Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide

Version 5.x

P/N 302-002-561
REV 06
August 2019
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2 Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA 5

Overview of UnityVSA........................................................................................ 6
Additional resources...............................................................................7
General installation requirements and considerations..........................................7
Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA...............................................9
Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA............................................................9
Requirements for installing a tie breaker node....................................................11

Chapter 2 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA 13

Set up the VM environment for a single-SP UnityVSA.......................................14
Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA ..............................................14
Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA directly to an ESXi host ......................................15
Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server ................................... 16
Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment...................................... 18

Chapter 3 Deploying UnityVSA HA 19

Set up the VM environment for UnityVSA HA...................................................20
Download the UnityVSA HA files....................................................................... 21
Deploy UnityVSA HA on an on-premises ESXi host with the UnityVSA
Deployment Utility ............................................................................................ 21
Deploy Unity Cloud Edition with the UnityVSA Deployment Utility....................22
Deploy a UnityVSA HA on an on-premises ESXi host using the UnityVSA HA
Deployment Utility CLI...................................................................................... 24
Manage virtual disks for Unity Cloud Edition.....................................................24
Add virtual disks to a UnityVSA HA deployment................................................25

Chapter 4 Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA 27

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the GUI................28
Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the CLI................ 28

Chapter 5 Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere 31

Launch UnityVSA Unisphere............................................................................. 32
Configure UnityVSA in Unisphere..................................................................... 32
Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA.................................33

Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide 3

Contents

4 Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide

CHAPTER 1
Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

l Overview of UnityVSA.............................................................................................................6
l General installation requirements and considerations.............................................................. 7
l Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA................................................................... 9
l Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA................................................................................ 9
l Requirements for installing a tie breaker node........................................................................ 11

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Overview of UnityVSA
UnityVSA (Virtual Storage Appliance) is a software-defined storage platform that provides users
with agility and flexibility. UnityVSA is deployed on a VMware ESXi host and is available in two
editions - Professional Edition (PE) and Community Edition (CE). Professional Edition is a licensed
product available at capacity levels of 10 TB, 25 TB, and 50 TB. Community Edition is a free
downloadable 4 TB solution that is recommended for nonproduction use.
UnityVSA HA
UnityVSA HA is an enhanced version of single-SP UnityVSA. By adding dual-SP functionality,
UnityVSA HA can recover from one SP failure, which significantly increases the applicable use
case scenarios of the system. Unlike the single-SP UnityVSA, UnityVSA HA version is only
available in Professional Edition (PE). It offers three capacity choices: 10 TB, 25 TB, and 50 TB.
Unity Cloud Edition
Deploying Unity Cloud Edition with VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC) provides benefits to both cloud
and on-premises storage resources.
Unity Cloud Edition enables your cloud resources to use UnityVSA features and file management in
the cloud storage environment.
Data mobility between Unity Cloud Edition and on-premises Unity and UnityVSA appliances is the
same as data mobility between on-premises appliances. As a result, Unity Cloud Edition enables
cloud-based data protection for block and file resources hosted on-premises.
Figure 1 Unity Cloud Edition integration with VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC)

VM VM VM

NFS NFS
SMB SMB
Unity
VSA
VM

VMware Cloud on AWS VM VM VM

VM VM VM

NFS NFS
SMB

Unity
SMB
Unity
Replication
VSA
VM
AFA / HFA

vSAN / VxRail

Unity Cloud Edition HA can be upgraded without disrupting workloads.

This document describes how to deploy UnityVSA, UnityVSA HA, Unity Cloud Edition, Unity
Cloud Edition HA, and the Tie Breaker Node (TBN) for UnityVSA HA. For information about using
UnityVSA or Unity Cloud Edition, see Dell EMC UnityVSA Frequently Asked Questions, which is
available from the UnityVSA Info Hub, and see the UnityVSA online help.

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 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Additional resources
As part of an improvement effort, revisions of the software and hardware are periodically released.
Therefore, some functions described in this document might not be supported by all versions of
the software or hardware currently in use. The product release notes provide the most up-to-date
information on product features. Contact your technical support professional if a product does not
function properly or does not function as described in this document.
Where to get help
Support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows:
Product information
For product and feature documentation or release notes, go to Unity Technical Documentation at:
www.emc.com/en-us/documentation/unity-family.htm.
Troubleshooting
For information about products, software updates, licensing, and service, go to Online Support
(registration required) at: https://Support.EMC.com. After logging in, locate the appropriate
Support by Product page.
Technical support
For technical support and service requests, go to Online Support at: https://Support.EMC.com.
After logging in, locate Create a service request. To open a service request, you must have a valid
support agreement. Contact your Sales Representative for details about obtaining a valid support
agreement or to answer any questions about your account.
Special notice conventions used in this document
DANGER Indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, will result in death or serious
injury.
WARNING Indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or
serious injury.
CAUTION Indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or
moderate injury.
NOTICE Addresses practices not related to personal injury.

Note: Presents information that is important, but not hazard-related.

General installation requirements and considerations

These installation requirements and considerations apply to both the single-SP UnityVSA and
UnityVSA HA. For requirements specific to the single-SP models, see Requirements for installing a
single-SP UnityVSA on page 9. For requirements specific to the UnityVSA HA models, see
Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA on page 9.
ESXi host requirements
A 64-bit ESXi host running 6.0 or later is required for installing UnityVSA. For UnityVSA HA,
separate ESXi hosts for SPA, SPB, and the Tie Breaker Node (TBN) are recommended. The use of
vCenter to manage ESXi hosts is optional for a single-SP deployment and mandatory for a
UnityVSA HA deployment.

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Although you can use nested ESXi with a single-SP UnityVSA, deployment, it is not recommended
unless it guarantees the exclusive reservation of computing and network resources. Do not use
nested ESXi with a UnityVSA HA deployment, because it does not work with HA.
UnityVSA deployment is also supported on VMware Cloud on AWS.
VM environment for on-premises deployment
The ESXi host provides the storage virtualization, which abstracts the physical storage layer from
the VM. Datastores are the logical containers that are created on physical storage. Datastores
contain the virtual disks that are used by a VM to store its operating system, program files, and
other data associated with its activities. You can configure VMs with multiple virtual disks.
From the standpoint of the VM, each virtual disk looks like a SCSI drive that is connected to a
SCSI controller. Whether the actual physical storage is being accessed through local storage or
network adapters on the host is typically transparent to the VM.
A VM is connected to a virtual network by assigning the VM's network adapters to that network's
port group. A vSphere switch detects which virtual machines are connected to each of its virtual
ports and uses that information to forward traffic to the correct VM.
For information about configuring and managing a VM environment, see the VMware vSphere
documentation.
Network configuration
To deploy and configure UnityVSA, you must provide network configuration information. Contact
your network administrator to gather network settings information before you install UnityVSA.
UnityVSA can be configured to use:
l One IPv4 address (static or dynamic)
l One IPv6 address (static or dynamic)
l Both an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address
To use dynamic addressing, your network environment must include a DHCP server (DHCPv4 for
an IPv4 address and DHCPv6 or SLAAC for an IPv6 address). If the network environment is not
dynamic, you must assign the management IP address manually.
If UnityVSA is configured with a single IP address, a DNS server is optional but highly
recommended. If UnityVSA is configured with both an IPv4 and IPv6 address, a DNS configuration
is required.
Heartbeat mechanism requirements
UnityVSA HA and the TBN use Layer 2 Ethernet broadcasts to monitor the heartbeats of
connected systems. For UnityVSA HA and the TBN to function, each heartbeat network (HB0 and
HB1) must reside on the same Layer 2 broadcast domain and VLAN and have Layer 2 broadcast
traffic enabled.
Considerations for server hardware platforms that do not support CPU instruction set SSE
4.2
Starting in the UnityVSA 4.3 release, server hardware platforms that do not support CPU
instruction set SSE 4.2 are no longer supported. You might encounter an error that prevents you
from deploying your new 4.3 or later OVA under the following circumstances:
l You are running in an ESXi cluster environment.
l The Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) settings are set to strict.
l There is a nonsupported server in your cluster.
This error can occur even if the server on which you intend to install the UnityVSA supports SSE
4.2. If you deploy a 4.3 or later UnityVSA on a single server and receive this error, choose a newer
server platform on which to run ESXi. If you deploy or upgrade a previously running 4.0, 4.1, or 4.2

8 Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide

 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

version of UnityVSA within an ESXi cluster, update your EVC settings so that the UnityVSA can
only run on the servers in the cluster whose CPUs support SSE 4.2. Otherwise, you must remove
the older, nonsupported servers from your cluster environment.
For instructions on modifying the EVC setting within an ESXi cluster, see the VMware
documentation.
Note: Changes to your EVC control require you to power cycle UnityVSA within VMWare. A
shutdown, restart, or a reboot of UnityVSA is not sufficient to correct this issue after
modifying the EVC settings. Power cycling a UnityVSA is a disruptive operation that should be
scheduled in advance.

Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA

Installing and configuring a single-SP UnityVSA environment requires a 64-bit ESXi host running
version 6.0 or later. The use of vCenter to manage ESXi hosts is optional.
The following requirements also apply:

ESXi requirements

Hardware processor Xeon E5 Series Dual Core CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+ (or
equivalent)

Hardware memory l 18 GB minimum for ESXi 6.0

l 20 GB minimum for ESXi 6.5/6.7

Hardware network 4x1 GbE or 4x10 GbE (recommended)

Note: You can deploy the UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance
that has 2 or 4 physical ports. VxRail uses a shared port
architecture that may result in lower performance during
high traffic windows.

Hardware RAID RAID card 512 MB NV cache, battery backed (recommended)

UnityVSA SP requirements

Virtual processor cores 2 (2 GHz+)

Virtual system memory 12 GB

Virtual network adapters 6 (4 ports for I/O, 1 for Unisphere, 1 for support use)

Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA

Installing and configuring a UnityVSA HA requires a 64-bit ESXi host running version 6.0 or later
and a VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus license. The use of vCenter to manage ESXi hosts is
mandatory. The hosts should have two unused vmnic ports per ESXi host (if deploying on two
different hosts and no existing distributed switch).
Dell EMC highly recommends that you deploy each UnityVSA HA SP on a separate ESXi host.
Single ESXi host configurations are allowed if high availability is not a primary concern. Depending
on your choice, the installation requirements are different:

Both SPs on one ESXi host Both SPs on separate ESXi

hosts

ESXi requirements

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Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Both SPs on one ESXi host Both SPs on separate ESXi

hosts

Hardware processor Xeon E5 Series Dual Core Xeon E5 Series Dual Core
CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+ CPU 64-bit x86 Intel 2 GHz+
(or equivalent) (or equivalent)

Hardware memory l 30 GB minimum for ESXi l 18 GB minimum for ESXi

6.0 6.0 for each host
l 32 GB minimum for ESXi l 20 GB minimum for ESXi
6.5/6.7 6.5/6.7 for each host

Hardware network 4x1 GbE, 4x10 GbE, or higher 4 x 1 GbE, 10 GbE, or higher
if supported by ESX for I/O and 2 x 10 GbE or
(recommended) higher for the inter-SP
network (recommended )

Hardware RAID RAID card 512 MB NV cache, RAID card 512 MB NV cache,
battery backed recommended battery backed recommended

Switch requirements

Hardware switch VLAN support is not required. VLAN support is required.

Datastore requirements

Can be VMware NFS No shared datastore is At least 1 datastore shared by

datastores, VMware VMFS required. both ESXi hosts is required,
datastores, or both but it is recommended that
you configure 6 or more
datastores, as follows:
l 1 datastore for private
system data on SPA, with
a minimum free capacity
of 60GB.
l 1 datastore for private
system data on SPB, with
a minimum free capacity
of 60GB.
l 1 datastore for shared
system data, with a
minimum free capacity of
40GB.
l 2 datastores for the
storage heartbeat. Each
datastore needs to have
at least 2MB capacity.
l 1 or more datastores for
storage capacity. The
minimum supported
capacity is 10GB. For
more information, see
Add virtual disks to a
UnityVSA HA deployment
on page 25.

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 Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

Both SPs on one ESXi host Both SPs on separate ESXi

hosts

UnityVSA SP requirements

Virtual processor cores 2 (2GHz+) for each SP 2 (2GHz+) for each SP

Virtual system memory 12 GB for each SP 12 GB for each SP

Virtual network adapters 9 for each SP (4 ports for 9 for each SP (4 ports for
I/O, 1 for Unisphere, 1 for I/O, 1 for Unisphere, 1 for
system use, and 3 for internal system use, and 3 for internal
communication) communication)

vCenter Required Required

VLANs 3 (1 for Common Messaging 3 (1 for Common Messaging

Interface (CMI) SP-to-SP Interface (CMI) SP-to-SP
communication, 1 for communication, 1 for
Heartbeat 0, and 1 for Heartbeat 0, and 1 for
Heartbeat 1). Heartbeat 1).
The VLANs must be unique The VLANs must be unique
and not used elsewhere on and not used elsewhere on
the network. the network.

vmnic ports VM NIC ports are not 2 unused VM NIC ports if

required. deploying on two separate
ESXi hosts with no existing
distributed switch.

Requirements for installing a tie breaker node

Installing a Tie Breaker Node (TBN) on UnityVSA HA requires a host with at least:
l 2 GB memory
l 500 MHz x 2 cores CPU
l 12 GB disk space
l 2x1 GbE for the network with UnityVSA HA
Note: These requirements are in addition to those required by UnityVSA HA.

It is recommended that you deploy the TBN VM on a third ESXi host; that is, a host that is not
supporting the UnityVSA SPs.

Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide 11

Requirements for deploying a UnityVSA

12 Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide

CHAPTER 2
Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

l Set up the VM environment for a single-SP UnityVSA........................................................... 14

l Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA .................................................................. 14
l Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA directly to an ESXi host .......................................................... 15
l Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server ........................................................16
l Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment...........................................................18

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

Set up the VM environment for a single-SP UnityVSA

Procedure
1. Verify that the selected ESXi host meets the required configuration, as outlined in
Requirements for installing a single-SP UnityVSA on page 9.
2. Verify, and if necessary configure, the host network configuration.
3. Verify that a vSphere switch has been created.
a. Determine which port groups are associated with which subnets so you can ensure that
the VM's network adapters are assigned to the correct subnet.
l Ethernet port 0 is associated with network adapter 3.
l Ethernet port 1 is associated with network adapter 4.
l Ethernet port 2 is associated with network adapter 5.
l Ethernet port 3 is associated with network adapter 6.
You can verify which VM network adapter is mapped to which UnityVSA Ethernet port
by comparing the MAC address displayed for the network adapter in the vSphere VM
Hardware summary to the MAC address displayed for the Ethernet port in Unisphere.
To display the MAC address in Unisphere, select System > System View > Enclosures.
Select the rear view of the Disk Processor Enclosure (DPE) and click on an Ethernet port
to display detailed information about the port, including its MAC address. It is important
to take note of the Ethernet port name, for example, SPA Ethernet Port 3, since this is
the port name used when creating iSCSI and replication network interfaces.

b. If the network environment supports jumbo frames, verify that the MTU value for the
switch on the ESXi host is set to the same value as the UnityVSA Ethernet ports.
If the UnityVSA VM sets an MTU value that is higher than the MTU value set on ESXi,
the UnityVSA VM MTU value defaults to the smaller value. In vSphere, select Edit
Settings on the Virtual switch to check the MTU value.
In Unisphere, select the Settings icon, and then select Access > Ethernet. MTU is not
displayed by default so you must select the Customize icon, select Columns and then
click on MTU.
The VMware Knowledge Base article, iSCSI and Jumbo Frames configuration on VMware
ESXi/ESX (1007654), provides more information.

NOTICE
Do not make any changes to the VM, such as changing the virtual hardware
configuration (CPU, memory, NICs, and so on), as this causes UnityVSA to boot in
service mode in order to prevent invalid configurations.

Download the OVA file for a single-SP UnityVSA

Before you begin
To download the UnityVSA Professional Edition, you must set up a product support account. If you
do not already have an account, go to your product support site to set one up. To download the
UnityVSA Community Edition, go to the EMC Community Network website.

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 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

Procedure
1. Using a web browser, go to your product support or community site.
2. Select UnityVSA.
3. Locate the available downloads.
4. Select the UnityVSA Open Virtualization Appliance (OVA) file.
5. Save the OVA file to your computer.

Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA directly to an ESXi host

Procedure
1. Access the ESXi server by using its IP address.
2. Select Virtual Machines > Create / Register VM to launch the wizard. Using the wizard,
complete the following steps.
3. Select Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file.
4. Enter a name for the new VM and select the OVA file to deploy.
5. Verify the OVF template details, including that the OVA image is signed by Dell EMC.
6. Select a datastore from the list of datastores accessible from the resource you selected in
which to create the virtual disks used to store the VM configuration files.
For optimal performance, if you are not deploying UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance, deploy
the UnityVSA VM on a datastore comprised of different physical disks than the datastore
that will contain the virtual disks that provide user data storage to UnityVSA. Failure to
follow this recommendation can lead to system and I/O performance degradation. If you are
deploying UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance, vSAN selects the physical disks.
7. Select the network mapping, disk provision type, and power on option for the VM.
8. Enter the system name and configure the management IP (IPv4 or IPv6).
9. Review the deployment settings and finish the wizard.
10. Select the UnityVSA VM. Select the Summary tab to view information about the VM.
11. To determine when the UnityVSA VM is fully up and running, monitor the DNS Name field on
the Summary tab. When the DNS Name field displays a system name, the UnityVSA VM is
ready.
Note: The system name displayed is either the name you specified during deployment or
the serial number of the system (format is VIRTXXXXXXXXXX).

12. If you are running the UnityVSA VM on a dynamic network using DHCP or SLAAC, the
management IP address is assigned automatically.
You can find the assigned IP by logging into the UnityVSA.
13. If you are not running the UnityVSA VM on a dynamic network using DHCP or SLAAC and
you did not configure the management interface when you deployed the OVF template, you
must do the following:
a. Open the vSphere Console.
b. Log in using the service account username and password service/service
c. Run the svc_initial_config command to assign an IP address.

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

For an IPv4 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -4 "<ipv4_address> <ipv4_netmask> <ipv4_gateway>"

For an IPv6 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -6 "<ipv6_address> <ipv6_prefix_length>

<ipv6_default_gateway>"

For full usage, enter:

svc_initial_config -h

Note: Alternatively, you can run the svc_diag command from the vSphere Console
and identify the UnityVSA system serial number from the output. Then you can use the
Connection Utility to discover a list of systems, find the UnityVSA serial number in the
list, and assign an IP address.

14. Enter the UnityVSA management IP address in your browser to open Unisphere.

Deploy a single-SP UnityVSA through a vCenter server

Procedure
1. Access vCenter using this URL: https://<vCenter_address>/ui.
2. Select the host, select Actions and select Deploy OVF template to launch the Deploy OVF
Template wizard. Using the wizard, complete the following steps.
3. To select the source from which to deploy, select Local File and then click the Choose
Files.
4. Select a folder or datacenter location for the new VM.
5. Optionally, change the compute resource to a different host. By default, the host on which
you invoked the wizard is selected.
6. Verify the OVF template details, including that the OVA image is signed by Dell EMC.
7. Select a datastore from the list of datastores accessible from the resource you selected in
which to create the virtual disks used to store the VM configuration files.
For optimal performance, if you are not deploying UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance, deploy
the UnityVSA VM on a datastore comprised of different physical disks than the datastore
that will contain the virtual disks that provide user data storage to UnityVSA. Failure to
follow this recommendation can lead to system and I/O performance degradation. If you are
deploying UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance, vSAN selects the physical disks.
8. Select a disk format for provisioning the VM's virtual disks.
Note: For better performance, it is recommended that you select Thick Provision
Eager Zeroed.

9. Select a VM storage policy, if applicable.

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 Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

10. Configure the networks the deployed VM should use, making sure that:
l The management network is on a network accessible by the workstation used to access
Unisphere.
l The data networks are on networks accessible by the host that will attach to the
UnityVSA.

Note: If you are deploying the UnityVSA on a VxRail appliance, it is recommended that
you deploy the UnityVSA on the same port group used by the client VMs that reside on
the VxRail appliance.

11. Customize the settings for the UnityVSA VM, including the system name and the network:
a. Enter a user friendly name for the UnityVSA. Leave this field blank to use the default
name: an automatically generated serial number for UnityVSA.
b. If you want to use static IP addresses, enter the IPv4 and IPv6 management settings.
c. If you want to use dynamic IP addresses, leave these fields blank for automatic
configuration using DHCP.
d. If you do not have a dynamic network and you do not specify a static IP address, you
must specify the IP address after the OVF template is deployed.
12. Confirm the settings, and then click Finish to deploy the OVF template.
13. Select the UnityVSA VM. Select the Summary tab to view information about the VM. If it is
not already powered on, select Power On to start the VM.
14. To determine when the UnityVSA VM is fully up and running log in to UnityVSA to check.
Note: The system name displayed is either the name you specified during deployment or
the serial number of the system (format is VIRTXXXXXXXXXX).

15. If you are not running the UnityVSA VM on a dynamic network using DHCP or SLAAC and
you did not configure the management interface when you deployed the OVF template, you
must open the vSphere Console and login using the service account service/service and run
the svc_initial_config command to assign an IP address.
For an IPv4 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -4 "<ipv4_address> <ipv4_netmask> <ipv4_gateway>"

For an IPv6 address, enter:

svc_initial_config -6 "<ipv6_address> <ipv6_prefix_length>

<ipv6_default_gateway>"

For full usage, enter:

svc_initial_config -h

Note: Alternatively, you can run the svc_diag command from the vSphere Console and,
from the output, identify the UnityVSA system serial number. Then use the EMC

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Deploying a single-SP UnityVSA

Connection Utility to discover a list of systems, find the UnityVSA serial number in the
list, and assign an IP address.

16. Enter the UnityVSA management IP address in your browser to open Unisphere.

Add virtual disks to a single-SP UnityVSA deployment

About this task
When you create the UnityVSA VM, three virtual disks (vmdks) are automatically created for the
VM's system data. These are the virtual disks identified as 1-3. Do not modify or delete these
disks.
You must add at least one virtual disk for user data. You can add more virtual disks, up to the
system limit (16), when additional storage for user data is needed. The minimum virtual disk size is
10 GB. A disk appears as faulted if it is smaller than 10 GB and larger than the storage size allowed
by the UnityVSA edition and version. To view your system's limits, in Unisphere select the
Settings icon, and then select Software and Licenses > System Limits
The following considerations apply to virtual disks in a single-SP UnityVSA deployment:
l For optimal performance, it is recommended that you create the virtual disks used to provide
user data on a different datastore than the one where UnityVSA is deployed. Failure to follow
this recommendation can lead to system and I/O performance degradation.
l You can only connect 12 virtual disks for user data to the first VMware paravirtual SCSI
controller provided with the UnityVSA. If you add a 13th virtual disk, select the second
controller. Make sure this controller is of type VMware paravirtual. If the SCSI controller is a
different type, UnityVSA can have boot problems and can fail to recognize the new virtual
disks attached to it.
l Allow up to 60 seconds for UnityVSA to recognize and display the newly attached virtual disks.
l Using vSphere to modify the physical configuration of a UnityVSA VM (such as adding or
removing network interfaces or modifying the VM's cache size) is not supported, except for
adding virtual disks to store user data.
Procedure
1. In vSphere, right-click on the UnityVSA SPA VM, and select Edit > Settings.
2. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add New Device > Hard Disk.
3. Enter the size and provisioning method of the disk you want to add.
4. Finish stepping through the wizard, and select Finish.
After you finish
Note: Resizing a virtual disk through VMware is not supported in UnityVSA. However, if the
virtual disk is not part of a storage pool, you can remove it from UnityVSA and add a new one
of the preferred size. Resizing virtual disks that are already part of a storage pool can result in
a failed, unrecoverable pool.

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CHAPTER 3
Deploying UnityVSA HA

l Set up the VM environment for UnityVSA HA....................................................................... 20

l Download the UnityVSA HA files............................................................................................21
l Deploy UnityVSA HA on an on-premises ESXi host with the UnityVSA Deployment Utility ... 21
l Deploy Unity Cloud Edition with the UnityVSA Deployment Utility........................................ 22
l Deploy a UnityVSA HA on an on-premises ESXi host using the UnityVSA HA Deployment
Utility CLI.............................................................................................................................. 24
l Manage virtual disks for Unity Cloud Edition......................................................................... 24
l Add virtual disks to a UnityVSA HA deployment.................................................................... 25

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Deploying UnityVSA HA

Set up the VM environment for UnityVSA HA

Procedure
1. Log into vCenter as a user with administrative privileges.
2. Verify that the selected ESXi host meets the required configuration, as outlined in
Requirements for installing UnityVSA HA on page 9.
3. (On-premises only) Verify, and if necessary, configure the host network configuration.
4. Check whether there are three available, unused VLANs in the network environment to use
for deploying the CMI, HB0, and HB1 networks.
5. (Unity Cloud Edition only) If you are deploying to VMC, verify that four network segments
have been created.
Three network segments are for deploying the CMI, HB0, and HB1 networks. One network
segment is for I/O.
6. (Optional, on-premises only) Verify that a vSphere switch has been created.
You can create a switch later using the Deployment Utility. If you choose to create a switch
before deployment, observe the following guidelines:

a. Determine which port groups are associated with which subnets so you can ensure that
the VM's network adapters are assigned to the correct subnet.
l Ethernet port 0 is associated with network adapter 6.
l Ethernet port 1 is associated with network adapter 7.
l Ethernet port 2 is associated with network adapter 8.
l Ethernet port 3 is associated with network adapter 9.
To verify which VM network adapter is mapped to which UnityVSA Ethernet port,
compare the MAC address for the network adapter in the vSphere VM Hardware
summary to the MAC address for the Ethernet port in Unisphere.
To display the MAC address in Unisphere, select System > System View > Enclosures.
Select the rear view of the Disk Processor Enclosure (DPE) and click an Ethernet port to
display information about the port, including its MAC address. Take note of the Ethernet
port name, for example, SPA Ethernet Port 3, since the port name is used when
creating iSCSI and replication network interfaces.

b. If the network environment supports jumbo frames, verify that the MTU value for the
switch on the ESXi host is set to the same value as the UnityVSA Ethernet ports.
If the UnityVSA VM sets an MTU value higher than the MTU value set on ESXi, the
UnityVSA VM MTU value defaults to the smaller value. In vSphere, select Edit Settings
on the Virtual switch to check the MTU value.
In Unisphere, select the Settings icon, and then select Access > Ethernet. MTU is not
displayed by default so you must select the Customize icon, select Columns, and then
click MTU.
The VMware Knowledge Base article iSCSI and Jumbo Frames configuration on VMware
ESXi/ESX (1007654) provides more information.

NOTICE

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 Deploying UnityVSA HA

Do not modify the VM, such as changing the virtual hardware configuration (CPU,
memory, NICs, and so on). Modifying the VM causes UnityVSA to boot in service mode
to prevent invalid configurations.

Download the UnityVSA HA files

Before you begin
To obtain a UnityVSA Professional Edition license and download UnityVSA HA files, you must set
up a product support account. If you do not already have an account, go to your product support
site to set one up.
Procedure
1. Using a web browser, go to your product support site.
The files for Unity Cloud Edition are available from the VMware Cloud Marketplace website.
2. Select UnityVSA.
3. Locate the available downloads.
4. Select each of these files and save them to your computer: UnityVSA OVA file, TBN OVA
file (as necessary), and the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility.

Deploy UnityVSA HA on an on-premises ESXi host with the

UnityVSA Deployment Utility
Before you begin
1. Follow the directions for setting up the VM environment in Set up the VM environment for
UnityVSA HA on page 20.
2. Install and launch the UnityVSA Deployment Utility.
3. Select Deployment Utility for UnityVSA in On-premise VMware Data Center.
About this task
When you deploy UnityVSA HA on an EXSi host, you can choose whether to deploy with or
without a Tie Breaker Node (TBN). A TBN provides increased protection from network failures,
because it resolves situations where one SP cannot detect the other SP. For UnityVSA HA, the
TBN is a minimal VM running a network heartbeat client, which exchanges heartbeat messages
with both SPA and SPB.
Procedure
1. Select whether to deploy the new UnityVSA with or without a TBN. If you choose not to
deploy the new UnityVSA with a TBN now, you can add a TBN to the UnityVSA after it is
created. For information, see Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using
the GUI on page 28.
2. Provide the login credentials and IP details for the vCenter service. When you deploy
UnityVSA with HA, the hosts must be managed under the same vCenter datacenter.
3. Select the UnityVSA OVA file to use for the deployment.
4. Select a separate ESXi host for each SP deployment. For high availability reasons, Dell EMC
does not recommend deploying both SPs to a single ESXi host.
5. On the System Datastores page:
l Select one datastore for each SP to create its private system drive. Each SP needs at
least 60 GB space for private system data.

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Deploying UnityVSA HA

l Select one shared datastore for a shared system drive between both SPs. The shared
datastore needs at least 40 GB free space.
Note: It is a best practice to select three different datastores in this step.

6. Select two other shared datastores for storage-based heartbeats between the two SPs.
Note: The virtual disks that are created from the heartbeat datastores are only 2 MB in
size.

7. Select the network mappings for the management and data networks, making sure that:
l The management network is on a network accessible by the workstation that is used to
access Unisphere.
l The data networks are on networks accessible by the host that will attach to the
UnityVSA.

8. Configure the internal network. To deploy UnityVSA HA, both SPs must communicate over a
distributed switch. You can either create a switch, or select an existing one:
l If creating a switch, you must provide two uplink ports for each ESXi host for
redundancy. Each uplink port should also connect to a different network infrastructure
switch. Enter the VLAN IDs for the HBO, HBI, and CMI networks.
l If selecting an existing switch, each ESXi host must provide for two uplink ports for
redundancy. Enter the VLAN IDs for the HB0, HB1, and CMI networks.
Whether you use an existing switch or create one, three port groups are created, which are
for HB0 (Heartbeat 0), HB1 (Heartbeat 1), and the Common Messaging Interface (CMI).
Each of them needs a nonzero unique VLAN ID. If you leave the VLAN input empty, the
deployment utility automatically chooses an unused VLAN ID for each port group.
If you deploy the SPs on different ESXi hosts, the physical switches must support VLAN and
be configured as trunking mode instead of access mode. Access mode enables only specific
VLANs to pass.

9. Enter the UnityVSA system name and IP address information.

10. (Applies to deploying UnityVSA HA with a TBN) On the Configure Tie Breaker Node
Properties page, enter the name of the TBN VM, and then select the OVA file, host, and
datastore to use for the TBN. You must also select two ports for the TBN.
Note: It is a best practice to select a host for the TBN that has not been used for other
purposes. It is also recommended that you choose two separate ports for the TBN.

11. Review the settings, and select Deploy.

12. If you deployed the UnityVSA HA with a TBN, use the Unisphere GUI to enable the TBN
function. You can do this in the Initial Configuration Wizard or by accessing the Tie Breaker
Node page in the Management settings. For information, see Enable or change the tie
breaker node on a UnityVSA HA on page 33.

Deploy Unity Cloud Edition with the UnityVSA Deployment

Utility
Before you begin
1. Obtain the template file for your deployment type and upload it to the VMC content library.
You can also add the template file directly to your VMC content library from the VMware Cloud
Marketplace website.

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 Deploying UnityVSA HA

2. Verify that at least four network segments have been created. Three network segments are for
deploying the CMI, HB0, and HB1 networks. One network segment is for I/O.
3. Install and launch the UnityVSA Deployment Utility.
4. Select Deployment Utility for UnityVSA in VMware Cloud for AWS.
About this task
The deployment process for Unity Cloud Edition differs from the deployment process for on-
premises ESXi servers.
Procedure
1. Provide the login credentials and FQDN for the vCenter service.
Note: When you deploy Unity Cloud Edition HA, the hosts are managed under the same
vCenter datacenter.

2. Select the cluster on which to deploy Unity Cloud Edition.

3. Select the Unity Cloud Edition template that you uploaded to the library and model type to
use for the deployment.
4. Configure the external network mappings for the management and data networks, making
sure that:
l The management network is on a network accessible by the workstation that is used to
access Unisphere.
l The data networks are on networks accessible by the host that will attach to the Unity
Cloud Edition.
l The user account that you are using has Network.Assign privileges on the selected
network segment.

5. Configure the internal network mappings for Common Messaging Interface (CMI) and
network-based heartbeat connections.
l The internal network mappings cannot use the same network segments as the external
network.
l Each of the three mappings must be unique.
l The mappings cannot be in use by another VM.
l The user account that you are using should have Network.Assign privileges on the
selected network segment.

6. Enter the Unity Cloud Edition system name and management IP address.
7. Review the settings and click Deploy.
After you finish
Note: To guarantee HA capability, the SPA and SPB VMs must remain on separate hosts. To
keep the VMs separated, you must create an anti-affinity policy in the VMC GUI.
1. Log in to the VMC GUI.
2. Create a VM-VM anti-affinity policy that separates the two SP VMs. For more information
about creating a VM-VM anti-affinity policy, see VMware documentation.
3. If the SP VMs are powered off, power them on.
4. Ensure the two SP VMs move to separate hosts before you start provisioning.

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Deploying UnityVSA HA

Deploy a UnityVSA HA on an on-premises ESXi host using the

UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI
You can deploy a UnityVSA HA using the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI instead of the GUI.
To access the CLI:
1. Follow the directions for setting up the VM environment in Set up the VM environment for
UnityVSA HA on page 20.
2. Download the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility CLI from your support website.
3. Perform the following based on your operating system:
l On Windows, double-click the installer executable and follow the prompts. The default
installation location is as follows:
n For the x86-64 package, C:\Program Files\EMC\UnityVSA Deploy Utility
CLI.
n For the i586 package, C:\Program Files (x86)\EMC\UnityVSA Deploy
Utility CLI.
l On Linux, type: rpm -ihv <filename>, where filename is the name of the installer
executable. The default installation location is:
/opt/EMC/UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI/
4. To launch the UnityVSA client and see the options and examples, perform the following in a
command prompt based on your operating system:
l From a Windows operating system, type:

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI-<arch>-<version>.exe --h

where <version> is the version of the client installed.

l From a Unix operating system, type:

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI --h

Manage virtual disks for Unity Cloud Edition

Before you begin
1. Install and launch the UnityVSA Deployment Utility.
2. Select UnityVSA Disk Management Utility.
About this task
Unity Cloud Edition HA requires the SPA and SPB VMs to connect to and share each disk file. To
share a disk file in VMware, you must provision it as a thick eager zeroed disk.
The VMC GUI does not support provisioning thick eager zeroed disks. The UnityVSA Disk
Management Utility provides a graphical interface to add and manage disks for Unity Cloud Edition
HA without requiring the SDK or PowerCLI.
Procedure
1. Provide the vCenter FQDN and login credentials.

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 Deploying UnityVSA HA

2. Select the Unity Cloud Edition HA for which you want to manage storage.
Note: The first five disks on the Unity Cloud Edition are system disks and are not listed
in the Manage Disk table.

3. Choose the management action that you want to perform:

l To add a disk, choose the size of the disk and then click Add.
l To fix a disk that is not connected to both SPs, select the disk and click Fix
Disconnected Disks.
A disk file that is not attached to both SPs is marked with a red X icon.
4. When you have finished managing your disks, close the Disk Management Utility.

Add virtual disks to a UnityVSA HA deployment

About this task
When you create the UnityVSA VM, five virtual disks (vmdks) are automatically created for the
VM's system data. These are the virtual disks identified as 1-5. Do not modify or delete these
disks.
You must add at least one virtual disk for user data. You can add more virtual disks, up to the
system limit (16), when additional storage for user data is needed. The minimum virtual disk size is
10 GB. A disk appears as faulted if it is smaller than 10 GB and larger than the storage size allowed
by the UnityVSA edition and version. To view your system's limits, in Unisphere select the
Settings icon, and then select Software and Licenses > System Limits.
The following considerations apply to virtual disks in a UnityVSA HA deployment:
l For optimal performance, it is recommended that you create the virtual disks used to provide
user data on a different datastore than the one where UnityVSA is deployed. Failure to follow
this recommendation can lead to system and I/O performance degradation.
l When you add a virtual disk, you must add it to both SPA and SPB.
l You can only connect ten virtual disks for user data to the first VMware paravirtual SCSI
controller provided with the UnityVSA. If you add an 11th virtual disk, select the second
controller. Make sure this controller is of type VMware paravirtual. If the SCSI controller is a
different type, UnityVSA can have boot problems and can fail to recognize the new virtual
disks attached to it.
l Allow up to 60 seconds for UnityVSA to recognize and display the newly attached virtual disks.
l Using vSphere to modify the physical configuration of a UnityVSA VM (such as adding or
removing network interfaces or modifying the VM's cache size) is not supported, except for
adding virtual disks to store user data.
l Although resizing a virtual disk through VMware is not supported in UnityVSA, if the virtual
disk is not part of a storage pool, you can remove it from UnityVSA and add a new one of the
preferred size. Resizing virtual disks that are already part of a storage pool can result in a
failed, unrecoverable pool.
l Important: Never add a virtual disk to an SP VM that already has a disk with the same UUID.
This can happen when a virtual disk has been added to a SP VM and you mistakenly trying to
add it again. This will make the SP VM hang and have undetermined consequences, such as an
SP panic and data unavailability.
Procedure
1. In vSphere, right-click on the UnityVSA SPA VM, and select Edit > Settings.
2. In the New Device field on the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add New Device, and then
select Hard Disk.

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3. Enter the size of the disk you want to add, and select Thick Provision Eager Zeroed as the
provisioning method.
4. Finish stepping through the wizard, and select Finish.
5. When the disk creation process completes, return to the home page.
6. Right-click on the UnityVSA SPB VM, and select Edit > Settings
7. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Add New Device > Existing Hard Disk.
8. Select the existing vmdk file created in step 5.
9. Finish stepping through the wizard, and select Finish.

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CHAPTER 4
Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing
UnityVSA HA

l Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the GUI.................................... 28

l Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the CLI.....................................28

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Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using

the GUI
Procedure
1. Launch the UnityVSA HA Deployment Utility, and select Deploy a new Tie Breaker Node to
an existing Dual-SP UnityVSA deployment.
2. Provide the IP address and login credentials for the vCenter service.
The deployment utility automatically discovers the UnityVSA HA managed by the specified
vCenter.
3. Select the UnityVSA for which to deploy a Tie Breaker Node (TBN).
4. Enter the name of the TBN VM, and then select the template, host, and datastore to use for
the TBN.
5. Review your choices and click Deploy.

Deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using

the CLI
You can deploy a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA using the deployment tool CLI
instead of the GUI.
Format

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI --hypervisor <value> --username <value>

--password value --tbnfile value --tbnname <value> --hosttbn value
---datastoreprivatetbn value --hb0net value --hb1net value

Action qualifiers

Qualifier Description

--hypervisor IP address or hostname of the vCenter service.

--username Username used to log in to the vCenter service.

--password Password used to log in to the vCenter service.

--file Path to the OVA or OVF file to deploy.

--tbnfile Path to the TBN file to deploy.

--tbnname Name of the TBN file to deploy.

--hosttbn Host on which to deploy the TBN.

--datastoreprivatetbn Datastore that the TBN will reside on. The SPA and SPB
hosts must be able to access this datastore.

--hb0net Heartbeat 0 port group to which the TBN will connect.

--hb1net Heartbeat 1 port group to which the TBN will connect.

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Deploying a TBN on an existing UnityVSA HA using an existing switch

The following example deploys a TBN called tbn1 on an existing UnityVSA:

UnityVSADeployUtilityCLI
--hypervisor 10.244.236.244
--username admin
--password admin123
--file unityvsa/tbn.ova
--tbnfile tbn1
--tbnname vvnx-dual-test
--hostspa vvnx-esx1.usd.lab.emc.com
--hostspb vvnx-esx3.usd.lab.emc.com
--hosttbn vvnx-esx1.usd.lab.emc.com
--datastoreprivatespa datastore3_esx1
--datastoreprivatespb datastore3_esx3
--datastoreshared obsim_nfs_ds
--datastoreprivatetbn datastore3_esx1
--hb0net vsa-hb0-pg
--hb1net vsa-hb1-pg

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Deploying a tie breaker node to an existing UnityVSA HA

30 Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide

CHAPTER 5
Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere

l Launch UnityVSA Unisphere..................................................................................................32

l Configure UnityVSA in Unisphere.......................................................................................... 32
l Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA..................................................... 33

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Configuring UnityVSA in Unisphere

Launch UnityVSA Unisphere

Procedure
1. Launch Unisphere. To do so, enter the management IP address in your browser.
2. Log in with the default username and password.
Note: UnityVSA ships with a default username, admin, and password. You must change
the administrator password during this first login. You can also change the service
password at this time, either making it the same as the administrator password or
creating a separate service password.

Configure UnityVSA in Unisphere

Configure initial settings
The Initial Configuration Wizard runs when you log in to Unisphere for the first time.
For the UnityVSA Professional Edition, obtain your license file online using the System UUID.
For the UnityVSA Community Edition, see the Obtaining a license for UnityVSA Community Edition
post on the Dell EMC Community Network website for instructions.
Note: Use the License Activation Key instead of the UUID to configure ESRS and obtain
support (professional editions).
The Unisphere online help describes the Configuration Wizard and the initial settings you need to
configure, including pools and DNS and NTP servers. To create storage resources or NAS servers,
you must create at least one pool.
Note: You can also create pools on the Unisphere Pools page.

Unisphere scans for the virtual disks available to the UnityVSA VM that can be used in a pool. You
add virtual disks to the UnityVSA VM using vSphere.
When you create a pool, you must specify pool tiering information (Capacity, Performance, or
Extreme Performance). Contact your storage system environment administrator to learn what tier
should be assigned to each virtual disk since the virtualized environment hides this information. If
the back-end storage is flash-based, use the Extreme Performance tier to fully take advantage of
the performance capabilities of flash storage.
Note: Once a disk has been added to a pool, the tier type cannot be changed.

UnityVSA supports the Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pool (FAST VP) feature for
both block and file data. FAST VP optimizes storage utilization by automatically moving data
between and within the storage tiers.
The maximum space available for all pools is 4, 10, 25, or 50 TB depending on the UnityVSA edition
and version. The maximum number of pools per system is 16. To view your system's limits, select
the Settings icon, and then select Software and Licenses > System Limits.
If your environment uses DHCP, typically the DNS servers are populated automatically. If not,
configure the DNS servers.
The accuracy of the time on your UnityVSA server is important to the proper function of
UnityVSA. If the time is inconsistent, features of the UnityVSA that interface with VMWare
software or plugins, such as the VMWare VASA provider, may not function correctly. If you
configure NTP, it is recommended that the UnityVSA, ESXi host, and vCenter (if applicable) use
the same NTP server. If you do not configure NTP, UnityVSA gets its time from the ESXi host.

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Further configuration
The Unisphere online help describes more configuration procedures and management tasks for
your UnityVSA.

Enable or change the tie breaker node on a UnityVSA HA

If you deployed a UnityVSA HA with a TBN or added a TBN to an existing UnityVSA HA
deployment, you must enable it in Unisphere to make it active. Enable a TBN by using the
Unisphere Initial Confguration wizard or the Tie Breaker Node page in the Unisphere settings.
To enable a TBN using the Tie Breaker Node page:
1. Select the Settings icon, and then select Management > Tie Breaker Node.
2. Select Enable TBN, and select the TBN to enable.
You can also change the active TBN on this page.
You can verify the UUID of the TBN VM in vCenter by browsing to the Virtual Machines tab and
locating the VM.

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34 Dell EMC UnityVSA Installation Guide