SolidFire Cluster Capacity Test

A SolidFire cluster is the hub of the SolidFire Storage System and is made up of a collection of SolidFire nodes. These nodes are connected over a 10Gb Ethernet network to create a storage cluster ranging from 4 to 100 nodes. The clusters can be expanded by simply adding new nodes as business and application demands dictate. There are two fundamental types of the nodes:

  • Storage node is a collection of volume drives that communicate with each other through the CIPI Bond10G network interface. Volume drives in the nodes contain data blocks and metadata space for data storage and data management. You can create a cluster with new storage nodes, or add storage nodes to an existing cluster to increase storage capacity and performance.
  • Fibre Channel node provides connectivity to a Fibre Channel switch, which you can connect to Fibre Channel clients. Fibre Channel nodes act as a protocol converter between the Fibre Channel and iSCSI protocols; this enables you to add Fibre Channel connectivity to any new or existing SolidFire cluster.

The SolidFire storage system scales up to 100 nodes, provides capacity from 35TB to 3.4PB, and can deliver between 200,000 and 7.5M guaranteed IOPS to more than 100,000 volumes / applications within a single system - increasing overall business productivity through consolidation, automation and granular scalability. These clusters instantly and automatically grow the capacity and performance of the entire system.

If the volume drives and the block drives in the nodes of the cluster lack space, then the data cannot be stored in the target storage system which may lead to critical data loss. To avoid this and to ensure peak performance of the cluster, it is mandatory to monitor the space utilization of the drives periodically. The SolidFire Cluster Capacity test helps administrators in this regard!

This test reports the space available in the volume drives and space that is utilized in the volume drives. This test also reports the utilization of provisioned space. By closely monitoring the space utilization of the volume drives and the block volume drives, administrators may be alerted to potential space crunch.

Target of the test : A SolidFire Storage System

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target SolidFire storage system.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.

Port

The port at which the server listens.

SolidFire API Version

Specify the API version of the SolidFire storage system to be monitored.

SolidFire Username and SolidFire Password

Provide the credentials of a user who has been assigned with a Monitor role to access the SolidFire storage system in the SolidFire Username and SolidFire Password text boxes.

Confirm Password

Confirm the SolidFire Password by retyping it here.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Total block space

Indicates the total amount of space in the block drives of the SolidFire cluster.

GB

 

Used block space

Indicates the total amount of space that was already utilized in the block drives of the SolidFire cluster.

GB

 

Free block space

Indicates the total amount of space that is available for use in the block drives of the SolidFire cluster.

GB

 

Block space usage

Indicates the percentage of space that was already utilized in the block drives of the SolidFire cluster.

Percent

 

Block space free

Indicates the percentage of space that is available for use in the block drives of the SolidFire cluster.

Percent

 

Total metadata space

Indicates the total amount of space that was allocated in the volume drives to store metadata.

GB

 

Used metadata space

Indicates the amount of space that was already utilized to store metadata in the volume drives.

GB

 

Free metadata space

Indicates the amount of space that is currently available for storing metadata in the volume drives.

GB

 

Metadata space usage

Indicates the percentage of space that was already utilized to store metadata in the volume drives.

Percent

 

Metadata space free

Indicates the percentage of space that is currently available in the volume drives to store metadata.

Percent

 

Total provisioned space

Indicates the maximum amount of space that can be provisioned on the volumes of the SolidFire cluster.

GB

 

Used provisioned space

Indicates the total amount of provisioned space in the volume drives that was already utilized.

GB

 

Free provisioned space

Indicates the amount of provisioned space that is currently available for use in the volume drives of the SoliFire cluster.

GB

 

Provisioned space usage

Indicates the percentage of provisioned space that was already utilized in the volume drives of the SolidFire cluster.

Percent

 

Provisioned space free

Indicates the percentage of provisioned space that is still available for use in the volume drives of the SolidFire cluster.

Percent

 

Used metadata space in snapshots

Indicates the amount of space in the volume drives that is used to store unique metadata in the snapshot.

GB

 

Maximum provisionable space

Indicates the maximum amount of space that can be provisioned on the volume drives of the SoliFire cluster.

GB