Configuring with IBM FlashSystem

Configure Fusion Data Foundation in external mode with an external IBM FlashSystem cluster.

1. Log in to the Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform web console as an administrator, and navigate to Storage > External systems.
2. Click Connect external systems.
3. Select IBM FlashSystem and click Next.
4. On the Create storage class tab, do as follows:
   1. Enter a name for the storage class.
      Remember: The storage class name must not exceed 40 characters and must not match any of the following predefined storage classes:

      • ocs-storagecluster-cephfs
      • ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd
      • ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rgw
      • openshift-storage.noobaa.io
      • ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd-virtualization

      When creating block storage persistent volumes, select the <storage_class_name> storage class for optimal performance. This storage class provides a direct I/O path to the FlashSystem.

   2. Enter the following details of the IBM FlashSystem connection.
      • IP address
      • User name
      • Password
      • Pool name
   3. Select thick or thin for the Volume mode.
   4. Click Next.
5. On the Capacity and nodes tab, do as follows:
   1. Select a value from the Requested capacity list.
      The available options are 0.5 TiB, 2 TiB, and 4 TiB. The requested capacity is dynamically allocated on the infrastructure storage class.
   2. Select at least three nodes in three different zones.
      Start with at least 14 CPUs and 34 GiB of RAM per node. If the selected nodes do not meet the aggregated requirement of 30 CPUs and 72 GiB of RAM for Fusion Data Foundation, a minimal cluster is deployed instead. For minimum starting node requirements, see Resource requirements.
   3. Click Next.
6. Optional: On the Security and network tab, do as follows:
   1. To enable encryption, select Enable data encryption for block and file storage.

      1. Choose any one or both encryption level:

         • Cluster-wide encryption to encrypt the entire cluster (block and file).
         • StorageClass encryption to create encrypted persistent volume (block only) by using encryption-enabled storage class.

      2. Select the Connect to an external key management service checkbox, which is optional for cluster-wide encryption.

         1. Key Management Service Provider is set to Vault by default.
         2. Enter the details for the Vault Service Name, Host Address of Vault server ('https://<hostname or ip>'), Port number, and Token fields.

      3. Expand Advanced Settings to enter the following details based on your vault configuration:

         1. Enter the key value secret path that is dedicated and unique to Fusion Data Foundation in the Backend Path field.
         2. Optional: Enter the details for the TLS Server Name and Vault Enterprise Namespace fields.
         3. Upload the respective PEM-encoded certificate file to fill the CA Certificate, Client Certificate, and Client Private Key fields.
         Note: In case you need to enable key rotation for Vault KMS, run the following command in the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform web console after the storage cluster is created:

         oc patch storagecluster ocs-storagecluster -n openshift-storage --type=json -p '[{"op": "add", "path":"/spec/encryption/keyRotation/enable", "value": true}]'

      4. Click Save.

      5. Select Default (SDN) for a single network and Custom (Multus) for multiple network interfaces.

         1. Select an interface from the Public Network Interface list.
         2. Select an interface from the Cluster Network Interface list.
            Note: If you are using only one additional network interface, select the single NetworkAttachementDefinition, that is, ocs-public-cluster for the Public Network Interface field, and leave the Cluster Network Interface field empty.
      6. Click Next.
   2. If you select In-transit encryption, add the details in the Network field and click Next.
7. On the Review and create tab, review the configuration details.
   To modify any configuration settings, click Back to go back to the previous configuration page.
8. Click Create StorageSystem.
9. Validate whether Fusion Data Foundation is successfully configured with an external IBM FlashSystem cluster in external mode by following the instructions that are mentioned in Verifying Fusion Data Foundation configuration with IBM FlashSystem.