Free Practice Questions for EMC D-XTR-DY-A-24 Exam

The XMCLI command show-ssds is used to display information about the SSDs in the XtremIO system. This command includes details about the encryption capabilities of the DAE (Disk Array Enclosure) drives, allowing administrators to verify if the drives are capable of encryption and ensuring that the data is secure.

References:

Dell XtremIO Deployment and Learning Course Materials

XtremIO X2 Command Line Interface Guide

 Power the PDUs

 Power on the BBUs

 Power on the Storage Controllers

 Power on the physical XMS Server

Power the PDUs: The Power Distribution Units (PDUs) need to be powered first as they supply power to all the other components.

Power on the BBUs: The Battery Backup Units (BBUs) are powered on next to ensure that the system has emergency power in case of a power failure.

Power on the Storage Controllers: The storage controllers are responsible for managing the storage array, so they need to be powered on before the server.

Power on the physical XMS Server: Finally, the XMS server, which provides management and monitoring capabilities, is powered on.

References:

Dell XtremIO Deployment Services

Dell XtremIO Deployment Guide and official documentation for detailed step-by-step procedures.

In the event of a power failure, the XtremIO X2 system’s NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) card will initiate the discharging of the SuperCapacitor (SuperCap). The SuperCap is designed to provide enough power to the NVRAM card to allow it to write any data in transit to a non-volatile storage medium, ensuring data integrity and preventing loss1. This process is a critical part of the XtremIO X2’s data protection mechanism during unexpected power interruptions.

VMware Horizon environments with linked clones require optimal storage configurations for performance and management.

According to best practices, each datastore should handle a specific number of linked clones to avoid performance bottlenecks.

For 1000 linked clones, it is recommended to have a minimum of 6 datastores to distribute the load evenly and maintain optimal performance.

References:

Dell XtremIO Best Practices for VMware Horizon

VMware Horizon Architecture Guide

When configuring Linux hosts to support XtremIO storage, it is recommended to set the LUN queue depth to 64. This setting helps to optimize the performance of the host when communicating with the XtremIO storage system.

Access Host Configuration: Log into the Linux host that will be connected to the XtremIO storage.

Modify HBA Parameters: Locate the HBA (Host Bus Adapter) parameters within the host’s configuration files.

Set Queue Depth: Adjust the queue depth parameter for the HBA to 64. This can typically be done by editing the options.conf file or similar, depending on the HBA driver in use.

Apply Changes: Save the changes and reload the HBA driver or reboot the host to apply the new configuration.

Verify Configuration: Confirm that the new queue depth setting is active and functioning as expected.

The correct sequence of steps to create a Windows volume backup using the Microsoft VSS Framework with an XtremIO cluster is as follows:

Requestor interacts with the VSS service to start the backup.

VSS service sends a Freeze request to the Writer.

Provider creates an XVC of the file system and exposes the volume to the host.

VSS service sends a Thaw request to the Writer.

Requestor uses the XVC to back up the content of the volume.

The Requestor, typically a backup application, initiates the process by interacting with Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to commence a snapshot backup.

The VSS service then issues a Freeze request to its Writers, which are responsible for ensuring data consistency for applications during backups.

An XtremIO Provider, which interfaces between the XtremIO storage and VSS, creates an XtremIO Virtual Copy (XVC) of the file system. This copy is then made accessible to the host system for backup purposes.

After the XVC is created, the VSS sends a Thaw request to the Writers, allowing them to resume normal operations while maintaining data integrity.

Finally, the Requestor uses the XVC to back up the content of the volume, ensuring a consistent and recoverable backup is made.

Please note that this sequence is based on the standard operation of Microsoft VSS with storage systems like XtremIO and should be verified against the most current Dell XtremIO Deploy Achievement documentation for any updates or specific instructions related to your environment.

The Dell XtremIO Deploy Achievement documents specify different numbers for the maximum volumes in various contexts. However, for the XtremIO Consistency Group, the supported and QA certified number of volumes is 512. This is based on the authoritative information provided in the official release notes and support documents from Dell. It’s important to note that while there may be higher numbers mentioned in some technical documents or API responses, such as 60000 or 32000, these are either not recommended or pertain to different aspects of the XtremIO system, not specifically to the Consistency Group1.

In a heterogeneous environment where multiple storage arrays are connected to VMware vSphere along with XtremIO X2, it is recommended to set the Disk.SchedNumReqOustanding parameter to 32. This setting determines the maximum number of I/O operations that can be queued to the storage array. A value of 32 is often recommended to balance performance with resource utilization.

The Disk.SchedNumReqOustanding parameter is part of the VMware vSphere’s advanced settings and can be adjusted to optimize the performance of the storage arrays connected to the ESXi hosts. The setting of 32 is a starting point and may need to be adjusted based on the specific workload and storage array capabilities1.

Power Connectors for XtremIO X2 Dual X-Brick Configuration: Each X-Brick typically requires multiple power connections for redundancy and reliability. A dual X-Brick configuration without a physical XMS would need to account for these requirements.

Calculation:

Each X-Brick has 2 storage controllers, each requiring 2 power connections, totaling 4 power connections per X-Brick.

For a dual X-Brick configuration: 4 power connections per X-Brick * 2 X-Bricks = 8 power connections.

Each DAE (Disk Array Enclosure) typically requires 2 power connections. In a dual X-Brick setup, there are 4 DAEs, totaling 8 power connections.

Total power connections: 8 (for X-Bricks) + 8 (for DAEs) = 16 power connections.

References:

Dell XtremIO X2 Installation Guide

XtremIO User Guide

Dell XtremIO Deployment Services