VCMDB: Volume Control Manager Database

ACLX: Access Control Logix

VCM: Volume Control Manager device (where the database resides)

VCM Gatekeeper: Volume Control Manager Gatekeeper (database doesn’t reside on these devices)

SFS Volumes: Symmetrix File System Volumes

If you work with EMC Symmetrix systems, you know the importance of VCMDB. Introduced with Symmetrix 4.0 and used in every generation after that, VCMDB stands for Volume Control Manager Database). Also in the latest generation of systems the VCM device is at times also referenced as VCM Gatekeeper.

VCMDB is a relatively small device that is created on the Symmetrix system that allows for hosts access to various devices on the Symmetrix. VCMDB keeps an inventory of which devices have access to which host (HBA’s). Without a VCMDB in place, host systems will not be able to access the Symmetrix. The VCMDB should be backed up on regular intervals and would be helpful in a rainy day.

The VCMDB device size grew along with new generations of Symmetrix systems that got introduced, primarily a means to keep a track of more supported devices (hypers / splits) on these platforms. With the introduction of Symmetrix V-Max, the VCMDB concept is now a bit changed to ACLX (Access Control Logix). Access Logix is being used on the Clariion systems for years now.

Here are a few things to consider with VCMDB

• On the older Symmetrix systems (4.0, 4.8, 5.0 and 5.5), the VCMDB (device) is mapped to all the channels, host
• In these systems the VCMDB access is typically restricted by Volume Logix or ACL (access control lists)
• With the Symmetrix DMX, DMX2 Systems – Enginuity Code 5670, 5671 the VCM device only requires to be mapped to the Management stations
• Management stations include SYMCLI Server / Ionix Control Center Server / Symmetrix Management Console
• At all given times on the DMX, DMX2 platforms, the VCMDB would need to be mapped to at least one station to perform online SDDR changes. Alternatively this problem of not having device mapped to at least one host can also be fixed by the PSE lab
• Mapping VCMDB to multiple hosts, channels may make the device venerable to crashes, potential tampering, device attributes and data change
• You can write disable VCMDB to avoid the potential of the above
• With these systems, the host can communicate to the VCMDB via Syscalls
• The VCM Edit Director Flag (fibrepath) needs to be enabled for management stations to see VCM device
• The database (device masking database) of the VCMDB resides on the SFS volumes. This feature was introduced with DMX-3 / DMX-4 (5772 version of microcode). A 6 cylinder VCM Gatekeeper device is okay to use with these versions of microcode.
• Starting Symmetrix V-Max systems, the concept of ACLX was introducted for Auto Provisioning etc.
• VCM volumes are required to be mirrored devices like SFS volumes

Various different types of VCMDB

Type 0, Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, Type 4, Type 5, Type 6

• Type 0: Symmetrix 4.0, 32 Director System, 16 cylinder device size, Volume Logix 2.x
• Type 1: Symmetrix 4.8, 64 Director System, 16 cylinder device size, ESN Manager 1.x
• Type 2: Symmetrix 5.0/5.5, 64 Director System, 16 cylinder device size, ESN Manager 2.x
• Type 3: Symmetrix DMX, supports 32 fibre/ 32 iSCSI initiator records per port, 24 cylinder device in size. Enginuity 5569, Solutions Enabler 5.2, Support 8000 devices
• Type 4: Symmetrix DMX/DMX-2, supports 64 fibre/ 128 iSCSI initiator records per port, 48 cylinder device in size. Enginuity 5670, Solutions Enabler 5.3, Supports 8000 devices
• Type 5: Symmetrix DMX/DMX-2, supports 64 fibre / 128 iSCSI initiator records per port, 96 cylinder device in size, Enginuity 5671, Solutions Enabler 6.0, Supports 16000 devices
• Type 6: Symmetrix DMX-3, DMX-4, supports 256 fibre / 512 iSCSI initiator records per port, 96 cylinder device in size, Enginuity 5771, 5772 Solutions Enabler 6.0, Supports 64000 devices

Notes about various Types of VCMDB

• Type 3 of VCMDB can be converted to Type 4 VCMDB (code upgrade from 5669 to 5670 to 5671)
• Solutions enabler 5.2 and Solutions Enabler 5.3 can read/write Type 3 VCMDB
• Solutions enabler 5.3 can read/write Type 4 VCMDB
• VCMDB device is recommended to be a certain size, but it is okay to use a larger size device if no choices are available.

Converting various types of VCMDB using SymCLI

• If the device cylinder size is equal with a conversion you are attempting, the following will help you convert your VCMDB from type x to type y.
  • Backup the device
  • symmaskdb –sid <symmid> backup –file backup
  • Check the VCMDB type using
  • symmaskdb – sid <symmid> list database
  • Convert from type 4 to type 5
  • Symmaskdb – sid <symmid> convert –vcmdb_type 5 –file Covertfilename

To initialize VCMDB for the first time on a Symmetrix System

Within Ionix Control Center

• Click on the Symmetrix array you are trying to initialize the VCMDB
• Select Masking then VCMDB Management and then initialize
• Select a new backup and create a file name
• Create a file name with .sdm extenstion
• Click on Activate the VCMDB
• VCMDB backups are stored at \home\ecc_inf\data\hostname\data\backup\symmserial\
• Also it will be viewable within Ionix Control Center at Systems/Symmetrix/VCMDB Backups/

With SymCLI

• To query the VCMDB database
  • symmaskdb –sid <symmid> list database
  • To backup and init an existing VCMDB database
    • symmaskdb – sid <symmid> init –file backup

More technical deep dive coming soon on various other topics…including ACLX.

Cheers
@storagenerve

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2010. | EMC Symmetrix: VCMDB and ACLX
Read more posts categorized as Storage

EMC Symmetrix BIN file, largely an unknown topic in the storage industry and practically there is no available information related to it. This post is just an attempt to shed some light as to what a BIN file is, how it works, what’s in it and why is it essential with the Enginuity code. Some EMC folks have capitalized on the BIN file as to the personality it brings to the Symmetrix, while the EMC competition always uses it against them as it introduces complexities in the storage environment with management and change control.

Personally I feel a Symmetrix wouldn’t be a Symmetrix if the BIN file weren’t there. The personality, characteristics, robustness, compatibility, flexibility, integration with OS’s, etc wouldn’t be there if the BIN file didn’t exist.

With the total number of OS’s, device types, channel interfaces and flags it supports today, sort of making it one of the most compatible storage arrays in the market. The configuration and compatibility on the Symmetrix can be verified using the E-Lab navigator available on Powerlink.

So here are some facts about the BIN file

• Only used with Symmetrix systems (Enginuity Code)
• BIN file stands for BINARY file
• BIN file holds all information about the Symmetrix configuration
• One BIN file per system serial number is required
• BIN file was used with Symmetrix Gen 1 in 1990 and is still used in 2010 with Symmetrix V-Max systems
• BIN file holds information on SRDF configurations, total memory, memory in slots, serial number of the unit, number of directors, type of directors, director flags, engines, engine ports, front end ports, back end ports, drives on the loop, drives on the SCSI bus, number of drives per loop, drive types in the slots, drive speeds, volume addresses, volume types, meta’s, device flags and many more settings
• The setup for host connection if the OS is Open Systems or Mainframe environments using FICON, ESCON, GbE, FC, RF, etc is all defined in the BIN file. Also director emulations, drive formats if OSD or CKD, format types, drive speeds, etc is all defined in the BIN file
• BIN file is required to make a system active. It is created based on customer specifications and installed by EMC during the initial setup
• Any ongoing changes in the environment related to hardware upgrades, defining devices, changing flags, etc is all accomplished using BIN file changes
• BIN file changes can be accomplished 3 ways.
  • BIN file change for hardware upgrades is typically performed by EMC only
  • BIN file change for other changes that are device, director, flags, meta’s, SRDF configurations etc is either performed through the SYMAPI infrastructure using SymCLI or ECC (Now Ionix) or SMC (Symmetrix Management Console) by the customer. (Edited based on the comments: Only some changes now require traditional BIN file change, typically others are performed using sys calls in enginuity environment)
• Solutions enabler is required on the Symcli, ECC, SMC management stations to enable SYMAPI infrastructure to operate
• VCMDB needs to be setup on the Symmetrix for SymCLI, ECC, SMC related changes to work
• Gatekeeper devices need to be setup on the Symmetrix front end ports for SymCLI, ECC, SMC changes to work
• For Symmetrix Optimizer to work in your environment, you need DRV devices setup on your Symmetrix.(Edited based on comments: Only required until DMX platform. Going forward with DMX3/4 & V-Max platforms it uses sys calls to perform Optimizer changes).

Back in the day

All and any BIN file changes on the Symmetrix 3.0, Symmetrix 4.0 used to be performed by EMC from the Service Processor. Over the years with introduction of SYMAPI and other layered software products, now seldom is EMC involved in the upgrade process.

Hardware upgrades

BIN File changes typically have to be initiated and performed by EMC, again these are the hardware upgrades. If the customer is looking at adding 32GB’s of Cache to the existing DMX-4 system or adding new Front End connectivity or upgrading 1200 drive system to 1920 drives, all these require BIN file changes initiated and performed by EMC. To my understanding the turn around time is just a few days with these changes, as it requires change control and other processes within EMC.

Customer initiated changes

Configuration changes around front end ports, creating volumes, creating meta’s, volume flags, host connectivity, configuration flags, SRDF volume configurations, SRDF replication configurations, etc can all be accomplished through the customer end using the SYMAPI infrastructure (with SymCLI or ECC or SMC). These are performed through Sys calls and not necessarily using traditional BIN changes DMX-3 systems onwards.)

Enginuity upgrade

Upgrading the microcode (Enginuity) on a DMX or a V-Max is not a BIN file change, but rather is a code upgrade. Back in the days, many upgrades were performed offline, but in this day and age, all changes are online and accomplished with minimum pains.

Today

So EMC has moved quite ahead with the Symmetrix architecture over the past 20 years, but the underlying BIN file change requirements haven’t changed over these 8 generations of Symmetrix.

Any and all BIN file changes are recommended to be done during quite times (less IOPS), at schedule change control times. Again these would include the ones that EMC is performing from a hardware perspective or the customer is performing for device/flag changes.

The process

During the process of a BIN file change, the configuration file typically ending with the name *.BIN is loaded to all the frontend directors, backend directors, including the global cache. After the upload, the system is refreshed with this new file in the global cache and the process makes the new configuration changes active. This process of refresh is called IML (Initial Memory Load) and the BIN file is typically called IMPL (Initial Memory Program Load) file.

A customer initiated BIN file works in a similar way, where the SYMAPI infrastructure that resides on the service processor allows the customer to interface with the Symmetrix to perform these changes. During this process, the scripts verify that the customer configurations are valid and then perform the changes and make the new configuration active.

To query the Symmetrix system for configuration details, reference the SymCLI guide. Some standard commands to query your system would include symcfg, symcli, symdev, symdisk, symdrv, symevent, symhost, symgate, syminq, symstat commands and will help you navigate and find all the necessary details related to your Symmetrix. Also similar information in a GUI can be obtained using ECC and SMC. Both will allow the customer to initiate SYMAPI changes.

Unless something has changed with the V-Max, typically to get an excel based representation of your BIN file, ask your EMC CE.

Issues

You cannot run two BIN files in a single system, though at times the system can end up in a state where you can have multiple BIN files on various directors. This phenomenon typically doesn’t happen to often, but an automated script when not finished properly can put the system in this state. At this point the Symmetrix will initiate a call home immediately and the PSE labs should typically be able to resolve these issues.

Additional software like Symmetrix Optimizer also uses the underlying BIN file infrastructure to make changes to the storage array to move hot and cold devices based on the required defined criteria. There have been quite a few known cases of Symmetrix Optimizer causing the above phenomenon of multiple BIN files. , Though many critics will disagree with that statement. (Edited based on comments: Only required until DMX platform. Going forward with DMX3/4 & V-Max platforms it uses sys calls to perform these Optimizer changes).

NOTE: One piece of advice, never run SYMCLI or ECC scripts for BIN file changes through a VPN connected desktop or laptop. Always run all necessary SymCLI / SMC / ECC scripts for changes from a server in your local environment. Very highly recommend, never attempt to administer your Symmetrix system with an iPhone or a Blackberry.

Hope in your quest to get more information on BIN files, this serves as the starting point..

Cheers
@storagenerve

NOTE: Read additional comments and clarifications on this topic at the Storagenerve Blog

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2010. | EMC Symmetrix: Bin File
Read more posts categorized as Storage

Symmetrix was a compute / storage beast 20 years ago and so it is today.

This post includes the video “Journey of the Symmetrix”  (20 years in the making) created exclusively for this blog post.

To read more about the Symmetrix

Symmetrix Deepdive

Symmetrix product is considered a Flagship product and possibly has the largest share in the Enterprise Storage – Compute market today.

Here is a video I have put together showing my love for the Symmetrix Product. It starts with the Symm that was invented 20 years ago to this last generation Symmetrix V-Max.

Viewable in HD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieC_xUBp-Zc

Some other details on the Symmetrix include generation of the product, some facts, Enginuity code levels and model numbers.

The 8 Generations of Symmetrix

• First Generation: 1990
• Second Generation: 1992
• Symmetrix 3.0: 1994
• Symmetrix 4.0: 1996
• Symmetrix 4.8: 1998
• Symmetrix 5.0: 2000
• Symmetrix 5.5: 2001
• Symmetrix DMX (Generation 6.0): 2003
• Symmetrix DMX-2 (Generation 6.5): 2004
• Symmetrix DMX-3 (Generation 7.0): 2005
• Symmetrix DMX-4 (Generation 7.5): 2007
• Symmetrix V-Max (Generation 8.0): 2009

There are various models within each generation of the Symmetrix and these models have different characteristics. Follow the deepdive section to read more about it.

Some other facts of the Symmetrix include:

• Introduced in 1990
• 8^th Generation Symmetrix available in the market today
• 450 Patents
• Introduction of the first every ICDA: Integrated Cache Disk array
• First system to support both Mainframe and Open systems environment
• SRDF Support introduced in 1994 (first in the market)
• RSF Supported introduced in 1992 (first in the market)
• BCV support introduced in 1997 (first in the market)
• In-the-Box Tiering only offered through Symmetrix (DMX-4 onwards), can support FLASH, Fibre and SATA drives
• Symmetrix (DMX-4) is worlds first PB enterprise system
• Symmetrix (V-Max) is worlds first multi PB enterprise system
• USD 3 Billion invested in Symmetrix Multi-vendor Interoperability Matrix support
• 800 Speed Gurus supporting the Symmetrix Performance and configurations for optimizing environments.

Enginuity Code Levels

• First Generation: Unknown
• Second Generation: Unknown
• Symmetrix 3.0: 50xx, 51xx
• Symmetrix 4.0: 5265, 5266
• Symmetrix 4.8: 5266, 5267
• Symmetrix 5.0: 5567, 5568
• Symmetrix 5.5: 5568
• Symmetrix DMX (Generation 6.0): 5669, 5670, 5671
• Symmetrix DMX-2 (Generation 6.5): 5670, 5671
• Symmetrix DMX-3 (Generation 7.0): 5771, 5772
• Symmetrix DMX-4 (Generation 7.5): 5772, 5773
• Symmetrix V-Max (Generation 8.0): 5874

Symmetrix Models

• First Generation: 4200
• Second Generation: 4400, 4800
• Symmetrix 3.0: 3100/5100, 3200/5200, 3500/5500
• Symmetrix 4.0: 3330/5330, 3430/5430, 3700/5700
• Symmetrix 4.8: 3630/5630, 3830/5830, 3930/5930
• Symmetrix 5.0: 8130, 8430, 8730
• Symmetrix 5.5: 8230, 8530, 8830
• Symmetrix DMX (Generation 6.0): DMX800, DMX1000, DMX1000-P, DMX2000, DMX2000-P, DMX3000-3
• Symmetrix DMX-2 (Generation 6.5): DMX801, DMX1000-M2, DMX1000-P2, DMX2000-M2, DMX2000-P2, DMX2000-M2-3, DMX3000-M2-3
• Symmetrix DMX-3 (Generation 7.0): DMX3-950, DMX3
• Symmetrix DMX-4 (Generation 7.5): DMX4-950, DMX4
• Symmetrix V-Max (Generation 8.0): V-Max SE, V-Max

Disclaimers

I have not been awarded a free V-Max or DMX-4 for my basement. I do not personally own a V-Max or a DMX-4.

As you can see, this post shows my love for the Symmetrix technology and sort of my tribute to the 20 years of Symmetrix technology advancement.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Symmetrix: The Journey of 20 Years
Read more posts categorized as Storage, Tech

So the journey of Symmetrix systems started with Moshe Yanai (along with his team) joining EMC in late 80’s. A floating story says, the idea of a cache based disk array was initially pitched to both IBM and HP and was shot down.  EMC was predominately a mainframe memory selling company back in the late 1980’s. The Symmetrix products completely changed the direction of EMC in a decade.

Joe Tucci comes in at the end of 90’s from Unisys with a big vision. Wanted to radically change EMC. Through new acquisitions, new technologies, vision and foremost the integration of all the technologies created today’s EMC.

Symmetrix has always been the jewel of EMC. Back in the Moshe days, the engineers were treated so royally (Have heard stories about helicopter rides and lavish parties with a satellite bus waiting outside for a support call). Then comes the Data General acquisition in late 90’s that completely changed the game.

Some people within EMC were against the DG acquisition and didn’t see much value in it. While the Clariion DG backplane is what changed the Symmetrix to a Symmetrix DMX – Fiber Based Drives. Over this past decade, EMC radically changes its position and focuses on acquisitions, support, products, quality, efficiency, usability and foremost changing itself from a hardware company to an Information Solutions company focusing on software as its integral growth factor.  New acquisitions like Legato, Documentum, RSA, kept on changing the culture and the growth focus within EMC.

Then came VMware and it changed the rules of the game, EMC’s strategic move to invest into VMware paid off big time.  Then happens the 3-way partnership between VMware – EMC – Cisco, to integrate next generation products, V-Max (Symmetrix), V-Sphere and UCS are born.

Here we are in 2009, almost at the end of 20 years since the inception of the Symmetrix, the name, the product, the Enginuity code, the robust characteristics, the investment from EMC all stays committed with changing market demands.

Jumping back into the Symmetrix, here are a few articles you might find interesting, overall talking about various models, serial numbers of the machines and importantly a post on Enginuity Operating Environment.

• To read about EMC Symmetrix Enginuity Operating Environment
• To read about EMC Symmetrix Serial Number naming convention,
• To read about EMC Symmetrix Models in a previous blog post
• To read about various EMC models based on different Platforms
• To read about all EMC Clariion models since the Data General Acquisition

Symmetrix Family 1.0

• ICDA – Integrated Cache Disk Array
• Released 1990 and sold through 1993
• A 24GB total disk space introduced

Wow, I was in elementary school or may be middle school when this first generation Symmetrix was released….

• Symmetrix 4200

Symmetrix Family 2.0

• ICDA – Integrated Cache Disk Array
• Released 1991 and sold through 1994
• A 36GB total disk space
• Mirroring introduced

• Symmetrix 4400

Symmetrix Family 2.5

• ICDA – Integrated Cache Disk Array
• Released 1992 and sold through 1995
• RSF capabilities added

(I actually met a guy about 2 years ago, he was one of the engineers that had worked on developing the first RSF capabilities at EMC and was very instrumental in developing the Hopkinton PSE lab)

• Symmetrix 4800:

Symmetrix Family 3.0 also called Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 Series

• Released 1994 and sold through 1997
• ICDA: Integrated Cache Disk Array
• Includes Mainframe Support (Bus & Tag)
• Global Cache introduced
• 1GB total Cache
• NDU – Microcode
• SRDF introduced
• Supports Mainframe and open systems both
• Enginuity microcode 50xx, 51xx

• Symmetrix 3100: Open systems support, half height cabinet, 5.25 inch drives
• Symmetrix 5100: Mainframe support, half height cabinet, 5.25 inch drives
• Symmetrix 3200: Open Systems support, single cabinet, 5.25 inch drives
• Symmetrix 5200: Mainframe support, single cabinet, 5.25 inch drives
• Symmetrix 3500: Open Systems support, triple cabinet, 5.25 inch drives
• Symmetrix 5500: Mainframe support, triple cabinet, 5.25 inch drives

Symmetrix Family 4.0 also called Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 Series

• Released 1997 and sold through 2000
• RAID XP introduced
• 3.5 Inch drive size introduced
• On triple cabinet systems 5.25 inch drives used
• Supports Mainframe and Open Systems both
• Timefinder, Powerpath, Ultra SCSI support
• Enginuity microcode 5265.xx.xx, 5266.xx.xx

• Symmetrix 3330: Open Systems Support, half height cabinet, 32 drives, 3.5 inch drives
• Symmetrix 5330: Mainframe Support, half height cabinet, 32 drives, 3.5 inch drives
• Symmetrix 3430: Open Systems Support, single frame, 96 drives, 3.5 inch drives
• Symmetrix 5430: Mainframe Support, single frame, 96 drives, 3.5 inch drives
• Symmetrix 3700: Open Systems Support, triple cabinet, 128 drives, 5.25 inch drives
• Symmetrix 5700: Mainframe Support, triple cabinet, 128 drives, 5.25 inch drives

To read about EMC Symmetrix Hardware Components

Symmetrix Family 4.8 also called Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 Series

• Released 1998 and sold through 2001
• Symmetrix Optimizer Introduced
• Best hardware so far: least outages, least problems and least failures (not sure if EMC will agree to it, most customers do)
• 3.5 inch drives used with all models
• Enginuity microcode 5265.xx.xx, 5266.xx.xx, 5267.xx.xx

• Symmetrix 3630: Open Systems support, half height cabinet, 32 drives
• Symmetrix 5630: Mainframe support, half height cabinet, 32 drives
• Symmetrix 3830: Open Systems support, single cabinet, 96 drives
• Symmetrix 5830: Mainframe support, single cabinet, 96 drives
• Symmetrix 3930: Open Systems support, triple cabinet, 256 drives
• Symmetrix 5930: Mainframe support, triple cabinet, 256 drives

Models sold as 3630-18, 3630-36, 3630-50, 5630-18, 5630-36, 5630-50,3830-36, 3830-50, 3830-73, 5830-36, 5830-50, 5830-73, 3930-36, 3930-50, 3930-73, 5930-36, 5930-50, 5930-73 (the last two digits indicate the drives installed in the frame)

To read about EMC Symmetrix Hardware Components

Symmetrix Family 5.0 also called Symmetrix 8000 Series

[ 3000 (open sytems) + 5000 (mainframe) = 8000 (support for both) ]

• Supports Open Systems and Mainframe without BUS and TAG through ESCON
• Released 2000 and sold through 2003
• 181GB Disk introduced
• Enginuity microcode 5567.xx.xx, 5568.xx.xx

• Symmetrix 8130: Slim cabinet, 48 drives
• Symmetrix 8430: Single cabinet, 96 drives
• Symmetrix 8730: Triple cabinet, 384 drives

Some models sold as 8430-36, 8430-73, 8430-181 or 8730-36, 8730-73, 8730-181 (the last two digits indicate the drives installed in the frame)

To read about EMC Symmetrix Hardware Components

Symmetrix Family 5.5 LVD also called Symmetrix 8000 Series

• Released 2001 and sold through 2004
• LVD: Low Voltage Disk Introduced
• 146GB LVD drive introduced
• Ultra SCSI drives cannot be used with the LVD frame
• Mainframe optimized machines introduced
• 4 Slice directors introduced with ESCON and FICON
• FICON introduced
• Enginuity microcode 5567.xx.xx, 5568.xx.xx

• Symmetrix 8230: Slim cabinet, 48 drives, (rebranded 8130, non lvd frame)
• Symmetrix 8530: Single cabinet, 96 drives, (rebranded 8430, non lvd frame)
• Symmetrix 8830: Triple cabinet, 384 drives, (rebranded 8730, non lvd frame)
• Symmetrix 8230 LVD: LVD frame, slim cabinet, 48 LVD drives
• Symmetrix 8530 LVD: LVD frame, single cabinet, 96 LVD drives
• Symmetrix 8830 LVD: LVD frame, triple cabinet, 384 LVD drives
• Symmetrix z-8530: LVD frame, Single cabinet, 96 drives, optimized for mainframes
• Symmetrix z-8830: LVD frame, Triple cabinet, 384 drives, optimized for mainframe

Some models sold as 8530-36, 8530-73, 8530-146, 8530-181 or 8830-36, 8830-73, 8830-146, 8830-181 (the last two digits indicate the drives installed in the frame)

To read about EMC Symmetrix Hardware Components

Symmetrix DMX or also called Symmetrix Family 6.0

• Released Feb 2003 and sold through 2006
• Direct Matrix Architecture (Data General Backplane) introduced
• DMX800 was the first DMX system introduced
• 4 Slice directors introduced
• RAID 5 introduced after being introduced on DMX-3
• First generation with common DA / FA hardware
• Introduction of modular power
• Enginuity Microcode 5669.xx.xx, 5670.xx.xx, 5671.xx.xx

• Symmetrix DMX800: Single cabinet, DAE based concept for drives, 96 drives (I swear, a customer told me, they have ghost like issues with their DMX800)
• Symmetrix DMX1000: Single cabinet, 18 drives per loop, 144 drives total
• Symmetrix DMX1000-P: Single cabinet, 9 drives per loop, 144 drives total, P= Performance System
• Symmetrix DMX2000: Dual cabinet, modular power, 18 drives per loop, 288 drives
• Symmetrix DMX2000-P: Dual cabinet, modular power, 9 drives per loop, 288 drives, P=Performance System
• Symmetrix DMX3000-3: Triple cabinet, modular power, 18 drives per loop, 3 phase power, 576 drives

To read about EMC Symmetrix DMX Hardware components

To read about EMC Symmetrix DMX models and major differences

Symmetrix DMX2 or also called Symmetrix Family 6.5

• Released Feb 2004 and sold through 2007
• Double the processing using DMX2
• DMX and DMX2 frames are same, only directors from DMX must be changed to upgrade to DMX2, reboot of entire systems required with this upgrade
• RAID 5 introduced after being introduced on DMX-3
• 64GB memory introduced
• 4 Slice Directors
• Enginuity Microcode 5669.xx.xx, 5670.xx.xx, 5671.xx.xx

• Symmetrix DMX801: 2^nd generation DMX, Single cabinet, DAE based concept for drives, 96 drives, FC SPE 2 (I swear, a customer told me, they have ghost like issues with their DMX800)
• Symmetrix DMX1000-M2: 2^nd generation DMX, Single cabinet, 18 drives per loop, 144 drives
• Symmetrix DMX1000-P2: 2^nd generation DMX, Single cabinet, 9 drives per loop, 144 drives, P=Performance System
• Symmetrix DMX2000-M2: 2^nd generation DMX, Dual cabinet, 18 drives per loop, 288 drives
• Symmetrix DMX2000-P2: 2^nd generation DMX, Dual cabinet, 9 drives per loop, 288 drives, P=Performance System
• Symmetrix DMX2000-M2-3: 2^nd generation DMX, Dual cabinet, 18 drives per loop, 288 drives, 3 Phase power
• Symmetrix DMX2000-P2-3: 2^nd generation DMX, Dual cabinet, 9 drives per loop, 288 drives, P=Performance System, 3 Phase power
• Symmetrix DMX3000-M2-3: 2^nd generation DMX, Triple cabinet, 18 drives per loop, 576 drives, 3 Phase power

To read about EMC DMX Symmetrix Hardware components

To read about EMC Symmetrix DMX models and major differences

Symmetrix DMX-3 or also called Symmetrix 7.0

• Released July 2005 and still being sold
• 8 Slice directors
• 1920 disk (RPQ ‘ed to 2400 drives)
• DAE based concept introduced
• Symmetrix Priority Controls
• RAID 5 introduced and then implemented on older DMX, DMX-2
• Virtual LUN technology
• SRDF enhancements
• Concept of vaulting introduced
• Enginuity microcode 5771.xx.xx, 5772.xx.xx

• Symmetrix DMX-3 950: System Cabinet, Storage Bay x 2, 360 drives max, Modular Power, 3 Phase power
• Symmetrix DMX-3: System Cabinet, Storage Bay x 8 (Expandable), 1920 drives max, RPQ’ed to 2400 drives, 3 Phase power

To read about differences between EMC Symmetrix DMX3 and DMX4 platforms

Symmetrix DMX-4 or also called Symmetrix 7.0

• Released July 2007 and still being sold
• Virtual provisioning
• Flash Drives
• FC / SATA drives
• RAID 6 introduced
• SRDF enhancements
• Total Cache: 512 GB
• Total Storage: 1 PB
• Largest drive supported 1TB SATA drive
• Flash drives 73GB, 146GB later now support for 200GB and 400GB released
• 1920 drives max (RPQ’ed to 2400 drives)
• Enginuity microcode 5772.xx.xx, 5773.xx.xx

• Symmetrix DMX-4 950: System Cabinet, Storage Bay x 2, 360 drives max, Modular Power, 3 Phase power
• Symmetrix DMX-4: System Cabinet, Storage Bay x 8 (Expandable), 1920 drives max, RPQ’ed to 2400 drives, Modular power, 3 Phase Power

Some models sold as DMX-4 1500, DMX-4 2500, DMX-4 3500 and DMX-4 4500

• To read about a blog post on EMC Symmetrix: DMX4 Components
• To read about differences between EMC Symmetrix DMX3 and DMX4 platforms
• To read about different drives types supported on EMC Symmetrix DMX4 Platform
• To read about differences between EMC Symmetrix DMX4 and V-Max Systems

Symmetrix V-Max

• (Released April 2009)
• Enginuity Microcode 5874.xxx.xxx
• Total number of drives supported: 2400
• Total Cache: 1 TB mirrored (512GB usable)
• Total Storage: 2 PB

All features on the V-Max have been discussed earlier on the blog post linked below

• Symmetrix V-Max SE: Single System Bay, SE=Single Engine, Storage Bay x 2, 360 drives max, cannot be expanded to a full blown 8 engine system if purchased as a SE, 3 Phase power, Modular Power
• Symmetrix V-Max: System Cabinet, Storage Bay x 10, 2400 drives max, modular power, 3 phase power

• To read about differences between EMC Symmetrix DMX4 and V-Max Systems
• To read about different drives types supported on EMC Symmetrix V-Max Platforms
• To read all about the EMC Symmetrix V-Max Platform

Conclusion

I could have easily added total memory capacity per frame, total number of dedicated DA/DAF slots, total slots, total universal slots, total memory slots, but then I didn’t know information on some of the old systems and didn’t want to be incorrect on them.

Hope you have enjoyed reading this post, with a bit of history related to the Symmetrix platform. I am pretty positive, as of today you will not find this consolidated information on any blog or the manufacturers website.

I really wish, EMC decided to open blogging to some Symmetrix, Clariion, Celerra, Centera specialist that support these systems on a day to day basis, the information that could come out from those guys could be phenomenal. Barry Burke writes a lot of stuff, but again a lot of FUD from him against IBM and HDS, its great reading him, but only a controlled amount of technical information comes from him.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | EMC Symmetrix, 20 Years in the making
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From a high level, I have tried to cover the differences in terms of performance and architecture related to the directors, engines, cache, drives, etc

It might be a good idea to also run both the DMX-4 and V-max systems through IOmeter to collect some basic comparisons between the front end and coordinated backend / cache performance data.

Anyways enjoy this post, and possibly look for some more related data in the future post.

EMC Symmetrix DMX-4                                EMC Symmetrix V-Max

More architectural details related to drives, cache, directors, cabinets, Mibe, SIB, Service Processor to come in the V-Max architecture expansion and modularity post over the next week.

Enjoy!!!!

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 and Symmetrix V-Max: Basic Differences
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So here is some information on Cache Only Virtual Devices. I do not have a very clear picture on the overall operation of this device type, but from a high level it can be summed up as following based on it characteristics.

Starting with microcode 5670 on EMC Symmetrix DMX Systems, EMC introduced COVD (device types). We have seen instances of COVD on 5671, 5771 and 5772 microcodes, really unknown if they exist on EMC Symmetrix V-Max systems at this point.

Here are some highlights on COVD:

• Even though COVD’s were introduced on the 5670 microcode, recommendation is to upgrade to 5671 on the R2 side of SRDF/A before implementing COVD’s.
• Used with SRDF/A technology for caching data on R2 side.
• Symconfigure will not allow (block) you to change SRDF/A group on R2 side for COVD devices. You will need a BIN File change for this process by the Customer Engineer.
• COVD is a Virtual Device but does end up taking two device numbers within your list of Symmetrix device numbers (I believe 8192 device numbers are available on the early DMX’s).
• If you are using COVD, your configured capacity might show more than your Raw Capacity in ECC and StorageScope.
• COVD’s cannot be snapped using TImefinder
• COVD’s can only be created and destroyed by BIN File (not through SYMCLI)
• COVD is only found on R2 side of SRDF/A
• Cache is used as part of creating the COVD
• COVD’s are used in pairs, one is used for active SRDF/A cycle and 1 is used for inactive SRDF/A cycle
• No Data is stored on COVD, used practically for caching
• Primarily introduction of COVD was to reduce the write pending limits with SRDF/A

Haven’t really seen a lot of customers using COVD (device types). But sometimes during storage analysis of customer meta data reveals these device types since it is assigned a device number.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | EMC Symmetrix DMX device type, COVD: Cache Only Virtual Device
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To read about Symmetrix on StorageNerve Blog: http://storagenerve.com/tag/symmetrix

To read about V-Max systems on StorageNerve Blog: http://storagenerve.com/tag/v-max/

With this family of microcode 5874: there are 7 major areas of enhancements as listed below.

Base enhancements

Management Interfaces enhancements

SRDF functionality changes

Timefinder Performance enhancements

Open Replicator Support and enhancements

Virtualization enhancements

Also EMC introduced SMC 7.0 (Symmetrix Management Console) for managing this generation of Symmetrix. Read about the SMC 7.0 post below.

http://storagenerve.com/2009/05/06/emc-symmetrix-management-console-symmetrix-v-max-systems/

With Enginuity family 5874 you also need solutions enabler 7.0

The initial Enginuity was release 5874.121.102, a month into the release we saw a new emulation and SP release 5874.122.103 and the latest release as of 18^th of June 2009 is 5874.123.104. With these new emulation and SP releases, there aren’t any new features added to the microcode rather just some patches and fixes related to the maintenance, DU/DL and environmentals.

Based on some initial list of enhancements by EMC and then a few we heard at EMC World 2009, to sum up, here are all of those.

RVA: Raid Virtual Architecture:

With Enginuity 5874 EMC introduced the concept of single mirror positions. Normally it has always been challenging to reduce the mirror positions since they cap out at 4. With enhancements to mirror positions related to SRDF environments and RAID 5 (3D + 1P, 7D +1P) / RAID 6  (6D+2P, 14D+2P) / RAID 1 devices, now it will open doors to some further migration and data movement opportunities related to SRDF and RAID devices.

Large Volume Support:

With this version of Enginuity, we will see max volume size of 240GB for open systems and 223GB for mainframe systems with 512 hypers per drive. The maximum drive size supported on Symmetrix V-Max system is 1TB SATA II drives. The maximum drive size supported for EFD on a Symmetrix V-Max system is 400GB.

Dynamic Provisioning:

Enhancements related to SRDF and BCV device attributes will overall improve efficiency during configuration management. Will provide methods and means for faster provisioning.

Concurrent Configuration Changes:

Enhancements to concurrent configuration changes will allow the customer and customer engineer to perform through Service Processor and through Solutions enabler certain procedures and changes that can be all combined and executed through a single script rather than running them in a series of changes.

Service Processor IP Interface:

All Service Processors attached to the Symmetrix V-Max systems will have Symmetrix Management Console 7.0 on it, that will allow customers to login and perform Symmetrix related management functions. Also the service processor will have capabilities to be managed through the customer’s current IP (network) environment. Symmetrix Management Console will have to be licensed and purchased from EMC for V-Max systems. The prior versions of SMC were free. SMC will now have capabilities to be opened through a web interface.

SRDF Enhancements:

With introduction of RAID 5 and RAID 6 devices on the previous generation of Symmetrix (DMX-4), now the V-Max offers a 300% better performance with TImefinder and other SRDF layered apps to make the process very efficient and resilient.

Enhanced Virtual LUN Technology:

Enhancements related to Virtual LUN Technology will allow customers to non-disruptively perform changes to the location of disk either physically or logically and further simplify the process of migration on various systems.

Virtual Provisioning:

Virtual Provisioning can now be pushed to RAID 5 and RAID 6 devices that were restrictive in the previous versions of Symmetrix.

Autoprovisioning Groups:

Using Autoprovisiong groups, customers will now be able to perform device masking by creating host initiators, front-end ports and storage volumes. There was an EMC Challenge at EMC World 2009 Symmetrix corner for auto provisioning the symms with a minimum number of clicks. Autoprovisioning groups are supported through Symmetrix Management Console.

So the above are the highlights of EMC Symmetrix V-Max Enginuity 5874. As new version of the microcode is released later in the year stay plugged in for more info.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | EMC Symmetrix V-Max: Enginuity 5874
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The following size drives types are supported with Symmetrix DMX-4 Systems at the current microcode 5773: 73GB, 146GB, 200GB, 300GB, 400GB, 450GB, 500GB, 1000GB. Flavors of drives include 10K or 15K and interface varies 2GB or 4GB.
The drive has capabilities to auto negotiate to the backplane speed. If the drive LED is green the speed is 2GB, if its neon blue its 4GB interface.

To read a blog post on supported drive types on EMC Symmetrix V-Max System

The following are details on the drives for the Symmetrix DMX-4 Systems. You will find details around Drive Types, Rotational Speed, Interface, Device Cache, Access times, Raw Capacity, Open Systems Formatted Capacity and Mainframe Formatted Capacity.

73GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 10K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 16MB

Access speed: 4.7 – 5.4 mS

Raw Capacity: 73.41 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 68.30 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 72.40 GB

73GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 15K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 16MB

Access speed: 3.5 – 4.0 mS

Raw Capacity: 73.41 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 68.30 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 72.40 GB

146GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 10K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 32MB

Access speed: 4.7 – 5.4 mS

Raw Capacity: 146.82 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 136.62 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 144.81 GB

146GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 15K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 32MB

Access speed: 3.5 – 4.0 mS

Raw Capacity: 146.82 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 136.62 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 144.81 GB

300GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 10K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 32MB

Access speed: 4.7 – 5.4 mS

Raw Capacity: 300.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 279.17 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 295.91 GB

300GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 15K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 32MB

Access speed: 3.6 – 4.1 mS

Raw Capacity: 300.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 279.17 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 295.91 GB

400GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 10K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 16MB

Access speed: 3.9 – 4.2 mS

Raw Capacity: 400.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 372.23 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 394.55 GB

450GB FC Drive

Drive Speed: 15K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 16MB

Access speed: 3.4 – 4.1 mS

Raw Capacity: 450.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 418.76 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 443.87 GB

500GB SATA II Drive

Drive Speed: 7.2K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 32MB

Access speed: 8.5 to 9.5 mS

Raw Capacity: 500.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 465.29 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 493.19 GB

1000GB SATA II Drive

Drive Speed: 7.2K

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: 32MB

Access speed: 8.2 – 9.2 mS

Raw Capacity: 1000.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 930.78 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 986.58 GB

73GB EFD

Drive Speed: Not Applicable

Interface: 2GB

Device Cache: Not Applicable

Access speed: 1mS

Raw Capacity: 73.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 73.0 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 73.0 GB

146GB EFD

Drive Speed: Not Applicable

Interface: 2GB

Device Cache: Not Applicable

Access speed: 1mS

Raw Capacity: 146.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 146.0 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 146.0 GB

200GB EFD

Drive Speed: Not Applicable

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: Not Applicable

Access speed: 1mS

Raw Capacity: 200 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 196.97 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 191.21 GB

400GB EFD

Drive Speed: Not Applicable

Interface: 2GB / 4GB

Device Cache: Not Applicable

Access speed: 1mS

Raw Capacity: 400.0 GB

Open Systems Formatted Cap: 393.84 GB

Mainframe Formatted Cap: 382.33 GB

Support for 73GB and 146GB EFD’s have been dropped with the Symmetrix V-Max Systems, they will still be supported with the Symmetrix DMX-4 Systems which in addition to 73 GB and 146GB also supports 200GB and 400GB EFD’s.

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | EMC Symmetrix DMX-4: Supported Drive Types
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Vaulting wasn’t available on the Symmetrix 3, 5 & 8 series of machines neither on the DMX nor the DMX-2 technology. With those machines, as a power hit, power fluctuation or environmental issue would be sensed; the BBU (battery backup unit) power would kick in keeping the machine in an online state for 3 minutes. During this time, all the I/O to and from the host is aborted; anything sitting in the cache is de-staged and written to disk drives. At that point, the entire machine goes into a DD (dead) state leaving itself offline (powered on but non-operational) or turning itself off if it’s a power outage.

With the DMX-3, DMX-4 and V-Max systems, since the number of cabinets has expanded; it becomes crucial that the data be saved before the Symmetrix turns itself offline or off. The concept of BBU has now changed to SPS (Standby Power Supply) modules that are locally attached to DAE’s (in Storage cabinets) and also in the System bay, that will keep the Symmetrix running for 5 minutes. During this time, the Symmetrix cuts off all I/O from the host, then lets the cache in the machine sync for consistency and then de-stage all the data from the cache – memory to the vault drives.

With the DMX-4 and V-Max as the memory is mirrored, it copies all the mirrored memory data to vault drives, creating literary two copies of the same data. In the later part of the blog post we will discuss what the rules of vaulting are and how is this technology deployed within the customers EMC Symmetrix storage environment.

The official definition of vault operation as referenced by EMC is: The vault operation is triggered when the Symmetrix system is powered down or transitioned offline or when environmental conditions initiate a vault situation.

During a power up procedure after the shutdown (vaulting), the hardware initializes and restores all the data in the cache – memory from the vault drives which verifies its integrity. Before another vault operation can be initialized, the SPS (Standby Power Supply’s) will have to be charged, which might take hours.

EMC Hopkinton Manufacturing (remember those HK serial numbers, they stand for HopKinton) The picture as published by Boston Globe

 To read the blog post on EMC Serial Numbers, please see here

 The following are the Vault requirements within the V-Max Systems 

1. Each director pair (2 – odd / even) on the V-Max system will require 200GB of vault space, that is 40 x 5GB chucks of dedicated vault data space
2. The vault drives are M1 devices with not Raid or mirroring protection
3. The vault drive cannot to be used by any host and is reserved for the Symmetrix
4. Vault drives cannot be configured by Timefinder/Snap, virtual or dynamic sparing
5. The data space created by the vault drives will be almost equivalent to the size of the cache – memory installed on the machine
6. As mentioned in the previous blog post on enterprise flash drives, EFD’s cannot be used for vaulting operations
7. For permanent sparing, 5 vault drives per loop are essential

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Vaulting on EMC Symmetrix V-Max Systems
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EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 consist of 1 System Bay and (1 upto 8) Scalable Storage Bay’s. Each Storage Bay can hold up to 240 Disk Drives totaling 1920 drive in 8 Storage bays or 1024 TB System. Systems  with special requirements can be configured to 2400 drives instead of standard 1920 drives.

The primary bay is the System Bay which includes all directors, service processor, adapters, etc, while the Storage Bay contains all the disk drives, etc.

System Bay (1 Bay)

Channel directors: Front End Directors (FC, ESCON, FICON, GigE,iSCSI), these are the I/O Directors.

Disk directors: Back End Directors (DA), these control the drives in the System.

Global memory directors: Mirrored Memory available with DMX-4, Memory Director sizes range from 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB totaling 512GB (256GB mirrored).

Disk adapters: Back End Adapters, they provide an interface to connect disk drives through the storage bays.

Channel adapters: Front End Adapters, they provide an interface for host connection (FC, ESCON, FICON, GigE, iSCSI).

Power supplies: 3 Phase Delta or WYE configuration, Zone A and Zone B based Power Supplies, maximum 8 of them in the system bay.

Power distribution units (PDU): One PDU per zone, 2 in total.

Power distribution panels (PDP): One PDP per zone, 2 in total, power on/off, main power.

Battery backup Unit (BBU): 2 Battery backup modules, 8 BBUunits, between 3 to 5 mins of backup power in case of a catastrophic power failure.

Cooling fan modules: 3 Fans at the top of the bay to keep it cool.

Communications and Environmental Control (XCM) modules:Fabric and Environmental monitoring, 2 XCM located at the rear of the system bay. This is the message fabric, that is the interface between directors, drives, cache, etc. Environmental monitoring is used to monitor all the VPD (Vital Product Data).

Service processor components: Keyboard, Video, Display and Mouse. Used for remote monitoring, call home, diagnostics and configuration purposes.

UPS: UPS for the Service Processor

Silencers: Made of foam inside, different Silencers for System and Storage bay’s.

Storage bay (1 Bay Minimum to 8 Bay’s Maximum)

Disk drives: Combination of 73GB, 146GB, 300GB, 400GB, 450GB, 500GB, 1TB and now EFD’s 73GB, 146GB and 200GB available. Speed: 10K, 15K, 7.2K SATA are all compatible, each RAID Group and each drive enclosure should only have similar speed drives, similar type drives. 15 drives per Enclosure, 240 per bay, 1920 total in the system. If the color of the LED lights on the drive is Blue its 2GB speed, if the color of the LED is green, the speed is 4GB.

Drive Enclosure Units: 16 per Storage Bay, 15 drives per enclosure

Battery Backup Unit (BBU): 8 BBU modules per Storage bay, each BBU support 4 Drive enclosures

Power Supply, System Cooling Module: 2 per drive enclosure

Link Control Cards: 2 per drive enclosure

Power Distribution Unit (PDU): 1 PDU per zone, 2 in total

Power Distribution Panels (PDP): 1 PDP per zone, 2 in total

In the next couple of post, we will discuss EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 and some of its design features. 

© Devang for Gestalt IT, 2009. | EMC Symmetrix DMX-4: Components
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