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June 24th, 2016 07:00
Adding VMAX engines and existing pool
hi.. VMAX newbie here
I have been working with VMAX for about 6 months now and we are adding 2 more engines to our VMAX20K. Currently we have a single "controller" cabinet with engines 4/5 as well as 2 disk cabinets which are daisy chained to the engines 4/5. We have our 124 TB of FC pool now and are at about %90 capacity. We are buying 2 more engines that will become engine 3/6 along with another disk cabinet with 44TB of more storage. This new 44TB of storage will be connected physically to engines 3/6. So my question is... Will the new 44TB become a separate/new pool or will it become one with the existing 124 TB pool (extending it to 168TB). The reason i ask is if the new 44TB "merges" so to speak with the existing 124 TB then the data will automatically spread across ALL our disks. We will create new zoning etc for new hosts but our current utilization of our existing pool will become better by 44TB.
OR
Will be have a totally separate new FC pool of 44TB. We would use the new FC pool for future growth and our current FC pool will remain at %90 used. If we want to move luns from the current 124tb pool to the new 44TB pool that would take some doing (no need to answer that now)
So.. basically will we get just more space (44TB) in our existing pool OR will we have a whole new pool??
regards
john
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Allen Ward
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June 24th, 2016 08:00
Are the new drives all the same size and speed as the existing ones? If so there is no reason to create a new pool. Technically you wouldn't have to anyway, but that's a different question.
So if the new drives are the same they can (and should) be added to the existing disk groups. I'm going to assume for a minute that you are using Virtual Provisioning which means that TDATs will be created on the new capacity and you will add the TDATs to the existing pool(s) to increase the capacity available in that pool/tier. Once the TDATs are added you can run a rebalance job that will spread the existing data across ALL the TDATs (new and old) as a background process.
Simple answer is that if you are getting more of the same identical drives you are just spreading wider and growing your capacity with no need to worry about the host access and Storage groups.
You may want to take advantage of the new front end connectivity now though since you are effectively doubling the number of ports you can use. You can rebalance that or just start putting new stuff on the new front end. Something your EMC SE should be able to go over with you for pros and cons.
habsrule9
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June 24th, 2016 11:00
thanks for your quick reply. We did order all the same size/speed/type of disk so we should be good then.
thanx again
regards
john
Allen Ward
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June 27th, 2016 06:00
Yes, if you go more of the same it will be very simple. Just make sure your EMC tech working on the upgrade knows you want the new drives in the existing drive groups and the TDATs built the same. When they are done you will need to put the new TDATs in the pool(s) and trigger a rebalance to level out the capacity utilization but that isn't difficult. You should be able to get assistance with that from your EMC Account team if you need it. If you aren't getting clear direction from them just post back here and we'll be happy to get you on track.