Dell VMAX3 and VMAX All Flash Power Off and

Power On Procedures

Power Off and Power On Procedures

Rev. 12.0
September 2022

Under normal circumstances, only Dell personnel or certified partners should power off and power on a VMAX3 or
VMAX All Flash array.
This document describes how to power off and power on a VMAX3 or VMAX All Flash array. The array is designed to stay
powered up in all situations. Call the Dell Service Support Center for assistance before performing a power-off procedure. If
the array needs repair, only qualified Dell personnel or partners familiar with the array and their safety procedures for electrical
equipment should access components inside the cabinet.
CAUTION: If eNAS is implemented on the system, there is no access to the NAS File Services while the system is
powered off.

• Power off and power on procedures for VMAX3, VMAX 450F, VMAX 850F, VMAX 950F................................................................ 2
• Power off and power on procedures for VMAX 250F....................................................................................................................................4
Power off and power on procedures for VMAX3, VMAX
450F, VMAX 850F, VMAX 950F
Power Distribution Unit (PDU)
The figure below displays the system bay location of the PDUs (one per zone) and the power tee breakers with corresponding
on (in) and off (out) positions.

System Bay (rear view)

Zone B Zone A
40
39
38
Left side Right side
37
36

6
1
35
34

5
2
(With rear door removed)

33
32

4
3
31
30
1

PDU PDU
2

5
3

4
4

29

3
4

(With rear door )

5

2
6

1
28

6
Zone A

5
Zone B

27

4
2
5

3
26

2
6

1
25

1
6

24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8 ON OFF
7
6
5
4
Power zone B 3
2
Power zone A
Left side 1
Right side Power zone B Power zone A
Left side Right side

Figure 1. System bay power tee breakers

Power off procedure

● Unless it is an emergency situation, Dell Customer Engineers (CEs) should perform a routine shutdown using the Simplified
SymmWin Shutdown script.
● CEs should check with the customer to determine if the system is part of an SRDF/Metro vWitness environment before
running the script. If it is, the customer must ensure that Bias is applied to the system that is not being powered off before
the CE runs the script.
○ See SalesForce KB 520304: VMAX3, VMAX AFA & PowerMax: SRDF/Metro vWitness Best Practices:
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000021348
○ See the Solutions Enabler SRDF Family User Guide for your version of Solutions Enabler:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us.
2. In the Search Support box, enter Solutions Enabler SRDF Family User Guide.
From the rear of the system, pull power tee breakers 1-6 for Zone A PDU and then 1-6 for Zone B PDU. The system begins the
automated power off process.
NOTE: Do not pull the two blue arrow shaped tabs that are located between the power tee breakers. Pulling the blue
arrows unlatches the PDU locking mechanism and allows the PDU to be removed.

2
 1

Figure 2. Power tee breaker ON (1) and OFF (2) positions

Figure legend:
1. ON position
2. OFF position
NOTE: If the system will be powered off for more than three months, turn the SPS color wheel from green to yellow to
disengage the SPS batteries from the SPS tray.

Power on procedure
Before you begin, in the front of the rack verify that the SPS color wheels are in the green (engaged) position. If the batteries
are not engaged, you must engage them first. Press the color wheel and fully insert the batteries.
● Power on the bay with Engine 1 first.
● When powering on the system, ensure that all remaining bays are powered on within 10 minutes of the first bay being
powered on.
● You can power on the remaining bays in any order.
On the rear door of each bay, push in the power tee breakers (1-6) for Zone A to the ON position. Immediately after, push in the
power tee breakers (1-6) of Zone B.
The array starts the initialization procedure. The procedure time varies depending on the size and configuration type. At the end
of the power on procedure, all directors are online to the host and the port online or offline state is returned to the state it was
in when the power off process was initiated.
To bring an offline system online, run the Simplified SymmWin script Bring VMAX Online.

3
 2

Figure 3. Power tee breaker ON (1) and OFF (2) positions

Figure legend:
1. ON position
2. OFF position

Power off and power on procedures for VMAX 250F

Power switches
Before proceeding, identify the locations of the switches.
The figure below displays the system bay location of the power switches. If the system is installed in a customer rack the
switches may be in different locations.

4
 System bay rear

ON
I
O
OF
F

Power
switch

Power zone B Power zone A

Left side Right side

Figure 4. System bay power switches

Power off procedure

● Unless it is an emergency situation, Dell Customer Engineers (CEs) should perform a routine shutdown using the Simplified
SymmWin Shutdown script.
● CEs should check with the customer to determine if the system is part of an SRDF/Metro vWitness environment before
running the script. If it is, the customer must ensure that Bias is applied to the system that is not being powered off before
the CE runs the script.
○ See SalesForce KB 520304: VMAX3, VMAX AFA & PowerMax: SRDF/Metro vWitness Best Practices:
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000021348
○ See the Solutions Enabler SRDF Family User Guide for your version of Solutions Enabler:
1. Go to https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us.
2. In the Search Support box, enter Solutions Enabler SRDF Family User Guide.
Power off the system bay by pressing the Zone A and Zone B power distribution panel (PDP) power switches to the OFF
position. The system begins the automated power down process.

Power on procedure
Power on the system bay by pressing the Zone A and Zone B power distribution panel (PDP) power switches to the ON
position.
Upon power on, the array starts the initialization procedure. The procedure time varies depending on the size and configuration
type. At the end of the power up procedure, all directors are online to the host and the port online or offline state is returned to
the state it was in when the power off process was initiated.
To bring an offline system online, run the Simplified SymmWin script Bring VMAX Online.

5
Notes, cautions, and warnings

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the
problem.

WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

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