Texas Memory Systems RamSan-810 User manual

Brand: Texas Memory Systems

Model: RamSan-810

Category: Networking

Type: User manual

TEXAS MEMORY SYSTEMS, INC.

RamSan-810

User’s Manual

Version: 5.4.2

All rights are reserved.

Any trademarks or registered trademarks used in this document belong to the companies that

own them.

No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means — graphic,

electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and

retrieval systems — without permission of the copyright owner.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - i - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

Table of Contents

1 Preface 1

2 Introduction 2

2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.2 System Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.3 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2.4 Reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.5 System Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Reviewing Your Shipment 4

3.1 Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3.2 Rack mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4 Connections 6

4.1 Installing a Host Bus/Channel Adapter in the Host System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

4.2 Connecting the Fibre Channel or InﬁniBand Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4.3 Connecting to a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4.4 Connecting Power to the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

5 Getting Started 9

5.1 Powering on the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5.2 System Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5.3 Front Panel Display Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5.4 Controlling System Power with the Front Panel Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.5 Network Conﬁguration with the Front Panel Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.6 Conﬁguring a Static IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5.7 Conﬁguring DHCP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5.8 Additional System Management Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

5.9 Web Monitor Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5.10 Date and time setup with the Web monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5.11 Network Conﬁguration with the Web Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

5.12 Managing security with the Web Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

5.13 Storage Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.14 Basic Logical Unit Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

5.15 Viewing the System Logs with the Web Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

5.16 Upgrading the System with the Web Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

5.17 Web Monitor Task Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - ii - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

6 System Licenses 42

6.1 JBOF Storage Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.2 Active Spare Storage Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.3 Mail Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

6.4 Statistic Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

6.5 Conﬁguration Save/Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

6.6 Logical Unit Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

6.7 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

6.8 Terawatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

6.9 Log Lun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

7 System Maintenance 57

7.1 Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

7.2 Fans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

7.3 Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

8 End User License Agreement 66

8.1 GNU General Public License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

8.2 OpenSSL License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

8.3 Other copyrighted works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

9 Troubleshooting 78

9.1 System Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9.2 System Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9.3 Contacting Texas Memory Systems, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - iii - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

1 Preface

Document Overview

This document provides operating procedures for the RamSan-810 running ﬁrmware version

5.4.2.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 1 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

2 Introduction

2.1 Overview

The RamSan-810 is the World’s Fastest Flash Storage system. The basic unit contains up to 21

Flash sticks totaling 10 Terabytes with 4GB/s of available bandwidth. While each RamSan-810

system occupies only 1U of rack space, multiple systems can be easily aggregated at the host for

scaling capacity and performance linearly.

Note:

The 21st card is only used in Active Spare mode. See Active Spare section for more details.

2.1.1 High Performance Solid State Storage

Unlike other mass storage products, the RamSan-810 is not based on mechanical rotating disk

technology, but instead on high performance Flash memory technology. Each of the 21 Flash

storage sticks contains no moving parts and operates with a much faster protocol, reducing access

time and increasing the data transfer rate. This is achieved with the use of better connectors

(rugged, more data pins) and a simple transfer protocol.

2.1.2 Easy Installation and Conﬁguration

The RamSan-810 is easy to install on a SAN or directly attached to a server. Most system-level

parameters can be set from the front panel, including the management IP address. Once the IP is

set, then most conﬁgurations and monitoring should be done through the intuitive Web interface.

2.2 System Components

The system components for the RamSan-810 include:

XUp to 10 Terabytes of usable data storage capacity

X2 controller slots that can contain a mixture of dual-ported 8-Gb Fibre Channel (FC) or

Quad Data Rate InﬁniBand (IB) controllers

XFront panel display for monitoring and conﬁguration

X1 Ethernet monitoring port

2.3 Power

The RamSan-810 includes two hot-swappable power modules that are auto-ranging (they accept

either 110 or 220 VAC power).

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 2 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

2.4 Reliability

The RamSan-810 is designed to oﬀer superior reliability to other solid state disks. Its standard

features include modular Flash memory, hot-swap power supplies, fail-over ports, and external

alerts via SNMP.

2.5 System Management

Basic management operations, including manual shutdown and alerts, are available from the front

panel screen. Full monitoring and conﬁguration capabilities are available over any browser via a

password protected Java applet, as well as through a command line interface over telnet or SSH.

The RamSan-810 is fully SNMP v2c compatible and can provide notiﬁcation of system events via

email.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 3 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

3 Reviewing Your Shipment

3.1 Unpacking

Texas Memory Systems, Inc. ships the RamSan-810 with a packing list. Ensure that you have

received all of the components listed.

1. Examine the external chassis for any damage that might have occurred during shipping.

2. Inspect the interface plate for any screws that might have loosened during shipping.

3. Inspect the front panel display for damage.

4. Report any meaningful damage to Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

Figure 1: RamSan-810 Front

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 4 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

3.2 Rack mounting

The RamSan-810 solid state disk (SSD) system is a 1U rack-mountable system. Texas Memory

Systems, Inc. ships the system with the slides and equipment needed to install it into a standard

19” rack.

Figure 2: RamSan-810 Back

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 5 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

4 Connections

4.1 Installing a Host Bus/Channel Adapter in the

Host System

Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) provide an interface from the server’s PCI bus to Fibre Channel

attached devices. Host Channel Adapters (HCAs) provide an interface from the server’s PCI bus

to InﬁniBand devices. HBAs and HCAs are available from a variety of vendors. Before purchasing

one, ensure that it provides a driver for the Operating System (OS) version that you are using.

In subsequent sections, the term HBA will be used to represent HCA or HBA interchangeably.

Before installing the HBA, consult your server’s documentation to determine which one of its PCI

slots is on the fastest and least congested PCI bus (see Section 4.1.3 below for details). In order

to install the HBA, ﬁrst power down your server and place the HBA in this slot. Power on your

server and follow the instructions provided with the HBA to install the driver. It is generally a

good idea to check the HBA provider’s Web site to obtain the latest drivers and ﬁrmware for the

HBA. Updated drivers may include new features, improved performance, and minor bug ﬁxes.

Troubleshooting Tip:

If you encounter any problems with the HBA, the ﬁrst step in the debugging process is

verifying that you are using the latest driver and ﬁrmware.

The speed of the server and network interface ultimately limit the RamSan-810’s capabilities. A

few diﬀerent components can aﬀect the maximum performance of the RamSan-810, including

FC/IB interfaces, Host Bus Adapters, PCI buses, and server CPU resources.

4.1.1 Fibre Channel Interface

Currently, the RamSan-810 supports Fibre Channel communication speeds of 2-Gb, 4-Gb, or

8-Gb per second. Accounting for encoding and overhead, the 4-Gb/sec transfer rate allows data

to be transmitted to the RamSan-810 at a half duplex rate of approximately 400 MB/s. Fibre

Channel interfaces have separate read and write connections that allow a maximum data rate of

twice the half-duplex rate. To sustain the maximum full duplex rate, the data usage pattern of

the system must be 50% read and 50% write (due to the individual half duplex limits). To ﬁnd

the maximum for other data usage patterns, use the following formula (4-Gb HBA):

smaller usage percentage

larger ∗400 MB/s + 400 MB/s

For example, to calculate a data usage pattern with 66% reads and 33% writes:

66 ∗400 + 400 = 600 MB/s

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 6 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

Many applications require storage bandwidth that exceeds what a single FC connection can

provide. To accommodate this situation, we provide up to 4 FC ports per RamSan-810, each of

which can supply the bandwidth described above. Using multiple Fibre Channel connections

requires one of the following solutions: multipathing software to a single Logical Unit (LU), using

software to stripe across multiple LUs, accessing multiple LUs on the RamSan-810 concurrently,

or connecting multiple servers to the system.

4.1.2 Host Bus Adapter

You can modify some HBA settings to increase performance. For information speciﬁc to your

HBA, consult the HBA documentation. Note that many settings are intended to increase the

performance of slow storage devices and will not be applicable to RamSan-810s. It is always

advisable to check the frame size. The amount of overhead for each Fibre Channel frame is ﬁxed,

so larger frames have lower overhead. Set the frame size to the maximum setting, generally 2048

bytes. For InﬁniBand devices, also set the frame size to the maximum setting, generally 4096

bytes.

4.1.3 PCI Bus

High bandwidth HBA traﬃc can quickly inundate slower PCI buses. Once a PCI bus reaches its

limit, you can do very little to improve performance. Many servers, however, provide diﬀerent

PCI buses with diﬀerent speeds, and placing the HBA on a diﬀerent PCI bus can improve

performance. Texas Memory Systems, Inc. recommends giving each 8-Gb 2 port HBA at least an

entire PCIX bus or a PCI Express (PCIe) slot.

4.1.4 CPU

At a certain point, CPU performance can limit data transfer rates. Determine whether the

server’s CPU resources are the limiting factor in performance while benchmarking the

RamSan-810 as a raw physical device. Otherwise, an improperly tuned ﬁle system or application

can make the CPU appear to be the limiting factor when it is not. Perform raw device testing

after setting up any multipathing.

There are a few ways to decrease CPU usage without increasing CPU resources. Certain data

usage patterns can be very CPU intensive and fully utilize the CPU. These usually involve small

transfer sizes. When possible, increasing the average transfer size decreases CPU usage and oﬀers

better performance. Another way to decrease CPU usage is by enabling interrupt coalescing.

Interrupt coalescing is an HBA dependent feature that oﬀers a method to trade latency for CPU

usage. This feature delays calling the HBA transfer interrupt until several transfers are ready. In

general, Texas Memory Systems, Inc. does not recommend enabling Interrupt Coalescing because

most RamSan-810 applications beneﬁt from low latency. For more information, consult your HBA

documentation.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 7 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

4.2 Connecting the Fibre Channel or InﬁniBand

Ports

Connect the Fibre Channel (FC) ports on the RamSan-810 to your server or to a Fibre Channel

switch. If the RamSan-810 has InﬁniBand (IB) ports, connect them to an IB Switch or Host

Channel Adapter (HCA) in your server.

Figure 3: Fibre Channel Locations

Figure 3 shows the port layout for the RamSan-810. Each controller has two FC ports: A and B,

on the left and right respectively. The FC ports on the system are capable of connecting to

Point-to-Point (N-Port), Arbitrated Loop (NL-port), or Switched Fabric (F-Port) topologies at

2-Gb, 4-Gb, or 8-Gb speeds.

Although Figure 3 only shows FC controller cards, an IB controller card can occupy any of the

same slots as the FC controller cards. The IB controller card has two x4 IB ports: A and B, on

the top and bottom respectively. The IB ports are capable of connecting to Quad Data Rate

(QDR), Double Data Rate (DDR) or Single Data Rate (SDR) InﬁniBand HCAs using the SCSI

RDMA Protocol (SRP).

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 8 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

4.3 Connecting to a Network

Your RamSan-810 includes 1 Gigabit Ethernet port for remote management over a network. You

can use this connection to conﬁgure the storage and management features.

Figure 4: Gigabit Ethernet Port Location

4.4 Connecting Power to the System

A fully loaded RamSan-810 requires approximately 250 watts of power typically. It contains

redundant power supplies that are hot-swappable. Using the AC power cords provided, connect

each power module to a power source. Install the socket outlet in an easily accessible location

near the equipment.

As a best practice, connect each of the RamSan-810 power cords to separate circuits.

Figure 5: RamSan-810 Power Supply

5 Getting Started

This chapter will guide you through setting up your RamSan-810. It is important to accomplish

the following tasks to make your system usable:

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 9 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

Use the front panel display to set up the network (Section 5.5)

Get the Web monitor operational (Section 5.9)

Use the Web monitor to set the date and time (Section 5.10)

Use the Web monitor to conﬁgure advanced network settings (Section 5.11)

Use the Web monitor to conﬁgure security (Section 5.12)

Other sections explore the conﬁguration tools and should be read to familiarize yourself with the

system.

5.1 Powering on the System

Separate power cables should be connected to each of the two RamSan-810 power modules. The

3-prong AC inlet lies on the right side of each power module. Though the RamSan-810 will

operate when only one power supply is connected, this is not recommended.

5.2 System Initialization

The front panel display shows the boot process’ current state. Once the power is connected, the

system turns on automatically and the front panel display begins the power-on sequence. The

following happens automatically:

Once AC power is connected, the RamSan-810 will

power-up. The front panel will display “Status:

OK” and the system performance statistics when the

system is fully ready. The statistics shown are the

system bandwidth in MB/s and total input/output

operations per second.

Status: OK

BW: 0

IOPS: 0

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 10 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

5.3 Front Panel Display Basics

The front panel display provides a quick and easy way to view the RamSan-810’s status. It shows

system warnings and failures.

The RamSan-810’s front panel allows you to:

Inspect the state of the system.

Change the method of IP address assignment.

Reboot/Shutdown the system.

The following four buttons are located to the left of the display and are used to make selections:

(M)enu: This button has two functions. On any of the status or performance displays, pressing

this button launches the RamSan-810 Main Menu. It is also used as an escape function.

Once the menu is open, pressing it returns the user to the prior screen.

(S)elect: When a menu item is on the display, pressing this button will either execute that menu

option or proceed to the next layer in the menu.

:This button scrolls up through the menu. It is also used to cancel certain commands as

indicated on the display. If the menu is not selected, this button is disabled.

:This button scrolls down through the menu. It is also used to conﬁrm certain commands as

indicated on the display. If the menu is not selected, this button is disabled.

You can scan through the ﬁrst level of options on the RamSan-810 by pressing the Menu key.

Selecting “System Info” displays information about

your RamSan-810. Main Menu

System Info

Selecting “System Status” allows you to view the

system informational, warning, and/or error mes-

sages. These are the same messages which scroll

across the status screen.

Main Menu

System Status

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 11 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

Selecting “Net Conﬁg” allows you to connect your

RamSan-810 to your network. See Section 5.5 for

more information.

Main Menu

Net Config

Selecting “LED Conﬁg” gives you a variety of op-

tions for controlling the LEDs on the left-hand side of

the front of the RamSan-810.

Main Menu

LED Config

Selecting “Display Logo” displays the Texas Mem-

ory Systems, Inc. logo on the front panel display. This

option becomes “Disable Logo” once it has been set.

Main Menu

Display Logo

Selecting “Restart” reboots your RamSan-810. See

Section 5.4.2 for more information. Main Menu

Restart

Selecting “Poweroﬀ” turns oﬀ your RamSan-810.

See Section 5.4.1 for more information. Main Menu

Poweroff

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 12 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

5.4 Controlling System Power with the Front Panel

Display

The RamSan-810 has features that allow the administrator to safely power down the system.

Before powering down the system, unmount the drives from your OS. Do not turn oﬀ the system

by unplugging the power cords.

5.4.1 Poweroﬀ

The administrator can shut down the RamSan-810 manually from the front panel display.

To shut down the system using the front panel, use

the arrow buttons to cycle through the top-level menu

to select “Poweroﬀ.” Use the Select button to select

this menu item.

Main Menu

Poweroff

The display prompts you to conﬁrm that you wish

to “Poweroﬀ?.” To cancel the shutdown, use the

button to return to the main menu. To proceed with

the shutdown, use the button to conﬁrm the system

power oﬀ.

Poweroff?

Yes, No

Now the front panel display indicates that the system

is powering oﬀ. When the system is ready, it will

automatically shut oﬀ.

Powering Off

60% ■■■■■■■

To turn the RamSan-810 back on after a manual shutdown, press the power button to the right of

the power supplies.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 13 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

5.4.2 Restart

The administrator can also reboot the RamSan manually from the front panel display.

To reboot the system using the front panel, use the

arrow buttons to cycle through the top-level menu to

select “Restart.” Use the Select button to select

this menu item.

Main Menu

Restart

The display prompts you to conﬁrm that you wish

to restart the system. To cancel, use the button to

return to the main menu. To proceed with the restart,

use the button to conﬁrm.

Restart?

Yes, No

Now the front panel display indicates that the system

is powering oﬀ. When the system is ready, it will

automatically shut oﬀ. In approximately 9 seconds

time, the system will turn back on.

Rebooting

60% ■■■■■■■

5.4.3 Automatic Shutdown

In the event that the system senses a high system temperature, power out of range, or a variety of

other dangerous environmental conditions, the system will automatically initiate the shutdown

procedure.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 14 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

5.5 Network Conﬁguration with the Front Panel

Display

The RamSan-810 allows system monitoring and conﬁguration through the installed Ethernet

port. To access the system’s Ethernet port you will need to provide it with an IP address, subnet

mask, and possibly a gateway address. The administrator may assign the IP address in one of

three ways: Static IP, DHCP, or No Ethernet. The default factory setting is DHCP.

For any questions regarding IP assignment values, please consult your network administrator.

To set up the network via the front panel, use the arrow buttons to cycle through the top-level

menu options until the display shows “Net Conﬁg.” Use the Select button to choose this option

and continue with the conﬁguration. You may now use the arrow buttons to scroll through the

following menu options:

Displays a list of the current IP conﬁguration, host-

name, IP address, subnet mask, gateway address (if

applicable), and hardware MAC address for each Eth-

ernet port.

Net Config

Show Current

Conﬁgure the Eth0 Ethernet port. Net Config

Eth0 Config

Shuts down and restarts the Ethernet port using the

current IP assignment conﬁguration. Net Config

Restart Net

Exits the network menu. Net Config

Exit Menu

To continue setting up the Ethernet conﬁguration, select “Eth0 Conﬁg.”

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 15 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

After selecting “Eth0 Conﬁg,” you may use the arrow buttons to cycle through the following:

Enables a static IP address for the RamSan-810. Set IP Config

Static

Sets the IP conﬁguration to DHCP. Set IP Config

DHCP

Disables Ethernet. Set IP Config

None

Returns to the Main Menu without making any

changes. Set IP Config

Exit

Talk to your network administrator for the proper IP assignment type. Use the Select button to

select the desired method of IP assignment. If choosing either the “DHCP” or “None” option,

you are asked to conﬁrm the selection with the button.

RamSan-810 User’s Manual - 16 - Texas Memory Systems, Inc.

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Texas Memory Systems RamSan-810 User manual

Brand: Texas Memory Systems

Model: RamSan-810

Category: Networking

Type: User manual

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