Deploy Dell PowerFlex v3.6.x

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Deployment checklist—ESXi

Checklist for deployment requirements in ESXi-based environments.

The following table provides a checklist of items required for PowerFlex deployment.

Table 1. Pre-deployment checklist
Item	Checked
General
All servers intended for hosting PowerFlex components and the PowerFlex Gateway meet the system requirements described in the Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide. NOTE: The Dell-supplied hardware configurations satisfy all of the hardware requirements.
All hosts must have unique hostnames.
Prepare passwords for the PowerFlex Gateway, MDM and LIA. These passwords will be required for future access to system components for upgrade and certain configuration procedures. Store them in a secure location.
Servers that contained PowerFlex components from other systems must be completely cleaned before deployment of a new system. Use operating system tools to remove all of those PowerFlex components.
Familiarize yourself with the ESX vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) features supported by the system. For more information, see the "Architecture" section in Getting to Know PowerFlex.
To use secure authentication mode, ensure that OpenSSL 64-bit v1.1 is installed on all servers in the system.
Gateway
The server that will host the PowerFlex Gateway has adequate memory to run the PowerFlex Installer and any other applications. Refer to the Getting to Know Dell PowerFlex Guide for PowerFlex Gateway server requirements.
The PowerFlex Gateway must not be installed on a server that will host either the SDC component, or on an SDS component that will use RFcache acceleration feature. NOTE: In hyper-converged infrastructure setups, the PowerFlex Gateway component is installed on a separate storage VM (automatic when deployment is done using the vSphere PowerFlex plug-in).
ESXi
The host from which you run the PowerShell (.ps1) script, where the vSphere PowerFlex plug-in will be stored, meets the following prerequisites: Runs on Windows, with 64-bit Oracle JRE1.8 build 301 or OpenJDKJDK 8 build 302.b08 installed PowerCLI from VMware (not Windows PowerShell) is installed. PowerCLI version should match the version of the vCenter (for example, use PowerCLI v6.5 with vCenter v6.7). Has incoming and outgoing communication access to the vCenter NOTE: If your vCenter runs on Windows OS, it is recommended to use it.
All ESXi hosts selected to have either an MDM, tiebreaker, or SDS component installed on them, must have a defined local datastore, with a minimum of 16 GB free space (to be used for the storage virtual machine (SVM)). If the ESXi host is only being used as an SDC, there is no need for this datastore. NOTE: If you are planning to host the SVM template on one of the nodes, you will need an additional 16 GB of space. If you are planning to deploy the PowerFlex Gateway SVM on a node that will also host another SVM, you will need an additional 16 GB of space.
Storage/acceleration devices
Configure disks so they are visible to the operating system according to operating system and vendor hardware guidelines.
Plan your system so that storage VMs (SVMs) with SDS and MDM roles reside on the local datastore, because moving them after deployment is not supported.
If you are planning to use DirectPath, ensure that you enable the relevant setting in the Server BIOS (in Dell servers, refer to SR-IOV setting).
A minimum of three devices must be added to each SDS, that all meet the following prerequisites: A minimum of 240 GB available storage capacity. The devices must be free of partitions. If a device is part of a datastore, before adding the device, you must either remove the datastore, or use the PowerFlex plug-inAdvanced settings option to enable VMDK creation. If the device has the ESXi operating system on it, you must use the PowerFlex plug-inAdvanced settings option to enable VMDK creation. NOTE: Use of VMDK-based disks for storage devices is not recommended, and should be used only if no other option is possible.
In the following migration or re-installation scenarios, you should contact customer support before deploying: If a datastore was previously used for RDM, and you want to use VMDK devices now. If a datastore was previously used for VMDK, and you want to use RDM devices now.
On nodes configured with NVDIMMs, ensure that the ndctl and daxio packages are installed: ndctl package—for example: ndctl-64.1-2.el7.x86_64.rpm daxio package—for example: daxio-1.5.1-2.1.el7.x86_64.rpm
Networking
If you are using a firewall to protect your network, and need to enable ports and IP addresses, refer to the PowerFlex Security Configuration Guide.
The management network on all of the ESXi hosts that are part of the PowerFlex system must have the following items configured: Virtual Machine Port Group. (The name must be the same on all the ESXi hosts.) When using distributed switches, the vDS must have the following items configured: VMkernel port (necessary only if using a single network) dvPortGroup for virtual machines
If using only a single network (management), manually configure the following: vSwitch VMkernel Port Virtual Machine Port Group VMkernel Port Binding