Some features about EMC Symmetrix BIN file:
- Only used with Symmetrix systems (Enginuity Code)
. - BIN file stands for BINARY file.
. - BIN file holds all information about the Symmetrix configuration
. - One BIN file per system serial number is required.
. - BIN file was used with Symmetrix Gen 1 in 1990 and is still used in 2010 with Symmetrix V-Max systems.
. - BIN file holds information on SRDF configurations, total memory, memory in slots, serial number of the unit, number of directors, type of directors, director flags, engines, engine ports, front end ports, back end ports, drives on the loop, drives on the SCSI bus, number of drives per loop, drive types in the slots, drive speeds, volume addresses, volume types, meta’s, device flags and many more settings.
. - The setup for host connection if the OS is Open Systems or Mainframe environments using FICON, ESCON, GbE, FC, RF, etc is all defined in the BIN file. Also director emulations, drive formats if OSD or CKD, format types, drive speeds, etc is all defined in the BIN file.
. - BIN file is required to make a system active. It is created based on customer specifications.
. - Any ongoing changes in the environment related to hardware upgrades, defining devices, changing flags, etc is all accomplished using BIN file changes.
. - BIN file changes can be accomplished 3 ways.
. - BIN file change for hardware upgrades is typically performed by EMC only.
. - BIN file change for other changes that are device, director, flags, meta’s, SRDF configurations etc is either performed through the SYMAPI infrastructure using SymCLI or ECC (Now Ionix) or SMC (Symmetrix Management Console) by the customer.
. - Solutions enabler is required on the Symcli, ECC, SMC management stations to enable SYMAPI infrastructure to operate.
. - VCMDB needs to be setup on the Symmetrix for SymCLI, ECC, SMC related changes to work.
. - Gatekeeper devices need to be setup on the Symmetrix front end ports for SymCLI, ECC, SMC changes to work
. - For Symmetrix Optimizer to work in your environment, you need DRV devices setup on your Symmetrix.
