View NAS server details

Network-attached storage is a file-level storage architecture that makes stored data more accessible to networked devices.

About this task

See Understanding PowerMax File for storage systems for an overview of File.

Steps

  1. Select a storage system that supports File.
  2. Select Storage > File.
  3. Select the NAS SERVERS tab, select a file system, and click Details icon.

    The following properties display:

    • Operational Status—Operational status of the NAS server
    • Protocols—Protocols that the file system uses
    • File System—Number of file systems
    • NFS Exports—Number of NFS exports
    • SMB Shares—Number of SMB shares
    • Global Namespaces—Number of global namespaces
    • File Interfaces—Number of file interfaces
    • Storage Resource Pool—Identity of storage resource pool
    • DNS Service—Indicator of DNS service
    • Anti-Virus—Indicator of anti-virus
    • Event Publisher—Indicator of event publisher
    • NIS Service—Indicator of NIS service
    • LDAP Service—Indicator of LDAP service
    • Kerberos Service—Indicator of Kerberos service
    • DHSM Service—Indicator of DHSM service
    • Production Mode—Indicator of production mode
    • Alerts—Number of associated alerts

    Clicking VIEW ALL DETAILS results in the display of several tabs - DETAILS, NETWORK, SHARING PROTOCOLS, NAMING SERVICES, SECURITY, DATA PROTECTION, BACKUP & EVENTS, and NODES).

    DETAILS tab - The following properties display:

    • Name—Name of the NAS server
    • Health—Indicator of NAS server health
    • Operational Status—Operational status of the NAS server
    • Protocols—Protocols that the file system uses
    • File System—Number of file systems
    • NFS Exports—Number of NFS exports
    • SMB Shares—Number of SMB shares
    • Global Namespaces—Number of global namespaces
    • File Interfaces—Number of file interfaces
    • Storage Resource Pool—Identity of storage resource pool
    • DNS Service—Indicator of DNS service
    • Anti-Virus—Indicator of anti-virus
    • Event Publisher—Indicator of event publisher
    • NIS Service—Indicator of NIS service
    • LDAP Service—Indicator of LDAP service
    • Kerberos Service—Indicator of Kerberos service
    • DHSM Server—Indicator of DHSM server
    • Production Mode—Indicator of production mode
    • Alerts—Indicator of alerts

    You can click Modify to modify the server name.

    NETWORK tab - This tab has two child tabs - FILE INTERFACE and ROUTES TO EXTERNAL SERVICES:

    FILE INTERFACE tab

    The following properties display:

    • Name—Name of the file interface
    • IP address—IP address
    • Subnet Mask/Prefix Length—Subnet Mask/Prefix length
    • Gateway—Gateway IP address
    • Role—Role
    • Network Device—Network device

    The following controls are available:

    ROUTES TO EXTERNAL SERVICES tab

    The following properties display:

    • Source—Source IP address
    • Destination—Destination IP address
    • Netmask/Prefix Length—Netmask/Prefix length
    • Gateway—Gateway IP address

    The following controls are available:

    SHARING PROTOCOLS tab - This tab has four child tabs: SMB SERVER, NFS SERVER, FTP, and USER MAPPING:

    SMB SERVER tab

    SMB, which stands for Server Message Block, is a protocol for sharing files and communications abstractions such as named pipes and mail slots between computers. SMB was also known as Common Internet File System (SMB).

    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter settings for Join to Active Directory Domain- this option requires DNS servers, production interface, and system NTP.
    • Enter settings for Standalone.
    • Click APPLY.
    NOTE: In case a server that belongs to a Windows domain (Active Directory), DNS must be enabled on the NAS server. The credentials of an administrator of the domain are required to join that domain.

    NFS SERVER tab

    User can configure one NFS server per NAS Server. NFS servers support the NFSv3 and NFSv4 protocols.

    NOTE: Secure NFS can be configured with following pre-conditions: DNS and NTP must be configured; UDS must be configured using NIS, LDAP or Local Files; NAS server must have Kerberos configured or SMB joined to Active Directory
    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter settings for the NFS server.
    • Click APPLY .

    FTP tab

    One File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server and one SFTP server per NAS server can be configured. FTP is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.

    You can configure FTP or FTP over SSH (SFTP) settings for an existing NAS server only.

    PREREQUISITES

    Passive mode FTP is not supported.

    FTP access can be authenticated using the same methods as NFS. Once authentication is complete, access is the same as NFS for security and permission purposes. If the format is anything other than user@domain or domain\user, NFS authentication is used. NFS authentication uses local files, LDAP, NIS, or local files with LDAP or NIS.

    To use local files for NFS, FTP access, the passwd file must include an encrypted password for the users. This password is used for FTP access only. The passwd file uses the same format and syntax as a standard Unix system, so you can leverage this to generate the local passwd file. On a Unix system, use useradd to add a new user and passwd to set the password for that user. Then, copy the hashed password from the /etc/shadow file, add it to the second field in the /etc/passwd file, and upload the /etc/passwd file to the NAS server.

    • Under FTP slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Optionally also enable SSH FTP. Under SFTP, if Disabled in on, slide the button to Enable
    • Under FTP/SFTP Server Access, select which type of authenticated users have access to the files.
    • Optionally, show the Home Directory and Audit options.
      • Select or clear the Home directory restrictions. If disabled, enter the Default home directory.
      • Select or clear Enable FTP/SFTP Auditing. If checked, enter the directory location of where to save the audit files, and the maximum size allowed for the audit file
    • Optionally, click Show Messages, and enter a default Welcome message, and Message of the day.
    • Optionally, Show Access Control List to provide access or deny access to Filtered Users, Filtered Groups, and Filtered hosts.
    • Click APPLY.

    USER MAPPING tab

    NOTE: 
    • Default Unix User : Name used for granting access in case of Windows to Unix user mapping failure. When empty, access in such case is denied.
    • Default Windows User: Name used for granting access in case of Unix to Windows user mapping failure. When empty, access in such case is denied.
    • Auto User Mapping: A windows user must have a corresponding matching unix user (uid) in order to connect. This attribute allow to automatically generates this unix user (uid) if that windows user doe not have any in the configured UNIX directory service (UDS). In a pure SMB or non-multi-protocol environment this should be set to true.
    • UDS Search Order : Define the Unix directory service used for looking up identity information for Unix such as UIDs,GIDs, net groups, and so on:
      • 0 : None
      • 1 : NIS
      • 2 : LDAP
      • 3 : Local files
      • 4 : Local then NIS
      • 4 : Local then LDAP
    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings
    • Enter settings for user mapping.
    • Click APPLY.

    NAMING SERVICES tab - This tab has three child tabs: DNS, UDS, and LOCAL FILES:

    DNS tab

    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter settings for DNS.
    • Click APPLY.

    UDS tab

    UDS - NIS: The Network Information Service (NIS) consists of a directory service protocol for maintaining and distributing system configuration information, such as user and group information, hostnames and so on.

    UDS - LDAP: The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an application protocol for querying and modifying directory services running on TCP/IP networks.

    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter settings for UDS .
    • Click APPLY.

    LOCAL FILES tab

    • This panel allows you to upload or retrieve one of the following: Passwd file, Group file, Hosts file, NetGroup file, HomeDir file, or Nxtmap file (see Upload local files).

    SECURITY tab - This tab has two child tabs: ANTIVIRUS, and KERBEROS:

    ANTIVIRUS tab

    Common Event Enablers (CEE) is an externally deployable software from Dell (primarily on Windows). This software has two packages - Common Anti-virus Agent (CAVA) and Common Event Publishing Agent (CEPA). CAVA provides an anti-virus solution to clients using a NAS server. It uses an industry-standard SMB protocol in a Windows Server environment. CAVA uses third-party anti-virus software to identify and eliminate known viruses before they infect files on the storage system. The CEE CEPA ecosystem consists of dozens of applications that are designed to process SMB and NFS file and directory event notifications.

    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable anti-virus (CAVA).

    KERBEROS tab

    Kerberos is a distributed authentication service designed to provide strong authentication with secret-key cryptography. Kerberos works based on tickets that allow nodes communicating over a non-secure network to prove their identity in a secure manner. When configured to act as a secure NFS server, the Nas Server uses the RPCSEC_GSS security framework and Kerberos authentication protocol to verify users and services. User can configure a secure NFS environment for a multiprotocol NAS Server or one that supports Unix-only shares. In this environment, user access to NFS file systems is granted based on Kerberos principal names. Up to 10 Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) servers can be added.

    See Configure Kerberos for NAS server Security and Create a custom realm for Kerberos.

    If configuring for NFS, DNS and UDS must be configured for the NAS server and all members of the Kerberos realm must be registered in the DNS server.

    If using a NAS server that is configured for both SMB and NFS, be sure to add the SMB server to the AD domain.

    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter settings for Kerberos - name of the Realm and Kerberos IP address - and click Add
    • Enter the TCP Port for Kerberos to use. 88 is the default port.
    • Upload KeyTab File or Retrieve KeyTab File.
      NOTE: Kerberos must be configured before uploading KeyTab File. The KeyTab is required only for secure NFS.
    • Click APPLY

    Next steps

    If you choose to change from an AD realm to a custom realm after the NAS server is successfully created with Secure NFS, you cannot mount any NFS exports until you perform the following operations:

    • Create a Keytab file.
    • Remove the AD realm from the NAS server.
    • Enter the Username and Password for the AD Server.
    • Enter the custom realm.
    • Upload the Keytab file.

    DATA PROTECTION tab - This tab has two child tabs: SNAPSHOT POLICY and REPLICATION:

    SNAPSHOT POLICY tab - see View file protection snapshot policies.

    REPLICATION tab - see View file protection replication sessions.

    BACKUP AND EVENTS tab - This tab has three child tabs: NDMP, DHSM, and EVENTS POOL:

    NDMP tab for enabling NDMP Protection and Events

    You can configure standard backup for the NAS servers using NDMP. The Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) provides a standard for backing up file servers on a network. Once NDMP is enabled, a third-party Data Management Application (DMA), such as Dell Networker, can detect the PowerMax NDMP using the NAS server IP address. NDMP allows centralized applications to back up file servers that run on various platforms and platform versions. NDMP reduces network congestion by isolating control path traffic from data path traffic, which permits centrally managed and monitored local backup operations. Storage systems support NDMP v2-v4 over the network. Direct-attach NDMP is not supported. This means that the tape drives need to be connected to a media server, and the NAS server communicates with the media server over the network. NDMP has an advantage when using multiprotocol file systems because it backs up the Windows ACLs as well as the UNIX security information.

    Enabling NDMP is performed after the NAS server is created.

    PowerMax supports Three-way NDMP. The data is transferred through the DMA over a local area network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN).

    PowerMax supports full and incremental backups.

    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter a password for the New Password. The user name is always ndmp.
    • Re-enter the same password as the new password in Verify Password.
    • Click APPLY.

    DHSM tab

    Distributed Hierarchical Storage Management (DHSM) automates the archiving of NAS files across a hierarchy of storage platforms.

    NOTE: When used with an external policy and archiving application, DHSM automatically archives infrequently used files, or files of a particular type, to less-expensive storage devices. Archived files are then recalled to NAS storage when accessed by client applications.
    • Slide slide bar to enable or disable the update of settings.
    • Enter settings for DHSM.
    • Click APPLY.

    EVENTS POOL tab

    The File Event Service is a mechanism whereby applications can register to receive events notifications and context from sources such as SDNAS.

    NOTE: The File Event Service is a part of Common Event Enabler (CEE). CEE provides the working environment for the Common Antivirus Agent (CAVA) and Common Event Publishing Agent (CEPA) facilities. CEPA delivers to the application both event notification and associated context in one message. Context may exist in file metadata or directory metadata needed to decide business policy.

    The File Event Service pool is a pool of remote File Event Service servers (machines that run VEE and are capable to handle event notifications from the NAS Server).

    NOTE: The NAS Server can have one or several (up to three) File Event Service pools. The File Event Service pool servers are responsible for maintaining a topology and state mapping of all consumer applications. and delivering event type and associated event metadata through the publishing agent API.

    NODES tab - the following controls are available: A File node is a single entity container, member of an SDNAS cluster. Each node communicates with each other and work towards a common goal. A primary node is one of the SDNAS cluster nodes, on which the NAS server is currently running.The node is chosen during NAS server creation according to user supplied input. A backup node is one of the SDNAS cluster nodes, on which the NAS server is backed up for fault tolerance purposes. This means that the NAS server will be moved to this node during any failover event. The node is chosen during NAS server creation according to user supplied input.