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Symmetrix DMX-4
V1.0
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Course Overview
y Course Description
– This course discusses the new Symmetrix DMX-4 hardware in
relationship with the complementary Enginuity 5772+ code. .
y Intended Audience
– This course is intended for people who provide support for the DMX
line of products, especially those who require specific details on
installation, configuration, SymmWin, and Inlines.
Here is the course overview and intended audience. Please take a moment to review them.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
y List the key reasons why customers should choose
Symmetrix DMX-4
y Identify where Symmetrix DMX-4 performance gains are
derived from
y Explain the functionality of the various power components
within the DMX-4
y Motivate why Stiletto DAEs and SATA drives have been
implemented in the DMX-4 system
y Define what power related enhancements have been
made
The objectives for this course are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
The objectives for this module are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 is the most advanced and widely deployed business continuity platform with
unique capabilities like non-disruptive upgrades, multi-site disaster recovery, and enterprise
consistency. It has the unique ability to tier different drive types within the array, allowing for massive
consolidation, up to 1 PetaByte.
Due to the Symmetrix processing power and amount of memory, high levels of predictable
performance is available for the most demanding applications.
Application integration includes $20 million in EMC equipment at Microsoft labs, more than 50,000
joint installations with Oracle, and more than 20 Engineering projects with SAP.
Meanwhile Symmetrix DMX-4 systems consume less power, placing lower demands on data center
cooling equipment.
And to in order to secure people, infrastructure, and data, new built-in capabilities, including RSA
integration, provide industry leading information-centric security.
y Scalable capacity
– Minimum 32 drives Storage Bay System Bay
– System Bay only: 120 drives max (Optional) (Standard)
– With Storage Bay: 360 drives max
© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Symmetrix DMX-4 Functionality - 6
Packaging: The Symmetrix DMX-4 950 system uses a modular design approach with a 6-slot card
cage that will support two or four directors. Each card cage has up to four front-end ports and four
backend ports, and two global memory directors and two FEBE boards. The System Bay is supported
by dual and redundant 1,800 watt power supplies, backed up by two Standby Power Supplies. The
service processor is dedicated to one (1) DMX-4 950 only and is operated through a built-in KVM
(Keyboard, Video, and Mouse) that comes standard with every system.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 is based on the latest version of Enginuity 5772, a Service Release known as
5772+, which has been optimized for maximum performance and flexible tiered storage functionality.
Enginuity 5772+ provides investment protection that delivers performance gains for the Symmetrix
DMX-4, along with security advancements via integration with RSA enVision, providing additional
information-centric security features. The Symmetrix DMX-4, Enginuity 5772+, replication, and
security activities are easy to manage with Symmetrix Management Console (SMC).
DMX architecture has been expanded and improved to support the massive scalability of DMX-4
configurations, allowing for higher throughput.
As with DMX-3 models, the system’s bandwidth depends on the total number of memory boards
installed.
The new Symmetrix DMX-4 system is the next generation in the Symmetrix DMX series, and extends
EMC's leadership in the high-end enterprise storage market.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 delivers immediate support for the latest generation of disk drive
technologies: 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel drives for high performance and SATA II for high capacity.
Symmetrix DMX-4 is the first and only high-end storage system that can support both of these latest
generations of disk-drive technologies.
A new 4 Gb/s point-to-point back-end makes it easier to isolate and diagnose disk drive errors to
improve serviceability. This is possible due to the point-to-point Fibre Channel back-end which has an
independent relationship with each drive on the loop.
Module Summary
Key points covered in this module:
y There are a number of key reasons why customers
should choose Symmetrix DMX-4
– Power efficiency: Symmetrix DMX-4 systems are power efficient,
placing lower demands on data center cooling equipment
– Security: New built-in capabilities, including RSA integration, provide
industry leading information-centric security
– The Symmetrix DMX-4 delivers immediate support for the latest
generation of SATA II disk drive technologies
These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.
Module 2: Configurations
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
y Summarize the configuration rules and guidelines to be
considered when planning for a new DMX-4 or upgrading
an existing DMX-4
y List the drive capacities and volume type support for
DMX-4 systems
The objectives for this module are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
DMX-4 Configurations
The Symmetrix DMX-4 base configurations are composed of a system bay and independent storage
bays, that have common configuration guidelines. Any DMX-4 base configuration accommodates the
later addition (upgrade) of capacity through the on-line addition of drives, drive enclosures, if required,
and additional storage bays that support up to 2,400 2 Gb/s disk drives. The Direct Matrix™
infrastructure accommodates non-disruptive addition of disk directors (increasing from two to eight
disk directors) enabling increased capacity when needed.
The DMX-4 consists of a system bay and from one to eight storage bays. The DMX-4 system bay has
from two to eight disk directors, up to 12 channel directors (combined director total 16), and two, four,
six, or eight global memory directors. The system bay also contains up to eight power supplies, each of
which has a dedicated 2.2 kW BBU.
D D D D D D D D M M M M M M M M D D D D D D D D
I I I I I I I I 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I I I I I I I I
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
S S S S S S S S
S S S S S S S S l l l l l l l l S S S S S S S S
l l l l l l l l o o o o o o o o l l l l l l l l
o o o o o o o o t t t t t t t t o o o o o o o o
t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8 9 A B C D E F
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
BE BE BE BE
B B F F or or F F F F or or F F B B
E E E E FE FE E E E E FE FE E E E E
This figure indicates the 24 slot positions in the card cage and which board occupies each position.
There are a total of 16 directors. Eight on the far left (1-8) and eight on the far right (9-16).
Eight cache boards are indicated in positions M0 through M7. Notice that the slide indicates the Global
Memory Pairs.
Global Memory pairs reside next to each other.
Director positions 5, 6, 11 and 12 are universal, allowing either back-end or front-end directors to
populate those positions.
Front-end Connectivity
y Supports ESCON and FICON host connectivity to
mainframe systems
y Connects to Fibre Channel and iSCSI open system host
interfaces
y Users are able to connect Symmetrix systems through
Fibre Channel to the IBM iSeries 270 and 8xx models
– When using directly connected fibre devices (point-to-point) the
maximum distance is 500 meters
– Fibre Channel is currently capable of running up to 4 Gb/s full duplex
with iSeries system
The Symmetrix DMX-4 supports ESCON and FICON host connectivity to mainframe systems
Fibre Channel and iSCSI host interfaces connect Symmetrix DMX-4 systems to Open System hosts
such as UNIX, Windows, Linux, and iSeries servers. The DMX-4 systems support 4 Gb/s Fibre
Channel connectivity to the IBM iSeries systems.
Listed here are the DMX-4 configuration rules and guidelines to be considered when planning for a
new DMX-4 or upgrading an existing DMX-4.
Although all kinds of drives with different capacities and/or different speeds can now be intermixed in
Symmetrix DMX-4 systems, locations on disk director pairs and drive loops may affect application
performance.
As with DMX-3 systems running 5772 code, Symmetrix DMX-4 supports various data protection
methods.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
Besides the Fibre Channel (LC-FC) drive storage capacities ranging from 73 GB to 500 GB, DMX-4
can also be configured with SATA II drives, as a whole or in part (that is, intermixed FC and SATA).
Considering the SATA II 500 GB drive has the same capacity as the largest Fibre Channel drive, the
total system capacity theoretically should max out the same way, with each storage bay containing 240
drives.
However, keep in mind that the there was a limitation of 960 drives maximum with the current 5772.
This restriction has been lifted with 5772+, bringing the maximum amount of drives back to 2,400
similar to Enginuity 5771.
The sparing rules have changed in 5772+, affecting the spare drive requirements in such ways that
when installing a DMX-4, spare drives are mandatory. This is a deviation from 5772 and below, where
spare drives were recommended, yet the rules were not enforced.
Loading a configuration (BIN) file without the minimum amount of spare drives as calculated by
CPQO and SymmWin will result in a red box during the upgrade procedure and the inability to
successfully complete the install.
In order to avoid major impacts to customers, where a configuration change would be required to add
spares if possible at all (due to unavailability of drive slots), DMX-3 sparing will remain unchanged
(no impact) when upgrading to 5772+.
Please note the sparing across quadrants remark. Due to the little impact that is expected with 2 Gb/s
versus 4 Gb/s, the 4 Gb/s drives can act as 2 Gb/s spares, and the 2 Gb/s drives can act as 4 Gb/s
spares, as long as the replacing drive has the same speed (7,200, 10k, or 15krpm)
The disk drives are installed in the front of storage bays and connect to a midplane. Each disk drive is
integrated with a dual-port Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) controller with Fibre Channel
interface that transports SCSI protocol.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 supports Fibre Channel loops ranging from 15 drives to 60 drives per loop.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
Based on the type of volume protection, a specific number of hypers (partitions) can be configured on
each physical drive.
The list given here shows the correlation between the RAID or SRDF protection and the maximum
number of hypers allowed for.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 can support up to 64,000 logical volumes (not 64k volumes as in 64 x 1,024),
depending on the number of disk directors, the type of data protection, and hardware configuration.
This table shows the maximum logical volumes supported on DMX-4 systems by the number of
drives, DA boards, and type of data protection employed.
For configurations above 1,920 drives (up to 2,400 drives), more info will be available upon General
Availability date.
This listing shows the maximum logical volumes available for the Symmetrix DMX-4 with the number
of disk drives stated and a homogeneous protection scheme on those disk drives.
The logical volume limit is a function of the number of disk directors, disk drives, Enginuity level, and
data protection type.
Module Summary
Key points covered in this module:
y Symmetrix DMX-4 base configurations are composed of
independent storage bays with common configuration guidelines
y Although drives with different capacities and/or different speeds can
now be intermixed in Symmetrix DMX-4 systems, locations on disk
director pairs and drive loops may affect application performance
y Spare drives are mandatory on a DMX-4 with 5772+
y DMX-4 supports up to 64,000 logical volumes per system and 255
partitions per drive
– Depending on the number of disk directors, the type of data protection, and
hardware configuration
These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.
Module 3: Installation
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
y Describe the System Bay and Storage Bay components
of the DMX-4 950 (6-slot) and DMX-4 1500-4500 (24-slot)
Symmetrix models
The objective for this module is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
Drive enclosures
The DMX-4 950 configuration is similar to the current design of the DMX-3 950 and the DMX800, a
DMX or DMX-2 6 slot system also known as RMS (Rack Mounted Symmetrix).
The system includes use of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to provide battery power to the
Server, KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse), and Modem, should the AC input power to both zone A and
B be disrupted.
Similar to the System Bay, the Storage Bay requires two (2) AC input lines from the customer.
These AC line feeds supply power to the different power zones through the Power Distribution Panel
(PDP) to the Power Distribution Unit (PDU).
More details on these components are presented in following modules.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
The DMX-4 consists of a single system bay and from one to eight storage bays.
The system bay contains the 24-slot card cage, service processor, power modules, and battery backup
unit (BBU) assemblies.
The storage bays contain disk drives and associated BBU modules. In a highly scalable component and
cabinet configuration, the DMX-4 has the capacity, connectivity, and throughput to handle a wide
range of high-end storage applications.
The DMX-4 consists of one (1) system bay and multiple storage bays.
The system bay consists of a card cage with channel directors, disk directors, memory directors, and
communication modules.
In addition, system bay consists of a Service Processor and a number of power modules (Power
Distribution Panel, Battery Backup Unit, and power supplies).
The front of the 24-slot card cage contains global memory directors, disk directors, and channel
directors (front-end) Fibre Channel, ESCON, FICON, and iSCSI channel directors a, and/or GigE
Remote directors). The rear slots contain the channel host adapters, GigE Remote adapters, disk
adapters, and the Communications and Environmental Control Modules (XCMs).
Up to 12 channel directors connect to the front side of the midplane and the adapters to the rear side of
the midplane in the system cabinet. Each channel director’s adapter provides the interface to the host
or network.
Two, four, six or eight Fibre Channel disk directors connect to the midplane in the front of the cabinet.
Each disk director’s adapter provides the interface to the Fibre Channel disk drives. The adapter
connects to the opposite side of the midplane in the rear of the cabinet.
y Service Processor
– KVM (Keyboard, Video Display, and Mouse), server, and
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
y XCM
– Communications and Environmental Control Module
– Contains Ethernet interface between all directors, memory, and
service processor
– Monitors environmental events for all Symmetrix DMX-4 FRUs
Global Memory (GM) Directors are two, four, six, or eight global memory directors that provide up to
512 GB (256 GB effective) total global memory.
Memory boards are available in 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB capacities.
XCM is the Communications and Environmental Control Module, connecting to the midplane in the
rear card cage.
The XCM contains the Ethernet interface between the directors (channel, disk, and memory) and the
service processor and monitors environmental events for all Symmetrix DMX-4 FRUs (field
replaceable units), reporting any operational problems such as thermal excursion, voltage drop, etc.
Two PDPs (Power Distribution Panel), one for each zone, provide a centralized cabinet interface and
distribution control of the AC power input lines when connected to the system bay PDUs. The PDPs
contain the manual On/Off power switches, which are accessible through the rear door. The PDUs, one
for each power zone, provide the main interface between the input AC from the PDPs and the various
components contained within the system bay.
Up to eight 2.2 kW BBU modules provide backup for each of the power supplies. If AC power fails,
the BBU modules can maintain power for two 5-minute periods of AC loss while the Symmetrix
system shuts down.
Three 3-fan modules maintain air circulation and cool the unit internally.
Each storage bay is configured with either 120 or 240 disk drives.
All storage bays are similar except for the bays 1A and 1B, the bays closest to the system bay in the
middle.
y Two PDPs
– One for each zone
– PDPs contain the manual On/Off power switches
Each drive enclosure includes redundant power and cooling modules for disk drives, two Link Control
Cards (LCC), and from 4 to 15 Fibre Channel disk drives per drive enclosure.
The storage bays can be populated with any combination of DMX disk drives
- 73 GB, 146 GB, and 300 GB 10,000 rpm drives
- 73 GB and 146 GB 15,000 rpm drives
- 500 GB 7,200 rpm drives
Two BBU modules are required for four drive enclosures (hence up to eight BBU modules support up
to 16 drive enclosures in one storage bay).
The 2.2 kW BBU modules provide backup power to the drive enclosures. Two PDPs, one for each
zone, provide a centralized cabinet interface and distribution control of the AC power input lines when
connected to the storage bay PDUs. The PDPs contain the manual On/Off power switches, which are
accessible through the rear door. The PDUs, one for each power zone, provide the main interface
between the input AC from the PDPs and the BBU modules to the drive enclosures contained within
the storage bay.
Module Summary
Key points covered in this module:
y The DMX-4 models have the same numbers as the DMX-
3 family
– DMX-4 950 and DMX-4 1500 - 4500
These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.
Module 4: Back-end
Upon completion of this module, you will be able to:
y Explain how the DMX-4 next generation Stiletto
compares with a Katina disk enclosure in a DMX-3
y Motivate the reason SATA drives are implemented in
Symmetrix system
y Summarize the SATA support configuration rules
The objectives for this module are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
DA port B
y Point-to-Point connectivity between disk
drives and DA ports
– Replaces Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loops in
current DMX
DA port A
y Facilitates transition to 4Gb/s disk drives
UltraPoint was pioneered by CLARiiON in 2005, leveraging shared technology and components.
It enables new low-cost, high-capacity SATA drives, operating at 4Gb/s speed.
For Symmetrix arrays of type DMX-3 or earlier, the backend speeds of DA’s to the physical disks was
a constant 2 Gb/s.
When the hardware is being configured, disks that are capable of supporting this 4 Gb/s speed are only
ones that should be attached to these DA’s
If even a single one of the disks does not support the 4 Gb/s speed, the entire DA will necessitate the
speed down to 2 Gb/s
Stiletto Views
2 1
1. Enclosure Power
2. Enclosure Fault
3. Drive Power
4
4. Drive Fault
3
5. Power Supply B 5
6. LCC B
6
7. LCC A 7
8
8. Power Supply A
These graphic show the various components of which the Stiletto exists of.
Numbers 1 to 4 relate to the front of the Disk Array Enclosure (DAE), while numbers 5 to 8 point out
the components in the rear of the DAE.
Multiple power supplies and link control cards (LCC) are used to avoid single point of failure.
The drives are clearly marked with their capacity, speed, part number, and serial number.
In this case 73 GB, 4 Gb/s, 15krpm drives are shown.
With the Katina Port Bypass Card (PBC) in the DMX-3 1500-4500, or Link Control Card (LCC) in the
DMX-3 950 model, signal integrity and protocol issue at a drive port will propagate to other drives in
the loop.
A single failing drive could therefore cause other drives on the same backend loop to fail.
There is no hardware support to diagnose or isolate those faults.
Switching Logic
CTS ( Cut Through Switch ) point to point technology adds port monitoring capability to each drive
port, allowing for better fault detection and isolation.
Performance increases since the data does not have to be passed through every drive in the loop.
Exp.Port
Exp.Port
Pri.Port
Pri.Port
Point-to-point connections between LCC and drives guarantee Stilettos have a significant gain in
signal integrity compared with Katina disk enclosures. As can be seen in this picture, the physical
layout of LCCs provide shorter connections to each drive.
Traffic, however, has to traverse all the way to the last enclosure before returning to the DA port.
The CTS device in the Stiletto provides diagnostic data on each port similar to the RLS counters on
the FC disk drives
Data counters track errors the CTS gets on its receive ports
During loop failures counter data can be analyzed to detect and isolate the faulty component. This can
be a drive, cable, or LCC.
Drives are tested before being added to the Back-end loop upon enclosure power up or drive
replacement
Stiletto Support
y 4Gb/s or 2Gb/s loops
– 4Gb/s Stilettos populated with 4 Gb/s drives only
1 2 3
y Step #3: Select either 2Gb/s or 4Gb/s from the drop-down menu
© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Symmetrix DMX-4 Functionality - 54
SymmWin will allow the user to define the DA pairs as 4Gb/s or 2Gb/s.
By default the setting of the disk director ports are set to 4Gb/s. Use the directions as given in step 1 to
3 in order to change this setting to 2Gb/s.
All settings are applied to disk director pairs, representing the four (4) quadrants.
Inlines – FC,ENCL,DB,<port>,<mode>,<mode_num>
y Enclosure
presence
y 4Gig Stiletto
y Power
Supplies
y BBU (SPS)
y Drive
presence
This ‘FC’ Inlines commands provides a health check of the back-end, including power supplies, drive
presence, and battery back-up units (SPS).
No area within the display has been highlighted since almost all the fields are important and requires
your attention to see if any setting deviates from ‘normal’.
The objectives for this lesson are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
Whereas previous generations of EMC Symmetrix Enginuity only supported Fibre channel drives, we
now have a common drive between DMX and CLARiiON products by adding support of Northstar
SATA drives into DMX-4.
These SATA drives are a low cost, high density option for tiered storage.
SATA Support
y SATA drives can coexist with FC drive in the same
enclosure
y Should not mix SATA drives and Fibre drives in the same
RAID group, otherwise the SATA drives will be a
performance bottleneck for the whole group.
– With SATA performance catching up with Blizzard, this restriction
may be eliminated
y D0,BE,mdddd,INQV,C0
– Northstar firmware revision
y D0,BE,mdddd,INQV,D0
– SATA drive firmware revision
y D0,BE,mdddd,LOGP,page
– Retrieve LOG page
Serial ATA (SATA) drives are supported in DMX-4 arrays. The “symdisk” commands work correctly
on the SATA drives. The microcode does not give SE anything that specifically identifies a drive as
being a SATA drive, but the SATA drives usually have an identifier that begins with the letters SATA
that enables these drives to be identified. The “symdisk” CLI command shows “SATAHGST” under
the Vendor type. Also this shows up as the Vendor ID in the “symdisk show” command display. In
SMC, you can select the disk in the Navigation Tree, and then similarly see the Vendor in the
Properties view in the panel.
Module Summary
Key points covered in this module:
y DMX-4 Stiletto drive enclosures operate at higher speed (4Gb/s)
than DMX-3 Katinas (2Gb/s)
– Cut Through Switch provides point to point connection to every drive
– Stiletto provides improved isolation of error conditions
y SATA drives provide a low cost solution with high density drives
– Used on both Symmetrix DMX-4 and CLARiiON
These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.
The objectives for this module are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
Symmetrix DMX-4 channel directors are single boards that occupy one slot on the Symmetrix
midplane, interfacing to host channels through interface adapter cards connected to the opposite side of
the midplane. The Symmetrix DMX-4 supports up to 12 channel directors.
DMX technology is used across the Symmetrix system, as it is also designed into each global memory
director.
In addition to DMX technology, each director includes support for a separate message matrix for the
transfer of control information.
- Graphic note (a): Contact your local EMC Sales Representative for ESCON channel director and
GigE Remote support availability.
- Graphic note (b): Usable ports are per qualified channel directors.
All channel directors contain four high performance processors (slices) and can be loaded with
different emulation codes, depending on the board type and the type of mezzanine (daughter) boards
on the director boards.
This figure lists the possibilities of intermixing Fibre channel, GigE, and FICON on the same board,
multi-mode (MM) and single-mode (SM).
Each channel director on the Symmetrix DMX-4 supports eight internal links to global memory.
Channel Connectivity
y The DMX-4 provides channel connectivity through
combinations of mainframe systems and open systems
channel directors:
– Fibre Channel directors (host connect and SRDF)
– ESCON directors (host connect and SRDF)
– FICON (host connect only)
– iSCSI (host connect only)
– GigE (SRDF connect only)
The Symmetrix DMX-4 supports mixed ESCON, FICON, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI interfaces. The
Symmetrix DMX-4 supports open systems hosts such as UNIX systems, Linux systems, and Windows
connectivity through Symmetrix Fibre Channel or iSCSI directors. (iSeries connectivity is only
supported through Fibre Channel directors.) The Symmetrix DMX-4 supports mainframe connectivity
through ESCON and FICON directors.
ESCON directors used for SRDF, data migration, and the Symmetrix Data Migration Service (SDMS)
application.
GigE (Gigabit Ethernet) remote directors can only be used for SRDF, not for host (server) connection.
iSeries (IBM) connectivity is only supported through Fibre Channel directors
The Fibre Channel front-end director has eight FC (ANSI compliant) 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel interfaces
for connection to host systems, also configurable to 2 Gb/s and 1 Gb/s. The Symmetrix DMX-4 can
support up to 8 qualified Fibre Channel directors.
The numerical values for Symmetrix devices stated in the table are the maximum allowed according to
the architectural limits of the 5772+ code running on the Fibre Channel front-end director. The actual
limits allowed for customer environments will be lower and are dependent on the host type, HBA and
driver type/version, and overall system implementation.
Using meta-devices will reduce the number of host-visible volumes for a given number of devices
(Symmetrix Devices) configured to the Fibre Channel front-end director. Each member of the meta-
device will be counted to the allowed limit of devices configured to a Fibre Channel front-end director.
An eight-port, four-processor ESCON director connects to mainframe hosts, and provides the
capability for four concurrent operations through its four physical interfaces for communicating with
the serial channels in host systems.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 ESCON director has eight ESCON channel interfaces for connection to host
systems and eight high-speed paths to global memory. The ESCON channel director interfaces to the
host channels through an eight-port ESCON channel interface adapter and supports data transfer rates
up to 17 MB/s per port. The Symmetrix ESCON director can support up to 1,024 logical paths per port
when only the A port of the A and B ports of the processor is configured and up to 512 logical paths
per port when both the A and B ports are configured.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 supports 2 to 10 ESCON channel directors.
FICON channel directors support native mode point-to-point connections and FICON native mode
switched point-to-point connections to IBM 9672, G5/G6, z/900, and z/990 systems running z/OS,
z/VM, VM/ESA, and VSE/ESA operating systems.
FICON employs ESCON protocols that have been mapped to the FC-4 upper-level protocol layer of
the Fibre Channel architecture.
It supports multiple concurrent I/O connections, channel program multiplexing, and better link
utilization than ESCON path switching.
FICON allows the consolidation of multiple ESCON channels into one FICON channel.
The FICON mezzanine card provides up to four single-mode (SM) or multimode (MM) LC
bidirectional (full duplex) connections.
Symmetrix FICON channels transfer data at speeds up to 4 Gb/s.
The Symmetrix DMX FICON design auto-detects 4 Gb/s, 2 Gb/s or 1 GB/s at switch or channel port
login time.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 system supports up to eight FICON channel directors.
This figure illustrates several types of FICON channel attachments. In addition to the standard direct-
connect configuration, Symmetrix DMX-4 FICON models support the use of cascading and Open
Systems Intermix configurations. Cascading can be used to reduce the number of FICON adapters and
the amount of inter-site cabling required by making use of switch-to-switch communication. Intermix
allows FICON zones to be added to existing Open Systems switches within a site and between sites.
These two features help reduce the overall costs while providing greater FICON connectivity, backup,
and recovery.
FICON cascading provides greatly enhanced FICON connectivity within local and remote sites
through the use of switch-to-switch extensions of the CPU to the DMX FICON network. These
cascaded switches communicate over long distances using a small number of high speed lines called
ISLs (InterSwitch Links). Up to a maximum of two switches may be connected together within a path
between the CPU and the DMX. Same switch vendors are required for a Cascaded configuration. The
EMC and IBM branded McDATA and INRANGE switches are supported in pairs.
FICON Open Systems Intermix allows separate FICON zones to be defined within new or existing
open systems switches. These switches can also be Cascaded to further enhance connectivity and
remote backup and recovery. The EMC and IBM branded McDATA and INRANGE switches are
supported. To support Open Systems Intermix, each vendor requires specific models, hardware and
software features, configuration settings, and restrictions.
GigE remote mezzanine cards on the MPCD enable remote director functionality based upon Gigabit
Ethernet technology that enable direct Symmetrix-to-IP network attachment and eliminate the need for
expensive media converter appliances. GigE support for SRDF on Symmetrix DMX systems increases
the options for Symmetrix-to-Symmetrix connectivity and allows the Symmetrix system to connect to
your existing Ethernet infrastructure and directly access high-speed data transmission conduits via
Internet Protocol (IP). SRDF traffic is supported to one or more remote Symmetrix systems that also
have GigE remote directors installed, using TCP/IP protocols and function layers. Symmetrix DMX
GigE remote channels for SRDF transfer data at speeds up to 1 Gb/s. The GigE director provides up to
four 1 Gb/s Ethernet ports and connects via LC connectors.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 MPCD, through mezzanine card technology, supports iSCSI channel
connectivity by way of Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) hardware for the Symmetrix DMX systems. The iSCSI
channel director supports iSCSI channel connectivity to IP networks and to iSCSI-capable open
systems server systems for block storage transfer between hosts and storage. The primary applications
are storage consolidation and host extension for stranded servers and departmental workgroups. The
Symmetrix iSCSI director provides up to four 1Gb/s Ethernet ports and connects via LC connectors.
The iSCSI directors support the iSNS protocol, a mechanism that provides Naming and Discovery
services for iSCSI initiators. The iSNS server information is configured in the Symmetrix IMPL file
for each iSCSI director.
The Symmetrix DMX-4 global memory director technology is one of the most crucial components of a Symmetrix system.
The DMX-4 uses global memory directors that use industry-standard Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-
Access Memory (DDR SDRAM), the latest generation of DDR SDRAM chip technology. All read and write operations
transfer data to or from global memory. Any transfers between the host processor, channel directors, and global memory
directors are achieved at much greater electronic speeds than transfers involving disks.
The DMX-4 global memory directors work in pairs. The hardware writes to the primary global memory director first, and
then automatically writes data to the secondary global memory director. All reads are from the primary memory director.
Upon a primary or secondary global memory director failure, all directors drop the failed global memory director and
switch to a non-dual write mode. Striping between global memory directors is default. Each global memory director has 16
ports with point-to-point serial connections between the global memory director and channel or disk directors (16 directors)
through the direct matrix. Each memory director port consists of a pair of full-duplex serial links, two serial links out (TX)
and two serial links in (RX). Each of the eight director ports on the 16 directors connect to one of the 16 memory ports on
each of the eight global memory directors. These 128 individual point-to-point connections facilitate up to 128 concurrent
cache operations in the system.
The Symmetrix DMX system can support up to eight slots in the midplane dedicated to global memory and 512 GB of
global memory (256 GB effective). Individual global memory directors are available in 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB
sizes.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
The Symmetrix Fibre Channel adapter provides an interface between the director and open systems
host channels.
Each Fibre Channel adapter is located at the rear of the mid-plane, opposite its corresponding channel
director.
These adapters provide the connectivity between the host channels and the Fibre Channel directors
(FC-0 layer of the Fibre Channel standard). The eight-port Fibre Channel director provides the
capability for eight concurrent operations through its eight physical interfaces for communicating with
the host systems.
Fibre Channel directors use fiber optic cables. The channels use Fibre Channel arbitrated loop or
switched fabric links.
Each link has two physical fibers for transporting data: One for inbound signals and one for outbound
signals.
The current Fibre Channel implementation supports data transfer rates up to 4 Gb/s.
ESCON director
The ESCON director provides dynamic switching and extended link path lengths (with XDF
capability) when attaching an ESCON channel (TYPE=CNC) to a Symmetrix serial channel interface.
One or two ESCON directors may be configured in the channel attachment.
However, one of the directors must be configured with a static connection because the ESCON
architecture recognizes only one port
address. The dynamic switch configuration is defined in the IOCP. The ESCON director may also be
used to provide additional flexibility and extend channel lengths when used with channel converters.
Channel extender
The IBM 9036 Remote Channel Extender (or equivalent device) attaches an ESCON channel
(TYPE=CNC) to a Symmetrix serial channel interface. The Remote Channel Extender extends the
distance of the connection and, depending on the model, can convert connections from multimode (3
km) to single-mode (20 km). Connections to Symmetrix serial channel interfaces must be multimode.
FICON channels use fiber optic cables. The current FICON implementation supports data transfer rates
up to 4 Gb/s. There are two types of fiber-optic cables: multimode and single-mode.
Symmetrix systems directly connect to FICON single-mode or multimode cables.
In the FICON environment, a link connects a host FICON channel with a Symmetrix FICON channel
interface. This link can be a direct connection between the processor or LPAR and the FICON channel
interface. The link can also have a FICON director that branches off to additional single-mode or
multimode links with connections to Symmetrix FICON channel directors.
This table describes the maximum distances supported by FICON cables.
Module Summary
Key points covered in this module:
y DMX-4 global memory directors work by default in pairs,
available in size ranging from 8 to 64 GB per board
y Fibre channel, GigE, and FICON can be intermixed on
the same director board
– Multi-mode (MM), single-mode (SM), or both
These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.
The objectives for this module are shown here. Please take a moment to read them.
Lesson 1: Energy-Efficiency
Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
y Describe how Symmetrix DMX-4 with new Enginuity
5772+ capabilities improve energy efficiency
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
Energy-Efficiency Capabilities
y Efficiencies with Enginuity 5772+
– Increase performance without increasing power consumption
Symmetrix DMX-4 with new Enginuity 5772+ capabilities improve energy efficiency.
The higher performance levels provided with Enginuity 5772+ via the improved caching algorithms
consolidate more workloads with less hardware, so DMX-4 users can also get more performance
without additional power.
New tiered storage options for the DMX-4 platform offers the broadest range of energy-efficient disk
drives, providing higher capacity for more terabytes per square foot. The Symmetrix DMX-4 is even
more efficient through the support for 500 GB SATA II drives.
EMC Power Calculator V2 quantifies energy savings for refreshes, consolidations, and high capacity
disks.
82%
2,575 kWh/yr
65%
1,226 kWh/yr 33%
666 kWh/yr
444 kWh/yr
When tiering in a box, it is important to understand the relationship of the data to the service level
being provided. Too high a service level for less critical data becomes expensive. Too low a service
level for critical data and performance and data protection can suffer. Matching the right service level
to the data is critical, and because Symmetrix DMX systems support the widest range of disk types and
sizes, organizations can deploy the right drives to meet their requirement, be it a 15k rpm 73 GB drives
for performance or a high-capacity 7.2k rpm 500 GB drives.
Not only is tiering within a system important from an operational, protection, and capital expenditure
standpoint, but each drive also draws different amounts of power per year, as can be seen in this chart.
By placing less-critical tier-2 or tier-3 data on high-capacity drives like 500 GB SATA II drives, a
customer can save thousands of dollars in power and cooling costs per year.
The objective for this lesson is shown here. Please take a moment to read it.
Power Supplies
y The new DMX-4 power supply is the same form as the
DMX-3 power supply with minor changes to increase the
output power rating from 1,800W to 1,950W
– The additional output power will increase the overall power margin
within the system giving a power increase without the need of
additional power supplies
Up to eight 1,950 watt power supplies support the system bay and are split between two (A and B)
three-phase power zones, where each zone supports up to four power supplies. One zone can maintain
power for the entire system bay independent of the power supplies in the other zone.
The DMX-4 is available in three-phase Delta or three-phase WYE configurations.
Part numbers:
- 071-000-493 : Artesyn 1,950W power supply
- 071-000-501 : Acbel 1,950W power supply
AC Cabling
y Use of color coded internal AC cabling
– Enhances visual indication of AC power zone feeds
– Only available with new DMX-4 systems
Addition of color coded internal AC cabling provides a visual indication of the different AC power
zone feeds within the cabinet.
Change was put in place to help address some of the cabling issues between power zones
AC cables within both the disk and equipment bays will now be black (Zone B) or grey (Zone A)
The Symmetrix DMX-4 power subsystem supports three-phase Delta or three-phase WYE
configurations.
Each DMX-4 system bay and each storage bay require two separate PDUs, one for Zone A and one for
Zone B.
PXU
y PXU = Power Extender Unit
y Small PDU
y DMX-4 1500-4500 (24-slot)
only
y Avoids Power distribution
(PDU) circuit overload
y Part number: 100-885-180
The Power Extender Unit (PXU) is essentially an additional mini PDU in the main 24-slot bay (only).
Since the new power supplies could now draw more power, the existing PDU circuit breakers could
trip under certain load conditions.
PXU Location
y Two PXU per System Bay
y One PXU for each zone
y PXU provides main interface
between the input AC from the
PDP and a SPS in the system
y PXU can handle domestic and
international single-phase or
3-phase AC power
Two PXUs, one for each zone provide a main interface between the input AC from the PDP and a SPS
in the system
The PXU can accommodate and distribute domestic and international single-phase or 3-phase power
input sources from the PDP to the system Field Replaceable Units (FRU).
Up to eight Standby Power Supplies (SPS) units back up each of the power supplies.
If AC power fails, the SPS assemblies can maintain power for two 5-minute periods of AC loss while
the Symmetrix system shuts down.
PDU PDU
PDP PDP
PXU PXU
© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Symmetrix DMX-4 Functionality - 91
This wiring diagram shows the placement of the power elements in the DMX-4 system bay. Please
take a moment to review it.
Note that this is not just an example; all cables must be plugged in as shown.
- Blue= Zone ‘B’ AC power from SPS to card cage power supply. Part number: 038-003-209
- Gray = Zone ‘A’ AC power from SPS to card cage power supply. Part number: 038-003-548
- Black = Zone ‘B’ AC power from PDU to SPS. Part number: 038-003-208
- Orange = Zone ‘A’ AC power from PDU to SPS. Part number: 038-003-547
- Red = RS232 sense cable from SPS to XCM. Part number: 038-002-307
Module Summary
Key points covered in this module:
y Symmetrix DMX-4 with new Enginuity 5772+ capabilities
improves energy efficiency
y The new Power Calculator quantifies energy savings for
consolidations and SATA high capacity disks
– Reporting on operational cost, weight, energy consumption, sound,
and floor space
These are the key points covered in this module. Please take a moment to review them.
Course Summary
Key points covered in this course:
y Customers should choose DMX-4 because of its power
efficiency, security, and the support for Stiletto DAE and
SATA disk drive technologies
y Although drives with different capacities and/or different
speeds can now be intermixed in Symmetrix DMX-4
systems, locations on disk director pairs and drive loops
may affect application performance
y DMX-4 Stiletto drive enclosures operate at 4Gb/s, and
provides improved isolation of error conditions
y Symmetrix DMX-4 with new Enginuity 5772+ capabilities
improves energy efficiency
© 2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Symmetrix DMX-4 Functionality - 93
These are the key points covered in this training. Please take a moment to review them.
This concludes the training. Please proceed to the Course Completion slide to take the assessment.