Category: Equallogic

Some new hardware arrived, which gave me a chance to experiment with EqualLogic configuration settings I wish I’d known about years earlier. The best part: watching the group automatically spread volumes across arrays.

Two Members, Different RAID, One Pool

Here I have two members, ONR1 and ONR2, each using a different RAID type:

Both are in the same storage pool:

And these are the volumes set up on that pool:

Automatic Load Balancing

After a while, the volumes redistribute themselves across both arrays, with no manual work required:

Pretty sweet, right? It’s one of the reasons I recommend EqualLogic. See my EqualLogic review.

The Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module (MEM) gives VMware ESXi hosts smarter iSCSI multipathing to EqualLogic SANs. Here’s how I installed it and raised the session limits to get more iSCSI paths per volume.

1. Install the MEM VIB

Copy the zipped VIB (for example, dell-eql-mem-esx5-1.2.0.365964.zip) to a datastore your host can reach using SCP. Then SSH to the host and install it, adjusting the path to match your datastore:

esxcli software vib install --depot /vmfs/volumes/*****/dell-eql-mem-esx5-1.2.0.365964.zip

You’ll see a result similar to this (from an older version):

Installation Result
Message: Operation finished successfully.
Reboot Required: false
VIBs Installed: Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-host-connection-mgr_1.1.1-268843, Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-hostprofile_1.1.0-212190, Dell_bootbank_dell-eql-routed-psp_1.1.1-262227

2. Check the Current MEM Parameters

esxcli equallogic param list

Name            Value  Max    Min  Description
--------------- ------ ------ ---- ---------------------------------------------
TotalSessions   512    1024   64   Max number of sessions per host.
VolumeSessions  12     12     1    Max number of sessions per volume.
MemberSessions  4      4      1    Max number of sessions per member per volume.
MinAdapterSpeed 1000   10000  10   Minimum adapter speed for iSCSI multipathing.

3. Raise Volume and Member Sessions

By default, member sessions are probably set to 2 and volume sessions to 4 or 6. Set them to the maximums:

esxcli equallogic param set -n=VolumeSessions -v=12
esxcli equallogic param set -n=MemberSessions -v=4

Then rescan the software iSCSI adapter. You should see about three times as many paths to each volume.

Updating controller firmware on a Dell EqualLogic PS Series array is easy: open Group Manager, upload a file, click a few buttons, and you’re done. But what about when SAN HQ starts emailing you about outdated disk drive firmware? That takes a different process, and the good news is that it can be done hot, with no outage.

Firmware Downloads

Controller firmware kits:

• kit_V9.0.3-R427117_1120407684.tgz
• kit_V8.1.3-R422462_334193118.tgz

Disk drive firmware kits:

• kit_V11.0_DriveFw_2875173717.tgz
• kit_V10.0_DriveFw_2480353603.tgz
• kit_V8.0_DriveFw_2285700222.tgz

SAN HQ: SANHQSetup32And64_v3.2.1

Steps to Update Disk Firmware

1. Open your FTP client (I use WinSCP) and connect to the array’s group IP or management IP.
2. Upload the drive firmware .tgz package. I used kit_V8.0_DriveFw_2285700222.tgz. Don’t unzip it; it needs no further prep.
3. SSH (PuTTY) to the same group or management IP and run one command: update. That’s it.

Example Output

Here’s what the update looked like on my array (repetitive drive lines trimmed):

Welcome to Group Manager
Copyright 2001-2014 Dell Inc.

EQLSAN> update
13:24:23 Updating from kit file "kit_V8.0_DriveFw_2285700222.tgz"

This command will install the update kit file that was
copied to the array.

If you choose to proceed, you will be shown the current firmware version
and the version to which you will update. You will then be given the
choice to proceed again.

Do you want to proceed (y/n) [y]: y

13:24:39 Verifying kit integrity.
Starting Disk Firmware update... V8.0
...Initializing support libraries...

Identifying drives that qualify for firmware upgrades... Please wait.
22 drive(s) in this array qualify for a firmware upgrade.
The process will now update the 22 drives that qualify for a firmware upgrade.

If you proceed, please do not power off or restart the array, or remove
any drives until the update process completes.
Do you want to continue at this time (Y/N)? y
SKIPPING DriveID 0 No firmware is available for Model: HUS723030ALS640
SKIPPING DriveID 1 No firmware is available for Model: HUS723030ALS640
SKIPPING DriveID 2 No firmware is available for Model: HUS723030ALS640
Checking health status of Array
UPGRADING DriveID 3 firmware from RN08 to RE12 using ./fwbin/RE12.lod
Drive firmware successfully updated : on drive 3
...
Checking health status of Array
UPGRADING DriveID 46 firmware from RN08 to RE12 using ./fwbin/RE12.lod
Drive firmware successfully updated : on drive 46
SKIPPING DriveID 47 No firmware is available for Model: HUS723030ALS640

Logging post run disk information
Entering cleanup phase... Please Wait...
The update was successful.
Would you like to email the results to Dell (Y/N)? n
Done cleanup ... quitting with an exit status of 0

EQLSAN>

The array checks its health before each drive, updates only the drives that qualify, and stays online the whole time.