10.0.3 Marks end of service life (EoSL) for the PS series arrays for EqualLogic storage systems. The firmware is also what runs the Group Manager software GUI user interface admins use to manage their EqualLogic systems. Firmware 10.0.3 released on 2/17/2023 and the EoSL for the last models made was 2/29/2024.
PS Series Known Problems and Limitations
The following sections describe known problems and limitations in PS Series firmware version 10.0.
Configuration, Installation and Upgrades
Duplicate Entries in Active Directory Browse FunctionWhen using port 3268 to browse Active Directory users and groups, you might see multiple entries with the same name. These names have different Base Domain Names, but have no reference to which domain they might be in.
Workaround– To differentiate the users and groups in Active Directory, type the Base Domain Name in the Base DN field or restrict the search path using the new User/Group Search DN field.
Users in the Groups Must Also Be in the Search PathIf a user in the group is not also in the user search path, remote authentication might fail.
I/Os Might Fail During a Firmware Update if Members Have Type 7 or Type 10 Controllers In the GroupMembers with Type 7 or Type 10 controllers in the group show high latency during firmware updates, which can lead to I/O failures.
Relaunch Group ManagerAfter performing a firmware update, close the browser to relaunch Group Manager.
Array Does Not Leave Domain After Base Domain is ChangedThe array does not leave the domain after the Base Domain is changed by a user with insufficient privileges, such as bind-dn user.
Cross-Platform Replication
Date and Time Changed to Epoch for Some ReplicasFollowing a PS Series firmware update to v10.0.x, the date and time for some of the existing replicas were correct while others were changed to epoch date and time.
Creating PS to SC Replication Might Generate Mapping Server Alerts
Replicating from a PS array to a Storage Center volume succeeds, but generates a mapping server alert on the Storage Center regarding connectivity. You can ignore these mapping server alerts.Cross-Replication From a Storage Center to a PS Group Replication Fails Due to Insufficient Space
Delegated space must be at least 1GB greater than the reserved space allocated for all volumes. The quota checker looks to see if enough space is available before starting the first replica. If the delegated space does not have enough free space, the replica fails with an error similar to insufficient quota available.Replica Creation Limit
Cross-platform replication supports the following when created using an SC as the primary and a PS as the destination:
- 4,096 replicas created with SC4020 as the primary
- 10,000 replicas created with SC8000 as the primary
Do Not Create a Storage Center Replication Volume If a Storage Center Is Not a Replication Partner
If you create a Storage Center volume that only has a PS group as the replication partner, the following error is returned: There are no Storage Arrays available to be the destination of a replication.Status of Replication Is Incorrect
When replicating from a PS Series array to a Storage Center, if the remote partner (Storage Center) is down, the status in Dell Storage Manager does not get updated until the next time replication is triggered from the PS Series array.When Using Cross-Platform Replication, PS Group Manager Takes a Long Time to Reflect the Replica Status
During a cross-platform replication operation, if the Storage Center is powered down, the PS Group Manager can take up to 20 minutes to reflect the replica status as Partner Down.Discrepancy In Replica Count After Performing Promote and Failback to Primary
While performing a PS to SC replication, during the DR activation (failover) and failback, Group Manager displays the replica count incorrectly. This replica count issue does not impact the replication process.Replica Count Is Incorrect After the Partner (Storage Center) Is Powered On
Creating a replica for a volume while the partner (a Storage Center that already contains replicas) is down results in an incorrect replica count in Group Manager when the partner is brought back up. Dell Storage Manager shows the correct replica count.
Hardware
Replacing an 8-TB Drive With a 4-TB Drive Is Not Supported.
On a PS6610 member, you can upgrade a disk from 4 TB to 8 TB, but downgrading an 8 TB disk to 4 TB is not supported.When PS4210 or PS6210 Arrays Are Halted, the ERR LEDs for Both Controllers Are On
When a PS4210 or PS6210 array is halted using the halt command, the controllers and battery backup units (BBU) go into ship mode, but the ERR LEDs on both control modules remain ON (red light).On a Controller Failover, the Following Erroneous Message Might Appear On the Console or Group Manager
During a controller failover, fan failure messages similar to the following might be falsely reported on the console or Group Manager: Multiple fans are operating outside of acceptable speed ranges. This condition occurs rarely, and when it does, the fans go to a higher speed and then come back to the normal speed in approximately 10 to 15 seconds.
Networking
Member Cannot Detect IPV6 Group Address Automatically If the Group Name Is Numeric
If you create a group with a numeric name, you must also provide the IPv6 well-known address (WKA) to join the group.Use TLS with OpenLDAP Port 389
Use TLS with OpenLDAP with the default port of 389 and not with port number 636 as mentioned on the OpenLDAP faq webpage.
Replication
Confusing Error On Replication Test Partnership Page
While using replication, on the test partnership page if you test an IPv4 partner on a group configured for IPv6, the following error is displayed: Internal Error, could not complete tests. The intended error should be: Unable to communicate because both sides of the replication partnership must use the same IP version.Update the Pool Mapping Entry If You Move Delegated Space
When you move delegated space from one pool to another pool for a partner, the pool mapping entry (if any) does not automatically get updated. You must manually change the pool mapping.
User Interface
Launching Group Manager as an Application Generates Exception
If you launch Group Manager as an application, when you click Run, the following error might display: Error. Click here for details. When you click for details, the error Illegal Argument Exception is displayed. This error can be ignored, because Group Manager will still successfully launch as an application. Click Ignore to continue.Group Manager GUI and CLI Provide Different Options When Creating Thin Clones
When you create a thin clone, the default for the Group Manager CLI is different from the default for the GUI. The CLI puts the clone of the template into the same folder as the template. The GUI defaults to not putting the clone into any folder, but allows you to check a box and select a folder.Rear View Power Supply Status Reported Incorrectly
Group Manager does not show the latest information on rearview power supply status. If you switch to the front view, and then back to the rear view, the correct status will display.GUI Logout Event Does Not Ooccur in MacOS Environments With Safari Browser Only
When using a macOS with the Safari browser only, the GUI logout event is not generated when the logout operation is performed.Using the GUI With Tabbed Web Browsers
You can run multiple instances of the Group Manager GUI in separate tabs. When running multiple GUI instances, Dell recommends that you launch the GUI instances one at a time to avoid scenarios in which multiple login dialog boxes are displayed at the same time. Otherwise, the Javamachine might become unresponsive and the browser application must be restarted.
In Firefox, you can run only one instance of Group Manager in a browser window.JAWS Screen Reader Issues
- JAWS Screen Reader Software Reads Coding Tags—When SyncRep is configured, a SyncActive volume is created as well as the SyncAlternate volume. You can disconnect the SyncActive volume by selecting a volume configured for SyncRep, Activities > SyncRep .
- Attempting to disconnect the SyncActive volume opens a dialog box and the JAWS screen reader software reads the tags, such as P left brace padding…, before finishing with the contents of the dialog box.
- JAWS Screen Reader Does Not Read the Validation Column in the Replica Set Placement Tab—The Manage Delegated Space – Replica Set placement tab contains a Validate Primary Pool Names button. When this button is activated, it tries to validate the pool names specified in the table with those on the partner. The Validation column of the table is updated to reflect the status of each user-supplied pool. At this time, JAWS does not read this column.
- JAWS Reads HTML Tags for All Columns in Virtual Machines and Virtual Disk Tables—In VMware virtual machines, the HTML tags are read for all the columns in the Virtual machines and Virtual disk tables.
Error Displays When You Run Group Parameters
If you log in to the CLI as the pool administrator, and run the grpparams vss-vds access-policy show or grpparams vss-vds access- policy-group show command, the following error is displayed: Error: Too many parameters.
Virtual Volumes
Do Not Modify or Delete ACLs Associated to the PE
Using the CLI, users can inadvertently eliminate access to the protocol endpoint (PE), and impact their intended VVol access rules. Dell has placed many restrictions on CLI operations to prevent inadvertent misconfigurations, although they might still occur. For this reason, Dell requires the use of VSM (Virtual Storage Manager) for the creation or manipulation of ACL rules for protocol endpoints (associated with VVols).
If an access rule is inadvertently removed using the CLI, it will become immediately obvious by inspecting the specific PS group being managed by VSM and navigating to the Manage > Protocol Endpoint screen. Any ESX host without access to the PE will be labeled with a red exclamation point (!). You can press the allow button to allow access again for this host or any other chosen hosts.Group Manager Does Not Display Virtual Machine Description Information
The Virtual Machine description column in Group Manager displays as empty. The value can be retrieved from the vCenter UI by accessing the Summary field under the Notes tab.ESXi Support for Unmap with PS Arrays
Unmap support requires the use of the command line utility esxcli in order to perform unmap operations on VMFS Datastores. This includes ESXi v6.5 Datastores. ESXi does not support unmap with PS series arrays in the following three cases:
- The EQL volume is replicated. (SYNC or ASYNC). This restriction is true for all operating systems supporting unmap.
- The VMFS Datastore was updated from VMFS v3.x to VMFS v5.0. It must be formatted at VMFS v5+ in order to support unmap
- ESXi v6.5 offers VMFS automatic unmap on VMFS v6.x Datastores. However, VMware requires that the unmap granularity be 1MB or less. PS Series arrays use an unmap granularity of 15 MB.
- ESXi v6.7 update 2 adds support for VMFS6 automatic unmap processing on storage arrays and devices that report to ESXi hosts an unmap granularity value greater than 1 MB. On arrays that report granularity of 1 MB and less, the unmap operation is supported if the granularity is a factor of 1 MB.
Volumes
Error When Deleting Volume With Multiple Snapshots Online
If you attempt to delete a volume with multiple snapshots online, the following (incorrect) error is generated: No Snapshot exists for volume_name.