Ps5000 Hardware Installation; Before You Begin To Install A Ps5000 - Dell EqualLogic PS Series Installation And Setup

Installation and Setup
Table 2-1: Network Recommendations (Continued)
Recommendation Description
No STP functionality
on switch ports that
connect end nodes
Flow Control
enabled on switches
and NICs
Unicast storm control
disabled on switches
Jumbo Frames
enabled
VLANs

PS5000 Hardware Installation

The following sections describe the PS5000 hardware installation.

Before You Begin to Install a PS5000

You must meet these prerequisites before beginning a PS5000 installation:
• Make sure the array and installation location meet the environmental
requirements. See PS5000 Environmental Requirements on page 2-4.
• Gather all the required hardware. See PS5500 Shipping Box Contents and
Required Hardware on page 2-14
• Rack mount the array. See PS5500 Rack Mount Requirement on page 2-15.
If possible, do not use Spanning-Tree Protocol (STP) on switch
ports that connect end nodes (iSCSI initiators or array network
interfaces).
However, if you must use STP or RSTP (preferable to STP), you
should enable the port settings (available on some switches) that
let the port immediately transition into STP forwarding state upon
link up. This functionality can reduce network interruptions that
occur when devices restart, and it should only be enabled on
switch ports that connect end nodes.
You can use Spanning-Tree for a single-cable connection between
switches, and you can use trunking for multi-cable connections
between switches.
Enable Flow Control on each switch port and NIC that handles
iSCSI traffic. PS Series arrays will correctly respond to Flow
Control.
Disable unicast storm control on each switch that handles iSCSI
traffic if the switch provides this feature. However, the use of
broadcast and multicast storm control is encouraged on switches.
Enable Jumbo Frames on each switch and each NIC that handles
iSCSI traffic.
Configure switches to use VLANs to separate iSCSI SAN traffic
from other network traffic.
Installing Array Hardware
2–3