Dell PowerStore Importing External Storage to PowerStore Guide

Importing file-based external storage to PowerStore overview

Importing file-based external storage to PowerStore is a migration solution that imports either of the following to a PowerStore cluster:

• A Virtual Data Mover (VDM) (file data) with its configuration and data from an existing source Dell VNX2 Series platform
• A NAS server (file data) with its configuration and data from an existing source Dell Unity Series platform

This feature provides an integrated capability for NFS-only VDM or NAS server imports with minimal or no disruption to clients. It also provides an integrated capability for SMB (CIFS)-only VDM or NAS server imports. However, cutting over of an SMB-only VDM or NAS server import session can be a disruptive process.

For a file-based VDM or NAS server import, after the cutover completes, the import process does an incremental copy automatically but you must complete the import manually.

An import is always conducted from the PowerStore appliance. The destination system makes a remote call to the source storage system and instigates a pull (for file-based import) of the source storage resources to the destination system.

VDM and NAS server import operations support only:

• Import of VDM or NAS server with only NFSV3 protocol enabled (VDMs or NAS servers with NFSV4 protocol enabled are not supported)
• Import of VDM or NAS server with only SMB (CIFS) protocol enabled