Chapter 3 - 7700 Flash Storage Platform Device Configuration
54
7700 Flash Storage Platform Installation Guide 7.6.3.x
530-0267-00 Rev 02
Adding 7700 FSP Controllers to a Stretched Cluster Configu-
ration
Symphony Help provides information about how you add 7700 FSP Controllers to local and remote
sites to create a new FSP. Before you begin any of these processes, make sure you have the IP
addresses or device names for the controllers, both local and remote.
Adding a Shelf to a Stretched Cluster
Symphony Help provides information about how you add a shelf to a stretched cluster; the important
difference between adding a shelf to a local site and adding one to a remote site is the specific FSP
to which you designate as the destination.
Creating and Managing Storage Pools
For more detailed information and procedures on how to create and manage storage pools, see the
topic on creating storage pools in the latest version of Symphony Help. Before creating any storage
pool, make sure you review and observe the storage pool best practices guidelines in this section.
Storage Pools Best Practices
The 7000 Series FSP storage shelf is an integral component within the 7700 FSP storage cluster.
Memory Gateways (MG-A and MG-B) run the Concerto OS and reside on a 7000 Series FSP.
Memory Gateways provide the SAN/LAN block storage function. They manage network
connectivity and provide storage virtualization services. The best practices to observe when
managing storage pools on the Memory Gateways are as follows:
Note:
When deduplication (dedup) is enabled and configured on the 7000 Series FSP, ensure
that you observe and apply the important storage pool recommendations in this list.
•
A storage pool must be created prior to creating LUNs.
•
For a standard 7000 Series FSP deployment, it is recommended that you create a single
storage pool on MG-A, with MG-B acting as the failover controller in the pair. It is
recommended that you assign all physical storage to this one pool.
•
If performance and latency is of primary concern, one storage pool may be created per MG.
However, this will cause islands of storage as physical storage from one pool cannot be
assigned to another pool in the future.
•
In 7300 FSPs, a maximum of 32TB of unique data is supported for deduplication. The
remaining storage space can be used for thick, thin, and snapshot.
In other FSP types such as 7450 FSPs that support deduplication, you can use the complete
storage space for deduplication.
•
When dedup is enabled on an array, it must only be configured on MG-A. Deduplication may
not be configured on MG-B.
•
After physical devices are assigned to a storage pool and a LUN is created, it can be
extremely difficult to remove the physical device and will almost always incur data loss. As
such, it is recommended to assign only needed physical devices to the storage pool and leave
unused physical devices unassigned. This makes allocation easier when it is necessary to
expand the storage pool. By following the best practices, you avoid such issues.
•
Unassigned physical devices may always be added to expand a storage pool, however once
physical devices are assigned to a storage pool they should not be removed.
