HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052—best Practices Technical White
HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052Best practicesTechnical white paper
Technical white paperContentsAbout this document .4Intended audience . 4Prerequisites. 4Related documentation . 4Introduction .4Terminology. 6General best practices . 7Become familiar with the array by reading the manuals .7Stay current on firmware .7Use tested and supported configurations .7Understand what a host is from the array perspective. 8Rename hosts to a user-friendly name.8Best practice for monitoring array health .8Configure email and SNMP notifications . 9Setting the notification level for email and SNMP . 11Sign up for proactive notifications for HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 array . 11Best practices for provisioning storage on HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 . 11Thin Provisioning. 11Pool balancing . 13Wide Striping . 15Using HPE MSA 2052 embedded SSDs . 15Automated Tiering . 18Volume Tier Affinity . 21Best practices when choosing drives for HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 storage . 23Drive types.23Best practices to improve availability . 23Volume mapping. 23Redundant paths . 25Snapshots . 29Dual power supplies . 29Reverse cabling of Disk Enclosures . 29Create Disk Groups across Disk Enclosures. 30Drive replacement. 30Implement Remote Snap replication .31
Technical white paperBest practices to enhance performance. 31Cache settings . 31Host port utilization for maximum performance . 33Other methods to enhance array performance . 33Best practices for SSDs . 34Use SSDs for randomly accessed data. 34SSD and performance. 35SSD Read Cache . 35SSD wear gauge . 36Full Disk Encryption . 36Full Disk Encryption on HPE MSA 2050 . 36Best practices for firmware updates . 36General HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 device firmware update best practices . 36HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 array controller or I/O module firmware update best practices . 37HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 disk drive firmware update best practices. 37Miscellaneous best practices . 37Boot from storage considerations . 378 Gb/16 Gb switches and small form-factor pluggable transceivers . 37HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 iSCSI considerations. 38Hot adding Disk Enclosures . 39Summary . 46
Technical white paperPage 4About this documentThis white paper highlights the best practices for optimizing the HPE 1050/2050/2052, and should be used in conjunction with otherHPE Modular Smart Array (MSA) manuals. The HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 is the fifth generation MSA SAN. HPE MSA technical userdocumentations can be found at: hpe.com/storage/msa.Intended audienceThis white paper is intended for HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 administrators with previous storage area network (SAN) knowledge. It offersHPE MSA practices that can contribute to an HPE MSA best customer experience.This paper is also designed to convey best practices in the deployment of the HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 array.PrerequisitesPrerequisites for using this product include knowledge of: Networking Storage System configuration SAN management Connectivity methods such as direct attach storage (DAS), Fibre Channel, and serial attached SCSI (SAS) iSCSI and Ethernet protocolsRelated documentationIn addition to this guide, please see other documents or materials for this product: HPE MSA System Racking Instructions HPE MSA 1050 User Guide HPE MSA 2050 User Guide HPE MSA 1050/2050 SMU Reference Guide HPE MSA 1050/2050 CLI Reference Guide HPE MSA 1050 Quick Start Instructions HPE MSA 2050/2052 Quick Start InstructionsYou can find the HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 documents at: hpe.com/storage/msa.IntroductionThe HPE MSA 1050 is designed for entry-level market needs featuring 8 Gb Fibre Channel, 6/12 Gb SAS, 1GbE, and 10GbE iSCSI protocols.An outline of the MSA 1050 features: 6 GB cache per controller (Data [Read/Write] cache 4 GB and Metadata and System OS memory 2 GB) Support for SFF and LFF solid state drives (SSDs) 6 Gb/12 Gb SAS connectivity Support for MSA Fan-out SAS cables 2 host ports per controller 4 Gb/8 Gb FC connectivity 1GbE/10GbE iSCSI connectivity
Technical white paperPage 5 Support for up to 4 disk enclosures including the array enclosure Support for up to 96 small form factor (SFF) drives and 48 large form factor (LFF) drives Support for Thin Provisioning Support for Automated Tiering Support for Read Cache Support for Performance Tier 1 Wide Striping: Wide Striping allows more hard drives behind a single volume to improve performance (e.g., 16 drives for a volume). Support for replication snapshot history and queueing for Remote Snap; Remote Snap requires a license Remote Snap for both FC and iSCSI; Remote Snap requires a licenseThe HPE MSA 2050 is a high-performance Storage System designed for HPE customers desiring 8 Gb and/or 16 Gb Fibre Channel, 6 Gb and/or12 Gb SAS, and 1GbE and/or 10GbE iSCSI connectivity with four host ports per controller. The HPE MSA 2050 Storage System provides anexcellent value for customers needing performance balanced with price to support initiatives such as consolidation and virtualization.The HPE MSA 2050 delivers this performance by offering 2X I/O performance from fourth generation 8 GB cache per controller (Data [Read/Write] cache 4 GB and metadata and system OS memory 4 GB) Support for SFF and LFF solid-state drives (SSDs) Four host ports per controller 4 Gb/8 Gb/16 Gb FC connectivity 1GbE/10GbE iSCSI connectivity 6 Gb/12 Gb SAS connectivity Support for both FC and iSCSI in a single controller Support for up to eight Disk Enclosures including the Array Enclosure Support for up to 192 small form factor (SFF) drives and 96 large form factor (LFF) drives Support for Thin Provisioning Support for Automated Tiering Support for Read Cache Support for Performance Tier2 Wide Striping: Wide Striping allows more hard drives behind a single volume to improve performance (for example, 16 drives for a volume) Support for replication snapshot history and queueing for Remote Snap; Remote Snap requires a license Remote Snap for both Fibre Channel and iSCSI; Remote Snap requires a license Volume Copy across pools Support for Full Drive Encryption (FDE) using Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) 3 Support for replication snapshot history and queueing for Remote Snap; Remote Snap requires a license Remote Snap for both FC and iSCSIA license is required for the Performance Tier for mixed SSD and HDD systems. For a system with only SSDs, the Performance Tier license is not required.SED drives are only supported in HPE MSA 2050.1, 23
Technical white paperPage 6HPE MSA 2052 SAN Storage offers an entry-level storage platform with built-in hybrid flash for application acceleration and high-performance. Itis ideal for performance-hungry applications and includes 1.6 TB of solid-state drive (SSD) capacity.An outline of HPE MSA 2052 features: All the features of the MSA 2050 The industry’s fastest entry array, now with 1.6 TB of SSD capacity, standard Advanced Data Services (ADS) Software SuiteThe HPE MSA ADS Suite is included as a standard feature on the MSA 2052 at no extra charge. The standard MSA ADS Software Suite includesthe following functionality: Performance Tiering and Archive Tiering Software 512 Snapshots and Volume Copy Software Remote Snap SoftwareNoteThe HPE Advanced Data Services (ADS) Software Suite license key comes standard with the HPE MSA 2052 and must be redeemed andinstalled to enable the services.The HPE MSA 1050/2050 Storage Systems ship standard with a license for 64 snapshots and Volume Copy for increased data protection.There is also an optional license for 512 snapshots. The HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 can also replicate data between arrays (HPE MSA1040/2040/2042 using iSCSI virtual volumes with GL firmware and HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 SAN model using FC or iSCSI with the optionalRemote Snap feature).TerminologyVirtual Storage: Data is virtualized not only across a single Disk Group but also across multiple Disk Groups with different performancecapabilities and use cases.Page: An individual block of data residing on a physical disk. For Virtual Storage, the Page size is 4 MB. A Page is the smallest unit of data thatcan be allocated, deallocated, or moved between Virtual Disk Groups in a tier or between tiers.Disk Group: A Disk Group is a collection of disks in a given redundancy.Storage Pools: Storage Pools are comprised of one or more Virtual Disk Groups. A volume’s data on a given LUN can span all disk drives in apool. When capacity is added to a system, users will benefit from the performance of all spindles in that pool.When leveraging Storage Pools, HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 supports large, flexible volumes with sizes up to 128 TiB and facilitates seamlesscapacity expansion. As volumes are expanded, data automatically reflows to balance capacity utilization on all drives.Logical Unit Number (LUN): HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 arrays support 512 volumes and up to 512 snapshots in a system. All of thesevolumes can be mapped to LUNs. Maximum LUN sizes are up to 128 TiB.Thin Provisioning: Thin Provisioning allows storage allocation of physical storage resources only when they are consumed by an application.Thin Provisioning also allows overprovisioning of physical Storage Pool resources allowing ease of growth for volumes without predicting storagecapacity up front.
Technical white paperPage 7Tiers: Disk tiers are comprised of aggregating one or more Disk Groups of similar physical disks. HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 support threedistinct tiers:1. A Performance Tier with SSDs2. A Standard SAS Tier with Enterprise SAS HDDs3. An Archive Tier utilizing Midline SAS HDDsLUN-level tiering requires careful planning such that applications requiring the highest performance be placed on Disk Groups utilizinghigh-performance SSDs. Applications with lower performance requirements can be placed on Disk Groups comprised of Enterprise SAS orMidline SAS HDDs.HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 Automated Tiering engine moves data between available tiers based on the access characteristics of that data.Frequently accessed data contained in pages will migrate to the highest available tier delivering maximum I/Os to the application. Similarly, coldor infrequently accessed data is moved to lower performance tiers. Data is migrated between tiers automatically such that I/Os are optimized inreal time.The Archive and Standard Tiers are provided at no charge on HPE MSA 2050 platform. Performance Tier utilizing a fault-tolerant SSD DiskGroup is a paid feature that requires a license for HPE MSA 1050/2050. Without the Performance Tier license installed, SSDs can still be used asRead Cache with the Sub-LUN Tiering feature. Sub-LUN Tiering from SAS MDL (Archive Tier) to Enterprise SAS (Standard Tier) drives isprovided at no charge for HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052.Read Cache: Read Cache is an extension of the controller cache. Read Cache allows a lower cost way to get performance improvements fromSSD drives.Automated Tiering: Automated Tiering is a technology that allows for the automatic movement of data between storage tiers based on accesstrends. In HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052, Automated Tiering places data in a LUN that is accessed frequently in higher performing media whiledata that is infrequently accessed is placed in slower media.Array Enclosure: This is the array head or chassis of HPE MSA that includes HPE MSA controllers.Disk Enclosure: This is the expansion shelf that is connected to the Array Enclosure.Storage System: This is the whole HPE MSA system that includes the Array Enclosure and Disk Enclosure(s).General best practicesBecome familiar with the array by reading the manualsThe first recommended best practice is to read the corresponding guides for HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052. These documents include the UserGuide, the Storage Management Utility (SMU) Reference Guide, or the Command Line Interface (CLI) Reference Guide. The appropriate guidewill depend on the interface that you will use to configure the storage array. Always operate the array in accordance with the user manual. Inparticular, never exceed the environmental operation requirements.Other HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052 materials of importance to review are: The MSA Remote Snap Software technical white paper located at hpe.com/h20195/v2/Getdocument.aspx?docname 4AA1-0977ENW.Stay current on firmwareUse the latest controller, disk, and Disk Enclosure firmware to benefit from the continual improvements in the performance, reliability, andfunctionality of the HPE MSA 1050/2050/2052. For additional information, see the release notes and release advisories for the respectiveHPE MSA products.This information can be located at hpe.com/storage/msaUse tested and supported configurationsDeploy HPE MSA array only in supported configurations. Do not risk the availability of your critical applications to unsupported configurations.Hewlett Packard Enterprise does not recommend nor provide HPE support for unsupported HPE MSA configurations.
Technical white paperPage 8HPE primary portal used to obtain detailed information about supported HPE storage product configurations is HPE Single Point of ConnectivityKnowledge (SPOCK). An HPE Passport account is required to enter the SPOCK website.SPOCK can be located at hpe.com/storage/spock.Understand what a host is from the array perspectiveAn initiator is analogous to an external port on a host bus adapter (HBA). An initiator port does not equate to a physical server but rather aunique connection on that server. For example, a dual port FC HBA has two ports and therefore there are two unique initiators, and the array willshow two separate initiators for that HBA.A host is a collection of one or more initiators. HPE MSA firmware can support 512 hosts with multiple initiators per host. HPE MSA can manage1024 initiators.The array supports the grouping of initiators under a single host and grouping hosts into a host group. Grouping of initiators and hosts allowssimplification of the mapping operations.Rename hosts to a user-friendly nameApplying friendly names to the hosts enables easy identification of which hosts are associated with servers and operating systems. Arecommended method for acquiring and renaming Worldwide Name (WWN) is to connect one cable at a time and then rename the WWN to anidentifiable name. The following procedure outlines the steps needed to rename hosts using the SMU.1. Log in to the SMU and click Hosts from the left frame.2. Locate and highlight the WWN (ID) you want to name.3. From the Action button, click Modify Initiator.4. Type in the initiator nickname and click OK.5. Repeat for additional initiator connections.Figure 1. Renaming hostsThe recommended practice would be to use initiator nicknaming as outlined in Figure 1—host aggregating of initiators and the grouping ofhosts using the SMU.Best practice for monitoring array healthSetting up the array to send notifications is important for troubleshooting and log retention.
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HPE MSA 2050 User Guide HPE MSA 1050/2050 SMU Reference Guide . The HPE MSA 2050 is a high-performance Storage System designed for HPE customers desiring 8 Gb and/or 16 Gb Fibre Channel, 6 Gb and/or . 1040/2040/2042 using iSCSI virtual volumes with GL firmware and HPE MSA 1050
HPE MSA 2050/2052storage . Figure 1. HPE MSA 2050/2052 storage system front view . The HPE MSA 2050/2052 storage system provides the following features: Enterprise-class storage at an entry price that is easy
QuickSpecs HPE MSA 2050 Storage Overview DA - 15935 Worldwide QuickSpecs — Version 1 — 6.5.2017 Page 2. HPE MSA 2050 Storage 1.AC or DC Power . Owners of an MSA 2040, MSA 2042 and MSA 1040 array are able to do data-in-place upgrades to the new MSA 2050 array. This unique ability protects the earlier investments in
The MSA 1040 offers many of MSA 2040 . QuickSpecs HPE MSA 1040 Storage . Models . Page 3 . HPE MSA 1040 Storage Models . drives not included. 6. drives not included, direct attached copper cables are supported in 10GbE Controller . MSA 1040 Pre-Configured Models: HP MSA 1040 2-port Fibre Channel Dual Controller LFF Storage.
HPE MSA 1040 SAN Storage HPE MSA 1050 SAN Storage HPE MSA 2040 SAN Storage HPE MSA 2050 SAN Storage Operating Systems Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Hyper-V Server VMware vSphere Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) CentOS ClearOS NOTE: HPE Smart Ar
HPE ProLiant DL180 Gen9 HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen9 HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 HPE ProLiant DL560 Gen9 HPE ProLiant ML30 Gen9 HPE ProLiant ML110 Gen9 HPE ProLiant ML150 Gen9 HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen9 Apollo 4200 Apollo 4500 Apollo 6000 . HP Smart Array P440/2GB Controller . HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen9 HPE ProLiant DL80 Gen9 HPE ProLiant DL120 Gen9
QuickSpecs HPE MSA 1040 Storage Models Page 3 . HPE MSA 1040 Storage Models . included. 5. 6. MSA 1040 Pre -Configured Models: HP MSA 1040 2-port Fibre Channel Dual Controller LFF Storage1 E7V99A HP MSA 1040 2-port Fibre Channel Dual Controller SFF Storage2 E7W00A HP MSA 1040 2-port SAS Dual Controller LFF Storage3 K2Q90A HP MSA 1040 2-port SAS Dual Controller SFF Storage 4 K2Q89A
This white paper is intended for MSA 1050 /2050/2052 administrators with previous SAN knowledge. It offers best practices that can contribute to an MSA best customer experience. Prerequisites Prerequisites for using this product include knowledge of: Networking Storage system configuration SAN management
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