DMX-4 Interview Preparation

DMX-4 Step by Step Procedure for storage provisioning & Reclamation in DMX-4

Storage Provisioning ­­­

 Creating STD device

 Forming Meta Device

 Mapping

 Masking

Storage Reclamation

 Unmasking

 Write Disable

 Un-mapping

 Dissolve meta

 Deleting hypers

Q: Host is unable to see the storage, what may be the problem?

1. Zoning/masking not done

2. Correct Flags not set at the FA level

3. HBA does not have correct driver or firmware

4. Multipathing issues

5. Lun offset might not have been done in case of old DMX.

Q: How doyou check the failed disks in theSymmetrixArray?

symdisk list-failed

or

symdev list-servcie_state failed and thenrun a symdev showon that device

Q: How doyou check the freespacebyDiskgroupand Arrayas whole?

symconfigurelist-freespaceor moreaccurate is symdisk list-dskgrp_summary

­

Q: Symmetrix Architecture

·        Front End Director

·        Cache

·        Back End Director

·        Disk Devices

·        Interconnect

VCM Database: The Symmetrix Volume Configuration Management (VCM) database stores access configurations that are usedto grant host access to logical devices in a Symmetrix storage array.

Zone Limits:

·       64 zone sets (max)

·       2000 zones (max)

·       1024 zones per zone set (max)

·        deafult should all ways be disabled (causes all port to see each other creating ghosts in a FA's login table)

Hard and Soft zoning: hard zoning is using the physical connection to block zone access and

soft zoning uses software to block access to a zone i.e software within a switch.

LUN Masking: There is other zoning which is called LUN masking, this is normally handled by the SAN array and only allows specific hosts to see specific devices within the array.

Q: Explain step by step to setup the access controls on symmetrix array?

Create Access Group:
(Create a command file with the following entries)
Create accgroup AccessGroupName;
(Execute the command file)
Symacl -sid 4282 commit -file commandfile

Add host access ID or user access ID to access group:
(Create a command file with the following entries)
Add host accid Id name Idname to accgroup GroupName;
Add user accid Id name Idname to accgroup GroupName;
(Execute the command file)
Symacl -sid 4282 -file "CommandFileName" commit

Create Access Pools:
(Create a command file with the following entries)
Create accpool AccessPoolName;
(Execute the command file)
Symacl -sid 4282 commit -file "commandfile"

Add devices to the access pool
(Create a command file with the following entries)
Add dev StartDevName:EndDevName to accpool AccessPoolName;
(Execute the command file)
Symacl -sid 4282 commit -file "commandfile"

Grant Rights to Access Groups:
(Create a command file with the following entries)
Grant access=Base/BCV/RDF to accgroup AccessGroupName to accpool AccessPoolName;
(Execute the command file)
Symacl -sid 4282 commit -file "commandfile" .

How do you take the backup/restore of ACLs?

Symacl -sid 4282 backup -file "commandfile"
Symacl -sid 4282 commit -restore -f commandfile

Explain step by step procedure to setup user authorization on symmetrix array?

User-to-role mappings have to be created:
(Create a command file with the following entry (ex:rolemap.txt))
Assign user H:Host\username to role Monitor;
Assign user D:Eng\username to role Admin;
(Execute the above file)
Symauth -sid 4282 -f rolemap.txt commit.
(Roles: None, Monitor, Storage admin, admin, Auditor, SecurityAdmin)

Enable the user authorization:
Symauth -sid 4282 enable

How do you perform backup and restore user authorization information?

Symauth -sid 4282 backup -f backupfile.cmd commit
Symauth -sid 4282 restore -f backupfile.cmd commit

How do you prepare the Storage Capacity planning reports by host wise?

1. By using EMC Control Center
2. By using symcli commands symcfg and symdisk
Symcfg -sid 4282 list -connections -capacity
Copy and past the output of the above command in excel file and format according to the requirement.
Or
Symdisk -sid 4282 list -by_diskgroup
Copy and past the output of the above command in excel file and do the format according to the requirement. 

CLARiiON Interview Preparation

CLARiiON

Q: Explain step by step procedure to assign a LUN to existing Host?

1.    Will check is there any free space is available in existing RAID group as per the required LUN Capacity.

2.    If not available create the new RAID group

3.    Bind the LUN

4.    Will go to the host‟s storage group properties and open the LUN tab and add the newly created LUN

Q: Explain step by step procedure for storage provision to the new host?

·        Installing HBA drivers in new host

·        Installing NaviAgent

·        Installing Powerpath if required

·        Creating Zone, add new zone to zone set, save and enable the zone.

·        Checking the host connectivity status in the array

·        Create a new RAID

·        Bind a LUN (create LUNs as per the host requirement)

·        Create a metaLUN if required

·        Create a Storage Group

·        Add Host and LUN in the storage group properties window

·        Reboot the host and check the LUN visibility at host-end.

Q: How do you troubleshoot if the Hosts are not registering issue?

1.    Right click on clariion array and check the connectivity status whether the initiators are showing. If it isshowing check whether the initiators are logged in.

2.    If it is showing under connectivity status and registered status showing "NO" then you need to installAgent or else you need to register it manually.

3.    If it is Registered and not logged in then you need to check the Zoning side and physical connectivity.

4.    if the host initiators are not showing under connectivity status at all then you need check the zoningand physical connectivity. If possible remove the zone and create it back. Once you create the zone don’t forget to Enable and Save the config. After this just refresh it.

5.    Once all these tasks are fine then you can login to Navisphere and update the array once. Update is over then you can go to connectivity status and check.

Q: Explain step by step procedure for LUN migration?

1.    Right Click on the LUN and select migrate from the drop down menu.

2.    Select the migration rate and click on OK.

3.    We can check the status from migration tab in the LUN properties page.

Q:How do you create a Meta LUN?

Right Click on LUN > Select Expand > Expand Storage Wizard will appear click on Next > Select theExpansion Type (Stripped or Concatenate) and Click on Next > Confirm the Preserve Data dialog >Select the members (LUN) of Meta and click on Next > Select the User Capacity and click on Next > givethe MetaLUN name, Default Owner, Expansion Rate, etc.. and click on Next > Review the Summary andclick on Finish.

Q: What are pre requisites for LUN migration?

1.    Migration moves data from one LUN to another LUN

2.    Any RAID type to any RAID type, FC to ATA or ATA to FC

3.    Neither LUN may be private LUNs or Hot Spares

4.    Neither LUN may be binding, expanding, or migrating

5.    Either or both may be metaLUNs

6.    Destination LUN may not be in a Storage Group

7.    Destination LUN may not be part of SnapView or MirrorView operations

8.    Destination LUN may be larger than Source LUN

VMAX Interview Preparation

VMAX

Q: Can you explain step by step procedure to implement Virtual/Thin Provisioning?

1.   Creating Data Devices:

#symconfigure -sid "SymID" -cmd "create dev count=16, config=2-Way-Mir,attribute=datadev, emulation=FBA, size=4602;" commit -v -nop

2.   Creating Thin Pool:

#symconfigure -sid "SymID" -cmd "create pool PoolName type=thin;" commit -nop

3.   Adding Data Devices to thin pool:

#symconfigure -sid "SymID" -cmd "add dev 10E4:10E5 to pool PoolName type=thin,member_state=ENABLE;" commit -nop

4.   Creating Thin Devices:

#symconfigure -sid "SymID" -cmd "create dev count=16, size=4602, emulation=fba,config=TDEV;" commit -nop

5.   Binding Thin devices to Thin Pool:

#symconfigure -sid "SymID" -cmd "bind tdev 10F4:10F7 to pool PoolName;" commit -nop

6.   Mapping and Masking TDEVs to host:

#symaccess -sid 1234 -name MyStorageGroup -type storage add devs 0A04:0A05 –wwn xxxx;

Q: Can you explain the step by step procedure for creating Auto provisioning Groups?

The steps for creating a masking view are:

1.   Search the environment for Symmetrix devices on each HBA

#symaccess discover hba

2.   Create a storage group (one or more devices)

#symaccess -sid XXXX create -name StorageGroupName -type storage devs 3250:3350

3.   Create a port group (one or more director/port combinations) 

#symaccess -sid XXXX create -name PortGroupName -type port -dirport 7E:0,7G:1,8F:0

4.   Create an initiator group (one or more host WWNs or iSCSIs)

symaccess -sid XXXX create -name InitiatorGroupName -type initiator -wwn wwn

5.   Create a masking view containing the storage group, port group, and initiator group.When a masking view is created, the devices are automatically masked and mapped.

#symaccess -sid XXXX create view -name MaskingViewName -sg StorageGroupName –pgPortGroupName -ig InitiatorGroupName

Q:How do you configure the symmetrix array for FAST?

1.    By defining symmetrix tiers

2.    By defining FAST Policies

3.   By defining storage groups

FAST VP IN VMAX 10K

FAST VP IN VMAX 10K

CONFIGURING FAST VP

1.   Create a FAST VP Policy (Expand the).

2.   Select Create Policy (To Create a FAST VP Policy, R.C on the Policies folder and traverse the context menu through FAST, then FAST Policy Management, and select Create Policy).

3.     Create FAST Policy (This FAST Policy will tell the FAST feature that at any one time a maximum of 3% of the storage can reside on Enterprise Flash Drives , 30% on Fiber Channel  drives , and 100% on SATA drive technology.)

4.     Navigate to the Storage Group(To apply the policy to the Storage Group which we created as part of Step4, Expand the Navigation Tree to “Production_SG” by expanding Symmetrix Masking folder and then Storage Group Folder. A storage group is a collection of volumes which will be presented to a host when the storage group is associated to an initiator group and port group as part of a masking view).

5.     Select Associate FAST Policy (R.C on “Production_SG” and navigate the context menu through FAST, then Fast Policy Management. Click Associate FAST Policy).

6.     FAST Policy Association (In the Associate a FAST Policy with Storage Group dialog, select the FAST VP Policy that you created in step 3. Click the OK button when complete and Yes to the confirmation dialog).

TimeFinder Clone session using a device group

TimeFinder Clone session using a device group

Below are the steps to create and delete a Clone copy session using a Device Group( DG ).

1.   Create a Regular Device Group.

symdg create TestDg -type regular

2.   Add the devices to device group.

Add the standard devices AAA( source ) and AAB( Target )to the DG.Assume this will add as DEV001 and DEV002.

symld -sid 1234 -g TestDg add dev AAA
symld -sid 1234 -g TestDg add dev AAB

3.   Create Clone Session

symclone -g TestDg create DEV001 sym ld DEV002

The above command will create a clone session and also make the target device in NotReady( NR ) state.You can also add the -precopy option to start a background copy from source to target device, prior to the activation.

symclone -g TestDg create DEV001 sym ld DEV002 -precopy

4.   Activate the session

symclone -g TestDg activate DEV001 sym ld DEV002

The above command will start the copy operation from sorce device to target.And also make the target device to Read/Write,thus accessable to the host.

5.   Check the status of copy operation.

symclone -g TestDg query 

Once the the source device is fully copied from source to target , the state of the pair will change from 'CopyInProg' to 'Copied'.

6.   Break the session

symclone -g TestDg terminate DEV001 sym ld DEV002

This will terminate the clone copy session , deletes the pairing information from the storage array and removes any hold on target device.You have to 'Terminate' while the pair in 'Copied' state to get a fully valid data.

step by step procedure for TimeFinder Mirror Operations

step by step procedure for TimeFinder Mirror Operations

Establish: Synchronize the standard volume to the BCV volume
Split: Terminate mirror relationship between standard and BCV volumes
Restore: Synchronize contents of BCV volume to the standard volume
Verify: Provide current status of BCV/standard volume relationship.

Creating regular device group
symdg create -type regular

Adding standard devices to the device group
symld -g add dev -sid XXXX

Associating BCV devices to the device group
symbcv -g addl dev -sid XXXX

Establish mirror relationship between STD and BCV devices
symmir -g -full establish -v

Verifying the synchronization status
symmir -g verify -synched

Splitting mirror relationship between STD and BCV devices
symmir -g split

Restoring BCV
symmir -g restore

Verify the restore status
symmir -g verify -synched 

Step by step procedure for TimeFinder Snap Operations

Step by step procedure for TimeFinder Snap Operations

Create
symsnap –g savedb create DEV001 vdev ld VDEV005 –svp save_db

Activate
symsnap –g savedb activate DEV001 vdev ld VDEV005

Restore
symsnap restore DEV001 vdev ld VDEV005

Terminate
symsnap –g savedb terminate DEV001 vdev ld VDEV005 

Isilon - Overview

Isilon

Isilon IQ X200 (TIER 1 and TIER 2 Process)

Isilon Network Arictecture:

1. Client/ Application Layer

2. External Network Standard Gigabit Ethernet Layer.

3. Isilon IQ Storage Layer.

4.Internal Network Intracluster Communication InfiniBand or Giga Layer.

OneFS (File System, Volume Manager, RAID)

Integrating an Isilon cluster with Active Directory, LDAP, and NIS.

NAS Solution Type

NAS Solution Type:

1. Traditional NAS (Independent Boxes on the network)

2. Clustered NAS (All NAS Boxes belong to Unified Cluster-Single point of Managment).

·        SmartQuotas(Quota Management, Thin Provisioning)/ (Monitoring disk usage, for analysis and planning, Monitors and linits disk usage, Enable notification)

·        SmartConnect(Load Balancing, Seamless Failover, Performance Zones)

·        SyncIQ (High Speed Replication, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuance)

·        SnapShotIQ (Instant Recovery, Data Protection)/(One-time snapshots, Scheduled snapshots)

NFS and SMB File Sharing Protocals.

Cluster Maintaince (Upgrades, Firmware updates, moving a cluster, Anti-virus scanning Service, Managing threats)

Backup: Configuring NDMP Backup (Symantec NetBackup, EMC NetWorker, IBM Tivioli Storage Manager, CommVault).

Step by Step Procedure for storage provision in DMX-4

Step by Step Procedure for storage provision in DMX-4

Creating STD device

·         Verify the Symmetrix status

symconfigure –sid 4282 verify

·         If any hung activities found abort

symconfigure –sid 4282 abort

·         Verify the available free space

symconfigure -sid SymmID [-v | -freespace [-units cylinders | MB]] list

or

symdisk –sid 4282 list  –disk_group 2

·         Create Command file

Create dev count=8, size=12394, data_member_count=3, emulation=FBA,  config=RAID-5,

disk_group=2;

·         Verify the command line syntax by performing PREVIEW using Symconfigure command

Symconfigure –sid 4282 –f Create_hypers.txt –v –noprompt preview

·         Verify the Array readiness by performing PREPARE using Symconfigure command

Symconfigure –sid 4282 –f Create_hypers.txt –v –noprompt prepare

·         Execute COMMIT using Symconfigure command

Symconfigure –sid 4282 –f Create_hypers.txt –v –noprompt commit

·         Verify the newly created devices

Symdev –sid 4282 list –noport

Forming Meta Device

oVerify the Symmetrix status

symconfigure –sid 4282 verify

oIf any hung activities found abort

symconfigure –sid 4282 abort

oCreate Command file

Form  meta from dev 26CA, config=striped, stripe_size=1920;

add dev 26CB:26E4 to meta 26ca;

oVerify the command line syntax by performing PREVIEW using Symconfigure

ommand

Symconfigure –sid 4282 –f meta.txt –v –noprompt preview

oVerify the Array readiness  by performing PREPARE using Symconfigure

command

Symconfigure –sid 4282 –f meta.txt –v –noprompt prepare

oExecute COMMIT using Symconfigure command

Symconfigure –sid 4282 –f meta.txt –v –noprompt commit

oVerify the newly created meta devices

Symdev –sid 4282 list –noport

Mappping

·         Find the host connected Director and Port details

symcfg –sid 4282 list –connections

oFind the available addresses on that port

symcfg –sid 4282 list –address –available –dir 7d –p 0

oCreate a command file for mapping

map dev 26ca to dir 7d:0, lun=036;

oVerify the command line syntax by performing PREVIEW using

Symconfigure command

symconfigure –sid 4282 –f create_hypers.txt –v –nop preview

oVerify the Array readiness  by performing PREPARE using

Symconfigure command

symconfigure –sid 4282 –f create_hypers.txt –v –nop prepare

oExecute COMMIT using Symconfigure command

symconfigure –sid 4282 –f create_hypers.txt –v –nop commit

oCheck the device have been mapped

symcfg –sid 4282 list –address –available –dir 7d –p 0

Mappping

oMasking devices to the host

symmaskdb –sid 4282 –wwn 10000000c93f62cf –dir 7d –p 0 add devs  26ca –nop

Symmask –sid 4282 –refresh

oCheck whether devices have masked

symmaskdb -sid 4282 list database -dir 7d -p 0