Prepare Unity Storage

You must work with your RSA EMC Storage Engineer to allocate storage within your Unity environment for the NetWitness Platform and ensure the allocated storage meets all of the NetWitness Platform Storage Requirements. Specifically, make sure that:

  • You have at least two LUNS created for Decoders (meta /session and packet volumes).
  • You have at least two LUNS created for Concentrators (index and meta volumes).
  • Ensure block devices can meet the minimum IOPS for expected ingestion rates.

You must add every NetWitness host that uses the Unity storage as a host within the Unity interface. After you create hosts and LUNs, you must assign the LUNs to the hosts. Assigning the LUNs to hosts makes the storage visible to the hosts so they can locate the storage through the host-based RSA EMC PowerPath software.

Note: A RSA EMC engineer will configure the following Unity Array.

You need to perform the following tasks to prepare Unity Storage.

Task 1 - Access Unisphere User Interface (UI)

Task 2 - Create Pools

Task 3 - Create LUNS

Task 4 - Register Hosts

Task 5 - Assign LUNS to Hosts

Task 6 - Install PowerPath

Task 1 - Access Unisphere User Interface (UI)

  1. Connect your workstation on the same subnet as the UNITY.
  2. Open a browser and go to http://<unisphereIP> to connect to the Unisphere UI.
  3. Log in with the credentials provided by the RSAEMC CE. The default credentials are admin/Password123#.

    Note: Unisphere will ask you to change password the first time log in. It also asks you to install the license before you can configure array (RSAEMC CE may do this for you. You must get the new admin password from them).

    netwitness_finalunity-1.png

    After you log in to Unisphere, the main dashboard is displayed.
    netwitness_finalunity-2.png

Task 2 - Create Pools

The NetWitness configuration consists of two different pools. One pool is dedicated to the NL-SAS drives and the other pool is dedicated to the SSDs.

  1. From Storage Section,click > Pools > netwitness_add.png (Add) to launch the Create Pool Wizard.
    netwitness_finalunity-3.png
  2. Enter in a name for the pool (for example, NLPool) and click Next. Optionally, you can also enter a description for the pool.
    netwitness_finalunity-4.png
  3. Select Capacity Tier under Tier for the tier type (drive type) and click Change.
    netwitness_finalunity-5.png

  4. Choose the RAID type and from the drop down and select the RAID size.
    The RAID type and size are a customer preference. The only requirement is to make sure you have enough IOPS within the pool to accommodate the log or packet capture and queries. In the following example, a RAID 5 (8+1) configuration is selected, however some customers may prefer a RAID 6 (10+2 or 12 +2).

  5. Make sure you have the correct Raid type and size selected.
    netwitness_finalunity-6.png

  6. Choose the number of drives you want to add into the pool and click Next.
    netwitness_finalunity-7.png
  7. Skip the VMware Capability section and click Next.
    netwitness_finalunity-8.png

  8. Make sure that everything is correct on the Summary tab, and click Finish.

  9. Create another pool for the SSDs using steps 2 – 8.

    1. Enter in a name for theother pool (for example, SDDPool) and click Next. Optionally, you can also enter a description for the pool.

    2. Select Extreme Performance Tier under Tier for the tier type (drive type) and click Change.

    3. Choose the RAID type and from the drop down, select the RAID size, and click OK.

      Note: Raid 5 (4+1) RAID Configuration is different then Capacity Tier.

      netwitness_finalunity-9.png

      Task 3 - Create LUNS

      1. From Storage section, click Block > netwitness_add.png (Add) to launch the Create LUN Wizard.
        netwitness_finalunity-10.png

        The table below list all of the possible LUNS you may need to create. The ConIndex is the only LUN you need to assign to the SSD Pool. Make sure that the LUN sizes do not exceed what is listed below.

        DecoderLarge0175 TB orLessNL PoolNo
        DecoderSmall0120 TB or LessNL PoolNo
        Concentrator0115 TB or LessNL PoolNo
        Archiver0175 TB or LessNL PoolNo

        ConIndex01

        3 TB or Less

        SSD Pool

        No

      1. Enter the LUN Name from the list. Optionally, you can enter a description of LUN.
      2. Select the appropriate pool from the list on the drop-down menu.
      3. Deselect the Thin checkbox (These will be fully provisioned LUNs).
      4. Select Next to proceed to the next menu.
        netwitness_finalunity-11.png
      5. Click Next until you get to the summary section.
      6. Verify that the Name, Pool, Size and Thin selections are all correct.
      7. Click Finish to complete LUN creation.
        netwitness_finalunity-12.png
      8. Repeat steps 2- 8 for the remaining LUN creations.

      Task 4 - Register Hosts

      Before proceeding, record the hostname and IP address of the Head Unit and make sure that the HBAs in the head unit are properly cabled to the UNITY.

      1. From the Access section, click Initiators.
      2. Under the Initiator Paths tab, make sure that the correct HBAs are selected that you will use to register the Head Unit.
        You should see two initiators per Head Unit. This represents the fiber connection from port 1 to SPA and port 1 to SPB. If you have multiple head units, the easiest method is to power each down and then power them up and register one by one.
        netwitness_finalunity-13.png
      3. From the Access section, click Hosts > netwitness_add.png (Add) > Host to add a host configuration.
        netwitness_finalunity-14.png
      4. Enter the Hostname of the Head Unit.
      5. Under Operating System, select Linix from the-drop down menu.
      6. Enter the IP address of the Head Unit.
      7. Click Next to proceed to the next section.
        netwitness_finalunity-15.png
      8. In the Initiators section, select the two initiators that correspond to the correct port associated with the Head Unit and click Next to proceed.
        netwitness_finalunity-16.png
      9. Make sure that the Name, OS, IP and WWNs are correct and click Finish.
        netwitness_finalunity-17.png
      10. Repeat steps 2-9 for all Head Units.

      11. In the Initiators section, select the two initiators that correspond to the correct port associated with the Head Unit. Then click “Next” to proceed.

      Task 5 - Assign LUNS to Hosts

      1. From the Access section, click Hosts, select the head unit (for example, Decoder) and click netwitness_editiconunisphere.png (edit) to view and edit details for the selected host.
        netwitness_finalunity-18.png
      2. In the Properties section, select the LUNS tab and click netwitness_add.png (Add icon).
        netwitness_finalunity-19.png
      3. From the Add LUNs to <Host> popup, click netwitness_add.png > Add existing LUNs.
        netwitness_finalunity-20.png
      4. Select the LUN to add to the Head Unit and OK.
        netwitness_finalunity-21.png
      5. Make sure that the correct LUN was added to the host and click OK.
        netwitness_finalunity-22.png
      1. (OPTIONAL) If you need to modify the HLU (Host LUNN Unique ID):
        1. Select the LUN you want to change.
        2. Click Modify Host LUN IDs.
          netwitness_finalunity-23.png
      1. Click netwitness_editiconunisphere.png (edit), change the HLU to the number you want, and click OK.

      Task 6 - Install PowerPath

      1. Make sure that the Emulex ports on the Decoder host are attached to the Unity.
      2. Log in to root on the Decoder attached to the Unity with the admin credentials.
      3. Install PowerPath and register the RSA EMC PowerPath licenses for Unity hardware.
        yum install RSAEMCPower.LINUX-6.4.0.00.00-95.RHEL7.x86_64.rpm

        Note: When you purchase an NetWitness Provided Unity, PowerPath licenses are sent to you. You can download PowerPath at support.dell.com.

        Note: It is possible that the RPM downloaded from RSA EMC is not signed with a cert that the NetWitness device has available, which can cause the installation to fail with the package not signed error. Run the yum install with the --ngpgcheck option to enable the software to install.

      4. Make sure that all the PowerPath connections are correct.
        powermt display dev=all
        The following output is an example of valid PowerPath connections.
        netwitness_unityrest0.png
      5. Verify that the PowerPath license is installed using the emcpreg command.
        [root@NWAPPLIANCE24932 ~]# emcpreg -list
        Key BQPO-DB4M-VFC2-Q24R-ML9Z-EQTU
        Product: PowerPath
        Capabilities: Al

      6. Add the following string to the /etc/lvm/lvm.conf file to filter the LVM (Logical Volume Manager) so that it ignores duplicate volumes.
        filter = [ "a|^/dev/sda2$|", "a|^/dev/sdb1$|",
        "a|^/dev/emcpower.*|", "r|.*/|" ]

      7. Run the following commands in this order:
        1. systemctl enable PowerPath.service
        2. systemctl start PowerPath.service
      8. Reboot the Decoder.
      9. Complete the instructions in Configure Storage Using the REST API to complete storage configuration.