Author: Danilo

Replacing a Failed Disk on an SDS node shows all the necessary steps to replace a faulty disk on an SDS node part of a PowerFlex cluster. Replacing failed disk devices is a common task for any storage administrator. Because of that, it is fundamental to understand what steps are necessary to replace a failed disk correctly. In this case, for instance, we are running a PowerFlex Cluster in a lab environment (PowerFlex Software-Only), and we will show how to replace a failed disk on an SDS node. Our lab was made based on Linux (SLES 15 SP4). A rebuild…

Performing a Clean Shut Down and Power On of a PowerFlex Cluster shows how to shut down and power on the PowerFlex cluster. So, a “clean” shutdown and power-on means to perform these activities safely, preserving the data stored in the SDS devices. We used the following public Dell KB as a base for our post: Important: Our PowerFlex cluster has the 4.5.2 version! 1- Check the clients/SDC activity. Access the MDM primary node by SSH and apply the following command. With that, we can see all connected SDCs and if they are performing any IOPS: As we can see…

Gracefully Shut Down or Reboot a PowerFlex Node shows all the necessary steps to shut down or reboot a PowerFlex Node. Enter the node into maintenance mode and gracefully shut down/reboot it to prepare it for a patching or maintenance operation. This is a common task for a PowerFlex administrator! 1- When shutting down/rebooting a node that is a Primary MDM (manager), it is recommended that you manually switch MDM ownership to a different node.Access the primary node by SSH and check the MDM cluster status: As we can see in the following picture, the Primary MDM node has the…

Introducing PowerFlex File Services is an article that introduces PowerFlex File Services. PowerFlex File Services was introduced in PowerFlex 4.0. This feature enabled file-based access via sharing protocols such as SMB (Server Message Block) and NFS (Network File System), expanding PowerFlex’s capabilities beyond block storage to include file storage functionalities. The PowerFlex cluster can offer File Shares using the SMB and NFS protocols. Before providing these shares, a NAS Server must be running on the system. A NAS Server is a file server that supports the SMB, NFS, FTP, or a combination of these protocols to share data with host…

PowerFlex Manager LDAP Integration shows how to integrate the PowerFlex Manager with LDAP for authentication purposes. Our lab environment has a PowerFlex Manager 4.5.2 and an Active Directory on a Windows Server 2022.The default username to access the PowerFlex Manager UI is “admin.” It is a local username, and its password is created during the deployment. We can create additional local usernames and associate a role for each (SuperUser, SuperAdmin, Monitor, etc). A role is a set of permissions in the system. In addition to local users, we can access the PowerFlex Manager UI using remote users, such as LDAP/Active…

Installing the SDC on Windows shows how to install the SDC software on a Windows-based server. Our Windows system is a Windows Server 2022 Standard, and our PowerFlex Cluster runs on a 4.5.2 version. Both are running on a virtual (nested) environment. 1- Copy the SDC software to the Windows system and execute the installation: Afterward, reboot the system to load the SDC drive on the system’s boot. 2- The SDC configuration is stored on the Windows registry: The “drv_cfg” command line is helpful to perform some tasks under the SDC, as we can see below: 3- Checking available volumes…