Preventive Service Planning
Abstract
This document lists the configuration limits and restrictions specific to IBM FlashSystem 50x5 and 5200 software version 8.6.1.x.
Content
The use of WAN optimization devices such as Riverbed is not supported in native Ethernet IP partnership configurations containing FlashSystem 50x5 or 5200 systems.
Safeguarded Copy
FlashSystem 5045 and FlashSystem 5200 systems support Safeguarded Copy.
The following restrictions apply for Safeguarded Copy:
- Mirrored volumes cannot be safeguarded.
- Mirroring of existing safeguarded source volumes is supported for migration purposes only
- HyperSwap volumes are supported. However, recovery requires that they be converted to regular volumes before use
- Pre-defined schedules are designed to avoid running out of FlashCopy maps in a single graph and keep within the supported volumes count. It is possible, using the CLI, to create policies that can, potentially, breach those limits. Caution must be exercised
- The source volume cannot be in an ownership group
- The source volume cannot be used with Transparent Cloud Tiering (TCT).
Volume Mobility
Refer to the product documentation for the restrictions that apply to Volume Mobility: Migrating data between systems non-disruptively
Data Reduction Pools
The following restrictions apply for Data Reduction Pools (DRP):
- VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) are not supported in a DRP
- A volume in a DRP cannot be shrunk
-
No volume can move between I/O groups when the volume is a DRP (use FlashCopy or Metro Mirror instead).
- No split of a volume mirror to copy in a different I/O group
- Real/used/free/free/tier capacity is not reported per volume - only per pool.
RAID and Distributed RAID
FlashSystem 5015, 5035, 5045 and 5200 support Distributed RAID levels 1, 5, and 6, where Distributed RAID 5 is not for use with arrays of more than 8 member drives, although for upgrade compatibility, expansion of existing DRAID-5 arrays to more than 8 members is still supported.
DRAID-6 is highly recommended for configurations of 6 or more drives.
Nondisruptive Volume Move (NDVM)
The following Fibre Channel attached host types are supported for nondisruptively moving a volume between I/O groups (control enclosures):
| Host Operating System | Host Multipathing | Host Clustering | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIX 7.2 | AIXPCM | Nondisruptive volume move can result in the same volume being mapped to different hosts in the same host cluster by using different SCSI IDs. If the host cluster cannot tolerate this configuration, then nondisruptive volume move cannot be used. | SAN boot is supported NPIV is supported |
| Microsoft Windows 2019 | MSDSM | Hyper-V Failover Cluster | SAN boot is supported |
| Microsoft Windows 2016 | MSDSM | Hyper-V Failover Cluster | SAN Boot is supported |
| Red Hat 8 | Native |
The original paths might need to be manually removed on the host before removing access to the old I/O group
|
|
| SLES 15 | Native | The original paths might need to be manually removed on the host before removing access to the old I/O group | |
| VMware 6.7 | Native | VAAI is supported | |
| VMware 6.5 | Native | VAAI is supported | |
| Solaris 11.3 SPARC | MPXIO | SAN boot is supported |
Note: For all other host types, I/O needs to be quiesced before moving a volume.
When moving a volume that is mapped to a host cluster, it is required to rescan disk paths on all host cluster nodes to ensure the new paths are detected before removing access from the original I/O group.
Clustered Systems
A system requires native Fibre Channel SAN or alternatively 16 Gbps / 32 Gbps Direct Attach Fibre Channel connectivity for communication between all nodes in the local cluster. Clustering can also be accomplished with 25 Gbps Ethernet, for standard topologies.
Partnerships between systems for replication can be used with both Fibre Channel and native Ethernet connectivity. Distances greater than 300 meters are supported by using an FCIP link or Fibre Channel between source and target.
All systems within a cluster must be using the same version of FlashSystem 5200 software.
| Model | Clustering over Fibre Channel | Clustering over 25 Gb Ethernet | HyperSwap over Fibre Channel | HyperSwap over Ethernet (25 Gb only) | Replication over Fibre Channel | Replication over Ethernet (10 Gb or 25 Gb) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FS5015 | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported | Not supported | Yes | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
Yes up to 2 I/O groups | Not supported | Yes up to 2 I/O groups | Not supported | Yes | |
| FS5200 | Yes up to 4 I/O groups | Yes up to 4 I/O groups | Yes up to 4 I/O groups | Yes up to 4 I/O groups | Yes | Yes |
Transparent Cloud Tiering
Transparent cloud tiering, available on FS5200 systems only, is defined by configuration limitations and rules. See the IBM Documentation Transparent Cloud Tiering maximum limits page for details.
The following restrictions apply for Transparent Cloud Tiering:
- When a cloud account is created, it must continue to use the same encryption type, throughout the life of the data in that cloud account - even if the cloud account object is removed and remade on the system, the encryption type for that cloud account cannot be changed while back up data for that system exists in the cloud provider.
- Performing rekey operations on a system with an encryption-enabled cloud account, perform the commit operation immediately after the prepare operation. Remember to retain the previous system master key (on USB or in Key server) as this key can still be needed to retrieve your cloud backup data if performing a T4 recovery or an import.
- Avoid the use of the 'Restore_uid' option when backup is imported to a new cluster.
- Import of Transparent Cloud Tiering data is only supported from systems whose backup data was created at v7.8.0.1.
The following AWS regions are supported by this code-level:
- us-east-1
- us-west-1
- us-west-2
- ca-central-1
- eu-west-1
- eu-west-2
- eu-west-3
- eu-central-1
- sa-east-1
- ap-southeast-1
- ap-southeast-2
- ap-south-1
- ap-northeast-1
- ap-northeast-2
TCT cloud snapshots are supported with the system's new Volume Group Snapshot management model.
However, cloud snapshots cannot co-exist with legacy FlashCopyTM mappings.
HyperSwap
Configure your host multipath driver to use an ALUA-based path policy.
Due to the requirement for multiple access I/O groups, SAS attached host types are not supported by HyperSwap volumes.
A volume configured with multiple access I/O groups, on a system in the storage layer, cannot be virtualized by a system in the replication layer. This restriction prevents a HyperSwap volume on one system being virtualized by another.
Direct Attachment
IBM System Storage DS8000 series is not supported by direct-attached systems.
SAN boot on Windows 2019 (Qlogic HBA) is not supported by 32 GB direct-attached systems.
10 Gbps Ethernet Canister Connection
One 4-port 10 Gbps Ethernet adapter is supported in each node FS5015/FS5035 node canister for iSCSI communication with iSCSI capable Ethernet ports in hosts connected by Ethernet switches. These 4-port 10 Gbps Ethernet adapters do not support FCoE. For FS5200, two of these adapters are supported in each node.
16 Gbps Fibre Channel Node Connection
Refer to the IBM System Storage Inter-operation Center (SSIC) for supported 16 Gbps Fibre Channel configurations supported by 16 Gbps node hardware.
Note 16 Gbps Node hardware is supported when connected to Brocade and Cisco 8 Gbps or 16 Gbps fabrics only.
Direct connections to 2 Gbps or 4 Gbps SAN or direct host attachment to 2 Gbps or 4 Gbps ports is not supported.
Other configured switches that are not directly connected to the 16 Gbps Node hardware can be any supported fabric switch as currently listed in the SSIC.
25 Gbps Ethernet Canister Connection
For 50xx Products, one optional 2-port 25 Gbps Ethernet adapter is supported in each node canister for iSCSI communication with iSCSI capable Ethernet ports in hosts via Ethernet switches.
For 5200 Products, two optional 2-port 25 Gbps Ethernet adapters are supported in each node canister for iSCSI communication with iSCSI capable Ethernet ports in hosts via Ethernet switches.
These 2-port 25 Gbps Ethernet adapters do not support FCoE.
There are two types of 25 Gbps Ethernet adapter features supported:
1) RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE)
2) Internet Wide-area RDMA Protocol (iWARP)
Either works for standard iSCSI communications with hosts, for example, by not using Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA). RDMA can be used on the adapters for clustering purpose over iWARP.
When use of RDMA with a 25 Gbps Ethernet adapter becomes possible then RDMA links work between RoCE ports or between iWARP ports (that is, from a RoCE node canister port to a RoCE port on a host or from an iWARP node canister port to an iWARP port on a host).
Changing MTU value to other than 1500 is not allowed on RoCE ports. If you are upgrading from older versions having more than 1500 MTU for RoCE ports, then consider changing them to MTU 1500 before upgrade.
For Ethernet switches and adapters supported in hosts, visit the SSIC
Example of an RoCE adapter for use in a host
Example of an iWARP adapter for use in a host
IP Partnership
IP partnerships are supported on any of the available Ethernet ports. Using an Ethernet switch to convert a 25 Gb to a 1 Gb IP partnership, or a 10 Gb to a 1 Gb IP partnership is not supported. Therefore, the IP infrastructure on both partnership sites must match. Bandwidth limiting on IP partnerships between both sites is supported.
VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols)
FlashSystem 5200 systems support vVols using the embedded VASA provider. A minimum of 128 GB memory must be installed in each node canister (256 GB per control enclosure).
Host Limitations
SAN BOOT function on AIX 7.2 TL5
SAN BOOT is not supported for AIX 7.2 TL5 when connected by using the NVME/FC protocol.
RDM Volumes attached to guests in VMware 7.0
Using RDM (raw device mapping) volumes attached to any guests, with the RoCE iSER protocol, results in pathing issues or inability to boot the guest.
N2225/N2226 SAS HBA
VMware 6.7 (Guest O/S SLES12SP4) connected by SAS N2225/N2226 host adapters are not supported.
Lenovo 430-16e/8e SAS HBA
VMware 6.7 and 6.5 (Guest O/S SLES12SP4) connected by SAS Lenovo 430-16e/8e host adapters are not supported.
Windows 2019 and 2016 connected by SAS Lenovo 430-16e/8e host adapters are not supported.
Windows 2016 HyperV
RHEL v7.1 guests on Windows 2016 HyperV, with Virtual Fibre Channel, are not supported.
iSER
Operating systems not currently supported for use with iSER:
- Windows 2012 R2 with Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx EN adapter
- Windows 2016 with Mellanox ConnectX-4 Lx EN adapters
Windows NTP server
The Linux NTP client used by either Storage Virtualize or FlashSystem 5XXX Controllers may not always function correctly with Windows W32Time NTP Server.
IBM i connected using directly attached Fibre Channel
IBM i is not supported as a host operating system when connected using directly attached Fibre Channel to FlashSystem or SAN Volume Controller systems running 8.6.1.0 or later versions.
IBM i is supported as a host operating system when connected to FlashSystem or SAN Volume Controller systems via a Fibre Channel switch.
Fabric Limitation
Only one Fibre Channel Forwarder (FCF) switch per fabric is supported.
Storage connected directly to a Cisco Fabric Extender (FEX) is not supported.
Priority Flow Control for iSCSI / iSER
Priority Flow Control for iSCSI / iSER is supported on Emulex and Chelsio adapters (SVC supported) with all DCBX enabled switches.
FlashSystem 5200 systems support Policy-based replication. A minimum of 128 GB memory must be installed in each node canister.
- The name of a volume group cannot be changed while a replication policy is assigned.
- The name of a volume cannot be changed while the volume is in a volume group with a replication policy assigned.
- Ownership groups are not supported by policy-based replication.
- Policy-based replication is not supported on HyperSwap topology systems.
- Remote Copy and policy-based replication can be configured on the same volume only if the volume is operating as the production volume for both types of replication, for the purpose of migrating from Remote Copy to policy-based replication.
- Policy-based replication cannot be used with volumes that are:
- Image mode
- HyperSwap
- Configured to use Transparent Cloud Tiering (TCT)
- VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols)
- Resize (expand or shrink)
- Migrate to image mode, or add an image mode copy
- Move to a different I/O group
A limit of one I/O group if the system has any storage partitions.
If using policy-based high availability, the following restrictions apply:
- A limit of one I/O group can be configured in the system.
- A limit of one partnership per system can be configured.
- Only Fibre Channel SCSI hosts can be configured in a storage partition configured for high availability.
- Host clusters cannot be used for hosts configured in a storage partition configured for high availability.
- A partnership cannot be used for both high availability and asynchronous replication.
- Only the 'standard' system topology is supported.
- Reduced host interoperability support. Policy-based High Availability can only be used with the following supported operating systems:
- VMware ESXi 7.0 and later.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 and later.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux with KVM 7.9 and later.
- Only SCSI Fibre Channel hosts are supported.
- Persistent Reserve commands are not supported.
Maximum Configurations
Configuration limits for FlashSystem 5015, 5035, 5045, 5200:
| Property |
Hardware Type
|
Maximum Number
|
Comments |
|
System (Cluster) Properties
|
|||
| I/O groups / Control Enclosures per system (cluster) | FS5015 | 1 | Each control enclosure contains two node canisters |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
2 | ||
| FS5200 | 4 | ||
| Active nodes per system | FS5015 | 2 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
4 | Arranged as two I/O groups | |
| FS5200 | 8 | Arranged as four I/O groups | |
| Spare Nodes per system | N/A | ||
| Nodes per fabric |
64
|
Maximum number of IBM Storage Virtualize nodes that can be present on the same Fibre Channel fabric, with visibility of each other | |
| Inter-cluster partnerships per system |
3
|
A system can be partnered with up to three remote systems. No more than four systems can be in the same connected set | |
| IP Quorum devices per system |
5
|
||
| Data encryption keys per system |
1,024
|
||
| Key servers per system | 4 | ||
|
Node Properties
|
|||
| iSCSI sessions per node | 1,024 | 2048 in IP failover mode (when partner node is unavailable). This limit includes both iSCSI Host Attach AND iSCSI Initiator sessions |
|
| iSER sessions per node | FS5200 | 256 | |
| iSCSI + iSER sessions per node | FS5200 | 1,088 | |
| Logins per node Fibre Channel WWPN |
512
|
Includes logins from server HBAs, disk controller ports, node ports within the same system and node ports from remote systems | |
| Portset objects per system | 72 | FC + Ethernet | |
| IP address objects per system | 2,048 | ||
| IP address objects per node | 256 | ||
| IP addresses per port | 64 |
When node failover occurs, Ethernet ports that have the same ID are configured with the IP addresses of the partner. Hence there can be a maximum of 128 IP addresses configured per Ethernet port during failover.
For Emulex ports, there can be a maximum of 3 unique VLANs per port and a maximum of 32 IP addresses per port.
For Mellanox iSER connectivity, there can be a maximum of 31 VLANs per port and a maximum of 31 IP addresses per port with VLAN.
|
|
| Routable IP addresses per port | 1 | ||
|
Managed Disk Properties
|
|||
| Managed disks (MDisks) per system |
4,096
|
The maximum number of logical units that can be managed by a system, including internal arrays. Internal distributed arrays consume 16 logical units. This number also includes external MDisks that are not configured into storage pools (managed disk groups) |
|
| Managed disks per storage pool (managed disk group) |
128
|
||
| Storage pools per system |
1,024
|
||
| Parent pools per system |
128
|
||
| Child pools per system |
1,023
|
||
| Managed disk extent size |
8,192 MB
|
||
| Capacity for an individual internal managed disk (array) |
-
|
No limit is imposed beyond the maximum number of drives per array limits. Maximum size depends on the extent size of the Storage Pool. Comparison Table: Maximum Volume, MDisk, and System capacity for each extent size. |
|
| Capacity for an individual external managed disk |
1 PB
|
Note: External managed disks larger than 2 TB are only supported for certain types of Storage Systems. Refer to the supported hardware matrix for further details. Maximum size depends on the extent size of the Storage Pool. Comparison Table: Maximum Volume, MDisk, and System capacity for each extent size. |
|
| Total storage capacity manageable per system | FS5045 | 8 PB | The maximum requires an extent size of 8192 MB to be used This limit represents the per system maximum of 2^22 extents. Comparison Table: Maximum Volume, MDisk, and System capacity for each extent size. |
|
FS5015
FS5035
FS5200
|
32 PB | ||
| Maximum Provisioning policies | 32 | ||
|
Data Reduction Pool Properties
|
|||
| Data Reduction Pools per system |
4
|
||
| MDisks per Data Reduction Pool |
128
|
||
| Extents per I/O group per Data Reduction Pool |
524,288 (512K)
|
||
|
Volume (Virtual Disk) Properties
|
|||
| Basic Volumes per system | FS5015 | 2,048 | Each Basic Volume uses 1 VDisk, each with one copy. |
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,192 | ||
| Volume copies in host mappable volumes per system | FS5015 | 4,096 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,192 | ||
| Stretched volumes per system | N/A | ||
| HyperSwap volumes per system |
FS5035
FS5045
|
1,250 | Each HyperSwap volume uses 4 VDisks, each with one copy, 1 active-active remote copy relationship, and 4 FlashCopy mappings. |
| FS5200 | 2,000 | ||
| Volume copies per volume | 2 | ||
| Total mirrored volume capacity per I/O group | 1 PB | ||
| Volumes per I/O group (volumes per caching I/O group) | - | No limit exists beyond the volumes per system limit | |
| Volume Groups per system |
FS5015
FS5035
|
0 | |
|
FS5045
FS5200
|
1,024 | ||
| Volume groups per storage partition | FS5200 | 1,024 | No limit is imposed here beyond the volume groups per system limit |
| Volumes per volume group |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
|
FS5045
FS5200
|
512 | ||
| Volumes per storage pool | - | No limit is imposed beyond the volumes per system limit | |
| Fully allocated volume capacity | 256 TB | Maximum size for an individual fully allocated volume. Maximum size depends on the extent size of the Storage Pool. Comparison Table: Maximum Volume, MDisk, and System capacity for each extent size. |
|
| Thin-provisioned (space-efficient) per-volume capacity for volumes in regular and data reduction pools | 256 TB | Maximum size for an individual thin-provisioned volume. Maximum size depends on the extent size of the Storage Pool. Comparison Table: Maximum Volume, MDisk, and System capacity for each extent size. |
|
| Host mappings per system | 20,000 | See also - volume mappings per host object | |
|
Host Properties
|
|||
| Host objects (IDs) per system | FS5015 | 256 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
512 | ||
| FS5200 | 1,024 | ||
| Host objects (IDs) per I/O group |
256
|
||
| Host objects per storage partition | FS5200 | - | No limit is imposed here beyond the host object limits |
| Volume mappings per host object | 512 | ||
| Unique IP addresses per port | 64 | ||
| IP addresses per node per portset | Host | 4 | |
| Remote Copy | 1 | ||
| Storage | Number of Ethernet Ports on node | ||
| Fibre Channel ports per portset | 4 | ||
| Fibre Channel Host objects per portset | Same as the maximum number of hosts supported on that platform | ||
|
Host Cluster Properties
|
|||
| Host clusters per system |
512
|
||
| Hosts in a host cluster |
128
|
||
|
Fibre Channel Host Properties
|
|||
| Fibre Channel hosts per system | FS5015 | 256 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
512 | ||
| FS5200 | 1,024 | ||
| Fibre Channel host ports per system | FS5015 | 2,048 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
4,096 | ||
| FS5200 | 8,192 | ||
| Fibre Channel hosts per I/O group |
256
|
||
| Fibre Channel host ports per I/O group |
2,048
|
||
| NPIV Direct Attach Logins per Fibre Channel WWPN | 128 | ||
| Fibre Channel host ports per host object (ID) |
32
|
||
|
iSCSI Host Properties
|
|||
| iSCSI hosts per system | FS5015 | 256 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
512 | ||
| FS5200 |
1,024
|
||
| iSCSI hosts per I/O group |
256
|
||
| iSCSI names per host object |
4
|
||
| iSCSI names per I/O group |
1,024
|
||
| iSER Host Properties | |||
| iSER hosts per system | FS5200 | 1024 | |
| iSER hosts per I/O group | FS5200 | 256 | |
| iSER names per host object | FS5200 | 4 | |
| SAS Host Properties | |||
| SAS hosts per system | FS5015 | 4 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
8 | ||
| FS5200 | 16 | ||
| SAS hosts per I/O group | 4 | ||
| Adapter Hardware Properties | |||
| 4-port 16 Gbps FC adapters per node / canister |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
1 | |
| FS5200 | 2 | ||
| 2-port 32 Gbps FC adapters per node / canister | FS5200 | 2 | |
| 4-port 10 Gbps Ethernet adapters per node / canister |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
1 | |
| FS5200 | 2 | ||
| On board 1 Gbps Ethernet I/O ports per node / canister |
FS5015
|
2 | 1 port has a shared use as a Technician port |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
1 | Technician port | |
| FS5200 | N/A | ||
| On board 10 Gbps Ethernet I/O ports per node / canister |
FS5015
|
N/A | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200 |
2 | ||
| 2-port 25 Gbps iWARP adapters per node / canister |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
1 | RDMA is not supported on these platforms |
| FS5200 | 2 | ||
| 2-port 25 Gbps RoCE adapters per node / canister |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
1 | RDMA is not supported on these platforms |
| FS5200 | 2 | ||
| 4-port 12 Gbps SAS adapters for host attach per node / canister | 1 | ||
|
NVMe over Fabrics Host Properties
|
|||
| NVMe Qualified Names (NQNs) per host object (ID) | FS5200 | 2 | |
| NVMe over Fibre Channel hosts per system | FS5200 | 64 | This limit is not policed by the IBM Storage Virtualize software. Any configurations that exceed this limit can experience significant adverse performance impact. |
| NVMe over Fibre Channel hosts per I/O group |
FS5200
|
16
|
This limit is not policed by the IBM Storage Virtualize software. Any configurations that exceed this limit can experience significant adverse performance impact. |
| NVMe connections per FC port | FS5200 | 16 | This limit is the number of FC2 logins supported. |
| NVMe over RDMA hosts per system | FS5200 | 512 | |
| NVMe over RDMA hosts per I/O group | FS5200 | 256 | |
| Primary RDMA connections per port | FS5200 | 256 | |
NVMe over RDMA - Host queue size |
FS5200 | 64 | |
NVMe over RDMA - Number of IO queues |
FS5200 | 8 | |
NVMe over TCP hosts per system |
FS5200 | 1,024 | |
| NVMe over TCP hosts per I/O group | FS5200 | 256 | |
| NVMe over TCP - Host queue size | FS5200 | 128 | |
| NVMe over TCP - Number of IO queues | FS5200 | 8 | |
|
Copy Services Properties
|
|||
| Total Remote Copy capacity per IO group (includes Metro Mirror, Global Mirror, Volume Migration and HyperSwap) |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
1 PiB | This limit is the total capacity for all master and auxiliary volumes in the I/O group. |
| Total Remote Copy capacity per IO group (includes Metro Mirror, Volume Migration and HyperSwap) | FS5200 | 1 PiB | |
| Remote Copy Metro Mirror relationships per system | FS5015 | 2,048 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,192 | ||
| Remote Copy Global Mirror relationships per system | FS5015 | 2,048 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
8,192 | ||
| Remote Copy Active-Active relationships (HyperSwap volumes) per system |
FS5035
FS5045
|
1,250 | |
| FS5200 | 2,000 | ||
| Remote Copy migration relationships per system | 256 | ||
| Maximum round-trip latency for Metro Mirror, HyperSwap and Migration relationships | 3 ms | ||
| Maximum round-trip latency for Global Mirror and Global Mirror cycling mode (also known as GMCV) when using FC replication |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
80 ms | |
| Remote Copy relationships per consistency group | - | No limit is imposed beyond the Remote Copy relationships per system limit. | |
| Remote Copy relationships per consistency group, for Global Mirror cycling mode relationships (also known as GMCV) |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
256 |
Note the I/O pause time at the start of each cycle increases in proportion to the number of relationships in the consistency group.
Refer to the Changes to support for Global Mirror with Change Volumes page for information relating to GMCV performance considerations and best practice.
|
| Global Mirror cycling mode relationships (also known as GMCV) per system, with cycle times less than 300 seconds |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
256 | |
| Global Mirror cycling mode relationships (also known as GMCV) per system, with cycle times of 300 seconds or more | FS5015 | 1,024 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
2,500 | ||
| Remote Copy consistency groups per system |
256
|
||
| 3-site Remote Copy relationships per consistency group | 256 | ||
| 3-site Remote Copy consistency groups per system | 16 | ||
|
3-site Metro Mirror Remote Copy relationships per system
|
FS5015 | 1,024 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
|
1,250 | ||
| FS5200 | 2,048 | ||
| 3-site HyperSwap Remote Copy relationships per system | FS5015 | N/A | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200
|
1,250 | ||
| FlashCopy Properties | |||
| FlashCopy mappings per system | FS5015 |
2,048
|
|
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,192 | ||
| FlashCopy consistency groups per system | 500 | ||
| FlashCopy mappings per consistency group | 512 | ||
| FlashCopy targets per source |
256
|
||
| Snapshots per system |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
| FS5045 | 8,191 |
This maximum requires a single basic volume. For each additional basic volume created, the maximum number of snapshots is reduced by one.
For example, on a system with 1,000 basic volumes, the maximum number of snapshots per system is 14,864. |
|
| FS5200 | 15,863 | ||
| Snapshots per volume copy |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
| FS5045 | 8,191 |
This maximum requires a single basic volume. For each additional volume copy created, the maximum number of snapshots is reduced by one.
For example, on a system with 1,000 mirrored volumes, the maximum number of snapshots per system is 13,864. |
|
| FS5200 | 15,863 | ||
| Thin-Clone, Clone Volumes per system |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
|
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,191 | ||
| Thin-Clone Volumes per Source Volume |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
|
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,191 | ||
| Clone Volumes per Source Volume |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
|
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,191 | ||
|
Total FlashCopy bitmap Allowance per I/O group
- of which legacy FlashCopy can have up to
|
2 GiB | ||
| 2 GiB | |||
|
Total FlashCopy volume capacity per I/O group
- of which legacy FlashCopy can have up to
|
4 PiB | ||
| 4 PiB | |||
| Safeguarded policies per system |
FS5045
FS5200
|
32 | Includes 3 predefined and 29 user-defined policies |
| Snapshot policies per system |
FS5015
FS5035
|
N/A | |
|
FS5045
FS5200
|
32 | ||
| Safeguarded volumes per system |
FS5045
FS5200
|
8,192
|
|
| Safeguarded volumes per volume group |
FS5045
FS5200
|
512
|
|
|
Replication Properties
Policy-based replication
|
|||
| Total volume capacity per I/O group using policy-based replication (asynchronous replication or HA) | FS5200 | 1 PiB | |
| Volumes using policy-based replication (asynchronous replication or HA) | FS5200 | 7,932 | |
| Volume groups per system using policy-based replication | FS5200 | - | No limit is imposed beyond the volume groups per system limit |
| Volumes per volume group using policy-based replication | FS5200 | - | No limit is imposed beyond the volumes per volume group limit |
| Maximum round-trip latency for asynchronous policy-based replication using Fibre Channel partnerships | FS5200 | 250ms | |
| Maximum round-trip latency for asynchronous policy-based replication using IP partnerships | FS5200 | 80ms | |
| Maximum round-trip latency for policy-based high availability | FS5200 | 1ms | |
| Replication policies per system | FS5200 | 32 | |
| I/O groups per system using policy-based replication | FS5200 | 2 | Policy-based high availability supports a maximum of one I/O group in the system |
| Storage partitions per system | FS5200 | 4 | |
|
IP Partnership Properties
|
|||
| Inter-cluster IP partnerships per system |
3
|
A system can be partnered with up to three remote systems. | |
| Inter-site links per IP partnership |
2
|
A maximum of two inter-site links can be used between two IP partnership sites. | |
| Ports per node per IP partnership |
1
|
A maximum of one port per node can be used for IP partnership. | |
| IP partnership Software Compression Limit |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
140 MB/s | |
| FS5200 | N/A | ||
|
Internal Storage Properties
|
|||
| SAS chains per control enclosure | FS5015 | 1 | |
|
FS5035
FS5045
FS5200
|
2 | ||
| Enclosures per SAS chain |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5200
|
10 x 2Uxx
Or
4 x 5U92
|
|
| FS5045 |
6 x 2Uxx
Or
2 x 5U92 + 1 x 2Uxx
|
||
| Expansion enclosures per control enclosure | FS5015 | 10 | |
|
FS5045
|
12 | ||
|
FS5035
FS5200
|
20 | ||
| Expansion enclosures per system | FS5015 | 10 | |
| FS5035 | 40 | ||
| FS5045 | 24 | ||
| FS5200 | 80 | ||
| Drives per I/O group | FS5015 | 392 | |
| FS5035 | 504 | ||
| FS5045 | 440 | ||
| FS5200 | 748 | ||
| Maximum NVMe drives per control enclosure | FS5200 | 12 | |
| Maximum drives per system | FS5015 | 392 | |
| FS5035 | 1,008 | ||
| FS5045 | 880 | ||
| FS5200 | 2,992 | ||
| Maximum NVMe drives per system | FS5200 | 48 | |
| Maximum SCM drives per I/O group | 12 | ||
|
Distributed RAID Array Properties
|
|||
| Arrays per system | 32 | ||
| Encrypted arrays per system | 32 | ||
| Arrays per I/O group |
10
|
||
| Member Drives per array |
128
|
||
| FCM arrays per storage pool | 1 | Existing multi-array storage pools created before 8.5.0 are supported as 'grandfathered' | |
| Minimum-Maximum member drives per RAID-1 array | 2-16 | ||
| Minimum-Maximum member drives per RAID-5 array |
4-8
|
||
| Minimum-Maximum member drives per RAID-5 array (NVMe drives) | FS5200 | 4-8 | |
| Minimum-Maximum member drives per RAID-6 array |
6-128
|
||
| Minimum-Maximum member drives per RAID-6 array (NVMe drives) | FS5200 | 6-24 | |
| Rebuild areas per non-FCM array |
1-4
|
||
| Rebuild areas per FCM array | FS5200 | 1 | |
| Rebuild areas per non-FCM RAID-1 array (2 drives only) | 0 | ||
| Rebuild areas per non-FCM RAID-1 array (>2 drives) | 1 | ||
|
Rebuild areas per FCM RAID-1 array
(2 drives only)
|
0 | ||
|
Rebuild areas per FCM RAID-1 array
(>2 drives)
|
1 | ||
| Minimum-Maximum stripe width for RAID-5 array |
3-7
|
||
| Minimum-Maximum stripe width for RAID-6 array |
5-16
|
||
| Maximum drive capacity for RAID-5 arrays |
8 TB
|
This limit applies to HDDs | |
| Maximum FCM drive capacity for RAID-1 array | FS5200 | 19.2 TB | |
| Maximum drive capacity for RAID-1 arrays | 8 TB | This limit applies to HDDs | |
| Maximum drives added to an array in a single DRAID expansion |
12
|
for DRAID-1 | |
| 42 | for DRAID-5 and DRAID-6 | ||
| Concurrent DRAID expansions per system |
4
|
||
| Concurrent DRAID expansions per parent storage pool |
1
|
||
|
External Storage System Properties
|
|||
| Storage system WWNNs per system (cluster) |
1,024
|
||
| Storage system WWPNs per system (cluster) |
1,024
|
||
| WWNNs per storage system |
16
|
||
| WWPNs per WWNN |
16
|
||
| WWPNs per MDisk | 16 | WWPNs per MDisk means the limit of Storage System WWPNs that can have LUN mappings for a specific Storage System Logical Unit (LU) | |
| LUNs (managed disks) per storage system |
-
|
No limit is imposed beyond the managed disks per system limit | |
|
System and User Management Properties
|
|||
| User accounts per system |
FS5015
FS5035
FS5045
|
200 | Includes the default user accounts |
|
FS5200
|
400
|
||
| User groups per system |
256
|
Includes the default user groups | |
| Authentication services per system |
1
|
||
| DNS servers per system | 2 | ||
| NTP servers per system |
1
|
||
| Maximum number of iSNS servers per system |
1
|
||
| Concurrent OpenSSH sessions per system |
32
|
||
| Two Person Integrity Requests per system | 4 | ||
| Patches per cluster | 7 | ||
| Patches per node (Includes Installed, Obsolete, and Error) | 7 | ||
|
Event notification Properties
|
|||
| SNMP servers per system |
6
|
||
| Syslog servers per system |
6
|
||
| Email (SMTP) servers per system |
6
|
Email servers are used in turn until the email is successfully sent | |
| Email users (recipients) per system |
12
|
||
| LDAP servers per system |
6
|
||
|
REST API Properties
|
|||
| Maximum active connections per cluster | 4 | RESTful API | |
| Maximum requests/sec to auth endpoint | 3 | RESTful API | |
| Maximum requests/sec to command endpoints | 10 | RESTful API | |
| Number of simultaneous CLIs in progress | 1 | System | |
Extents
The following table compares the maximum volume, MDisk, and system capacity for each extent size.
|
Extent size
|
Maximum non thin-provisioned volume capacity
|
Maximum thin-provisioned volume capacity (for regular pools)
|
Maximum thin-provisioned and compressed volume size in data reduction pools
|
Maximum total data reduced volume capacity in a single data reduction pool per I/O group
|
Maximum
Virtualized MDisk capacity
|
Maximum DRAID MDisk capacity 1
|
Total storage capacity manageable per system (all platforms except 5045) 2
|
Total storage capacity manageable per system on 5045 2 |
|
1,024MB
|
128 TB
|
130 TB
|
128 TB
|
512 TB
|
128 TB
|
2 PB
|
4 PB
|
1 PB |
|
2,048MB
|
256 TB
|
256 TB
|
256 TB
|
1 PB
|
256 TB
|
4 PB
|
8 PB
|
2 PB |
|
4,096MB
|
256 TB
|
256 TB
|
256 TB
|
2 PB
|
512 TB
|
8 PB
|
16 PB
|
4 PB |
|
8,192MB
|
256 TB
|
256 TB
|
256 TB
|
4 PB
|
1 PB
|
16 PB
|
32 PB
|
8 PB |
1 Unless limited by the total storage capacity manageable per the system
2 The total capacity values assume that all of the storage pools in the system use the same extent size.
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Document Information
Modified date:
02 October 2023
UID
ibm17032023