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Preface

PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2&3 User’s Guide

Intended Audience

This document is intended for the personnel who are involved in planning,

managing, and performing the tasks to prepare your site for PCIe Flash Drive

installation and to install the same.

This document assumes the following:

•

The reader has a background in hardware installation of computer systems.

•

The reader is familiar with the location where the PCIe Flash Drive will be

installed, including knowledge of physical characteristics, power systems

and specifications, and environmental specifications.

Product Version

This document revision applies to PCIe Flash Drive Series.

Release Notes

Read the release notes before installing and using this product. They may

contain requirements or restrictions that are not fully described in this

document or updates or corrections to this document.

Document Organization

The table below provides an overview of the contents and organization of this

document. Click the chapter title in the left column to go to that chapter. The

first page of each chapter provides links to the sections in that chapter.

Chapter

Description

Chapter 1.

Product Overview

Describes the PCIe Flash Drive overview.

Chapter 2.

Installing Flash Drive

Describes how to install the Flash Drive.

Chapter 3.

Driver and Utility

Describes how to install the driver and utility for the Flash Drive on

Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or ESXi.

Chapter 4.

Specifications

Describes the various specifications of the Flash Drive.

Referenced Documents

There are no referenced documents.

Summary of Contents for FLASHMAX2

Page 1: ...MK 99COM145 01 PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide Document Organization Product Version Getting Help Contents FASTFIND LINKS ...

Page 2: ... governed by the terms of your agreements with Hitachi Data Systems Corporation By using this software you agree that you are responsible for a Acquiring the relevant consents as may be required under local privacy laws or otherwise from employees and other individuals to access relevant data and b Verifying that data continues to be held retrieved deleted or otherwise processed in accordance with...

Page 3: ...Supported OSs 1 2 Restrictions 1 2 Checking Package 1 6 Installing Flash Drive 2 1 Adding Removing or Replacing Flash Drive 2 2 External View 2 2 Driver and Utility 3 1 Installing Flash Drive Driver and Utility Windows 2012 R2 3 2 Installing driver and utility 3 2 Uninstalling driver and utility 3 11 Installing Flash Drive Driver and Utility RHEL 6 3 14 Installing driver and utility 3 14 Setting u...

Page 4: ... For Windows Server 2012 R2 3 25 For RHEL 6 3 32 Flash Drive Utility Windows 2012 R2 3 34 Starting FlashMAX Manager 3 34 Performance 3 35 Beacon 3 36 Modifying Partition vgcx 3 36 Splitting vgcx 3 39 Resetting vgcx 3 40 Generating Diagnostics 3 41 Flash Drive Utility RHEL 6 3 42 vgc monitor 3 42 vgc diags 3 44 vgc beacon 3 44 vgc config 3 45 Flash Drive Utility ESXi 3 47 vgc monitor 3 47 vgc diags...

Page 5: ...following information Intended Audience Product Version Release Notes Document Organization Referenced Documents Document Conventions Convention for storage capacity values Getting Help Comments Notice The use of PCIe Flash Drive and all other Hitachi Data Systems products is governed by the terms of your agreement s with Hitachi Data Systems ...

Page 6: ...es before installing and using this product They may contain requirements or restrictions that are not fully described in this document or updates or corrections to this document Document Organization The table below provides an overview of the contents and organization of this document Click the chapter title in the left column to go to that chapter The first page of each chapter provides links t...

Page 7: ... variable square bracket Optional values braces Required or expected value vertical bar Choice between two or more options or arguments _ underline Default value for example a b This document uses the following icons to draw attention to information Icon Meaning Description WARNING This indicates the presence of a potential risk that might cause death or severe injury CAUTION This indicates the pr...

Page 8: ...llowing values Logical capacity unit Value 1 block 512 bytes 1 KB 1 024 210 bytes 1 MB 1 024 KB or 1 0242 bytes 1 GB 1 024 MB or 1 0243 bytes 1 TB 1 024 GB or 1 0244 bytes 1 PB 1 024 TB or 1 0245 bytes 1 EB 1 024 PB or 1 0246 bytes Getting Help The Hitachi Data Systems customer support staff is available 24 hours a day seven days a week If you need technical support log on to the Hitachi Data Syst...

Page 9: ...Overview 1 1 PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide Product Overview This chapter gives an overview of the Flash Drive abbreviated hereafter to Flash Drive Features Supported OSs Restrictions Checking Package ...

Page 10: ...of time Refer the retention period with the below table Specification HGST 1 1TB PCIe Flash Drive HGST 2 2TB PCIe Flash Drive HGST 4 8TB PCIe Flash Drive Maximum rewrite capacity 4PB 8PB 30PB Rewrite frequency 2TB day 5 5 years 11 years 41 years 5TB day 2 2 years 4 4 years 16 years When the Flash Drive reaches its maximum rewrite capacity a paid for replacement is required even if the product is s...

Page 11: ...nitor d vgcx To find x in vgcx above use the following command RHEL Windows vgc monitor ESXi opt vgc bin vgc monitor For PCI slots with Flash Drives installed their buses are assigned letters in the following order vgca vgcb vgcc vgc monitor d output example root spa05 vgc monitor d dev vgca vgc monitor x x xxxxx xx Driver Uptime xx xx Card Name Num Partitions Card Type Status vgca 1 HIT MX LP XXX...

Page 12: ... HGST 2 2TB PCIe Flash Drive HGST 4 8TB PCIe Flash Drive Required memory 3 GB or more 6 GB or more 12 GB 4 Regular backup To protect against data loss regularly back up data on the Flash Drive to an auxiliary storage device All data on the Flash Drive may be lost if the drive is damaged 5 Booting The Flash Drive cannot function as a boot device 6 Unanticipated shutdown If an unanticipated shutdown...

Page 13: ...ive cannot be recognized If you want to operate the Flash Drive during system maintenance wait until system recovery in rescue mode is finished Then move to the single user mode and operate the drive 9 Restrictions on VMware vSphere ESXi5 5 On VMware vSphere ESXi5 5 Web Client the Flash Drive is shown as No model provided vgcx on VMware vSphere ESXi5 5 Client it is shown as No name provided vgcx I...

Page 14: ...e is installed first use the utility for the Flash Drive to format it at a low level and then change the OS such as changing from Windows to RHEL Checking Package Before using the Flash Drive read the accessory list that comes with the drive Make sure all items on the list are included If there are any items missing contact your local dealer ...

Page 15: ...2 Installing Flash Drive 2 1 PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide Installing Flash Drive This chapter describes how to install the Flash Drive Adding Removing or Replacing Flash Drive External View ...

Page 16: ...y internal option Because the system device contains components of high density if you are not familiar with the operation you may be injured or the device may become faulty Maintenance personnel must be employed to add remove or replace a Flash Drive If you need to add remove or replace an option contact your local dealer or maintenance personnel External View Front view Face plate ...

Page 17: ...utility for the Flash Drive on Windows Server Red Hat Enterprise Linux and ESXi Installing Flash Drive Driver and Utility Windows 2012 R2 Installing Flash Drive Driver and Utility RHEL 6 Installing Flash Drive Driver and Utility ESXi RAID Configuration Flash Drive Utility Windows 2012 R2 Flash Drive Utility RHEL 6 Flash Drive Utility ESXi ...

Page 18: ...rive installed then the driver and utility for the Flash Drive have also been installed In this case skip to Format the drive Use FlashMAX III Manager on page 3 5 1 Copy the driver and utility package 1 Insert the PCIe Flash Drive FlashMax2 3 Driver and Utility Install Kit CD in the DVD or CD drive From the Windows2012R2 directory copy the following file to any directory you like Virident_FlashMAX...

Page 19: ... and Utility 3 3 PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 3 When Destination Folder dialog box appears click Next 4 When Ready to install Virident FlashMAX III Driver Package dialog box appears click Install ...

Page 20: ...3 4 Driver and Utility PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 5 When Completed the Virident FlashMAX III Driver Package Setup Wizard dialog box appears click Finish 6 Restart the system ...

Page 21: ...ve write requirements and the Maximum Performance mode requires a 15 sacrifice in user capacity but can double the random write performance when compared with the Maximum Capacity mode However in terms of performance in read and sequential write there is no difference between the two modes If the available capacity is large the Maximum Performance mode is recommended To format a Flash Drive the Fl...

Page 22: ...e FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 3 FlashMAX III Manager starts From the console tree in the left pane double click FlashMAX III Manager to display the computer name 4 Double click the computer name to display the Flash Drives as indicated by vgcx ...

Page 23: ...Driver and Utility 3 7 PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide ...

Page 24: ...you want to format The following example shows two Flash Drives represented by drive letters from vgca to vgcb Select one at a time For PCI slots with Flash Drives installed their buses are assigned letters in the following order vgca vgcb 6 From the Action menu select Modify Partition vgcx0 ...

Page 25: ...select a formatting mode in the Mode Setting section Formatting is not possible if the Flash Drive has volume specified in Disk Management In this case remove the volume and then start formatting again 8 When the Modify Device Configuration dialog box appears make sure formatting will be applied to partition vgcx0 Then click Yes ...

Page 26: ... vgcx of the Flash Drives After the message indicated above appears formatting still goes on internally During the formatting process the expected I O performance cannot be achieved Once formatting starts keep the power turned on for about 20 minutes Turning off the power during formatting will not cause any damage When the power is turned on formatting will automatically restart ...

Page 27: ...e Click Start Administrative Tools Computer Management Storage Disk Management to open the window set the Flash Drive online Exit the FlashMAX III Manager if it has been started before installing the driver 1 Click the search icon which may be located at the top or bottom right of the screen 2 Enter FlashMAX to search and then click Uninstall FlashMAX III ...

Page 28: ...and Utility PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 3 When the Virident FlashMAX III Driver Package Setup dialog box appears click Next 4 When Change repair or remove installation dialog box appears click Remove ...

Page 29: ... FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 5 When Ready to remove Virident FlashMAX III Driver Package dialog box appears click Remove 6 When Completed the Virident FlashMAX III Driver Package Setup Wizard dialog box appears click Finish 7 Restart the system ...

Page 30: ... Flash Drive on RHEL 6 perform the following procedure as a root user 1 Copy the driver and utility package Insert the PCIe Flash Drive FlashMax2 3 Driver and Utility Install Kit CD in the DVD or CD drive From the RHEL6 directory copy the following files to any directory you like 1 kmod vgc redhat6 1 x86_64 rpm 2 vgc utils redhat6 x86_64 rpm 2 Install the driver From the directory of the copied fi...

Page 31: ...ance mode is recommended 1 Perform a low level formatting of the Flash Drive Below is an example of formatting in the Maximum Capacity mode vgc config d dev vgcx m maxcapacity n 1 Use the vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx Example of formatting in the Maximum Performance mode vgc config d dev vgcx m maxperformance n 1 Use the vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx For PCI slots w...

Page 32: ...le dev vgcx0 mnt flash_drive0 ext4 defaults noauto 0 0 device mount location any file system Place a comma not a dot before noauto Use the vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx0 vgcx0 of all Flash Drives must be added Before modifying the fstab file make sure a file system has been created on the Flash Drive and the drive can be mounted manually 2 Edit the vgcd conf file Edit etc sysconfig...

Page 33: ...le make sure a file system has been created on the Flash Drive and the drive can be mounted manually 2 Edit the vgcd conf file 1 Edit etc sysconfig vgcd conf and specify the mount point Specify the mount point defined in etc fstab in MOUNT_POINTS 2 Edit etc sysconfig vgcd conf and change RESCAN_MD 1 to RESCAN_MD 0 1 etc fstab is defined as follows dev md0 mnt flash_drive0 ext4 defaults noauto 0 0 ...

Page 34: ...n etc mdadm conf Changing security context When setting Kernel Dump Configuration with Kernel crash dumps GUI change the security context to the Flash Drives Install the policycoreutils python package beforehand 1 Change the security context The following is an example that two Flash Drives are installed 1 Use ls lZ to check the current security context Example ls lZ dev vgc 0 brw rw root disk sys...

Page 35: ...ample ls lZ dev vgc 0 brw rw root disk system_u object_r fixed_disk_device_t s0 dev vgca0 brw rw root disk system_u object_r fixed_disk_device_t s0 dev vgcb0 5 Reboot the system Uninstalling driver and utility 1 Uninstall the utility 1 Unmount all Flash Drives 2 If the SWRAID of the OS is running stop the SWRAID service Example mdadm misc stop dev mdx mdx is a RAID number x 0 1 2 etc 3 Stop the se...

Page 36: ...nstall it Example rpm e kmod vgc redhat6 1 x86_64 3 Use rpm q kmod vgc redhat6 1 to make sure the old driver no longer appears In 3 if an old driver is not uninstalled and so is still displayed then you cannot install a new driver 3 Restart the system After restarting the system install the new driver and utility as described in Installing driver and utility on page 3 14 ...

Page 37: ...5 1 1 78398 D1B ESXi 55 2450223 zip Product Virident Systems enables enterprises to tackle performance intensive enterprise applications Version 5 1 1 78398 D1B Description Virident Systems enables enterprises to tackle performance intensive enterprise applications Virident FlashMAX II III a PCIe Storage Class Memory solution ensures that application performance is ten times faster than HDD system...

Page 38: ...cli software vib install d Example esxcli software vib install d vmfs volumes datastore1 flashmax VSI x x xxxxx xxx ESXi xx offline_bundle xxxxxxx zip 6 Reboot the system 7 Format the drive When you have newly purchased a Flash Drive or need to delete the user data make sure to format the drive following the procedure below low level formatting of the Flash Drive which is different from format on ...

Page 39: ...ses are assigned letters in the following order vgca vgcb vgcc 2 When the following message appears enter yes and then press Enter WARNING this operation will erase ALL data on the drive type yes to continue When key input is available about 15 minutes later the format is complete During the formatting process the expected I O performance cannot be achieved Once formatting starts keep the power tu...

Page 40: ...source Allocation to ESXi in the vShpere Client See System memory requirement on page 1 4 to find required memory for the Flash Drive How to calculate Limit for Resource Allocation Conditions 4 8 TB Flash Drive One card is installed System memory 256 GB Memory for Flash Drive 12 GB Limit for Resource Allocation System memory 256 GB Memory for Flash Drive 12 GB 244 GB Driver and utility for Flash D...

Page 41: ...orm replacement when a fault occurs SoftRAID supports RAID0 striping but not RAID1 mirror and RAID5 For Windows Server 2012 R2 RAID0 striping configuration procedure 1 Check the vgcx of the Flash Drive assigned to a striped volume 1 Click the Search icon which may be located at the top or bottom right of the screen 2 Enter FlashMAX to search and then click FlashMAX III Manager ...

Page 42: ...ashMAX2 3 User s Guide 3 FlashMAX III Manager starts From the console tree in the left pane double click FlashMAX III Manager to display the computer name 4 Double click the computer name to display the Flash Drives as indicated by vgca vgcb etc ...

Page 43: ... tab in the right pane Make sure PhysicalDiskx appears in the Windows Disk column in the FlashMAX III Device Mappings section 6 The x in PhysicalDiskx refers to Disk x which appears when you select Computer Management Storage Disk Management 7 Check the vgcx and PhsicalDiskx combination of each Flash Drive assigned to the striped volume ...

Page 44: ...ble the random write performance when compared with the Maximum Capacity mode However in terms of performance in read and sequential write there is no difference between the two modes If the available capacity is large the Maximum Performance mode is recommended To format a Flash Drive the Flash Drive needs to be online Click Start Administrative Tools Computer Management Storage Disk Management t...

Page 45: ...CIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 2 From the Action menu select Modify Partition vgcx0 3 When the Modify Partition for Device vgcx dialog box appears select a formatting mode in the Mode Setting section and then click OK ...

Page 46: ...ut 20 minutes Turning off the power during formatting will not cause any damage When the power is turned on formatting will automatically restart 3 From the Start menu select Administrative Tools Computer Memory and Disk Management then select a disk Right click and then select New Striped Volume 4 When the New Striped Volume Wizard starts click Next 5 From Disk Selection select a disk you want to...

Page 47: ...ve with memory more than 2 TB 2 2 TB or 4 8 TB select GPT RAID0 striping Replacing a faulty drive 1 Turn off the system 2 Replace the faulty Flash Drive with a new one 3 Turn on the system 4 From the Start menu select Administrative Tools Computer Memory and Disk Management Right click the failed area to the right of the faulty disk and then select Delete Volume 5 When the Delete Striped Volume di...

Page 48: ... be performed if the Flash Drive is still mounted 2 Use the Flash Drives to construct the RAID When x number of Flash Drives are installed mdadm create dev md0 chunk 256 level x raid devices x dev vgca0 dev vgcb0 dev vgcx0 Type in the above on one line raid devices x where x is the number of Flash Drives level x indicates the level of RAID x 0 RAID0 striping 3 Create a file system Use the mkfs com...

Page 49: ...lock information mdadm misc zero superblock dev vgcx0 Use the vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx0 6 Restart the system 7 Configure the RAID again Follow For RHEL 6 on page 3 32 to configure the RAID again and then perform Setting up autoload for RAID configuration on page 3 18 ...

Page 50: ...ve Utility Windows 2012 R2 This section describes the FlashMAX III Manager utility for the Flash Drive Starting FlashMAX Manager 1 Click the Search icon which may be located at the top or bottom right of the screen 2 Enter FlashMAX to search and then click FlashMAX III Manager ...

Page 51: ...ch Flash Drive displayed in the right pane Also you can use the Remaining Life column to check the remaining rewrite capacity of each drive Performance You can check the performance IOPS Bandwidth for each vgcx of the Flash Drives in the following way Start FlashMAX III Manager select the vgcx of a Flash Drive and then click the Performance tab in the right pane The performance information of the ...

Page 52: ...ocedure to format the drive Formatting is done at a low level of the Flash Drive and is different from formatting performed by the OS Two modes are available for formatting Maximum Capacity mode or Maximum Performance mode The Maximum Capacity mode is effective for applications with intensive write and the Maximum Performance mode requires a 15 sacrifice in user capacity but can double the random ...

Page 53: ...sh Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide 1 Select the vgcx of the Flash Drive you want to format The following example shows two Flash Drives represented by drive letters from vgca to vgcb 2 From the Action menu select Modify Partition vgcx0 ...

Page 54: ...ied to partition vgcx0 Then click Yes 5 When the Modify Configuration for Partition vgcx0 dialog box appears click OK After the message indicated above appears formatting still goes on internally During the formatting process the expected I O performance cannot be achieved Once formatting starts keep the power turned on for about 20 minutes Turning off the power during formatting will not cause an...

Page 55: ...it a Flash Drive into two physical partitions However the total rewrite capacity is also halved If the total write capacity of one partition is used up you cannot use the other partition either Therefore if you want to create partitions use splitting software or the logical volume manager LVM ...

Page 56: ...ting vgcx Use this function to restore a Flash Drive to its factory defaults Because this is performed at a low level in the Maximum Capacity mode it is different from the formatting performed by the OS 1 From the Action menu select Reset vgcb 2 Click OK Formatting starts ...

Page 57: ...tadata necessary for analysis when a fault occurs The information is saved to a file named vgc diags xxx xx xx zip It is recommended that you perform this task immediately after a Flash Drive error occurs and send this vgc diags tar gz file to the maintenance personnel 1 Start FlashMAX III Manager From the Action menu select Generate Diagnostics 2 Specify a location to save the file and then click...

Page 58: ...tputs a list of all Flash Drives installed on the server Command vgc monitor d Driver name Use the vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx Example To check the status of the Flash Drive in dev vgca vgc monitor d dev vgca vgc monitor d output example root spa05 vgc monitor d dev vgca vgc monitor x x xxxxx xx Driver Uptime xx xx Card Name Num Partitions Card Type Status vgca 1 HIT MX LP XXXX X...

Page 59: ...e Temp Throttle Inactive Card State Details Normal Action Required None Partition Usable Capacity RAID vgca0 xxxxxGB enabled Mode maxcapacity Total Flash Bytes xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx xxTB reads xxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx xxTB writes Remaining Life xx xx Partition State READY Flash Reserves Left xx xx ...

Page 60: ... occurs Send this vgc diags tar gz file to the maintenance personnel Command vgc diags drive name Example To get log information of all Flash Drives vgc diags Example To get log information of only dev vgcb vgc diags dev vgcb vgc beacon When multiple Flash Drives are connected to one server to make it easy to link device name dev vgcx vgcx can be checked from the OS with this device turn on all LE...

Page 61: ...ailable capacity is large the Maximum Performance mode is recommended Command vgc config d drive name m maxcapacity or maxperformance n 1 Example To format using the Maximum Capacity mode vgc config d dev vgcx m maxcapacity n 1 Use the vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx Example To format using the Maximum Performance mode vgc config d dev vgcx m maxperformance n 1 Use the vgc monitor co...

Page 62: ...lash Drive is still mounted During the formatting process the expected I O performance cannot be achieved Once formatting starts keep the power turned on for about 15 minutes Turning off the power during formatting will not cause any damage When the power is turned on formatting will automatically restart ...

Page 63: ... opt vgc bin vgc monitor d vgca Use the opt vgc bin vgc monitor d command to find out the x in vgcx esxcli vgc monitor d output example vgc monitor x x xxxxx xx Driver Uptime xx xx Card Name Num Partitions Card Type Status vgca 1 HIT MX LP XXXX XX Good Serial Number xxxxxxxx Card Info Part SJTxxxxx Rev FlashMAX xxxxx x8 Gen2 Temperature xxC Safe Temp Throttle Inactive Card State Details Normal Act...

Page 64: ...mand opt vgc bin vgc diags p output path drive name Example To get log information of all Flash Drives opt vgc bin vgc diags p output path Example To get log information of only vgcb opt vgc bin vgc diags p output path vgcb vgc beacon When multiple Flash Drives are connected to one server to make it easy to link device name dev vgcx vgcx can be checked from the OS with this device turn on all LEDs...

Page 65: ...d sequential write there is no difference between the two modes If the available capacity is large the Maximum Performance mode is recommended Command opt vgc bin vgc config d vgcx m maxcapacity or maxperformance n 1 Example To format using the Maximum Capacity mode opt vgc bin vgc monitor d vgcx m maxcapacity n 1 Use the esxcli vgc monitor command to find out the x in vgcx Enter all paths for vgc...

Page 66: ...3 50 Driver and Utility PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide ...

Page 67: ...4 Specifications 4 1 PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide Specifications This chapter describes the various specifications of the Flash Drive Basic Specifications ...

Page 68: ... 2 2TB 4 8TB NAND Type Multi Level cell MLC Read Bandwidth 64KB 2 8GB s 2 6GB s Write Bandwidth 64KB 1 2GB s 700MB s Read Access Latency 120μs 78μs Write Access Latency 20μs 18μs Endurance 4PB 8PB 30PB Interface specification PCI Express Gen2 x8 Dimensions H 18 1mm L 167 5mm W 68 9mm bracket Mass 0 22kg 0 18kg Operating temperature 0 to 55 C Operating humidity 5 to 95 Rh Power source 12V Power con...

Page 69: ...PCIe Flash Drive FlashMAX2 3 User s Guide ...

Page 70: ... 2845 Lafayette Street Santa Clara California 95050 2639 U S A www hds com Regional Contact Information Americas 1 408 970 1000 info hds com Europe Middle East and Africa 44 0 1753 618000 info emea hds com Asia Pacific 852 3189 7900 hds marketing apac hds com ...

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