Recommended Switch Infrastructure For An Ip-San - HP P6000 Installation Manual

the NICs/iSCSI initiators to function properly. If it is not enabled everywhere, the network
defaults to the lowest common denominator, which is flow control disabled.
(Optional) Implement jumbo frames support on the switch, the 1 GbE iSCSI modules, and the
10 GbE iSCSI/FCoE modules when iSCSI is configured, and all servers connected to the
IP-SAN. Consider using 4K jumbo frames instead of 9K jumbo frames for better streaming
performance.
NOTE: FCoE requires jumbo frames and is the default configuration of a converged network
adapter, converged network switch, and the 10 GbE iSCSI/FCoE modules when FCoE is configured.

Recommended switch infrastructure for an IP-SAN

HP does not recommend a particular IP switch. However, there are minimum switch capabilities
that make building a high-performance, fault-tolerant storage network a relatively easy and cost
effective task. As a general rule, any enterprise-class managed switch typically has the capabilities
most IP-SAN customers require.
capabilities for a P6000-based IP-SAN.
For FCoE, HP recommends converged network switches. For more information about these switches,
go to:
http://h18006.www1.hp.com/storage/networking/index.html
These switches are also referenced in the HP SAN Design Reference Guide, which is also available
through this website. For additional FCoE configuration details, see the HP Fibre Channel Over
Ethernet Application Note (part number: AA-RWQ5H-TE).
Table 1 Minimum recommended switch capabilities for a P6300/P6500 EVA-based IP-SAN
Switch capability
1 and 10 gigabit Ethernet
support
Fully subscribed
non-blocking backplanes
Adequate per port buffer
cache
Table 1 (page 7)
Description
The iSCSI module option of the P6000 comes equipped with eight copper gigabit Ethernet
ports (802.3ab). To take advantage of full duplex gigabit capabilities, the cabling
infrastructure must be Cat5e or Cat6 cabling. The iSCSI/FCoE module option of the
P6000 comes equipped with four SFP+ 10 gigabit ports, and you configure either SFP+
optical or SFP+ copper connectivity. Server connections and switch interconnects can
be done with SFP+ fiber and SFP+ copper cabling, in addition to Cat5e or Cat6 cabling,
depending on IP switch capabilities.
In order to achieve maximum performance on the IP-SAN it is important to select a switch
that has a fully subscribed backplane. This means that the backplane is capable of
supporting all ports at full-duplex mode. For instance, if the switch has 24 gigabit ports,
it will have to have a 48 gigabit backplane to support full duplex gigabit communications.
For optimal switch performance, HP recommends that the switch have at least 512 KB
of buffer cache per port. Consult your switch manufacturer specifications for the total
buffer cache. For example, if the switch has 48 gigabit ports, this recommendation is to
have at least 24 MB of buffer cache dedicated to those ports. If the switch aggregates
cache among a group of ports (for example, 1 MB of cache per 8 ports), space your
used ports appropriately to avoid cache oversubscription.
summarizes the minimum recommended switch
Plan your storage configuration 7