.
Configuring the Error Notification Parameters

The Filters area of the Event Notification Configuration dialog allows you to specify the type of error
message that triggers e-mail notification and to set parameters for each type of error message:
Error, Information, and Warning.
You can configure the NEXIS to send notification emails for one or more error types and what
severity level on which to be notified. For more information see the Avid NEXIS Administration
Guide.
118
System Administration Tools

This section reviews a number of important tools for supporting Avid NEXIS.
System Logging
The Logging section of the NEXIS Management Console provides access to view the various logs
kept on an NEXIS system, including active Media Packs, System Directors, and clients.
System Logs
The System Logs page provides a complete view of the system-generated events. You can filter the
log reports to display messages in a particular category (WARNING vs INFO), by date, by the
subsystem or Storage Controller that generated the event, or by words in the messages themselves.
119
The logs provide detailed status information that is especially useful to Avid Customer Support
personnel for monitoring system status during prolonged operations.
120
Avid NEXIS Snapshots

The Avid NEXIS Snapshots page collects information currently displayed by the NEXIS Management
Console and the Avid NEXIS System Director Control Panel and allows you to view and archive the
information. This snapshot of your NEXIS system at a single point in time, coupled with the system
logs collected by the Log Aggregator tool, can be used by Avid Customer Support personnel to
diagnose and troubleshoot problems.
The following information is collected in an Avid NEXIS Snapshot:
• General information, such as the System Director (Storage Controller) name and the date the
snapshot was collected, and the name of the zip file containing the snapshot.
• The system component information (in .csv and .zip files), including any current warnings or
errors and their details.
• System Director status and metadata.
• All currently configured system preferences.
121
Working with Snapshot Archives

When you create a snapshot, the Avid NEXIS Snapshots tool creates a folder which includes a
compressed file containing all the collected information. You can combine snapshots into an archive
to keep track of the system status — for example, you can archive snapshots weekly or monthly. The
Snapshot tool compresses archives in a ZIP file (archivename.zip).
Archives are stored in folders named with the time stamp of the snapshot and the Storage System
name — for example, 02-23-16 162915 brndx01.zip. The compressed archive uses the same file
name format as the snapshot folder.
You can also download the archive in compressed form as a ZIP file by clicking Download.
122
NEXIS Toolbox
The Avid NEXIS Toolbox is a collection of tools you can use to monitor and perform diagnostic
operations on all your Avid NEXIS hardware. The Avid NEXIS Toolbox is included in the Avid NEXIS
software kit, but is not installed automatically. You can install it from the Management Console
Installers link.
For information on the Log Aggregator, refer to the module Replacing Defective Hardware.
123
The Connection Analyzer Tool

The Connection Analyzer provides a quick look at the connection status of all Media Packs in the
shared storage network.
The Connection Analyzer displays connection status in a grid, using the following icons to denote
the status of each Media Pack:
124
Disk Analyzer
The Disk Analyzer runs the following basic disk performance tests on your Media Packs, which you
can run in either Sequential or in Random access mode:
• Read Test
• Write Test
• Read/Write Test
• Erase Test
You can also use the Disk Analyzer to collect statistics on the status of Media Packs and network use
and redistribution actions, including the statistics generated by Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and
Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) and by local Media Pack processes — for example, statistics on
Long Command Times (LCT).
Media Pack Parameters

The Media Pack Parameters tool, included in the Avid NEXIS Toolbox, allows you to set and retrieve
Media Pack logging and redistribution flags. This status information is useful to Avid Customer Care
personnel for monitoring system status during prolonged operations.
Note: Do not use the Media Pack Parameters tool unless instructed to do so by Avid Customer Care.
Improper use could result in system downtime or degraded performance.
125
Media Pack Log Viewer

The Media Pack Log Viewer is a utility that displays event information about Media Packs. You
cannot save the information displayed in the Log Viewer, but you can copy it to a word processing
application, such as Notepad. You can also save event logs displayed in the Logging tab. The
information is used primarily by Avid Customer Care personnel to help analyze problems with
Media Packs.
Note: If the Avid NEXIS system has no Media Pack event logs, nothing is displayed.
LDAP Administration
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an Internet protocol that some applications use to
look up information — such as account information, user names, and groups — from a server. The
LDAP Sync tool allows Avid NEXIS administrators to synchronize Avid NEXIS user accounts with
existing LDAP user accounts and to create or modify a large number of users and groups within the
Avid NEXIS system.
Note: Avid NEXIS currently supports only Microsoft Active Directory, and might not be compatible with
other LDAP implementations.
The LDAP Sync tool lets you:
• Display user accounts available within a given LDAP service but not in the Avid NEXIS system,
and vice versa.
• Add new groups and users to the Avid NEXIS system.
• Grant user memberships to groups.
• Remove user membership from a group in Avid NEXIS if the user no longer belongs to that
group on the LDAP server.
Users synchronized by the LDAP Sync tool will automatically be added as “Remote” users for
authentication to the LDAP server.
The LDAP Sync Tool lets you search for groups and their users on an LDAP server, synchronize users
and groups accounts by adding or removing users and groups from Avid NEXIS, generate a report of
the account actions, and see a history of the synchronization activity. Configure a connection by
entering the LDAP server’s fully qualified name, port, and user distinguished name and password
for authentication.
Note: Users imported by the LDAP Sync Tool cannot log into the Avid NEXIS until it is configured for
external authentication.
126
LDAP Administration
LDAP Sync Tool

The LDAP Sync tool installs from the Installers page in the NEXIS Management Console similar to the
NEXIS Toolbox.
You can use the LDAP Sync Tool to configure LDAP connections. If you have not previously
configured a connection, enter the connection name and other information specific to the
particular LDAP server.
All connection information is stored locally for the connecting user’s account. To connect from a
different workstation or as another user, re-enter the Avid NEXIS and LDAP login information.
Note: Contact your IT administrator to obtain your LDAP login information. Three failed connection
attempts might result in your LDAP user account being disabled.
If this is your first time using this tool and an LDAP server is configured, the LDAP Group Selection
list opens
If this is your first time using this tool but no LDAP server is configured, the Connect to LDAP Server
dialog box opens. Enter the information for your LDAP server as shown below and click Connect.
If the tool has been used before on this computer, the main window opens.
The Account Synchronizer is the main window of the Avid NEXIS LDAP Sync Tool. Use the Account
Synchronizer to search the LDAP user accounts, synchronize (reconcile) user accounts by adding or
removing users from the Avid NEXIS users list, generate a report of the account actions, and see a
history of the accounts. You can also modify the display of the Account Synchronizer to filter out
unneeded account information.
127
When you first connect to the Avid NEXIS and the LDAP server, the Account Synchronizer checks the
users in the selected LDAP groups against the Avid NEXIS database and builds a set of actions to
reconcile the two. The main window displays the complete set of groups, using buttons with colors
and icons to indicate the reconciliation status of each group.
Click any button to see detailed information about the actions you can perform on users in each
group.
128
LDAP Administration
Synchronizing LDAP and Avid NEXIS Accounts

Synchronizing the LDAP/Active Directory and Avid NEXIS user lists consists of the following steps:
• Selecting LDAP groups
• Specifying user-specific synchronization actions
• Performing the synchronization process
Note: The synchronization process only reads the LDAP/Active Directory user list. The Avid NEXIS LDAP
Sync Tool will never alter the LDAP/Active Directory user list.
When selecting groups you can select one group at a time, Ctrl-click to select multiple groups, shift-
click to select a groups, or Ctrl+A to select all groups.
Importing LDAP Users with Incorrectly Formatted LDAP UIDs

When synchronizing users from the LDAP Synchronization Tool, the User ID (also known as the UID)
must contain characters that Avid NEXIS allows for valid user names. The entry in the User ID column
is used as the Avid NEXIS Username. User names and passwords must use only ASCII characters.
If the User ID contains any invalid characters:
• The user will not be added to Avid NEXIS.
• The synchronization for the group is aborted.
• Any subsequent user accounts in the group are not reconciled.
In such cases, do one of the following:
• Create the user in Avid NEXIS with a user name that does not contain these illegal characters,
and manually add them to groups.
• Update the user entry in the LDAP database with a UID that contains no illegal characters, then
run the LDAP Sync Tool again to reconcile the users.
129
NEXIS Agent
For most day-to-day operations and system monitoring, use the Management Console. To perform
more advanced operations, such as changing the logging properties or the network configuration,
or to see more detailed information about system components, use the Avid NEXIS Agent. Not all
of the Agent functionality is described here; some is for Customer Care use only, or with their
guidance.
Note: While the NEXIS Agent page still exists in 2018.5 and later its functionality has been replaced in the
Management Console. This listing is mostly for reference.
To open the NEXIS Agent double-click on the IP address listed in that Media Pack’s details in the
Management Console.
System
The System page will show basic Media Pack information and also allow changes to the system
configuration that was made when the Avid NEXIS Engine was initially configured.
130
NEXIS Agent
Statistics
The Media Pack statistics can be useful for troubleshooting different problems with the Media Pack,
particularly Network Degraded statuses.
To troubleshoot Network Degraded consult the network statistics for the affected Media Pack.
Check to see if any IP addresses are listed in the “Top 16 IP addresses in Receive Error” since
Network Degraded is caused by the Media Pack receiving bad packets this statistic might point to a
client or other network device as causing the problem.
131
Advanced
The Advanced page offers a couple important abilities, the first being able to shut the NEXIS Engine
off.
Note: When shutting down an Avid NEXIS Engine the toggle switches on the power supplies will still be
switched to ON. To restart the engine you must set the switches to OFF and then ON again.
The advanced page also allows you to “Clear Foreign Config” and to toggle the LED on each drive.
Remember that once a drive’s LED has been toggled it will continue to blink until toggled off.
Note: Use caution with “Clear Foreign Config” it has the potential to lose data.
132
NEXIS Agent
Summary
• Using the Notification Service
• System Administration Tools
• NEXIS Agent
133
Review Questions
1 What information is required for the notification service? (See page 117)
2 What tools are in the NEXIS Toolbox? (See page 123)
3 How do you monitor Redistribution? (See page 116)
134

NEXIS

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

NEXIS

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NX216 Avid NEXIS System Administration

Course Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Module 1 Introduction to Avid NEXIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Module 2 Avid NEXIS Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Module 3 Avid NEXIS Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Module 4 Media Packs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Module 6 Users and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Module 7 Replacing Defective Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Module 8 Avid NEXIS Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Module 9 Advanced NEXIS Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Goals of the course

Avid Worldwide Learning Services

Contact Avid Worldwide Learning Services

Avid Knowledge Base

1 Avid NEXIS Introduction 60

3 Avid NEXIS Management Console 120

6 Users and Groups 20

7 Replacing Defective Hardware 60

8 Avid NEXIS Clients 90

Avid NEXIS Components

The Avid Ecosystem

Avid NEXIS Architecture

Avid NEXIS Clients

Avid NEXIS Capacity

Avid NEXIS Enterprise with Embedded System Director - NEXIS FS|Foundation

Avid NEXIS Enterprise with System Director Appliance - NEXIS FS|Extended

Avid NEXIS Enterprise with System Director Appliance - FS|Advanced

Avid NEXIS Hardware Components

Avid NEXIS | PRO

Avid NEXIS|PRO V1 Storage Controller

Avid NEXIS|PRO V2 Storage Controller

Avid NEXIS|E2 Storage Controller

Avid NEXIS | E2 SSD

Avid NEXIS|E2 SSD Storage Controller

Avid NEXIS|E4 Storage Controller

Avid NEXIS|E5 Storage Controller

Avid NEXIS | E5NL

Avid NEXIS|E5NL Storage Controller

System Director Appliance

Avid NEXIS Engine Comparison

NEXIS | PRO NEXIS | E2 NEXIS|E2 NEXIS | E4 NEXIS | E5, NEXIS |

Metadata Drive 200GB or 200GB or 400GB 200GB or 800GB 400GB

Storage v1, 4 Core 6 Core 6 Core 8 Core 12 Core 8 Core

Power Supply 2x 764W 2x 764W 2x 764W 4x 580W 2X 2200W 220V 2x 764W

Size 2RU 2RU 2RU 4RU 5RU 2RU

Metadata Drive Sizes

NEXIS Engine Minimum

NEXIS|E2 SSD 400GB

NEXIS Engine Minimum

Table 3 Maximum Resolution by Connection Type

Connection Max Bandwidth Bandwidth

2Gb 200MB/s 150MB/s

10Gb 900MB/s 356MB/s

20Gb 1700MB/s 760MB/s

40Gb 4,000MB/s N/A

Used with NETGEAR AXC761-10000S: 10GSFP+ Cu (passive) cable with

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

NEXIS | PRO UPS Requirements

External Switch Support

Opening the Avid NEXIS Management Console

Adobe Flash and the Avid NEXIS Management Console

To access the Avid NEXIS Management Console:

Management Console and NEXIS Agent Passwords

Filtering, Sorting, and Searching