PowerStore 2.0 Administration

POWERSTORE 2.
0
ADMINISTRATION
PARTICIPANT GUIDE
PARTICIPANT GUIDE
PowerStore 2.0 Administration
© Copyright 2021 Dell Inc. Page i

Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2
User Management ...................................................................................................... 3

User Management ............................................................................................................... 4
Change Your Password ..................................................................................................... 10
AD and LDAP Integration ................................................................................................... 11
AD and LDAP Integration Configuration ............................................................................. 12
PowerStore Role Mapping and Account Creation .............................................................. 14
User Management Key Points............................................................................................ 15
Host Administration ................................................................................................. 16

Edit or Remove a Host ....................................................................................................... 17
Map a Volume to a Host..................................................................................................... 21
Activity: View the Properties of a Windows Host Profile in PowerStore .............................. 23
Host Administration Key Points .......................................................................................... 24
Volume Administration ............................................................................................ 25

Volume Administration ....................................................................................................... 26
View and Change Volume Properties................................................................................. 27
Activity: View and Change Volume Properties ................................................................... 30
Add or Remove Protection Policy ....................................................................................... 31
Manage Host Access to a Volume Group .......................................................................... 34
Unmap Volume from a Host ............................................................................................... 36
Delete Volume ................................................................................................................... 37
Remove Volume from a Volume Group.............................................................................. 39
Activity: Administer Volumes and Volume Groups.............................................................. 41
Monitor Performance ......................................................................................................... 42
Volume Administration Key Points ..................................................................................... 46
Volume Migration - PowerStore Resource Balancer............................................. 47

Resource Balancer Overview ............................................................................................. 48
Volume Creation - Manual Placement ................................................................................ 49
Page ii © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Volume Creation, Default Placement, and Node Affinity - Auto .......................................... 50
Resource Balancing ........................................................................................................... 51
Capacity Monitoring and Forecasting ................................................................................. 52
Alert and Remediation ....................................................................................................... 53
Internal Migration Operations ............................................................................................. 56
Manually Migrate a Volume ................................................................................................ 58
Assisted Migration.............................................................................................................. 62
Monitoring Jobs ................................................................................................................. 64
PowerStore Resource Balancer Key Points ....................................................................... 66
NAS Administration ................................................................................................. 67

NDMP Backups ................................................................................................................. 68
Monitor Performance ......................................................................................................... 71
NAS Administration Features ............................................................................................. 75
File System Administration ..................................................................................... 76

Enable File System Quotas ................................................................................................ 77
Activity: Enable User and Tree Quotas .............................................................................. 83
Configure Tree Quota ........................................................................................................ 84
Activity: Configure Tree Quotas ......................................................................................... 87
View and Change File System Properties .......................................................................... 88
Activity: Modify File System Storage Capacity ................................................................... 90
Unmount SMB Share ......................................................................................................... 91
Stop NFS Export Access.................................................................................................... 92
Activity: Cancel File System Access................................................................................... 94
Remove File System Shares .............................................................................................. 95
Delete File System ............................................................................................................. 97
Activity: Delete File System and Parent NAS Server .......................................................... 98
File System Administration Key Points ............................................................................... 99
Data Virtualization .................................................................................................. 100

Expand Capacity of VMFS Datastores ............................................................................. 101
Activity: VMFS Datastore ................................................................................................. 104
© Copyright 2021 Dell Inc. Page iii

Modify Capacity of NFS Datastores ................................................................................. 105
Modify Capacity of vVol Datastores.................................................................................. 108
Activity: Increase the Capacity of a vVol Datastore and Migrate VM ................................ 111
Monitor Virtual Volumes in Storage Container .................................................................. 112
Monitoring and Managing Virtual Machines...................................................................... 114
Migrating Virtual Machines ............................................................................................... 121
Migrating Virtual Volumes ................................................................................................ 124
Activity: Manage Virtual Machine and vVols in PowerStore Manager ............................... 132
Removing a Storage Container ........................................................................................ 133
Unregister vCenter and VASA Provider ........................................................................... 135
Data Virtualization Key Points .......................................................................................... 138
Protection Policies ................................................................................................. 140

Protection Policies - Introduction ...................................................................................... 141
Implementing Protection Policies ..................................................................................... 143
Modifying Protection Settings ........................................................................................... 147
Protection Policies Key Points.......................................................................................... 150
Local Data Protection ............................................................................................ 151

Taking a Snapshot of a Volume ....................................................................................... 152
Activity: Working with Snapshot Rules ............................................................................. 155
Restoring a Volume from a Snapshot............................................................................... 156
Activity: Restore Volume from Snapshot .......................................................................... 159
Accessing the Contents of a Volume Snapshot ................................................................ 160
File System Snapshots Overview ..................................................................................... 163
File System Snapshot Operations .................................................................................... 165
Activity: Work with File System Snapshots ....................................................................... 168
Thin Clones...................................................................................................................... 169
Creating a Thin Clone of a Volume .................................................................................. 170
Creating a Thin Clone of a Volume Group ....................................................................... 174
Creating a Thin Clone of a File System ............................................................................ 177
Creating a Thin Clone of a Volume Snapshot .................................................................. 181
Activity: Creating a Thin Clone ......................................................................................... 184
Volume Thin Clone Hierarchy .......................................................................................... 185
Page iv © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

Volume/Volume Group Refresh Operations ..................................................................... 188
Local Data Protection Key Points ..................................................................................... 192
Remote Protection - Replications ......................................................................... 194

Manage Replications ....................................................................................................... 195
Manage Replications - Failover ........................................................................................ 201
Manage Replications - Planned Failover .......................................................................... 202
Manage Replications - Synchronization ........................................................................... 204
Manage Replications - Pause and Resume ..................................................................... 206
Manage Replications - Remove ....................................................................................... 208
DR Failover Test .............................................................................................................. 211
DR Failover Test - Theory of Operations .......................................................................... 212
DR Failover Test - Management ...................................................................................... 216
Remote Protection - Replications Key Points ................................................................... 219
Data Efficiency ....................................................................................................... 220

Overview .......................................................................................................................... 221
Data Efficiency Components and Architecture ................................................................. 222
Write Operation ................................................................................................................ 224
Read Operation ............................................................................................................... 226
Locating Data Savings ..................................................................................................... 228
Data Efficiency Calculations ............................................................................................. 230
Data Efficiency Key Points ............................................................................................... 234
Data Encryption ..................................................................................................... 235

Overview .......................................................................................................................... 236
Architecture...................................................................................................................... 237
Encryption Status ............................................................................................................. 239
User Actions .................................................................................................................... 242
Serviceability.................................................................................................................... 245
Data Encryption Key Points ............................................................................................. 246
Data Reporting/Analytics Using CloudIQ............................................................. 247

Introducing CloudIQ ......................................................................................................... 248
© Copyright 2021 Dell Inc. Page v

PowerStore Data in CloudIQ ............................................................................................ 250
Using CloudIQ Views with PowerStore, 1 of 2.................................................................. 251
Using CloudIQ Views with PowerStore, 2 of 2.................................................................. 255
PowerStore System Information in CloudIQ ..................................................................... 258
Data Reporting/Analytics Using CloudIQ Key Points ........................................................ 262
Appendix ............................................................................................... 263
Glossary ................................................................................................ 277
Page vi © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

User Management
© Copyright 2021 Dell Inc. Page 1

User Management
Introduction
This course provides administrative tasks in PowerStore, including:

 User Management
 Host Administration
 Protection Policies
 Volume Administration
 Volume Migration - PowerStore Resource Balancer
 NAS Administration
 File System Administration
 Data Efficiency
 Data Virtualization
 Local Data Protection
 Remote Data Protection - Replication
 Data Encryption
 Data Reporting/Analytics
Page 2 © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

User Management
User Management

User Management
User Management
Only the Security Administrator and Administrator roles have the rights to manage
users in the system. The Operator, VM Administrator, Storage Administrator,
Storage Operator roles cannot complete these functions. See details about user
role rights.
Username and Password Rules
Username requirements Password requirements
 1 character minimum,  8 character minimum,

64 character maximum 40 character maximum
 . (dot) is the only non-  1 or more uppercase
alphanumeric character letter
allowed  1 or more lowercase
 All usernames are case- letter
sensitive.  1 or more number
 Must start and end with  1 or more special
an alphanumeric character
character.
Add User
To add a new local user:

1. From the Settings > PowerStore Users screen, select LOCAL tab.
2. Click ADD.
3. Enter a user name (1-64 alphanumeric characters).
4. Select a User Role from the drop-down menu.

User Management
5. Create a new password. Retype the new password.

6. Retype the new password.
5
2
Delete User
To delete a local user:

2. Select local user to delete.
3. Click DELETE.
4. Click CONTINUE on the warning.
Note: The built-in Administrator account cannot be deleted.

User Management
Change Password
Administrators and Security Administrators may change the password for other
users.
To change a local user password:

2. Select a user.
3. Click RESET PASSWORD.
4. Type new password following password guidelines.
5. Retype new password.

User Management
1
3 5
Lock or Unlock User
Locking a user prevents that user from logging in to PowerStore Manager. For
example, an Administrator may lock users to prevent them from logging in and
making changes during maintenance or migration events. Locking and unlocking
users is managed by the Administrator and Security Administrator roles.
To Lock or Unlock a user:

2. Select one or more users.
3. Click UNLOCK if the user is locked or LOCK if the user is unlocked.

User Management
1
3
Modify User Role
To modify local user role:

2. Select a user.
3. Click EDIT ROLE.
4. Select a role from the drop-down menu.

User Management
4
1
3

User Management
Change Your Password
1. To change your password, select the User icon > Change Password.
2. Enter the Current Password in the slide-out panel.
3. Enter the New Password.
4. PowerStore Manager analyzes the strength of the password.
5. If the password is strong enough, enter it again in the Verify Password field.

User Management
AD and LDAP Integration
PowerStore Operating System version 1.03.x (SP3) and newer integrates

PowerStore into Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) environments. This feature is separate from file and NAS LDAP
configuration.
Supports:
 Centralized authentication against AD, OpenLDAP, or Native LDAP
 Role mapping based on single user, AD group, or LDAP group
 One or multiple servers
 SSL encryption
 SSL requires Certification authority (CA) trust certificate for AD/LDAP server
certificate

User Management
AD and LDAP Integration Configuration
Configure LDAP for all servers in PowerStore Manager: Settings > Users >
Directory Services > Configure LDAP
Required Information:
1. AD or LDAP Server IP

User Management
2. Domain Name
a. Used to specify LDAP at login, usually LDAPuser@LDAPdomain
3. Bind User and Password for object retrieval
4. Port: Upload AD or LDAP Server CA trust certificate for LDAP Secure
a. Default ports: 389 for LDAP, 636 for LDAPS, 3268 for LDAP Global Catalog,
and 3269 for LDAPs Global Catalog
5. Advanced Settings
a. Attributes for ID and group member

b. User and Group object class
c. User and Group search path

User Management
PowerStore Role Mapping and Account Creation
Map Users and Groups to PowerStore Roles during creation in PowerStore

Manager.
In PowerStore Manager Settings > Users > Users > LDAP, add a user or group
account. Choose an Account Role to map the user or group to that account.
 Account Name must match the ID in the directory service.
When mapping a group, the mapping applies to all members of that group and
members from nested groups.
A group configuration allows all group members and members from nested groups
to log in to PowerStore Manager with the associated account role.

User Management
User Management Key Points
User management takes place on the Settings > PowerStore Users screen.
When logged in as a Security Administrator or Administrator, you can:

 Add users
 Delete users
 Modify user roles
 Lock or unlock users
 Change passwords for users
 Configure LDAP
 Create LDAP accounts
For more information about working with PowerStore Manager users,

see the PowerStore Security Configuration Guide on the Dell
Technologies Support site.

Host Administration
Host Administration

Host Administration
Edit or Remove a Host
View Host Information
From the Compute > Hosts & Host Groups screen in PowerStore Manager, click
the name of the host to view its details.
Two cards provide a quick view into initiators and mapped volumes.
1. Initiators describe the initiator that is used by the host.
 Click the host identifier link to see information about it, including the
appliance and node connections.
2. Mapped Volumes lists the volumes that are mapped to the host. View volume
name, WWN, provisioned and used space, protection and performance policy,
appliance, and LUN from this card.
Modify from Hosts Overview
From the Compute > Hosts & Host Groups screen in PowerStore Manager:
1. Select the host to be modified. Modify one host at a time.
2. Click Modify.
3. In the slide-out panel, modify the name or description and click Apply.

Host Administration
Modify from Host Details
1. Click the name of the host to view its details.
2. To modify the properties, click the pencil icon to the right of the name.
3. In the slide-out panel, modify the name or description and click Apply.

Host Administration
Add or Delete Initiator
A host can have one or more initiators that are registered on it. Each initiator is
uniquely identified by its World Wide Name (WWN) or iSCSI qualified name (IQN).
It is recommended that you register one or more initiators on the host side before
connecting the host to the cluster.
To delete a host initiator:

1. From the Compute > Hosts & Host Groups screen in PowerStore Manager,
click the name of the host to view its details.
2. From the INITIATORS card, select the name of the identifier you want to delete.
3. Click DELETE.
4. On the Delete Host Initiator window, click DELETE.
Remove a Host
1. Select the host to be removed.
– Only hosts with no mapped volumes can be removed.
2. Select More Actions and click Remove.
3. On the appear window, confirm your decision by clicking Remove.

Host Administration

Host Administration
Map a Volume to a Host
A host may be mapped to a volume either during volume creation or after.
Map a host to a volume after volume creation
From the Storage > Volumes screen in PowerStore Manager:

1. Click the name of volume. In this example, it is Vol-001.
2. Click the Host Mappings card.
3. Click + Map.
4. Select the host or hosts to be mapped.
5. Click Apply.

Host Administration
Map a host to a volume during volume creation

1. Click Create to launch the Create Volumes wizard.
2. Enter the name, quantity, size, placement, and select optional properties of the
volume.
3. Select the hosts or host groups to be mapped to the volume.

Host Administration
Activity: View the Properties of a Windows Host Profile in

PowerStore
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions:

 View the Properties of a Windows Host Profile In
PowerStore.
 Remove Host Access to a Provisioned Volume.
Simulation: View the Properties of a Windows Host

Profile in PowerStore and remove Host Access to a
Provisioned Volume.

Host Administration
Host Administration Key Points
Before a host can access storage, you must define a configuration for the host, and
associate it with a storage resource.
To manage hosts, go to the Compute> Host & Host Groups screen.

 Viewing and Modifying Hosts
 From PowerStore Manager, you can view details about a host, such as its
associated initiator or its mapped volumes.
 Only the name and description of the host can be modified after creation.
 Before you delete a host, you must first remove all its mapped volumes.
Only hosts with no mapped volumes can be removed.
 Mapping Volumes to a Host
 You can map a new volume to a host simultaneously when you create the
volume.
 You can also map a volume to a host after it has been created.
For more information, see the PowerStore Host Configuration

Guide on the Dell Technologies Support site.

Volume Administration

After volumes have been configured, they can be administered in several ways.
You can:
 View and change volume properties.
 Remove or replace a protection policy.
 Unmap a volume from a host.
 Delete a volume.
 Remove a volume from a volume group.
 Monitor performance.
For all these tasks, start on the PowerStore Manager Volumes view. From the
Storage submenu, select Volumes.
The filters of the volumes query list in PowerStore Manager can be changed to
show additional information, including appliance and the preferred node assigned
to the volume. Preferred node can be viewed from Node Affinity column.

View and Change Volume Properties
View Volume Information
From the Storage > Volumes screen in PowerStore Manager, click the name of
the volume to view its details.
Five cards provide a quick view into capacity, performance, alerts, protection, and
host mappings. Click any tab to see its details.
1. Capacity describes the used and free space in the volume, data efficiency
savings, and a graph showing historical volume usage.
2. Performance displays graphs of system performance including Latency, IOPS,
Bandwidth, I/O Size, and Queue Depth graphs. Note: To verify iSCSI metrics
on the specific port of preferred node the system associated with the volume, go
to the Hardware view.
3. Alerts list any alerts on the volume, which are organized by critical, major, and
minor icons.
4. Protection shows the protection policy in use, snapshots taken on the volume,
and replication involving the volume.
5. Host Mappings shows the hosts and host groups mapped to the volume,
including the hostname, operating system, and protocol.

Modify from Volumes Overview

1. Select the volume to be modified. Modify one volume at a time.
2. Click MODIFY.
3. In the slide-out panel, modify the name, description, size, performance policy,
and click APPLY.
 If renaming the volume, first pause the replication session if replication is

running. The name of the remote volume will change after replication is
resumed.
 When changing the size, you can make the volume larger, not smaller.
Modify from Volume Details

1. Click the name of the volume to view its details.
2. To modify the properties:
 Click the pencil icon to the right of the name, or
 From the ACTIONS menu, select Properties.
3. In the slide-out panel, modify the name, description, size and click APPLY.

 If renaming the volume, first pause the replication session if replication is

running. The name of the remote volume will change after replication is
resumed.

Activity: View and Change Volume Properties
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: View and Change

Volume Properties.

Add or Remove Protection Policy
Add Protection Policy
A protection policy can be added to a volume at the time it is created or added

later. Once the protection policy is added, new snapshots of the volume follow the
rules in that policy.

1. Select the volume that needs a protection policy.
 If the same protection policy will be assigned to more than one volume,
select all volumes simultaneously.
2. From PROTECT, select Assign Protection Policy.
3. On the slide-out panel, select the protection policy to use and click APPLY.
4. Select ASSIGN to confirm the operation after APPLY.
Remove Protection Policy
Remove a protection policy prior to moving the volume to a protected volume

group, or deleting a volume.

1. Select the volume whose protection policy should be removed.

2. From PROTECT, select Unassign Protection Policy.

3. Select UNASSIGN to confirm the operation.
Change Protection Policy
To change a protection policy for a volume, go to the details screen of that volume.

1. Click the name of the volume to view its details.
2. Click the PROTECTION card.
3. Click CHANGE.
4. On the slide-out panel, select a different protection policy to use and click
APPLY.
 The protection policy can also be removed using the UNASSIGN POLICY
button on the slide-out panel.
 If there is no protection policy assigned to this volume, an ASSIGN POLICY
button is available on the Protection tab.

Protection Policies on Volume Groups
Follow the same processes to modify the protection policy on a volume group, but
complete the action on the Storage > Volume Groups page.
The protection policy assigned to a volume group is inherited by the volumes

belonging to the volume group. If a protection policy is removed from the volume
group, it is also removed from all member volumes.

Manage Host Access to a Volume Group
You can map volumes that are members of a volume group to a host or host group.
Mapping a host to an empty volume group is not allowed.
Map Host to a Volume Group
When mapping a host to a volume group, be aware of these conditions:

 If none of the member volumes are mapped to hosts, you can select the hosts
or host groups based on the storage protocols (SCSI or NVMe).
 If some volume members are already mapped to hosts or host groups, the Map
Hosts slide-out panel does not show the options for different storage protocols,
but displays hosts or host groups with the same storage protocol.
 If a volume group has members that are mapped to different storage protocols,
the Map action is disabled from the PROVISION drop-down. You can view
mixed storage protocols and disabled Map action on this card.
To map a host to a Volume Group:
From the Storage > Volume Groups screen in PowerStore Manager:

1. Select the name of the volume group. Select one volume group at a time.

2. From PROVISION drop-down menu, select Map.

3. In the slide-out panel, select the hosts or host groups based on the storage
protocol.
Unmap Host from Volume Group
To Unmap a host from a Volume Group:
From the Storage > Volumes Groups screen in PowerStore Manager:

1. Select the volume group.
2. From the PROVISION drop-down menu, select Unmap.
3. On the slide-out panel, select the hosts or host groups to unmap and click
APPLY.

Unmap Volume from a Host
Follow these steps to remove the host mapping from a volume. Note: There is
more than one way to unmap a volume from a host in the PowerStore Manager.

1. Select the volume to unmap.
2. From PROVISION, select Unmap.
3. On the slide-out panel, select the host to unmap and click APPLY.

Delete Volume
Warning: Deleting a volume is not reversible.
Only delete a volume that: A volume cannot be deleted if it:

 Was used for testing  Is a member of a volume group. Remove the
only and testing is volume from the group before attempting deletion.
finished.  Has a protection policy. Remove the protection
 Has been replicated policy before attempting deletion.
and the source volume  Is migrating. Wait for migration to finish or delete
is no longer needed. the migration before attempting deletion.
 Has data that is no  Is mapped to a host. Unmap the host before
longer needed and attempting deletion.
you are trying to save
space.  Has snapshots. In this case, the volume can still
be deleted, but a warning is shown.
To delete a volume from the Storage > Volumes screen:

1. Select the volume to be deleted.
2. Click on MORE ACTIONS and then, click Delete. Select DELETE to confirm.


Remove Volume from a Volume Group
Caution: Removing a volume from a volume group may affect future

operations on that volume. These affected operations may include
refresh, restore, and deletion operations as well as applying and
deleting protection policies.
When removing a volume from a volume group, be aware of these conditions:

 The volume retains the protection policy from its original volume group.
 If the volume group has a replication rule, the volume that is removed retains
the policy.
 The volume is not compliant until the volume group is synchronized to the
destination.
 After the volume group is synchronized to the destination, the removed
volume is also removed from the destination volume group.
 If you remove a volume from a volume group that is replicating, you get an error
message stating that it cannot create a replication session for the volume you
are removing from the group. The error can be fixed by re-applying the
protection policy, or it can go away in the next RPO cycle.
 The removed volume cannot be deleted until all volume group snapshots
(taken when the volume was a part of the group) expire or are deleted.
 If the removed volume has existing snapshots, those volume group snapshots
cannot be used to refresh or restore the removed volume.
 Restore and refresh operations require that the volume group membership
match the membership that existed when the snapshot was taken.
 To restore or refresh the volume group from a snapshot that was taken
before the volume was removed, you must add the volume back to the
volume group.

To remove a volume from a Volume Group:
From the Storage > Volumes Groups screen in PowerStore Manager, click the
name of the volume group containing the volume to remove. In this example, it is
VolGroup1.
1. Click the MEMBERS card.
2. Select the volume to remove.
3. Click MORE ACTIONS.
4. Click REMOVE and acknowledge the warning to remove the volume.

Activity: Administer Volumes and Volume Groups
Complete these virtual labs for facilitated sessions:

 Remove Volume from Volume Group.
 Unassign Protection Policy and Delete Volume.
Simulation on the next page: Volume and Volume

Group Simulation

Monitor Performance
Volume performance can be monitored through the PowerStore Manager.
Performance Data Locations
Performance Chart locations for volume-related resources
Object Access Path
Cluster Dashboard > Performance
Volume Storage > Volumes > [volume] > Performance
Volume Group Storage > Volume Groups > [volume group] >
Performance
Volume Group member (volume) Storage > Volume Groups > [volume group] >
Members [member] > Performance
Performance Policies
A performance policy specifies I/O performance requirements for PowerStore

storage resources.
There are three predefined performance policies on a PowerStore:

 Low
 Medium - default
– A volume with a medium-performance policy services more IOPS than one
with a low-performance policy
 High
– PowerStore has share-based QoS.

– Use this policy with critical applications only. This ensures that those critical
applications are not competing for I/O against less critical applications.

PowerStore T model PowerStore X model storage resources

storage resources
Performance policies may PowerStore X can have performance policies assigned

be assigned to volumes to volume thin clones, VM volume groups, and
and thin clones when you individual VMs. The policies for VM volume groups
provision them or modify and individual VMs are based on their capability
their configuration. profiles in VMware vCenter.
Performance policies can
also be assigned to VM VMware capability PowerStore
vVols by creating a VM profile performance policy
Storage policy within
VMware vCenter. High-Priority performance High
vVols performance
Medium-Priority Medium
policies can only be
performance
modified within VMware
vCenter. Low-Priority performance Low
PowerStore Manager Volume Performance
Volume performance may be monitored through the PowerStore Manager. From

the Storage > Volumes > [volume] > PERFORMANCE.

1. Performance Policy
2. Choose the time range to display
3. Download the chart
4. Chart key
Change Performance Policy
You can change the performance policy from the default (medium) after it is
created. Members of a volume group may have different performance policies.
To change a performance policy on a volume:

1. Select Storage > Volumes > [volume] > PERFORMANCE

2. Click the pencil next to the performance policy.

3. Select a performance policy, and click APPLY.

Volume Administration Key Points
To administer volumes, access the PowerStore Manager Volumes view. From the
Storage submenu, select Volumes.
 View and Change Volume Properties:
 You can modify the name, description, or size of the volume.
 If the volume is attached to a protection policy that includes replication,
pause replication before renaming the volume. The name of the remote
volume changes after replication is resumed.
 Volume Protection Policies
 You can add a protection policy to a volume after it has been created. You
can also change or delete the protection policy.
 A protection policy that is added to volume group is inherited by all volumes
in the group. If a protection policy is removed from the volume group, it is
also removed from all member volumes.
 Other Volume Actions:
 Unmap a volume from a host.
 Delete a volume.
 Remove a volume from a volume group.
 Monitoring Volumes:
 You can monitor the performance of individual volumes, volume groups, and
volume group members.
 You can select the time range and the performance metrics to you want to
view. You can download the performance chart.
For more information, see the PowerStore Configuring Volumes


Volume Migration - PowerStore Resource Balancer

Resource Balancer Overview
PowerStore resource balancer uses analytics to balance storage resources

(volumes or volume groups) across appliances and nodes within a cluster.
Resource balancer assigns resources to an appliance based on the current storage
trends and forecast. Performance metrics are not considered when placing a
volume on an appliance. Once placed on an appliance, resource balancer does not
proactively move existing volumes from one appliance to another.
A storage resource is assigned an appliance and a node within the appliance.

Node assignments are determined internally and are based on CPU utilization
metrics. Node assignments are done once the volume is mapped to a host.
You may optionally assign a volume to an appliance manually.
Resource balancer considers the following when placing volumes:

 System limits
 Whether the appliance is offline
 Appliance failure status
 Capacity utilization

Volume Creation - Manual Placement
During volume creation, select an appliance on which to place the volume. In the
example, Vol_3 can be placed on any available appliance that is displayed under
the Placement drop-down menu. The default Placement option is Auto.
Select the dropdown and place the

volume on the available appliance.

Volume Creation, Default Placement, and Node Affinity - Auto
The example shows two volumes that are created on a PowerStore two-appliance
cluster which have yet to be mapped to a host (0). The default placement of Auto
was chosen during the creation, allowing PowerStore to select the best appliances
for the volumes. Each volume was assigned to a different appliance.
PowerStore automatically chooses one of the nodes for the active/optimized path
when the volume is mapped to the host to maintain a balanced workload across the
nodes. This characteristic is called node affinity.
In the example, the Node Affinity displays a status of System Select At Attach.
The Appliance and Node Affinity column is not shown by default. Click the
Show/Hide Table Columns icon and check the box for Appliance and Node
Affinity.
Show/Hide columns icon

Resource Balancing
There are two methods to migrate storage resources to other appliances in the
cluster. You can manually migrate storage resources, or the system can assist in
the resource movement.
In the example, Appliance 1 is nearing full capacity and storage resources must be
moved to another appliance with more available capacity. You have an option to
manually move resources at any time using the Migrate feature from the
PowerStore Manager. System Assisted Migrations can happen if capacity
monitoring determines an appliance is nearing full capacity. Assisted Migration
suggestions are generated if you receive capacity consumption alerts. An alert is
generated, and remediation options are displayed from the Alert window.

Capacity Monitoring and Forecasting
Capacity monitoring and forecasting require at least a 15-day runtime in order to

fully predict capacity statistics. Runtime starts when the appliance comes online
after initial configuration. On the 16th day, you should see forecast metrics being
reported in PowerStore Manager or REST API.
The example displays the Physical Capacity from the Dashboard > Capacity
card. In the example on the left, the system has not yet reached the required 15
days of runtime. In this case, a message is generated to inform the user that
insufficient data has been collected. In the middle example, you have at least 25
days until full. In the right example, the capacity of the appliance is at 96% used
and has an estimate of 8 days before it is full.

Alert and Remediation
Alerts
When an alert is generated, view the Monitoring > Alerts page for details.
A Major alert is generated when:
 The forecast threshold is at 14 days or less.
A Minor alert is generated when:
 When the forecast threshold is 15 to 28 days.
Capacity monitoring and forecasting focus on when an appliance could run out of
capacity, not how full the appliance is. PowerStore can forecast up to 1 year with a
2-year retention.
The example shows that two Alerts generated stating the appliance is nearing full
capacity. Select the Alert for suggestions on remediation.
Remediation - Out of space
The example shows a running out of space alert. Remediation Option(s)

indicates an Assisted Migration. Selecting Assisted Migration returns a list
recommended volumes to migrate. These recommendations are refreshed every

24 hours and may require additional remediation. The Assisted Migration process
follows the same steps as a manual migration.
Other options include Add More Drives and Consider deleting unused
snapshots or volumes.
When migrating volumes, always rescan the host adapters associated with those
volumes before migration.
Remediation - Capacity Utilization
The example shows the Alert page for the Capacity Utilization alert. The Repair
Flow indicates that additional storage should be added. Click the text to view
additional details and recommendations for remediation.
In this case, manually migrate storage to an appliance with more capacity. When
you run the migration wizard, the system prompts you to rescan the volumes from
the server that is mapped to the volume.

This wizard may look different in your version of PowerStore Manager.

Internal Migration Operations
The Internal Migration option moves volumes or volume groups from on appliance
to another within the cluster, without disruption. Use this feature to before shutting
down an appliance for service.
When you migrate a volume or volume group, all associated snapshots and thin
clones also migrate with the storage resource. During the migration, additional work
space is allocated on the source appliance to facilitate data movement. The
amount of space that is needed depends on the number of storage objects and
amount of data being migrated. This work space is released after the migration
finishes.
You can manually migrate storage resources or use the recommendations in

PowerStore Manager:
 Manual migration - Provision a volume or a volume group on a specific
appliance or have it automatically get provisioned on an appliance. Later, you
can migrate the storage resources to another appliance in the cluster.
 Assisted migration - In the background, the system periodically monitors
storage resource utilization across the appliances. Migration recommendations
are based on factors such as drive wear, appliance capacity, and health. If you
accept a migration recommendation, a migration session is automatically
created. Migrating resources require a rescan of host adapters. Before you
begin the migration, a prompt to acknowledge rescan appears, listing the hosts
that require a storage rescan.

Note: Migration always requires user action. In no case do storage resources

migrate automatically.

Manually Migrate a Volume
Select the Volume
You may choose to manually migrate a volume to balance resources across

appliances.
In the example, Vol_1 is checked. The volume resides on PowerStoreDemo-

appliance-1. Select the Migrate option to start the task.
Start Migration
The Migrate Volume window provides information about the migration. The
example shows that PowerStoreDemo-appliance-2 has been selected as the
destination appliance.

Rescan the Host
Rescanning the host ensures that storage being migrated is still accessible after
the migration completes. To rescan the host, use the Rescan Disks option from
the Computer Management window, then check the box for Yes, the associated
hosts have been rescanned. Once the box is selected, the Start Migration
button is available to select.

Migrate the Volume
After starting the migration, you are presented with a message stating that system
performance may be impacted for several minutes during the migration. Select the
Migrate Now button to begin the migration.
Migration Status
View the migration status from the Internal Migration > Migration page. Once the
migration process starts, monitor the progress by viewing the Status columns
under the migrations window. Look for a Completed status indicating the resource
has been migrated.
The migration process goes though several states the first of which is
synchronizing. During this phase, the majority of the background copy is completed
and there are no interruptions to any services. Sync can be run multiple times to
reduce the amount of data that must be copied during the cutover.
The cutover phase is the final phase of the migration, when ownership of the
volume or volume group is transferred to the new appliance. Active I/O is supported
during the migration, however as a best practice, stop I/O to the volume being
migrated. Migration is asynchronous until the cutover occurs and can be paused or
cancelled anytime during the migration. Before cutover all volumes are fully
synchronized.


Assisted Migration
Assisted Migration Example
You can manually move a storage resource. However, the PowerStore Manager
can help with this process through Assisted Migration.
In the example, there are two appliances, PS-2 and PS-3. PS-2 is nearing full
capacity and is forecast to run out of space in eight days. A Major Alert is
generated. PS-3 still has plenty of space available. Selecting the Alert launches the
Alert page.
Assisted Migration Remediation
Selecting the Assisted Migration option from the Remediation Option(s) section
returns a list of volumes recommended for migration. The process chooses
volumes that impact performance and workloads the least. For example, it
recommends any unmapped volumes or mapped volumes that are offline (in MS
Disk Manager) or unmounted (Linux) from the host perspective. The
recommendations are refreshed every 24 hours. A message warns that a rescan of
all HBAs may be required prior to the migration.
There may be a situation where, after the migration, there are still capacity issues.
In this case, manually migrate the storage resource to solve the issue.

Assisted Migration Results
To view the results of the migration, look at the capacities of the appliances. The
PS-2 appliance still displays a capacity over the optimal 80 percent. In this case,
further manual remediation may be required.

Monitoring Jobs
Monitoring Jobs
Once a migration is started, Vol_3 displays a blue dot, which indicates that a
migration job is in progress on the volume.
Migration Status
Once the job starts, monitor the progress by navigating to the Migration > Internal
Migrations > Migrations tab to display the status. Selecting the Jobs icon also
displays the status of the migration.

Migration Options
The Delete and Pause buttons are available when the migration job starts. Select
the migration session and click the appropriate button. Both options are available
while the job is in progress up to the point where the migration displays the
Cutover status.

PowerStore Resource Balancer Key Points
The PowerStore resource balancer uses analytics to balance storage resources

(volumes or volume groups) across appliances and nodes within a cluster.
 Volume Placement During Creation:
 When you create a new volume, there is an optional Placement setting that
specifies where to place the volume.
 By default, automatic placement takes place.
 Optionally, you can choose to place the new volume on a specific appliance.
 Migrating Volumes:
 There are two methods to migrate storage resources to other appliances in

the cluster. You can manually migrate storage resources, or the system can
assist in the resource movement.
 You may choose to manually migrate a volume to balance resources across
appliances. Before migration begins, you are prompted to rescan the host.
Migration can take several minutes and may impact system performance.
 If an appliance approaches full capacity, an alert is generated. Within the
alert, there is a Remediation Option(s) section that provides a link for
assisted migration. Assisted migration automatically chooses volumes to
move to another appliance.
For more information, see the Dell EMC PowerStore Configuring

Volumes Guide on the Dell Technologies Support site.

NAS Administration
NAS Administration

NAS Administration
NDMP Backups
NDMP Backups
Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) is a backup and recovery protocol

that is used to transport data between NAS and backup systems. Once NDMP is
enabled, a third-party Data Management Application (DMA), such as Dell EMC
Networker, detects the PowerStore NDMP using the NAS Server IP address.
PowerStore supports:
 Three-way NDMP, which transfers both backup data and metadata over the
LAN
 Two-way NDMP is not supported.
 Both full and incremental backups
Components:
 Primary Storage—Source system to be backed up. For example, PowerStore
 Data Management Application (DMA)—backup application that coordinates the
backup sessions. For example, Dell EMC Networker
 Other supported backup vendors include: Avamar with ADS/DD, CommVault
with NDMP, IBM Spectrum Protect, Micro Focus Data Protector, Veritas
NetBackup, and Veritas Backup Exec.
 See the PowerStore Simple Support Matrix
(https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us?app=products) for version
information.
 Secondary Storage—back-up target. For example, Data Domain.

NAS Administration
DMA
Metadata Data
LAN or WAN
Data
Metadata Data
PowerStore Primary
System Secondary
System
(TLU)
 Both data and metadata are transferred over LAN.

 Data is also transferred through the Backup Application.
 Backup Application and LAN are the bottleneck.
NDMP Configuration
From the Storage > NAS Servers window in PowerStore Manager:

1. Click the name of the NAS Server. In this example, it is NAS-NFS06.
2. Click the PROTECTION & EVENTS card.
3. Click the Disabled switch to Enabled.
4. Set the NDMP password.
5. Click APPLY.

NAS Administration
1 2
Default Username is ndmp.

NAS Administration
Monitor Performance
Metrics Overview
Metrics
 You can view metrics at the appliance or node level.
 Chart features include:
 Multiple chart comparisons
 Zoom
 Download
 Timeline
 Autorefresh
 Select metrics using the Summary drop-down:
 Summary—Average Latency, Total IOPS, and Total Bandwidth

 Bandwidth details—Read, Write, and Total Bandwidth
 IOPS details—Read, Write, and Total IOPS
 CPU Utilization details—CPU Utilization and Average Latency
 IOSize details—Read, Write, and Average I/O Size
File Metrics - File System
You can monitor NAS Server Performance by selecting a file system from the
Storage > File Systems tab. From the Performance card, view the performance
charts. You can choose the Category to display and Timeline. Optionally, you may
download a chart as a PNG, PDF, JPG, or .CSV file.

NAS Administration
File Metrics - Appliance
You can monitor appliance performance by selecting an appliance from the

Hardware tab. From the Performance card, view the performance charts. You can
choose to display OVERALL or FILE performance, and Timeline. Optionally, you
may download a chart as a PNG, PDF, JPG, or .CSV file.

NAS Administration
NFS Metrics - Node
You can monitor File (NFS) appliance performance by selecting an NFS appliance
from the Hardware tab. From the Performance card, view the performance charts.
You can choose to display OVERALL or FILE performance, and Timeline.
Optionally, you may download a chart as a PNG, PDF, JPG, or .CSV file.

NAS Administration
SMB Metrics - Node
You can monitor File (SMB) appliance performance by selecting an SMB appliance
from the Hardware tab. From the Performance card, view the performance charts.
You may display OVERALL or FILE performance, and Timeline.
Optionally, download a chart as a PNG, PDF, JPEG, or .CSV file.

NAS Administration
NAS Administration Features
In addition to the features already described, NAS Administration includes the

following:
After NAS services are installed, NAS administration includes creating and moving
NAS Servers, setting up NDMP backups, and Monitoring performance. NAS Server
administration takes place on the Storage > NAS Servers windows.
On the NAS Server windows, you can:

 View and manage NAS Server—modify network settings, naming services,
alerts, protection and events, sharing protocols, and security parameters.
 Modify a NAS Server name, description, and UNIX Directory Service Search
Order.
 Monitor the file performance at the appliance, node, and file system levels.
 Move a NAS Server to a different node.
 Delete a NAS Server if there are no file systems configured on it.
Summary:
 Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) is a backup and recovery protocol
use to transport data between NAS and backup systems.
 Only three-way NDMP is supported. Two-way NDMP is not supported.
 Customer must use a Data Management Application (DMA), such as Dell EMC
Networker.
 Other supported backup vendors include: Avamar with ADS/DD, CommVault
with NDMP, IBM Spectrum Protect, Micro Focus Data Protector, Veritas
NetBackup, and Veritas Backup Exec.
 NAS Server performance may be monitored through PowerStore Manager.
 Main NAS Server performance indicators are Latency, IOPS, and

Bandwidth.
 Performance readings and charts can be downloaded.

File System Administration

Enable File System Quotas
Track and limit drive space consumption by configuring quotas for file systems at
the file system or directory level. You can enable or disable quotas at any time, but
it is recommended to configure them during nonpeak production hours to avoid
impacting file system operations.
Note: You cannot create quotas for read-only file systems.
Quotas are supported on SMB, NFS, FTP, and multiprotocol file systems.
There are three types of quotas you can put on a file system:
 User Quotas - Limit the amount of storage that is consumed by an individual

user storing data on the file system.
 Tree Quotas - Limit the total amount of storage consumed on the directory.
 User Quotas on a Tree Quota - Limit the amount of storage consumed by an
individual user storing data on the quota tree.
Select File System
To set default quotas on a file system, go to Storage > File Systems. Select a File
system.
1. From the PowerStore Manager top menu, click Storage.

2. Click File Systems.
3. Select the file system that you want to enable quotas.
The File Systems page opens.

Access User Quotas Properties
1. On the File Systems page, verify the correct file system is selected. In this
example SMB-FS07.
2. Select the QUOTAS card.
3. Select the USER QUOTA tab.
4. Select PROPERTIES.
The set default QUOTAS page opens.

Set Default Quotas Properties
The Quotas page is where the defaults for all quotas (both user and tree) are
configured.
You can set a Soft Limit, a Hard Limit, and a Grace Period for all quotas.
A Hard Limit is an absolute limit on storage usage.
If a hard limit is reached for a user quota on a file system or quota tree, the user
cannot write data to the file system or tree until more space becomes available.
A Soft Limit is a limit that can be passed temporarily. A warning is issued when the
soft limit is crossed. You can continue using space until a grace period has
been reached.
You receive an alert when the soft limit is reached, until the grace period is over.
After that, an out of space condition is reached until you get back under the soft
limit.
1. Using the toggle switch, enable Quotas.

2. The default is 7 days. If preferred, set a Grace Period for User Quotas by
Days, Hours, or minutes. To prevent the grace period from expiring, select
Unlimited .
3. Under Default User Quotas, configure a Soft Limit in MB, GB, or TB units.
4. Configure a Hard Limit in MB, GB, or TB units.
 To track space consumption without setting limits, set Soft Limit and Hard
Limit to 0, which indicates no limit.
5. Click UPDATE.

Default Quotas Properties Updated
You are returned to the User Quotas page on the Quotas card. Note the Unix
Name, UNIX ID, Windows SID, Windows Name, Soft Limit, Hard Limit, State,
and Tree Path fields at bottom of the page.

 Click ADD to add a user quota. The Add User Quota pane is displayed.
Add User Quota
The Add User Quota slide-out panel opens.
1. From drop-down, select user Host Type. Host Type can be by Windows
Name, Windows SID, Unix Name, or Unix ID.
2. Depending on the host type, the fields below Host Type change.
 The example shows Windows Name selected, so a Domain and Windows
Name are required.
3. Set Soft Limit, if custom limits are required.
4. Set Hard Limit, if custom limits are required.
 If both Soft and Hard limits are set to 0, space consumption is tracked only
and no limits configured.
5. Click ADD.

User Quota Created
You are returned to the User Quotas page on the Quotas card. A message stating
"The user quota was created." is shown. The added user quota is shown.

Activity: Enable User and Tree Quotas

 Enable User and Tree Quotas
 Create a User Quota
 Test the Defined Soft Limit in the User Quota
Policy
 Test the Defined Hard Limit in the User Quota
Policy
Simulation on the next page:

 Enable User and Tree Quotas
 Create a User Quota
 Test the Defined Soft Limit in the User Quota
Policy
 Test the Defined Hard Limit in the User Quota
Policy

Configure Tree Quota
A Tree Quota limits the total amount of storage that is consumed on the directory
tree. You can use tree quotas to:
 Set storage limits on a project basis. For example, you can establish tree
quotas for a project directory that has multiple users sharing and creating files in
it.
 Track directory usage by setting the tree quota hard and soft limits to 0 (zero).
Important: If you change the limits for a tree quota, the changes take
effect immediately, without disrupting file system operations.
Select File System
To set default tree quota on a file system, go to Storage > File Systems. Select a
File system.

Tree Quota Properties
1. On the File Systems page, verify the correct file system is selected. In this
example, SMB-FS07.
2. Select the QUOTAS card.
3. Select the TREE QUOTA tab.
4. Click ADD.
Add Tree Quota
1. Optional: Toggle switch to Enforce User Quota.

2. Select a valid Path for the tree quota.
3. Set a Grace Period as a specific period of time or as Unlimited.
4. Set a Soft Limit. The Grace Period applies to the Soft Limit.
5. Set a Hard Limit.
6. Click ADD.

Tree Quota Added

Activity: Configure Tree Quotas

 Configure a Tree Quota
 Test the Tree Quota
 Create a User Quota on a Tree Quota
 Modify Tree Quota to Enforce User Quotas
 Test User Quota on a Tree Quota Configuration
Simulations on the next two pages:

 Configure a Tree Quota
 Test the Tree Quota
 Create a User Quota on a Tree Quota
 Modify Tree Quota to Enforce User Quotas
 Test User Quota on a Tree Quota Configuration

View and Change File System Properties
View File System Information
 From the Storage > File Systems window in PowerStore Manager, view alerts,
size used, capacity, NAS server mappings, and protection policies. Modify one
file system at a time.
 Click the name of the file system to view its details.
 Click the checkbox of the file system to enable the MODIFY button, and the
PROTECTIONS and MORE ACTIONS drop-downs.
Modify from File Systems Overview
From the Storage > File Systems screen in PowerStore Manager:

 In the Properties pane, modify the Description or Size.
Note: You cannot rename a file system.
 When changing the size, you can increase or decrease the file system
capacity.
 For file systems shared using the SMB protocol, you can also change advanced
settings, such as Sync writes and notification on writes.

Modify from File System Details
From Storage > File Systems, select the file system to view its details:
1. To modify the properties:
 Click the pencil icon to the right of the name, or:

 From the ACTIONS drop-down, select Properties.
2. In the Properties pane, modify the description or size.

Activity: Modify File System Storage Capacity

 Extend the Capacity of a File System.
 Reduce the File System Capacity.
Simulations on the next page:

 Extend the Capacity of a File System.
 Reduce the File System Capacity.

Unmount SMB Share
There are two ways for unmounting an SMB share from the Windows client: using
the File Explorer or through CLI commands.
From File Explorer: From the Command Prompt:

1. Change the access to another folder 1. If inside the share, change the
out of the shared drive. access to a directory outside of the
directory tree.
2. From the navigation tree on the left,
right-click the drive that 2. Use the net use command to verify
corresponds to the mounted share. the status of the share and the drive
3. Select Disconnect from the floating it is mounted to.
menu. The share is unmounted from 3. Run the command net use
the drive. <drive:> /delete to unmount
the SMB share.
4. To verify that the drive is unmounted,
run the net use command again.

Stop NFS Export Access
Unmount NFS Export
To unmount the NFS export from the Linux or UNIX client, use the operating
system umount command.
Linux command:
umount /<mountpoint>
To unmount the shared file system from the client, use the mount point that was
used to mount it.
In the example, the NFS export root that was mounted to the nfs folder was
unmounted from the Linux6 system.

Remove NAS Client Access
2 4
Double-click the image for an enlarged view.
To remove the NAS client access to an existing NFS export, go to the File
Systems page and select the NFS Exports tab:
1. Select the NFS export.
2. Select Host Access from the MORE ACTIONS menu. The Host Access slide-
out panel is launched.
3. Select the checkbox of the NAS client to remove.
4. Click DELETE. The system displays a message that the host was removed.
5. Click APPLY to commit the changes.
The example shows the steps to remove linux6.hmarine.test access to the NFS
export.
For this example, NAS client access to an existing NFS export can be removed.
However, if the Default Access was set differently, it would leave default access.

Activity: Cancel File System Access
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: Cancel File

System Access

Remove File System Shares
SMB Shares
To remove an SMB Share, go to Storage > File Systems > SMB Shares tab:
1. Select the SMB share.
2. Click DELETE. The system displays a message that the SMB Share will be
deleted.
3. Click DELETE to commit the operation.
This example shows that the Hmarine_Eng SMB share will be deleted from the
PowerStore cluster.
Click DELETE to delete the SMB share.
NFS Exports
To remove an NFS export, browse Storage > FIle Systems > NFS Exports tab:
1. Select the NFS export.
2. Click DELETE. The system displays a message that the NFS export will be
removed.

Click DELETE to delete the NFS export.

Delete File System
Note: Delete all snapshots and the protection policy before deleting the file system.
Browse Storage > File Systems in PowerStore Manager:

1. Select the file system to be removed.
2. Click DELETE. The system displays a message that all associated shares and
export will be removed and the file system will be deleted.
1 3

Activity: Delete File System and Parent NAS Server
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: Delete File

System and Parent NAS Server.
Simulations on the next page:

 Cancel File System Access
 Delete File System and Parent NAS Server.

File System Administration Key Points
File System administration takes place on the Storage > File Systems windows.
You can:
 Enable, configure, and apply user and tree quotas on file systems.
 View and change file system properties.
 Mount and unmount SMB shares.
 Start and stop NFS exports.
 Enable and remove file system shares and file systems.

Data Virtualization
Data Virtualization

Data Virtualization
Expand Capacity of VMFS Datastores
Volume Properties
To increase the size of a VMFS datastore that is created with provisioned

PowerStore storage, perform the following:
 Change the volume size in PowerStore Manager.
 Refresh the size of the datastore in vSphere.
From Storage > Volumes, select the name of the volume that is provisioned to the
ESXi host.
The volume properties page opens. The available Information includes storage
consumption, system performance, alerts and event notification, associated
protection policy, and hosts mapped to the volume.
Select any of the cards to see more details.

Data Virtualization
Change Volume Size
From the properties page of the volume that is mapped to the ESXi host, perform
the following operations:
1. Select the pencil icon on the right of the Volume name.
2. Increase the size of the volume. Note: Shrinking of volume size is not
supported in PowerStore.
3. Click APPLY to save the changes. The slide-out panel closes and the
information at the capacity tab is updated.
Refresh Datastore Capacity
Launch a vSphere Web Client session to the vCenter Server, and open the
Storage view from the menu.

Data Virtualization
In the example, The size of VMFS_Datastore06 was increased by 10 GB. Double-click the image
for an enlarged view.
Select the VMFS datastore and the Configure tab.
Perform the following operations on the General page:

1. Click INCREASE on the Capacity section. The Increase Datastore Capacity
dialog opens.
2. Select the disk/LUN to use to increase the size of the datastore capacity.
3. The system shows the amount of free space that is available to expand the
datastore.
4. From the Partition Configuration dropdown menu, select Use "Free Space
<amount of free space>" to expand the datastore. In the example, the
<amount of free space> is 10 GB.
5. Observe the size of the new size of the datastore. Click FINISH to complete the
operation.
6. The VMFS datastore capacity now reflects the increase of the PowerStore
Volume size.

Data Virtualization
Activity: VMFS Datastore

 Create a VMFS Datastore from a PowerStore Volume.
 Increase the Capacity of the VMFS Datastore.
Simulation on the next page: Create a VMFS Datastore from

a PowerStore Volume and increase the capacity of the VMFS
Datastore.

Data Virtualization
Modify Capacity of NFS Datastores
File System Properties
The capacity of NFS datastores, from provisioned PowerStore storage, can be

increased or shrunk by following these operations:
 Change the file system size in PowerStore Manager.
 Refresh the capacity in vSphere.
From Storage > File Systems, select the name of the file system that is
provisioned to the ESXi host using an NFS export.
The file system properties page opens. The available Information includes storage
consumption, system performance, alerts and event notification, associated
protection policy, and the configured user and tree quotas.

Data Virtualization
Change File System Size
From the properties page of the file system that is shared with the ESXi host,
perform the following operations:
1. Select the pencil icon next to the file system name.
2. Change the size of the file system. In the example, the size of the file system
was decreased.
information on the capacity tab is updated.

Data Virtualization
In the example, The size of NFS_Datastore06 was decreased by 10 GB. Double-click the image for
an enlarged view.
Select the NFS datastore and the Configure tab.
On the General page, click REFRESH on the Capacity section. The updated
capacity is displayed, once the refresh is complete.

Data Virtualization
Modify Capacity of vVol Datastores
Storage Container Properties
The capacity of vVol datastores, from provisioned PowerStore storage, can be

increased or decreased by following these operations:
 Change the storage container quota in PowerStore Manager.
 Refresh the capacity in vSphere.
From Storage > Storage Containers, select the name of the storage container
that is provisioned to the ESXi.
The storage container properties page opens. The available Information includes
storage consumption, stored virtual volumes, and ESXi hosts mapped to the
storage resource.

Data Virtualization
Change Storage Container Size
Quotas can be enabled on storage containers. A high water mark determines when
an alert is generated for the storage administrator.
From the properties page of the storage container that is attached to the ESXi host:
1. Select the pencil icon next to the storage container name.
2. Change the value of the storage container quota. In the example, the storage
container quota was increased.
information on the capacity tab is updated.

Data Virtualization
In the example, The size of VVol_Datastore06 was increase by 10 GB. Double-click the image for
an enlarged view.
Select the vVol datastore and the Configure tab.
On the General page, click REFRESH on the Capacity section. The vVol datastore
capacity now reflects the change to the PowerStore storage container size.

Data Virtualization
Activity: Increase the Capacity of a vVol Datastore and

Migrate VM
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: Increase the

Capacity of a vVol Datastore and Migrate VM.

Data Virtualization
Monitor Virtual Volumes in Storage Container
List of vVols
Virtual volumes are storage objects that are provisioned automatically on a storage
container and store VM data.
PowerStore discovers the details about the virtual volumes that are stored in the
storage container and displays them in PowerStore Manager.
From Storage > Storage Containers, select the name of the storage container
that is provisioned to the ESXi host using VASA support.
Select the Virtual Volumes card. The page displays the list of vVols stored in the
storage container.
You can monitor closely the status of any of the objects by selecting the ADD TO
WATCHLIST, and gather support material.

Data Virtualization
Virtual Volume Details
Select the virtual volume name to view storage capacity consumption and system
performance that is related to the vVol. In the example, the vmdk object of the
virtual machine VM_WIN6 was selected.
Alternative method for opening the same page in PowerStore Manager is as

follows:
 Select the name of the virtual machine in Compute > Virtual Machines.
 Select the Virtual Volumes tab.
 Select the virtual volume name.
From the virtual volume properties page, select the pencil icon next to the virtual
volume identification. A slide-out panel displays the virtual volume properties,
including in which appliance it is stored.

Data Virtualization
Monitoring and Managing Virtual Machines
Virtual Machines
PowerStore Manager displays the details about the virtual machines and the vVols
that are stored in the storage container.
To monitor the VMs and its vVols in PowerStore Manager, expand the Compute
menu, and select the Virtual Machines option.

Data Virtualization
Virtual Machine Details
PowerStore subscribes to VM object change events with no need for continuous

polling.
A storage administrator can verify the virtual machine details and observe whether
there are any alerts for each virtual machine.
Click the name of the virtual machine to open its properties page. Properties
include reporting of granular I/O statistics, and active management of virtual
volumes and their related entities.
There is also information available on storage consumption, alerts and event

notification, and associated protection policy.
VM snapshots information is also displayed and can be managed from PowerStore

Manager.
 Protection policies can be assigned for automatic snapshot creation and
deletion.
 Manual snapshots can be taken and deleted.

Data Virtualization
PowerStore sends a maximum of 20 simultaneous snapshot operations to

vSphere. Extra operations are queued in order to avoid overloading the system.
Snapshot Schedule
3 2
To protect the virtual machine, select the Protection card.
From the Protection tab, click Assign Protection Policy to associate a policy:
1. Select the policy that you want to associate with the virtual machine.
2. Click APPLY to commit the changes.
3. Click ASSIGN to confirm association of the selected policy with the virtual
machine.
The policy now protects the virtual machine, and the underlying virtual volumes,
with local protection rules.
For policies that include a replication rule, only the snapshot schedule is used.
Replication is not supported for virtual machines.

Data Virtualization
Manual Snapshots
You can manually take snapshots of a virtual machine at any time.
From the Protection tab of the virtual machine properties page, perform the
following steps to manually create snapshots:
1. Click + CREATE SNAPSHOT. The slide-out panel displays the snapshot
attributes.
2. Optionally change the name of the snapshot to one that is easier to identify.
3. Click CREATE SNAPSHOT.

Data Virtualization
Snapshots
The snapshots that were taken manually or as a result of the policy schedule are
listed on the PROTECTION card.
VMware has a limit of 31 snapshots per virtual machine.

 Oldest scheduled snapshots are automatically deleted when that threshold is
reached.
 Manually created snapshots are not deleted automatically when the snapshots
system limit is reached.
To delete a snapshot, select it and click DELETE.
To verify details about the VM snapshot and modify its properties, click MODIFY.
The slide-out panel provides a link to launch vCenter server.

Data Virtualization
vCenter Server
From the vSphere Web Client session to the vCenter Server, select the ESXi host
under the Hosts and Clusters section.
Select the virtual machine created in the ESXi host.
From the Actions menu, select Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.
The most recent snapshot is listed, and you have the option to change its name or
revert the virtual machine to this point-in-time snapshot.
In the example the VM_WIN6 virtual machine was selected, and the scheduled
snapshot is listed. Verify that it matches the same as in the PowerStore Manager.
Plugins
PowerStore supports Dell Technologies tools that enhance its integration with
VMware. Some of the key plugins are listed here.
Plugin Description

Data Virtualization
Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) for Enables provisioning, managing, and

VMware vSphere Web Client monitoring storage from vSphere
vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) Plug-in for Streamline VMware and PowerStore

PowerStore tasks through automation workflows.
Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) Leverage Site Recovery Manager for

VMware disaster recovery
In addition, PowerStore X appliances include support for VMware NSX Data Center
for vSphere (NSX-V). NSX-V is a network virtualization and security platform that
enables the implementation of virtual networks on a physical network.
Note: You can verify the latest list of supported plugins on the
PowerStore Virtualization Infrastructure Guide document that
can be found in the PowerStore Info Hub or the Dell support web
site.

Data Virtualization
Migrating Virtual Machines
VM Migration Overview
Native vSphere features help manage virtual machines placement and storage
utilization with PowerStore.
vMotion enables moving VM compute to PowerStore X appliances nodes.
Storage vMotion enables the migration of VM storage to a PowerStore storage

container.
Virtual machine vVols can also be moved between storage containers.
In the example, a storage container is created in cluster2 to be the destination for

virtual machines on a storage container in cluster1.

Data Virtualization
Migrating VM Storage
Movie:
The web version of this content contains a movie.
https://edutube.emc.com/Player.aspx?vno=4YpzqB0KmtDJblTFxslqtQ
From the vSphere Web Client session, select the ESXi host under the Hosts and
Clusters section.
To migrate a virtual machine storage from one vVol datastore to another:

1. Select the virtual machine hosted by the ESXi server.
2. Expand the Actions menu and select Migrate. The Virtual Machine Migrate
wizard launches.
3. Select Storage Only as the migration type.
4. Scroll down the available storage list and select the destination vVol datastore.
The datastore is listed as compatible.
5. After reviewing the parameters for the operation, start the migration by clicking
FINISH. The system start the operation and closes the dialog.
The storage that is associated with the virtual machine shows as modified. In the
example, virtual machine is migrated from VVol_Datastore06 to
VVol_Datastore02.

Data Virtualization
Placement
From a PowerStore Manager session to the destination cluster, expand the

Compute menu and select Virtual Machines.
The virtual machine that was migrated and its associated virtual volumes are now
placed in the destination storage container. Open the virtual machine properties
page and select the virtual volumes tab. All virtual machine volumes including
snapshots are moved during Storage vMotion operations.
In the example, the virtual machines and their virtual volumes that were once
stored in storage container VVOL_SC06 in cluster1 are now in storage container
VVOL_SC02 in cluster2.

Data Virtualization
Migrating Virtual Volumes
Online vVol Migration
PowerStore Cluster
VM VM VM VM
1 1 1 1
conf swa sna data
vVols
Storage Container A
VM VM VM
2 2 2
conf swa data
vVol
s
Storage Container B
Appliance 1 Appliance 2
In the example, VM1 data vVol is migrated from appliance 1 to appliance 2.
PowerStore supports nondisruptive migration of virtual volumes between the

appliances of a cluster.
The operation is transparent to the virtual machine. There is no need to rescan a

host or quiesce I/O.
Both manual and assisted migrations are supported.

 Migrations are required to address space evacuation prior to putting an
appliance into maintenance mode or removing an appliance from a cluster.
 PowerStore clusters enable assisted migrations to address resource balancing
requirements.
Migration leverages the system bond over ICM/ICD networks to migrate the vVols.
The request to migrate vVol data creates a migration session that replicates the
source vVol to the destination appliance.

Data Virtualization
The process also migrates all the snapshots that are associated with the virtual
volume.
After the initial synchronization, the replication process performs the last delta copy
of the vVol.
PowerStore and the ESXi hosts handle the rebind orchestration to nondisruptively
cut over to the migrated vVol.
Storage Container
In PowerStore Manager, the migration of a vVol is requested from the Virtual

Volumes card. The Virtual Volumes card is found in the properties page of a
storage container or a virtual machine.
To perform a vVol migration from the Storage Containers page, expand the
Storage submenu and select Storage Containers.
Select the name of the storage container that contains the virtual volumes to
migrate to the other appliance.
The storage container properties page opens. Select the Virtual Volumes card.

Data Virtualization
To migrate a stored virtual machine data vVol, you must perform the following:
1. Locate and check the box of the VM primary data vVol.
2. Select MIGRATE. The option is only available for single selections.
PowerStore launches the Migrate wizard. The wizard steps are explained on the
next tabs. Note: The operation is only available in a multiappliance cluster.
Select Appliance
The first step of the Migrate wizard shows the list of appliances that are part of the
PowerStore cluster. Details include the current capacity utilization on each
appliance.
The storage container spans all appliances in the PowerStore cluster using storage
from each one. The virtual machine vVols are migrated within the same storage
container between these appliances.
The top of the screen displays some additional information. A notification explains
that any fast clones and snapshots that are associated with the vVol are also
moved with the migration.

Data Virtualization
3. Select the destination appliance. The screen is updated with a graphical

representation of the selected appliance capacity usage after the migration.
4. Select NEXT.
Summary
The summary screen displays details about the process that is about to be started.
 Recommended knowledge base article with detailed use cases and limitations
to be reviewed before starting the process.
 Notification that the virtual machine data vVol and any associated thin clones
and snapshots are also migrated.
 Notification that the migration process will take some time.
 Message stating that an internal migration session will be created and that you
can track the progress on the migration page.
Review the Summary information and click BACK to make changes if necessary.
5. Click FINISH to start the process.

Data Virtualization
The Migrate wizard slide-out panel is closed and the user interface is redirected to
the Internal Migrations page.
Internal Migration
The Required Action for Migration slide-out panel opens with information about
all the storage resources that will be migrated.
6. Select START MIGRATION.

7. A dialog box explains that depending on the amount of data that will be
migrated, the process will take several minutes. Select MIGRATE NOW.

Data Virtualization
Migration Session
The migration process is initiated, and it is in a synchronizing state.
Once the synchronization is concluded, the session state changes to Completed. The virtual
volume has successfully migrated to the destination appliance.

Data Virtualization
Virtual Machines
The Migrate wizard can also be launched from the virtual volumes card of a VM
properties page.
Select the name of the virtual machine that contains the virtual volumes that must
be migrated to the other appliance from Compute > Virtual Machine.
The virtual machine properties page opens. Select the Virtual Volumes card. Then
check the box of the VM vVol and select MIGRATE.
In the example, the config vVol of the virtual machine that was recently migrated is
selected. Only the data vVols and snapshots were migrated. Config and swap
vVols must be individually migrated.
The best practice is to have vVols and VMs located on the same appliance.

Data Virtualization
Warning: In order for the migration to run nondisruptively, the

vSphere ESXi hosts version must be 6.7 P02 or higher. If not at the
proper hypervisor version, the users are alerted that the vVol must be
manually unbound.

Data Virtualization
Activity: Manage Virtual Machine and vVols in PowerStore

Manager
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: Manage Virtual

Machine and vVols in PowerStore Manager.
Simulation on the next page covers these vVols

topics:
 Increase the capacity of vVol Datastore and
Migrate VM.
 Manage Virtual Machine and vVols in
PowerStore Manager.

Data Virtualization
Removing a Storage Container
Removing Storage Container
PowerStore supports the creation and management of multiple storage containers

on a cluster for multi tenancy requirements.
Virtual volumes are stored in storage containers which have a 1:1 mapping with
the VMware vVol datastores.
Before removing a storage container, the virtual machines and virtual volumes that
are stored in it must be migrated to another storage.
Only then unmount the vVol datastore from the ESXi host in the vSphere
environment, and remove the storage container in PowerStore Manager.
CLUSTER 1
Virtual Machine Virtual Machine
vVols vVols
1:1 relationship
STORAGE CONTAINER VVOL DATASTORE
POWERSTORE VSPHERE ENVIRONMENT
The tasks emphasized in the graphic are linked to provisioning storage for vVols support.
vSphere
Movie:
The web version of this content contains a movie.
https://edutube.emc.com/Player.aspx?vno=ijZg75W+1UjHhUQqFxG6kQ
From the vSphere Web Client session, select the ESXi host under the Hosts and
Clusters section.
Perform the following actions to unmount the vVol datastore in vCenter server:
1. Click Datastores.
2. Click the name of the datastore that you want to unmount.

Data Virtualization
3. Click VMs. Verify that the datastore does not contain any virtual machines.
4. From the Actions menu, select Unmount Datastore.
5. In the Unmount Datastore window, check the box next to each host that has the
datastore mounted. Click OK.
The vVol datastore is unmounted from the ESXi host.
PowerStore Manager
In the example, the storage container VVol_SC06 is removed from the storage system. Double-click
the image for an enlarged view.
On the Storage > Storage Containers page, perform the following operations:
1. Select the storage container that is provisioned to the ESXi using VASA
support.
2. Click DELETE.
3. The Delete Storage Container dialog opens, warning the storage is about to
be removed. Click DELETE.
The storage container is removed from the storage system. The operation is useful
in scenarios where there is a need to reclaim some storage space and repurpose
the capacity quota that is used for a vVol datastore.

Data Virtualization
Unregister vCenter and VASA Provider
PowerStore T
In PowerStore T models, the vCenter can be unregistered if the vSphere

integration is no longer needed. The step must be performed manually in
PowerStore Manager.
To unregister a vCenter Server Connection go to Compute > vCenter Server

Connection.
The page shows that there is a vCenter Server that is connected to the storage
system. The page also shows the status of the PowerStore storage system
registration as a VASA storage provider. The available options include the vCenter
server network address and login credentials update, open vSphere client, and
disconnect vCenter.
Click DISCONNECT to unregister the vCenter server. A dialog warns that the
storage system will disconnect the vCenter server if the operation is confirmed.
Check the box to confirm the operation. Optionally check the box to also unregister
the storage system as a VASA provider in vSphere. Click DISCONNECT.

Data Virtualization
PowerStore X
In PowerStore X models, vCenter is automatically registered as part of initial

configuration. The vCenter server connection cannot be unregistered.
The only supported operation is the update of the network address and account
credentials that are used for the connection with the same original vCenter server.
Remove VASA Provider
If PowerStore will not be used for vVol support at any time soon, consider also
unregistering it as a VASA storage provider in vCenter server.
To manually remove a PowerStore T system from the list of VASA storage

providers, launch a web client session to the vCenter Server. Then open the
Hosts and Clusters view.

Data Virtualization
1
2
Select the vCenter server on the left pane and open the Configure tab. Perform
the following operations from the Configure page:
1. Select the Storage Providers option from the sub-menu.
2. Select the VASA provider record to exclude.
3. Click Remove on the top menu.
4. Click YES to confirm the exclusion of the PowerStore cluster.
The dialog box is closed and the VASA record is eliminated from the list.

Data Virtualization
Data Virtualization Key Points
Data Virtualization Key Points:

 PowerStore integrates well with VMware vSphere.
 Volumes (Block) are discovered and mounted as VMFS datastores.
 Exported file systems are mounted as NFS datastores (only on PowerStore T
models).
 Storage containers are mounted as vVol datastores.
 PowerStore includes an embedded VASA 3.0 provider that gathers information
about the storage system. The integration is focused on the storage container
properties and data services, and displays this information in vCenter.
 vCenter must be registered in PowerStore Manager to enable this functionality.
Each PowerStore cluster can only be registered to a single vCenter instance.
 VMFS datastores capacity can be increased after the underlying volume
size is increased.
 Create and change the volume size in PowerStore Manager.
 Refresh the capacity in vSphere. Go to Storage view > select VMFS
datastore > Configure.
 Note: Shrinking of volume size is not supported in PowerStore.
 NFS datastore size can be increased or decreased on their underlying
exported and mounted file systems.
 Change the file system size in PowerStore Manager.
 Refresh the capacity in vSphere.
 The Capacity of vVol Datastores can be modified on their underlying
Storage Containers.
 Change the Storage Container size in PowerStore Manager.
 Refresh Datastore Capacity in vSphere.
 Using PowerStore Manager and vSphere, you can:
 Monitor Virtual Volumes in Storage Container.

Data Virtualization
 Monitor, manage, and migrate Virtual Machines.

 Manually umount a vVol datastore and remove its storage container.
 Unregister vCenter and VASA Provider.
For more information, see the Dell EMC PowerStore Virtualization


Protection Policies
Protection Policies

Protection Policies
Protection Policies - Introduction
Protection Policies Definition
A Protection Policy is a set of user-defined rules that are used to establish local or
remote data protection across storage resources.
Protection policies automatically manage snapshots or replication operations that

are based on the included rules.
You create policies for your implementation, and apply a specific policy to a storage
resource based on the business need or criticality of the data.
In the end, what makes a protection policy are the rules that it contains.
Protection Policy Characteristics
Each protection policy can include up to four snapshot rules, and no more than
one replication rule.
You apply a protection policy to a storage resource. For any one storage resource,
you can apply only one protection policy.
Storage resources include:

Protection Policies
Volume Stand alone, or can be applied to a volume in volume

group.
Volume Group Applies to member volumes.
Thin Clone Stand alone, or can be applied to a thin clone in a group.
Virtual Machine Applies to vVols underlying the VM. Only one snapshot
rule is applied.
File System Only snapshot rules are applied.
You can reuse the same protection policy on many storage resources. This feature
avoids the need to create specific snapshot and/or replication rules for each
storage resource.
The ability to reuse a protection policy provides:

 Efficiency: Create once and use everywhere.
 Consistency: Use same policy for all objects.
 Simplicity: Single point of management.

Protection Policies
Implementing Protection Policies
Create Snapshot Rule
A protection policy must contain at least one rule (either snapshot or replication).
You can create rules and then add them to a policy, or you can create the rules at
the same time that you create the policy.
This example shows creating a rule before a policy.
2
3a
1
3b
3c
3d
To create a snapshot rule:
1. Select Protection > Protection Policies > Snapshot Rules.

2. Click + CREATE.
3. In the Create Snapshot Rule slideout, specify the details for the new rule.
a. Rule Name
b. Days
c. Frequency or Start Time

Protection Policies
i. Enter snapshot frequency, if Every is selected.

ii. Enter a time and select a time zone, if Time of day is selected.
d. Retention
e. File Snapshot Access Type
4. Click CREATE.
Snapshot Rule Created
The new Snapshot Rule appears in the list:
Create a Policy and Add Rules
1 3

Protection Policies
To create a policy and add a rule:

1. Under Protection, Protection Policies, click + CREATE.
2. In the Create Protection Policy slideout, enter a Policy Name.
3. Enter an optional Description for the policy.
4. Check the box to select at least one Snapshot Rule or click + CREATE a new
snapshot rule.
5. Check the box to optionally select a Replication Rule or click + CREATE a new
replication rule.
6. Click CREATE.
Assign a Protection Policy to a Volume
4
2
To assign a protection policy to a volume:

1. Go to Storage > Volumes.
2. From the list of volumes, check the box next to the storage resource to be
protected.
3. From the PROTECT menu, select Assign Protection Policy.

Protection Policies
4. In the Assign Protection Policy slideout, check the box next to the policy you
want to apply.
5. Click APPLY.

Protection Policies
Modifying Protection Settings
Modify Snapshot Rule
A snapshot rule can be modified at any time. Protection policies that contain the
rule are automatically changed and the storage resources protected by the policy
immediately see the difference on their snapshot schedule.
This example shows modifying a snapshot rule.
3a
1
3b
2
3c
3d
3e
To modify a snapshot rule:
1. Under Protection, Protection Policies, select Snapshot Rules.

2. From the list of snapshot rules, select a rule and click Modify.
3. In the Properties page, modify the details for the rule.
a. Rule Name
b. Days
c. Frequency or Start Time

Protection Policies
i. Enter snapshot frequency, if Frequency is selected.

ii. Enter a time and select a Time Zone, if Time of day (Start Time) option
is selected.
d. Retention
e. File Snapshot Access Type
4. Click Apply.
Modify Replication Rule
To modify a replication rule:
3a
1 2 3b
3c
3d
1. Under Protection, Protection Policies, select Replication Rules.

2. From the list of replication rules, select the rule and click Modify.
3. In the Properties page, modify the details for the rule.
a. Rule Name
b. Destination
c. Recovery Point Objective
i. 5 minutes through 24 hours
d. Alert Threshold

Protection Policies
i. 0 minutes through 24 hours

4. Click Apply.
Modify Protection Policy
3
1
2 4
To modify a protection policy:

1. Under Protection, select Protection Policies.
2. Select a policy, click Modify.
3. In the Properties slideout, modify the Policy Name.
4. Add or modify the Description for the policy.
5. Select, clear, or create at least one Snapshot Rule.
6. Optionally, select, clear, or create a Replication Rule.
7. Click Apply.

Protection Policies
Protection Policies Key Points
Protection policies automatically manage snapshots or replication operations, that

are based on the included rules.
 Protection Policies:
 Protection policies can be applied to storage resources including volumes,
volume groups, thin clones, thin clone groups, file systems, and virtual
machines.
 A single protection policy can be applied to many storage resources.
Changes made to the protection policy affect all storage resources where
the policy has been applied. This avoids the need to create specific
snapshot and/or replication rules for each storage resource.
 A protection policy can contain up to four snapshot rules, and one replication
rule.
 Snapshot Rules
 Snapshot rules define how often to take a snapshot, and how long to retain
the snapshot after it is created.
 Replication Rules
 Replication rules specify the destination system, and the Recovery Point
Objective (RPO).
For more information, see the PowerStore Protecting Your Data

guide on the Dell Technologies Support site.

Local Data Protection

Taking a Snapshot of a Volume
Take a Snapshot
To take a manual snapshot of a volume, go to the Overview page of the volume.
Then from the Overview page:

1. Select the PROTECTION card.
Specify Snapshot Details
On the snapshot slide-out panel, specify the snapshot information:

1. Accept the automatically generated name, or specify a new name for the
snapshot. In this case, a new name has been set.
2. Write a description for the snapshot, if wanted.
3. Specify a Local Retention Policy.
Snapshot Created

The new snapshot displays in the list of snapshots.

Activity: Working with Snapshot Rules

 Change Snapshot Rule and Verify Automatically
Created Snapshots.
 Take a Manual Snapshot of a Volume.
Simulation on the next page: Verify and Modify a

Snapshot Rule.

Restoring a Volume from a Snapshot
Snapshot Restore Preparation
The snapshot restore operation resets the data in the parent storage resource to
the point in time at which the snapshot was taken. If you restore a volume group, all
member volumes are restored to the point in time of the snapshot.
Server Volume
Snap1
Snap2
Snap3
Before restoring the volume from a snapshot:

1. Ensure that all hosts have completed all read and write operations to the
volume that you want to restore.
2. Disconnect any host accessing the volume. You must disable the host
connection on the host side.

Volume Snapshot Restore Operation
2
1
To restore a volume from a snapshot:

1. Go to the PROTECT menu of the volume, and select Restore from Snapshot.
2. In the slide-out panel, check the box next to the snapshot that you want to use
for the restore.
3. Dell Technologies recommends that you take a backup snapshot of the volume
being restored. You can change the snapshot name.
4. Click RESTORE.
After the restore operation completes, reconnect the server to the volume and
verify that the volume holds the expected data.
Volume Backup Snapshot
On the volume Overview page, the PROTECTION Card displays the newly
created backup snapshot.


Activity: Restore Volume from Snapshot
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: Restore Volume

from Snapshot.
Simulation on the next page: Restore Volume from

Snapshot.

Accessing the Contents of a Volume Snapshot
Snapshot Restrictions
Mapping and unmapping snapshots to hosts is not supported in PowerStore.
Volume
Snap1
Server
Snap2
Snap3
With PowerStore snapshots, certain operations are not allowed.
 You cannot map a snapshot to a host.

 You cannot create a snapshot of a snapshot.
To access the data within a snapshot, create a thin clone of the snapshot and map
it to a host.
Cloning a Snapshot
To access data contained in a snapshot, make a thin clone of the snapshot and
map the thin clone to a host.

3a
3b
3c
2
3d
1
3e
3f
On the Overview page for the volume, go to the Protection card and:
1. Check the box next to the snapshot you want to thin clone.
2. On the MORE ACTIONS menu, select Create Thin Clone Using Snapshot.
The Thin Clone slide-out panel appears.
3. On the slide-out panel:
a. Enter a name for the thin clone.

b. Enter a description (optional).
c. Choose a performance policy.
d. To map a host now, click Host Connectivity.
e. Select a protection policy (optional).
f. Click CLONE.

Host View
With the clone mapped to a host, you can:

 Verify the contents of the snapshot.
 Copy missing files from the clone to the parent volume.
 Use the clone on a second host.

File System Snapshots Overview
File System Snapshots Types:

 Snapshot
– Read Only
– Accessed through previous versions or .snapshot
 Protocol
 Read only
 Default type created by a Snapshot Rule
 Accessed by creating an SMB share and/or NFS Export and choosing
snapshot
- Access is provided through the parent NAS server.
Note: Editing the name or the access type of a file system snapshot is not possible.
Expiration:

File system snapshots can be set to not expire by choosing the No Automatic
Deletion option.
Snapshots that are created by a Protection Policy have the following naming
scheme:
 Snapshot Rule Name_Resource Name_Timestamp with nano-time.

File System Snapshot Operations
Schedule a Snapshot for a File System
Add a protection policy with a snapshot rule to a file system to schedule a snapshot
for that file system. Click here for steps to apply a protection policy to a file
system.
Note: The Protection Policy can include a replication rule, but only the snapshot
schedule or schedules will work as expected. Replication is not supported for
file systems.
Create a Manual Snapshot
From PowerStore Manager > Storage > File Systems > [File System] > Protection
Card > + CREATE SNAPSHOT.

Restore File System from Snapshot
Restoring a file system from a snapshot returns that file system to the state it was
in when the snapshot was taken.
To restore a file system from a snapshot:

1. From the PROTECT menu of the file system, and select Restore from
Snapshot.
2. In the slide-out panel, check the box next to the snapshot that you want to use
for the restore.
3. Dell Technologies recommends that you take a backup snapshot of the file
system being restored. You can change the snapshot name.
4. Click RESTORE.

1
2
File System Snapshot Refresh
When you refresh a file system snapshot, the contents of the snapshot are
overwritten with the current contents of the file system.

Activity: Work with File System Snapshots

 Take a Manual Snapshot of a File System.
 Access the File System Snapshot from NAS
Client.
Simulation on the next page: Work with File System

Snapshots.

Thin Clones
In PowerStore systems, create a thin clone of a file system, volume, volume group,
or volume/volume group snapshot. The thin clone is not a full backup of the original
resource. It is a read/write copy of the storage resource that shares blocks with the
parent resource. Access to the original resource is maintained.
Thin
Vol Clone
01
Application
1
Thin
Clone Application
Sna 1
p1 Application
Thin 2
Clone
Sna Sna
p3 Application
p2
3
Sna
p4
Base Volume Family
Applications:
 Development and test environments
 Parallel processing
 Online backup
 System deployment
With thin clones, you can establish hierarchical snapshots to preserve data over
different stages of data changes within a Base Volume Family.
 Data available on the source snapshot at the moment of thin clone creation is
immediately available to the thin clone. The thin clone references the source
snapshot for this data.
 Data resulting from changes to the thin clone after its creation is stored on the
thin clone. Changes to the thin clone do not affect the source snapshot,
because the source snapshot is read-only.

Creating a Thin Clone of a Volume
Create Thin Clone
To create a thin clone of a volume in PowerStore Manager, expand the Storage

submenu, and select Volumes.
Then from the Volumes page:

1. Select the volume that will be the thin clone Base Volume. The example shows
volume Win4-Vol1 selected.
2. Expand the REPURPOSE menu and select Create Thin Clone using Volume.
Specify Thin Clone Details
On the Thin Clone slide-out panel, specify the thin clone information:

3. Name: Enter a name to identify the copy.

4. Description (optional): Enter a description for the thin clone.
5. Performance Policy: Select a Performance Policy consistent with the I/O
priority (High, Medium, or Low). The performance policies are provided with
PowerStore. You cannot create or customize performance policies. By default,
volumes are created with a medium performance policy.
6. Host Connectivity (Optional): Select a host to attach the thin clone to.

7. Protection Policy (Optional): Select a protection policy that contains snapshot

and replication rules applicable for the thin clone. A protection policy must be
created prior to associating it with a volume.
8. Click Clone to complete the operation.
Thin Clone Created
The new thin clone displays in the list of volumes.

Thin Clone Properties
To view the thin clone properties:
1. In the list of volumes, click the name of the thin clone (shown in blue text) to
view volume details.
2. Click the pencil icon to view the Properties panel.

Creating a Thin Clone of a Volume Group
Create Clone
To create a thin clone of a volume group in PowerStore Manager, expand the

Storage submenu, and select Volume Groups.
From the Volume Groups page:

1. Select the volume group to clone.
2. Expand the REPURPOSE menu and select Create Thin Clone.


4. Description (optional): Enter a description for the clone.
and replication rules applicable for the clone. A protection policy must be

Thin Clone Created
The new thin clone displays in the list of volume groups.

Creating a Thin Clone of a File System
Create Thin Clone
To create a thin clone of a file system in PowerStore Manager, expand the Storage
submenu, and select File Systems.
Then from the File Systems page:

1. Select the file system to clone. The example shows File-System-04 selected.
2. Expand the PROTECT menu and select Clone File System.
On the Create Thin Clone slide-out panel, specify the thin clone information:


4. Description (optional): Enter a description for the thin clone.

Thin Clone Created
The new thin clone displays in the list of file systems.
Thin Clone Properties

To view the thin clone properties:
1. In the list of file systems, click the name of the thin clone (shown in blue text) to
view details.
2. Click the pencil icon to view the thin clone properties. Most settings are
inherited from the source file system.

Creating a Thin Clone of a Volume Snapshot
Create Clone
You can create a thin clone of a volume snapshot or volume group snapshot. You
cannot create a thin clone of a file system snapshot.
To create a thin clone of a volume snapshot in PowerStore Manager:

 Expand the Storage submenu, and select Volumes.
 Click a volume that has a snapshot that you want to clone:
The example shows the overview for Win4-Vol1
3
2
Then from the Overview page of the volume:

1. Select the PROTECTION card.
2. Select the check box next to the snapshot you want to copy.
3. Under MORE ACTIONS, select Create Thin Clone Using Snapshot.
Specify Clone Details


5. Description (optional): Enter a description for the clone.
6. Performance Policy: Select a Performance Policy consistent with the I/O
priority (High, Medium, or Low). The performance policies are provided with
PowerStore. You cannot create or customize performance policies. By default,
volumes are created with a medium performance policy.
7. Host Connectivity (Optional): Click the blue text or the icon to select a host to
attach the clone to.


and replication rules applicable for the clone. A protection policy must be
9. Click CLONE to complete the operation.
Clone Created
The new clone displays in the list of volumes.

Activity: Creating a Thin Clone
Virtual lab for facilitated sessions: Creating a Thin

Clone
Simulation on the next page: Create a Thin Clone.

Volume Thin Clone Hierarchy
Thin Clone Terminology
The snapshots and thin clones for a volume, volume group, or storage container
form a hierarchy. These terms are used to describe this hierarchy:
Term Definition
Source A volume, volume group, or snapshot of a volume or volume

group that is used as the source for thin clone create and
refresh operations. The source can change when the clone
is refreshed.
Base volume, base The founding (production) volume or volume group for
volume group, base derivative snapshots and thin clones
storage container
Family A volume or volume group and all of its derivative thin clones
and snapshots. This family includes snapshots and thin
clones of the storage resource.
Parent The original parent volume, volume group, or thin clone for
the snapshot. This resource does not change when a thin
clone is refreshed to a different source snapshot, because
the new source snapshot must be in the same base volume
or volume group.
Thin Clone Hierarchy
The base volume family for Volume 1 includes all the snapshots and thin clones
that are shown in the diagram.

Volume 1
Snapshot 1 Snapshot 2
Thin Clone 1 Thin Clone 2
Snapshot 3
Thin Clone 3
Base Volume Family
For Thin Clone 2:

 The source snapshot is Snapshot 2.
 The family is Volume 1.
 The original parent is Snapshot 2.
For Thin Clone 3:

 The source snapshot is Snapshot 3.
 The family is Volume 1.
 The original parent resource is Snapshot 3.
If Thin Clone 3 is refreshed to Snapshot 1:

 The source snapshot changes from Snapshot 3 to Snapshot 1.
 The family is still Volume 1.
 The original parent resource is still Snapshot 3.
Clone Properties

You can view the base resource, parent, and data source of a volume by
examining its properties.
To view the properties of a clone or any other volume:

 In the list of volumes, click the name of the clone (shown in blue text) to view
details.
 Under Actions, select Properties.

Volume/Volume Group Refresh Operations
Refresh Functionality
Using the refresh operation, you can update a storage resource with data from
another resource within the same family.
When you refresh a storage resource, the existing data is removed, and the data
from the source resource is copied to it.
The source and destination resource must be in the same volume family.
Snapshots of Volumes, Volume Groups, and Thin Clones are read-only, and
cannot be refreshed.
refresh
refresh Volume 1
Snap 6 Data Flow

refresh
refresh refresh
Clone1 Clone 2 Clone 3

Pointing to source volume
Snap 1 refresh
refresh Snap 3 Snap 4 Snap 5

Snap 2
Note: For simplicity, diagram does not show every possible refresh operation.
Refreshing a Storage Resource from a Volume or Clone
To refresh a storage resource from a volume, go to the PROTECT menu of the

storage resource, and select Refresh using Related Volume.

Refreshing a Storage Resource from a Snapshot
To refresh a storage resource from a snapshot, go to the MORE ACTIONS menu

of the snapshot, and select Refresh using Snapshot.

Volumes/Thin Clones Refresh Supported Operations
Object to Refresh Refresh From Supported
Volume Thin Clone Yes
Volume Thin Clone Snapshot Yes
Volume Volume Snapshot No*
Thin Clone Parent Volume Yes
Thin Clone Volume Snapshot Yes
Thin Clone Thin Clone Snapshot Yes**
* Use the Restore operation instead.
** Refreshing from a snapshot of a peer, in-family, Thin Clone is supported. If the

snapshot is of the Thin Clone being refreshed, use the Restore operation.
Volume Groups/Thin Clones Supported Operations
Object to Refresh Refresh From Supported
Volume Group Thin Clone Yes
Volume Group Thin Clone Snapshot Yes
Volume Group Volume Snapshot No*
Volume Group Thin Parent Volume Yes

Clone
Volume Group Thin Volume Snapshot Yes

Clone

Volume Group Thin Thin Clone Snapshot Yes**

Clone
*Use the Restore operation instead.
**Refreshing from a snapshot of an in-family Thin Clone is supported. If the

snapshot is of the Thin Clone being refreshed, use the Restore operation.

Local Data Protection Key Points
PowerStore storage systems provide local data protection features that include
block and file snapshots and thin clones.
 Volume and Volume Group Snapshots:
 You can manually take a snapshot of a volume or volume group by viewing
the details of that volume or group, and going to the PROTECTION card.
 You can set the name, description, and retention policy of that snapshot
when you create it.
 You can use the snapshot to restore the parent volume or volume group to
the point in time that the snapshot was created.
 Snapshots cannot be mapped to a host. To view the contents of a snapshot,
you must first clone the snapshot then map the clone to a host.
 File System Snapshots:
 There are two different types of file system snapshots: Snapshot and
Protocol. The snapshot rule used to create the snapshot specifies which
type of snapshot to create.
o Snapshot type snapshots are read-only and can be accessed through
previous versions or .snapshot
o Protocol type snapshots are read-only and can be exported as an SMB
share, NFS export, or both.
o You can share and mount the Protocol type on a client like any other
file system.
 The snapshot type determines the method that is used to access the
snapshot contents.
 You can use the restore function to return a file system to the date and time
that the snapshot was captured.
 For file system snapshots, the refresh function updates the snapshot with
the current contents of the file system.
 Thin Clones:
 You can create a thin clone of a file system, volume, volume group, or
volume/volume group snapshot.

 The thin clone is not a full backup of the original resource. It is a read/write
copy of the storage resource that shares blocks with the parent resource.
 Thin clones can be mapped to a host for read/write access.
 Thin clones and snapshots, along with the original volume that is used to
create them, make up a base volume family.
 For Volume/Volume Group thin clones, the refresh operation completely
replaces the contents of another member of the base volume family.
For more information, see the PowerStore Protecting Your Data on

the Dell Technologies Support site.

Remote Protection - Replications

Manage Replications
Replication Operations Include:
For additional details see the Dell EMC PowerStore: Replication Technologies
white paper on dell.com/support.
Planned Failover
Use the Planned Failover function to failover without losing data.
Planned failover is initiated from the source to the destination. An alert is

generated that a failover has occurred. In this example, the checkmark to reverse
the source and target was not selected. If the checkmark is selected the direction of
the replication between the source and the target will be reversed after the failover.
If the checkmark is not selected, the replication does not resume in either direction
when a planned failover is used.

Failover
Perform a failover after events such as source system failure, or events that cause
downtime for production access on the source system.
A failover that is unplanned, is initiated from the destination system and fails over
to the latest available common base image that exists at the target without
synchronization. It is a assumed that When the connection to the source system is
reestablished, the original source resource is placed into destination mode. You
can restore the system from the latest data or any point-in-time snapshot after a
restore.
Reprotect
Reprotect the replication session to synchronize the destination storage resource,

and then resume the replication session. After a planned failover or failover the
Reprotect function is available from the new source system. Checking the
Reprotect and reverse the direction of the replication between the source and
the destination after the failover option during a planned failover is another way
to initiate a reprotect. Reprotect function starts the replication session and
synchronization to the original source system.

Synchronization
During asynchronous replication updates to a destination storage resource occur at

a set interval based on the RPO. While a replication is active and an update is not
occurring, use Synchronize Now to update the destination resource with the latest
changes.
Synchronization is initiated from the source and asynchronously updates the

destination with new information from the previous synchronization cycle.
Synchronization happens either automatically according to a set schedule or
manually.

Pause and Resume
Use the Pause and Resume functions to stop (Pause) and start (Resume)
replication of data between the resources for a particular replication session.
Pausing replication is initiated on the source or destination system. An alert is

generated indicating that the replication is paused. Resuming is initiated on source
or destination system, whichever was used when pausing the replication. Pausing
and resuming the replication session does not delete the replication session.

Failover Test
Perform a failover after events such as source system failure, or events that cause
downtime for production access on the source system
 Started on either the destination or DR PowerStore Cluster.

 Replication session must be in the Synchronizing or Operating Normally
state.
 Test volume may be the current destination or any snapshot on the destination
system.
 During the failover test, the source and destination volumes are Read/Write.
 Replication keeps running based on RPO settings or manual synchronization.
 Failover Test must be manually stopped.

Remove
If a replication session is no longer needed, you may remove it. One way to remove
a replication session is initiated on the source system by removing the protection
policy from the resource on the source system. You can also change the replication
or remove the replication rule to remove a replication session from a resource.
Removing the protection policy from a storage resource results in:

 The destination storage resource stays in read-only mode.
 You can restore or delete the data from the storage resource.
 You can also change it to a production resource from the Properties page of
the destination resource.

Manage Replications - Failover
Failover
A failover is executed after an unplanned event, such as source system failures. An

event on the source system that leads to down time for production access is an
unplanned event. A failover promotes the destination replica to production, that has
a data state consistent to the last successful RPO synchronization state.
Failover is run from the destination storage resource.
To start failover:
1. From Protection drop-down menu of the destination system, click Replication.
2. Select replication session.
3. Click FAILOVER.
4. Click FAILOVER.

Manage Replications - Planned Failover
Once created, replications can be synchronized, paused, removed, or used during

planned failover.
Planned Failover
Examples of when to use a planned failover include:

 Maintenance at primary site.
 Testing of disaster recovery plan.
During a planned failover, a replication session is manually failed over from the
source system to the destination system. The destination system is fully
synchronized with the source system before the failover and there is no data loss.
Planned failover is run from the source. Both source and destination systems
must be available.
While planned failover is in process, you can:

 Delete the replication session.
 Perform a failover.
Important: Before performing a planned failover, stop I/O operation

for any applications and hosts. A replication session cannot be
paused during a planned failover.

To start planned failover:

1. From Protection drop-down menu of the source system, of the replication
session, click Replication.
3. Click PLANNED FAILOVER.
4. (Optional) Check Reprotect and reverse the direction of replication between
the source and the destination after the failover.
5. Click FAILOVER.

Manage Replications - Synchronization
Synchronization
Synchronization updates the destination with the changes on the source since the
previous synchronization cycle.
Synchronization occurs automatically according to a schedule, or manually.
Replication sessions may be synchronized in the following states:

 Operating normally
 System Paused
During replication synchronization, the following actions may be taken:

 Planned failover from the source system
 Failover from the destination system
 Pause replication sessions from the source or destination system
 Delete a replication session by removing a protection policy
Important: If synchronization fails, the replication session is placed in

a paused state. When the system recovers, the replication session
continues from the same point when the system was paused.

To start synchronization:
1. From Protection drop-down menu of the source system, click Replication.
3. Click SYNCHRONIZE.
4. Click SYNCHRONIZE.

Manage Replications - Pause and Resume
Pause and Resume
The Pause and Resume functions are available in PowerStore Manager from the
Protection drop-down menu. Pause pauses the replication session and Resume
resumes the replication session.
To Pause and Resume a replication session:

1. In PowerStore Manager, select Protection.
2. From the Protection drop-down menu, select Replication.
3. Select the replication session to pause.
4. Click PAUSE or RESUME.
5. Click PAUSE or RESUME on the pop-up window.

Click RESUME to resume the replication

session
An alert is generated when the

replication session is paused.

Manage Replications - Remove
Remove Replication Session
If a replication session no longer meets the business needs, it may be removed.

One way to remove a replication session is to unassign the protection policy from
the replicating volume.
Only remove the protection policy from the source volume, an error may occur if
you try to remove the protection policy from the destination system.
NOTE: By removing the protection policy from a volume you are also removing all
data protection from the volume including scheduled snapshots. If you only want
to remove the replication session, remove the replication rule from the protection
policy.
Note: When a replication session is removed, the destination replica is still

present.
Notice that there are four replication sessions.


Notice that there are three replication sessions.
Note: This example is one way to remove the replication rule. You can remove the
replication rule from the protection policy.
To Unassign a Protection Policy:

1. In a PowerStore Manager session, of the source, select Storage.
2. From the Storage drop-down menu, select Volumes.
3. Select the volume with the protection policy that is associated with the
replication session you are removing.
4. Click More Actions.
5. Click Unassign Protection Policy.
6. Click UNASSIGN on the pop-up window.

DR Failover Test
The DR Failover Test feature allows operators to simulate a failover of an

asynchronous replication session to the Disaster Recovery (DR) site without
disrupting production.
The test uses destination data (updated with last RPO snap), or a selected user
snapshot as volume on DR/destination for Read/Write operations. There is no time
limitation for running the failover test.
The operation does not affect the source storage resource, and the replication
process continues based on the original RPO setting.
To perform the operation, both source and DR clusters must be running

PowerStoreOS 2.0 or later.
Production Host DR Host
Read/Write Source Destination Read/Write
Replication
Session
DR Failover Test Started
Operating
Normally
RPO n User RPO n
Snap Shadow Snap Snap
RW Snap

DR Failover Test - Theory of Operations
Review the tabs to learn how the replication session behaves during a DR Failover
Test.
Continuous Synchronization
Asynchronous replication session pushes point-in-time copies of data from source

to destination storage resources.
The replication process generates storage resource copies and synchronizes them
with the Shadow Read/Write snap on the destination.
Source Destination
Replication
Session
Synchronization
RPO n RPO n
Shadow
RW Snap
Common Base
The replication operation establishes a common base between copies on the

source and destination systems, and the data changes are pushed to the storage
resource.
Host Access
During a replication session, hosts have Read/Write access to the source storage
resource at the production site.

The hosts at the DR site have limited Read-Only access to the replica during a
normal operation session.
Source Destination
Read/Write Read-only
Replication
Session
RPO n RPO n
Shadow
RW Snap
Start Failover Test
Once the user starts a failover test at the destination site, the system pauses the
replica update. The system does not update the storage resource that is used for
the test with data block changes resultant of a new synchronization.
The system keeps the storage resource steady and up-to-date with the last
synchronization before the disaster recovery test. Host access to the replica at the
destination site is changed to Read/Write.

Source Destination
Read/Write Read/Write
Replication
Session
DR Failover Test Started
RPO n RPO n
Shadow
RW Snap
Incremental Copy
The replication session is not paused or stopped. Any changes to the source
storage resource generate an incremental copy that updates the shadow
Read/Write snap at the destination site.
The replication operation establishes a common base between copies on the

source and destination systems. While the DR failover test is still active, the
updated data blocks are not pushed to the replica.

Source Destination
Read/Write Read/Write
Replication
Session
DR Failover Test Active
RPO n Incremental RPO n

RPO n+1 Copy Shadow RPO n+1
RW Snap
Common Base
Stop Failover Test
Once the DR failover test is stopped, the replica in the destination site is updated.
The system uses the last synchronized data to overwrite data on the test storage
resource.
Host access to the destination storage resource is changed to Read-Only.
Source Destination
Read/Write Read-only
Replication
Session
DR Failover
Test Stopped
RPO n+1 Shadow RPO n+1

RW Snap

DR Failover Test - Management
In PowerStore Manager, you can start, monitor, or stop a DR failover test from the
properties page of the destination storage resource.
You can perform the same operations on the running replication session from the
DR site.
Start DR Failover Test
From the volumes details page, select the PROTECTION card and the
REPLICATION tab.
Select START FAILOVER TEST.
Go to Protection > Replication.
Select the replication session. The session status must be

Operating Normally or Synchronizing.
Select START FAILOVER TEST.
The storage resource used for the test can be the destination data
or a snapshot on the DR cluster.

Monitor DR Failover Test
From the the REPLICATION tab on the storage resource PROTECTION

card, observe that both the source and destination are now in a
Read/Write state. The graphic shows I/O on the destination storage
object.
The same graphic shows that the destination data is been used for
failover testing.
The Replication page shows the operation status and the

Failover Test in Progress.
The session status is either Operating Normally or

Synchronizing.
Stop DR Failover Test

With the exception of Planned Failover, all replication operations are
supported during a DR failover testing.
You must stop the failover test before starting a planned failover.
From PROTECTION > REPLICATION, select STOP FAILOVER TEST.
From the Replication page, select the session with a

Failover Test in Progress.
Select STOP FAILOVER TEST.
Confirm to STOP FAILOVER TEST.
You have the opportunity to create a

snapshot with the test data.
Important: During the failover test, any unplanned failover operations

use the test data on the destination. Deleting a replication session
stops the failover test and takes snapshot of failover test data.

For additional information review the Dell EMC PowerStore: Replication

Technologies white paper.

Remote Protection - Replications Key Points
Key Points:
 Planned Failover is initiated from the source and unplanned failover is initiated
from the destination.
 You click the Planned Failover or Failover buttons to start the processes.
 Synchronization is initiated from the source and asynchronously updates the
destination with new information from the previous synchronization cycle.
 Pausing and resuming replication is initiated on the source or destination
system.
 DR Failover Test operations can be initiated from the destination system. A test
storage resource data is enabled for host I/O while the replication continues.
 After a removing a replication session, the destination replica remains.

Data Efficiency
Data Efficiency

Data Efficiency
Overview
PowerStore arrays optimize capacity and improve storage efficiency using features
such as Zero Detection, Deduplication, and Compression. Zero detection,
Deduplication, and the Compression work together to reduce the physical amount
of storage that is required to save a dataset. Data Efficiency, also referred to as
Data Reduction and Storage Efficiency, results in a lower total operational cost.
Zero Detection logically detects and discards consecutive zeros, saves only one
instance, and uses pointers.
Deduplication uses algorithms to analyze, perform pattern detection, and attempts

to store only a single instance of data. In general deduplication can work at the
block, bit-level, or file level. In PowerStore, deduplication works at the block
level at 4 KB granularity.
Compression uses physical hardware to encode data using fewer bits than the
original representation. The compression hardware offloads the compression
operations from the appliance processors to save CPU cycles.
Thin Provisioning is also a data reduction feature of PowerStore. What it is and

how it work is beyond the scope of this discussion.
Utilizing a combination of zero detection, deduplication, compression, and thin

provisioning techniques, PowerStore reduces the amount of data within the system
and stores it as efficiently as possible. The system controls these features and no
administration is required.

Data Efficiency
Data Efficiency Components and Architecture
DRAM (System Cache) is used as a caching layer as data enters and exits the
system. All data passes through and interacts with DRAM memory. How the data
interacts with DRAM memory depends on if the I/O is a read or a write. How a read
and write I/O passes through DRAM memory is explained later.
Data Reduction Logic consist of Zero Detection, Deduplication algorithms

(MURMUR3 hashing and Pattern Matching), and Compression.
PowerStore employs hardware on node system boards that offloads

compression services from CPU.
Stripe Logic assembles the data into 2 MB stripes before writing to the data
drives.
Data Drives provide the physical capacity to the system to store data. If additional
enclosures are attached to the system, they also add to the usable capacity of the
system. Within PowerStore, any drives within the system that are not part of the
NVRAM cache drives contribute to a single, large, usable capacity within the
system. This space is shared for all resources within the system.
NVMe NVRAM Drives - On PowerStore 1000-9000 models, dependent on the

model, two or four NVMe NVRAM Drives are used as Write Cache within the
system. On PowerStore 500T systems, a portion DRAM is used for Write Cache.
Battery backup is required as NVMe NVRAM drives contain both volatile and
nonvolatile media. The volatile media provides fast access speeds, and is used for
write caching within the system while the appliance is under normal operation. If
power is interrupted or the system is being powered off, the volatile write cache is
destaged to the nonvolatile media within the NVMe NVRAM drives. Once the write
cache information is safely stored, power is removed from the drives.
Each NVMe NVRAM drive is dual-ported, meaning each node has access to the
drives through internal connections and the information that is contained in them. If
needed, the peer node can access the data as needed.

Data Efficiency
DRAM
System Cache
Data Reduction Logic

Compression
2 MB Stripe Creation
2 or 4 NVMe
NVRAM
Drives
Data Drives (Write Cache)
(1000-9000 models)

Data Efficiency
Write Operation
The graphic explains the process when the PowerStore receives a write request.
DRAM DRAM
Data Reduction Logic Data Reduction Logic

Compression Compression
2 MB Stripe Creation 2 MB Stripe Creation
NVMe
Data Drives NVRAM
Drives
Step Description
1. An I/O enters Node B and is saved within the node DRAM memory. The I/O
is analyzed to determine:
a. What type of I/O it is.
b. What resource it is intended for.
c. The location within the resource being updated or requested.
d. Other metadata information.

Data Efficiency
2.  If the I/O is determined to be a write, the data is copied into the write
cache on the NVRAM drives in 1000–9000 models.
 On 500T models write cache is provisioned from DRAM. After the
information is stored within the write cache, the information stored within
the DRAM memory is considered clean as it no longer has the latest
copy of the information.
 This data then becomes part of the read cache, until it is later replaced
in cache by newer or more highly accessed data.
3.  For each write I/O that enters the system, the information is passed
between the nodes using tokens.
 This operation updates the peer node that a new write has been
received and that it has the newest copy of the data.
 .A token includes information about the I/O such as what resource was
updated and the address within the resource that was updated.
 A token also includes information about the location the I/O was saved
to within the write cache.
4. After the information is safely stored on the nonvolatile media of the

NVRAM drives (or in write cache in DRAM on the peer node on the 500T)
and all other actions are complete, the host is acknowledged.
5. After the host is acknowledged, data is copied from the write cache and is
passed through the deduplication and compression logic.

Data Efficiency
Read Operation
The graphic explains the process when the PowerStore receives a read request.
DRAM DRAM
Data Reduction Logic Data Reduction Logic

Compression Compression
2 MB Stripe Creation 2 MB Stripe Creation
Data Drives NVMe NVRAM

Drives
Step Description
1. The host issues a read. The resource could be a volume, file system, or
datastore. First, the system must determine where the latest copy of the
data being requested is located.
2. The system reviews the private space of the resource to determine if the
block has been previously written. If so, the system locates the current
data.

Data Efficiency
3. Several things can happen here depending on where the data is located.
 If the data is a pattern, such as all 0s or 1s, the system re-creates the
block in DRAM memory. (Go to step 4.)
 If the latest copy is in the node DRAM memory, the system sends the
data to the host.
 If the latest copy is in the NVMe NVRAM drives, the system copies
the data to DRAM memory. (Go to step 4.)
 If the requested data resides on the data drives, it has been
deduplicated and compressed. The system examines the
deduplication pattern and determines the reference location. The
system copies the data from the reference location. The data is
decompressed, and the page is reconstructed in DRAM memory.
(Go to step 4.)
4. The system then sends the data to the host.

Data Efficiency
Locating Data Savings
To view the data reduction savings from PowerStore Manager, go to Dashboard >
Capacity > Data Savings. The system displays metrics for the cluster:
Dashboard > Capacity Tab
Card Description and Metrics
Capacity Shows both the used and free storage capacity on the cluster.
 Used—Physical capacity that is used by all appliances in the
cluster. The percentage and amount that is used are both
available in this area.
 Free—The amount of free physical capacity on the cluster.

Data Efficiency
Historical Presents a summary of cluster capacity data for a selected time

Usage period. This section also includes the maximum and final values for
that period. It shows the date and time along the x-axis against the
usage along the y-axis.
 Physical—Total amount of physical space on the cluster.
Includes used and free space.
 Used—Total amount of physical space used on the cluster.
 Forecast—Physical space usage predicted based on historical
space usage.
 Forecast Range—Predicted range of physical space usage that
is based on historical space usage.
Data Displays space is saved using data reduction features.

Savings  Displays space is saved using data reduction features.
 Space Efficiency Ratio% = Total Space Provisioned/Physical
Space Used
Top Lists the volumes, volume groups, virtual machines, or appliances in

Consumers order of most used capacity.

Data Efficiency
Data Efficiency Calculations
Overall Efficiency
Overall Efficiency is the computed ratio of the Total Space Provisioned to the
Physical Space Used.
(Space Efficiency Ratio% = Total Space Provisioned/Physical Space Used)
Example:
 Five 2 GB volumes were provisioned with 1 GB of data that is written to each of
them.
 Each of the five volumes has one snapshot, for another five 2 GB volumes.
 All volumes are thinly provisioned with deduplication, and compression applied.
There are 2 GB of physical space used.
Overall efficiency would be (10 GB + 10 GB) / 2 GB or 10:1. Therefore, the

Efficiency_Ratio value is 10 in this example.
Five 2 GB volumes provisioned with 1

GB of data written to each.
Total Space Provisioned

2 GB
Space EfficiencyRatio% =
Snapshot
Physical Space Used
(10 GB + 10 GB) 20 GB
Space EfficiencyRatio% = =
2 GB 2 GB
Space EfficiencyRatio% = 10 : 1
All volumes are thinly provisioned with deduplication, and compression applied. 2 GB of physical space used.

Data Efficiency
Thin Savings
Thin Savings is the ratio of volumes’ provisioned size to logical size used.
(Thin Saving Ratio% = Volumes’ provisioned size/logical used)
Example:
 Ten 2 GB volumes are provisioned.
 500 MB (0.5 GB) of data is written to each of them.
Thin savings would be (10 x 2 GB) / (10 X 0.5 GB) or 4:1.
Ten 2 GB volumes provisioned with .5 GB of data written to each.
Volumes' Provisioned Size

Thin Savings Ratio% =
Logical Size Used
(10 x 2 GB) 20 GB
Thin Savings Ratio% = =
10 x .5 GB 5 GB
Thin Savings Ratio% = 4 : 1
Snap Savings
Snap Savings is ratio of the original space used by the snaps to the data uniquely
owned by the snaps.
(Snap Saving Ratio% = Snapshot Space Used/Data uniquely owned by the

snaps)

Data Efficiency
Example:
 A volume has 2 GB of data when a snapshot is taken.
 After the snapshot is taken, 0.5 GB (500 MB) of the volume's data is
overwritten.
As a result, the snapshot has the original 2 GB of data written with 1.5 GB of data
shared with the volume and 0.5 GB unique data.
The snap savings would be 2 GB/0.5 GB or 4:1. The snapshot_savings value will
be 4 in this case.
Snapshot Space Used

Snap Savings Ratio% =
Unique Data Owned by
Snap
2 GB volume provisioned when a snapshot is taken.
2
Snap Savings Ratio% =
GB
.5 GB
Snapshot Savings Ratio% = 4 : 1
After the snapshot is taken, 0.5 GB (500 MB) of the Snapshot Savings Value = 4
volume's data is overwritten.
Data Reduction Ratio
The ratio of space which would have been taken if deduplication and compression
were not applied to the physical space occupied after deduplication and
compression.
(Data Reduction Ratio% = Space which would have been taken if

deduplication and compression were not applied / Physical Used Space with
Deduplication and Compression)

Data Efficiency
Example:
 A volume was written with 2 GB of data when a snapshot is taken.
 After the snapshot is taken, 0.5 GB (500 MB) of the volume's data is
overwritten.
As a result, the volume and the snapshot share 1.5 GB of data. The snapshot and
volume each owns 0.5 GB of unique data. Altogether, the volume and snapshot
own 2.5 GB of data. If all this data occupied 1 GB of space, the Data Reduction
Ratio would be 2.5 GB/1 GB or 2.5:1.
Space which would have been

taken if deduplication and
A volume was written with 2 GB of data
compression were not applied
when a snapshot is taken. Data Reduction Ratio% =
Physical Space Occupied after
After the snapshot is taken, 500 MB of Deduplication and
the volume's data is overwritten. Compression
2.5
Data Reduction Ratio% = GB
1 GB
Data Reduction Ratio% = 2.5 : 1
As a result, the volume and the snapshot share 1.5 GB of data. The snapshot and volume each owns 0.5 GB of unique data.
Altogether, the volume and snapshot own 2.5 GB of data. If all this data occupied 1 GB of space, the Data Reduction Ratio would
be 2.5 GB/1 GB or 2.5:1.

Data Efficiency
Data Efficiency Key Points
The Data efficiency features introduce space savings.
Data Efficiency Key Points:

 The Data efficiency features introduce space savings from zero detection,
deduplication, and compression processes.
 Data efficiency features are automatically enabled and controlled by the
system.
 Deduplication works at the block level at 4 KB granularity.
 Data blocks written to DRAM and then to Write Cache either on NVRAM drives
or in DRAM dependent on the model.
 The Data Reduction process is only invoked when data is flushed out of Write
Cache to data drives.
 Data blocks are deduplicated, compressed, and then divided into 2 MB stripes
and written to data drives.
 To view data reduction savings from UI, go to Dashboard > Capacity > Data
Savings.

Data Encryption
Data Encryption

Data Encryption
Overview
Tampering with data violates data integrity, and data theft compromises data
availability and confidentiality. PowerStore uses Data At Rest Encryption (D@RE)
to help protect against data tampering and data theft. D@RE guards against
threat agents reading content from any of the drives, even if the drives are removed
from the PowerStore or are physically disassembled.
For encryption to work, these components are required:

 Self-Encryption Drives (SEDs)
 Key Manager Service (KMS)
Data Encryption protects against data tampering and data theft in the following use
cases:
 Drive is stolen from a system, and a threat agent attempts to access the data on
the drives.
 Attempts to read data during transit of any drive to another location.
 Attempts to read data even if drive is broken or discarded.
Due to possibility of data loss the keystore file must be backed up and
saved before and after adding or removing any drive in the system!

Data Encryption
Architecture
SEDs
All PowerStore systems leave the factory with encryption enabled except
units destined for countries where encryption is not allowed or countries that
are restricted by the United States federal government.
PowerStore encrypts the data as close to its origin as possible by using SEDs.
SEDs have dedicated hardware on each drive to encrypt and decrypt data as it is
written or read.
An SED performs Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit encryption on all

data that is stored on that drive. The AES 256-bit Encryption standard is National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Trusted Computing Group (TCG)
compliant. Supporting encryption industry standards allows PowerStore to be sold
to US Federal agencies and companies that require equipment to be TCG
compliant.
 All PowerStore drives ship with D@RE enabled and are FIPS-140-2 Level 1
certified.
 Encryption is automatically activated during the initial configuration of a
cluster, except for systems that destined for countries where encryption is
restricted. For countries where encryption is prohibited, non-encrypted systems
are available.
 In countries where encryption is allowed, there is no way to disable data
encryption.
 When a new appliance joins an existing encrypted cluster, a check is run to
ensure that the appliance is encryption capable.
You cannot add a non-self-encrypting drive to an appliance.

You cannot add an unencrypted appliance to an encrypted cluster.

Data Encryption
KMS
PowerStore uses an embedded Key Manager Service (KMS) that resides in the
Base System Container (BSC) of the Active node of each appliance in the
cluster. The BSC on the active nodes work together and automate the
management of all encryption keys.
Each appliance has an independent keystore. All keys are aggregated to the
Master appliance in a cluster. A collective cluster backup of the keys can be run
from the master appliance. No external key management is available in the
initial release of PowerStore.
If for any reason the KMS fails or the key file cannot be read, encrypted data on
drives cannot be retrieved. It is very important to backup the keystore.
PowerStore Cluster
Appliance 1 Appliance 2 Appliance 3

(Master) (Standby) (Standby)
Node 1A Node 1B Node 2A Node 2B Node 3A Node 3B
(Active) (Active) (Active)
BSC BSC BSC BSC BSC BSC
KMS Collective
KMS KMS
Key Backup
Audit Event Audit Event Audit Event

Service Service Audit/Alerts/ Service Audit/Alerts/
Events Events
Cluster DB Cluster DB
Standby
Audit/Alerts/
Events
If for any reason the KMS fails or the keystore file cannot be read,
encrypted data cannot be retrieved! This is why it is very important to
backup the keystore file often and before and after any drive add or
remove procedure.

Data Encryption
Encryption Status
Encryption status for an appliance is reported at the following levels:
 Cluster
 Appliance
 Drive
Cluster Level
Cluster level encryption status reflects whether encryption is enabled on the

cluster. It is not related to drive status.
Appliance Level
Encryption status of an appliance appears as one of the following:
 Encrypted – Encryption capability is enabled on the appliance.

Data Encryption
 Unencrypted – Encryption capability is not supported on the appliance.

 Encrypting – Appears during the encryption activation process. When the
encryption process completes successfully, the cluster level encryption status
appears as Encrypted.
Drive Level
The encryption status is shown at the individual drive level on the Hardware tab of
the Hardware > Appliance page:
 Unsupported – The drive does not support encryption. (Not_Supported)
 Unknown – The appliance has not yet attempted to enable encryption on the
drive. This status may be seen during initial encryption activation on an
appliance, or during the addition of new drives to a configured appliance.
 Foreign – The drive is supported, but was taken from another system. The
drive must be decommissioned before it can be used.
(Supported_Locked_Foreign). This requires the help of Dell EMC support.
 Encrypting – The appliance is enabling encryption on the drive. This status
may be seen during the initial activation of encryption, or during the addition of
new drives to a configured appliance.
 Encrypted – The drive is encrypted. This is the typical state of a drive in an
appliance that is encryption capable.
 Disabled – The drive cannot have encryption enabled due to country-specific
import restrictions. If any drives report this status, all drives in the cluster will
report the same status.

Data Encryption
Drive Operation
 A drive failure that is detected during activation results in an alert.

 Possible alerts are: Unsupported drive or Foreign drive
 User interaction is required to fix the issue.
 A drive status of Foreign means that the drive was taken from another system.
 Using a drive from another system is discouraged, however it can be done

with the assistance of Dell EMC support.
 To repurpose the drive from a different system to a PowerStore, you must
use a unique PSID number that is obtained from the physical label on the
drive.
 PSID example: "UW4TH8J9PB1RTCAXBERTG2KXCAU9UDVS"

Data Encryption
User Actions
Keystore Alerts
D@RE uses the same alert framework as the cluster.
To access encryption alerts in the PowerStore Manager, go to Monitoring >

Alerts.
An alert that New keystore changes have occurred indicates that you should
backup (download) the changed keystore and save it for a future restore if required.
Back up Keystore
Backup
 A backup from the master appliance is an aggregate of keystore per cluster.
 An alert is generated whenever any appliance has key changes.
 All keystore backups are synchronized with the primary.
To back up a keystore go to Settings > Encryption > DOWNLOAD KEYSTORE

BACKUP > INITIATE DOWNLOAD.

Data Encryption
Keystore backup files are stored on a laptop or backup server.
Restore Keystore from Backup
NOTE: To restore a keystore backup in case of a failure, contact your service

provider. Dell EMC Technical Support have procedures to restore a keystore.
Audit Logs
On the PowerStore Manager Audit Log page, find events related to D@RE, such
as download-backups, and restores.
Audit Logs are at Settings > Audit Logs.

Data Encryption
Repurpose Drive
An SED is locked when an appliance is initialized or when it is inserted into an

already initialized appliance. The drive cannot be used in another system without
first being unlocked. The locked drive becomes unusable when it is inserted into a
different appliance, and its encryption status appears as Foreign or does not show
in the GUI or CLI. A drive can be repurposed for the new appliance, however, all
existing data on the drive will be lost.
Note: Using a drive from another system is discouraged, however it can be done
with the assistance of Dell EMC support.
Note: To repurpose a drive for use in PowerStore, contact your service provider.

Data Encryption
Serviceability
Here is an overview of some steps that you can take when troubleshooting
encryption issues:
1. Check cluster encryption status.
2. Check drive encryption status.
3. Check audit log for KMS events.
4. With assistance from your service provider, restore the appropriate archived
keystore file that was previously saved.
Array Decommission
If a PowerStore is no longer needed, it can be decommissioned. An array

decommission is invoked as part of leaving the cluster and as part of a
reinitialization. No user action is required.

Data Encryption
Data Encryption Key Points
Data Encryption Key Points:

 PowerStore uses Self-Encryption drives, keys, and an internal key manager.
 In countries where encryption is allowed, there is no way to disable data
encryption.
 Encryption status for an appliance is reported at the cluster, appliance, and
drive levels.
 To access encryption alerts in the PowerStore Manager, go to Monitoring >
Alerts.
 An alert is generated whenever any appliance has key changes.
 All keystore backups are synchronized with the primary.
 A backup from the master appliance is an aggregate of keystore per cluster.
 To back up a keystore go to Settings > Encryption > DOWNLOAD
KEYSTORE BACKUP > INITIATE DOWNLOAD.
 When troubleshooting encryption issues:
 Check cluster and drive encryption status.
 Check audit log for KMS events.
 IMPORTANT: Due to possibility of data loss the keystore file must be backed
up and saved before and after adding or removing any drive in the system!
 Seek assistance from your service provider to restore an archived keystore file.

Data Reporting/Analytics Using CloudIQ

Introducing CloudIQ
CloudIQ is a no cost, cloud-native application that proactively monitors, and

measures overall health of Dell EMC storage systems through comprehensive and
predictive analytics. CloudIQ is web-based and available anywhere.
CloudIQ features include:
Centralized Monitoring. Predictive Analytics. Proactive Health

Monitor the performance, CloudIQ recognizes Scores. Potential risks
capacity, configuration, anomalies in the patterns are identified before they
and data protection of of usage for systems, impact the environment.
multiple systems. predicting capacity and
performance.
CloudIQ PowerStore Requirements CloudIQ Registration

Requirements for PowerStore include: CloudIQ registration process:

 SupportAssist must be successfully  Register with support.emc.com or
configured with CloudIQ enabled. through DCEE Digital Customer
Experience and Enablement
 Valid service tag
 Enable SupportAssist for any
 Valid PowerStore cluster ID
PowerStore systems that are linked
 Internet access to to CloudIQ
https://cloudiq.emc.com
 CloudIQ relies on payloads that
 Registration with support.emc.com are sent to SupportAssist and
forwarded to CloudIQ.
 After registration, log in to
https://cloudiq.emc.com
 Add PowerStore clusters to CloudIQ
using the service tag and cluster ID

PowerStore Data in CloudIQ
Enable CloudIQ during the Initial Configuration Wizard, or later by going to

Settings > SupportAssist.
In order for PowerStore to share data with CloudIQ, SupportAssist must be

enabled with the Connect to CloudIQ checkbox selected. Any of the connection
types may be selected. Remote Support allows support engineers who are
authorized by Dell EMC to securely troubleshoot the system.
SupportAssist enabled
Connect to CloudIQ

Using CloudIQ Views with PowerStore, 1 of 2
The CloudIQ application is intuitive. Information is visual and accessed by clicking

the options on the left navigation. Experiment on your own using the CloudIQ
simulator.
Overview
The Overview provides a visual look at overall system health and connectivity.
Alerts, performance anomalies, and storage issues are available at a glance.
Clicking the hyperlinks (in blue) on this page opens information specific to that item.
For example, clicking the 3 critical alerts shows the alert details.
If any system has lost connectivity to CloudIQ,

it is listed here. See Admin > Connectivity for
connection details.
The PowerStore 1000X

shown here has passed all
health checks with a health
score of 100.

Health
Under the Health section, view system health (shown here), issues1, alerts2, and
updates.
Icons indicating components, configuration, capacity, performance, and data

protection statuses provide a quick reference to the health score of the system. For
each category, CloudIQ runs a check against a known set of rules and makes a
determination if a particular resource has issues. The health score of 95 for the
PowerStore 9000 is quickly described here as having lost 5 points due to capacity
issues.
Component status
Configuration status
Capacity status
Data Protection status
Performance status
1
Displays a comprehensive view of all current health issues across all storage
systems in the environment.
2
Displays any alerts reported in the last 24 hours.

Inventory
For a list of systems and hosts in CloudIQ, view the Inventory. Find the system
software version, physical location, and last contact time.
See how fresh the CloudIQ data is by checking the last contact time on the inventory view.
Capacity
The System Capacity page displays the system-level storage capacity. Quickly
see used and free storage on each system and storage efficiency metrics.

Performance
The System Performance page displays key system level performance metrics
across all systems. This includes IOPS, Bandwidth, and System Latency.
The second option under Performance is the Metrics Browser. Use this browser to
select metrics to create custom performance dashboards. Click here to see metrics
available for PowerStore.

Using CloudIQ Views with PowerStore, 2 of 2
More CloudIQ menu items include Cybersecurity, Reports, Lifecycle, and

Admin.
Cybersecurity
The Cybersecurity page displays cybersecurity system risk levels across all
systems. The risk level metrics include Risk Level, Evaluation Plan and Issues.
Other options under Cybersecurity are Cybersecurity Issues and Policy. The
Cybersecurity Issues list includes Severity, Issue, System and Created.
Cybersecurity policies are found on the Policy page.
Reports
Create reports about systems on the Reports page.

Lifecycle
The Lifecycle page provides a way to view system and component life cycles.
The Service Contracts option displays which systems are under service contracts,
contract numbers, type and expiration dates.

Admin
Under Admin, manage the connectivity and users in CloudIQ. Use this view to add
or remove systems and add or remove user privileges.
To troubleshoot a system becoming disconnected from CloudIQ, go to

Connectivity, which is shown here.

PowerStore System Information in CloudIQ
CloudIQ shows high-level information about all the systems that are sending data
to it. This makes it easy to monitor performance overall.
You can access information about any specific system in CloudIQ by clicking its
title on any of the CloudIQ views. Click to see how to get to these pages.
Health Score
This tab focuses on the Health Score of this particular system, showing the details
about any issues affecting the health score.
Launch PowerStore
Manager for this system
from this link.
Configuration
The Configuration tab shows configuration data about the system. Other tabs
below show details about the appliances, drives, hosts, storage, Virtual Machines,
and Storage Containers. If VMs and Storage Containers are not used, the tabs are
shown but hold no information.

Capacity
The Capacity tab displays detailed capacity information for the system, including
total, used, and free capacity, as well as efficiency metrics and how capacity is
allocated to different storage objects.

Performance
The Performance tab shows key performance metrics for storage objects that are
sorted by their 24-hour averages. These are the resources with the highest latency,
IOPS, and bandwidth. The bottom part of the page provides more detail about each
of those performance categories.
Cybersecurity
System Risk Level, Cybersecurity issues, and an evaluation plan are presented on
the Cybersecurity tab.


Data Reporting/Analytics Using CloudIQ Key Points
Data Reporting/Analytics Using CloudIQ Key Points:

 PowerStore reports performance analytics to CloudIQ.
 CloudIQ is a no cost, cloud-native application that monitors and measures
overall health of Dell EMC storage systems.
 Enable CloudIQ during the Initial Configuration Wizard, or later by going to
Settings > SupportAssist.

Appendix

Appendix
User Roles and Capabilities

Note: All users are automatically logged off after one hour of inactivity.
Operat VM Security Storage Administr Storag

or Administr Administr Administr ator e
ator ator ator Operat
or
Change X X X X X
your
system
local
password
View X X X X X
system
settings,
status,
and
performa
nce
informatio
n
Modify X X
system
settings
Connect X X X
to
vCenter
View a X X
list of
local
accounts

Appendix
Add, X X
delete, or
modify a
local
account
View X X
system
storage
informatio
n through
a vCenter
server
that is
connecte
d to the
system's
VASA
provider
and
register /
re-
register

Appendix
Advanced Setting Options for AD and OpenLDAP
OpenLDAP
AD Advanced Settings Advanced Settings

Appendix
Mapped Volumes screen

Appendix
Mixed Storage Protocol

Appendix
Assigning Protection Policies to Storage Resources
Storage Resources
A protection policy may be selected at the time the storage resource is created, or
associated with an existing storage resource later. Associating a protection policy
with a supported storage resource is not a requirement.
Protection Policy
Volume Group
Virtual Machine
(vVols) Volume
File System Snapshot Rules Replication

Rule
Protection policies with replication rules trigger a complete initial synchronization.
Only one protection policy may be applied to each supported storage resource:
 Standalone volume or a volume in a volume group (if the volume group has
no protection policy associated).
 A volume group, the policy is applied to all the member volumes.
 Member volumes that are removed from the protected group retain the
associated protection policy.
 To avoid any conflict with the volume group protection policy, new members
cannot have a policy that is associated with them.
 Virtual machines support only snapshot rules. The policy applies to the vVols
underlying the virtual machine.
 File systems support only snapshot rules and ignore the replication rules.
You can also apply protection policies to thin clones of volumes, volume groups, file
systems, and snapshots.

Appendix
You can substitute the protection policy that is applied to a storage resource with
another configured policy at any time.
 Substitute the protection policy with one that has different snapshot rules.
 If the associated policy has no replication rule, you can associate the resource
with one that has.
 If swapping a policy with one that also has a replication rule, ensure both
policies use the same remote system. This restriction avoids an unnecessary
initial, full sync operation.
To associate a protection policy with an existing storage resource, go to the

Protection card on the Overview page for the storage resource.
The tabs show a different method for performing the same task for each one of the
supported storage resources.
Volumes
To assign a protection policy to a volume using the PowerStore user interface,

expand the Storage submenu, and select Volumes.
2
3

Appendix
From the Volumes page, perform the following operations:

1. Select the volumes that you want to protect. Select any individual volume or
volume group members that do not have a policy that is associated at the group
level.
2. Open the PROTECT menu and select the Assign Protection Policy option.
3. From the list of existing policies, select the one that you want to associate with
the storage resource.
4. Click Apply to commit the changes.
In the example, the Policy1 policy is assigned to the volumes: Vol01 and Vol05.
One of the volumes (Vol01) is a member of the VolumeGroup-1 volume group.
The policy can be associated with this volume because the volume group has no
policy that is associated with it.
Volume Groups
To protect a volume group using the PowerStore user interface, expand the
Storage submenu, and select Volume Groups.
2
3

Appendix
From the Volume Groups page, perform the following operations:

1. Select the volume groups that you want to protect.
2. Open the PROTECT menu and select the Assign Protection Policy option.
the volume group.
4. Click Apply to commit the changes. The policy is applied to all the member
volumes of the volume group.
In the example, the Critical Applications policy is associated with volume group C2-
VG01. Two volumes that are members of this group are associated with the
protection policy.
File Systems
To protect a file system using the PowerStore user interface, expand the Storage
submenu, and select File Systems.
2 3
From the File Systems page, perform the following operations:

1. Select the file system that you want to protect.

Appendix
2. Open the PROTECTION menu and select the Assign Protection Policy
option.
the file system.
4. Click Apply to commit the changes. The policy is applied to the file system.
Replication is not supported for the file systems.
Virtual Machines
To protect a virtual machine using the PowerStore user interface, expand the
Compute submenu, and select Virtual Machines.
From the Virtual Machines page, perform the following operations:

1. Select the virtual machine that you want to protect.
2. Open the PROTECTION menu and select the Assign Protection Policy
option.

Appendix
the virtual machine.
4. Click Apply to commit the changes. The policy protects the virtual machine, and
the underlying vVols.
Replication is not supported for virtual machines.

Appendix
Metrics Available for PowerStore

When you create a custom performance dashboard, these metrics are available to
apply to use with a PowerStore system.
Metric Appliance File System Volume Volume

System Group
Bandwidth X X X X X
CPU X
Utilization
I/O Size X X X X
IOPS X X X X X
Latency X X X X X
% Read X
Queue Depth X

Appendix
View Detailed System Information
When in CloudIQ, click the

hyperlinked name of any
system to see its details.

Glossary
Base Volume
The original or production volume for a set of derivative snapshots, and thin clones.
Base Volume Family

The combination of the original or production storage resource volume and its set
of derivative snapshots and clones.
Days
Select the days on which a snapshot will be created.
File Snapshot Access Type

Only applies to File snapshot.
Protocol (Read-Only) - The entire file system snapshot may be shared and
mounted on a client like any other file system.
Snapshot (Read-Only) - The files within the snapshot may be access directly from
the production file system in the .snapshot subdirectory of each directory.
Frequency or Start Time

Select Frequency for a snapshot to be taken at a fixed interval.
Select the Time of day for a snapshot to be taken at a particular time of the
selected days.
Retention
Set a retention period. How long to keep snapshot.
RPO
Recovery point objective (RPO) indicates the acceptable amount of data, which is
measured in units of time, that may be lost in a failure.
Rule Name
Enter a name for the new rule.
Shadow Read/Write
The Shadow Read/Write snap is an internal object that is only used for the
replication and not exposed to the hosts.
Share-based QoS

Share-based QoS means when there is contention at system level, a volume with a
high-performance policy services more IOPS than a volume with a medium
performance policy.


PowerStore 2.0 Administration - Participant Guide - (PDF)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

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

PowerStore 2.0 Administration - Participant Guide - (PDF)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

POWERSTORE 2.

© Copyright 2021 Dell Inc. Page i

User Management ...................................................................................................... 3

Host Administration ................................................................................................. 16

Volume Administration ............................................................................................ 25

Volume Migration - PowerStore Resource Balancer............................................. 47

Page ii © Copyright 2021 Dell Inc.

NAS Administration ................................................................................................. 67

File System Administration ..................................................................................... 76

Data Virtualization .................................................................................................. 100