Attaching an NCI Compute Cluster to Dell PowerStore from Prism Element
With Nutanix Cloud Platform and Dell PowerStore, the Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) compute cluster provides compute resources while PowerStore stores VM data. You establish and monitor the storage connection through Prism Element.
In this post, we’ll walk through how to connect an existing NCI compute cluster to Dell PowerStore using Prism Element, from configuring the connection to verifying the attachment and checking storage health. The steps and screenshots follow the Nutanix Cloud Platform with Dell PowerStore Deployment Guide v7.6.
Before you begin
Create the NCI compute cluster and have access to its Prism Element console.
Create and enable the internal interface for external-storage network segmentation. Wait for that task to complete before attaching PowerStore; the guide estimates three to eight minutes, depending on cluster size.
Have the PowerStore cluster management IP address or FQDN and a PowerStore account with at least Storage Operator permissions available.
Step 1 Open the attachment wizard
Log in to Nutanix Prism Element. From the menu bar, select Storage, then click + Attach External Storage. If you see the initial external-storage setup prompt after cluster creation, you can click Start to begin. If you previously selected I’ll do this later, use the Storage menu path.
Open the external-storage attachment workflow. Source: Nutanix deployment guide v7.6, Figure 7, page 27.
Step 2 Review the initial setup
On the Initial Setup page, review the cluster configuration and the external-storage network information. The example below shows that no external storage is attached and that network segmentation is already enabled for external storage.
Review the cluster and internal interface before continuing. Source: Nutanix deployment guide v7.6, Figure 8, page 28.
Confirm that the displayed internal interface is the one prepared for PowerStore, then click Next. Although the screenshot labels this area Network Setup (Optional), the procedure’s prerequisites explicitly call for creating the internal interface before attachment.
If the interface is still being created, wait for that task to finish. The preceding networking section requires an IP pool with at least one address per cluster node and recommends an MTU of 9000 bytes for external PowerStore traffic. Use the networking procedure on pages 20–26 for the complete setup, including routing settings when required.
Step 3 Enter the PowerStore connection details
On the Connection Details page, supply the information Prism Element will use to connect to the PowerStore cluster:
External Storage Vendor: Select Dell PowerStore.
IP Address (IPv4) or FQDN: Enter the PowerStore cluster management IP address or FQDN.
Username: Enter a PowerStore username with at least Storage Operator permissions.
Password: Enter the password for that account.
Select Dell PowerStore and enter the cluster connection details. Source: Nutanix deployment guide v7.6, Figure 9, page 29.
The guide’s screenshot uses admin as an example username. The documented minimum permission requirement is Storage Operator. Enter your own account details, review the endpoint and credentials, and click Next.
Step 4 Name and attach the external storage
On the Storage Details page, enter a name in the External Storage Name field. Choose a name that makes the array easy to identify in Prism Element. For example, PowerStore-Production is an illustrative name you could adapt to your naming standard.
Give the external storage a recognizable name and click Attach. Source: Nutanix deployment guide v7.6, Figure 10, page 30.
Click Attach to submit the configuration. Open the Tasks page to monitor the external-storage attachment process and confirm that the task completes.
What to expect immediately after attachment
The guide documents an initial Critical state in the Health and Cluster Resiliency/Fault Tolerance Status applets for about two hours after external storage is added. It states that these indicators then transition to Healthy, shown in green.
This timing applies to those cluster indicators. Check the attachment task and external-storage health separately so that a failed task or a specific host error is not mistaken for the documented transition period. If the indicators remain Critical beyond that approximate window, review the reported conditions instead of assuming the transition is still in progress.
Step 5 Verify the attachment and host health
In Prism Element, go to Storage > Table > External Storage. Confirm that the PowerStore entry appears with the name you assigned and review its Status.
Review the attached PowerStore entry and its capacity information. Source: Nutanix deployment guide v7.6, Figure 11, page 31.
Hover over the Storage Usage value to view total, used, and free capacity. Select the external-storage entry to display Host Health Status at the bottom of the page. The overall status is Healthy only when every host reports Healthy; an issue on any host makes the overall status Unhealthy.
The guide lists the following per-host conditions. Use them to identify which part of the connection needs attention:
Host condition | What it indicates |
Healthy | The host reports no issues with the attached storage. |
Authentication Failed | The host cannot authenticate because of incorrect credentials or another credential issue. |
IO Error | I/O or control operations failed, typically because of connectivity loss or array downtime. |
Out of Space | The array cannot serve additional writes because capacity is exhausted. |
API Server Unavailable | The host cannot reach the storage API server, or that server is down. |
Metadata Plane Unreachable | The metadata plane is unreachable for I/O operations because of networking or service availability. |
A host can report multiple conditions at once. Review each listed condition rather than relying only on the overall array status.
Updating the connection later
If the PowerStore name, management endpoint, or credentials change, update the existing external-storage entry. From Storage > Table > External Storage, select the PowerStore entry and click Update.
Use Update to change the existing external-storage configuration. Source: Nutanix deployment guide v7.6, Figure 12, page 33.
On Connection Details, update the name, IPv4 address or FQDN, username, or password as needed. Click Save. This updates the existing attachment.
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