Apple Xsan User Manual

Xsan 2Administrator Guidefor Xsan 2.3

3 To prevent any possible connection to the SAN, physically disconnect the client computer from the SAN’s Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks.Map Wi

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 101Set a storage quota for a user or group: 1 In Xsan Admin, select Users and Groups in the SAN Assets list.

Remove a quota:Select the user or group and choose Delete Quota from the Action pop-up menu (gear). mIf your Xsan computers connect to another Mac ser

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 103Soft quotas change to hard quotasIf a user or group exceeds the soft quota for a time longer than the grac

View quota status:In Xsan Admin, select “Users and Groups” or Quotas in the SAN Assets list. (You see mUsers and Groups only if you chose to have Xsa

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 105Manage client computers remotelyXsan Admin can help you connect to an Xsan client computer so you can obse

If you have trouble sharing the screen of a remote computer, check the Sharing pane of System Preferences on the remote computer to make sure Remote M

107To increase SAN security and redundancy, you can add, switch, and monitor Xsan metadata controllers.Every SAN volume you set up is managed by a

Important: For best performance, metadata controllers should have Mac OS X Lion Server, and the “Dedicate system resources to server services” option

Chapter 7 Manage metadata controllers 109Set controller failover priorityWhen the primary metadata controller for a volume fails, Xsan uses the

11Use this guide to learn how to use Xsan 2 to set up and manage volumes on a storage area network.This guide shows how to use Xsan 2 to combine R

Find out which controller is hosting a volumeControl of a volume can move from one metadata controller to another as a result of controller failover.

Chapter 7 Manage metadata controllers 111From the command lineYou can also nd out which volumes are hosted by a metadata controller using the c

Make a standby controller the primary controllerMake a standby metadata controller the primary metadata controller: 1 In Xsan Admin, select Computers

Chapter 7 Manage metadata controllers 11 3You can also connect and manage a server in the SAN by using the Server app on a computer that has it

Connect to a metadata controller using SSH: 1 In Xsan Admin, select Computers in the SAN Assets list. 2 Select the metadata controller you want to c

11 5You can use Xsan Admin and related command-line tools to check the condition of a SAN and its components.This chapter shows you how to check t

View a component’s status and conguration information:Open Xsan Admin, click the Inspector button at the top of the window, and then select mthe com

Chapter 8 Monitor SAN status 11 7Check free spaceThere are several ways to see how much space is available on a SAN volume or on storage pools i

If you don’t see the storage pools for a volume, click the volume’s disclosure triangle.From the command lineYou can also check volume free space usin

Chapter 8 Monitor SAN status 11 9Set up status noticationsYou can set up Xsan to send an email or a text message to notify you or other adminis

12 Preface About this bookAppendix  B, “Combine Xsan controllers and StorNext clients,” contains information to help you use Xsan metadata

View Xsan logsYou can use Xsan Admin to view the informational and diagnostic messages that Xsan writes to the SAN logs.Fibre Channel connection failu

Chapter 8 Monitor SAN status 121Check volume clientsYou can use Xsan Admin to see a summary of which clients are using a volume.Select to see wh

12 2Use this chapter to nd solutions to common problems you might encounter while working with a SAN.Look here for solutions to common problems you

Chapter 9 Solve SAN problems 12 3The computer is on the same TCP/IP subnets as the other SAN components. (If Âyou’re using a private and a publ

If you can’t add a storage poolSome words are reserved and can’t be used to name a storage pool. If a storage pool is used for user data, the rst eig

Chapter 9 Solve SAN problems 12 5If you can’t add LUNs to a storage poolYou can’t add a LUN to a storage pool unless the LUN is at least as larg

If a volume unexpectedly restartsXsan can restart a volume for a variety of reasons, including controller restart and volume failover. The notication

12 7This appendix shows you how to upgrade your Xsan 2 SAN to Xsan 2.3.Follow the instructions in this appendix to upgrade an existing Xsan 2 SAN

12 8 Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3Version compatibilityFor information about the compatibility of Xsan 2.3 metadata controllers and clients

Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 12 9Disable Spotlight on a volume: 1 Open your current version of Xsan Admin. 2 In Xsan Admin, select Volumes i

Preface About this book 13Version compatibilityThe following table shows the compatibility of Xsan 2.3 metadata controllers and clients with ea

13 0 Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3Step 5: Reestablish Open Directory replicasIf you don’t use Xsan Admin to manage SAN users and groups, sk

Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 131Upgrading to Mac OS X Lion or Lion Server upgrades Xsan to version 2.3.If SAN volumes don’t mount on a client

13 2 Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3Change lename case sensitivity for a volume: 1 In Xsan Admin, select Volumes in the SAN Assets list. 2

Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 133 10 Migrate remaining SAN clients. 11 Enable extended attributes. 12 Change lename case sensitivity.

13 4 Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3Convert a metadata controller to a client:In Xsan Admin, select Computers in the SAN Assets list, select t

Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 13 5 3 Restart the old primary metadata controller in target disk mode, so the server setup assistant can transf

13 6 Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 6 After the server setup assistant nishes transferring data, proceed through the remaining setup panes.

Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 137 3 Proceed through the setup assistant to the pane that oers to transfer data from an existing computer, and

13 8 Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3Step 11: Enable extended attributesIf you have only Macs on your SAN, enable extended attributes on your

Appendix A Upgrade to Xsan 2.3 13 9Step 13: Reenable SpotlightIf you disabled Spotlight to upgrade SAN computers to Mac OS X Lion or Lion Serve

14 Preface About this bookNotation conventionsThe following conventions are used in this book where command-line tools are described.Notation

140Here’s how to connect Windows, Solaris, UNIX, AIX, IRIX, or Linux clients to an Xsan SAN.Xsan is fully compatible with Quantum’s StorNext File Sy

Appendix B Combine Xsan controllers and StorNext clients 141LicenseAn Xsan license is included with the purchase of Mac OS X Lion or Lion Server

142You can use Xsan shell commands and conguration les to work with a SAN from the command line.You can use the shell commands and conguration l

Appendix C Use command-line tools 143If you have trouble making an SSH connection, check the Sharing pane of System Preferences on the remote co

144 Appendix C Use command-line toolsTo install the Xsan le system and Xsan Admin app, enter: Â$ sudo installer -pkg /volumes/Xsan\ Install\

Appendix C Use command-line tools 145Xsan commandsXsan includes these command-line tools:Tool DescriptioncvadminView or change volume and storag

146 Appendix C Use command-line toolsParameter Description-H hostThe metadata controller that is hosting the volume. If not provided, the loca

Appendix C Use command-line tools 147cvadmin command Descriptionfail (volume|index)Cause a volume to fail over to a standby controller.volume –

148 Appendix C Use command-line toolscvadmin command DescriptionrepquotaGenerate the following quota report les in /Library/Logs/Xsan/data/vo

Appendix C Use command-line tools 149Manipulate anity tags (cvanity)Use the cvaffinity command to assign an anity tag to a folder or a le or

15Follow the instructions in this chapter to set up a volume on a storage area network (SAN) using Xsan 2.Is this chapter right for you?To keep se

15 0 Appendix C Use command-line toolsOption Description-lCopy the targets of symbolic links, not the links.-nDo not apply the command to subf

Appendix C Use command-line tools 151cvfsck command optionsOption Description-dDisplay extra debugging information.-eDisplay le extents statist

152 Appendix C Use command-line toolsLabel a LUN:$ sudo cvlabel [-v] [-f] [labelfile]Important: Be sure to use this command only on disks th

Appendix C Use command-line tools 153Create and preallocate a le (cvmkle)Use the cvmkfile command to allocate space for a le on an Xsan volum

15 4 Appendix C Use command-line toolsParameter Description-GDon’t display “Press return to continue” prompts.-FDon’t display warning and veri

Appendix C Use command-line tools 155Parameter Description-cDisplay an extent count but don’t defragment target.-DDisplay debugging messages.-dO

15 6 Appendix C Use command-line toolsControl the Xsan le system (xsanctl)Use the xsanctl command to control basic Xsan le system functions.

Appendix C Use command-line tools 157xsanctl command DescriptionlistLists the volumes available on the SAN and the path at which each volume is

158 Appendix C Use command-line toolsIf you have trouble making an SSH connection, check the Sharing pane of System Preferences on the remote

159anity A relationship between a folder on an Xsan volume and one or more storage pools that provide storage for the volume. The anity guarant

Equipment you’ll needTo set up a new SAN using the instructions in this chapter, you need:Fibre Channel RAID storage devices for SAN storage ÂTwo comp

160 Glossaryle system server See FSS.ll An Xsan storage pool allocation strategy. In a volume consisting of more than one storage pool, Xsan l

Glossary 161RAID 0+1 A combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1. This RAID scheme is created by striping data across multiple pairs of mirrored drives.RAI

Aaccesspermissions for folders 97unmounting a volume 98access control list. See ACLsACLsenabling and disabling 82setting up in Xsan Admin 97Active

Index 163exclusive anity tag 84expanding storage 38, 71extended attributesenabling 81Ffailover 109forcing 109failover priority 109Fibre Chan

164 Indexchecking from command line 104checking usage in Xsan Admin 103described 102example 103grace period 102setting 68, 100RRAID schemes f

Index 165overview 58preferences 58refresh interval 58Xsan softwaredisabling 99version compatibility 13Xsanenabling 63xsanctl tool 15 6

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 17The following illustration shows the hardware components of an Xsan SAN.MetadatacontrollerClients StandbycontrollerM

Step 1: Unpack and install the SAN hardwareTo install the components of your SAN, follow the instructions that come with each computer, RAID storage

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 19Use one of the next two procedures—“If a Client Has Mac OS X Lion Installed” or “If a Client Has Mac OS X Lion Serve

Apple Inc. K© 2011 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or in part, without the written co

6 In the Date & Time pane of System Preferences, make sure the computer is congured to set the date and time automatically using a time server.

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 21Step 4: Set up the standby metadata controllerNow set up the standby metadata controller. This computer must have M

Step 6: Create a metadata arrayTen GB of disk space is enough to store the metadata for a volume containing 10 million les, so a two-drive RAID 1 (m

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 23Xsan Controller Type: Select “Congure as Primary Xsan Metadata Controller.”Network: Enable only the public Ethern

2 In the Initial SAN Setup pane, select “Congure new SAN.” 3 In the SAN Settings pane, enter a name for the SAN and the SAN administrator’s name a

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 25 4 In the Add Computers pane, make sure all computers that you want to be in the SAN are selected.If a computer you

6 In the Choose Metadata Controllers pane, select your primary and standby metadata controllers and deselect any client-only computers that appear i

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 27 8 Review the Summary pane, and if all settings are correct, click Continue.To change a setting, click Go Back unti

2 In the “Volume Name and Type” pane, enter a name for the volume and choose a volume type that matches the type of work the volume will support. 3

Chapter 1 Quick SAN setup 29 5 When the Volume Failover Priority pane appears, you can change the failover order for the volume you’re creating

11 Preface: About this book12 What’s new in Xsan 213 Version compatibility13 Upgrade from an earlier version of Xsan13 More information14

What’s next?Your SAN volume is now ready to use. When SAN users log in to client computers, they’ll see the volume in the Finder.For information about

31Learn about storage area networks (SANs) and how Xsan helps you set one up.Read this chapter for an overview of Xsan and how you can use it to s

Xsan SANsA SAN is a way of connecting computers and storage devices so computers have fast, shared access to les while making it easy for administrat

Chapter 2 Overview of Xsan 33Shared SAN volumesA user or application on a client computer accesses shared SAN storage the way they would access

How Xsan storage is organizedAlthough an Xsan volume mounted on a client computer looks like a single disk, it consists of multiple physical disks com

Chapter 2 Overview of Xsan 35The illustration on page 34 shows eight LUNs. The LUN that stores metadata and journal information uses RAID level

You use Xsan Admin to assign anity tags to storage pools and associate folders with those anity tags.VolumesStorage pools are combined to create the

Chapter 2 Overview of Xsan 37For example, you can associate some folders with an anity whose storage pools have faster LUNs, and associate othe

SecurityThere are several ways you can control access to a SAN volume:Unmount a volume on client computers that shouldn’t have access to it. However,

Chapter 2 Overview of Xsan 39Parameter MaximumFile or folder name length 251 ASCII charactersStorage pool name length 255 ASCII charactersAnity

4 Contents35 Anities and anity tags36 Volumes36 Folders with anities37 How Xsan uses available storage37 Metadata and journal data37 Str

40Learn Xsan hardware and software requirements and planning guidelines and performance tips to help you design a SAN for your needs.This chapter co

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 41Supported operating systemsComputers with Mac OS X Lion or Lion Server can be used as Xsan 2.3 metadata controllers and c

Fabric congurationYou must connect the computers, storage devices, and switches in your Fibre Channel network to form a Fibre Channel fabric. In a fa

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 43Directory servicesIf you plan to use user and group privileges to control access to les and folders on the SAN, you shou

Important: If you create users and groups on each SAN computer, be sure that:Each user or group has a numeric user ID (UID) or group ID (GID) that is

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 45Preliminary planning questionsAs you plan, consider the following questions:How much storage do you need? ÂHow do you wan

How should users see available storage?If you want users working on a project to see a volume dedicated to their work, create a separate volume for ea

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 47Choose a dierent primary metadata controller for each volume, and set up volume Âfailover priorities to minimize the po

LUNs congured as RAID 0 arrays (striping only) or LUNs based on single drives are dicult or impossible to recover if they fail. Unprotected LUNs suc

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 49For best performance, assign LUNs in the multiples shown below. These multiples apply to anity tags used for user data,

Contents 558 Get help58 SAN and volume setup summary59 Set up an Xsan volume on a SAN59 Step 1: Set up the Fibre Channel network59 Step 2: Se

When you add a client to the SAN, volumes that are currently mounted on all SAN computers will be mounted automatically on the new client. If a volume

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 51Estimate metadata and journal data storage needsTo estimate the amount of space required for Xsan volume metadata, assume

Use a private metadata networkNon–SAN-related Ethernet trac can interfere with the exchange of metadata among Xsan controllers and clients. For examp

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 53Check cablesOne faulty cable in a fabric can slow the entire network. Check all cables to make sure they’re capable of fu

Connect RAID systems to an Ethernet networkFor best performance, don’t connect RAID controller Ethernet management ports to the SAN’s metadata network

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 55When RAID controller write caching is enabled, a request to write data is considered nished when the data is in the cach

56Follow step by step instructions for setting up a shared volume on an Xsan SAN.This chapter explains how to connect SAN networks, prepare RAID arr

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 57Be sure to create arrays of the same size if you plan to add them to the same anity tag (or the same storage pool of a

Use another directory serverWhen using the server setup assistant to set up your primary metadata controller, you can also choose to connect to a dire

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 59Step 9: Create a volume (page  65)Step 10: (Optional) Set up SAN status notications (page  68)Step 11: (Optiona

6 Contents84 Set the storage pool stripe breadth84 Maintain SAN volumes85 Rename a volume85 Check volume fragmentation85 Defragment a volume

For the private metadata network, you can have the Xsan setup assistant congure the network settings if you’re setting up new computers or computers

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 61Step 4: Set up SAN users and groupsHere are several ways you can set up users and groups for your SAN:If you’re settin

After setting up the primary metadata controller, use the Users & Groups pane of System Preferences (the Accounts pane on client computers with Ma

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 63You can use leftover drives from the original array to create a separate array, or save them for use as spares.Step 7:

Step 8: Congure the SANYou use Xsan Admin to congure the SAN.Congure the SAN: 1 Open Xsan Admin.You can open Xsan Admin after you nish installin

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 65 6 In the Authenticate SAN Computers pane, choose how you’ll provide authentication information for the SAN computers:

Create a volume: 1 In the “Create Volume” pane, select “Create a volume now” and click Continue.If you want to create volumes later, follow the instr

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 67 4 In the Congure Volume Anities pane (or the Congure Volume Storage pane, if you’re conguring a custom volume typ

6 If the Volume Failover Priority pane appears, arrange the list so as few SAN volumes as possible have the same metadata controller rst on their f

Chapter 4 Set up a SAN 69Rename a SANThe SAN name appears in the Overview pane of Xsan Admin. The SAN name is initially set when the SAN is set

Contents 711 2 Make a standby controller the primary controller11 2 Convert a controller to a client11 2 Access controller computers remotely1

Destroy a SANFollow these steps to take a SAN out of service and remove its metadata controllers, clients, and volumes.WARNING: Removing a SAN destro

71Use Xsan Admin and related command-line tools to expand, add, modify, check, and repair SAN volumes.This chapter shows how you can expand an exi

If you're using a custom volume type, you can increase storage by adding volumes or storage pools, but don't add LUNs to an existing storage

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 73Add a volume to a SANA single Xsan SAN can provide access to multiple volumes.Click to add a new volume.Select to

3 In the Congure Volume Anities pane (Congure Volume Storage, if you chose the custom volume type), drag LUNs to anity tags (or storage pools).

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 75 5 In the Congure Volume Storage pane, click New Anity Tag (or New Pool) to add an anity tag (or storage pool

Choose compatible LUNsLUNs you add to an existing storage pool must be at least as large as the LUNs in the pool, but if a new LUN is larger than the

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 77 5 In the Congure Volume Storage pane, drag the new LUNs to anity tags.Important: Add LUNs to anity tags in

Using Xsan Admin, you can choose an anity for an existing folder or create a folder with an anity.Action pop-up menuAssign an anity tag to a folder

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 79Files in the folder aren’t moved to the new storage pool. To move the les that were in the folder to a storage p

8 Contents128 Step 2: Disable Spotlight on all volumes129 Step 3: Upgrade the primary controller to Mac OS X Lion Server129 Step 4: Upgrade

View or change volume settings:Select Volume in the SAN Assets list, select the volume in the list, and choose Edit mVolume Settings from the Action

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 81Enable or disable Spotlight on a volumeYou can use Xsan Admin to control whether a volume is indexed and searchab

Enable or disable access control listsYou can use Xsan Admin to specify whether the Xsan le system uses access control lists (ACLs) on a volume.Xsan

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 83Change the Windows ID mappingIf you have Windows clients on your SAN, the Windows ID Mapping setting determines h

Change the exclusivity of an anity tagThe “Use for” anity tag setting species the type of data—metadata, journaling, or user data—a storage pool wi

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 85Rename a volumeYou can use Xsan Admin to change the name of a volume. You can’t rename an Xsan volume using the F

Defragment a le, folder, or volume: 1 Open Terminal (in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder) on any SAN computer.If you aren’t working at a SAN comp

Chapter 5 Manage SAN storage 87Repair a volumeIf the cvfsck tool reveals problems with a volume, you can use the cvfsck command-line tool to rep

Check RAID devicesIf a RAID array that belongs to an Xsan volume becomes damaged and unrecoverable due to a failed disk drive or other hardware failur

89You can use Xsan Admin and related command-line tools to add, control, and remove client computers and their users.Xsan clients are computers th

Contents 9153 Create and preallocate a le (cvmkle)153 Initialize a volume (cvmkfs)154 Apply volume conguration changes (cvupdatefs)154 Defrag

Add a client computer to a SAN: 1 Connect the client to the SAN’s Fibre Channel and Ethernet networks. 2 On a client that has Mac OS X Lion or Mac O

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 91Add an Xsan serial numberIf you want to add Xsan software serial numbers for client computers with Mac OS X

3 In Xsan Admin, open the window for the SAN you want to move the computer to. 4 In the new SAN window, select Computers in the SAN Assets list and

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 93A volume remains mounted on a client even if the user logs out or the client computer restarts. If you unmo

Manage users and groups with Xsan AdminWhen you rst set up your SAN controllers, you can use Xsan Admin to manage SAN user and group accounts. An Ope

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 95Note: These instructions apply only if, during initial SAN setup, you chose to use Xsan Admin to manage us

Delete groupsYou can use Xsan Admin to delete a group.Note: These instructions apply only if, during initial SAN setup, you chose to use Xsan Admin t

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 97 3 Choose Local Only from the Home Folder pop-up menu.If you don’t see a Home Folder pop-up menu above the

Assign permissions using Xsan Admin: 1 Make sure ACLs are enabled on the volume.For help, see “Enable or disable access control lists” on page 82. 2

Chapter 6 Manage clients and users 99To select more than one client, hold down the Command or Shift key as you select clients in the list.Remove