Hardware Installation and Maintenance Guide, Version 11.50.3 - Decide whether to use this Express method

The express method for installing your storage array and accessing ThinkSystem System Manager is appropriate for setting up a standalone Linux host to a DE Series storage system. It is designed to get the storage system up and running as quickly as possible with minimal decision points.

The express method includes the following steps:

Setting up one of the following communication environments:
- Fibre Channel (FC)
- iSCSI
- SAS
Creating logical volumes on the storage array.
Making the volumes available to the data host.

This guide is based on the following assumptions:

Component	Assumptions
Hardware	You have used the Installation and Setup Instructions included with the controller shelves to install the hardware. You have connected cables between the optional drive shelves and the array controllers. You have applied power to the storage array. You have installed all other hardware (for example, management station, switches) and made the necessary connections.
Host	You have made a connection between the storage array and the data host. You have installed the host operating system. You are not using Windows as a virtualized guest. You are not configuring the data (I/O attached) host to boot from SAN.
Storage management station	You are using a 1 Gbps or faster management network. You are using a separate station for management rather than the data (I/O attached) host. You are using out-of-band management, in which a storage management station sends commands to the storage array through the Ethernet connections to the controller. You have attached the management station to the same subnet as the storage management ports.
IP addressing	You have not yet made an Ethernet connection between the management station and the storage array.
Storage provisioning	You will not use shared volumes. You will create pools rather than volume groups.
Protocol: FC	You have made all host-side FC connections and activated switch zoning. You are using Lenovo-supported FC HBAs and switches. You are using FC HBA driver versions as listed on the DE Series Product Support Site.
Protocol: iSCSI	You are using Ethernet switches capable of transporting iSCSI traffic. You have configured the Ethernet switches according to the vendor’s recommendation for iSCSI.
Protocol: SAS	You are using Lenovo-supported SAS HBAs. You are using SAS HBA driver versions as listed on the DE Series Product Support Site.

Note: The instructions in this guide include examples for SUSE Linux and for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Examples for RHEL are specific to RHEL7.