First off, on any new installation you have to add the storage array for management to the interface so you can connect to it and therefore configure it. Click on the Devices tab, right click the server name, and choose to "Add Storage Array". You have two options that you can use to perform this addition:

1. Out-of-Band Management - This requires that the management NIC's on the DAS are configured with an appropriate IP Address which by default should be on the iLO network when its provisioned by the infrastructure team
2. In-Band Management - This uses the local system connection via the SAS cables to connect into the attached array. Do note that if you have multiple nodes here that it may throw an error out to you as it won't be able to hit the other controller remotely as its trying to hit it locally but is in actually a remote controller as it may not be locally connected to the same server. If you get this error, ensure that infrastructure has ran all the proper cabling so that you have redundant paths to the DAS array

Alternatively, you can choose the option for "Automatic Discovery" to have the Dell tool perform this work for you. If all is well you should see something similar to the screen shot below:

Once the array is added and you see it in the list of discovered devices, you can then go click on the Setup Tab and select the Name/Rename option to assign a friendly name to the DAS unit should you have multiple devices for your customer that you need to configure. This should look as it is pictured below:

Now, you need to manage the array so you can configure the disks in whatever RAID setup you need alongside of the disks you need to configure for the actual OS. Click on the "Manage a Store Array" option and select the array you want to manage then click on OK to continue.


Finally, you will get into the Storage Manager screen so you can then configure additional options on the DAS array.

The next step is to configure the DAS array so that you can create the RAID disk groups based on what you need and attach hosts to it. Click on the "Configure Storage Array" option which will bring up the options window:

• Automatic configuration - As the name implies will configure your array based on a common set of questions the tool will ask your input on
• Configure Hot Spare Physical Disks - A manual/advanced option, you can specify what disks to use for hot spares for your array if there is a disk failure that occurs during normal operations
• Create Disk Groups and Virtual Disks - Another manual/advanced option that allows you to better tune the disk group creation process and the underlying virtual disks that will be created underneath it

For a cluster installation, its generally best to choose the "Create Disk Groups and Virtual Disks" option so you can specify exactly what teh disk group name is, define the RAID set(s) needed, RAID cache settings and behavior, and other advanced settings to better fine tune your configuration. The following screen shows a previously created disk group with a RAID 10 set and default settings chosen:

Once you create the specified disk group which encompasses the entire RAID set you just created, the next step that you will have to perform is creating a host group which is discussed in the next section.

The next step in configuring the DAS array for cluster use is to create the necessary host group. Specifically, for a cluster configuration, the host group on the DAS array acts like a "folder or container" that holds the nodes of the cluster. In the case of a cluster configuration, this helps identify that these hosts make up a grouping where the underlying disk resources are shared amongst all nodes in the group. To create a host group, go to the Mappings tab and right-click the array and choose the "Host Group" option. There you can name your new host group and give it a description. This name can't have any special characters other than a hyphen or underscore so name this as appropriate.




Once the host group is created the next step is to add the hosts to the host group so that we can clearly define all nodes that will participate in owning the virtual disks in the disk group we created previously.

After you create the host group the next thing you need to perform is create/define the actual hosts. By default, if you are using In-Band management you should be able to locate its HBA identifier. This is especially important as you have to "tell" the cluster which host belongs to what HBA so it knows how to identify the host and move configurations to and from that host. The screens below define the process by which you create a new host for the host group you just created previously. Do note you can either pick a free port identifier for your host that is in the drop down list or you can specify the same as detailed below:

1. Specify the Host name you want to use:
   
   
   
2. Specify the port identifier that is attached to your server either manually or by choosing from the drop-down list:
   
   
   
3. Click on the Add button to save the definition and click on Next:
   
   
   
4. From the drop down list choose the appropriate OS being used for the DAS array. In this case, we're choosing Windows:
   
   
   
5. Review the settings you chose and when ready click on Finish:
   
   
   
6. Add any additional nodes to the configuration by clicking Yes. If you have no more hosts to add click on No:
   
   
   
7. Once completed, you will see all the newly added hosts underneath the host group you created from before:
   
   

The next step you will need to perform is defining the virtual disks within the disk group. This will allow you to map the actual disks that will be seen as part of the disk group and RAID sets you created before to the cluster.

In order for your hosts in your newly created host group can utilize any disk space on the DAS array you have to create it and ultimately make it available to them. In order to do that, you have to create virtual disks within the disk group you created at the beginning and then select that free space in order to create a new virtual disk slice.

1. From the Logical tab in the Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager utility, right click the "Free Capacity" icon and select "Create Virtual Disk" and click Next. You should see the welcome screen as shown below:
   
   
   
2. Specify the New Virtual Disk Capacity that suits your needs. You can also either accept the default I/O characteristics and ownership or customize how you want the virtual disk to function. Click on Finish once you are ready to create the new virtual disk.
   
   
   
3. At this point if all goes well the new disk should be created and the system will ask you if you want to create another disk. If so click on Yes otherwise click on No to complete the process.
   
   
   
4. The Storage Manager will then give you an informational message letting you know you now should create the appropriate virtual disk mapping to the appropriate host(s). It also let's you know to assign any hot spares as necessary to protect the volume from a disk failure. Click on OK to exit the information screen.
   
   
   
5. Finally, if all went as planned you should now have a new disk as depicted in the screen shot below. Do note that the new virtual disk will initialize itself and may take some time to come online depending on how big it is. You should wait until this process is done before actually writing data to the virtual disk.
   
   

The final task that needs to occur is to assign the new virtual disk to the host group so that it can now have rights to see the disk in a clustered fashion.

The last step you need to perform to make the newly created virtual disk available to the cluster nodes is to create a mapping for that virtual disk to the host group you created before. This will allow the hosts in the host group to see and own the virtual disks according to what options were assigned in the setup.

1. Click on the Mappings tab and select the host group that was created before. Right click it and choose Define => Additional Mapping. Assign the newly created virtual disk to the host group by selecting the host group from the drop down list and clicking on the virtual disk space you want allocated in the option below. Finally ensure you assign an unassigned LUN from the drop down list and click Add. The following screen as shown below will present itself.
   
   
   
   
   Icon

   By default it will assign the lowest number to be the LUN number that's presented to the hosts in the host group and should match the disk number when looking at it in Windows.
   
   
   
2. Once assigned, you should see the new disk "mapped" to the host group in the right pane. A screen shot shows what it should look like below for reference:
   
   

Close out the interface and return to the OS interface.