PowerMax Posts

PowerMax Posts

Posts focused on PowerMax

  • VMFS to NVMeoF offline migration

    We’ve been working with VMware for many months on a process to do offline migration from VMFS datastores to NVMeoF without incurring the penalty of moving all the data as is required with online migration – whether SvMotion or PPME. While the process itself is not complex, many ancillary concerns needed addressing such as checking……

    Read more: VMFS to NVMeoF offline migration

  • vSphere 8.0 U1

    Most vSphere updates are not significant enough for a blog post, but VMware has been treating updates as an opportunity to add features which normally you might only see in a major release. This is part of their ongoing strategy. And so it is with 8.0 U1 (8.0.1) which has a lot of updates for……

    Read more: vSphere 8.0 U1

  • Dell SRDF SRA 10.0.1 and Targetless Gold Copies

    As part of the PowerMaxOS 10 SR released today, we have a new SRDF SRA which has a feature I’ve been requesting for, well, years: targetless gold copies on failover (planned or disaster recovery). The new capability will enable customers to avoid creating extra devices when they are in need of a pristine copy of……

    Read more: Dell SRDF SRA 10.0.1 and Targetless Gold Copies

  • PowerMaxOS 10 Service Release

    We’ve dropped our latest service release (SR) for PowerMaxOS 10 (6079) which covers the PowerMax platforms 2500 and 8500. You can find all the documentation here. Service releases are generally focused on bug fixes and performance enhancements, and this release is no exception, but sometimes they include features which did not make it into the……

    Read more: PowerMaxOS 10 Service Release

  • VSI 10.2

    A rather minor release for VSI, 10.2 does not have any new features, but it does fix an issue with PowerMax best practices. NVMeoF BPs We recently introduced the ability to set path management for NVMeoF devices. This management is similar to that for traditional SCSI devices in that there is a LUN setting and……

    Read more: VSI 10.2

  • SRDF SRA Upgrade

    Our SRDF SRA version 10 has been out for some time now which means more customers are beginning to think about upgrading their 9.2 environment. Version 10 supports all the configurations that 9.2 does (you can compare release notes), along with more recent releases of both PowerMax and SRM. This is enabled by the backward……

    Read more: SRDF SRA Upgrade

  • Veeam PowerMax Plug-in Update

    Let me start by getting the obvious question out of the way. No, the update is not about REST 10 support. This is a patch for the current plug-in to enhance functionality with REST 9. I highly recommend it, however, so please read on if you use the plug-in. PowerMax Plug-in Version 1.0.90 Veeam posted……

    Read more: Veeam PowerMax Plug-in Update

  • VMware Cloud Foundation & Storage Support

    VMware Cloud Foundation, or VCF, has been coming up in conversations with customers more frequently these days, mostly in the PowerFlex space. And while I did an extensive post on it previously with PowerMax, it has been some three years and at that time I did not discuss PowerFlex (or ScaleIO as it was then……

    Read more: VMware Cloud Foundation & Storage Support

  • Authorizations (symauth) with SRDF SRA and SRM Appliance

    Our PowerMax arrays have a number of security features that prevent users from performing certain storage activities when they have access through Unisphere, Solutions Enabler, or any other application for that matter. In the early days of the Symmetrix array family, the two features most commonly used were Symmetrix Access Control (Lists), aka symacls, and……

    Read more: Authorizations (symauth) with SRDF SRA and SRM Appliance

  • vCLS and Virtual Volumes

    vCLS vCLS or vSphere Cluster Services was introduced in vSphere 7.0 U1 as a way to manage vSphere DRS and vSphere HA with the intended goal, as far as I understand it, to allow these services to eventually run without the vCenter (not yet). vCLS is represented by eponymous VMs, with 1-3 per vSphere cluster….…

    Read more: vCLS and Virtual Volumes

  • PowerMax Migration – SCSI -> NVMe/TCP

    For the past two posts (1, 2) I’ve covered using PowerPath Migration Enabler (PPME) to move data between Dell storage arrays. PPME, however, can also be used to migrate devices within a single array, in this case PowerMax. One of the best use cases for this is when you are ready to make the leap……

    Read more: PowerMax Migration – SCSI -> NVMe/TCP

  • PPME PowerMax to PowerFlex – virtual

    This is the second example from the post which introduced you to PowerPath Migration Enabler, or PPME. While the first example was a migration on a physical host, by far the more common scenario, for the second example, I’m going to move data within a VMware VM from PowerMax to PowerFlex. Yes, these are the……

    Read more: PPME PowerMax to PowerFlex – virtual

  • PPME PowerMax to PowerFlex – physical

    This post continues from the last one which introduced you to PowerPath Migration Enabler, or PPME. Here we want to look at migrating devices from PowerMax to PowerFlex using PPME on a physical box. To demonstrate how the process is accomplished while online, an Oracle database will remain running on the PowerMax source devices during……

    Read more: PPME PowerMax to PowerFlex – physical

  • PowerPath Migration Enabler (PPME)

    As so many of our customers move from one of our platforms to another, I thought it would be useful to write about the inherent migration capability of our multipathing software PowerPath. It is known as PowerPath Migration Enabler. I plan on doing this over a few posts to cover some of the different use……

    Read more: PowerPath Migration Enabler (PPME)

  • VSI 10.1 – HPP for PowerMax NVMeoF devices

    A quick update for the latest VSI release 10.1. Most of the new features are for PowerStore but one of my requests for PowerMax made it into the release. I asked development to add the ability to set host best practices for NVMeoF devices. This is similar to the best practices for NMP, except that……

    Read more: VSI 10.1 – HPP for PowerMax NVMeoF devices

  • ESA 7.1

    This post is one of the rare ones where I can cover both PowerFlex and PowerMax together since I’ll be discussing Enterprise Storage Analytics (ESA) release 7.1. ESA 7.1 is not a major release, and yet is an important one for PowerFlex. There are three major features, or rather new support in this release: vRealize……

    Read more: ESA 7.1

  • Partial SRDF/Metro 3-site with SRM (SRA)

    I recently ran across a customer configuration I had not seen before with 3-site SRDF/Metro (ASYNC leg with failovertoasync site set in Global XML), and it gave me some concern. Let me talk about the setup and then cover the concerning aspects. I will say from the outset, I actually didn’t think this setup was……

    Read more: Partial SRDF/Metro 3-site with SRM (SRA)

  • VDI – vVol Linked Clones

    Many enterprise customers use at least part of their infrastructure to host VDI environments or virtual desktops. Even at Dell I can order up one of these desktops through a self-service catalog if the need arises. I’ve seen a variety of different types of VDI implementations from NFS to FC, sometimes on a small dedicated……

    Read more: VDI – vVol Linked Clones

  • vSphere 8

    *** Nov 8, 2022 update *** VMware has declared this IA release as GA now. You don’t have to change anything it magically becomes GA. ************************* A new major vSphere release is available for download today – vSphere 8. VMware previously announced this at VMware Explore in August, but now you can actually get the……

    Read more: vSphere 8

  • PowerMax CSI v2.4 – REST 10, SRDF changes

    PowerMax CSI v2.4 is available on GitHub now and can be found here. This CSI is one developed by Dell which enables provisioning of PowerMax volumes to kubernetes environments. While it is typically used in physical environments where both FC and iSCSI are common, it can also be used in VMware environments when the VM……

    Read more: PowerMax CSI v2.4 – REST 10, SRDF changes

  • VASA Provider certificates

    This one is not in my wheelhouse by a long shot, but having recently assisted our sales team with one of their customers, it is clear our documentation on certificates with the VASA Provider (VP) is lacking. My intent is to present the options available to the user with the VP certs. I’m not going……

    Read more: VASA Provider certificates

  • Dell ESA 7.0

    Our second release today which supports the new PowerMaxOS 10 and thus REST API 10, as well as the new platforms PowerMax 2500/8500, is Dell (nix EMC) Storage Analytics or ESA 7.0. I’m focusing on PowerMax obviously, but there are lots of other features for the other platforms if you use those. The main features……

    Read more: Dell ESA 7.0

  • Dell VSI 10.0

    One of two plugin releases today along with ESA, the Dell (nix EMC) VSI 10.0 plugin that supports the latest Unisphere REST 10 is available for download. This release supports our latest PowerMaxOS 10 and PowerMax 2500/8500 arrays. Besides that general support, there are two main features added in VSI 10 for the PowerMax array:……

    Read more: Dell VSI 10.0

  • PowerMax 2500/8500 GA software posting

    You’ll recall we announced our new PowerMax platform, the 2500/8500, back in May of this year. Well, today 7/19/22, both the hardware and software released. While the new array obviously must be ordered, the various software products can be downloaded on delltechnologies.com. I have a number of posts on this site which cover the new……

    Read more: PowerMax 2500/8500 GA software posting

  • Unisphere 10 VMware missing info

    Never one to avoid the issues in our software, I wanted to tell you about a bug that surfaced late in our VMware integration in Unisphere. I don’t know how widely it is utilized, but I have had positive feedback from storage administrators about the integration because it gives them insight into the VMware environment,……

    Read more: Unisphere 10 VMware missing info

  • NVMe/TCP and SRDF (with VMware)

    I’m not sure this topic requires a full post, but if you don’t work with NVMeoF technology much, you may assume that it is just a different way to connect to your storage and everything else functions pretty much the same as it does with FC/iSCSI connectivity. Spoiler – it doesn’t. Here I am interested……

    Read more: NVMe/TCP and SRDF (with VMware)

  • PowerMax File Replication Failover

    Sorry for the delay from the previous PowerMax File Replication post, but I had lots of other tasks related to the release I had to complete so I just had a chance to get back to File. I wanted to complete our discussion by showing both planned and unplanned failover. We’ll take it from the……

    Read more: PowerMax File Replication Failover

  • VSI 9.1

    I had a request to do an updated post on Virtual Storage Integrator or VSI. The last post I did was on version 8.6 which had some new features for the PowerMax array. And although the current version 9.1 released in January does not have new features for PowerMax, the interface has changed a bit……

    Read more: VSI 9.1

  • Reprotect SRDF before reprotect SRM

    I have worked with a number of companies that have a DR requirement that their production environment switch sites (for the sake of this post we are speaking of a traditional two site configuration) every six months. Think of this as taking the place of regular testing at the DR site. Really then these companies……

    Read more: Reprotect SRDF before reprotect SRM

  • NVMe/TCP on the PowerMax

    With our new platform we’ve introduced another NVMeoF solution – NVMe/TCP. We will not be supporting FC-NVMe on the PowerMax 2500/8500 in the GA release, however, I’d guess it will come in the future. The reason for the focus is simple, the future is in TCP. IDC is projecting that TCP will have the majority……

    Read more: NVMe/TCP on the PowerMax

  • SRDF SRA 10.0

    Along with the new PowerMax as expected we have a new SRA release, version 10.0. The primary feature of the release is to support Solutions Enabler 10.0 and the new platform – PowerMax 2500/8500. But there are a few items to discuss concerning the release, one a new requirement, the second a bug fix which……

    Read more: SRDF SRA 10.0

  • PowerMax 2500/8500

    Today we announced a new set of platforms, the PowerMax 2500 & 8500. For ease of reference and to avoid confusion, I’ll refer to this as the V4 platform to distinguish it from the previous PowerMax which I’ll call the V3. The boxes run a new operating system, PowerMax OS 10. This OS is unique……

    Read more: PowerMax 2500/8500

  • File on PowerMax 2500/8500

    File The new PowerMax has upgraded its NAS capabilities from the previous eNAS implementation and is now called PowerMax File. Because there is new hardware with this release, if you are running eNAS on a PowerMax 2000 or 8000, PowerMax File will be a new implementation. There will be a number of ways to bring……

    Read more: File on PowerMax 2500/8500

  • Dell PowerMax Content Pack v1.4 for VMware Log Insight

    I’ve posted the newest build of the content pack for the PowerMax array in conjunction with the announcement of our newest platform – the PowerMax 2500 and 8500. In alignment with the new naming I spoke about in my GA blog post, the content pack will now be named the Dell PowerMax Content Pack (DPCP)….…

    Read more: Dell PowerMax Content Pack v1.4 for VMware Log Insight

  • PowerMax File Replication

    Continuing from my last post on PowerMax File, I’m going to cover how to replicate an NFS filesystem from one PowerMax to another. Replication So let’s move now to protect our FS by setting up replication. There is also the option to use snapshots for protection, but I’m going to cover the new replication capability……

    Read more: PowerMax File Replication

  • Consistent LUN ID

    Here’s one of those old issues that seems to keep coming up – consistent LUN IDs with VMware. As this discussion has been around since VMware introduced vMotion, I’ll be brief with the history. I’m going to just talk about LUN IDs from the VMware side here. On the PowerMax you can use something called……

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  • The Dell EMC PowerMax and VMware vSphere Configuration Guide

    For those customers running on PowerMax, I’ve published the new The Dell EMC PowerMax and VMware vSphere Configuration Guide which is the replacement for Using Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax Storage in VMware vSphere Environments. The new TechBook only covers PowerMax integration/best practices with VMware. While the previous doc was over 400 pages, the new……

    Read more: The Dell EMC PowerMax and VMware vSphere Configuration Guide

  • Dell EMC CSM with replication

    Dell EMC has created a GitHub for container storage modules or CSM. Dell EMC writes that “the Dell Container Storage Modules (CSM) enables [sic] simple and consistent integration and automation experiences, extending enterprise storage capabilities to Kubernetes for cloud-native stateful applications.” Quite a mouthful. To de-marketize the statement, CSM sits on top of other integrations……

    Read more: Dell EMC CSM with replication

  • VMAX/VMware TechBook terminal release

    I’ve posted what is the terminal release of the TechBook Using Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax in VMware vSphere Environments. For those not familiar with it, this book contains the general best practices of using VMware with the VMAX/PowerMax family of arrays. This latest update has, for the most part, minor changes, and will cover……

    Read more: VMAX/VMware TechBook terminal release

  • Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax CP 1.3/Log Insight 8.6

    VMware recently released the vRealize Suite 8.6 which includes Log Insight version 8.6. You may have noticed they skipped Log Insight 8.5, though it is not the only vRealize product that did not have a version 8.5. My guess is VMware wanted to re-align all vRealize versions so they simply skipped 8.5 for some products….…

    Read more: Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax CP 1.3/Log Insight 8.6

  • SRM 8.5

    SRM 8.5 was released a couple days ago now (10.5.21) and offers some interesting additions. At the top I’ll note that our SRDF SRA 9.2.x is compatible with SRM 8.5. For many point releases, VMware does not significantly alter how SRM works and thus simply brings certification forward from the previous release. Since we support……

    Read more: SRM 8.5

  • vRO Plug-in for PowerMax 1.2.2 – vRO 8.4

    The latest release of the vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) Plug-in for PowerMax 1.2.2 is now available for download here. No new features in this one, but we added support for vRO 8.4. I know I’ve had my share of queries from customers and internal sales about vRO 8.4 support so here it is.

    Read more: vRO Plug-in for PowerMax 1.2.2 – vRO 8.4

  • PiTs with SRM and the SRDF SRA

    I wanted to revisit this post on using point-in-time (PiTs) with SRM and the SRDF SRA having just demonstrated SRM with virtual and physical infrastructure. A dual purpose environment was the original impetus for adding the parameter IgnoreActivatedSnapshots so many years ago now, and as it has been four years since the post I thought……

    Read more: PiTs with SRM and the SRDF SRA

  • The Dell EMC PowerMax Veeam Plug-in

    Today the Dell EMC PowerMax Veeam Plug-in for Veeam Backup & Replication went GA and is available for download from their website here under the Storage Plug-ins tab.  The plug-in has been a high priority ask from our customers for a while because taking advantage of our local replication technology provides the same type of……

    Read more: The Dell EMC PowerMax Veeam Plug-in

  • Oracle RAC vVol test failover without SRM (import snapshot)

    Our vVol 2.0/VASA 3.0 implementation which includes SRDF replication, is best implemented with VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM). We do not recommend using PowerCLI as there are manual processes involved and there are known issues. There’s really little comparison between the two. SRM handles all the orchestration for you and is the superior solution for……

    Read more: Oracle RAC vVol test failover without SRM (import snapshot)

  • Oracle RAC on VMFS – SnapVX restore for testing

    I’ve had some questions from customers running Oracle RAC on VMFS who would like to use TimeFinder/SnapVX to test, rather than Oracle tools like RMAN. This is a sensible course given that for large databases RMAN takes a long time to restore, and SnapVX is basically instantaneous. But why use either solution when I can……

    Read more: Oracle RAC on VMFS – SnapVX restore for testing

  • PowerMax Data Reduction & VMware

    Before I discuss data reduction on the PowerMax, I will acknowledge that this can be a confusing topic or process in general. A couple of our field guys, Dan McKenney and Ken Gotsch, get frequent questions in the field as they work with data reduction all the time in VMware, so I offered to write……

    Read more: PowerMax Data Reduction & VMware

  • VMUG webcast

    My colleague Tom O’Neill and I recently did a webast for the VM Users Group on PowerMax and vVols. You can find the recording below. I also included a link to the demo in the webcast which I have separately uploaded to my YouTube channel. Webcast Demo

    Read more: VMUG webcast

  • vSphere 7.0 U2 – iSCSI, vVols

    VMware recently released Update 2 for vSphere 7, both ESXi and the vCenter. I’m going to cover a few of the new additions in this release, though not all, so I have put in the links to the READMEs. VMware updates used to be minor events, but more and more they are packing these with……

    Read more: vSphere 7.0 U2 – iSCSI, vVols

  • SRM 8.4 and the SRDF SRA

    VMware recently released a bunch of new software versions for various products including vSphere and SRM. I’m going to cover the updates to vSphere in a different post soon, so this one is only for SRM. The new 8.4 release doesn’t have a lot of features in it (mostly UI changes), but it is required……

    Read more: SRM 8.4 and the SRDF SRA

  • Multiple SRDF/A groups and the SRDF SRA with SRM

    Yes, another SRM post. I guess I do write a lot of them to be fair. I’m not actively seeking them out I assure you. As is the case the vast majority of the time, this is drawn from a customer experience. I had not given much thought to the differences in these scenarios I……

    Read more: Multiple SRDF/A groups and the SRDF SRA with SRM

  • CSI Driver for PowerMax & VM in-Guest iSCSI

    Last year I did a post on VMware’s Cloud Native Storage and how you could use their CSI (container storage interface) driver to provision to Kubernetes running in VMware via VMFS, NFS, and vVols, and all on the PowerMax. The direct integration makes this ideal. I used a vanilla K8s implementation, though vSphere has other……

    Read more: CSI Driver for PowerMax & VM in-Guest iSCSI

  • PowerMax 2021 Q1 Service Release

    This is our Service Release for the GA PowerMaxOS that came out in September 2020. This is our standard practice after a major release so that we can both fix any issues that may have come up (though I should note we do have a recent service pack, too) and to include some new features……

    Read more: PowerMax 2021 Q1 Service Release

  • Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax Content Pack 1.2

    I’ve updated the Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax Content Pack for VMware Log Insight on the VMware Marketplace. The new version is 1.2. It does take a day or two for the new version to show up within your own Log Insight Marketplace instance, so if you would like the latest version now you’ll have……

    Read more: Dell EMC VMAX and PowerMax Content Pack 1.2

  • VSI 8.6 – PowerMax snapshot policies and hosts

    VSI 8.6 is available for download today. This version does away with the previous process for registering the vCenter as part of the OVA deployment. Instead it provides a new interface which I’ll cover below. Along with registration updates, there are a number of new features for PowerMax. At a high-level these are the new……

    Read more: VSI 8.6 – PowerMax snapshot policies and hosts

  • SRDF SRA 9.2.0.1 Hot Fix

    This post will cover a new hot fix (HF) build for the Dockers version of the SRDF SRA. The new release is tagged as version 9.2.0.1. Development has worked overtime to come up with solutions to the couple of issues I’ve outlined in this previous post: Requirement to re-run the enableAutoSSLCertGen.sh shell script after reboot……

    Read more: SRDF SRA 9.2.0.1 Hot Fix

  • Modifying VMware parameters with PowerMax – queues, et al

    I’ll provide the warning up front that there is nothing new or exciting in this post. It falls into the category of repetitive posts (here’s another good example) I do sometimes in the hope of summarizing information for customers so they don’t have to wade through my tome of best practices. Of course with that……

    Read more: Modifying VMware parameters with PowerMax – queues, et al

  • vVols – FC and iSCSI together

    Let’s continue our previous discussion around iSCSI by looking at accessing vVols with FC and iSCSI in the same datacenter. Beginning with the Embedded Dell EMC VASA Provider version 3.0 (aka eVASA), we support the use of iSCSI with the Protocol Endpoint. (Note it is only the eVASA version that supports iSCSI. You can’t use……

    Read more: vVols – FC and iSCSI together

  • VMware and iSCSI

    The topic for this post is not one I’ve spent much time on, either in testing or documentation. It’s not that we don’t have customers that use iSCSI, but they are few and far between, and the subset of those who use VMware is even smaller. We tend to see iSCSI (and NFS for that……

    Read more: VMware and iSCSI

  • PowerMaxOS 5978 Q3 2020 release

    Today we officially launched the latest PowerMaxOS (5978.669.669) which, along with accompanying software releases, offers some new VMware capabilities that have been in high demand from our customers. Most notably, these include support for replication with VMware Virtual Volumes (vVol) – vVols 2.0/VASA 3.0 support – and support for the SRM Appliance with our SRDF……

    Read more: PowerMaxOS 5978 Q3 2020 release

  • SRDF/Metro Smart DR

    One of the new features we released with the latest PowerMaxOS is known as SRDF/Metro Smart DR, or MetroDR for short. MetroDR expands the previous functionality of a third leg off the R1 or R2 of an SRDF/Metro pair by allowing either the R1 or R2 to update the third leg. In essence this is……

    Read more: SRDF/Metro Smart DR

  • vVols, SRDF, and VMware SRM on PowerMax

    We have finally released our long awaited VASA 3 implementation for vVols 2.0 which includes support for SRDF Asynchronous (SRDF/A) replication. Lack of replication support has been a blocker for many customers to even look at vVols since a DR solution is such an essential component of a business (as it should be). And having……

    Read more: vVols, SRDF, and VMware SRM on PowerMax

  • ESA 6.0

    Dell EMC Enterprise Storage Analytics (ESA) 6.0 is now available for download here. We’ve actually had a couple releases prior to 6.0: 5.0 and 5.1. I did not blog about those versions because they were focused on other platforms, that and we have capable bloggers from those platforms who covered the releases. The current release……

    Read more: ESA 6.0

  • Sizing vROps with Dell EMC Storage Analytics

    I thought I’d cover how you can size (vCPU, memory, and disk) vRealize Operations when using Dell EMC Storage Analytics (ESA). When you deploy vRealize Operations, VMware will offer sizing options in the deployment wizard ranging from Extra Small to Extra Large. The sizing options will dictate how many vCPUs are assigned and how much……

    Read more: Sizing vROps with Dell EMC Storage Analytics

  • Snapshot metrics in VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols)

    I was working on an update to the vVol whitepaper for our next release (VASA 3), and I realized that I failed to include a more detailed explanation of snapshot reporting in the VASA 2 paper. I’ll try to get that done in the next couple weeks (done), but in the meantime let me run……

    Read more: Snapshot metrics in VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols)

  • VMware Cloud Foundation with FC, vVols, and SRDF Metro

    I’ve been meaning to talk about this topic for a while, but lack of lab resources and other pressing projects kept pushing it to the back burner. I’ve bundled a few things together in this post since they all center on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), and as I’ve used the same environment for everything, creating……

    Read more: VMware Cloud Foundation with FC, vVols, and SRDF Metro

  • PowerMax, vVols, VMware CNS, and K8s

    I’m going to veer from my usual topics today to talk about Kubernetes (K8s) and vSphere given the new features in vSphere 7 (e.g. Project Pacific, Tanzu). K8s and Docker are everywhere these days – from many of VMware’s newer appliances like SRM to our own VSI plugin. Initially, containers generally were associated with being……

    Read more: PowerMax, vVols, VMware CNS, and K8s

  • KB on 3-site SRDF/Metro Cascaded with SRM

    I’ve been helping out development with some future configuration scenarios with SRM and the SRDF SRA and came across a behavior that could cause customers a problem running a 3-site SRDF/Metro cascaded setup. Funny thing is, the behavior of our array code which brings about the issue has been around for at least 2 PowerMaxOS……

    Read more: KB on 3-site SRDF/Metro Cascaded with SRM

  • Non-Disruptive Migration (NDM) with VMware

    Non-Disruptive Migration, or NDM, is a capability offered on our arrays that allows you to move from an older array to a newer array with no downtime (hence non-disruptive). NDM has been around for years at this point, but I see it infrequently in VMware environments because of the use of VMware’s own NDM, Storage……

    Read more: Non-Disruptive Migration (NDM) with VMware

  • VMware SRM 8.3 GA

    In addition to vSphere 7, VMware released SRM 8.3 today. The big ticket item in SRM 8.3 is support for Virtual Volume (vVol) array replication. Prior to 8.3, VMware only supported vSphere Replication with vVols but now array vendors can enable support via their VASA Providers. With SRM and vVols there is no requirement for……

    Read more: VMware SRM 8.3 GA

  • vSphere 7, PowerMax and FC-NVMe

    vSphere 7 is GA today and introduces support for NVMeoF or NVMe over Fabrics. The PowerMax has supported NVMe over Fibre Channel (FC-NVMe) since our last major release, 5978.444.444, at that time making the PowerMax a complete NVMe solution from host to back-end. Until now, however, FC-NVMe could not be used in VMware environments.  **************************Update****************************……

    Read more: vSphere 7, PowerMax and FC-NVMe

  • VSI 8.3

    VSI 8.3 came out today and offers a number of features for the PowerMax/VMAX platform. This release essentially brings us to parity with the 7.x client for our array, and in fact a little beyond. The binary and documentation are available on the support site here. The product guide contains information on upgrading from earlier……

    Read more: VSI 8.3

  • Load balancing VAAI commands in PP/VE

    I had a recent query concerning whether PowerPath/VE supported the load balancing of VAAI commands. Though I was fairly certain this feature was added, my memory not being what it used to be, I did some digging to confirm. Most of the VAAI commands – ATS, WRITE SAME, and UNMAP were added in PP/VE 6.1……

    Read more: Load balancing VAAI commands in PP/VE

  • Update – datastore corruption issue with XCOPY

    *** Update 2-27-2020 *** We have now updated the DTA for this issue where you can find the relevant patch number for the array. Please see article 000537000 for details. Note that the Dell EMC patch is what prevents the corruption. The VMware patch is recommended, but it is not required to enable the fix….…

    Read more: Update – datastore corruption issue with XCOPY

  • PowerMax Content Pack for Log Insight v1.1

    I’ve posted an update to the The Dell EMC VMAX And PowerMax Content Pack For VMware vRealize Log Insight which you can find on the VMware Marketplace. You can also install it directly from your implementation as below: The new version only has a couple changes. The first is a renaming of “VVol” references to……

    Read more: PowerMax Content Pack for Log Insight v1.1

  • Custom create volumes workflow in vRO PowerMax Plug-in

    Our REST API is quite versatile and as you may have recently seen, we continue to take advantage of the capabilities it has via the PowerMax Plug-in; but of course it can’t do everything. One of our customers recently requested the ability to create devices on the array without having to add them to a……

    Read more: Custom create volumes workflow in vRO PowerMax Plug-in

  • vRO Plug-in for Dell EMC PowerMax Version 1.2

    Version 1.2 of the PowerMax vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) Plug-in is now available for download from our support site or the VMware Marketplace. For those new to vRO or the plug-in, the PowerMax Plug-in allows users to run workflows using the REST API (part of Unisphere for PowerMax) to automate both provisioning and protection, among other……

    Read more: vRO Plug-in for Dell EMC PowerMax Version 1.2

  • Tech Preview of SRM with vVols on PowerMax

    Disclaimer: This post concerns pre-GA releases from both VMware and Dell EMC. This overview of new technology represents no commitment from VMware or Dell EMC to deliver these features in any generally available product. Today at VMworld Europe, VMware and Dell EMC introduced a preview of VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) with VMware Virtual Volumes……

    Read more: Tech Preview of SRM with vVols on PowerMax

  • SRDF SRA TechBook 9.1

    I published the latest SRDF SRA TechBook version 9.1 today. You can get it here. A reminder that this TechBook only covers SRA 9.x. Prior SRA versions are in the original TB which is located in the documentation library. Besides the changes for 9.1, I added some sections which I have covered in this blog……

    Read more: SRDF SRA TechBook 9.1

  • Dell EMC Enterprise Storage Analytics 5.0

    A new release of Dell EMC ESA is now available for download. Software and documentation can be found here. This release supports the newest platforms (Dell EMC and VMware) and fixes a couple bugs, one of which impacts the PowerMax. Here is the excerpt from the Release Notes: The new support for Dell EMC is……

    Read more: Dell EMC Enterprise Storage Analytics 5.0

  • Targetless SnapVX Gold Copies with SRDF SRA

    Gold Copies The SRDF SRA for VMware SRM has the capability to take copies of the R1 or R2 before running a failover of the environment. This adds a layer of protection in case something happens to either of the production copies of data. Unfortunately, these XML files (EmcSrdfSraProtectionSiteGoldcopyConfig.xml and EmcSrdfSraRecoverySiteGoldcopyConfig) cannot take advantage of……

    Read more: Targetless SnapVX Gold Copies with SRDF SRA

  • VASA Provider 9.1 ESXi validation errors

    In our recent PowerMaxOS release I mentioned that we have a new VASA Provider, version 9.1. I noted our recommendation to upgrade to this release, particularly for the performance benefit related to snapshots; however, I failed to mention a VMware bug in ESXi 6.7 that can cause issues when deploying the new version. I was……

    Read more: VASA Provider 9.1 ESXi validation errors

  • VSI 8.2

    VSI 8.2 is now GA and brings a few features for the PowerMax/VMAX platform. The binary and documentation are available on the support site here. The product guide contains information on upgrading from earlier releases which is made all the more easy with DockerHub. If required (e.g. isolated environments) you can upgrade via a package….…

    Read more: VSI 8.2

  • DTA 537000 – VMFS corruption with XCOPY

    *** Update 2-27-2020 *** We have now updated the DTA for this issue where you can find the relevant patch number for the array. Please see article 000537000 below for details. ****** ******* 11/6/19 update I’ve been asked to provide any update I can on this DTA since it has been over a month, so……

    Read more: DTA 537000 – VMFS corruption with XCOPY

  • PowerMax 5978.444.444

    Today is general availability for the new PowerMaxOS release. As I’ve done for previous releases, I want to cover the features/improvements that have some relationship to VMware environments. I will be adding this information into my whitepapers and TechBooks over the course of perhaps the next month, but for now it will be available here……

    Read more: PowerMax 5978.444.444

  • SRDF/Metro online device expansion

    With the new PowerMaxOS 5978.444.444 release, you can now expand SRDF/Metro devices, and thus the VMware datastores built on top of them, online. You may recall in our current release you can expand SRDF/Metro devices but it does require suspending access to the R2 by changing the RDF mode to synchronous. I wrote this up……

    Read more: SRDF/Metro online device expansion

  • SRDF SRA and SRM Test Failover review

    Occasionally I’ll get a question from a customer or even employee about doing failover testing in SRM with our SRDF SRA. While I have this documented extensively in the TechBook (TB), and most who contact me have been trying to use it, perhaps it is the very detailed nature of it that makes it challenging……

    Read more: SRDF SRA and SRM Test Failover review

  • VAAI statistics

    One area of VMware/PowerMax integration that has frustrated customers since inception is the inability to get VAAI command information from the array. The VAAI paper mentions that there is a column available called “Extent Based Clone” which will display source or target depending on how the device is being used; but that has very limited……

    Read more: VAAI statistics

  • VMworld vBrown Bag Presentation

    Today at VMworld Scott Delandy (@scottdelandy) and I did a presentation on using VMware Cloud Foundation with PowerMax as a Workload Domain. This is a new capability VMware is offering so that customers are able to use existing infrastructure as part of their VCF environment. Since VMware’s SDDC Manager cannot control the PowerMax, you instead……

    Read more: VMworld vBrown Bag Presentation

  • Reducing snapshot VM stun time: VVol VASA Provider upgrade

    One of the features of Virtual Volumes (VVols) is that when you take a VM snapshot it uses the array technology instead of VMware’s host-based solution. If you use VMware with VMFS or NFS you are probably quite familiar with the sight of VMware’s snapshot files which include a .vmsd file, a couple vmdks –……

    Read more: Reducing snapshot VM stun time: VVol VASA Provider upgrade

  • SRDF R2 with SRM in a disconnected state

    Last May we introduced our latest SRDF SRA, version 9. This release offers a new feature, the ability to run a test failover when the production site is unavailable. I spoke about this in a post at that time which is available here.  Some customers choose to run the test with just the host network……

    Read more: SRDF R2 with SRM in a disconnected state

  • PowerMax vRO Plug-in v1.1 – SRDF workflows

    The next release of the vRO PowerMax plug-in is already here (officially the vRO Plug-in for PowerMax). If you missed the inaugural release, I wrote about it previously at this link. The primary feature of this release is SRDF support. Before getting into that, let’s start with the “upgrade” process and do some other housekeeping……

    Read more: PowerMax vRO Plug-in v1.1 – SRDF workflows

  • DTW 2019 – VMware presentation

    This past week we had our Dell Technologies World 2019 event. I gave a presentation on VMware titled: In the next few weeks, all presentations will be posted on the DTW website, but I’ve converted mine into a PDF and made it available here early. DTW 2019 Past, Present, Future presentation I’ve also posted two……

    Read more: DTW 2019 – VMware presentation

  • SPBM update for vRA – VVols

    I wanted to let you know about an update to Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) with vRealize Automation. If you are in this space, you may have read my post on how to use VMware’s SPBM package with Virtual Volumes. At a high level the package allowed you to use vCenter configured storage policies when……

    Read more: SPBM update for vRA – VVols

  • vRO Plugin for PowerMax – vRA Automation

    Though I’ve covered this previously with the other plugin, I thought it worthwhile to include it again for the PowerMax one, particularly as it supports vRA 7.5 so the interface is different from the other write-up. As a reminder I am using a simple vRA deployment – vApp and IAAS server – and a single……

    Read more: vRO Plugin for PowerMax – vRA Automation

  • VMware vRO Plug-in for Dell EMC PowerMax

    Today we released the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Plug-in for Dell EMC PowerMax which is available here for download. For those readers of my blog, you may recall we already have a PowerMax/VMAX plugin for vRO which I wrote about here. This original plugin is only available on GitHub and is open-source, meaning there is no……

    Read more: VMware vRO Plug-in for Dell EMC PowerMax

  • VVol WP updates

    I recently updated my Virtual Volume (VVol) whitepaper to include some answers to customer-prompted questions, along with an important discussion around VVol limitations. For those familiar with the paper I’ll outline the changes here so you don’t need to go searching for them. Let’s start with the questions. Some of these are new, some are……

    Read more: VVol WP updates

  • SRDF/Metro and vMSC BPs WP

    I finally managed to cobble together enough time to complete a whitepaper on best practices when running Dell EMC SRDF/Metro with VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) that has been on my list for some time. I have an older paper on this topic but its focus was more on the application side – in……

    Read more: SRDF/Metro and vMSC BPs WP

  • VSI 8.0 – HTML 5

    Today the newest version of the Virtual Storage Integrator, 8.0, is available for download here. VSI 8.0 is the first version to support the HTML 5 client available with vSphere 6.5 and 6.7. As VMware moves toward an HTML 5 client only, we are following suit and therefore the VSI 7.x releases are the last……

    Read more: VSI 8.0 – HTML 5

  • VMworld Europe update – NVMeoF

    I’m attending VMworld in Barcelona Spain this week delivering a session on NVM and NVMe, the same one I delivered in Las Vegas in fact…well almost. Our development team has made some great progress on the next generation of connectivity, NVMeoF or NVMe over fabric, so I am including a demonstration on that. To that……

    Read more: VMworld Europe update – NVMeoF

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