Dell PowerStore Planning Guide

Before the appliance arrives:

1. Work with your infrastructure administrators to:
   1. Configure your network and management switch based on the recommendations that are provided in the PowerStore Networking Guide for Initial Deployment .
   2. Obtain network-related information that you require for the initial configuration of your cluster. Use the PowerStore Networking Guide for Initial Deployment to plan and collect this information.
   3. Configure the network ports to allow the cluster to communicate with pertinent hosts and applications securely and efficiently. See Port usage for more information.
2. PowerStore requires a data center or server room that is equipped with controlled electrical, environmental, cabling, and safety systems. Plan the site where you will install the appliances and the location of the appliance components (base enclosures and expansion enclosures) in a rack. See Site Planning for more information.
3. Set up a workstation that you will use to discover the appliances and configure the cluster.
4. Determine the drive failure tolerance level that you want to set on each appliance. The drive failure tolerance level indicates the number of concurrent drive failures that the appliance can sustain without causing a data unavailable or data loss event. The single drive fault tolerance level meets availability requirements for all drive types and capacity points, but the double drive failure tolerance can provide higher resiliency and protection. You cannot change the drive fault tolerance level after you have set it. Ensure that the enclosure includes the following number of SSD drives:
   • At least six drives for single drive failure tolerance
   • Seven drives for double drive failure tolerance

Once the appliance arrives:

See the PowerStore Quick Start Guide to:

1. Unbox and install your appliance (base enclosure and expansion enclosures).
2. Connect the enclosures to the network, and power on.
3. Start the initial configuration process. For more information, see the PowerStore Networking Guide for Initial Deployment .

The PowerStore Installation and Service Guide also includes installation instructions for later reference.

Once you complete the initial configuration:

1. Log in to PowerStore Manager using the administrator credentials you set up during the initial configuration.
2. Configure settings for your cluster and start provisioning PowerStore Manager user accounts, storage resources, and policies. See the PowerStore Setting Up PowerStore Manager Guide for more information about the recommended steps when you log in to the PowerStore Manager for the first time.