D-MSS-DS-23 Dell Midrange Storage Solutions Design 2023 Questions and Answers

Dell PowerStore supports media devices that carry a FIPS Type D certification to ensure data security and compliance with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). The certified media devices include:

SAS SSD:Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Solid State Drives are commonly used in enterprise storage solutions for their reliability and performance.

NVMe SSD:Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Solid State Drives offer high-speed storage access and are optimized for performance.

NVMe SCM:NVMe Storage Class Memory provides a new tier of storage that bridges the gap between DRAM and traditional SSDs, offering both speed and persistence.

NVRAM:Non-Volatile Random Access Memory combines the speed of RAM with the persistence of flash storage, ensuring data is retained even after power loss.

These devices are FIPS Type D certified, ensuring they meet stringent security standards for data protection.

References:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

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The Dell Unity XT 480 storage system uses the Broadwell CPU family. Broadwell processors are known for their efficiency and performance, making them suitable for storage systems like the Unity XT 480 that require reliable processing power for managing storage tasks.

When sizing a new Dell Unity XT array that requires hybrid dynamic pools, the "Quick Configuration" option must be selected in the Midrange Sizer. This option streamlines the configuration process, allowing for a balanced and efficient setup of hybrid pools. Here’s why Quick Configuration is used:

Simplifies Setup:Quick Configuration provides a straightforward approach to setting up the array, ensuring that the necessary parameters for hybrid dynamic pools are configured correctly without requiring in-depth manual input.

Balanced Performance:The tool uses predefined settings and best practices to create a hybrid pool that balances performance and capacity, making it ideal for a variety of workloads.

References:

Dell Technologies Midrange Sizer Tool Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

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Understanding CPU Utilization Levels:

Dell Unity XT systems categorize CPU utilization to help administrators assess the performance and health of their storage systems.

Utilization levels typically include categories like low, normal, high, and extremely high to simplify performance monitoring.

CPU Utilization in Dell Unity XT:

According to Dell Unity XT documentation, CPU utilization percentages are used to determine the performance state of the system.

A CPU utilization of 68% is considered high but not critical. This is because the system is handling a significant load but still within operational parameters.

Operational Thresholds:

Low Utilization: Below 30%

Normal Utilization: 30% - 60%

High Utilization: 60% - 80%

Extremely High Utilization: Above 80%

Given these thresholds, 68% falls into the "High Utilization" category.

Dell Midrange Storage References:

Dell Technologies Partner Program documentation on midrange storage provides detailed metrics and thresholds for system performance. This information is crucial for administrators to make informed decisions about system capacity and performance tuning.

Additional resources on Dell's community forums and official product pages for entry-level and midrange storage also support these utilization thresholds.

By categorizing CPU utilization as "High" at 68%, administrators can take necessary actions to optimize system performance or plan for additional capacity if needed.

References:

Dell Unity XT Overview

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Community

Dell Storage Products

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The commandsupportshowis used to gather comprehensive data from Brocade switches. This command collects extensive diagnostic information about the switch, including configuration details, hardware status, and various operational statistics. Here's a step-by-step explanation of thesupportshowcommand:

Access the Brocade Switch:Connect to the Brocade switch via SSH or through a console connection.

Enter the Command:Typesupportshowin the command line interface (CLI) and press Enter.

Data Collection:The command will begin collecting a wide array of information from the switch. This includes:

Hardware and firmware versions

Port status and configurations

Zoning information

Error logs and statistics

Environmental data (temperature, power supply status, etc.)

Output Review:The gathered data is typically extensive and can be used for troubleshooting, performance analysis, and ensuring the switch is operating correctly.

Save the Output:The output can be redirected to a file for later review or analysis by technical support teams.

References:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

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Before designing a storage solution, a solution architect must gather comprehensive information to ensure the system meets the customer’s needs. The critical information includes:

Network Infrastructure:Understanding the existing network setup, including LAN and WAN configurations, is essential. This information helps in planning how the storage solution will integrate with the current network and support data traffic efficiently.

Storage Requirements:Detailed knowledge of the storage needs, including capacity, performance, and redundancy requirements, is crucial. This includes understanding the types of data to be stored, the expected data growth, and any specific storage technologies or features the customer may need.

Customer Workload Performance Requirements:Insight into the customer's workload characteristics, such as IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second), throughput, latency requirements, and peak usage times, is vital. This information helps in designing a storage solution that can handle the expected workloads without performance bottlenecks.

By gathering this information, the solution architect can design a tailored storage solution that meets the customer’s performance and capacity needs while integrating seamlessly with their existing infrastructure.

References:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

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In Dell Unity XT storage processors, SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) ports are used to move data to and from the backend drives. SAS ports provide a high-speed and reliable connection between the storage processors and the physical drives, ensuring efficient data transfer and access. This connectivity is crucial for maintaining the performance and scalability of the storage system. Reference:Dell Unity XT Architecture

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The minimum requirements for PowerSizer Block workloads include Capacity Growth and Performance. These parameters are essential to ensure that the PowerSizer tool can accurately size and configure the storage system to meet the anticipated data growth and performance demands of the workload.

Dell recommends scheduling FAST VP (Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools) relocations before backups or nightly batch processing to ensure optimal performance. This scheduling helps to avoid conflicts and performance degradation that can occur if relocation tasks compete for resources during critical data operations such as backups. Pre-scheduling these relocations ensures that the storage system is balanced and ready for intensive operations without impacting performance.

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When designing a system to support an Oracle OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) Workload for a new customer without specific I/O details, the default selections for the I/O profile input in the sizer tool are typically set to "Random Read: 70% at 8 KiB, Random Write: 30% at 8 KiB." Here’s a detailed explanation:

Oracle OLAP Workload Characteristics:OLAP workloads generally involve heavy read operations with a focus on retrieving and analyzing large datasets. The read operations are often random due to the nature of querying various parts of the data.

Default I/O Profile Selection:

Random Read:70% - This reflects the high read intensity typical of OLAP workloads, where data is accessed non-sequentially.

Random Write:30% - Although less frequent than reads, writes still occur randomly as new data is added or existing data is updated.

Sizer Tool Configuration:The Dell sizer tool uses these default I/O profile settings to estimate the required storage performance and capacity. This helps in designing a system that can handle the expected workload efficiently.

Performance Optimization:The chosen I/O profile ensures that the storage system is optimized for the specific access patterns of OLAP workloads, providing a balanced approach to handling both reads and writes.

References:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

By understanding the default I/O profile settings used by the sizer tool, system designers can ensure that the storage solution is well-suited to meet the demands of Oracle OLAP workloads.

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The Unity Designer tool helps in designing storage solutions by taking specific inputs and generating detailed outputs. Here are the inputs and outputs of the Unity Designer tool:

Inputs:

Sales Order:Details about the customer’s purchase order.

Sizing XML File:An XML file that contains sizing information and requirements for the storage solution.

System Configuration PDF File:A PDF file that outlines the system configuration and specifications.

Outputs:

Detailed Design:A comprehensive design document that outlines the storage solution, including configuration details and recommended setups.

Excel Configuration Guide Report:An Excel report that provides a step-by-step guide for configuring the system based on the inputs provided.

References:

Dell Technologies Unity Designer Tool Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

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When designing a Dell Unity XT 480 using the System Designer option of Sizer, the recommended minimum amount of Flash to specify is 15%. This ensures that there is sufficient flash capacity to handle performance-intensive workloads and provides a good balance between performance and cost. Flash storage is crucial for achieving high IOPS and low latency in the storage system. Reference:Dell Unity XT Sizing Guide

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File Data Migration Tools:

Migrating file data from legacy systems to new arrays requires reliable tools that can handle large volumes of data efficiently.

Robocopy for Windows Hosts:

Robocopy (Robust File Copy) is a powerful command-line tool in Windows that supports extensive options for copying and synchronizing files and directories.

It is well-suited for migrating file data from a legacy VNX array to a new Dell Unity XT array, ensuring data integrity and consistency.

Other Tools:

SANCopy: Used for SAN data migration and not specific to file data.

Rsync: Commonly used for Linux/Unix systems rather than Windows hosts.

Dell Midrange Storage References:

Dell Unity XT documentation and migration guides provide detailed instructions on using Robocopy for file data migration.

Community forums and support resources from Dell Technologies offer additional insights and best practices.

References:

Dell Unity XT Migration Guide

Dell Community on Data Migration

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Understanding Write-Order-Consistency:

Write-order-consistency ensures that all writes are completed in a specific order to maintain data integrity, particularly important for applications that rely on consistent data states across multiple volumes.

Consistency Groups in PowerStore:

Consistency Groups in Dell PowerStore allow multiple volumes to be managed together as a single entity.

When snapshots are taken of a Consistency Group, all member volumes are captured simultaneously with write-order-consistency, ensuring data integrity across the group.

Other Options:

Volume Groups: Typically used to group volumes for management purposes but do not ensure write-order-consistency for snapshots.

Snapshot Groups: Focus on managing snapshots but without the guaranteed consistency across multiple volumes.

Data Groups: Not a feature in Dell PowerStore specific to this requirement.

Dell Midrange Storage References:

Dell PowerStore documentation provides detailed guidelines on using Consistency Groups for applications requiring write-order-consistent snapshots.

Additional resources from Dell Technologies' support and community forums further validate this feature.

References:

Dell PowerStore Consistency Groups

Dell Community on PowerStore Features

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In a scenario where a customer needs to design a DR site with a 15-minute RPO using storage-based asynchronous replication, creating a single protection policy assigned to 30 volumes with a five-minute shift between each volume is the most stable design. This approach ensures that the replication load is evenly distributed over time, minimizing the impact on storage performance.

The tool used to remediate issues discovered during a site evaluation is ECT (ESRS Configuration Tool). ECT is a diagnostic and remediation tool provided by Dell that assists in configuring and troubleshooting ESRS (Secure Remote Services), which is essential for proactive monitoring and support of Dell EMC systems. ECT helps ensure that any identified issues during site evaluations are addressed effectively. Reference:Dell ESRS Overview

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The simple performance path in the Dell Unity XT sizer tool uses predefined configurations to streamline the sizing process.

This path considers various parameters to estimate the achievable IOPS rate and overall system performance.

Drive Busy Percentage:

The simple performance path assumes a maximum of 80% drive busy percentage to determine the achievable IOPS rate.

This threshold ensures that the drives are utilized efficiently without overloading, balancing performance and longevity.

Other Percentages:

Lower percentages (50%, 60%, 70%) would be too conservative and might result in under-utilization of the system’s capabilities.

Dell Midrange Storage References:

Dell Unity XT documentation and sizer tool guides provide detailed information on performance metrics and assumptions used for sizing.

Community forums and support resources from Dell Technologies offer additional insights and user experiences.

References:

Dell Unity XT Sizer Tool Guide

Dell Community on Storage Performance

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SAS Flash 2 drives can be used in a FAST Cache pool configuration for Dell Unity XT solutions. FAST Cache (Fully Automated Storage Tiering Cache) allows frequently accessed data to be moved to high-performance SSDs, improving overall system performance. SAS Flash 2 drives are suitable for this purpose, providing a balance of performance, endurance, and cost. Reference:Dell Unity XT FAST Cache Overview

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The "Quick Configuration" sizer option supports the configuration of a midrange solution with hybrid dynamic pools. This option allows for a streamlined setup process, making it easier to configure storage pools that combine both SSDs and HDDs for optimized performance and capacity.

When connecting Disk Array Enclosures (DAEs) to SAS ports on a Dell Unity XT DPE (Disk Processor Enclosure) with only two ports available on each SP (Storage Processor), the recommended order is DAE 1 to SAS Bus 0, DAE 2 to SAS Bus 1, and DAE 3 to SAS Bus 0. This configuration helps in balancing the load across the available SAS ports, ensuring optimal data flow and performance. Reference:Dell Unity XT Configuration Guide

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FAST Cache Mechanism:

FAST (Fully Automated Storage Tiering) Cache in Dell Unity systems temporarily holds frequently accessed data to improve read and write performance.

The data moved to FAST Cache is managed in chunks to optimize storage efficiency and performance.

Chunk Size for FAST Cache:

Dell Unity systems use a chunk size of 128 KB for data moved to FAST Cache. This size is optimized for balancing performance and storage management overhead.

Smaller chunks, such as 32 KB or 64 KB, might increase management overhead, while larger chunks like 256 KB could reduce the granularity of data movement and efficiency.

Dell Midrange Storage References:

Dell Unity XT documentation provides detailed explanations on FAST Cache operations, including the specific chunk sizes used.

Additional technical resources from Dell Technologies offer insights into performance tuning and cache management.

References:

Dell Unity XT FAST Cache Guide

Dell Community on Cache Management

Dell Storage Product Information

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Unity Designer is a tool used to design and configure Dell EMC Unity storage systems. Two of the key input parameters for Unity Designer are Block and File resources, which include configuring LUNs, NAS servers, and file systems, and Drive Modules, which refer to the physical drives and their configurations within the storage system.