Overview
Everything you need to know about VMAX/PowerMax! This page provides help with the most commonly asked questions about VMAX/PowerMax You can also search all of Live Optics help or Create a Ticket to open a support ticket.
What legacy Symmetrix, VMAX, and PowerMax arrays are supported by Live Optics?
- Live Optics supports VMAX, VMAX3 and PowerMax arrays.
- VMAX: VMAX-1, VMAXe, VMAX SE, VMAX 10K, VMAX 20K and VMAX40K
- VMAX3: VMAX 100K, VMAX 200K, VMAX 400K, VMAX 250KF/FX, VMAX 450F/FX, VMAX 850F/FX and VMAX 950 F/FX
- PowerMax: PowerMax 2000 and PowerMax 8000
- PowerMax V4: Powermax 2500 and Powermax 8500
What legacy Symmetrix platforms are not supported?
- Live Optics does not support DMX4 or earlier systems
What versions of Solutions Enabler are supported?
- Live Optics can read symapi_db.BIN files that were created by Solutions Enabler 7.6 up to Solutions Enabler 8.4 for VMAX.
- Live Optics can read symapi_db.BIN files that were created by Solutions Enabler 8.0 upwards for VMAX3/PowerMax.
What should I do if my customer’s platform is not supported?
- Contact DELL Professional Services for additional options
What files do I need to upload to Live Optics for VMAX?
- You must provide the SYMAPI_DB.BIN file and the corresponding BTP/TTP Telemetry files, see knowledge base article Preforming a VMAX Profile for more information. Contact Dell Customer Service if you need assistance obtaining these files.
What files do I need to upload to Live Optics for VMAX3/PowerMax?
- You must provide the SYMAPI_DB.BIN file and the corresponding DCF Telemetry files, see knowledge base article Preforming a VMAX Profile for more information. Contact Dell EMC Customer Service if you need assistance obtaining these files.
What checks should I complete when collecting performance data for VMAX?
- Only BTP/TTP files that contain 4 hours of performance data are supported by Live Optics. BTP/TTP Files that contain more than 4 hours of performance information will result in missing data in the Live Optics output. Do not use Symmmerge or other tools to combine the BTP/TTP files into larger files.
- The default performance interval in BTP/TTP telemetry files is 15 minutes. Sometimes when this is changed the configuration is not updated correctly resulting in BTP/TTP files that do not contain correct information. KB articles are available from Live Optics support on these issues. An update will be required to the VMAX array in order to collect performance data in this scenario before it can be processed by Live Optics.
- When the time zone is set incorrectly in the VMAX array it can result in BTP/TTP performance files being incorrectly generated. Live Optics cannot process the performance files in this scenario.
- For these and other issues relating to BTP/TTP performance file collection, Live Optics recommends that you contact the local Customer Services person assigned to the system.
What checks should I complete when collecting performance data for VMAX3/PowerMax?
- When DCF performance files are created they are contained within a zip file. A single collection of performance data from a VMAX3/PowerMax array can contain multiple zip files. For ease of import these zip files need to be added to a single zip file before they are imported. See knowledge base article Performing a VMAX 3 Profile for more information.
What is the maximum duration of performance data that can be used for a Live Optics VMAX/PowerMax assessment?
- The Live Optics standard is to use up to 7 days of telemetry data when creating a storage assessment. The most recent 7 days of telemetry data will be taken from the data provided in the Live Optics collector.
How do I process VMAX/PowerMax assessments for dark sites?
- To process assessments for dark sites, you can either copy the .BIN and Telemetry files to a thumb drive or you can use the Live Optics Collector (on-site) to create an encrypted SIOKIT file that can be uploaded to Live Optics at a later time.
My Live Optics project completed with an error but there was no indication of the type of error. What should I do?
- VMAX3/PowerMax has robust error handling in the collector prior to creating a project. If you encounter an issue open a ticket with Live Optics support by clicking on Create a Ticket. You must be logged in to contact support.
- In VMAX less checks are completed in the Live Optics collector before creating a project. This can result in a project failing. Please check the following if you receive an error:
- Verify that you are using the correct .BIN file
- Verify that the BTP/TTP files are not from multiple arrays
- Verify that the .BIN file was created with a supported version of Solutions Enabler. Supported versions for VMAX are 7.6 to 8.4.
- Verify that the bin file is a Solutions Enabler .bin file as opposed to an impl.bin file
- Ensure the array Is not a DMX4 or lower, as these are not supported by Live Optics
- Resubmit your project once the above items are verified correct. If the project fails a second time contact Live Optics Support.
Some values displayed are different than what I expected
- Configuration information is taken from Solutions Enabler, at times this information can be slightly different that information provided by Unisphere and other sources, e.g. Compression/DataReduction efficiency ratio.
- Performance data is collected using BTP/TTP and DCF files, these may also represent slightly different values than are displayed in Unisphere as additional logic is applied within Unisphere that updates the performance data.
- Live Optics collection is at a point in time. The values may have changed as a result of usage of the array.
- Notes are provided in each slide of the VMAX3/PowerMax assessment providing an explanation of the information that is displayed in the PowerPoint.
How does Live Optics calculate the total number of LUNs on VMAX/PowerMax?
- We calculate the total number of LUNS by summing the number of Thick LUNs (VMAX Only) and Thin LUNs. All source data is extracted with Solutions Enabler.
Thin LUNS:
- Solutions Enabler Command: symcfg.exe -sid SYM_ID list -tdev -bound
- Each Device element is considered a thin LUN. This includes internal TDEVs. Any device less than 20MB in size are ignored.
Thick LUNS (VMAX only):
- Solutions Enabler Command: symdev.exe -sid SYM_ID list
- Devices where Device.configuration contains the string TDEV or VDEV are ignored. Any device less than 20MB in size are ignored. The remaining devices are considered thick LUNs.
- Note: META Head and META Members are both included in this count
What level of assessment is provided by Live Optics?
- The Live Optics for VMAX Assessment is a system level assessment. The tool does not provide information specific to any device in the system.What legacy Symmetrix platforms are not supported?
What about the #GetModern Assessments?
- The PSS team uses the output from Live Optics to provide VMAX assessment reports