Adding a second DAE to a VNXe1600 SAN // Can it be done online ?

Hello experts and good day,

the other day I was asked to install a second DAE on a VNXe1600 for an existing customer.

The existing configuration is described below:

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- 1x Dell EMC VNXe1600 Dual SP enclosure with Fibre Channel front-end ports

- 1x 2U DAE WITH 12 x 3.5 INCH DRIVE SLOTS

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I opened a service request and the Customer Support Representative I spoke with told me I have to schedule the downtime for that:

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from Massimiliano to All Participants: Can the additional DAE be installed when the system is up and running in production, or do I have to schedule a maintenance window and take the system down in order to perform the upgrade ?

from Customer Support Representative to All Participants: you have to schedule the downtime for that

from Massimiliano to All Participants: Thanks for the information. Since I have to schdule downtime, I understand that I will have to shut every host connected to the system down, shut the VNXe system down using the GUI, power it off, install and properly cable the new DAE and finally power the VNXe back on. Is my action plan correct ?

from Customer Support Representative to All Participants: yes , you have to shut every host down and then have to perform the action plan you mentioned above , shut down the VNXe , adding DAE with proper cablling and all and then power the VNXe on , and once everything is up

from Customer Support Representative to All Participants: power on the hosts

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Dell EMC Online Documentation does not seem to mention we have to schedule the downtime for that, so can someone please confirm we can do this live or of it is a best pratice to shut down the VNXe1600 first?

Don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to find out whether the customer really has to schedule the downtime in order to install the second DAE on a VNXe1600.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and Regards,

Massimiliano