Files: Deploy

Deploy Files

  1. In Prism > File Server, click + File Server to open the New File Server Pre-Check dialogue.

    ../../_images/112.png

    For the purpose of saving time, the Files has already been uploaded to your cluster. Files binaries can be downloaded directly through Prism or uploaded manually.

    ../../_images/213.png

    Additionally, the cluster’s Data Services IP Address has already been configured (10.XX.YY.38). In a Files cluster, storage is presented to the Files VMs as a Volume Group via iSCSI, hence the dependency on the Data Services IP.

    Note

    If staging your own environment, the Data Services IP can be easily configured by selecting > Cluster Details, specifying the iSCSI Data Services IP, and clicking Save. Currently, the Data Services IP must be in the same subnet as your CVMs.

    Lastly Files will ensure that at least 1 network has been configured on the cluster. A minimum of 2 networks are recommended to have segmentation between the client side and storage side networks.

  2. Click Continue.

    ../../_images/315.png

  3. Fill out the following fields:

    • Name - Intials-Files (e.g. XYZ-Files)

    • Domain - ntnxlab.local

    • File Server Size - 1 TiB

    ../../_images/48.png

    Note

    Clicking Custom Configuration will allow you to alter the scale up and scale out sizing of the Files VMs based on User and Throughput targets. It also allows for manual sizing of the Files cluster.

    ../../_images/52.png

  4. Click Next.

  5. Select the Secondary - Managed VLAN for the Client Network.

    Each Files VM will consume a single IP on the client network.

    Note

    In the HPOC environment it is critical to use the secondary VLAN for the client network if using separate client and storage networks.

    It is typically desirable in production environments to deploy Files with dedicated virtual networks for client and storage traffic. When using two networks, Files will, by design, disallow client traffic the storage network, meaning VMs assigned to the primary network will be unable to access shares.

    Note

    As this is an AHV managed network, configuration of individual IPs is not necessary. In an ESXi environment, or using an unmanaged AHV network, you would specify the network details and available IPs as shown below.

    ../../_images/61.png

  6. Specify your cluster’s Domain Controller VM IP (found in stagingdetails) as the DNS Resolver IP (e.g. 10.XX.YY.40). Leave the default (cluster) NTP Server.

    In order for the Files cluster to successfully find and join the NTNXLAB.local domain it is critical that the DNS Resolver IP is set to the Domain Controller VM IP FOR YOUR CLUSTER. By default, this field is set to the primary Name Server IP configured for the Nutanix cluster, this value is incorrect and will not work.
    ../../_images/7.png

  7. Click Next.

  8. Select the Primary - Managed VLAN for the Storage Network.

    Each Files VM will consume a single IP on the storage network, plus 1 additional IP for the cluster.

    ../../_images/8.png

  9. Click Next.

  10. Fill out the following fields:

    • Select Use SMB Protocol

    • Username - Administrator@ntnxlab.local

    • Password - nutanix/4u

    • Select Make this user a File Server admin

    • Select Use NFS Protocol

    • User Management and Authentication - Unmanaged

    ../../_images/92.png

    Note

    In unmanaged mode, users are only identified by UID/GID. In Files 3.5, Files supports both NFSv3 and NFSv4

  11. Click Next.

    By default, Files will automatically create a Protection Domain to take daily snapshots of the Files cluster and retain the previous 2 snapshots. After deployment, the snapshot schedule can be modified and remote replication sites can be defined.

    ../../_images/102.png

  12. Click Create to begin the Files deployment.

  13. Monitor deployment progress in Prism > Tasks.

    Deployment should take approximately 10 minutes.

    ../../_images/113.png

    Note

    If you receive a warning regarding DNS record validation failure, this can be safely ignored. The shared cluster does not use the same DNS servers as your Files cluster, and as a result is unable to resolve the DNS entries created when deploying Files.

  14. Go to Prism > File Server and select the Initials-Files server and click Protect.

    ../../_images/123.png

  15. Observe the default Self Service Restore schedules, this feature controls the snapshot schedule for Windows’ Previous Versions functionality. Supporting Previous Versions allows end users to roll back changes to files without engaging storage or backup administrators. Note these local snapshots do not protect the file server cluster from local failures and that replication of the entire file server cluster can be performed to remote Nutanix clusters. Click Close.

    ../../_images/132.png

Takeaways

What are the key things you should know about Nutanix Files?

  • Files can be rapidly deployed on top of existing Nutanix clusters, providing SMB and NFS storage for user shares, home directories, departmental shares, applications, and any other general purpose file storage needs.

  • Files is not a point solution. VM, File, Block, and Object storage can all be delivered by the same platform using the same management tools, reducing complexity and management silos.