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Installing NexStorage

This guide covers the various deployment options for NexStorage in your environment, from cloud-hosted to on-premises installations.

Deployment Options​

NexStorage offers flexible deployment options to suit various organizational needs:

  1. NexStorage Cloud (SaaS): Fully managed service hosted by NEXVECTA
  2. Self-Hosted Cloud: Deploy in your AWS, Azure, or GCP environment
  3. On-Premises: Deploy in your data center on your own hardware
  4. Hybrid: Combine cloud and on-premises deployments with unified management

NexStorage Cloud (Managed Service)​

The simplest way to get started with NexStorage is our fully-managed cloud service.

Features​

  • Zero infrastructure management
  • Automatic scaling
  • Continuous updates and security patches
  • 99.99% availability SLA
  • 24/7 monitoring and support

Getting Started with NexStorage Cloud​

  1. Sign up for an account
  2. Select your preferred region and plan
  3. Create your organization and initial users
  4. Access your NexStorage console at https://console.nexstorage.nexvecta.com

Self-Hosted Cloud Deployment​

Deploy NexStorage in your own cloud environment for maximum control and data sovereignty.

AWS Deployment​

Requirements​

  • AWS account with administrative access
  • VPC with at least two subnets in different Availability Zones
  • IAM permissions to create EC2 instances, EBS volumes, and security groups

Deployment Steps​

  1. Launch using our CloudFormation template:

    aws cloudformation create-stack \
      --stack-name nexstorage \
      --template-url https://nexstorage-deployment.s3.amazonaws.com/cf-templates/nexstorage.yaml \
      --parameters ParameterKey=InstanceType,ParameterValue=m5.2xlarge \
                   ParameterKey=KeyName,ParameterValue=your-key-pair \
                   ParameterKey=VpcId,ParameterValue=vpc-xxxxxxxx \
                   ParameterKey=SubnetId1,ParameterValue=subnet-xxxxxxxx \
                   ParameterKey=SubnetId2,ParameterValue=subnet-yyyyyyyy

  2. Once the stack creation completes (approximately 10-15 minutes), you'll receive the NexStorage console URL and initial admin credentials.

  3. Log in to your NexStorage console and complete the initial setup wizard.

Managed Kubernetes (EKS) Deployment​

For production environments, we recommend deploying on EKS:

  1. Create an EKS cluster with at least 3 worker nodes:

    eksctl create cluster \
      --name nexstorage-cluster \
      --version 1.24 \
      --region us-east-1 \
      --nodegroup-name standard-workers \
      --node-type m5.2xlarge \
      --nodes 3 \
      --nodes-min 3 \
      --nodes-max 6 \
      --with-oidc

  2. Install NexStorage using Helm:

    # Add the NexStorage Helm repository
    helm repo add nexstorage https://charts.nexvecta.com/nexstorage
    helm repo update

    # Install NexStorage
    helm install nexstorage nexstorage/nexstorage \
      --namespace nexstorage \
      --create-namespace \
      --set storage.size=500Gi \
      --set replicas=4

  3. Access the NexStorage console using the LoadBalancer address:

    kubectl get svc -n nexstorage nexstorage-console -o jsonpath='{.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].hostname}'

Azure Deployment​

We provide an Azure Resource Manager (ARM) template for deploying NexStorage in your Azure environment:

  1. Deploy using the Azure CLI:

    az group create --name nexstorage-rg --location eastus

    az deployment group create \
      --resource-group nexstorage-rg \
      --template-uri https://nexstorage-deployment.blob.core.windows.net/templates/nexstorage.json \
      --parameters adminUsername=nexadmin \
                    vmSize=Standard_D4s_v3 \
                    instanceCount=4

  2. After deployment completes, access the NexStorage console using the public IP address of the load balancer.

Google Cloud Platform Deployment​

Deploy NexStorage on GCP with our automated deployment script:

  1. Download and run the deployment script:

    curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/nexstorage-deployment/deploy-gcp.sh
    chmod +x deploy-gcp.sh
    ./deploy-gcp.sh \
      --project your-gcp-project \
      --zone us-central1-a \
      --instance-type n2-standard-8 \
      --node-count 4

  2. Once deployment completes, you'll receive the NexStorage console URL.

On-Premises Deployment​

Deploy NexStorage in your own data center for maximum control and performance.

System Requirements​

  • Minimum (Small Deployment):

    • 4 servers, each with:
      • 8 CPU cores
      • 32GB RAM
      • 4TB of storage (SSD preferred for metadata)
      • 10GbE network
    • Load balancer for API endpoint and console access

  • Recommended (Production Deployment):

    • 8+ servers, each with:
      • 16+ CPU cores
      • 64GB+ RAM
      • 8TB+ of storage with tiered storage (SSDs + HDDs)
      • 25GbE or better networking
    • Redundant load balancers
    • Separate management network

Bare Metal Deployment​

  1. Download the NexStorage installation package:

    curl -LO https://downloads.nexvecta.com/nexstorage/installer/latest/nexstorage-installer.tar.gz
    tar -xzf nexstorage-installer.tar.gz
    cd nexstorage-installer

  2. Run the pre-installation checks:

    ./nexstorage-preflight-check.sh

  3. Configure your deployment using the interactive installer:

    ./install.sh

  4. Follow the prompts to specify your network configuration, storage layout, and security settings.

Kubernetes Deployment​

For on-premises Kubernetes environments:

  1. Ensure your Kubernetes cluster meets the minimum requirements:

    • Kubernetes 1.19+
    • At least 3 worker nodes with appropriate resources
    • StorageClass configured for persistent volumes
    • LoadBalancer provider or ingress controller

  2. Install NexStorage using Helm:

    # Add the NexStorage Helm repository
    helm repo add nexstorage https://charts.nexvecta.com/nexstorage
    helm repo update

    # Install NexStorage
    helm install nexstorage nexstorage/nexstorage \
      --namespace nexstorage \
      --create-namespace \
      --set persistence.storageClass=your-storage-class \
      --set replicas=4

  3. Access the NexStorage console through your load balancer or ingress.

Air-Gapped Installation​

For high-security environments without internet access:

  1. Download the air-gapped installation package from the NEXVECTA Customer Portal

  2. Transfer the package to your air-gapped environment

  3. Extract and run the installer:

    tar -xzf nexstorage-airgap.tar.gz
    cd nexstorage-airgap
    ./install-airgap.sh

  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation

Post-Installation Steps​

Regardless of your deployment method, perform these important post-installation steps:

  1. Change default credentials: Immediately change the default admin password
  2. Configure email notifications: Set up alerting for critical events
  3. Set up backup for configuration: Ensure your NexStorage configuration is backed up
  4. Configure monitoring: Integrate with your monitoring systems (Prometheus, Grafana, etc.)
  5. Verify high availability: Test failover capabilities

Next Steps​

After successfully installing NexStorage, you're ready to:

Troubleshooting​

If you encounter issues during installation:

ProblemSolution
Installation fails with network errorsCheck network connectivity between nodes and to the internet (if applicable)
Insufficient resourcesVerify that all nodes meet the minimum system requirements
Certificate errorsEnsure that the system time is synchronized across all nodes
Load balancer issuesVerify that your load balancer is properly configured for HTTP/HTTPS

For additional assistance, contact NEXVECTA Support or refer to our FAQ.