TechBook update for PowerMax

Well PowerMax has been out for a few months now but I only just finished my VMAX/PowerMax/VMware TechBook update here. It's always a bear to be perfectly honest since it encompasses all best practices but the blog can only buy me so much time before we need it in official form. I've managed to get...

Online SRDF device expansion – SRDF/Metro

As I mentioned in my post on SRDF online device expansion, we do not yet support online expansion of SRDF/Metro devices (until 5978.444.444). There are some SRDF enhancements in PowerMaxOS, however, which can get you pretty close so I thought it might be worthwhile to explain how to do that. We now support moving SRDF/Metro...

ALUA and Mobility ID on VMAX

A recent interaction with a customer led to this blog post concerning the Mobility ID that we support for VMAX devices and the multipathing policy of ALUA (Asymmetrical Logical Unit Access). Mobility devices are the only ones that support ALUA on the VMAX. ALUA multipathing is typically associated with non-VMAX arrays like the former Clariion...

VMAX TB and best practices

I've just completed the latest update to the VMAX/VMware TechBook, a tome (I can be derogatory since it's mine) of some 400 plus pages that explains how best to use VMware on the various VMAX/VMAX3/VMAX AFA arrays. You can find it here. When customers ask me about best practices, a link to this doc is...

PP/VE 6.1, SRDF/Metro and Autostandby

PowerPath Virtual Edition (PP/VE) 6.1 is now available for download from support.emc.com. This release offers a new feature which has been available previously on VPLEX Metro configurations, Autostandby or ASB.  When enabled (default), ASB is able to determine which device paths have a higher latency to storage, automatically assigning them to a standby status.  This capability is...