Join us for a chat on Dell Storage Integration.

Click here to join the conversation and chat with experts on Dell Storage Integration Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012.

Chat Transcript

Dell-KongY Hello everyone :)
venkat I have one query on Dell-storage can i proceed ?
Emptyone Hi Kong
Dell-KongY Hi Tom!
Dell-KongY venkat - what is your question?
venkat we have Md3600f Model
venkat we are not seaing much security on that while connecting to Storage we are missing any option for that any Plugin ?
Dell-LanceB We are waiting on a few more people to join before we get started ...
linuxanoop :)
Dell-KongY @venkat - what kind of security are you expecting? The Md3600f supports Seds - self-encrypting drives as well as instant secure erase for data protection.
Dell-LanceB Alright, lets get started today ...
Dell-LanceB Today we are going to talking about Dell Storage integration
venkat Kongy :- i am asking about while connecting to Storage it's not asking any password.
Dell-LanceB We have experts on to answer you questions today ...
Dell-Harmeet @venkat - please tell us what storage product you hve and how are you connecting to the same
Dell-LanceB Please fell free to ask questions today ...
venkat we have Md3600f Model, we are connecting through "power vault Modular Disk Storage Manager "
Dell-Harmeet @venkat - What Fiber Channel Switch are you using
Dell-LanceB @venkat - what type of hosts are you connecting you md3600f to?
venkat we have Linux Hosts
venkat but My basic quistion is while connecting to Storage to Manage it's not asking any password if we give Ip of Storage Manager it will scan and it will connect
venkat so any one can connect if they have "power vault Modular Disk Storage Manager " on that Vlan
Dell-LanceB Do not forget we also have experts from Compellent and Equallogic on to answer your qestions today.
Dell-DennisS Hello everyone!
Dell-LanceB it is too early for me today ... that was supposed to be Questions ...
bsousapt Hello !
narendra hi
bsousapt Hi Denniss, Kong, Lance, Hans !
Dell-KongY Hi Bruno, Hans & D!
HansDeLeenheer Hello Bruno
Dell-LanceB Hello Bruno ...
Dell-LanceB Did everyone hear about the new products and update coming from Dell Storage that were announce earlier this month?
narendra no
linuxanoop venkat : We also have the same issue. No security otherthan storage array
HansDeLeenheer yes, I heared that Compelent has a new big upgrade
HansDeLeenheer could you elaborate on whats new?
bsousapt Hans...you know it :)
Dell-Justin We announced Compellent Storage Center 6.0 at Dell Storage Forum in London. This release is focused on scalability, stability, and getting into 64-bit.
Dell-LanceB Here is the press release on the Storage Center 6.0 - http://www.compellent.com/products/storage-center.aspx
shameer Great, But Pls reply to Anoop's Query .
Dell-Tony I will add that Storage Center 6.0 added all of the Vaai primitives for Vmware as well.
linuxanoop Dell-team: Is this the platform to ask the secuirty concerns for Dell storage Array?
HansDeLeenheer Are there new connections too? 10gbe? 8GB Fc? 10gbfcoe? 40Gb Fcotr?
Dell-LanceB @linuxanoop and others, I am trying to get someone to hep with your security questions on the Powervault ... stand by ...
bsousapt Question : Does the Fs7500 supports the Vasa for Nfs within Vmware environments ?
linuxanoop Thanks
Dell-LanceB @bsousapt the fs7500 does not at this time ...
Dell-Harmeet @anoop and @sachin Mdsm can be secured to ensure that it asks for a password before allowing any changes to be done to the system
bsousapt Thanks Lance..!
Dell-Justin Really no new support on the connectivity front, but obviously 16Gb Fc is around the corner. Still working diligently on the Fcotr implementation. :)
Dell-Harmeet @anoop and @venkat: You can give a quick call to tech support and they will walk you through the steps to setup the password for Mdsm that manages the Md3600f
Dell-Justin On the Compellent, today we have support Fc (4gb/8gb) and iscsi (1gb/10gb), plus Fcoe
Dell-Harmeet When you buy a traditional storage, you get some connectivity options that you are struck for the life of the array.
Dell-Harmeet With Compellent, when we launch a tested and validated 16gbps Fc, you will be able to upgrade existing arrays with the same.
Dell-DennisS @anoop you can look at page 21 of this guide for how to set a password for Mdsm http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/md3000/en/1stgen/ug/pdf/uga00mr.pdf
Dell-LanceB Thanks Dennis ...
HansDeLeenheer what is the page size on the Compellent? (> Eql = 15mb)
Dell-Justin Default page size on the Compellent is 2MB. We have options for 4MB and 512kb.
linuxanoop Thanks Dennis. Let me have a look into this
HansDeLeenheer Is that the same granularity it uses for sub-lun tiering?
Dell-Justin Hans - Yes.
Dell-LanceB Is anyone running Exchange or Sql on Hyper-v or Vmware?
HansDeLeenheer Is that a default setting or per volume?
bsousapt i run Sql on Vmware
Dell-Harmeet May we know what storage you use?
bsousapt better said : i run Sql on Vmware with Equallogic , with Vmfs vols fro Sql data
Dell-Justin You can have multiple page sizes per pool and then select the page size that you would like for a specific volume when it is created.
bsousapt Ps6000 and Ps4000
Dell-Tony Hans - You can choose your page size per volume
Dell-Harmeet @bsousapt: Do you use the Auto Snapshot Manager?
bsousapt @dell-harmeet - i use tradicional snapshots and replication plus 3rd party backup tools (veeam)
HansDeLeenheer is there an Auto-snapshot manager plugin for Sql/exhc/scarepoint on the Compellent too?
HansDeLeenheer Veeam rules!
Dell-Justin Hans - Yes ... It is called Replay Manager
Dell-Justin Hans - We have plugins for Sql Server, Exchange, and Hyper-v within Replay Manager
HansDeLeenheer So no Scarepoint at this time?
Dell-Harmeet @bsousapt: We provide Autosnapshot Manager (ASM in short) for Microsoft and also Asm for Vmware
Dell-Justin Hans - In addition to full Powershell support for Replay Manager and the Storage Center itself.
bsousapt Harmeet : can you give me some inside what would Asm do for my Sql backup/replication needs ?
HansDeLeenheer Is there supprot for single-item-recovery on Cml or Eql for Exchange?
Dell-Harmeet @bsousapt: These software help you take consistent snapshots that quiesce Sql and Exchange at the storage level.
Dell-Harmeet That bakes backus and recovery really fast
Dell-Harmeet That Makes backups and recovery really fast
Dell-Justin Hans - for Cml, we resell Kroll Powercontrols for single item recovery. Using that with our Replay Manager replays you can recover items in just a few minutes.
Dell-Harmeet Much faster than using the same capability in server software
bsousapt Harmeet : since i present vols to Vmware and from those vols i create virtual disks allocated to my Sql servers, what would be the benefit ?
bsousapt or would/should i use the Asm at the Vmware level ?
Dell-Harmeet Yes
Dell-Harmeet Or there is another way
Dell-Harmeet You can run the iscsi initiator in the windows server instances that run on top of Vmware and deploy Asm Microsoft version on these virtual servers
Dell-Harmeet That way, you can get application level consistent snapshots
bsousapt yes...but that's another story..using iscsi initiators on the guest Vm's
bsousapt from a Dell services, do you have any metric of what's more common ? a Sql server hosted by a Vmware volume, or Sql with iscsi initiators ?
Dell-Harmeet They both have their advantages
HansDeLeenheer I do Sql on Rdm
Dell-Harmeet And we have seen pretty good performance if the iscsi initiator is running on the virtual instance of the Windows server
bsousapt Dell-harmeet : i do have another challenge...i have windows file servers with thousands/maybe millions of files to backup and that takes a huge amount of time...would Asm be helpful on this in any way , as long as i can read such snapshot over Ndmp , for instance ?
HansDeLeenheer you can mount a disk 1) Vmdk on Vmfs / 2) Rdm / 3) iscsi in Guest. Does the Asm suport all of these for Sql/exch ?
HansDeLeenheer Same question for Compellent Replay Manager
bsousapt Hans : we can take it offline...but i don't see , anymore, advantages regarding Rdm vs Vmfs :)
HansDeLeenheer lerger disks - better throughput
Dell-Tony Hans - For Replay manager the volume must be on a Rdm or Software Iscsi within the guest
Dell-Harmeet Hmmm. If you were using Asm with say Commvault, Commvault can actually index and compare the last backup from the previous snapshot with the new snapshot and do incremental backup only.
narendra In case hyper network lan card is deleted automaticaly so how to recover it
bsousapt Dell-harmeet : thanks..i need to look into it..we use Legato not Commvault
Dell-Tony Hans - Compellent does support Commvault Snap Protect as well for Vmware which is really nice
Dell-Harmeet This is a unique capability that I am aware of Commvault developing with Equallogic.
Dell-Harmeet Legato... I would doubt.
Dell-Harmeet Ndmp is a backup protocol for Nas systems (nfs/cifs). Eql is a Block Storage.
bsousapt i do understand...it's something that i will look into it, thanks for the tip !
Dell-Justin Hans - Current version of Replay Manager can backup an Rdm, but has to be recovered via iscsi to the guest. iscsi is supported for backup and recovery on the volume is conneted via iscsi to the guest.
Dell-Harmeet @bsousapt: You may also want to look at the replication capabilities that are bundled. Helps you setup Dr. You already have the software if you bought Equallogic.
bsousapt Dell-harmeet : true..but as soon as i make a block storage being used to serve cifs/nfs i have in hands a Nas :) ..therefore i mentioned Ndmp..doing guest Os backups of millions of files is just huge pain...
HansDeLeenheer Bruso > need an Fs7500?
bsousapt Dell-harmmet : That's what i currently do
bsousapt Hans ...looks like it :)
HansDeLeenheer then don't mention Cifs! it's Smb! :-P
Dell-Harmeet bsousapt: Fs7500 is unique as it is designed to handle a lot of very small files.
HansDeLeenheer Ok, let's talk Fs7500 then.
HansDeLeenheer what protocols does it support?
Dell-Harmeet Nfs. Cifs
HansDeLeenheer what versions of Smb?
bsousapt it's Cifs :D
HansDeLeenheer 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 ?
narendra i m ping ing one of my gest server from host it's showing very large latency What is the resone behind this ?
bsousapt Hans > we are taking all the chat...someone else needs to talk as well :)
HansDeLeenheer I'm used to take all the chat :) look at the transcript of last week
bsousapt narendra > that question has so many possible answers that's hard to say anything useful.
narendra What might be the solution for same .
bsousapt storage means talking also about d2d ? :)
HansDeLeenheer @bruno > Cifs is what Microsoft wants us to call Smb! The open standard is Smb
bsousapt eeh...i know :)
narendra if any process to restore the previous virtual lan switch configratuion in Hyper V
HansDeLeenheer So ... no one on the Smb question?
Dell-LanceB @hans - sorry ... your question was about Smb version support on the Ffs7500, is that right?
Dell-Tony Fyi, the Compellent Vmware vcenter Plugin 1.5.1 will be availible as of tomorrow via Compellen Knowledge Center. This release fully supports Vmware Esx(i) 4.0, 4.1 and 5.0.
bsousapt Dell-tony great ..!
bsousapt full Vaai for 4x and 5 esxi?
Dell-Tony Bruno - yes with Storage Center 6.0
bsousapt Thin Volumes Vm stun support or that's only still within Eql ?
Dell-Tony Compellent will not be supporting Stun as of right now, it will be coming in a later release
Dell-Tony We do however support the Thin Provisiioning Space Reclaim
bsousapt ok thanks
narendra any process to restore the previous virtual lan switch configratuion in Hyper V?
bsousapt space-reclaim for esxi vmfs volumes or also for guest Os vols, like ext2/3/4 , ntfs , etc ?
HansDeLeenheer @tony: is that Cml only or also on Eql?
Dell-Harmeet @hans: Cifs (SMB 1)
HansDeLeenheer So is there an intention to get the Fs7500 to support Smb2.2 for Hyper-v R3?
Dell-Tony I believe the Eq does not support the space reclaim at this time
bsousapt Eql supports Tp stun
Dell-Harmeet @hans: I will have to cehck and revert back
dell-marty For restoring previous lan switch config in Hyper-v: Hyper-v Manager/failover Cluster Manager do not provide a way to backup or restore those settings. Either have to restore the host or re-do the switch config.
Dell-Tony but is coming in a future firmware relase. I could be incorrect on that though
Dell-Harmeet @hans: do not remember all the roadmap items off hand please
Dell-Harmeet @hans: however, behind the Fs7500, you will have the Eql arrays and directly connecting the hyper-v servers to them on iscsi would usually be an elegant solution
Dell-Harmeet @hans: there is a single pane of management, which ever way you deploy
bsousapt Dell-harmeet : good point...just connect the hypervisor hosts directly into a block storage
Dell-Harmeet @hans: in my opinion, direct block access is usually faster
bsousapt agree with that, Dell-harmeet
bsousapt however the hyper-v needs to have a cluster aware filesystem , otherwise it would not make use of all capabilities
HansDeLeenheer yes, but I think in function of dedupe too and that is easier on Fs than on block, expecially wth Ocarina techniques
Dell-LanceB Well our time is just about up for today, we have had some great questions. Does anyone have one last question before I wrap things up for today?
Dell-Harmeet @hans @bsousapt: Here is how I would deploy: Use Native Equallogic arrays for everything possible. For additional File services, I would use Fs7500.
bsousapt Hans : block dedup is the way..a file it's always stored within a block(s) so let's dedup blocks to achieve a higher Blocks Per Hour aka Bph :)
SilvieD Hello, can I report dell hardware issues here?
Dell-Harmeet And We assure you that we are working on that
Dell-Harmeet We have already announced a standalone product called Dr4000
Dell-Harmeet Please stay tuned and we will give you lots more
Dell-Harmeet We really appreciate your business and your confidence in us.
Dell-Harmeet @bsousapt: Please do a Google search of Dell Dr4000.
bsousapt no need 4 it..thanks
Dell-LanceB Thanks everyone for joining today, we had some great conversations around Dell Storage ...
Dell-KongY @silvied - you can report your Hw issues at en.community.dell.com/support-forums/default.aspx
bsousapt i was at the Dell Sf London and got introduced to it :)
Dell-KongY Thanks everyone!
Dell-Tony Thank you!
Dell-LanceB Join us next week as we chat on Dell Ups
Dell-Harmeet @bsousapt: Awesome :)
bsousapt it was..it was !
bsousapt thanks guys for , yet, another good chat session !