Author: Danilo

Resizing a PowerFlex Volume shows how to resize an existing PowerFlex Volume and the steps necessary to reflect it in the filesystem. Our PowerFlex cluster has version 4.5.2 and runs on a lab (nested) environment.The PowerFlex volume is already mapped to a Linux SDC (there is an EXT4 filesystem). 1- Access the PowerFlex Manager UI –> Block –> Volumes –> Select the volume (in this case, for instance, “Linux-Vol-01” –> Modify –> Resize: 2- We can only increase the size. It is not possible to reduce the volume’s size: Since our volume has 64GB, we will add 32GB more, resulting…

Mounting a PowerFlex Volume on Linux’s SDC Boot shows how to properly configure the /etc/fstab file to mount a PowerFlex Volume during the system’s boot. Our PowerFlex Cluster has the 4.5.2 version and runs on a virtual environment (nested). Our SDC is a Ubuntu-based Linux! 1- The first step is to identify the disk partition to be mounted. In this case, for instance, the disk partition is /dev/scinia1: 2- Next, we need to grab the disk-id absolute path: As we can see in the following output, the absolute disk path for /dev/scinia1 is “/dev/disk/by-id/emc-vol-8c40194f563e090f-29039d3800000001-part1” (this is the information that we…

Adding and Mapping a new Volume to a Linux SDC shows how to add a volume using the PowerFlex Manager interface and how to map it to a Linux SDC. Our PowerFlex cluster is running on a lab (nested environment). The PowerFlex version is 4.5.2, and our Linux SDC is CentOS-based! Adding a Volume 1- Access the SDC by SSH and check the current disks: 2- Access the PowerFlex Manager UI –> Block –> Volumes –> Create Volume: 3- A pop-up to map this volume will appear as the volume has been created. Click “Map”: At the host list, select…

Renaming the SDC through CLI shows how to change the SDC hostname to a friendly name using the PowerFlex command line. I used the PowerFlex 4.5 CLI Reference Guide. If you want to check this guide, click here! 1- In this case, we have added both SDCs and the Name is “N/A.” So, based on it, we want to change it to a friendly name. The first SDC has the IPs “192.168.155.213,192.168.156.213”: The second SDC has the IPs “192.168.155.214,192.168.156.214”: 2- Changing the name for each one: 192.168.155.213,192.168.156.213 –> ESXI06192.168.155.214,192.168.156.214 –> ESXI07 To change each name, we are using the GUID,…

Expanding the PowerFlex Cluster with New Disks shows how to add new disks to current SDS devices.Our PowerFlex cluster is running on a nested environment. So, all steps demonstrated here are not in a production environment. The PowerFlex cluster is 4.5.2, and all nodes are CentOS-based! Currently, which disks are used on each SDS? 1- Access the MDM primary node by SSH and execute the following command: As we can see in the following picture, we have disks from /dev/sdb to /dev/sdm: The following command can be executed to list all attached disks: As we can see in the following…

Installing the SDC on ESXi shows how to install the PowerFlex SDC manually on an ESXi host. About our Environment PowerFlex Cluster version 4.5.2.VMware ESXi 8.0.3 build-24022510.Both PowerFlex and ESXi run in a nested (virtual) environment. PowerFlex Release Notes Compatibility Check First and foremost, we always recommend consulting the PowerFlex release notes to confirm what ESXi versions are compatible with the current PowerFlex version: https://dl.dell.com/content/manual68830250-dell-powerflex-4-5-x-release-notes.pdf In this case, for instance, the PowerFlex 4.5.2 supports ESXi 8.0 Update 2b (Build 23305546) or earlier: Installing the SDC “vib” on ESXi Host After downloading the SDC package for vSphere ESXi 8.0 from support.dell.com,…