About This Guide

Dell™ PowerVault™ Modular Disk Storage Manager User's Guide

Dell™ PowerVault™ Modular Disk (MD) Storage Manager software is used to create and manage multiple storage arrays. The software can be used on any host attached to the storage array, as well as on storage management stations connected to the same sub-network.

MD Storage Manager is a graphical user interface (GUI) with wizard-guided tools and a task-based structure designed to reduce the complexity of installation, configuration, management, and diagnostic tasks.

MD Storage Manager software also contains an optional event monitoring service that is used to send alerts when a critical problem with the storage array occurs and a command line interface (CLI) to access functions performed by MD Storage Manager.

This guide is intended for users who are already familiar with the basic functions of their storage array. Any differences in certain functions between supported operating systems are explained where applicable.

MD Storage Manager online help contains detailed answers to software-related questions. You can access online help by clicking Help located at the top right corner of the MD Storage Manager interface. Refer to your storage array's Installation Guide for information on installing the MD Storage Manager.

User Interface

The Storage Manager screen is divided into three parts:

The Title Bar at the top of the screen displays the name of the application and the Dell logo.
Beneath the Title Bar is the Array Selector, listing the MD Storage Array that is currently selected. The icon next to the array's name indicates its condition. You can choose another array by clicking the down-arrow next to the array's name and highlighting a different array in the drop-down list. Links to the right of the array name let you add or remove arrays from the list of managed arrays. Links to the far right provide access to online help or close the Storage Manager.
Beneath the Array Selector is the Content Area. Several tabs appear in this area to group the tasks you can perform on the selected array. When you click on a tab, the Content Area displays links for the tasks you can perform. The following sections list some of the tasks you can perform under each tab.

Summary Tab

See the status of a storage array
See the hardware components in a storage array
See storage array capacity
See hosts, mappings, and storage partitions
See virtual disk groups and virtual disks
Access links to online help, FAQs, and a tutorial about storage concepts

Configure Tab

Configure host access
Create a host group
Create hot spares
Create virtual disks
Create snapshot virtual disks (if enabled)
Create virtual disk copies (if enabled)
Create host-to-virtual disk mappings

Modify Tab

Modify the host topology
Rename and delete virtual disks
Add free capacity to a disk group
Change virtual disk ownership and the preferred path of virtual disks
Modify a snapshot virtual disk (if enabled)
Manage virtual disk copies (if enabled)
Edit host-to-virtual disk mappings
Replace physical disks
Modify the RAID level for a disk group

Tools Tab

Rename a storage array
Set or change a password
View or enable premium features
Turn on indicator lights
Change enclosure ID numbers
Set or change enclosure tags
Set up e-mail alerts and SNMP alerts
Synchronize controller clocks, change the network configuration, or change battery settings
Inherit system settings
Change media scan settings
Change the pre-read redundancy check settings

iSCSI Tab

Set the authentication method supported by the target
Define permissions for mutual authentication
Set an alias for the target for identification
Modify the discovery method for iSCSI targets
Set the parameters for iSCSI host ports
View or end iSCSI sessions
View iSCSI statistics

NOTE: The iSCSI tab is shown only in the MD Storage Manager when the controllers contain iSCSI host ports.

Support Tab

Recover from a failure
Gather support information
View the storage array profile
Download RAID controller, NVSRAM, and physical disk firmware
Manage RAID controllers
View online help
Perform advanced support tasks

Other Information You May Need

CAUTION: For complete regulatory and safety information, see your Product Information Guide. Warranty information may be included within this document or as a separate one.

Setting Up Your Dell PowerVault MD provides an overview of setting up and cabling your storage array.
Dell™ PowerVault™ MD Installation Guide provides installation and configuration instructions for both software and hardware.
Dell™ PowerVault™ MD Hardware Owner's Manual provides information about the enclosure hardware.
Dell™ PowerVault™ MD Storage Manager CLI Guide provides information about using the command line interface (CLI).
Dell™ PowerVault™ MD Resource CD contains all system documentation and management tools.
Dell™ PowerVault™ MD Systems Support Matrix provides information on supported software and hardware for MD systems. The document is available at support.dell.com.
Dell PowerEdge^® Cluster Documentation is available at support.dell.com. A link to clustering documentation is also included on the Resource CD under Product Documentation.
Documentation for any components you purchased separately provides information to configure and install these options.
Release notes or readme files are included to provide last-minute updates to the enclosure or documentation or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or technicians.

NOTE: Always check for updates on support.dell.com and read the updates first because they often supersede information in other documents.

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