FlashArray: SAN Installation Documentation + Stencils MS Visio Template
[ NOTE: machine translation with the help of DeepL translator without additional proofreading and spell checking ]
A pure FlashArray commissioning could theoretically be done by the trainee himself. Simple, fast and uncomplicated. How is this possible? A compact manual, simple command line commands and a competent support for queries from the beginning of the installation.
An ActiveCluster (consisting of two FlashArray systems) is up and running in 2 hours with the right pre-planning, pre-work and fixed doing. Ready to deploy some volumes - i love it. By the way ... to the 2 hours counts the time from the beginning of the unpacking.
Sure...it would be a lie, the prework includes: a pre-filled pre-installation sheet, the prepared USB stick for the Purityupgrade, a proper communication between the data centers and their replication interfaces, a free communication with the Pure1 Cloud Mediator, a registered installation for the ActiveCluster enablement and and and ... - otherwise 2 hours is not feasible.
-> There will be a blog about this in the near future! "FlashArray: ActiveCluster installation and commissioning of a storage cluster in 2 hours" - little leak. ツ
In my opinion, the most time is needed for SAN configuration in FibreChannel installations. Define aliases, "build" zones and check the config. For this you should also take enough time and not "hudeln". Also for this a tool will come, which helps you with the creation.
One of the most annoying topics of a system/implementation engineer - documentations. Nobody feels like it ... but almost every customer wants documentation and you have to do it (of course against payment - "nothing is given for free"). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
make it short and crisp but as long and professional as necessary - my motto
At some point I created appropriate templates, modified and extended them again and again. Today I can say: it is perfect! The feedback is accordingly, so I can make this statement with the best conscience.
Die Vorlagen
The templates were created by myself. The rights of the files are owned by Marcel Düssil - PUREFLASH.blog, but they can be used and edited freely.
Template 1:
To get a simple overall view of the SAN for ActiveCluster Zoning, I created a Visio template for the "classic" infrastructure setup - contains only one host for clarity.
Classic in the sense: two fabrics and redundant cabling . Two FlashArrays (each with a FibreChannel HBA a two ports) and a host (two HBAs with a two ports).
Multipathing with preferred paths is used for the host-storage connection.
The visualization within the template is self-explanatory and the corresponding legend is included. In a nutshell, each box is a port. Fabrics excluded.
Template 2:
To be able to build template 1 initially sensible, I created stencils with variable input fields and fixed connection points. With these stencils the template can be extended, be it server- or FlashArray-side or both. But you can also use the stencils to create a completely custom template.
INFO: the stencils have fixed connection points, so objects can be moved freely without losing these connections.
So together template 1 and template 2 scale with the FlashArray configuration or the number of hosts to be visualized. In addition, you could also build into the visualizations with aliases only, or also include the aliases in addition. There is a corresponding stencil for this.
Download
To download the files you have to register for free in the exclusive PUREFLASH.blog area. In the near future more features will be available and files will be shared here. So it's worth to register: to the exclusive area
More info - Links
All officially published setting options in the GUI but also CLI can be read via the "on-board" user guides of the Pure Storage systems.
Click on "Help" in the Purity main menu.
The User Guide is structured like the main menu and can be opened downwards. A search function is also integrated - within here you can also search for keywords.
WEB: Pure Storage (Pure1) support portal - Ticket system and support *(requires registered FlashSystems)
PHONE: Pure Storage phone support: GER - (+49) (0)800 7239467; INTERNATIONAL - (+1) 650 7294088
WEB: Pure Storage OFFICIAL blog