The Symmetrix DMX Architecture

Symmetrix DMX delivers more performance, higher availability, and more functionality.
The direct matrix design of Symmetrix DMX represents a significant improvement over switch
and bus-based architectures.
Similarly, the Symmetrix Direct Matrix Architecture delivers direct access from the front of the
storage array to the back, guaranteeing the highest possible I/O throughput. There is no
possibility of delay at a bus or switch or hub. Data flow is unimpeded.

Symmetrix DMX Architecture core components are:

Channel Directors (front end director) for host communication; each card have up to 4
ports
Global Memory Directors (Symmetrix cache memory) for I/O delivery from hosts to Disk
Directors, and is divided into regions.
Disk Directors (back end director) for disk communication; have 4 interfaces [C, D, E, and
F] or can handle 7 SCSI ids [0-6]
Disk Drives.

Symmetrix hardware
The shared-model design means that all directors (channel and disk) are autonomous and
work in parallel. It also means that each director, with up to eight PowerPC processors, can
access all regions in the Global Memory Directors.
Because access to the global memory resources in the system is symmetrical, any processor
on a director can participate in any event within the system. Examples of such events include
(but are not limited to) I/O READS and WRITES, error detection and correction, and creation of
remote and local copies of data. The directors can also provide resilience if a fault occurs in
another specified director. This “shared everything” design is a key to delivering consistently
high service levels for performance, availability, and functionality.
The Global Memory Director manages 32 independent global memory regions. The Direct
Matrix Interconnect is a matrix of dedicated high-speed links to all of the system components,
providing unparalleled internal aggregate bandwidth of up to 64GB/sec.

Symmetrix Software
Although the “shared everything” hardware design allows all components to share the
workload, it is the Enginuity storage operating environment that provides intelligence to
Symmetrix systems.
Enginuity is an event-driven storage operating environment that prioritizes multiple
simultaneous events within the system and guarantees quality of service (QoS) for the most
important events. For example, Enginuity ensures that correcting a two-bit error in memory
takes priority over a WRITE request; a READ request takes priority over updating a business
continuance volume (BCV), and so on.
Enginuity also delivers performance, data integrity, and open integration for the Symmetrix
family of storage arrays.
The combination of the Symmetrix multi-processing hardware architecture with the event-
driven Enginuity storage operating environment produces a massively parallel storage system
designed to multi-task numerous simultaneous events.

EMC Symmetrix Enginuity Operating Environment

Enginuity is an event-driven storage operating environment that prioritizes multiple
simultaneous events within the system and guarantees quality of service (QoS) for the most
important events.
This code sits on the Service Processor but also gets loaded on all the Directors during
installation and upgrades. On these Directors is also loaded the BIN FILE (Configuration of the
Symmetrix) along with the Emulation code. The initial Enginuity code load and BIN FILE setup
is performed when the customer first purchases the machine and is customized based on
their SAN environment.
Enginuity Code level [based on the Family of machines]
Enginuity Code Level
Symmetrix Version Models
37XX Symmetrix 2.5 4200, 4400, 4800
50xx Symmetrix 3.0 3100/5100, 3200/5200, 3500/5500
5265/66/67 Symmetrix 4.0 & 4.83330/5300, 3400/5430, 3700/5700 & 3630/5630, 3830/5830,
3930/5930
5567/68 Symmetrix 5.0 & 5.5
5669/70/71 Symmetrix DMX1 & DMX-800,
2 1000, 2000, 3000
5771/72/73 Symmetrix DMX3 & 4
5874 Symmetrix V-MAX V-MAX, V-MAX SE (Single Engine)

The guidelines for Enginuity Code level is as follows.

Example 5671.75.75

First Two digits represent Symmetrix Versions

56 = DMX1/DMX2
The next two digits represent Microcode Family & Major Symmetrix Release.
71 = Microcode Family, Major Symmetrix-DMX Releases for DMX1/DMX2
The next two digits are
Emulation Number designated as EE
The last two digits are
Field Release level Service Processor Code Level (Symmetrix win Version)
Note:-The version of the Enginuity code will define what functionality and features the Symmetrix /
DMX will have for that generation. As the hardware gets better and faster, the Enginuity Code has to
improve and add features to perform along with it.
Note: The multi-protocol channel director and support for FICON, iSCSI and GigE channel connections
require Enginuity level 5670 and higher.

EMC Symmetrix File System (SFS)

Symmetrix File System is an EMC IP and practically only used within the Symmetrix
environment for housekeeping, security, access control, stats collection, performance data,
algorithm selection, etc.
Symmetrix File System (SFS) resides on volumes that have specially been created for this
purpose on the Symmetrix
SFS volumes are created during the initial Enginuity Operating Environment load (Initial
install)
4 Volumes (2 Mirrored Pairs) are created during this process
SFS volumes were introduced with Symmetrix Series 8000, Enginuity 5567 and 5568
SFS Characteristics-
SFS volumes are reserved space, 4 SFS volumes are spread across multiple Disk Directors
(Backend Ports) for redundancy & cannot be mapped to Fiber Directors (now FE – Front-end
Ports)
Symmetrix 8000/DMX/DMX-2 Series: 4 SFS vol X 3GB each (6140CY) = 12 GB
Symmetrix DMX-3/DMX-4: 4 SFS vol X 6GB each (6140CY) = 24 GB
Symmetrix V-Max: 4 SFS vol X 16GB each = 64 GB
SFS vol can’t reside on EFD (Enterprise Flash Drives)/Vault Drives/Save Vol
SFS volumes cannot be moved using FAST v1 and/or FAST v2/Sym Optimizer
SFS vol are specific to a Symmetrix (Serial Number) and don’t need migration
Symmetrix Component-Level Serviceability
Symmetrix DMX provides full component-level redundancy to ensure continuous and
uninterrupted access to information.
The design allows concurrent maintenance of all major components, including:
• Global Memory Director
• Channel Director
• Disk Director
• Disk devices
• Cooling fan modules
• Environmental Control Module
‘Communication Control Module
• Power supplies
• Batteries
• Service processor
To improve serviceability, the Symmetrix DMX directors are mechanically keyed to prevent
insertion to invalid slots.

Symmetrix Data Protection Options

Symmetrix data protection options ensure uninterrupted access to data in the event of a disk
failure. The options listed below can be purchased separately and implemented into the
Symmetrix operation.

Symmetrix DMX Mirrored and Parity RAID Options

Symmetrix Parity RAID technology is a combination of hardware and software functionality
that improves data availability on drives by using a portion of the array to store redundancy
information. This redundancy information, called parity, can be used to regenerate data if a
disk drive becomes unavailable.

Disk mirroring concepts

Mirroring maintains a duplicate copy of a logical volume on two physical disk devices. The
Symmetrix system maintains these copies internally by writing all modified data to both
devices.
Parity RAID (3+1) - A Parity RAID (3+1) configuration consists of Parity Raid Ranks
containing three data volumes and one parity volume. With this approach, effectively 75
percent of the total storage capacity of each Parity RAID group is available for storing data.
Parity RAID (7+1) - A Parity RAID (+i) configuration consists of Parity Raid Ranks containing
seven data volumes and one parity volume. With this approach, effectively 87.5 percent of
the total storage capacity of each Parity RAID group is available for storing data.
Notes: Multiple Symmetrix RAID groups with one configuration can coexist on the same
Symmetrix unit. Symmetrix RAID (3+1) groups and RAID (+i) groups cannot be configured in
the same Symmetrix system although each can be configured together with mirrored
volumes. All logical volumes participating in a Symmetrix RAID group must have identical
storage capacity. A Symmetrix system allows intermixing of different capacity physical disk
devices within a single Symmetrix unit.
RAID 5 (3+1) - A RAID 5(3+1) configuration consists of four Symmetrix devices with data
and parity striped across each device. With this approach effectively of the total capacity of a
RAID 5 device is available for storing data.
RAID 5 (7+1)- A RAID (3+1) configuration consists of eight Symmetrix devices with data and
parity striped across each device. With this approach effectively of the total capacity of a
RAID device is available for storing data.

EMC PowerPath
Channel failover functionality is required to automate failover and failback processes to avoid
interruptions to data access. Without this functionality, a path failure due to a problem with
the host bus adapter, Fibre Channel switch, fibre cable, or Channel Director would create the
potential for the application to go down.
EMC PowerPath provides this functionality. It automatically detects when a path has failed
and notifies the host that there is an inactive path. PowerPath then fails over the existing I/O
request to another active path to maintain data access and application availability.
Once the failed path is fixed or repaired, PowerPath automatically detects that the path has
become active, brings the path back into operation, and automatically starts sending I/O
requests down the now active path.
PowerPath also provides intelligent load balancing to optimize performance and minimize
bottlenecks. All this occurs transparently to the host so the application is not stopped and
data is continuously available.

EMC Business Continuance Software

The TimeFinder and SRDF families of local and remote replication solutions deliver the most
comprehensive and robust suite of replication solutions available.
TimeFinder
TimeFinder is a family of EMC replication products that operate in a single Symmetrix array
and non-disruptively create and manage point-in-time copies of data volumes. TimeFinder
runs in Symmetrix Enginuity but is controlled by TimeFinder software running on an attached
host. It can be administered by the user through Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface,
Symmetrix Management Console (SMC), EMC Control Center (ECC) or Mainframe Enablers.
TimeFinder includes the following sets of products:
TimeFinder/Mirror
TimeFinder/Mirror is the original TimeFinder product that has been in existence for about 12
years. It provides full copies of source volumes through a technique of hardware mirroring.
The target volume for a TimeFinder/Mirror process is a Business Continuance Volume (BCV); a
specially designated volume within the Symmetrix configuration. When a BCV is fully
synchronized with a data device, the BCV is separated or split, and made available to a host
for backup or other host processes.
TimeFinder/Clone
TimeFinder/Clone provides single or multiple point-in-time copies of full volumes or individual
datasets. Cloned data is available to a host immediately upon activation, even if the copy
process has not completed.
TimeFinder/Snap
TimeFinder/Snap provides pointer-only based replicas simultaneously on multiple target
devices from a single source device. With a space saving TimeFinder/Snap only changed data
is written to a pool of save devices. Data reconstruction is from the source device and the
pointers into the change tracking save pool. Data may be copied from a single source device
to as many as 128 target virtual devices.
TimeFinder Consistency Groups
TimeFinder Consistency Groups is a flow control mechanism that is employed to create copies
of source volumes at an instanteous point in time. TF/CG utilizes an Enginuity feature call ECA
(Enginuity Consistency Assist) to momentarily halt writes to source volumes during the
creation of the copy.

Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/Synchronous (SRDF/S) and SRDF/Asynchronous

(SRDF/A) provide mirroring between Symmetrix arrays, which may be a few meters or
thousands of miles apart. By maintaining data at a second site, SRDF/S and SRDF/A facilities
provide rapid business resumption in case of disaster or data center relocation. Traditional
data recovery tasks, such as tape restore and database recovery, which are Labor-intensive,
error-prone, and extremely time-consuming, are eliminated.
SRDF/S and SRDF/A are host (server), operating system, file system, and database
independent. They represent the only solutions of their kind that work simultaneously with
mainframe, UNIX, Windows, and Celerra systems.

Alternative solutions for Long-distance replication

Some IT organizations are reluctant to implement SRDF/S over long distances because
extended distance raises two concerns:
1] Synchronous remote mirrors will inevitably cause a performance problem for any
reasonably active update application.
2] Even if response time is not an issue, the cost of a long-distance, high-bandwidth
communications facility may be too great to make the implementation feasible.
Among the long-distance replication solutions available to Symmetrix users are:
a. Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/Asynchronous (SRDF/A) and
b. Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/Automated Replication (SRDF/AR).
Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/Asynchronous (SRDF/A), designed for both open
systems and mainframe environments, is intended for use over greater distances than are
feasible with synchronous replication technologies. It delivers a consistent and restartable
remote copy of production data at all times, over any distance, with no host application
impact, while minimizing bandwidth requirements. SRDF/A is able to accomplish this because
of EMC’s patented Delta Set architecture. Delta Sets are global-memory-resident collections
of WRITES that have occurred within a specific period of time. Bandwidth is conserved
because Delta Sets allow data to be re-written, and only the final set of updates is sent over
the communications link to the remote site. In addition, SRDF/A allows the administrator to
size communications links to the average WRITE workload rather than the peak workload.

Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/Automated Replication (SRDF/AR) option

Symmetrix, combined with its industry-leading SRDF/S and TimeFinder/Mirror software along
with optional SRDF/AR software, allows users to implement automated regional failover
combined with long distance replication with no data exposure while:
• Masking the effects of distance with respect to performance
• Minimizing communication costs
• Facilitating rapid restart of applications at the recovery site with no data loss
SRDF/AR can be configured in a single-hop or multi-hop Configuration. Single-hop uses two
Symmetrix systems with SRDF/S and SRDF/AR along with TimeFinder/Mirror and automates
the cycling of TimeFinder/Mirror BCVs or the Sources side and sends the scheduled updates to
the Target system.
Multi-hop is implemented by placing by an additional Symmetrix array, with
TimeFinder/Mirror, between the source and target Symmetrix arrays. (Servers are not
required at this intermediate site.) In this way, long-distance, high-capacity bandwidth is
replaced with short-distance, low-capacity, inexpensive bandwidth.
SRDF/AR Multi-hop works as follows:
• SRDF/S maintains data synchronization between the production site and the intermediate
site. A TimeFinder/Mirror BCV is established to the target volume in the intermediate
Symmetrix.
• At regular intervals, the BCV is split from its source, and in turn becomes a source volume,
synchronizing with a target volume in the recovery site. This synchronization is incremental,
so the bandwidth requirements between the intermediate site and the recovery site are far
less than would be required in a non-buffered implementation. Once synchronized, SRDF/S or
SRDF/DM is suspended between the intermediate and recovery sites.
• The BCV is reestablished to its source volume, and is incrementally resynchronized with
updates that occurred while the BCV was synchronizing to the recovery site.
The entire process repeats in an automated fashion by SRDF/AR on an established schedule.
The SRDF/AR capability makes this implementation very easy.
Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/Data Mobility (SRDF/DM) uses an Adaptive Copy mode to
provide data mobility and/or migration between two or more Symmetrix systems. SRDF/DM is
ideal for data exchanges and content distribution. Adaptive Copy mode enables applications
using that volume to avoid propagation delays while data is transferred to the remote site.
SRDF/DM supports all Symmetrix systems and all microcode levels that support SRDF, and
can be used for local or remote transfers.
Note: Unlike full-function SRDF/S, SRDF/DM is not intended for disaster recovery.

SRDF/Consistency Group (SRDF/CG) is a software option designed to ensure the consistency

of data participating in an SRDF family session. Most applications, and in particular database
management systems, have dependent WRITE logic embedded in them to ensure data
integrity if a host processor, software, or storage subsystem fails. An example is a database
update. When a DBMS updates a database, it first writes to the disk containing the log, then
to the actual database dataset, and finally to the log volume to indicate that the update was
made. The three WRITE I/Os (log, database, log again) are related, and each I/O is not issued
until the prior I/O has been successfully completed.
In a remote disk copy environment, data consistency cannot be ensured if one of these I/Os
was remotely mirrored, but its predecessor was not. This could occur, for example, in a rolling
disaster, where a communication loss affects only a subset of the disk controllers that are
performing the remote copy function. EMC’s SRDF/Consistency Group option prevents this
from happening, by intercepting any I/O to a volume that cannot communicate to its remote
mirror. It then suspends the remote mirroring for all volumes defined in the consistency group
before completing the intercepted I/O and returning control to the application. By preventing
independent I/O from being issued by the application, a consistency group implementation
ensures the integrity and consistency of the data at the remote site.

EMC’s ControlCenter
EMC’s ControlCenter family of products automates the monitoring, reporting, and control of a
networked storage infrastructure, with an emphasis on managing resources, networks, and
devices.

EMC resource management products include:

• Automated Resource Manager: for simplified, automated provisioning and alert
management, and consolidation of storage resource operations
• StorageScope: for enterprise-wide storage utilization reporting and planning
• WorkloadAnalyzer: for server, SAN, and storage performance analysis
• Database Tuner: for performance reporting on Oracle, UDB, and Microsoft SQL databases

EMC device management products include:

• Navisphere: for monitoring, provisioning, and reporting on CLARiiON storage arrays
• Common Array Manager: for monitoring and reporting on third-party storage arrays
• Symmetrix Manager: for monitoring, provisioning, and reporting on Symmetrix storage
platforms
• Symmetrix Optimizer: for automatic optimization of volume performance on Symmetrix
Information Safety
Recovery Management & Replication Management:
The software products in these two groups are used for information recovery or information
replication, depending upon how they are deployed. These products include:
• EMC Data Manager (EDM): for automating enterprise-wide backup and recovery for open
systems
• Replication Manager: for automating the management and scheduling of TimeFinder,
SnapView, and third-party data replication products
• Symmetrix Data Mobility Manager: for automating the scheduling and use of remote and
local information replication
• SRDF/TimeFinder Manager: for monitoring and controlling local and remote Symmetrix
mirrors through the ControlCenter console

Access Optimization is achieved with intelligent multi-pathing tools providing automatic

network optimization as business needs and utilization change.
Access optimization products include:
• GeoSpan: for integrated, automated networked storage support for clusters
• Celerra HighRoad: for optimized delivery of files across SAN and NAS networked storage
• PowerPath: for dynamic multi-channel path optimization

StorageScope is a correlated storage utilization reporter.

With StorageScope, we can customize utilization metrics to track and account for your
storage assets any way you need to report on more IT assets.
Identify underutilized or inefficient utilization of storage assets.
Facilitate billing or charge-back operations by application or line of business.
Capacity plan across entire infrastructure to avoid "out of space" errors.
Summarize multi-vendor storage infrastructure in application and business context.
Track historical metrics to predict growth and plan future procurements.
Report on across hosts, switches, arrays, NAS devices, databases
Support for SAN, NAS, and JBOD, server-attached multi-vendor storage reporting on table-
space metrics for Oracle Data-file information for Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase, Informix, and
UDB

Virtual Provisioning
Virtual Provisioning is EMC’s implementation of thin provisioning. Virtual Provisioning allows
users to create large “thin” volumes and present them to the host while consuming physical
storage from a shared pool only as needed.
Symmetrix Virtual Provisioning introduces a new type of host accessible device called a thin
device that can be used in many of the same ways that regular, host accessible Symmetrix
devices have traditionally been used. Unlike regular Symmetrix devices, thin devices do not
need to have physical storage completely allocated at the time the devices are created and
presented to a host. The physical storage that is used to supply drive space for a thin device
comes from a shared thin storage pool that has been associated with the thin device.
A thin storage pool is composed of a new type of internal Symmetrix device called a data
device that is dedicated to the purpose of providing the actual physical storage used by thin
devices.
When a write is performed to a portion of the thin device, the Symmetrix allocates a
minimum allotment of physical storage from the pool and maps that storage to a region of
the thin device including the area targeted by the write. The storage allocation operations
are performed in small units of storage called “thin device extents.” A round-robin
mechanism is used to balance the allocation of data device extents across all of the data
devices in the pool that are enabled and that have remaining unused capacity. The thin
device extent size is twelve 64 KB tracks (768 KB).
When a read is performed on a thin device, the data being read is retrieved from the
appropriate data device in the storage pool to which the thin device is bound.
Virtual Provisioning thin devices are supported for use with all Open Systems platforms that
are qualified for connectivity to EMC Symmetrix DMX and V-Max disk arrays. EMC
Symmetrix Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST), automates tiered storage strategies by
moving workloads between Symmetrix tiers as performance characteristics change over
time. FAST performs system reconfiguration, improving performance and reducing costs,
while maintaining service levels.

Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST)

Designed to work in standard provisioned, non-thin, environments FAST automates the
identification of data volumes for the purposes of relocating application data across
different performance/capacity tiers within an array. FAST proactively monitors workloads at
the volume level in order to identify “busy” volumes that would benefit from being moved to
higher performing drives. FAST also identifies less “busy” volumes that could be relocated
to higher capacity drives, without existing performance being affected. This
promotion/demotion activity is based on policies that associate a storage group to multiple
drive technologies, or RAID protection schemes, based upon the performance requirements
of the application contained within the storage group. Data movement executed during this
activity is performed non-disruptively, without affecting business continuity and data
availability.
FAST uses three distinct algorithms when determining the appropriate tier for a device. The
algorithms, in order of probability, are:
EFD promotion/demotion algorithm
Capacity-based algorithm
FC/SATA cross-tier algorithm
The goal of the EFD promotion/demotion algorithm is to maximize Flash drive utilization
within the array. When complete, the algorithm will have listed all the devices in the array in
order of which devices would be best served being configured on EFD. FAST will then
attempt to place those devices onto Flash drives. The goal of the capacity-based algorithm
is to enforce the FAST policy storage usage rules. A storage group is considered to be in
violation when a higher percentage of devices exist on a tier than is configured in the policy
for that tier. The goal of the FC/SATA cross-tier algorithm is to balance utilization across
Fibre Channel and SATA technologies. Devices are sorted by disk service time, and the most
utilized devices will be moved to the least utilized disks. If Optimizer is also enabled on the
Symmetrix, then the traditional Optimizer algorithm will be used to balance load within a
physical disk group.
There are two methods by which a device will be relocated to another tier: swap or move. A
swap occurs when there is no unconfigured space in the target tier, and results in a
corresponding device being moved out of the target tier. In order to preserve data on both
devices involved in the swap, a single DRV is used. A move occurs when unconfigured space
exists in the target tier. Only one device is involved in a move, and a DRV is not required.
Symmetrix metadevices are moved as a complete entity—metadevice members may not
exist in different physical disk groups.
Management and operation of FAST is provided by EMC Symmetrix Management Console
(SMC), as well as the EMC Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface (SYMCLI).

Virtual LUN
Symmetrix Virtual LUN Technology enables tiered storage strategies by allowing manual
“re-tiering” of data as its value changes over time. Symmetrix Virtual LUN assists with
system reconfiguration, performance improvement and consolidation efforts while
maintaining service levels. Virtual LUN technology, enhanced with Enginuity 5874 for the
Symmetrix V-Max Series, enables transparent, nondisruptive data mobility among storage
tiers within the same array and between RAID protection schemes.
Virtual LUN technology offers two types of data movement: migration to unconfigured space
and migration to configured space. In each case, the migration provides users the ability to
move data between high-performance drives and high-capacity drives, or to populate newly
added drives, with full inter-RAID flexibility.
Virtual LUN technology is supported for both open system and mainframe devices, and
includes support for metavolumes. Virtual LUN technology is fully interoperable with all
other Symmetrix replication technologies – SRDF, TimeFinder/Clone, TimeFinder/Snap, and
Open Replicator. Virtual LUN migrations can be managed via the Symmetrix Management
Console (SMC) graphical interface, or the Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface
(SYMCLI).

Solutions Enabler
EMC Solutions Enabler is software that provides a host with SYMAPI (Symmetrix Application
Programming Interface), CLARAPI (CLARiiON Application Programming Interface) and
STORAPI (Storage Application Programming Interface) shared libraries for use by Solutions
Enabler applications. Solutions Enabler was developed by EMC for storage, system, and
database administrators, and systems engineers. It provides a specialized library of UNIX-
formatted commands, and supports command line entries and scripts to perform
configuration, control, and management operations on devices and data objects in EMC
storage environments. Solutions Enabler software supports both open systems and
mainframe operating systems.
Example Solutions Enabler operations;
Set array-wide metrics.
Control operations on array devices and ports.
Device creation, device provisioning (for host allocation), and creation of device pools for
thin provisioning.
Fully automated storage tiering (FAST).
Optimize array performance.
Manage QOS (Quality of Service) metrics.
Perform virtual LUN migration tasks.
Solutions Enabler software is accompanied with every EMC storage array
(Symmetrix/CLARiiON) that is sold. This is a critical piece of software and fully compatible
with either Symmetrix Enginuity or CLARiiON Flare. Enginuity and Flare are the intelligent
underlying software that drives the storage array operating platform.

Symmetrix Management Console

Symmetrix Management Console (SMC) is a browser-based user interface designed for
configuring and managing Symmetrix arrays. It was developed to concurrently support all
the features of Enginuity™ Version 5671 and later.
SMC presents the functionality of the Solutions Enabler SYMCLI (command line interface) in
a browser interface. SMC is used to perform the following functions;
Manage Symmetrix access controls, user accounts, and permission roles
Discover Symmetrix arrays
Perform configuration operations (create devices, map and mask devices, set Symmetrix
attributes, set device attributes, set port flags, create SAVE device pools)
Manage devices (change device configuration, set device status, reserve devices, duplicate
devices, create/dissolve metadevices)
Manage Fully Automate Storage Tiering (FAST), virtual provisioning, and Auto-provisioning
Groups
Perform and monitor replication operations (TimeFinder®/Mirror, TimeFinder/Snap,
TimeFinder/Clone, SRDF®, Open Replicator)
Monitor alerts
Monitor an application’s performance
Symmetrix Management Console can manage storage related operations from device
creation and provisioning to features such as, FAST, replication configuration and
monitoring. SMC manages physical and virtual storage. SMC operates on Symmetrix arrays
in Mainframe, Open Systems and iSeries environments. SMC manages up to ten Symmetrix
DMX and/or V-Max units, and up to 80,000 storage volumes.
SMC deploys a client/server model where it can be installed in local or remote locations. In a
local installation, the SMC software is installed on the same system as the SYMAPI
(Symmetrix Application Programming Interface) server. In a remote installation, the SMC
software is installed on a system that is connected to the SYMAPI server. The ‘SYMAPI
server’ and ‘base’ license keys are required as part of the installation for use with SMC, and
a Java runtime environment must be enabled on the client browser. SMC is also available as
a virtual appliance for the ESX v3.5 (and later) in the VMware infrastructure.

Symmetrix Performance Analyzer

EMC Symmetrix Performance Analyzer (SPA) is a browser-based tool used to perform
historical trending and analysis of Symmetrix array performance data. SPA was developed
to work with the Symmetrix Management Console (SMC). The SPA interface can open in its
own web window from the SMC menu, or on its own. SPA adds an optional layer of data
collection, analysis, and presentation tools to the SMC implementation. You can use SPA to:
Set performance thresholds and alerts
View high frequency metrics as they become available
Perform root cause analysis
View graphs detailing system performance
Drill down through data to investigate issues
Monitor performance and capacity over time
SPA also provides a “fast lane” to display possible performance road blocks with one click,
and includes export and print capability for all data graphs.

Symmetrix Features for Mainframe

FlashCopy Support
Symmetrix arrays running Enginuity 5772 and earlier support FlashCopy channel commands
through use of z/OS host emulation package that runs as a started task. Symmetrix arrays
running Enginuity 5773 and later have support in Enginuity itself. In other words, a
FlashCopy channel command is sent to the array where the command is executed by
Enginuity.
ESCON support
Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON) is a fiber-optic connection technology that
interconnects mainframe computers, workstations and network-attached storage devices
across a single channel, and supports half duplex data transfers. ESCON may also be used
for handling Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) remote links.
FICON support
Fiber Connection (FICON) is a fiber-optic channel technology that extends the capabilities of
its previous fiber optic channel standard, ESCON. Unlike ESCON, FICON supports full duplex
data transfers and enables greater throughput rates over longer distances. FICON uses a
mapping layer based on technology developed for Fibre Channel and multiplexing
technology, which allows small data transfers to be transmitted at the same time as larger
ones. With Enginuity release level 5670 and later, Symmetrix storage systems support
FICON ports. With the Enginuity service release 5874.207, V-Max supports 8 Gb FICON
connectivity (FICON Express8).
Fibre Channel support
Fibre Channel is a supported option with z/VM and z/Linux.
Extended Address Volume
The ability to utilize volumes that are greater than 65,000 cylinders was provided in z/OS
1.10. EMC Symmetrix V-max arrays utilizing Enginuity 5874.207 support EAVs.

Symmetrix DMX series systems

 DMX800 DMX1000 DMX2000 DMX3000
standard 19inch
scalable rack single-bay dual-bay triple-bay
disk drives 8-120 64-144 128-288 289-576
Raw 84Tb[73.5T
capacity 17.2 Tb 21Tb 42Tb b usable]
FC drive 16-48 16-96
ports 8 or 16 [2Gb/s] [2Gb/s] [2Gb/s] 64 [2Gb/s]
EC IO
ports up to 16 [2Gb/s]
or FICON
ports up to 4 upto 24 upto 48 upto 32

Global upto
memory 4-64Gb 4-128 8-256 256GB

Symmetrix DMX-2 model Symmetrix DMX-2 description

DMX1000-M2 High-performance, single-bay system with single-phase power
DMX1000-P2 Ultra-performance, single-bay system with single-phase power
DMX2000-M2 High performance, dual-bay system with single-phase power
DMX2000-M2-3 High-performance, dual-bay system with three-phase power
DMX2000-P2 Ultra-performance, dual-bay system with single-phase power
DMX2000-P2-3 Ultra-performance, dual-bay system with three-phase power
DMX3000-M2-3 High-performance, three-bay system with three-phase power

The Symmetrix DMX800 hardware architecture & Enginuity operating

environment are the foundation for the Symmetrix storage platform, which
consists of the following:
◆ Symmetrix scalable hardware components
◆ Enginuity-based operating environment functions
◆ EMC Solutions Enabler Applications Program Interfaces (APIs)
◆ Symmetrix-based applications
◆ Host-based Symmetrix applications
◆ Independent Software Vendor (ISV) applications
The relationships among these software layers (and Symmetrix hardware)
are illustrated in Figure

Enginuity services Enginuity provides the following services for the

Symmetrix systems:
◆ Independently manages system resources to intelligently optimize
performance across a wide range of I/O requirements.
◆ Ensures system availability through advanced fault monitoring, detection,
and correction capabilities, and provides concurrent maintenance and
serviceability features.
◆ Interrupts and prioritizes tasks from microprocessors, for example, ensures
that fencing off failed areas takes precedence over other operations.
◆ Offers the foundation for specific software features available through EMC’s
disaster recovery, business continuance, and storage management software.
◆ Provides functional services for both its host Symmetrix systems and for a
large suite of EMC storage application software.
◆ Defines priority of each task including basic system maintenance, I/O
processing, application processing (for example, EMC ControlCenter®,
SRDF®, TimeFinder®, and EMC ControlCenter Symmetrix Optimizer).
◆ Provides uniform access through APIs for internal calls and provides an
external interface to allow integration with other software providers and
ISVs.

EMC Solutions Enabler APIs are the storage management programming

interfaces that provide an access mechanism for managing the Symmetrix
system, third-party storage, switches, and host storage resources. They
enable the creation of storage management applications that don’t have to
understand the management details of each piece within the total storage
environment.