The QuantaStor Configuration Guide describes the steps needed to configure QuantaStor SDS for deployments in the IBM Cloud/SoftLayer. In addition, it provides links to information on popular QuantaStor SDS configurations for a range of SDS use cases. Complete technical documentation for QuantaStor SDS can also be found on the OSNEXUS wiki. Reference Configurations for High-Performance All-Flash SAN/NAS Appliances, High-Capacity Hybrid SAN/NAS Appliances, High-Capacity Scale-out Object or Scale-out NAS Appliances and QuantaStor Grids for Scale-out S3/SWIFT Object Storage can be found here.

Selecting a QuantaStor Appliance Server Chassis

The best QuantaStor server options are the 36 bay server (recommended), and the 12 bay server, both with dual E5-2620v3 processors. Select the drive type and capacity (SSDs or 2TB/4TB/6TB/8TB HDD) and determine the number of drives needed.

Choosing 12 Bay vs. 36 Bay Servers

 
 
 

When selecting the correct server for a deployment, follow the general guidelines below:

  • If the number of drives needed is > 10 use the 36-bay server
  • If the storage capacity required is > 48TB use the 36 bay server
  • If the deployment is a scale-out configuration, use the 36 bay server
  • If storage capacity expansion is expected within the first twelve months of deployment,
    use the 36 bay server
  • If configuration expansion is undetermined at time of deployment, use the 36 bay server.
  • If the storage configuration is small (4TB/16TB/32TB) the 12bay 2U unit may suffice depending
    on the use case

Selecting a Datacenter

Be sure to select the datacenter where your other servers are deployed unless the QuantaStor appliance will be used as a DR/remote-replication target. 10GbE networking options can vary a bit between datacenters.  If you don’t see what you’re looking for, contact IBM SoftLayer for a recommendation.

 
 

Sizing the CPU, Memory and License

Choose the default selection which is the Dual Intel E5-2620v3 processor.

Choose the 128GB of RAM option.

  • Systems with less than 48TB of storage can use 64GB RAM
  • Systems with greater than 200TB of storage should be configured with 256GB RAM

Choose the OSNEXUS QuantaStor Licensed Maximum Capacity.

  •  License is based on the amount of raw storage used to create Storage Pools.  Example: An appliance with 30x 8TB drives requires 240TB of licensed capacity.  This requires the 256TB license key which covers the range from 129TB to 256TB.
  • Hot-spares and boot devices do not deduct from the licensed capacity.
 
Sizing.JPG

Select and Configure the Boot System Drives

Step 1. Select the first two disk slots

Step 2. Assign 1TB SATA drives to the first two disk slots

Step 3. With the first two disk slots selected, choose “Create RAID storage group” and select RAID1.

Selecting the Data Drives

 

 

Step 1. Select All Disks, then unselect the first two slots so that we don’t change our boot drive configuration.

Step 2. Assign drives to the selected disk
bays/slots as per customer requirements. 
All drive types are valid.  


Step 3. Select SATA devices for high-capacity configurations.

Step 4. Select SAS or SSD devices for high-performance configurations.

Selecting the SSD Cache Device

Step 1. Select slots 3 and 4.

Two SSD devices are required if the appliance will be configured as a node in a scale-out object storage configuration (S3/SWIFT).

Two SSD devices are optional but recommended for use as write-log devices (ZIL) for improving small block IO performance for standard SAN/NAS appliance configurations used for VMware, databases, and OLTP applications.

Step 2. Select the high write endurance 800GB SSDs.

Selecting 10GbE Private Network Configuration

 

Step 1. Select ‘Private Network Only.’

Step 2. Select 10Gbps Public & Private Network uplinks.

Complete QuantaStor Server Configuration