Configuring a storage cluster

This section describes how to configure a storage cluster with the Cloud model for AWS of VSP One SDS Block from AWS Marketplace.

CAUTION:

A key pair that has the name <stack-name>-KeyPair is created at the time of storage cluster configuration and a private key is stored in Parameter Store. In VSP One SDS Block, this key pair cannot be used to log in to storage nodes after storage cluster configuration.

However, do not delete information about a private key stored in Parameter Store and a key pair for future use during storage cluster operation.

Note:

With VSP One SDS Block, you can select from multiple pricing models depending on the area where it is used. For details about the available pricing models in your area, contact customer support.
The product page in AWS Marketplace depends on the pricing model you use. For details about the product page corresponding to the pricing model you use, see the following.
- When using BYOL (Bring Your Own License), select "Virtual Storage Platform One Software Defined Storage Block (BYOL)" in AWS Marketplace to configure a storage cluster. A Trial license is registered in this storage cluster as a base license of VSP One SDS Block upon configuration. The Trial license is valid for 60 days. You need to register another type of base license for continued use of VSP One SDS Block after the Trial license expires. For the license installation procedure, see the VSP One SDS Block and SDS Cloud System Administration.
- When using Usage Pricing, select "Virtual Storage Platform One Software Defined Storage Block (PayGo)" in AWS Marketplace to configure a storage cluster. A Utility license is registered in this storage cluster as a base license of VSP One SDS Block upon configuration. The Utility base license has no expiration, allowing continued use of the product.
- When using Contract, select "Virtual Storage Platform One Software Defined Storage Block (CONTRACT)" in AWS Marketplace to configure a storage cluster. A Floating license is registered in this storage cluster as a base license of VSP One SDS Block upon configuration. The license period and licensed capacity for the Floating license are managed by the AWS License Manager license.
  
  You need to consider notes on the AWS License Manager license for the products that apply contract-based charge. See Notes on the AWS License Manager license for products that apply contract-based charge.

For details about the license, see License management overview (Cloud) in the VSP One SDS Block and SDS Cloud System Administration.

Using an IAM user that meets the prerequisites listed in Confirming prerequisites for setup, access the product page corresponding to the pricing model you use for Virtual Storage Platform One Software Defined Storage Block in AWS Marketplace.
Click VIew purchase options.
(Only for products that apply contract-based charge) In the "Contract details" and "Pricing details" sections, specify the license term, contracted capacity, and auto-renewal settings for the license you will purchase and manage with AWS License Manager.

If you already signed a license contract in the AWS account in use, go to step 4.
(One-time only) Review the "Terms and conditions" section and click Subscribe if you agree.
Click Launch your software.
Select the product configuration.
- Service: Select AWS CloudFormation (if available).
- Software Version: Version of VSP One SDS Block to be set up
- CloudFormation template: Single-AZ configuration or Multi-AZ configuration
- Region: Region of AWS to be used for configuring a storage cluster
Click Launch with CloudFormation.
In the Create stack window, verify that the Amazon S3 URL is displayed, and then click Next.

In the Specify stack details window, specify the stack name and parameters, and then click Next.

Values to be entered are as follows:

Stack name
- Stack name: Any character string

Parameter
- ClusterName: Storage cluster name of VSP One SDS Block
  Setting requirements are as follows:
  - Characters must be alphanumerics or symbol ("-")
  - First character must be alphabetical
  - Character string must be no longer than 20 characters
- AvailabilityZone [1-3]: Availability zone to be used for setting up VSP One SDS Block
  In the case of Multi-AZ configuration, specify the Availability Zone in which tiebreaker node is to be installed for AvailabilityZone3.
- VpcId: ID of the VPC that is used to set up VSP One SDS Block
- ControlSubnetId [1-3]: ID of the control network subnet of VSP One SDS Block
  
  In the case of Multi-AZ configuration, specify the ID of the control network subnet in which tiebreaker node is to be installed for ControlSubnetId3.
- ControlNetworkCidrBlock: (Single-AZ configuration) IPv4 CIDR of subnets for VSP One SDS Block control network or IPv4 CIDR of the VPC to which subnets for control network belong.
  
  (Multi-AZ configuration) IPv4 CIDR of the VPC to which a control network subnet of VSP One SDS Block belongs.
- InterNodeSubnetId [1-3]: ID of the internode network subnet of VSP One SDS Block
  In the case of Multi-AZ configuration, specify the ID of the internode network subnet in which tiebreaker node is to be installed for InterNodeSubnetId3.
- ComputeSubnetId [1-2]: ID of the compute network subnet of VSP One SDS Block
- ComputeIpVersion: Whether IPv6 addresses for the compute network subnet is enabled or disabled (Select "ipv4v6" for enabling and "ipv4" for disabling.)
- ComputePortProtocol: Network protocol to be used by the compute port (Specify either "iSCSI" or "NVMe/TCP".)
- StorageNodeInstanceType: Instance type of storage nodes of VSP One SDS Block
- ConfigurationPattern: Data protection method and the number of nodes for a storage cluster
  For more information, see Settings for fault tolerance of user data and management functions (Multi-AZ configuration) or Settings for fault tolerance of user data and management functions (Single-AZ configuration).
- DriveCount: Number of drives per node
- PhysicalDriveCapacity: Physical capacity (EBS size) setting per drive
- EbsVolumeEncryption: Whether EBS encryption is enabled or disabled. When this is disabled, the default encryption settings apply.
- EbsVolumeKmsKeyId: KMS key to be used when EBS encryption is enabled
- TimeZone: Time zone to be set in VSP One SDS Block
  Set a time zone that the OS can set. ("Asia/Tokyo", "America/Los_Angeles", and others.) The time zone is used for contacting customer support in the event of a failure.
- BillingCode: Any character string
- S3URI: URI (starting with "s3://") of Amazon S3 folder where error message files and dump log files are output at the time of VSP One SDS Block setup.
  
  Add a slash ("/") at the end of the URL.
- IamRoleNameForStorageCluster: Name of the IAM role that meets prerequisites indicated in Confirming prerequisites for setup.

CAUTION:

The following parameters included in "AWS Marketplace Parameters" are pre-configured with valid values. Do not modify these default values.

ImageId
MPS3BucketName
MPS3BucketRegion
MPS3KeyPrefix

Note:

For the stack name and parameter values, follow the AWS naming conventions in the AWS user guide.
ClusterName must be no longer than 20 characters, the first character must be alphabetical. The character string set for ClusterName will be used as a part of the DNS name of the load balancer (For example, if you set "VSP" for ClusterName, the DNS name of the load balancer will be the value "VSP-ELB-1234567890abcdef.elb.<region>.amazonaws.com"). To set the FQDN of the load balancer as Common Name (CN) for a server certificate, enter ClusterName using no more than ten characters because the upper limit of the character string of Common Name (CN) is 64.
Default values can be set for the following parameters.
- ClusterName
- StorageNodeInstanceType
- ConfigurationPattern
- DriveCount
- PhysicalDriveCapacity
- EbsVolumeEncryption
- EbsVolumeKmsKeyId
- TimeZone
- BillingCode
VSP One SDS Block resources are created in the availability zone you entered in AvailabilityZone, and the character string you entered in BillingCode is assigned to each resource as a tag for cost monitoring. For details about how to enable the tag as a cost allocation tag, see Activating cost allocation tags.

Also, the character string you entered in ClusterName is assigned to each resource as a Name tag. Note that the values that you set in ClusterName are set as a part of the Name tag values. (For example, when you set "VSP" for ClusterName, the resource name of the storage node EBS volumes created in stacks is "VSP_SN01_UserDataDisk01.") For this reason, do not set resource type names such as "instance" in ClusterName.
In the case of Single-AZ configuration, no number is suffixed to AvailabilityZone, ControlSubnetId, InterNodeSubnetId, and ComputeSubnetId.
In the case of Multi-AZ configuration, select the IDs of each subnet created in the Availability Zones specified for ControlSubnetId1, InterNodeSubnetId1, ComputeSubnetId1, and AvailabilityZone1. Select the IDs similarly for, for example, ControlSubnetId2 or ControlSubnetId3.
For details about available instance types of storage nodes, see Storage node requirements.
Some of the IPv4 addresses available for each subnet that you specified are automatically allocated to the storage nodes or load balancer. Note that, if you selected use of a combination of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses (dual stack) for the compute network subnet, IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are automatically allocated.
A security group necessary for storage cluster communication is created, and then it is set to each network interface and the load balancer of the storage node EC2 instance.

A rule that allows for all outbound traffic is set as an outbound rule of each security group.

Some resources, such as protection domains and storage pools, are created with fixed resource names.

The applicable resources and their resource names are as follows.

Resources	Name
Protection domain	ProtectionDomain01
Storage pool	StoragePool01
Fault domain	Single-AZ configuration: FaultDomain01 Multi-AZ configuration: FD-<`Availability-Zone-ID`>
Storage nodes	StorageNode<`x`>^*
Tiebreaker node	StorageNodeTB
* <`x`> assigned to the storage node name is the storage node number, and a different number is assigned to each storage node. The numbering starts with 01.

No settings are required in the Configure stack options window. Click Next.
In the Review and create window, confirm the settings, click Submit, and then verify that the VSP One SDS Block installation completes.

The approximate time required until processing completes might differ depending on the configuration, but it takes approximately 30 minutes in a configuration of three or six storage nodes.
Note:
- When the message "The following resources require capabilities:" appears, select the checkbox.
- In addition to the number of configured storage nodes, the following external factors might increase or decrease the processing time. If processing takes a long time, verify that there are no problems with the following items:
  - Load status of AWS
  - Network communication status (mutual communication status between the controller node, storage node, and AWS)
  - Performance status of the instance
1. Verify that the status of the created stack becomes "UPDATE_COMPLETE" (This status update is performed multiple times.).
2. Click the Output tab of the created stack.
3. Verify that the InstallationStatus value becomes Completed.
Confirm the information of the target group (TargetGroupHttps, TargetGroupSnmp).
1. Search the stack with the name that you specified in step 9 to view the created stack.
2. In the Resources tab, click the link of the physical ID of the following.
  
  In Mirroring Duplication: StorageClusterDuplication
  
  In HPEC 4D+2P: StorageCluster4D2P
3. After the stack window opens, in the Resources tab, click the physical ID link of NetworkResources.
4. After the stack window of NetworkResources opens, in the Resources tab, click the physical ID link of TargetGroupHttps.
5. In the target group list window, click the name of <ClusterName>-TargetHttps.
  
  Verify that Total targets shows 3 for Mirroring Duplication and 5 for HPEC 4D+2P, and that Healthy shows 1.
6. In the Resources tab displayed in step 12-d, confirm TargetGroupSnmp (similarly to steps 12-d and 12-e).
Confirm the control network IP address and load balancer DNS name.
1. Search the stack with the name that you specified in step 9 to view the created stack.
2. In the Resources tab, click the link of the physical ID of the following.
  
  In Mirroring Duplication: StorageClusterDuplication
  
  In HPEC 4D+2P: StorageCluster4D2P
3. After the stack window opens, in the Resources tab, click the physical ID link of NetworkResources.
4. After the stack window of NetworkResources opens, confirm the following in the Output tab.
  - Confirm the IP address for the control network of each storage node with ControlNetworkXXIpv4Address values (where XX is the storage node number).
  - Confirm the ELBName value.
  - Confirm the ELBDNSName value. The ELBDNSName value is the DNS name of the load balancer.
Confirm the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for a compute network (if you selected dual stack).
1. In the Resources tab in the stack window of NetworkResources shown in step 13-d, confirm the compute network IP address. Click the physical ID link of ComputeNetworkXX to confirm the IP address from the eni information.
Confirm the IP address of the load balancer.
1. In the navigation pane of the EC2 console, select Network Interfaces.
2. Search and confirm the IP address of the load balancer by using the ELBName value that you confirmed in step 13-d.
CAUTION:

The IP address of the load balancer is used as the access destination from the VSP One SDS Block Administrator, CLI, or REST API of the storage cluster. In the case of Multi-AZ configuration, use a DNS name for access. If you use an IP address for access, access becomes impossible when failure occurs in an Availability Zone.
Note:
- Transfers from VSP One SDS Block to external servers (such as Syslog and SNMP transfers) do not pass through the load balancer, and the source IP address remains the IP address of each node’s control network. If you register a source IP address when configuring a receiving server (for example, for Syslog transfer or SNMP transfer), specify all IP addresses of the control network for each cluster master node, not the IP address assigned to the load balancer.
- If the InstallationStatus value is InProgress, installation is in progress. Refresh the window after a while to verify that the InstallationStatus value changes. Also, if the InstallationStatus value is Failed, the operation is unsuccessful. In such a case, see Identify the failure in the VSP One SDS Block and SDS Cloud Troubleshooting Reference.
- If an error occurs in AWS quotas (service limit) during VSP One SDS Block setup, increase the applicable service limit, and then set up VSP One SDS Block again.