Dell EqualLogic PS6100 series Configuration Manual page 92

Figure 30 Blade I/O modules and M1000e Chassis
There are three primary methods of integrating blade chassis with EqualLogic PS Series arrays.
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Directly attaching EqualLogic arrays to the blade I/O modules on each chassis.
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Using Pass-Through module to external switches
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Utilizing a two-tier design by creating an external SAN switch infrastructure to host all array
connections and using the blade I/O modules as "host access" switches.
For each of these three general SAN design strategies, the user must make design decisions with
respect to the type of interconnects to use between the blade I/O modules and/or the external stand-
alone switches. Depending on the design recommendation, stacking, link aggregation, or a
combination of both types of interconnect may be used. In Section 9.1 we will discuss strategies for
directly attaching arrays to blade I/O modules within one or more M1000e chassis. In Section 9.2 we
discuss connecting M1000e blade chassis to an external switch using pass-through module. In Section
9.3 we discuss strategies for connecting M1000e blade chassis to an external SAN infrastructure
utilizing a two-tier design.
March 2013 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v14.1 9-83