Elcade

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Elcade

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May 30th, 2012 12:00

FAST Cache Setup (2 or 4)

Hello all,

I just need to provision FAST Cache for my array (CX4-480).

I have 4 available disks that I split into two buses excluding 0_0.

Documents "EMC FAST Cache, A Detailed Review" and emc251589 are very useful, but I need advise whether I configure my mirror(s) as 2 sets of 2 disks or 1 set of 4.

What would be a better setup and why if you can answer.

I appreciate your help.

  • dynamox

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 19:00

    this is from the same solution you mentioned earlier:

    The highest level of availability can be achieved by binding the Primary and Secondary for each RAID 1 pair are on different buses (i.e. not just different enclosures on the same bus).  However this does add to the complexity of configuring FAST Cache, because the configuration would need to be done using the secure CLI.  This is not considered necessary for most implementations, but is done to further reduce the chances of multiple drive failures (which are already unlikely).

  • dynamox

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 12:00

    it will automatically create 2 x RAID1 sets

    here i have 4 disks used for FAST Cache

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    RaidGroup ID:                          498
    RaidGroup Type:                        r1
    RaidGroup State:                       Explicit_Remove

    Valid_luns
    List of disks:                         Bus 0 Enclosure 0  Disk 5

    Bus 0 Enclosure 0  Disk 4
    List of luns:                          8181 8180 8179 8178
    Max Number of disks:                   2
    Max Number of luns:                    256
    Raw Capacity (Blocks):                 761499648
    Logical Capacity (Blocks):             380749824
    Free Capacity (Blocks,non-contiguous): 0

    Free contiguous group of unbound segments: 0

    Defrag/Expand priority:                Medium
    Percent defragmented:                  100
    Percent expanded:                      N/A
    Disk expanding onto:                   N/A
    Lun Expansion enabled:                 NO
    Legal RAID types:                      r1
    Is Private:                            YES

    *******************************************************************************

    RaidGroup ID:                          499
    RaidGroup Type:                        r1
    RaidGroup State:                       Explicit_Remove

    Valid_luns
    List of disks:                         Bus 0 Enclosure 0  Disk 7

    Bus 0 Enclosure 0  Disk 6
    List of luns:                          8185 8184 8183 8182
    Max Number of disks:                   2
    Max Number of luns:                    256
    Raw Capacity (Blocks):                 761499648
    Logical Capacity (Blocks):             380749824
    Free Capacity (Blocks,non-contiguous): 0

    Free contiguous group of unbound segments: 0

    Defrag/Expand priority:                Medium
    Percent defragmented:                  100
    Percent expanded:                      N/A
    Disk expanding onto:                   N/A
    Lun Expansion enabled:                 NO
    Legal RAID types:                      r1
    Is Private:                            YES
  • Elcade

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 13:00

    What I'm trying to figure it out is if I should select 2 or 4 drives.

  • Elcade

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 13:00

    I'm going to dedicate all 4.

    I was confused whether to choose 2 or 4 drives from the dropdown box.

    I didn't know if there are any performance considerations choosing one option or the other.FAST_Cache.jpg

  • dynamox

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 13:00

    by the way did you see recommendation that if you have 2 or 4 drives:

    As a general rule, when configuring FAST Cache, make sure all of the drives involved are either entirely contained within enclosure 0_0 (only recommended for 2 or 4 drive FAST Cache configurations) or entirely in enclosures other than 0_0.  Either of these recommended configurations will not result in unnecessary rebuilds upon array power-downs.  Please see emc285141 for further information about the use of Bus 0 Enclosure 0.

  • dynamox

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 13:00

    you mean how many drives you want to dedicate for Fast Cache ?

  • Elcade

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 13:00

    Hello dynamox,

    I have the option to select 2 or 4 disks when creating the FAST Cache.

    See attached picture.

    FAST_Cache.jpg

    Thanks!

  • dynamox

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 13:00

    cool, none of the drives are in DAE 0_0

    Just select the number of drives and let the array do the magic. You can run "naviseccli -h getrg -messner" to see how it picked the devices. I bet you one pair will be two disks on bus 1 and the other pair on bus 3.

  • Elcade

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 14:00

    How did you find out?

  • dynamox

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    Posted May 30th, 2012 14:00

    arrh..sorry, you have to add all 4 drives at the same time.