Configure QuantaStor SAN/NAS Server

QuantaStor’s SAN/NAS storage appliances provide a combination of file and block storage suitable for a broad spectrum of use cases. Each appliance contains SSD to accelerate write performance. QuantaStor’s web-based management interface, REST APIs and QS CLI make storage provisioning and automation easy.

Key Features

IBM Cloud offers 36 bay mass storage servers which are ideal for QuantaStor SAN/NAS deployments.

• Provides NFS, SMB and iSCSI storage
• Compression, AES 256 bit Encryption
• Remote-replication between QuantaStor appliances across IBM data centers and on-premises locations for hybrid cloud.
• Snapshot Schedules with long term snapshot retention options.
• Hybrid SSD+HDD configuration provides economical capacity with performance
• All-Flash configurations deliver maximum IOPS
• Easy web-based management with Storage Grid technology
• NIST 800-53, HIPAA, CJIS compliant
• FIPS 140-2 Level 1 compliant options available Q4/18
• Advanced Role Based Access Controls
• Automatable via QS CLI and REST API
• VMware certified and VMware VAAI integrated

Multi-site Storage Management

Add additional drives to expand capacity. Additional appliances may be added to a given QuantaStor Storage Grid for easy management of all appliances across IBM data centers. OSNEXUS recommends provisioning 36 bay servers as expansion disk-enclosures are not available as an add-on after the initial server provisioning.

Performance

Each appliance is configured with at least one storage pool and each pool will deliver 400MB to 1.6GB/sec sequential throughput depending on block size and number of disks. IOPS are increased through the use of mirrored SSD storage
configured as a write log which in turn will increase IOPS to 10K to 20K depending on block size and access patterns. All-Flash configurations will deliver over 100K sustained R/W IOPS.

Quick Configuration Steps

Step One: Storage Management Tab → Controllers & Enclosures → Right-click Controller → Configure Pass-thru devices → Select all → Click OK
Step Two: Storage Management Tab → Storage Pools → Create Storage Pool → Click OK

For iSCSI Block Storage Provisioning:

• Storage Management Tab → Hosts → Add Host → Enter host IQN → Click OK (do this for each host)

• Storage Management Tab → Storage Volumes → Create Storage Volume → Enter volume name, select a size, → Click OK

• Storage Management Tab → Hosts → Right-click Host → Assign Volumes → Select volumes → Click OK

For NFS/SMB File Storage Provisioning:

• Storage Management Tab → Network Shares → Create Network Share → Click OK (do this for each share)

• Storage Management Tab → Network Shares → Modify Network Share & SMB Access → Adjust Settings → Click OK (do this for each share)

Reference Configurations

Hybrid Configuration Options

Small Tier - Hybrid SAN/NAS – 16TB	Use Cases	System View
2x E5-2620v4 64GB RAM 8x 2TB QS Small Tier (16TB) License 2x 960GB SSDs (write log) 2x 1TB SATA (mirrored boot) 2x 10GbE Private Network ports	File and/or Block storage for server virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V) XenServer, etc) Database Storage Data analytics NAS archive Disk-to-disk backup	View Design Provisioning Guide Deploy

Medium Tier - Hybrid SAN/NAS – 48TB	Use Cases	System View
2x E5-2620v4 128GB RAM 8x 6TB QS Medium Tier License 2x 960GB SSDs (write log) 2x 1TB SATA (mirrored boot) 2x 10GbE Private Network ports	File and/or Block storage for server virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V) XenServer, etc) Database Storage Data analytics NAS archive Disk-to-disk backup	View Design Provisioning Guide Deploy

Large Tier - Hybrid SAN/NAS – 128TB	Use Cases	System View
2x E5-2650v4 128GB RAM 16x 8TB QS Large Tier License 2x 960GB SSDs (write log) 2x 1TB SATA (mirrored boot) 2x 10GbE Private Network ports	Database Storage Data analytics NAS archive Disk-to-disk backup	View Design Provisioning Guide Deploy

Extra-large Tier - Hybrid SAN/NAS – 256TB	Use Cases	System View
2x E5-2650v4 256GB RAM 32x 8TB QS XL Tier License 2x 960GB SSDs (write log) 2x 1TB SATA (mirrored boot) 2x 10GbE Private Network ports	Database Storage Data analytics NAS archive Disk-to-disk backup	View Design Provisioning Guide Deploy

All Flash Configuration Options

QuantaStor 5 All-Flash SAN/NAS – 44.4TB	Use Cases	System View
2x Intel Xeon E5-2650v4 128GB RAM 12x 3.7TB SSD QS Small Tier (16TB) License 2x 1TB SATA SSD (mirrored boot) 2x 10GbE Private Network ports	File and/or Block storage for server virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V) XenServer, etc) Database Storage Data analytics	View Design Provisioning Guide Deploy

QuantaStor 5 All-Flash SAN/NAS – 118.4TB	Use Cases	System View
2x E5-2650v4 128GB RAM 32x 3.7TB SSD QS Medium Tier License 2x 1TB SATA SSD (mirrored boot) 2x 10GbE Private Network ports	File and/or Block storage for server virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V) XenServer, etc) Database Storage Data analytics	View Design Provisioning Guide Deploy