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:

  1. Setting up one of the following communication environments:
    • Fibre Channel (FC)
    • iSCSI
    • SAS
    • NVMe over RoCE
    • NVMe over Fibre Channel
  2. Creating logical volumes on the storage array.
  3. 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 controllers.
  • You have applied power to the storage system.
  • You have installed all other hardware (for example, management station, switches) and made the necessary connections.
  • If you are using NVMe over Fabrics, each DE6000H or DE6000F controller contains at least 64 GB of RAM.
Host
  • You have made a connection between the system 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.
  • If you are NVMe over Fabrics, you have installed the latest compatible Linux version as listed under the Lenovo Interop Matrix.
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 system 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 installed and configured a DHCP server.
  • You have not yet made an Ethernet connection between the management station and the storage system.
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 in Interoperability Matrix 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 in Interoperability Matrix on the DE Series Product Support Site.
Protocol: NVMe over RoCE
  • You have received the 100G host interface cards in a DE6000H and DE6000F storage system pre-configured with the NVMe over RoCE protocol.
Protocol: NVMe over Fibre Channel
  • You have received the 32G host interface cards in a DE6000H and DE6000F storage system pre-configured with the NVMe over Fibre Channel protocol or the controllers were ordered with standard FC ports and need to be converted to NVMe-oF ports.
Note: The instructions in this guide include examples for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Examples for RHEL are specific to RHEL7.
Parent topic: Linux express configuration