Two-Tier Architecture Example, With Symmetrix Centralized - EMC Connectrix EC-1200 Planning Manual

Connectrix Topologies
4
Architecture
4-24
Connectrix v6.02 Planning Guide
some very large servers or servers driving very high bandwidths,
these can be located on the Symmectrix backbone tier. Two design
examples, one for a 200-server port fabric the other for a 425-server
port fabric, develop the concepts of the Symmetrix backbone.
Connectrix
Server
x 8
One
fan-out
group
Symmetrix

Two-Tier Architecture Example, With Symmetrix Centralized

Figure 4-16
Three-Tier Three-tier architecture builds a connectivity tier, which is a set of
switches whose primary function is to interconnect other switches.
The logical topology layout (the relationship of the servers to their
Symmetrix ports) can follow the distributed model where servers and
their Symmetrix ports are on the same switch. In this case, however,
the large investment in ISLs is likely to go underutilized. The typical
logical topology layout would dedicate the top tier for servers and
the bottom tier for the Symmetrix ports, creating a large
many-to-many two-hop fabric. This architecture is typically used
when a large fabric is built from many small switches. The port count
invested in ISLs is high and is likely to be less than optimum for an
environment with a large ratio of server ports to storage ports. The
large port count of the ED-64M and the current maximum fabric size
of eight switches minimizes the requirement for a three-tier topology.
Single-tier or two-tier are the recommended design strategies.
Future releases of EC-1200 fabrics with 16 or more switches will add
support for the three-tier architecture.
Connectrix Connectrix
Connectrix
Tape
One per
DWDM
fan-out
group
Server
Tier
Symmetrix
Backbone
Tier