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Preferred Tier Usage

How Preferred Tier Settings Determine Which Tier to Use

When creating or modifying a virtual machine (VM) disk drive in VergeOS, users can set a Preferred Tier. In most cases, this is left at default, which can be configured under System > System Settings > Default VM Drive Tier. However, the system's behavior when a specified tier does not exist can be unexpected. Here's how VergeOS determines which tier to use in such cases:

  • Setting a preferred tier to a non-existent higher tier:

    • Example: If a user selects Tier 3 in a system that only has Tier 1 and Tier 4 storage available, the system will attempt to pick the next higher (slower) tier. In this case, the system will default to Tier 4.

  • Setting a preferred tier to a non-existent lower tier:

    • Example: If a user selects Tier 3 in a system that only has Tier 1 and Tier 2 storage, the system will pick the next lower (faster) tier. In this case, the system will default to Tier 2.

In both scenarios, VergeOS ensures that the closest available tier is selected based on the user’s preference.

Document Information

  • Last Updated: 2024-08-29
  • vergeOS Version: 4.12.6
  • in vSAN
  • 1 min read

vSAN Encryption Information

You can confirm that the vSAN has encryption enabled by navigating to Nodes> Node 1> Drives and then double-clicking on the first drive in the list. There is a checkbox for encryption.  If it is encrypted, it will be checked.

encryption.png

  • Encryption for the vSAN is configured during the initial installation only.

  • System startup on an encrypted system can be configured two different ways:

  1. The most common method is by having encryption keys written to a USB drive during the initial installation. In this scenario, these drives are typically plugged into the first two nodes of an encrypted system to boot normally. All other nodes do not require them, as Node 1 and Node 2 are the controller nodes. The USB drive does not require much storage at all, less than 1GB.
  2. If the controller nodes do not have USB encryption keys connected, the system will prompt an operator to type the proper encryption password to complete the power-up process.
  • Default encryption is set for all snapshot synchronizations through a site-sync.

Information about encrypting a Site Synchronization can be found in the Product Guide

Document Information

  • Last Updated: 2024-09-03
  • VergeOS Version: 4.12.6

Reasons for Unexpected / Unexplained vSAN Growth

There are several reasons for the vSAN to start growing at a rate faster than anticipated. Administrators should first determine when the unexplained growth occurred by reviewing the vSAN Tiers' growth history, and then assess potential areas for unexpected growth.

Review vSAN Tiers for Growth History

To isolate unexplained growth, it is important to narrow down when the growth increased exponentially. Using the steps below, administrators can review storage growth and visualize normal growth from daily operations versus spikes in growth, which are typically unexpected.

  1. Navigate to the vSAN Tiers from the Main Dashboard. If vSAN Tiers is not present, then this environment is a tenant of a parent system, and the vSAN tier needs to be examined at the parent system.
  2. Open the vSAN Tier with unexpected growth (for example, vSAN Tier 0).
  3. On the left navigation menu, click on History.
  4. A new menu will appear showing history in various graphs. Modify the filter period to isolate any growth on this tier. - It is recommended to start with a custom filter of 1 day and review the Storage Usage graph.

Things to Note:

  • If you see dips and spikes every hour or once a day, this is likely the result of snapshots falling out of retention (old ones expiring, new ones being created). Note whether the total storage consumed at the start of the day is nearly equivalent to the end of the day. If so, expand the custom filter to a week.
  • When reviewing by week, check if the total storage consumed at the start of the week is similar to the end. If, for example, the growth is roughly 10%, repeat for the previous week. If the weekly growth percentage is consistent, this represents your average weekly growth rate, which can help plan for hardware expansion.
  • Filter the current month and check for any sudden spikes in storage consumption on the Storage Usage graph. Click and drag over the time in question to zoom in on the data, and hover over the graph for specific date/time information.

vsan_unexpected_growth.png

Possible Reasons for Storage Increase

Several areas in the VergeOS platform may contribute to unexpected storage growth. Common areas to check include:

  • Cloud Snapshots:
  • Navigate to System > Cloud Snapshots.
  • Are any being held past their expected expiration time?
  • Are there snapshots without a Snapshot Profile? These may have been taken manually. Investigate when and why they were taken.

  • Are any snapshots set to "Never Expire"? This can lead to large data consumption over time.

  • Virtual Machines (VMs) Snapshots:

  • Navigate to the Machines Dashboard. The Snapshots count box shows the number of machine-level snapshots present. Click this box to list all VM snapshots and their creation date/time. Review if any can be removed.

  • Navigate to Machines > Virtual Machines. Sort by the Snapshot Profile column to identify VMs with machine-level snapshots. These are included in the recurring cloud snapshots, so review whether individual snapshots are necessary or if they can be removed.

  • VMWare Backup Jobs:

  • Navigate to Backup/DR > VMware Services and review each VMware Service instance for Backup Job history.

  • On the left menu, click Backup Jobs to review each specific instance. Check the Expires column for each backup and review if it can be removed.

  • Media Images:

  • Navigate to Media Images and sort by Modified. Check if any upload dates/times match the unexplained growth period.

  • Review whether media images, especially other hypervisor formats (e.g., .ova or .vhdx), can be removed.

  • Incoming Site Syncs:

  • Navigate to Backup/DR > Incoming Syncs. Open each Incoming Sync dashboard and check the Received Snapshots count. Investigate the source (origin) site for increased storage matching the timeframe.

  • Tenant Storage:

  • Navigate to Tenants > Each Tenant Dashboard.
  • Review Total Storage Used by clicking on History in the left menu. Follow the same process listed above to review growth history.
  • If unexpected growth is found, investigate within the tenant for the possible causes of storage increase (as listed above), and within any sub-tenants if applicable.

Document Information

  • Last Updated: 2024-09-03
  • VergeOS Version: 4.12.6

Scaling Up a vSAN

To scale up a vSAN, follow the steps below. However, before proceeding, ensure that your current vSAN has at least 50% free capacity. If the free capacity is less than 50%, and you are not doubling the number of drives, you will need to scale out by adding a node to the vSAN.

Steps to Scale Up

  1. Physically add the drives into the available empty slots on the node you want to scale up.

  2. Log in to the host system's UI and select the appropriate cluster you want to scale out from the top compute cluster section on the home page.

  3. Select the node that you are scaling up.

  4. Refresh the system to recognize the new drives: - Select Refresh from the left menu, and choose Drives & NICs from the dropdown. - Confirm by selecting Yes.

  5. Select the Scale Up option on the left menu.

  6. The page will now show the newly inserted drives in an offline state. Select the drive(s), then under Node Drives, select the Scale Up function.

  7. Select the appropriate tier for the drive(s) and submit.

scaleupvsan5.png

Important

  • All drives in a tier must be alike. If a drive of an incorrect size is added to an existing tier, the tier will only be able to use the space of the smallest drive.
  • Ensure that your vSAN has at least 50% free capacity unless you are doubling the capacity. If the free space is less than 50% and you are not doubling the drive count, consider scaling out by adding a node.

Upon completion, the screen will refresh and the drives will disappear from the view. Go back to the main page, where you will see the vSAN tiers change color to yellow, indicating that it is in a repair state. This is expected, and the vSAN will return to a green/healthy state after a few minutes, showing the newly added tier or increased space on an existing tier.

Repeat these steps for each node as necessary.

Document Information

  • Last Updated: 2024-08-29
  • vergeOS Version: 4.12.6

How To Identify a Failed Disk In Your VergeOS Environment

VergeOS offers a diagnostic function that allows system administrators to turn a disk drive's LED light on or off, making it easier to physically identify a failed or problematic drive. Follow the steps below to locate a failed disk drive for replacement.

Steps to Identify a Failed Disk

  1. Log in to the VergeOS UI and navigate to the dashboard of the node where the failed disk resides.
  2. On the Node Dashboard, locate and select Diagnostics from the left-hand column.
  3. In the Diagnostics page, change the Query to LED Control (Drive).
  4. In the LED Control (Drive) details section:
    • Path: Enter the path to the drive you want to locate (e.g., /dev/sdb). If you're unsure of the path, check the system alerts and logs for recent error or warning messages.
    • State: Set the LED state to On, then click Send to activate the LED light on the drive.
  5. Locate the drive with the active LED indicator in your physical server.
  6. Once the drive has been identified and replaced, set the State to Off and click Send to deactivate the LED light.

For detailed instructions on drive replacement, refer to the Maintenance section in the inline help under Drive Replacement. This section guides you through the entire process.

Document Information

  • Last Updated: 2024-08-29
  • vergeOS Version: 4.12.6