Initial Configuration of a EqualLogic PS Series Storage Array

Okay so here are a few things that I wish someone had told me about the EqualLogic SANs before I turned on one and started configuring it for the first time:

  1. Each NIC on the SAN will get it’s own IP, but each NIC purpose will also get an IP, what this means is that each NIC performing iSCSI will have an IP, but there will also be a a GROUP IP for all iSCSI NICs, and the same thing for Management NICs, each NIC has an IP and then there is also a GROUP IP for all Management NICs. Also, if you’re setting up more than one SAN, the GROUP IPs are cumulative, and encompass all NICs on each SAN.
  2. The Modules are Active / Passive. Only one is enabled at a time, so if you are planning on using 4 NICs for iSCSI traffic, better upgrade to a 6000 series unit that has 4 NICs on EACH controller module.
  3. When you are running the setup wizard, and it starts asking for IP information, it’s asking for iSCSI interface IP information, not management NIC IP information, we’ll configure that after the initial turn up.

So, once you’ve got your PS4000 or PS6000 series plugged in and turned on, go ahead and plug Interface 0 into the switch ports configured for iSCSI, if you’ve not configured your switches yet you can head over here to find out how to configure them. Plug a laptop into the same vlan, and run the “Remote Setup Wizard” from the CD that came with the SAN. Then follow these steps:

  1. Make sure that you’ve got “Initialize a PS Series Array” selected, and then click Next >.
  2. Allow the wizard to discover your array, and then select it, then click Next >.
  3. On the “Initialize Array” screen you’ll need to enter the Name for the Array, the IP address, subnet, and Gateway of the First iSCSI NIC, and then click Next >.
  4. On the “Create New Group” screen you’ll need to enter the Name of the Array Group, as well as the iSCSI Group IP, which we talked about above, We’ll also need to select a RAID Type, and enter credential information for the admin account (username: grpadmin), and create a service account to be used for VDS/VSS features later, then click Next >.
  5. You’ll then be told to wait for a bit, and then more than likely also be told that it failed to configure your registration with the iSCSI Initiator, don’t worry about the error it just means you either didn’t have the iSCSI Initiator installed, had the wrong IP information configured, or something else, but it does not matter at this point, click OK, Click OK again, and then click Finish.
  6. Now assign your computer a IP address in the subnet used for iSCSI traffic, and then connect to the GROUP IP you just configured.
  7. Login with the username of grpadmin, and the administrator password you configured in step 4.
  8. Expand “Members” in the left hand pane, and then click on the array you just configured.
  9. Click on the tab “Network” at the top, and then click on each network interface that you’ve not already assigned an IP address to, and assign an IP address, subnet, and a description to the interface, once it’s configured, enable the interface.
  10. Now click on “Group Configuration” in the left hand pane, then click on the tab “Advanced” at the top.
  11. Click the button called “Configure Management Network…”
  12. Check the box for “Enable Dedicated Management Network”, here is where you assign the GROUP IP for the management interfaces on this and all future Arrays, once you assign the IP and gateway, select Interface 2 from the list of interfaces and then click OK.
  13. Make sure your Management NICs are plugged into your MGMT vlan, and then you should be able to manage you array(s) using the new GROUP IP you just assigned.
That’s it, the array is now configured and online, in some future posts we’ll look at configuring SMTP alerts, updating firmware, and creating volumes, but for now let’s get our ESXi servers configured, by going here.

8 thoughts on “Initial Configuration of a EqualLogic PS Series Storage Array

  1. Pingback: Configuring a Dell 6248 Switch Stack for use with a EqualLogic PS4000E Storage Array | The Day to Day Findings of an IT Engineer

  2. Pingback: Finishing the configuration of the EqualLogic PS4000E | The Day to Day Findings of an IT Engineer

  3. Eric Gerhard

    Anyone have a copy of the “HITKIT” that you could upload to my FTP? I just ordered a PS6000E from eBay and it does not come with a CD. Please let me know…I’d rather start off with the GUI setup, then go from there with the CLI. THANKS!

    Reply
  4. Eric Gerhard

    Sean, thanks for all your tips. I had a question about ps6000 nic ports. My network is 10.0.0.1/24. My question is, do I configure the group ip on the same network as my lan and then do I give eth0-2 some random iscsi ip addresses? Then there is the management port…eth3.
    I’m using esxi 5.5 and can’t connect to the SAN…

    Thanks, cheers!

    Reply
  5. Dean

    I have a 6000 series, during the initial configuration, I ran a script that found the uninitialized drive and initialized it, then the script error’d out. Trying the script again and eventually the Remote Wizard a uninitialized drive could not be found, hence I was stuck from that point forward. I tried Resetting using the “Reset” and “DeleteAllMyDataNow” and then eventually I used the “su ex sh” command. This cleared out all my data except it still sees the drive as being Initialized. I don’t know how to continue to configure the EqualLogic.

    Reply
    1. admin

      Sorry for the late reply here, Perhaps pull the problematic drive, configure the array, and reintroduce it after it’s initialized?

      Reply

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