Hardware overview
The Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform E990 (VSP E990) storage system consists of a controller chassis and one or more drive chassis mounted in a 19-inch rack.
Controller chassis
The controller chassis contains the following components:
- Controller boards (CTLs)
- Front-end modules (FEMs), also called channel boards (CHBs)
- Back-end modules (BEMs), also called disk boards (DKBs)
- Power supply (PS)
- Backup fan module (BKMF)
The VSP E990 CTLs contain the cache memory (CM) and cache flash memory (CFM) for the storage system. VSP E990 supports 1,024 GiB of cache memory.
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | LED (POWER, READY, WARNING, ALARM) | Refer to the following graphic. |
| 2 | POWER ON/OFF (main switch) |
Powers the storage system. |
| 3 | Lock | Use to lock and unlock front bezel. |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | POWER LED | Green: Storage system is powered on. Amber: Storage system is receiving power. |
| 2 | READY LED | Green: Normal operation. |
| 3 | WARNING LED | Off: Normal operation. Amber: Component requires maintenance. Blink: Failure requires maintenance. Note: When system option mode (SOM) 1097 is set to ON, the WARNING LED does not blink, even if the following failure service information messages (SIMs) are issued: 452xxx, 462xxx, 3077xx, 4100xx, and 410100. LED might turn off during user maintenance. |
| 4 | ALARM LED | Off: Normal operation. Red: Processor failure (system might be down). For assistance, contact customer support: https://support.hitachivantara.com/en_us/contact-us.html. |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | Controllers | Controller 1 (bottom) and Controller 2 (top). |
| 2 | Backup module | N/A |
| 3 | BACKUP LED | Green: Power restoration in progress following
power outage. Fast blink green: Restoring. Slow blink green: Restoring, or sequential shutdown in progress. |
| 4 | Cache flash memory | N/A |
| 5 | ALM LED (for cache flash memory) | Red: Cache flash memory can be removed. |
| 6 | CTL ALM LED | Red: Controller can be removed. Blink red: Failure with the power supply unit of the controller. Amber: LAN reset switch was pressed. |
| 7 | LAN-RST switch | Use only when instructed by customer support. |
| 8 | STATUS LED (for BKMF) | Green: Charging of the battery in the backup
module is complete. Red: Backup module can be removed. Blink red one time: Main battery failure. Blink red two times: Backup battery failure. Blink red three times: Both batteries failed or preventive maintenance replacement of batteries can run. Off: Battery is not mounted, battery-mounting failure occurred, or firmware is being upgraded. Off is normal status for configurations without batteries. |
| 9 | POWER ON/OFF (main switch) | Powers the storage system. |
| 10 | POWER, READY, WARNING, and ALARM LEDs | Note: When system option mode (SOM) 1097 is set to ON, the WARNING LED does not blink, even if the following failure service information messages (SIMs) are issued: 452xxx, 462xxx, 3077xx, 4100xx, and 410100. |
| Number | Item |
| 1 | Power supply |
| 2 | Disk board module |
| 3 | LAN board |
| 4 | Channel board module |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | ALM / RDY LED | Red: Power supply unit can be replaced. |
| 2 | RDY LED | Green: Normal operation. |
Controller board
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS | LED Off: Battery is uninstalled, installed improperly or BKMF firmware is replaced (in case of a configuration with no battery installed, the LEDs for BKMF-10 and BKMF-20 go out). Green On: Battery is fully charged. Green Blinking: Battery is charged or discharged. Red On: BKMF has an error. Red Blinking: BKMF can be removed. A failure occurred in the battery or preventive maintenance replacement of the batteries is possible. |
| 2 | LAN-RST | This is a switch for GUM reset. If GUM reboot fails, reset GUM forcibly from the hardware. |
| 3 | CTL ALM | Red On: The controller board is ready to be removed (when the maintenance work requiring insertion and removal of the controller board is performed). A failure is detected in the controller board (when the maintenance work mentioned above is not performed). Red Blinking: A failure is detected in the controller board, cache memory, or cache flash memory (CFM). Amber On: Indicates that the LAN RESET switch is pressed. |
| 4 | BACKUP STS | Green On : Indicates that power outage has occurred or power restoration is in progress after power outage.
|
| 5 | ALARM | Red On: Cache Flash Memories are removable. |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | ACT/LINK LED | Amber: Link status/data transfer status. |
| 2 | SPEED LED | On: Link speed = 1 Gbps. Off: Link speed = 10 Mbps/100 Mbps. |
| 3 | LAN ALARM LED | Red: The removal of the LAN Board is possible. |
Front-end modules
The front-end modules (FEMs), also called channel boards (CHBs), control the transfer of data between the host and cache memory. VSP E990 supports Fibre Channel (FC) and iSCSI front-end modules (FEMs) for attachment to host servers. The front-end module LEDs indicate the operating status of the module.
| Specification | Fibre 32-Gbps Ready | iSCSI 10G | iSCSI 10G BASE-T | |
| Model number | DW-F800-4HF32R | DW-F800-2HS10S | DW-F800-2HS10B | |
| Number of PCBs | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Host interface | FCP | iSCSI (optical) | iSCSI (copper) | |
| Data transfer rate (MB/s) | 16Gbps: 400/800/1,600 32Gbps: 800/1,600/3,200 | 1,000 | 100/1,000 | |
| Number of options installed( ): DKB slot used | 2/4/6/8/12/14/16 (14/16/18/20) | 2/4/6/8/12/14/16 (14/16/18/20) | 2/4/6/8/12/14/16 (14/16/18/20) | |
| Number of ports per PCB | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Number of ports per storage system( ): DKB slot used | 8/16/24/32/48/56/64 (56/64/72/80) | 4/8/12/16/24/28/32 (28/32/36/40) | 4/8/12/16/24/28/32 (28/32/36/40) | |
| Maximum cable length | Short wave1 | 400m/190m/125m/100m | 550m | - |
| Long wave | 10km | - | - | |
| Copper | - | - | 50m (cat 6a) | |
| ||||
10-Gbps iSCSI board LEDs and connectors (optical)
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS LED | Green: Front-end module is in the power-on state. Red: Front-end module can be removed safely. |
| 2 | PORT LED | Red: Small form-factor (SFF) pluggable can be removed. Blue: Normal link status. Blink blue: Front-end module is in communication status. |
| 3 | iSCSI connectors | Connect to Ethernet cables. |
10-Gbps iSCSI board LEDs and connectors (copper)
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS LED | Green: Front-end module is in the power-on state. Red: Front-end module can be removed safely. |
| 2 | PORT (Link/Speed) LED | Yellow: 1-Gbps link. Green: 10-Gbps link. Off: No link connection. |
| 3 | PORT LED | Green: Link connection is established. Blinking: Communication is in progress. Off: No link connection or not ready to communicate. |
| 4 | iSCSI connectors | Connect to Ethernet cables. |
16-Gbps or 32-Gbps Fibre Channel (4-port) board LEDs and connectors
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | Fibre Channel connectors | Connect to Fibre Channel cables. |
| 2 | STATUS LED | Green: Front-end module is in
power-on state. Red: Front-end module can be removed safely. |
| 3 | PORT LED | Red: Small form-factor (SFF)
pluggable can be removed. Blue: Normal link status at 16-Gbps (16-Gbps). Blue: Normal link status at 32-Gbps (32-Gbps). Green: Normal link status at 4-Gbps or 8-Gbps (16-Gbps). Green: Normal link status at 8-Gbps or 16-Gbps (32-Gbps). |
| CHB number | 8-Gbps, 16-Gbps, or 32-Gbps Fibre Channel ports (left to right) | |||
| Port 1 | Port 2 | Port 3 | Port 4 | |
| CHB-1A | 1A | 3A | 5A | 7A |
| CHB-1B | 1B | 3B | 5B | 7B |
| CHB-1C | 1C | 3C | 5C | 7C |
| CHB-1D | 1D | 3D | 5D | 7D |
| CHB-1E | 1E | 3E | 5E | 7E |
| CHB-1F | 1F | 3F | 5F | 7F |
| CHB-1G | 1G | 3G | 5G | 7G |
| CHB-1H | 1H | 3H | 5H | 7H |
| CHB-2A | 2A | 4A | 6A | 8A |
| CHB-2B | 2B | 4B | 6B | 8B |
| CHB-2C | 2C | 4C | 6C | 8C |
| CHB-2D | 2D | 4D | 6D | 8D |
| CHB-2E | 2E | 4E | 6E | 8E |
| CHB-2F | 2F | 4F | 6F | 8F |
| CHB-2G | 2G | 4G | 6G | 8G |
| CHB-2H | 2H | 4H | 6H | 8H |
Back-end modules
The back-end modules (BEMs), also called disk boards (DKBs), control the transfer of data between the drives and cache memory. The back-end module LEDs indicate the operating status of the module.
| Item | Specification |
| Model number | DKC-F910I-BN8G |
| Number of PCBs | 1 |
| Number of ports per PCB | 4 |
| Performance | 8 Gbps |
| Data encryption | Not supported |
| Number of PCBs per storage system | 4 or 8 |
| Number of NVMe ports per system | 8 or 16 |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS LED | Green: Back-end module is in the power-on state. Red: Back-end module can be removed safely. |
| 2 | PORT LED | Blue: Link status is normal. |
| 3 | PATH 0 connector | Connect to a drive tray. |
| 4 | PATH 1 connector | Connects to a drive tray. |
LAN blade LEDs and connectors
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | LINK LED | Green: Link status is normal. |
| 2 | ACT LED | Orange: Data is being transferred. |
| 3 | LAN 2 | LAN port used by the user. |
| 4 | LAN 1 | Maintenance LAN port used by service personnel. |
| 5 | LAN ALARM LED | Red: LAN blade can be removed. |
| 6 | Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) port | N/A |
PCIe module
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS LED | Green: PCIe module is in the power-ON status. Red: PCIe module failure occurred. Off: PCIe module can be removed safely. |
| 2 | Link | Green: PCIe is Gen-3 (8-Gbps) and is linked up normally. Off: PCIe is not linked up (PCIe cable might not be connected). If a PCIe cable is connected, it can be removed safely. |
Drive box
| Canister type | Size | Transfer rate | Flash memory type | Capacity |
| SFF | 2.5 in. | 8 Gbps | TLC | 1.9 TB 3.8 TB 7.6 TB 15 TB |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | ALM | Red: Indicates that the removal of the HDD/SSD is possible when the storage system is powered on. |
| 2 | ACT | Green: Indicates that the drives are powered on. Blinking Green: Indicates that the drives are active. |
| 3 | POWER | Green: Indicates that power is supplied to the ENC. |
| 4 | READY | Green: Indicates that the ENC is operating normally. |
| 5 | LOCATE | Amber: An LED to specify the chassis location on the rear of the chassis. The LED can be lit/turned off by Maintenance Utility. |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | POWER | Green: Indicates that power is supplied to the ENC. |
| 2 | LOCATE | Amber: An LED to specify the chassis location on the rear of the chassis. The LED can be lit/turned off by Maintenance Utility. |
| 3 | ALARM | Red: Indicates that the removal of the drive is possible when the storage system is powered on. |
| 4 | LINK | Blue: Indicates that PCIe between DKBN and ENC is linked up. |
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | RDY2 | Green: Normal operation Off: Erroneous operation or out of operation |
| 2 | RDY1 | Green: Normal operation Off: Erroneous operation or out of operation |
| 3 | AC IN | Green: Indicates that AC input is normal. |
| 4 | ALM (REPLACE) | Red: Indicates when the power supply can be replaced. |
Host port expansion chassis
The host port expansion chassis contains various interconnect adapters that connect a host system to storage and other network devices. The interconnect adapters include PCIe boards and iSCSI and FC cards.
Host port expansion chassis front panel bezel LEDs
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | POWER LED | Green: Host port expansion is turned on. Amber: PCIe module is turned on. Off: PCIe module is turned off. |
| 2 | Safety lock | Lock or unlock the front bezel. |
PCIe switchboard
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS LED | Green: PCIe switchboard is powered on.
Red: PCIe switchboard can be replaced safely. Off: PCIe switchboard is powered off. |
Host port expansion chassis fan
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | ALM LED | Red: Fan failure has occurred.
Off: Normal operation. |
PCIe cable connector
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | STATUS LED | Green: PCIe cable connector is powered on. Red: PCIe cable connector can be replaced safely. Off: PCIe cable connector is powered off. |
| 2 | Link Basic LED | Green: Basic PCIe Gen-3.0 (8-Gbps) is linked up normally. Off: Basic PCIe is not linked up (PCIe cable might not be connected). If a cable is connected, it can be removed safely. |
| 3 | InAct Basic LED | Amber: Basic PCIe status changed from link up to link down and cables. Cables can be removed safely. Off: Basic PCIe is normal or not set. |
| 4 | Link Option LED | Green: Option PCIe Gen-3.0 (8-Gbps) is linked up normally. Off: Option PCIe is not linked up (PCIe cable might not be connected). If a cable is connected, it can be removed safely. |
| 5 | InAct Option LED | Amber: Option PCIe status changed from link up to link down and cables. Cables can be removed safely. Off: Option PCIe is normal or not set. |
Host port expansion chassis power supply
| Number | Item | Description |
| 1 | ALM / RDY LED | Red: Host port expansion chassis power supply can be replaced safely. Green: Normal operation. |
| 2 | AC IN LED | Blue: AC input is normal. |
Service processor
The VSP E990 storage system includes a built-in custom PC called the service processor (SVP) that is integrated into the controller and can be used only by authorized Hitachi Vantara personnel. The SVP enables the service representative to configure, maintain, service, and upgrade the storage system. In addition, the SVP hosts the Device Manager - Storage Navigator software, and it collects performance data for the key components of the storage system to enable diagnostic testing and analysis. The SVP is connected with a service center for remote maintenance of the storage system. The SVP does not have access to any user data stored on the storage system.
The SVP is also available as a 64-bit software application provided by Hitachi Vantara. For the latest interoperability updates and details, see the SVP (Service Processor) OS and Hypervisor support report at https://support.hitachivantara.com/en/user/answers/interoperability.html.
Service processor description
The SVP provides four RJ-45 ports:
- Two ports connect to the storage system controllers (one port for each controller).
- One port connects to the IP network of the user.
- One port connects to a user-supplied management console PC.
Three of the four RJ-45 ports (which connect to the controllers and the IP network) are configured as a bridge. The SVP can be addressed using the default IP address 192.168.0.15.
Users are responsible for adopting the appropriate security procedures with the SVP, including:
- Applying Windows security patches.
- Turning on automatic Windows updates or using the manual Windows update method.
- Installing antivirus software that is approved by Hitachi.
SVP front panel
The front panel of the physical SVP is equipped with LEDs, a reset button, and a power button.
| Item | Description |
| 1 | LED (left to right):
|
| 2 | Reset button |
| 3 | Power button |
SVP rear panel
The only ports used on the rear panel of the physical SVP are the power socket and the four LAN ports. The LAN ports connect to your IP network, the management console PC, and the user LAN port on each storage system controller.
| Item | Description |
| 1 | Management (DKC CTL1) - LAN3 port |
| 2 | Management (DKC CTL2) - LAN4 port |
| 3 | Maintenance - LAN2 port |
| 4 | Management (User) - LAN1 port |
Rack support
The VSP E990 storage system can be installed in the Hitachi Universal V2B rack as well as non-Hitachi 19-inch racks that meet the VSP E990 specifications.
For details about the Hitachi Universal V2B rack, see the Hitachi Universal V2B Rack Reference Guide.
Non-Hitachi racks must be 4-post, EIA 310-D compliant with adequate airflow and weight capacity. The PDUs must be mounted properly to avoid any issues for servicing the storage system. The PDU receptacles must face toward the back (not toward each other). The area behind the storage system and between the vertical 19-inch mounting posts must be free of PDUs and cable loops.