Dell Fluid File System Version 6.0 Support Matrix
This document provides information about supported software and hardware configurations, as well as usage requirements and recommendations for Dell FluidFS v6.x products.
Revision History
Document Number: 680-116-002
| Revision | Date | Changes from previous revision |
|---|---|---|
| A | February 2017 | Initial release of FluidFS v6.0 |
| B | March 2017 | Added ports 3033 and 9445 |
| C | July 2017 | Updated supported NDMP applications Minimum SC version updated to 6.5.30 |
| D | December 2017 | Level-based backups for EMC Networker Dell Storage Manager 2016 R3.1 |
| E | May 2018 | Added performance metrics disclaimer Updated supported NDMP sessions |
| F | September 2019 | Updated Storage Center Models Maintenance release 6.0.300135 |
| G | February 2021 | Maintenance release 6.0.400016 |
| H | June 2021 | Update snapshot metrics Maintenance release 6.0.500135 |
| I | June 2021 | Corrections to software update path table |
Contacting Dell Support
Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options. Availability varies by country and product, and some services might not be available in your area.
To contact Dell for sales, technical support, or customer service issues, go to Dell.com/support.
- For customized support, type your system service tag on the support page and click Submit.
- For general support, browse the product list on the support page and select your product.
- Have your HSN/SSN number, case number, service tag, or Express Service Code available to validate support coverage.
Chapter 1: Introduction
FluidFS software supports FS8600 systems. The performance-related metrics in this document might not always be reachable due to specific combinations of workload and/or dataset characteristics resulting in specific resource utilization.
Glossary
The following table defines the terms that are used in this document:
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| FluidFS—FluidFS firmware | A special-purpose, Dell-proprietary operating system providing enterprise-class NAS services using SAN storage systems |
| FluidFS controller | A Dell hardware device capable of running the FluidFS firmware |
| NAS (FluidFS) appliance | A Dell hardware product containing two FluidFS controllers in a single enclosure |
| FluidFS system/cluster | Multiple FluidFS controllers who are appropriately connected and configured together into a single functional unit |
| NAS pool | The Storage Center system LUNs (and their aggregate size) allocated and provisioned to a FluidFS system |
| NAS volume | File system (single-rooted directory/folder and file hierarchy), defined using FluidFS management functions over a portion of the NAS pool |
| SMB share | A file system subhierarchy available to SMB clients using the SMB protocol |
| NFS export | A file system subhierarchy available to NFS clients using the NFS protocol |
Chapter 2: FluidFS Models and Platforms
The tables in this section list the platforms, features, and configurations supported by the Storage Center systems.
The following table lists the supported platforms and configurations:
| Feature | FS8600 FC | FS8600 iSCSI |
|---|---|---|
| Client interface and speed | 1 GbE | 10 GbE |
| Memory per controller (GB) | 24 | 24 or 48 |
| Client ports - per appliance | 8 | 4 |
| SAN storage interface and speed | 8 Gb | 10 GbE |
| SAN ports per appliance | 8 | 4 |
| Ethernet network port type | RJ45 | SFP+-Intel modules only |
| Storage Center version | 6.5.30 or later | |
| Dell Storage Manager version | 2016 R3.1 or later | |
| Storage Center models | SCv2080, SCv3000, SCv3020, SC4, SC4020, SC5020, SC7020, SC8000, and SC9000 | |
| Maximum NAS appliances—per system | 4 appliances—8 controllers | |
| Maximum Storage Center systems in a NAS pool | 8 | |
| Maximum NAS pool size | 4 PB | |
ⓘ NOTE: Dell recommends running the latest supported Storage Center Operating System version for each connected Storage Center. See the Storage Center documentation for the latest version information.
The following table lists the maximum sizes that are supported in the NAS pool and the global namespace:
| Feature | Maximum Size |
|---|---|
| Per Storage Center | 3 PB—depends on Storage Center model |
| NAS pool capacity | 4 PB |
| FluidFS global namespace | 20 PB |
ⓘ NOTE:
- The actual limits per Storage Center system depend on the Storage Center models, configurations, and firmware versions.
- The total capacity of the NAS pool is 4 PB. The global namespace can reach 20 PB with five FluidFS clusters using redirection folders.
Topics:
- Supported Hardware Upgrades
Supported Hardware Upgrades
The following sections provide information about hardware upgrades.
1 GbE FC to 10 GbE FC Controller Upgrade
FS8600 1 GbE FC configurations can be upgraded to 10 GbE FC by replacing the network interface cards (NICs). Contact Dell Technical Support for details about this upgrade.
24-GB and 48-GB Appliances
The 48-GB FS8600 appliance supports 48-GB controllers only. The 24-GB FS8600 appliance supports 24-GB and 48-GB controllers; however, 48-GB controllers in a 24-GB appliance are limited to 24 GB.
Appliance Replacement
A 24-GB FS8600 appliance can be replaced with a 24-GB or 48-GB appliance.
A 48-GB FS8600 appliance can be replaced with a 48-GB appliance only.
ⓘ NOTE: All appliances in the system must be equal in terms of client connectivity type (1 GbE or 10 GbE), storage connectivity type (FC or iSCSI), and port count.
System Expansion (Adding Appliance)
A 24-GB FS8600 FluidFS system can be expanded by adding either a 24-GB or 48-GB appliance. If the system includes a 48-GB FS8600 appliance, the system can be expanded by adding a 48-GB appliance only.
All appliances in the system must have the same client connectivity type (1 GbE or 10 GbE), storage connectivity type (FC or iSCSI), and port count.
Chapter 3: Software Update Paths
The following table lists the supported update paths for FS8600 systems, following the release of version 6.0.500135. If a better update path becomes available, a version in the Next Supported Version column might be removed from the table.
| Current (Base) Version | Next Supported Version |
|---|---|
| 6.0.400016 | 6.0.500135 |
| #6.0.310011 | 6.0.400016 |
| 6.0.300135 | 6.0.400016 or 6.0.500135 |
| 6.0.140010 | 6.0.300135 or 6.0.400016 |
| #6.0.120023 | 6.0.140010 |
| 6.0.110054 | 6.0.300135 |
| #6.0.000039 | 6.0.140010 |
| 6.0.003169 | 6.0.140010 |
| # 6.0.003162 | 6.0.110054 |
| 5.0.400014 | 6.0.110054 or 6.0.500135 |
| 5.0.300109 | 5.0.400014 or 6.0.003169 |
| 5.0.200081 | 5.0.400014 or 6.0.003169 |
| 5.0.100128 | 5.0.400014 |
| 5.0.002821 | 5.0.400014 |
| 4.0.300098 | 5.0.400014 |
| 4.0.230030 | 5.0.400014 |
| # 4.0.220058 | 4.0.230030 or 5.0.400014 |
| 4.0.210020 | 5.0.400014 |
| 4.0.200700 | 4.0.300098 |
| # 4.0.110064 or 4.0.120016 | 4.0.210020 |
| 4.0.100714 | 4.0.300098 |
| 4.0.003214 | 4.0.300098 |
| #3.0.941005 or 3.0.942004 | 4.0.300098 |
| 3.0.940120 | 4.0.300098 |
| 3.0.930714 | 3.0.940120 |
| #3.0.921013 or 3.0.922022 | 3.0.930714 |
| 3.0.920760 | 3.0.940120 or 4.0.300098 |
| 3.0.911021 | 3.0.920760 or 3.0.940120 |
| 3.0.910390 | 3.0.920760 |
| #3.0.8700 or 3.0.8701 | 3.0.920760 |
| Current (Base) Version | Next Supported Version |
|---|---|
| 3.0.8690 | 3.0.920760 or 3.0.940120 |
| 2.0.7680 | 3.0.920760 or 3.0.940120 |
| 2.0.7630 | 3.0.920760 or 3.0.940120 |
| 2.0.7170 | 2.0.7680 or 3.0.920760 |
| 2.0.7040 | 2.0.7680 |
| 2.0.6940 | 2.0.7680 |
| 2.0.6730 | 2.0.7680 or 3.0.920760 |
| 2.0.6110 | 2.0.7680 |
| 2.0.5110 or 2.0.5120 | 2.0.7680 |
# - Limited availability version. If you are running one of these versions, contact Dell Technical Support for assistance in updating your FluidFS system.
Chapter 4: FluidFS File-System Metrics
The following tables list the maximum supported configurations.
ⓘ NOTE: The system does not always prevent you from or warn you about exceeding these numbers.
| Feature | Maximum per FluidFS System |
|---|---|
| NAS volumes | 1024 |
| Cloned volumes from a volume | 1000 |
| Files and/or directories | 10 billion |
| Files in a directory | 1,000,000 |
| Directory depth levels | 1000 |
| Open files (per appliance) | 250,000 (24-GB appliance) / 800,000 (48-GB appliance) |
| File size | 128 TB |
| Number of local ACLs | 180 per file |
| Cloned files from single file | 1,048,576 |
| Minimum file size for file cloning | 4 KB |
| Minimum file size for data reduction | 64 KB |
| Snapshot creation and expiration rate | Up to 300 per hour* |
| Number of local users | 1000 |
| Number of local groups | 1000 |
| Maximum number of ADS entries per file | 5000 |
| Maximum number of file-access notification policies | 1024 |
*Snapshot creation and expiration rate
FluidFS supports from 20 to 300 snapshots per hour system-wide (across all NAS Volumes). The supported number of snapshots per hour varies based on the following factors:
- Load on the system. When a snapshot is expired on FluidFS, the background reclaimer process crawls the file system to reclaim space to the NAS pool. If UNMAP is enabled, the process also UNMAPs space on the SAN backend. The reclaimer process is resource-intensive, and if there is a large amount of load on the system, fewer snapshots per hour should be used to prevent the snapshot reclaimer from affecting end users.
- Load on the system from external SMB and NFS clients. If the system is under heavy load to service SMB or NFS clients, it will have less system resources available for snapshot expiry. For systems under heavy load, fewer snapshots per hour should be used.
- Load on the system from FluidFS Replication or NDMP backups. For systems under heavy load due to replication or NDMP backups, fewer snapshots per hour should be used.
- The capabilities of the backend SAN. FluidFS clusters that are using a backend SAN with SSDs can support more snapshots per hour than backend SANs using slower spinning disks.
- Content of the snapshots. When snapshots are expired, the snapshot reclaimer crawls the file system to locate freed blocks. Depending on the content of the snapshots, the reclaimer could take more or less resources to expire them. The resources that the snapshot reclaimer uses to expire snapshots is based on:
- Amount of data that is unique to the snapshot that is being expired. Snapshots that contain a larger total amount of data take more resources to expire.
- The makeup of the data. Snapshots which contain many small files result in a more randomized access pattern and take longer to expire and consume more system resources. Snapshots with large files being reclaimed result in a more sequential access pattern and consume less system resources.
- Potential inode imbalance between file system domains. If there are FluidFS File System Domains which contain a disproportionately larger number of inodes than other File System Domains, the snapshot takes longer to expire, as the reclaimer process could be bottlenecked on one File System Domain.
| Feature | Maximum per NAS Volume/System |
|---|---|
| NAS volume size | Available NAS pool (minimum 20 MB) |
| Snapshots | 10,000 / 100,000 |
| Snapshot schedules | 1024 / 1024 |
| Redirection folders | 1024 / 1024 |
Chapter 5: Client Network Capabilities
The following table lists the supported subnets and VLANs.
| Feature | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Subnets / VLANs | 400 |
| VIPs per system | 400 |
| Static routes | 400 |
| Flat (non-routed) clients | 1000 |
Chapter 6: Customer Environment Management Protocols
The following tables list the supported levels for identity management servers and interfaces:
| Functionality | Service Provider | Supported Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| Active Directory/Native | Microsoft AD Windows 2008R2, 2012R2, 2016 | Directory service Kerberos5 authentication Domain trusts |
| Active Directory/LDAP | Microsoft AD Windows 2008R2, 2012R2, 2016 | Directory service Kerberos5 authentication |
| Active Directory | Samba | Not supported |
| OpenLDAP/LDAP | OpenLDAP | Directory service |
| NIS2 | Linux/UNIX | Directory service |
| NIS3—NIS+ | Any | Not supported |
ⓘ NOTE: Authenticated bind to an LDAP server requires Domain or OU Administrator credentials and must be allowed by the LDAP server.
| Functionality | Service Provider | Maximum Servers |
|---|---|---|
| Active Directory preferred controller | Microsoft AD Windows 2008R2, 2012R2, 2016 | 10 |
| LDAP/NIS server | Any Linux or UNIX server | 10 |
| DNS server | Any | 10 |
| NTP server | Any | 10 |
Chapter 7: SMB Support
FluidFS version 6 supports SMB1, SMB2, SMB2.1, SMB3, and SMB3.1 protocols.
ⓘ NOTE:
- Lower-than-maximum SMB level connections are also supported.
- Setting ACL from Linux SMB clients is not supported.
Supported SMB Configurations
Each appliance can support a certain number of concurrent (active) SMB connections, even if one of the controllers is not available. The following table lists the supported SMB configurations.
| Feature | Maximum Value |
|---|---|
| SMB share name | 80 bytes¹ |
| SMB shares | 1024 per volume / 1024 per system |
| Concurrent connections | 10,000 per 24-GB appliance 30,000 per 48-GB FS8600 appliance |
| Concurrent active connections | 5000 per appliance |
| Large MTU (up to 256 KB) connections | 50 per 24-GB controller Unlimited per 48-GB FS8600 controller |
| Maximum file size for branch cache hash calculations | 256 MB |
¹ Share names are kept as UTF-8 characters, which might, depending on the character set used, consume multiple bytes. Therefore, the actual maximum length depends on the character set used.
Chapter 8: NFS Support
FluidFS version 6.x supports NFSv3, NFSv4, and NFSv4.1 protocols only. NFSv2 clients are not supported.
ⓘ NOTE:
- Lower-than-maximum NFS level connections are also supported.
- For NFSv4 clients, only Active Directory authentication is currently supported. See Customer Environment Management Protocols.
- For NFSv4 clients, AUTH_SYS, Krb5, Krb5i, and Krb5p modes are supported.
| Client OS | Maximum per NAS Volume / System |
|---|---|
| NFS exports | 1024 / 1024 |
| NFS ACLs per export | 100 |
| NFS connections (per appliance) | 16,000 |
Chapter 9: FTP Support
FluidFS version 6.x supports both anonymous FTP configurations (user name=anonymous, password=email_address), and authenticated FTP configurations (with either a single landing directory, or a home-folders structure with a directory per authenticated user).
Each appliance can support the following number of concurrent (active) FTP connections, even if one of the nodes or controllers is not available.
| Feature | Maximum Value |
|---|---|
| Concurrent FTP connections | 800 per appliance |
Chapter 10: User and Group Quotas
The following table lists the maximum number of supported quota rules per NAS volume for each system.
| Feature | Maximum per System |
|---|---|
| Quota rules | 1024 |
| Quota usage entries | 100,000 |
| Quota directories | 30,000 |
ⓘ NOTE:
- Quotas for Active Directory (AD) and NIS/LDAP users are independent of each other, even if users are mapped automatically or manually. For NAS volumes with mixed security styles, separate quotas should be set for AD and NIS/LDAP users.
- For NAS volumes with NTFS or UNIX style permissions, one unique quota should be set for each user. For mapped users, the usage and limits are applied using the target identity and are shared with the native Windows or UNIX account.
- In general, Dell recommends using the NTFS security style in mixed environments.
Chapter 11: FluidFS Replication
Note the following information regarding FluidFS replication:
- Replication can be performed from FluidFS v5.x to FluidFS v6.x. Replication between systems running different major versions should be performed only during a short-term update, and is not recommended as a normal operating state.
- Replication partners can differ in network interface speeds (1 Gb or 10 Gb) or in memory size (24 GB or 48 GB).
The following table lists replication-compatible systems, assuming they satisfy all other conditions:
| Attribute | Support |
|---|---|
| Maximum number of replication partners | 100 |
| Maximum number of replicated NAS volumes | 1024 |
| Maximum number of concurrent replications (rest are queued) | 10 outgoing and 100 incoming |
| Maximum replication schedules (as source) | 1024 |
| Maximum number of replication bandwidth limiter policies | 100 |
| Single NAS volume to multiple NAS volumes | Up to 10 targets per source |
| Cascading replication of a NAS volume | Up to a depth of 5 |
The following table lists the supported FluidFS replication TCP ports. These target-system ports must be accessible through any firewall from the source system.
| Functionality | Port Numbers |
|---|---|
| Partnership setup | 9445 |
| Management | 10560 or 3260 (configured during partnership setup) |
| Data |
Chapter 12: VMware and the FluidFS VAAI Plugin
The FluidFS VAAI plugin supports the following VAAI NAS Primitives and allows offloading them to the underlying FluidFS system:
- Full File Clone—Offloads the creation of a virtual disk full clone
- Fast File Clone (Native Snapshot)—Offloads the creation of virtual machine snapshots
- Extended Statistics—Enables visibility into space usage on FluidFS datastores
The FluidFS VAAI plugin supports ESXi versions 6 and 6.5 (NFS3 only).
ⓘ NOTE: The FluidFS VAAI NAS plugin supports single-level native snapshots only.
Chapter 13: Integration with Third-Party Products
This section provides information about supported third-party applications:
Topics:
- Anti-virus Applications
- Backup and Restore – NDMP
- File Access Notification (Governance)
Anti-virus Applications
The following table lists the supported anti-virus applications:
| Vendor | Product |
|---|---|
| Kaspersky | Anti-Virus 8.0 for Windows Servers Enterprise Edition Kaspersky Security for Windows Server 10 |
| McAfee | VirusScan Enterprise for Storage 1.1.0 |
| Quest | NetVault 11.x for three-way back up |
| Symantec | Protection Engine for NAS 7.5, 7.8 |
| Trend Micro | InterScan Web Security Virtual Appliance (IWSVA) 6.x |
The following table lists the maximum number of supported anti-virus server configurations:
| Feature | Maximum Value per FS8600 System |
|---|---|
| Anti-virus servers | 10 |
Backup and Restore – NDMP
The following table lists the supported backup and restore applications.
| Application | Supported Version | 3-Way NDMP Support |
|---|---|---|
| CommVault Simpana | 11 | Yes |
| EMC Networker | 9 | Yes* |
| Veritas Backup Exec | 2016 | Yes |
| Veritas NetBackup | 7.7 | Yes |
* Level-based incremental backups are supported from the EMC Networker CLI. Token-based backups are not supported.
Refer to the application documentation for the minimal revision/service pack supporting Dell FluidFS systems.
The following table lists the NDMP agent characteristics. Refer to the application documentation for the minimum revision/service pack supporting Dell FluidFS systems.
| Functionality | Supported Range |
|---|---|
| NDMP version | v2, v3, v4 |
| DMA address type | IPv4 only |
| DMA servers configured | Up to 10 |
| Concurrent NDMP sessions per controller | Up to 48 |
| DMA user-name length | 1–63 bytes (accepts Unicode) |
| DMA password length | 1–32 characters |
| Maximum number of include paths for an NDMP job | 32 |
| Maximum number of exclude paths for an NDMP job | 32 |
ⓘ NOTE: Your environment should allow ICMP (ping) traffic between the FluidFS controllers' private IP addresses (not the access VIPs) and the backup server.
File Access Notification (Governance)
The following table lists the supported governance applications.
| Application | Supported Version |
|---|---|
| Varonis DatAdvantage | 6.3 |
Chapter 14: Space Pre-Allocation
The following tables provide an estimation of the pre-allocated (reserved) space for various file-system functions. These calculations can help you estimate disk space requirements and space growth of FluidFS systems.
| Allocation per | Reserved space |
|---|---|
| Cluster | 10.4 GB |
| Appliance | 345.5 GB |
| LUN | 4 GB |
| Data Reduction | 0.012% of total space, minimum 16 GB, maximum 256 GB |
| Total space | 0.5% |
The amount of reserved space can also be estimated using the following table.
| NAS Pool Size | Percentage of Reserved Space |
|---|---|
| 10 TB–20 TB | 2.5% – 4.5% |
| 20 TB – 128 TB | 1% – 2.5% |
| > 128 TB | < 1% |
Chapter 15: Services and Ports
FluidFS systems provide and access services through the ports listed in the following tables. Firewall settings should allow communication to and from these ports. Actual ports used depend on the enabled protocols and features. All port numbers are fixed unless specified otherwise.
The services and ports listed in the following tables are accessed by FluidFS systems on the client network.
| Port Number | Protocol | Function / Service Name |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | TCP and UDP | File Transfer Protocol (FTP/FTPS) |
| 22 | TCP | Support Access (SSH) |
| 111 | TCP and UDP | RPC portmapper |
| 161 | UDP | SNMP agent |
| 162 | UDP | SNMP trap |
| 427 | TCP and UDP | Server Location Protocol (SLP) |
| 443 | TCP | HTTPS for SupportAssist |
| 445 | TCP and UDP | SMB |
| 2049 – 2057 | TCP and UDP | NFS |
| 4000 – 4007 | TCP and UDP | NFS statd |
| 4050–4057 | TCP and UDP | Network lock manager (NLM) |
| 5001–5008 | TCP and UDP | NFS mount |
| 5051–5058 | TCP and UDP | NFS quota |
| 9445 | TCP | Replication partnership setup |
| 10000 | TCP | Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) |
| 10560 or 3260 | TCP | Replication |
| 13033 and 3033 | TCP | Dell Storage Manager communications |
| 44421 | TCP | File Transfer Protocol (FTP) |
| 44430–44439 | TCP | Passive FTP/FTPS |
| Port Number | Protocol | Function / Service Name |
|---|---|---|
| 53 | TCP | Domain Name Service (DNS) |
| 88 | TCP and UDP | Kerberos |
| 111 | TCP | RPC portmapper |
| 123 | UDP | Network Time Protocol (NTP) |
| 135 | TCP | Active Directory |
| 138 | UDP | NetBIOS datagram service |
| 139 | TCP | NetBIOS session service |
| 389 | TCP and UDP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) |
| 464 | TCP and UDP | Kerberos |
| 543 | TCP | Kerberos login |
| 544 | TCP | Kerberos shell |
| RPC/portmapper dependent | UDP | Network Information Service (NIS) |
| 636 | TCP and UDP | LDAP over TLS/SSL |
| 749 | TCP and UDP | Kerberos administration |
| 9445 | TCP | Replication partnership setup |
| 1344 | TCP | Antivirus – Internet Content Adaptation Protocol (ICAP) |
| 3268 | TCP | LDAP global catalog |
| 3269 | TCP | LDAP global catalog over TLS/SSL |
| 8443 | TCP | Copilot access (reverse tunnel SSH) |
| 10000 | TCP | Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) |
Chapter 16: Management
This section provides management information for FluidFS systems.
Events
FluidFS can store up to 10 million system and SACL events. The actual amount depends on the amount of storage space configured by the administrator to hold event data.
Multitenancy
FluidFS v6 supports multiple tenants. The following table specifies the limits relating to multitenancy, if the feature is enabled on the system.
| Feature | Maximum Supported |
|---|---|
| Number of tenants per FluidFS system | 100 |
| Local users per tenant | 100 |
| Local groups per tenant | 100 |
| VIPs per subnet per tenant | 16 (but not more than 400 VIPs per system) |
SNMP
FluidFS supports SNMP version 2c and version 3. It also provides a custom MIB for integration with SNMP-based management frameworks. The interface/MIB provides read access to the following data:
- System and controller status
- CPU utilization
- I/O statistics
- NFS statistics
The maximum number of SNMP recipients per system is 10.
