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Fast VMAX
Fast VMAX
Fast VMAX
HOL07-VMAX Enginuity 5876: FTS, VP Snap, FAST VP, Unisphere for VMAX, DCP, Tier
Advisor and symvm
1
Using VP Snap
42
55
76
24
Introduction
95
99
Conclusion
9.1
Conclusion
111
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Introduction
Welcome to the VMAX 40K Hands-on lab experience. This series of exercises provides an
introduction to the latest features of Enginuity 5876 using a virtual environment. This environment
provides each lab user exclusive use of a VMAX 40K, permitting a range of operations without
interference to other labs.
Virtual Enginuity has limitations and this is most obviously seen with small device sizes however
all lab exercises have been tested and verified. It is still possible that operations outside exercise
boundaries will cause errors. If this occurs, a user need only raise a hand to request assistance
whereby the environment can be reset and the exercise restarted.
The following exercises are available for you to run through. Each exercise can be executed
independently, however if you execute them in order, there are opportunities to use components
configured in one exercise in later exercises.
1. - Introduction to Unisphere for VMAX
2. - Configuring Federated Tiered Storage (FTS)
3. - Using VP Snap
4. - Configuring Virtual Provisioning and FAST VP
5. - Using Tier Advisor to Size an Array for FAST VP
6. - Using the symvm Command to Provision Gatekeepers a Virtual Machine
7. - Using Dynamic Cache Partioning's Analysis Mode
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Exercise 1: Introduction to
Unisphere for VMAX
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Enter smc for the User and Password, then click the Login button.
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Unisphere Controls
Toolbar - provides links to different sections in Unisphere (Note, an array is selected, the
options available on the toolbar are limited.)
Navigation Path - allows quick navigation between sections in Unisphere
The Dashboard - displays the objects or sections available to the user to manage
Common Tasks - provide access to Wizards used to perform common administrative tasks
Make yourself familiar with the bottom half of Unisphere's Home Page:
1.
Capacity Indicator - available for every array managed by the Unisphere instance
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Hold your cursor over each of the Symmetrix Controls to view the assigned Tool tip.
Click the Gear icon to display user Preferences.
Enable Remote Connection Optimization
Click the Optimize for Remote Connection check box and the OK button to minimize the
Unisphere's graphic animations.
Unisphere Administration
Click the Administration link located in the lower right hand corner of the screen to display the
Unisphere administrative options.
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Alert Setting
Click Alert Settings to display the various options related to alerts on the Dashboard.
Notifications
Click Notifications to display the options for notifying users about various alerts.
Email Configuration
Use the scroll bar to navigate down to the Email Configuration section.
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Return to Administration
After reviewing all of the options available for sending Alert notifications, click the Administration
link in the navigation path.
Explore the remaining Administration options available:
1. Authentication
2. Preferences
3. Users and Roles
4. Link and Launch
Return Home
The home page displays all of the array's managed by the Unisphere instance and includes the
following basic information about them:
1.
2.
3.
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4.
5.
6.
Hover your cursor over the System, Storage, Hosts, and Data Protection sections on the Toolbar.
Notice that links to unique sub-sections (1) and Common Tasks (2) are displayed for the user to
select from for each section.
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Hover your cursor over the System section on the Toolbar and then click Dashboard to navigate to
the System Dashboard.
Examine the System Dashboard
Examine the System Dashboard. Note that information about the array is divided into four
sections:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
A system overview section, which includes the array's serial number, model number, the
Enginuity level and an indication if the array is locally attached to the host running Unisphere.
A hardware section, which includes links to drill down on the various director types in the
array.
A capacity section, which summarizes the physical and virtual capacity in the array.
An Alert section, which summarizes all of the alerts for the array.
Click the Front End Directors link in the Hardware section to view the array's Front End Directors.
Examine the Front End Directors
Examine the Front End Directors table. Note that there are two GigE type directors - SE-7E and
SE-8E - configured in the array.
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Hover your cursor over the Storage section on the Toolbar and select the Thin Pools link.
Examine the Thin Pools Table
FC - Fibre Channel
Raid5 3+1
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Raid5 7+1
Raid6 6+2
Raid6 14+2
Beginning with Enginuity 5876, thin pools are supported for both Open Systems - Fixed Block
Architecture (FBA) - and Mainframe - Count Key Data - (CKD) emulation types.
Thin pools can only contain data devices created on the same disk technology, with the same
Raid protection and emulation type.
Note the EXTERNAL_TP pool will be used later for the Federated Tiered Storage (FTS) lab. The
VPsnap pool will be used for the VP Snap lab.
Review the Details of the VPsnap Pool
Double click the icon next to the VPsnap pool to view it's details.
Examine the Properties of the VPsnap Pool
Use the scroll bar to examine the properties of the VPsnap thin pool.
Notice the value of the fields below:
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Enabled Capacity (GB) - is the agragate capacity of all the Data Volumes in the pool.
% Subscription - is a meaure of oversubscription. In this case the pool is oversubscribed
nearly 6 to 1.
Related Objects
There are two types of objects related to thin pools. The first are the Data Volumes , also referred
to as DATA devices or TDATs, that were described in a previous step. The second type of object
are the Bound Volumes , also referred to as Thin Devices or TDEVs.
A thin device is a cache only device that when created is assigned a size. However, until it's
bound to a thin pool it consumes zero space on disk. Once bound to a pool, a thin device
consumes its first increment of 768KB of real storage from one of the data devices in the pool.
When provisioned to a host, a thin device reports its full size to the host, but only consumes
storage in 768KB increments as the host writes to new areas of the device.
Click the Bound Volumes link to review the details about the thin devices bound to the VPsnap
pool.
Bound Volumes
Scroll to the right until the Total Subscription % field is visible and note that the reported value for
each device is 100. The Total Subscription % represents what percentage of the pool's capacity
would be consumed if the thin device was fully allocated. In this case each device has the
potential to use all of the pool's capacity. So, the pool is said to be oversubscribed - 6 to 1 or
600%.
Navigate to The Hosts Section
The Hosts section contains the four sub-sections below. Click each one in turn and examine the
information they contain.
Initiators - the table shows the initiators (host HBAs) that are zoned to the array and which array
port(s) they're zoned to
Initiator Groups - groups of initiators associated with a single host
Host Cache Adapters - list the VFCache cards that are connected to the array
Masking Views - are the glue that tie Initiators, Port Groups and Storage Groups together to map
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The Data Protection section contains the five sub-sections below. Click each one in turn and
examine the information they contain.
Local Replication - allows the user to m onitor and manage local TimeFinder replication sessions
Migration - allows the user to monitor and manage migration sessions (symmigrate)
Recover Point - allows the user to monitor and manage devices RecoverPoint replication
sessions
Device Groups - are containers for managing devices used for the replication sessions above
Replication Groups & Pools - allows the user to monitor and manage TimeFinder Snap pools
and SRDF groups
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Minimize the Firefox browser window and click the services icon on the desktop.
Start the storstpd Daemon
Scroll down until the EMC storstpd daemon is visible, then select it. Right click the selection and
click Start to start the service.
The storstpd collects performance data from the local arrays and is required to view Performance
data in Unisphere for VMAX.
Navigate to the Performance Settings Sub-section
Double click on the Symmetrix ID ending in 0001 to view the detailed System Registration page.
Register the Array
Click the Real Time and Diagnostic check boxes to begin collecting both Real Time and
Diagnostic data for the array. Click the Apply button to save the changes.
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Click the Browsers back button to go back to the System Registrations section. Note the green
circles indicate the Symmetrix ID ending in 0001 is registered to collect both Real Time and
Diagnostic data.
Conclusion
This brief introduction to Unisphere for VMAX has armed you with the knowledge to:
Navigate around inside the tool using the toolbar and the navigation path
The different sections inside the tool and what information they contain
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Exercise 2: Configuring
Federated Tiered Storage
(FTS)
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External Provisioning - Allows the user to access LUNs existing on external storage as raw
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capacity for new Symmetrix devices. These devices are called externally provisioned devices.
Encapsulation - Allows the user to preserve existing data on external LUNs and access it
through Symmetrix volumes. These devices are called encapsulated devices.
External provisioning
When an eDisk is virtualized for external provisioning, Enginuity creates an external spindle and
adds it to the specified external disk group. External disk groups are separate from disk groups
containing internal physicals and start at disk group number 512. Because RAID protection is
provided by the external array, eDisks are added to unprotected virtual RAID groups. Symmetrix
devices can then be created from the external disk group to present to users.
Encapsulation
Encapsulation has two modes of operation:
Encapsulation for disk group provisioning (DP encapsulation) - The external spindle is
created and added to the specified external disk group and unprotected RAID group.
Symmetrix devices are also created at the same time, allowing access to preserved data.
Otherwise the Symm devices will be treated as any other VMAX volumes.
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Scroll down until the Disk Groups big button is available, then click on it to display the Disk
Groups table.
Examine the External Disk Group
Locate disk group # 512 and examine its attributes. All disk groups numbered 512 and above
contain external disks only. External disks and internal disks cannot be mixed in any disk group.
[OPTIONAL] List the Disk Groups using SYMCLI
To list the Disk Groups in SYMCLI, open a command prompt and execute the following command:
symdisk -sid 01 list -dskgrp_summary
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Locate disk group # 512 in the output and examine its attributes.
Return to the Storage Section
Click the Storage link in the navigation path to return to the Storage Section.
Navigate to the External Storage Section
Scroll down until the External Storage big button is available, then click on it to display the
External Storage tables.
View the Control Ports
Click the triangle next to the folder in the Control Ports table to display the DX ports. Use the
scroll bar to view all of the details.
DX directors are configured in dual initiator (DI) pairs like traditional DAs. They are fully redundant
like DAs and a failing director will fail over when necessary to the other fully functioning director in
the DI pair.
DI pairs will always be configured on the same engine with the same processor number. For
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example, in a 2 engine VMAX, 7G and 8G would be a valid pair as would 9H and 10H. Both ports
on a processor will be automatically configured as DX ports when the emulation is loaded and
both must be cabled and part of the FTS configuration.
EMC requires a minimum of 4 paths to external devices, meaning that at least 4 ports belonging
to a single DX dual initiator pair must be configured.
Notes: DX directors must be configured by EMC. Once the DX emulation has been loaded on the
processors, FTS is completely user-configurable.
If converting FAs to DXs, any previously assigned devices must be unmapped and unmasked and
the FA ports must be removed from any port groups.
View the External Ports
Click the triangle next to the folder in the External Ports table to display the external ports. Use
the scroll bar to view all of the details.
[OPTIONAL] View the Control Ports & External Ports in SYMCLI
If you wish to view the control ports and external ports in SYMCLI, open a command prompt and
execute the following command:
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Click the triangle next to the folder in the External LUNs table to display the external LUNs. Use
the scroll bars to view all of the details.
[OPTIONAL] View the External LUNs in SYMCLI
To view the external LUNs visible to the first control port 7F:0, execute the following command:
symsan -sid 01 list -dir 7F -p 0 -sanluns -wwn 50000972C0000558
Note, the WWN 50000972C0000558 at the end of the comm and line is the WWN of the remote
port connected to the control port.
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Select the first External LUN and click the Virtualize button to start the process of adding the
external LUN as an eDisk.
Complete the Virtualize External LUNs Dialog
Complete the Virtualize External LUNs Dialog as shown above. When encapsulating a device for
Virtual Provisioning, a thin pool name must be specified. If an appropriate thin pool does not
already exist, one must be created.
Adding the eDisk, choosing to encapsulate the data, and choosing a thin pool will cause the
eDisk to be created along with the TDAT (DATA device) which will be added to the pool and the
corresponding TDEV (thin device) which will be bound to the pool.
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Read the Confirm Virtualizing External LUNs pop-up window. Note that with this option, the data
on the external LUN will be preserved. Click the OK button to continue.
Acknowledge the Virtualization Task has Been Added to the Job List
Click the Close button to acknowledge the Virtualize External LUNs task has been added to the
Job list.
Navigate to the Jobs List
Click the Job List link, which is located below the Common Tasks .
Run the Job
Select the Virtualize External Lun job and click the Run button. Click OK to continue.
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Monitor the task in the Job List until its status changes from RUNNING to SUCCEEDED.
Note, this step may take a few minutes to complete. If you wish, you may switch to your command
prompt window, and execute the [OPTIONAL] SYMCLI command in the next s tep while you wait.
However, before proceeding with the remainder of the Unisphere portion of the exercise, ensure
the task completes.
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To prepare to virtualize one of the remaining external LUNs, execute the following commands in
the Command Prompt:
1. Change to the FTS directory
cd c:\labs\FTS
2. Display the contents of the file fts_add_edisks.txt.
type fts_add_edisks.txt
Note the following about the files contents:
The WWNs after the wwn= match the WWNs in the LUN WWN column from the prvious
SYMCLI command
The disk_group=512 designates the disk will be imported into the same disk group number
512.
The encapsulate _date=no option tells the system that this external LUN will be treated as a
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Hover the cursor over the Storage option on the toolbar, then click Thin Pools.
Examine the EXTERNAL_TP
Examine the information in Thin Pools table for the EXTERNAL_TP thin pool.
Note the pool's Configuration is Unprotected. With FTS, the VMAX relies on the external array to
provide the raid protection.
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Double click the small icon next to EXTERNAL_TP in the Name column to display the pool's
detailed configuration.
Examine the Pool's Properties
Use the scroll bar to examine the EXTERNAL_TP pool's properties. Note the following properties
are unique to an external disk group:
Technology = N/A
Examine the Pool's Related Objects
In the Related Objects section, notice that one DATA Volume (TDAT) and one Bound Volume
(TDEV) exist in the pool. The TDAT and TDEV have a 1:1 relationship, so as soon as the TDEV is
provisioned to a host, all of the data that exists on the external LUN will be visible to the host.
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Click the DATA Volumes link to display the volumes in the pool.
Examine the Pool's DATA Volumes (TDATs)
Examine the properties of the DATA Volume (TDEV) 0070 that was added during the virtualization
step.
Note that it's configuration is Unprotected, because with FTS, the external array provides an eDisk
with its raid protection.
[OPTIONAL] Double click on the Data Volume 0070 to see all of its details.
Return to EXTERNAL_TP Thin Pool's Subsection
Click the EXTERNAL_TP link in the navigation path to return to the pool's subsection.
Navigate to the Bound Volumes (TDEVs) Subsection
Click the Bound Volumes (TDEVs) link to display the volumes in the pool.
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Use the scroll bar to examine the Bound Volume (TDEV) 0071's properties, which was
automatically created and bound to the pool during the virtualization step.
As mentioned above, as soon as the volume is provisioned to a host, all of the data that exists on
the external LUN will be visible to the host.
Note that the volume is 100% allocated from the EXTERNAL_TP pool.
[OPTIONAL] Double click on the Bound Volume 0071 to see all of its details.
[OPTIONAL] Display the eDisks added to the External Disk Group 512 Using SYMCLI
Execute the command below to list the eDisks added to the external disk group 512 during the
virtualization step:
symdisk -sid 01 list -disk_group 512 -spindle
Note, if you encapsulated one spindle in Unisphere and the second with SYMCLI, two spindles
will be displayed.
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Execute the command below to display spindle 1E00's details. Use the scroll bar to display all of
the fields.
symdisk -sid 01 show -spid 1E00
Note, the spindle's location is External.
[OPTIONAL] Display the Hypers on Spindle 1E00
Scroll to the bottom of the command's output to display the Hypers on Spindle 1E00.
Note that one hyper with Device id 0434 exists on the spindle. Also note that the device's Type is
Ext-Data, which means it's a Data Device (TDAT) that exists on an external LUN.
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Execute the command below to display device 0070's details. Use the scroll bar to display all of
the fields.
symdev -sid 01 show 0070
Note that device 0070 is an Encapsulated Device that is part of the thin pool EXTERNAL_TP.
Scroll down and review the Device External Identity section, which is one of the few areas of the
output specific to FTS.
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Execute the command below to display device 0071's details. Use the scroll bar to display all of
the fields.
symdev -sid 01 show 0071
Scroll through the output and note the following about device 0071:
Like all thin devices, it does not have a RAID group and is locally unprotected
Conclusion
In this lesson you've had the opportunity to configure FTS using both Unisphere and SYMCLI.
While using Uhisphere you encapsulated the data on the external LUN and added it to a thin pool,
which you will have the opportunity to use in the FAST VP lesson.
While using SYMCLI you added the external disk to the disk group without preserving the data.
1. - Introduction to Unisphere for VMAX
2. - Configuring Federated Tiered Storage (FTS)
3. - Using VP Snap
4. - Configuring Virtual Provisioning and FAST VP
5. - Using Tier Advisor to Size an Array for FAST VP
6. - Using the symvm Command to Provision Gatekeepers a Virtual Machine
7. - Using Dynamic Cache Partioning's Analysis Mode
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Using VP Snap
VP Snap leverages TimeFinder technology to create space-efficient snaps for thin devices by
allowing multiple sessions to share allocations within a thin pool. In this lab, users will use
Solutions Enabler v7.4 to create two VP Snap sessions using one source device. A virtual
provisioning thin pool will be monitored throughout this exercise. After noting the space
consumed by these sessions, you will create two regular TimeFinder/Clone -copy sessions and
compare the space saving efficiencies that VP Snap offers.
Note that this lab uses the Symmetrix Command Line interface (SYMCLI) exclusively.
Open a Command Prompt
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Execute the command below to display the detailed configuration of the VPsnap pool.
symcfg -sid 01 show -pool VPsnap -thin -detail
Scroll to the top of the command's output and review the above outlined two sections:
1. Note that there are 16 FBA data devices that reside on Fibre Channel drives (FC) in the pool.
These devices are protected with Raid1 (2-way-Mir).
2. The second section displays how the storage on the data devices has been allocated. We
will be referring to this section throughout the lab to demonstrate the space savings efficency
of the VP Snap feature.
Examine the Thin Devices Bound to the VPsnap Pool
Examine the section at the bottom of the output labeled Pool Bound Thin Devices and note the
following:
1. Thin devices 004A - 004F are bound to the VPsnap pool
2. The devices are all 32,775 tracks in size
3. Device 004A has 1044 tracks allocated and 1010 tracks written
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4.
A total of 1104 tracks have been allocated from the pool, and 1010 tracks - from device 004A have been written
As hosts write to new areas of a thin device, 12 tracks refered to as an Extent are allocated in a
round robin fashion from the enabled Data Devies in the pool. Enginuity maintains a flag referred
to as NWBH - Never Written By Host - indicating if host has ever writen data to the Logical Block
Address (LBA) range of each track. This mechanism allows the VMAX family to take short cuts in
certain situations.
In the example above device 004A has 1044 tracks or 92 extents allocated from the VPsnap pool.
Create a VP Snap Session
Execute the command below to display the contents of the file session1.txt:
type session1.txt
Note, the first device on the line (04A) is the source device and the second device (04B) is the
target device.
Execute the command below to create a VPsnap session using the devices in the session1.txt
file:
symclone -sid 01 create -f session1.txt -vse -noprompt
Execute the command below to activate the VP Snap session:
symclone -sid 01 activate -f session1.txt -noprompt
Note, the -noprompt option used in the com mands above may be abbreviated -nop.
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Execute the command below to display the detailed configuration of the VPsnap pool.
symcfg -sid 01 show -pool VPsnap -thin -detail
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Scroll up to display more details about the pool. Near the top of the output, note the values for the
fields below:
1. # of Allocated Tracks in Pool
2. # of Shared Tracks in the Pool
Note, the values haven't changed.
The # of Shared Tracks will not increase until:
1. A second VP Snap session is activated using the same source device, but a different target
device
2. Existing allocated tracks on the source device are changed
When these conditions are met, the target devices in any active VP Snap sessions begin sharing
the original tracks. The source device allocates new tracks from the free space in the pool to
store the updated data.
Create a Second VP Snap Session
Execute the command below to display the contents of the file session2.txt:
type session2.txt
Note, the first device on the line (04A) is the source device and the second device (04C) is the
target device.
Execute the command below to create a VPsnap session using the devices in the session2.txt
file:
symclone -sid 01 create -f session2.txt -vse -noprompt
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Execute the command below to list the devices presented to the host.
syminq -winvol
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Notice that the \\PHYSICALDRIVE1 is the Source Device 004A and is mounted as drive E:.
Execute the command below to copy the file VPsnaplab-test.log file to the E: drive.
copy VPsnaplab-test.log E:\
Re-examine the Allocated and Shared Tracks
Execute the command below to display the detailed configuration of the VPsnap pool.
symcfg -sid 01 show -pool VPsnap -thin -detail
Scroll up to display more details about the pool. Near the top of the output, note the values for the
fields below:
1. # of Allocated Tracks in Pool
2. # of Shared Tracks in the Pool
Note, the values have changed since the command was run previously.
In the final step, we will display the thin pool details again. However, we will use this output to
compare the number of allocated and shared tracks produced when we created the vse clone
sessions.
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In order to recognize the space savings that the VP Snap feature offers, we must compare the # of
Allocated tracks from the previous step to the # of Allocated tracks after terminating the VP
Snap sessions and creating regular Clone -copy sessions using the same device pairs.
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Execute the command below to create a Clone -copy session using the same device pairs as the
first VP Snap session:
symclone -sid 01 create -f session1.txt -copy -noprompt
Execute the command below to activate the Clone -copy session.
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Repeat the command above until the number of protected tracks reaches zero and the Status
column at the far right of the output changes to Copied. Note, in this virtualized environment it may
take 1-2 minutes for the copies to complete.
Re-examine the Allocated and Shared Tracks
Execute the command below to display the detailed configuration of the VPsnap pool.
symcfg -sid 01 show -pool VPsnap -thin -detail
Scroll up to display more details about the pool. Near the top of the output, note the values for the
fields below:
1. # of Allocated Tracks in Pool
2. # of Shared Tracks in the Pool
Conclusion
In conclusion the new TimeFinder VP Snap feature offers the ability to share changed tracks when
multiple sessions are active against the same source device. This can represent a significant
reduction in allocated storage when compared to traditional clone sessions.
In this simple example, VP Snap allocated 60% fewer tracks than the traditional clone method
when creating two local copies of a source volume.
Allocated tracks with VP Snap: 1212
Allocated tracks with traditional Clones: 3168
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Exercise 4: Configuring
Virtual Provisioning and FAST
VP
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FAST VP Components:
VP Tier
A VP Tier contains between one and four thin storage pools - each thin pool must contain data
devices of the same RAID protection type, and be configured on the same drive technology.
FAST Policy
A FAST Policy groups between one and three VP Tiers and assigns an upper usage limit for each
storage tier. The upper limit specifies the percentage of the configured, logical capacity of the
associated storage group that can reside on each tier.
Storage Group
A storage group is a logical grouping of Symmetrix devices that are to be managed together.
Association
Storage groups are associated with a FAST Policy, thereby defining the VP Tiers that data in the
storage group can be allocated on.
Exercise Overview
In this exercise you will perform the steps required to place data under FAST VP control, including
the following items:
1. Create Thin Pools
2. Create VP Tiers
3. Create FAST Policies
4. Associate a FAST Policy with a Storage Group
5. Modify a FAST Policy
6. Examine the FAST Compliance Report
Note:
1. This lab is being run in a Virtual Appliance running Enginuity 5876.
2. This Virtual Appliance has a fraction of the resources that the smallest Symmetrix array offers.
3. Using 137 Cyl for the Volume Capacity will ensure that existing Data Devices (TDATs) are
added to the pool, which will reduce the time it takes for you to complete the lab and will
ensure the VM remains stable throughout the exercise.
4. The Virtual Appliance only supports Raid 1 devices - denoted as 2-Way-Mir in Unisphere - so
all of the TDATs used in the lab will have Raid 1 (2-Way-Mir) protection.
Navigate to the Storage Page
Click Storage icon on the Unisphere toolbar to switch to the Storage page.
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A thin pool is a shared, physical storage resource of a single RAID protection and drive
technology used for the purposes of Virtual Provisioning. Made up of multiple data devices
(TDATs), each pool provides on-demand storage for host addressable thin devices (TDEVs).
On the Storage page, click the Thin Pools big button.
Create the EFD_R1 Thin Pool
Click the Create button in the bottom left hand corner of the Thin Pools page.
Complete the Create Thin Pool Dialog
To create a thin pool, it is necessary to specify a pool name, the desired drive technology, the
desired RAID protection, and emulation. The number of data devices, and their capacity, also
needs to be specified.
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Complete the Create Thin Pool dialog as shown above. Be sure to change the Volume Capacity
unit to Cyl before entering 137 for the actual capacity.
Note, the protection type 2-way-mir is the same as Raid 1 protection, which is abbreviated as R1
in the pool and tier names throughout this lab.
Execute the Create Thin Pool Command
Verify that the 16 Existing Volumes will be added to the new thin pool.
Select Run Now from the drop down to execute the create thin pool command.
Acknowledge the Thin Pool was Created
Click the Close button to confirm the thin pool was created.
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Click the Create button in the bottom left hand corner of the Thin Pools page.
Complete the Create Thin Pool dialog as shown above. Be sure to change the Volume Capacity
unit to Cyl before entering 137 for the actual capacity.
Verify that the 16 Existing Volumes will be added to the new thin pool.
Select Run Now from the drop down to execute the create thin pool command.
Click the Close button to confirm the thin pool was created.
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Click the Create button in the bottom left hand corner of the Thin Pools page.
Complete the Create Thin Pool dialog as shown above. Be sure to change the Volume Capacity
unit to Cyl before entering 137 for the actual capacity.
Verify that the 16 Existing Volumes will be added to the new thin pool.
Select Run Now from the drop down to execute the create thin pool command.
Click the Close button to confirm the thin pool was created.
Examine the new Thin Pools
Verify that the three new thin pools are listed in the table. Double click them to view their details.
Use the back button to return to the Thin Pools page after reviewing each pool's details.
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Click the Storage link in the navigation path to return to the Storage page.
Navigate to the Tiers Page
A FAST VP tier defines a set of resources of the same drive technology type combined with a given
RAID protection type, and the same emulation. FAST VP tiers can contain between one and four
thin pools. Each pool must contain data devices of the same RAID protection type, and be
configured on the same drive technology.
Click the Tiers big button to navigate to the Tiers page.
Create the EFD_R1 Tier
Click the Create button located at the bottom left of the screen.
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Click the Close button on the Create Tier information pop up window to continue.
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Click the Create button located at the bottom left of the screen.
Complete the Create Tier dialog as shown above and the click the OK button.
Click the Close button on the Create Tier information pop up window to continue.
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Click the Create button located at the bottom left of the screen.
Complete the Create Tier dialog as shown above and the click the OK button.
Click the Close button on the Create Tier information pop up window to continue.
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If you completed the Federated Tiered Storage (FTS) lesson above, you can see how a tier can be
built from a thin pool containing external LUNs above. However, if you try to execute the
command above it will fail. The failure is due to the version of Enginuity our virtual Symmetrix is
running, which does not support this feature. The GA version of 5876 does support this feature.
At GA, Tiers built from external storage are always considered the lowest tier in a policy.
Click the Cancel button to continue.
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Select the FC_R1 tier from the Tiers table and click the Edit button.
Add a Second Pool to the FC_R1 Tier
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Note, when arrays running with the FAST VP feature are expanded with new and larger drive sizes,
EMC recommends building a new pool with the data devices created on the larger drives, and
then adding the pool to an existing tier if the goal is to expand the capacity available to that tier.
Return to the Storage Page
Click the Storage link in the navigation path to return to the Storage page.
Navigate to the FAST Page
A FAST policy groups between one and three tiers and assigns an upper usage limit for each
storage tier. The upper limit specifies the maximum amount of capacity from each storage group
associated with the policy that can reside on that particular tier.
Click the Mange Policies link to navigate to the FAST Polices page.
Create the PLATINUM Policy
Complete the Create FAST Policy dialog as shown above. Click the OK button to continue.
Confirm the Policy was Created
Click the Close button to dismiss the Create FAST Policy information pop-up window.
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Associating a storage group to a policy allows data within the storage group to reside on up to
three tiers. A storage group is considered to be compliant with the FAST policy it is associated
with when all data in the storage group is allocated within the bounds of the upper usage limits
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Select the ESX_SG storage group. Click the Show Advanced tab to display the Enable FAST VP
RDF Coordination option.
Click the OK button to continue.
Click the Close button on the Add Storage Group(s) pop-up window to continue.
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Modifying a FAST VP policy is considered a dynamic change. Changes made take effect
immediately after the change has completed.
Select the PLATINUM policy in the FAST Policies table. Right click the policy and then select the
View Details... option from the Right-Click menu.
Modify the % of the EFD_R1 Tier
Increase the % for the EFD_R1 tier to 20. Click the Apply button to confirm the change.
Click the Close button on the Edit FAST Policy pop-up window to continue.
Navigate to the Storage Groups Sub-section
Hover your mouse over the Storage section on the Toolbar. Click the Storage Groups option from
the drop down menu.
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Select the WIN_SG storage group from the Storage Groups table.
Click the Associate to FAST button at the bottom of the page to continue.
Select the Gold Policy
Select the GOLD policy on the Associate to FAST Policy dialog and click the OK button to continue.
Examine the Details of the Storage Group WIN_SG
Select the WIN_SG storage group from the Storage Groups table.
Click the View Details button at the bottom of the page to continue.
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Examine the FAST Compliance Report for the Storage Group WIN_SG.
Note following information in the FAST Compliance Report:
Max SG Demand (%) - the maximum capacity allowed in each tier based on the policy associated
with the storage group.
Limit (GB) - The capacity in GBs allowed in each tier based on the policy associated with the
storage group.
Fast SG Used (GB) - the amount of capacity currently allocated in each tier.
Growth (GB) - (Not shown) the amount of capacity the storage group can still consume in each
tier based on the policy. Note, a negative number would indicate the storage group is out of
compliance.
Conclusion
In this exercise you've configured virtual provisioning pools, FAST VP Tiers and FAST VP Policies.
You've also associated storage groups with the FAST VP policies and examined the compliance
report.
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What are the input parameters needed for the modeling of Tiered configurations
How to interpret the workload characteristics that affect the configuration plan
How to identify the utilization level of the disk resources in the current configuration
How to create a tiered storage configuration that can improve performance, reduce
acquisition costs, and reduce power consumption and footprint
How to validate if the configuration that you create can sustain the desired performance as
the workload grows
Tier Advisor
Tier Advisor is a modeling tool that estimates the performance and cost of mixing different types
of disk drive technology within EMC storage arrays.
Tier Advisor is not a requirement for FAST, but it is a useful tool when planning for a Fully
Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) implementation.
FAST optimizes the use of different disk types, or storage tiers, in a Symmetrix array by placing
the right data in the right tier at the right time.
Tier Advisor helps you model an optimal storage array disk configuration by enabling interactive
experimentation with different storage tiers and storage policies until achieving your desired cost
and performance preferences. In this process you verify that the disk technology chosen in each
tier has the capabilities needed to accommodate the different workloads.
Tier Advisor helps you define the amount of disk drives to use for each disk drive technology when
configuring a tiered storage solution.
Launch Tier Advisor
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Close the Workload: Data Source and Target Group Selection Window
Double click the Tier Advisor icon in the upper left corner of the window.
Open a New Session
On the Tier Advisor menu, click File -> Open Session to open a new Tier Advisor session.
Select the Sample File
Follow the path below to the Full Array sample - Moderate load file.
Computer -> Local Disk (C:) -> labs -> TA
Select the file and click the Open button to continue.
Display the Workload
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Examine the time intervals available in the sample file. Note, that data is available for a 24 hour
period beginning on Thursday 10/7/10 at 2AM.
Narrow the Analysis Period
All available time intervals are selected by default when calculating the workload, but it is possible
to select any combination of time intervals for analysis using the mouse and the CTRL key to click
on the hour bars.
Click the 12PM interval as indicated above.
Re-examine the Workload's Characteristics
Note that the number of Back End I/Os per sec changed from 15,222 to 21,824. Also note that the
Standard skew - not pictured above - changed from 79.5 to 86.1. This is an indication that during
the 12:00PM interval the workload running in this system is concentrated on a smaller number of
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One of the goals of the performance modeling is to create a disk drive mix that satisfies your cost
and performance requirements.
To facilitate this process the cost and performance of the configuration being proposed is
compared against an existing configuration or against other configuration options.
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If the workload is currently running on an EMC array, Tier Advisor automatically loads the physical
characteristics of the existing system and sets this system as a hardware baseline. These
hardware characteristics will be used when comparing cost and power consumption of the
different configuration options.
Observe in the chart above that the source storage array uses 3 different disk types:
256 x FC 15K 300 GB
240 x FC 15K 146 GB
88 x FC 10K 300 GB
584
Examine the Devices in the Baseline Editor
The bottom section of the Baseline Editor displays information about the devices that are
allocated in each of the disk types selected. In this example we can observe that there are 1,244
devices allocated on the 300GB 15K drives. This group of 1,244 devices represents 65TB of
usable capacity. RAID 5 7+1 protection is used, and the devices are responsible for 11,534 Back
End I/Os.
Close the Baseline Editor
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Examine the Hardware Configuration section, which allows you to compare Target Configurations
against the Baseline Configuration. Recall that the Baseline Configuration is based on the
hardware components included in the sample workload.
Section 1 allows relative comparisons based on the following metrics:
Rel RT
- Relative Service Time / Response Time
Change the Relative Data display from Numeric Ratio to Percent Change.
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Change the Capacity Total display from Physical Used to Logical Allocation.
Change the Tier Capture Display
Observe the effect of the changes in the display options. Click each option and observe the
following:
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Workload:
The policy section now displays the % of the I/Os that is expected to be captured in each Tier
The FLASH Tier is expected to execute 43.15% of the I/Os in the system
Hover your mouse over the Red bar in the Disk Utilization graph and observe the following:
In the Policies section, click the Flash 7R5 box and adjust the tier's percentage from 3% down to
2.3%.
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Observe the changes to the Disk Utilization section after reducing the percent of EFD capacity
from 3% to 2.3%:
Observe the changes in the relative cost of the proposed solution after reducing the percent of
EFD capacity from 3% to 2.3%:
Hover your mouse over the Blue bar in the Disk Utilization graph and observe the following:
In the Policies section, click the SATA 2T 14R6 box and adjust the tier's percentage from 71%
down to 70%.
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Observe the Changes in the SATA Tier After Adjusting the Capacity
Observe the changes to the Disk Utilization section after reducing the percent of SATA capacity
from 71% to 70%:
Observe the following changes to the Proposed Configuration after reducing the percent of SATA
capacity from 71% to 70%:
1.
The cost of the proposed configuration changed from 13% to 17% less expensive than the
baseline
2.
The response time is now 36% lower instead of 52%
3.
The power consumption is 53% lower
4.
The increase in raw capacity is now 21% instead of 42%
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Hover your mouse over the Green bar in the Disk Utilization graph and observe the following:
Examine the Target Config 1's IO profile and note that the Back End Write activity in this system is
23.4%.
This value is significantly below the typical 40-50% write activity observed in enterprise systems.
When the back end write activity is near 50%, the middle tier rarely benefits from RAID 5
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On the Storage policies worksheet complete the following actions to change the FC Tier's Raid
Protection from RAID1 to RAID5 3+1:
1. Click the Tiers tab
2. Select RAID 5 3+1 from the Protection drop down box
3. Change the tier's name to 15K300 3R5 to reflect the new RAID protection type
4. Click the Close button
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Hover your mouse over the Green bar in the Disk Utilization graph and observe the following:
There are (152) 300GB 15K FC Disks in the Tier down from (226) disks
The I/O utilization is 65.7% up from 42.0% (y-axis), which viloates the I/O Utilization Policy
Observe the following changes to the Proposed Configuration after changing the FC Tier from
RAID1 to RAID5 3+1:
1. The relative cost changed from -17% to -31%, which means it's 31% less expensive than the
baseline configuration
2. The relative response time is now -12%, which is lower than the baseline, but not as good as
the option with RAID1
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Hover your cursor over the small gray home plate icon on the Policy Relative Response Time
graph. As the vertical bar is dragged to the right or left the response time information in the policy
section is updated. This chart can be useful to project at what IO rate the resposne time curves
will cross.
Optimize the FC Tier
To optimize the FC Tier, increase the percentage of the FC Tier from 28% to 38%.
Click the 15K300 3R5 box and change the percentage from 28% to 38%.
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Observe the following changes to the Proposed Configuration after increasing the percentage of
the FC Tier percentage from 28% to 38%:
1. The relative cost changed from -31% to -21%, which means it's still 21% less expensive than
the baseline configuration
2. The relative response time is now -27%, which is also lower than the baseline
3. The I/O utilization in the FC Tier decreased from 65.7% to 51.5%
In this example the RAID 1 config provides better response time improvement for a slightly higher
cost. In other cases when the percentage of Back End Writes is high we observe that the RAID 1
option for the middle tier results in lower cost and better performance than RAID 5.
Conclusion
In this exercise we explored the basic funtions in Tier Advisor for planning a tiered configuration.
There are more functions to be explored, please ask your EMC representative for a
demonstration.
Thank you for participating in this introductory lab.
1. - Introduction to Unisphere for VMAX
2. - Configuring Federated Tiered Storage (FTS)
3. - Using VP Snap
4. - Configuring Virtual Provisioning and FAST VP
5. - Using Tier Advisor to Size an Array for FAST VP
6. - Using the symvm Command to Provision Gatekeepers a Virtual Machine
7. - Using Dynamic Cache Partioning's Analysis Mode
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Execute the command below to list the ESXi servers that have been registered on the SYMCLI
host.
symcfg list authorization -vmware
Note the IP address in the Hostname column. This address corresponds to the ESXi 5 server's
IP address.
List the VMs on the ESXi Server
Execute the command below to list the VMs running on the ESXi server:
symvm -server 192.168.110.51 list -vm all
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Execute the command below to list the GKs provisioned to the ESXi server:
symvm -server 192.168.110.51 list -sid 01 -gk
Note the full Array Id, it will be required to m ap the GKs in the next step.
Scroll to the right to find the Dev column, which contains the Symmetrix device ids associated with
the GK devices.
Map the GKs to the VM
Execute the command below to map the GKs 0056 - 005B to the VM Win2K8:
symvm -server 192.168.110.51 map -VM Win2K8 -array_id 000194900001 -range 56:5b
Note all devices mapped to a VM with the symvm command are provisioned as Raw Device
Mapping (RDMs) devices on the ESXi server.
List the GKs Mapped to the VM
Execute the command below to list the GKs mapped to the VM Win2K8:
symvm -server 192.168.110.51 list -sid 01 -gk -mapped -vm Win2K8
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Execute the command below to unmap the GKs 005A - 005B from the VM Win2K8:
symvm -server 192.168.110.51 unmap -VM Win2K8 -array_id 000194900001 -range 5A:5B
Conclusion
This simple exercise demonstrates how the new symvm command can be used to manage GK
devices in a virtualized environment.
It should be noted that the symvm command works equally as well with regular volumes,
however it is limited to presenting the devices as Raw Device Mappings (RDMs). RDMs are not
usually recommended for general purpose storage.
1. - Introduction to Unisphere for VMAX
2. - Configuring Federated Tiered Storage (FTS)
3. - Using VP Snap
4. - Configuring Virtual Provisioning and FAST VP
5. - Using Tier Advisor to Size an Array for FAST VP
6. - Using the symvm Command to Provision Gatekeepers a Virtual Machine
7. - Using Dynamic Cache Partioning's Analysis Mode
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Execute the commands below to create two new Cache Partitions ready to participate in Analyze
mode. The Partitions will be named ServiceClass1 and ServiceClass2.
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name ServiceClass1 create -target 33 -min 0 -max 100 -time 0 -wp 80
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name ServiceClass2 create -target 33 -min 0 -max 100 -time 0 -wp 80
Modify the Default Cache Partition
Execute the command below to modify the default Cache Partition for participation in Analyze
mode:
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name DEFAULT_PARTITION modify -min 0 -max 100 -time 0
Assign workloads into the Partitions
Assigning devices into Partitions is most easily achieved using device groups containing the
various workloads. Device groups are likely to already exist making placement in a Partition
simple. For this exercise a single device for each Partition is used to symbolize the workload
assignment process. All devices (workloads) not assigned into a partition remain in the default
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partition. Execute the commands below to assign devices ( symbolizing service class workloads)
into their Partitions:
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name ServiceClass1 add dev 048
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name ServiceClass2 add dev 049
Enable Dynamic Cache Partitioning Analyze Mode
Analyze mode tracks cache slot usage by "proposed" Partition revealing how workloads in each
"proposed" partition are actually using cache. Understanding how cache is used without
Partitions enabled allows informed decisions on how to implement and manage Partitioning.
Execute the command below to enable Cache Partitioning Analyze mode:
symqos -cp -sid 01 analyze
Review Dynamic Cache Partition Settings
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Unisphere for VMAX provides graphical representation of many cache metrics. The screen shot
above shows Cache Partitioning choices available under the Performance section of Unisphere
for VMAX. Subsequent graphs used for this exercise are produced using Unisphere for VMAX.
Once workloads identified for Partitioning are in Analyze Mode let the analysis run for a period to
allow data collection. (A normal production day for example.) The data being collected shows
cache usage for the service classes (multiple workloads) within the proposed Partitions.
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Examine the above graphs for each partition produced by Unisphere for VMAX. These represent
actual cache usage during the sample time.
Examine the Sample Graph - Cache Age GT 10
The next graphs are 10 minute moving averages of Fall Through Time for service classes in each
Partition. Fall Through Time is a measure of data residency in cache which can be used to
indicate cache utilization effeciency.
Examine the Sample Graph - Read Hit %
The % of read hits and the Fall Through Time will be used together to draw inferences about the
affinity of each service class for Cache or disk resources. Is a workload "cache friendly" or does
it use the disk "backend" resource.
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Using the simple chart, assess the cache/disk affinity of the three Partitioned service classes.
Consider this to be an Open System Environment.
ServiceClass 1
is
(Cache friendly, neutral, disk intensive)
ServiceClass 2
is
(Cache friendly, neutral, disk intensive)
DEFAULT_PARTITION is
(Cache friendly, neutral, disk intensive)
Important considerations:
Giving more cache to a cache friendly workload improves that workload but has a secondary effect
of requiring less disk access and thereby improves other disk intensive workloads.
The reverse is also true, giving additional cache to a disk intensive workload forces a cache
friendly workload to more disk access and ultimately decreases the disk intensive workload
performance.
Workloads far apart on the chart can both benefit when appropriate cache management is used.
Cache friendly workloads close together on the chart compete for the same resource and cache
management chooses one over the other. (Prioritization)
Modify the Cache Partitions to Match the Current Utilization
Dynamic Cache Partitioning parameters are set for maximum flexibility while in Analyze mode. To
allow parameter modification in preparation for use requires moving to Disabled mode. Set
Dynamic Cache Partitioning to Disable mode.
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STEP 3 Donations
Finally, the Donation time can be influenced to create an environment with a bias to achieving our
goals. The goal is to improve the disk intensive ServiceClass1 by giving its competitor workload
more cache and reducing disk contention. The competitor workload (default workload) will be
given a higher priority over ServiceClass2 as defined by cache use effeciency i.e. the donation
time. The Average Fall Through time acts as a guide for Donation time. Consider, if a cache slot
is falling out of the Least Recently Used (LRU) ring in 60 seconds then the time since last access
is 60 seconds. This one data point can guide Donation time considerations.
ServiceClass2 experiences an minimum average Fall Through time of 80 seconds. To positively
bias donation of cache slots to other partitions the donation time can be set slightly below this
number. With a Donation time of 70 seconds the least effeciently used slots in ServiceClass2 will
be available if other partitions demand the resource.
The Default_Partition experieces large variations in the Fall Through time but our desire is to
influence this partition towards keeping more cache slots. Set the Donation time for this partition
to 90 seconds.
ServiceClass1 Fall Through time indicates it generally doesn't use cache very effeciently but there
is one spike that we will want to accomodate. Set the Donation time to 40 seconds.
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name ServiceClass1 modify -time 40
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name ServiceClass2 modify -time 70
symqos -sid 01 -cp -name DEFAULT_PARTITION modify -time 90
symqos -sid 01 -cp list -settings
Partition sizes flex around the Target values. Slot donation occurs according to the cache use
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efficiency measure represented by Donation time. The settings above are intended to provide a
bias that supports easier disk access for ServiceClass1 by making the default partition (disk
resource competitor) the recipient of cache slot donations.
Enable Cache Partitioning and Observe the result
Small changes were made to the Partition parameters in an effort to prioritize one ServiceClass
over the others. Dynamic Cache Partitioning can now be enabled and the result reviewed.
symqos -sid 01 -cp enable
The workloads are run with the Partition parameters controlling cache usage.
The Unisphere graphs shown above are re-examined to verify success (or failure) of the intended
result.
With this feedback more small alterations can be made or the environment left until workloads
change enough over time to warrant a repeat of the management cycle.
Conclusion
The exercise above introduces concepts of Dynamic Cache Partitioning including:
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Conclusion
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Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to complete the VMAX 40K Hands-on lab session. We hope the
lessons spark an interest in you to learn more about the new features in Enginuity 5876 as well
as Unisphere for VMAX.
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