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Dell PowerVault MD 32XX/36XX Series Storage Arrays CLI Guide

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Activating The Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium Feature

Activating the Remote Replication (legacy) premium feature prepares the storage arrays to create and configure replication relationships. After you activate the premium feature, the secondary ports for each RAID controller module are reserved and dedicated to remote replication use. In addition, a replication repository virtual disk is automatically created for each RAID controller module in the storage array. As part of the activation process, you can decide where the replication repository virtual disks will reside, free capacity on an existing disk group or in a newly created disk group, and the RAID level for the replication repository virtual disks.

The free capacity that you select for the replication repository virtual disk must have a total of 256 MB of capacity available. Two replication repository virtual disks are created on this capacity, one for each RAID controller module. If you enter a value for the repository storage space that is too small for the replication repository virtual disks, the firmware returns an error message that gives the amount of space needed for the replication repository virtual disks. The command does not try to activate the Remote Replication (legacy) premium feature. You can re-enter the command using the value from the error message for the repository storage space value.

The RAID level that you choose for the replication repository virtual disk has these constraints:
RAID Level 0 You cannot use RAID Level 0.
RAID Level 1 The number of physical disks must be an even number. If you select an odd number of physical disks, the RAID controller module firmware returns an error.
RAID Level 5 You must have a minimum of three physical disks in the disk group.
RAID Level 6 You must have a minimum of five physical disks in the disk group.
To activate the Remote Replication (legacy) premium feature, use this command: 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
The activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication command provides three methods for defining the physical disks for your replication repository virtual disk:
  • You define each physical disk for the replication repository virtual disk by its enclosure ID and its slot ID.
  • You define a disk group in which the replication repository virtual disk resides. You can optionally define the capacity of the replication repository virtual disk.
  • You define the number of physical disks, but not specific physical disks, for the replication repository virtual disk.

Activating The Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium Feature With User-Assigned Physical Disks

Activating the Remote Replication (legacy) premium feature by assigning the physical disks provides flexibility in defining your configuration by letting you choose from the available physical disks in your storage array. Choosing the physical disks for your remote replication automatically creates a new disk group. You can specify which physical disks to use and the RAID level for the new disk group.

The command takes this form: 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    
                                    repositoryRAIDLevel=(1 | 5 | 6)
                                    
                                    repositoryPhysicalDisks=(enclosureID1,slotID1 ...
                                    enclosureIDn,slotIDn)
                                    
                                    enclosureLossProtect=(TRUE | FALSE)
This example shows a command in which you assign the physical disks: 
c:\...\smX\client>smcli 123.45.67.88 123.45.67.89
                                    -c “activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryRAIDLevel=5
                                    repositoryPhysicalDisks=(1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5);”
The command in this example creates a new replication repository virtual disk consisting of five physical disks that form a new disk group. The new disk group has RAID Level 5.
This example shows how to use the command in a script file: 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryRAIDLevel=5
                                    repositoryPhysicalDisks=(1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5);

Activating The Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium Feature With Software-Assigned Physical Disks

With this version of the activate storageArray feature= remoteReplication command, you choose an existing disk group in which to place the replication repository virtual disk. The MD storage management software then determines which physical disks to use. You can also define how much space to assign to the replication repository virtual disk. Because you are using an existing disk group, the RAID level for the replication repository virtual disk defaults to the RAID level of the disk group in which you place it. You cannot define the RAID level for the replication repository virtual disk.

The command takes this form: 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryDiskGroup=diskGroupNumber
                                    [freeCapacityArea=freeCapacityIndexNumber]
This example shows a command in which the software assigns the physical disks: 
c:\...\smX\client>smcli 123.45.67.88 123.45.67.89
                                    -c “activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryDiskGroup=2 freeCapacityArea=2;”
The command in this example creates a new replication repository virtual disk in disk group 2 using the second free capacity area.
This example shows how to use the command in a script file: 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryDiskGroup=2 freeCapacityArea=2;

Activating The Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium Feature By Specifying A Number Of Physical Disks

With this version of the activate storageArray feature= remoteReplication command, you must specify the number of physical disks and the RAID level that you want for the replication repository virtual disk. This version of the command creates a new disk group. For this command to work, you must have physical disks in the storage array that are not assigned to a disk group. 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryRAIDLevel=(1 | 5 | 6)
                                    repositoryPhysicalDiskCount=numberOfPhysicalDisks
                                    [physicalDiskType=(SAS)]
                                    [enclosureLossProtect=(TRUE | FALSE)]
This example shows a command in which you specify the number of physical disks: 
c:\...\smX\client>smcli 123.45.67.88 123.45.67.89
                                    -c “activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryRAIDLevel=5 repositoryPhysicalDiskCount=5
                                    physicalDiskType=SAS;”
The command in this example creates a new replication repository virtual disk by using five software-selected physical disks for the replication repository virtual disk. The replication repository virtual disk has RAID Level 5. The type of physical disk for the replication repository virtual disk is SAS.
This example shows how to use the command in a script file: 
activate storageArray feature=remoteReplication
                                    repositoryRAIDLevel=5 repositoryCount=5
                                    physicalDiskType=SAS;

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