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When configuring a new PowerStore X model appliance, it is highly recommended to apply these best practices to enable maximum performance. These settings should be changed before provisioning any resources on the appliance to avoid interruptions.
Starting with PowerStoreOS 1.0.3, these best practices can be applied during the Initial Configuration Wizard (ICW). In the ICW, an optional optimization step is displayed after the cluster is configured. At this step, the administrator can customize the MTU size and provide additional IPs to be used as iSCSI targets. Starting with PowerStoreOS 2.0, clustering is supported on PowerStore X model appliances, and the number of additional IP addresses requested by the system depends on the appliance count and model. The system does not request any additional IPs for any PowerStore 1000X model systems in the cluster because those models do not require additional iSCSI targets. Then, the system automatically configures the cluster with the best practices described in this section, and no further action is needed. The following figure shows the Optimization page of the ICW for a PowerStore X model cluster:
We recommend completing best practices optimizations before adding a PowerStore X model appliance to an existing cluster. Starting with PowerStoreOS 2.0, the add appliance wizard has an Optimize Performance checkbox. If this box is selected, the add appliance wizard requests additional IP addresses for the new appliance. The system then automatically optimizes the newly added appliance to be consistent with the other appliances in the cluster. If the cluster is not optimized and there are no plans to change this state, you can add the new appliance without selecting Optimize Performance. Mixing optimized and non-optimized appliances within a cluster is not supported.
If you are planning to apply these best practices to an already configured system, it is recommended to first upgrade the system to PowerStoreOS 1.0.3 or later. Starting with PowerStoreOS 1.0.3, because some of the steps in the procedure are automated, fewer manual steps are required to achieve the same settings and results.
For more information about how to apply the PowerStore X performance best practice tuning, reference article HOW17288 on Dell Support.
When implementing the best practices in this document, we also recommend reviewing and applying the VMware vSphere settings that are described in the PowerStore Host Configuration Guide at Dell.com/powerstoredocs and the Dell PowerStore: Best Practices Guide on the PowerStore Info Hub. The Dell Technologies Virtual Storage Integrator can also be used to automatically apply these best practices to your host.