What’s New with the Dell PowerStoreOS 2.1 Release?
Tue, 15 Mar 2022 21:40:19 -0000
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2022 got off to a great start with the PowerStoreOS 2.1 release. It builds upon the previous release with performance improvements and added functionality to support current and future workloads. PowerStoreOS 2.1 provides these key features:
- NVMe/TCP – This protocol, based on standard IP over Ethernet networks, allows users to take advantage of their existing network for storage. NVMe/TCP is much more efficient, parallel, and scalable than SCSI. It makes an external networked array feel like direct attach storage. PowerStoreOS 2.1 introduced support for NVMe/TCP on PowerStore appliances, which allows users to configure Ethernet interfaces for iSCSI or NVMe/TCP host connectivity.
- SmartFabric Storage Software integration – (SFSS) is a new and innovative software product from Dell Technologies that enables an end-to-end automated and integrated NVMe/oF Ethernet fabric connecting NVMe hosts and targets using TCP. The solution was designed in partnership with VMware and provides enterprise organizations with the agility to stay ahead of growing workload demands. It supports modern, automated, and secure storage connectivity both today and for future hybrid cloud migrations.
- Dynamic Node Affinity – This feature allows PowerStore to dynamically set a node for access when mapping volumes to a host, and allows it to automatically change the node affinity for load balancing purposes.
- DC support with PowerStore 500 – Allows users to utilize DC power supply units instead of just AC with their storage appliance.
- Management and Serviceability
- Customizable Login Message – Enables storage administrators to create, enable, and disable a customizable login message.
- Application Tags – Allows users to specify a volume application tag during volume creation. This allows labeling of the volumes with a specific category and application type, based on the use case. Using application-centric management, users can view and sort through volumes by the application tag, by adding the new “Application” column in the list view.
- Thin Packages and Upgrades – In PowerStore Manager you can manage, upload, and deploy various non-disruptive upgrade (NDU) packages. Generally, the NDU packages consist of two categories: software releases and thin packages. Software releases are PowerStoreOS upgrades that contain the full operating-system (OS) image, or patch or hotfix images, for a specific OS version. Thin packages contain a smaller and more targeted amount of functionality than regular PowerStoreOS packages. These allow Dell to offer off-release updates such as hotfixes, disk firmware, pre-upgrade health check updates, and usually do not require node reboots. Thin packages are what is new with the 2.1 release and since they’re typically smaller in size, it saves users time and effort during the install process.
- Telemetry Notices – There is a notification displayed after the EULA which provides information about the Dell Telemetry collector and privacy policy information.
Check out the information below about this jampacked release: white papers, videos, and an interactive demo. The Dell Info Hub has a wealth of great material and we hope it helps you with your innovative technology solutions!
Resources
Documentation
- Dell Technologies Info Hub
- Dell PowerStore Info Hub Page
- Dell PowerStore: Technical Primer
- Dell PowerStore: Introduction to the Platform
- Dell PowerStore: PowerStore Manager Overview
- Dell PowerStore: Virtualization Integration
- Dell PowerStore: Clustering and High Availability
- Dell PowerStore: Best Practices
- SmartFabric Storage Software Deployment Guide
Videos
- SmartFabric Storage Software (SFSS)
Interactive Demo
Author: Andrew Sirpis, Senior Principal Engineering Technologist
Related Blog Posts
Build your own NVMe/TCP Sandbox
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 13:29:07 -0000
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Whether your summer is at an end in the North, or just getting started in the South, there is always time to play in a sandbox - an NVMe/TCP SANdbox that is…
Here are three ways to try NVMe/TCP:
- Hardware: Build a physical lab.
- No hardware: Contrary to the idiom, you can “build sandcastles in the sky” using the SANdbox Github repo for AWS cloud platform!
- Hardware, but no setup: Contact Dell or a Dell Partner for access to our Hands on Lab which is running ESXi 8.x and PowerStore 3.x with SFSS.
- No setup at all: You can experience the deployment process by using the Dell Technologies Interactive Demo.
Build a physical lab
You can leave the bucket and spade behind; here’s what you’ll need:
- A server running Linux or ESXi. Choose a version listed in the NVMe/TCP Host/Storage Interoperability Matrix
- A switch or two; the list of interoperable switches includes, but is not limited to, the NVMe/TCP Switch Interoperability Matrix. Note the KB article for non-validated switches.
- A storage array from the NVMe/TCP Host/Storage Interoperability Matrix.
- SmartFabric Storage Software (Optional, good for large solutions).
- See The NVMe/TCP Dating App blog.
- This software is free to try.
- See the SFSS Interoperability Matrix for compatible OSs.
Your lab setup will depend on what you want to learn from it. Below are four common reasons for building a sandbox. You can deploy according to best practices or minimise configuration depending on your use case and components of most interest to you.
Attribute | How to deploy using best practices | How to configure and verify connectivity | Performance | Behaviour during failure scenarios |
Bandwidth | Minimum of 25Gbps end to end | 10Gbps will suffice. | Minimum of 25Gbps. | 10Gbps will suffice. |
Physical architecture | Resiliency or redundancy across the solution. SFSS shouldn’t be installed on a host it controls. | One of each device will suffice. | One of each device will suffice. | Two of each component is needed. |
Number of switches | Two |
| Two, if switch performance is part of the test. Otherwise, one will suffice. | Two, because switch failure/reboot should be tested. |
Port Usage 1 | Dedicated ports for SAN traffic. Two on the host, two on PowerMax, or four on PowerStore. | A single SAN would achieve this purpose, i.e. one VLAN. | Ensure SAN traffic is not contending with LAN traffic. | Emulate your production design. |
Number of SmartFabric Storage Software VMs (Optional) | Two, with a Centralized Discovery Controller (CDC) each. It’s free to download and will have full functionality for 90 days. | Two, with a CDC instance in each, is recommended. It’s free to download and will have full functionality for 90 days. If there are limited resources, one will suffice. | One, with two CDC instances, will suffice since SFSS is not in the data plane. | Try using two, with a CDC in each. It’s free to download and will have full functionality for 90 days. |
1. On ESXi, configuring teaming on uplinks won’t enable failover of paths from one vmhba to the other.
The high-level steps are:
- Configure the switch(es) with two IP SAN VLANs. Set flow control to transmit off/receive off. IPv6 solutions should disable MLD snooping.
- Configure the virtual network interfaces on the host and storage array.
- Connect the host to the subsystem.
- To use a centralized discovery controller, install SFSS using the Deployment Guide.
- Or, for direct discovery, connect to the storage subsystems directly from the host using the instructions in the Host Connectivity Guides.
- Provision storage and deploy guest VMs (if not bare metal Linux).
- Complete your selected tests, take the rest of the day off, and head to the beach!
For the configuration steps to deploy NVMe/TCP lab with SFSS, see the SmartFabric Storage Software Deployment Guide.
For the steps to deploy NVMe/TCP on ESXi and Linux without SFSS, see the Host Connectivity Guides.
For the steps to deploy NVMe/TCP on PowerStore without SFSS, using direct discovery only, see the PowerStore Host Configuration Guide.
For a white paper on NVMe/TCP, see the NVMe, NVMe/TCP, and Dell SmartFabric Storage Software Overview - IP SAN Solution Primer.
Build a virtual lab in AWS
This solution will help you become comfortable with SAN automation without the need for hardware. Primarily focused on SmartFabric Storage Software, SANdbox is a GitHub repo that provides access to the resources you will need when automating your NVMe IP-Based SAN.
It includes:
- Links to relevant documentation
- Centralized Discovery Controller (CDC) downloads
- Sample scripts that automate configuration steps
- Instructions for creating a virtual lab in AWS
Set up a free AWS account if you don’t already have one. Then follow the instructions on the BrassTacks blog, which provides details on how to configure this lab option:
- Let’s play in an AWS based NVMe/TCP SANdbox!
- Let’s play in an AWS based SANdbox – Part 2 Setting up your AWS VPC and networks
Hands on Labs
The following hands on labs are available in Dell’s Demo Center:
Interactive Demos
Experience the configuration steps by going to the Dell Demo Center’s SmartFabric Storage Software Interactive Demo. You can do all of the modules or select the ones that are most interesting to you.
- SFSS for NVMe/TCP (with ESXi 8.0 and PowerStoreOS 3.x)
- SFSS for NVMe/TCP (with ESXi 7.0 and PowerStoreOS 2.1.x)
We hope that this is a helpful step in your journey towards an NVMe/TCP solution.
Resources
NVMe/TCP
- NVMe IP SAN Solution Brief
- NVMe IP SAN on dell.com
- PowerStore and PowerStore Networking Documentation
- Host connectivity guides
SmartFabric Storage Software
- SmartFabric Storage Software on InfoHub
Deployment Guide, White Paper, Videos, Support & Interoperability Matrix - SmartFabric Storage Software on Dell Support
User Guide, Troubleshooting Guide, API Guide, Release Notes, Security Configuration Guide - Interactive Demo
- SFSS on Dell Technologies
Solution Brief, Top 5 Reasons, Spec Sheet
The NVMe/TCP Dating App!
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 13:31:38 -0000
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Did you know that online dating started in 1959 using a mainframe computer with punch cards? Of course, it has come a long way since then, and now, even Dell Technologies has created a dating app. But it’s not for lonely hearts; it’s for NVMe/TCP servers and storage!
Over the last few years, a new storage networking technology has emerged: NVMe/TCP. This new specification gives us a Fibre Channel-like experience over an IP network. But what happens when servers and storage (aka endpoints) come online and wish to meet like-minded NVMe/TCP individuals in their area? Alone and lost in the Ether(net), they wait to be set up with a friend of a friend who, hopefully, speaks the same language, is a good listener, and maybe even has a GSOH? Or they could just register with Dell SmartFabric Storage Software!
NVMe/TCP endpoints register with the Centralized Discovery Controllers (CDCs) in the SFSS virtual machine. Here’s how it will work:
Compatible endpoints look for a CDC by sending out multicast DNS queries. Once the CDCs in SFSS have responded, the endpoints register by sending their name and dating profile, or “Log Page.” For endpoints that operate according to specifications TP-8009 and TP-8010, the discovery and registration process will be fully automated.
Endpoints subscribe to the SFSS’s notification service by sending an Asynchronous Event Request (AER). When a change occurs, such as a new storage subsystem, or an endpoint’s relationship status changes to “It’s complicated,” the registered endpoints are notified. This is called Asynchronous Event Notification (AEN) and is like Fibre Channel’s Registered State Change Notification (RSCN) service.
Next, we need a “match-maker.” The SFSS administrator will add hosts and storage to zones so that they reach out to each other directly.
The hosts are now able to connect and access the storage over high speed ethernet.
Here’s where it gets a bit awkward…
If, like me, you come from an application networking background, you’re used to setting up a network that gets a packet from A to B. However, with storage networking, we need a network that gets packets from A1 and A2, to B1, B2, B3, and B4. “Multi-pathing” is key! Storage networking is rather promiscuous compared to application networking! And, if you’re from a storage networking background, you might be thinking, “But what about single-initiator and single-target zoning?” Well, that’s not best practice either anymore. Once zoning is configured, hosts will connect with all accessible subsystems in the zone for optimal resiliency.
What does the network look like?
The people who designed NVMe/TCP took the lessons they learned from Fibre-Channel and applied them wisely. In FC, the convention is to deploy switches that will only bridge traffic between hosts and storage. Storage networks favor resiliency over redundancy, creating multiple active paths instead of creating idle paths ready to take over in the event of a failure.
We cover network planning in detail in the SmartFabric Storage Software Deployment Guide, but here are some highlights.
Our favorite topology is the dual-SAN topology with dedicated, air-gapped SAN switches. On the left is a small-scale version, with isolated SAN switches connecting hosts directly to the storage subsystem. On the right is a large-scale version with multiple arrays, an entire switch fabric for SAN A, and another separate fabric for SAN B.
Because Dell SmartFabric Services automates 99% of network deployment, storage engineers can deploy large switch fabrics without years of training and experience. Dell OpenManage Network Integration software provides a single portal for administering multiple SFSS and SFS instances.
It’s possible to use the same switches for application and NVMe/TCP storage traffic (we call this the converged topology), but we must plan carefully to prevent congestion spreading and Incast. After all, we don’t want anything to get in the way of true love!
The only way is up for NVMe/TCP. Ethernet speeds are increasing and becoming more affordable, and application developers will focus on software that can take full advantage of easier access to large amounts of data. We will see Dell and other vendors including TP-8009 and TP-8010 functionality in their products so that they may take part in the revolution.
For more help with planning your network for SFSS for NVMe/TCP, check out the Network Planning section in the SmartFabric Storage Software Deployment Guide.
Keep an eye out for new compatible endpoints appearing on the Dell Networking Support & Interoperability Matrix.
If you’d like to try configuring SFSS for yourself, take our Interactive Demo for a test drive!
Happy Valentine’s Day 2022!
Resources
- SmartFabric Storage Software on InfoHub (Deployment Guide, White Paper, Videos, Support & Interoperability Matrix)
- SmartFabric Storage Software on Dell Support (User Guide, Troubleshooting Guide, API Guide, Release Notes, Security Configuration Guide)
- Interactive Demo
- SFSS on Dell Technologies (Solution Brief, Top 5 Reasons, Spec Sheet)
Special thanks to Erik Smith, Heather Morgan, and Alex Loy.