Hitachi Block prerequisites

The following prerequisites are mandatory if you plan to perform snapshotting and/or replication of Hitachi Block volumes. Please also refer to the Protector support matrices at https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/products/data-protection/ops-center-protector.html .

• A machine (known as an ISM) must be assigned that controls the Block storage device. This node must be a supported Windows or Linux machine with the Protector Client software installed.
  CAUTION:
  ISM nodes and their associated CMDs used to control storage devices must not be shared with applications other than those forming part of the Ops Center suite.
• All primary data (paths or application data) to be snapshotted or replicated within the same data protection policy must exist on the same storage device.
• The block storage hardware must:
  • Support the data protection technologies you intend to use
  • Have the correct firmware version installed
  • Have the correct SVOS version installed
• For all replication types the P-VOLs must be setup in the host group
• In order to resize logical devices represented by the Block Host node that are part of a replication or snapshot pair the array account must have the Support Personal permission.
• For UR, journals must be set up, although for HM800 and later arrays Protector can create journals
• For GAD, the quorum disks or quorum-less disks must be provided. In most cases, one quorum device between participating storage systems is satisfactory. Please refer to the Global-Active Device User Guide for best practices
• For GAD, the array should be configured to allow virtualized LDEVs if they are required (where supported by the array)
• Port security must be enabled.
• Primary volumes must be set up using other Hitachi tools prior to selection in Protector
• For application consistent snapshots, the application must be installed and configured to use P-VOLs on a storage array, see the relevant application guide for details on the application configuration
• The password for authorizing a Block Device node must contain only useable CCI command characters: A-Za-z0-9’-./:@\_
• The device must have adequate shared memory (see Provisioning and Technical Guides)
• Pools must be created using Storage Navigator prior to selecting the Target Storage in Ops Center Protector:
  • For standard mode (non-cascading) TI the TI Pools must be set up
  • For cascade mode TI the Dynamic Provisioning Pools must be set up to also be a hybrid pool, otherwise a TI pool will also be required
  • For SI, TC, UR and GAD the Dynamic Provisioning Pools must be set up
• The following licensed features may be required depending on the features being used:
  • Dynamic Provisioning
  • Storage Navigator
  • Thin Image (for TI snapshot and RTI replication scenarios)
  • ShadowImage (for SI replication scenarios)
  • TrueCopy (for TC replication scenarios)
  • Universal Replicator (for UR replication scenarios)
  • Global-Active Device (for GAD replication scenarios)
  • Remote Replication Extended (for 3DC scenarios)
• The Protector ISM node controlling the block storage device must have:
  • The correct version of Hitachi CCI installed.
  • If CCI is not installed in the default location there are two options:
    1. Add a symbolic link from the default location to the install directory
    2. Configure Protector to use CCI in the custom location using the following instructions:
       1. Stop the Protector services on the ISM node
       2. Go to the directory <Protector home>\db\config
       3. Make the change to all files matching hitachivirtualstorageplatform*.cfg
       4. Change the <BinDirectory> value from C:/HORCM/etc to the correct installation path

          <!-- Install directory of CCI, override to change installation directory. -->

          <BinDirectory>C:/HORCM/etc</BinDirectory>

       5. Ensure the change has been made to all files at per 3 including the default one.
       6. Start the Protector services on the ISM node
  • Access to a dedicated Command Device (CMD) on the storage device, set up as follows:
    Warning: When running the Analyzer probe server, API Configuration Manager, and Protector ISM Client on the same VM, all components share the same command device, but API Configuration Manager and Protector ISM Client must access the storage systems using different credentials. This means that API Configuration Manager and Protector ISM client must use different login accounts when accessing the storage system.
    • Security disabled
    • User authentication enabled
    • Device group definition disabled
    • The CMD must be visible to the host OS where the Protector proxy resides
    • The CMD must be offline
    • The CMD must be added to the meta_resource only.
    • Multiple active command devices may be visible to a Protector proxy as long as each one represents a different block storage device. Behaviour is undefined if multiple active command devices represent the same block storage device, unless these are configured in the Protector proxy node fail-over priority list.
    • Fibre channel and IP command devices are supported.
    • Multipath for Command Devices is supported
• A dedicated user (specified when creating the Hitachi Block Device node) for Protector must be created on the storage device with at least the following roles:
  • Storage Administrator (Provisioning)
  • Storage Administrator (Local Copy)
  • Storage Administrator (Remote Copy)
  • Security Administrator (View & Modify).

  The user must also have access to Resource Group 0 on the storage device.

• Fibre connectivity (including zoning) or iSCSI connectivity and pre-configured RCU paths between arrays for remote replication technologies