How to access , initialize, LUN & license activation on Huawei Dorado 3000 v6 Storage
Summary Insights:
- As the main question in engineer mind is why use external storage as server have local storage, let me explain this, to achieve centralized access for all users, vMotion/migration, high availability, data protection backup & even for high performance as computing resources will be separate from storage, these all features are possible through external storage.
Key Questions Answered:
- How to access Huawei Dorado 3000 Storage
- How to activate license in Dorado
- How to create LUN
- What is IQN
- How to check IQN of server in vSphere
- How to map Host with LUN
Today I will explain to you about Huawei Dorado storage initialization, license activation, LUN creation & other concepts from my project delivery experience.
Storage access & Initialize:
There are two controller cards in Huawei dorado 3000 to back each other, Default IP Address of Huawei dorado is 192.168.128.101/16 & another control card is 192.168.128.102/16.
Subnet mask is 255.255.0.0
Connect the LAN cable from backside management port of storage to your laptop.
Let me assign an IP Address to my laptop from the same subnet
It’s pinging from my laptop
Access GUI through browser & username is admin and set the password
Fill all the basic necessary information & next next
Below is the home page graphical interface of Huawei Dorado
This is the specification of storage from system menu, one enclosure, two controllers, Ten Disks & 28 ports.
Note:
There are two types of storage one is fixed controller storage which means one chassis hardware contains controller & storage disk, another is controller-encloser architecture. There is separate controller chassis & separate enclosures, controller & enclosure can connect through SAS cable.
Fixed & enclosure architecture of storage
Check hardware & ports details from system then à Devices
Green color means cable are connected & ports are up
Click on ports you want to configure or change IP Address —-click on modify on top right
Assign IP address then Ok
Confirm & check the option
We can bond the ports like add two physical ports in one bond, give logical port name & bind.
If from switch side, there is ether-trunk/channel configure then on storage side also required bond configuration.
Member ports in bond
Assign IP Address to bond logical port
License Upload & Activation:
First get license file from Huawei or distributor from where purchase the hardware, then for license activation two options, one is upload & activate from start basic information setup page & 2nd is go to setting then license management.
Below are the steps
From basic information setup page
You can go to the same page from setting à license management à Import license
Click on three dots
Upload file from laptop
Click on upload then –> activate
Check the license file if its correct then click Ok
The license has been activated successfully & all features are showing & its permanent.
SSH Storage & change user mode:
Sometime for troubleshooting purposes to check connectivity & ping test need to login storage through SSH.
Put management IP Address & Login with same username and password created during initialization
Change user_mode current_mode user_mode=developer
This command will change the standard mode to developer mode to run troubleshooting command as this mode is for technical engineers & don’t run the command which you don’t know as it will create issue.
If ping command is not working in developer mode, then change to minisystem to run below command
Create an iSCSI Initiator:
Before creating LUN & Host mapping create iSCSI initiator as below
I have already created just click on create & iqn number get from server side.
What is IQN:
IQN stands for iSCSI Qualified Name — it’s a unique identifier used to distinguish an iSCSI initiator (client, like a server) or target (storage device) in an iSCSI SAN.
Think of it like an IP address or MAC address, but for iSCSI storage communication.
Let me give you as a bonus point that how to check IQN in vCenter vSphere
First add ISCSI Adapter on selected port à Ok
Check from properties
Create a Host:
Below step to create a host
Give name ,select OS in my case VMware ESXi & assign IP Address of host server then map iqn à Ok
Host & IQN has been created & mapped now the next important step to create LUN & map with host
Create a LUN & Map to Host:
Logical unit number (LUN) is logical storage volume; you need to create LUN & assign size like 100GB then mapped to host server. After detecting in physical host server can be used for different VMs.
Now I will show you how to create LUN in Huawei Dorado storage
Write name, capacity & map to host if there is any host you created in my case, I created one host name Host001 mapped that.
LUN has created & mapped to host
LUN001 created & below status
Total capacity of Dorado:
System –> Storage Pools
Total 21 TB
Bonus Tip: Practical Challenge Faced During Implementation:
During project implementation we faced one issue & spent two hours on it but at last we found the issue.
We connected Laptop to Dorado controller management port through LAN cable its blinking & pinging, but we cannot access through Graphical interface (GUI)
Even we disabled laptop firewalls & restart Dorado storage multiple time but same issue.
After spending two hours we found that there is one power button in front of Dorado that needs to press then it will be power on properly, when we press that & wait for 5 minutes after that worked fine.
In this post we learn initialization, license activation, Host, LUN Creation, host mapping & to check the total capacity of Huawei dorado storage, Next post will be related to explaining complete project & communication of server with storage through Network switch.
Share your experience & knowledge in the comment section to learn together.