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Dell PowerStore Operate study materials
Dell PowerStore Operate study resources

Dell PowerStore Operate: Host Connectivity, SAN, and NAS Configuration

Dell PowerStore Operate · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Host Connectivity, SAN, and NAS Configuration

This domain tests how hosts reach block volumes and how clients reach file shares. You need the host object model, supported protocols, multipathing, zoning, and the NAS server hierarchy that must exist before a share or export can be created.

Block connectivity

  • A host object holds one or more initiators: WWPNs for FC, IQNs for iSCSI, or NQNs for NVMe-oF. Host groups collect hosts that need the same volumes, typically a cluster.
  • Supported front-end protocols include 32/16 Gb FC, 10/25 GbE iSCSI, and NVMe-oF (FC and TCP on current PowerStoreOS). The array is active-active, so all paths to both nodes can carry I/O.
  • FC zoning should be single-initiator, single-target: zone each host HBA with one port on each node, not a host port to the whole SAN.
  • iSCSI supports one-way and mutual CHAP; use consistent jumbo-frame settings end to end or leave them off everywhere.
  • Use PowerPath or native MPIO with a supported path policy; a host with one path is a host with one failure domain.

File connectivity

  • A NAS server is the file-level container. It needs network interfaces on the file VLAN before file systems, SMB shares, or NFS exports can be created.
  • SMB requires the NAS server to join AD or use local users, and depends on correct DNS and NTP.
  • NFS exports control access by client IP or subnet; Kerberos security requires supporting realm configuration.

Worked example

A Linux host cannot see its LUN. Check, in order: the host IQN is registered in the host object; the volume is mapped to that host or its host group; the iSCSI session is logged in to both node addresses; the LUN ID matches; and multipath shows both paths. If the session exists but the device is missing, the mapping or LUN is usually the cause, not the fabric.

Traps that cost marks

  • Zoning a host HBA to only one node port, then calling the resulting single path a multipath configuration.
  • Creating a share before the NAS server has an interface, or joining AD with broken DNS or NTP.
  • Mapping to the wrong host object because the initiator was never added.