Dell PS4000 Configuration Manual
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Dell PS4000 Configuration Manual

Equallogic ps series storage infrastructure and solutions
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Dell EqualLogic

Configuration Guide

Dell EqualLogic
Storage Infrastructure and Solutions

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  • Page 1: Configuration Guide

    Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide Dell EqualLogic Storage Infrastructure and Solutions...
  • Page 2 ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. © 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Snapshots ....................18 3.3.5 Cloning ....................18 3.3.6 Replication ....................19 3.3.7 Clustering ....................24 SAN Design ......................25 Implementation of Standards ................25 General Requirements and Recommendations ............25 4.2.1 Quality of Service (QoS) ................26 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 4 Network Interface Controllers ................53 Appendix D PowerConnect 54xx Switch Configuration ............54 Disabling iSCSI Optimization Setting ................ 54 Enabling the PortFast Option to Configure STP Edge Ports ..........55 Configuring Flow Control ..................55 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 5 Cisco IOS based Switch Configuration ............61 Enabling the PortFast Option to Configure STP Edge Ports ..........62 Configuring Flow Control ..................62 Disabling Unicast Storm Control ................63 Configuring Jumbo Frames ................... 63 Related Publications ....................66 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 6: Introduction

    1 Introduction With the Dell™ EqualLogic™ PS Series of storage arrays Dell provides a storage solution that delivers the benefits of consolidated networked storage in a self-managing, iSCSI storage area network (SAN) that is affordable and easy to use, regardless of scale. By eliminating complex tasks and enabling fast and flexible storage provisioning, these solutions dramatically reduce the costs of storage acquisition and ongoing operations.

  • Page 7: Ps Series Storage Arrays

    PS Series arrays. 2.1 Array Models Starting with the PS5000 family of arrays, Dell EqualLogic model names designate various pieces of information regarding the PS Series array. The "PS" is the product name and stands for "Peer Storage".

  • Page 8: Feature Comparison

    In a mixed group of PS6000, PS6500 and PS4000 the higher limits normally prevail In a mixed group of PS6000, PS6500 and PS4000 arrays the maximum number of PS4000 arrays in the group is two Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 9: Controllers

    Array controllers can be identified and differentiated by the controller "type" designation. Each controller type will have a different colored label to help quickly identify the controller type. Table 3 lists each Dell EqualLogic controller along with some characteristics about each. Controller...

  • Page 10: Controller Redundancy

    SAN, then port 0 on the passive controller must also be connected to the SAN. This is shown in the partial and fully connected controller failover scenarios illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2 below. Note how IP addresses are reassigned to the ports during the failover process. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 11 Figure 1 Partially Connected Controller Failover Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 12: Firmware

    "Y" is the "minor" release number. This changes as new minor features or improvements in existing features are made for a given major release.  "Z" denotes maintenance releases. This changes whenever a maintenance release level is released to resolve any identified technical or usability issues. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 13 Supported firmware upgrade paths (up to version 5.0.x) are shown in Table 4 below: Starting Firmware Ending Firmware Version Version 4.2.*, 4.3.* 5.0.* 4.2.* 4.3.* 4.1.* 4.2.*, 4.3.* 4.0.* 4.1.* 3.2.*, 3.3.* 4.0.* 3.1.* 3.2.*, 3.3.* 3.0.* 3.1.* Table 4 Controller Firmware Upgrade Paths Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 14: Raid Policies

    For EqualLogic arrays using a RAID 5 policy, the total quantity of raw storage available can be computed based on number of drives and the hot spare configuration. The Table 6 below shows the amount of raw storage available using the hot spare drive layouts specified in Table 5 above. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 15: Raid 6

    (d) One 450Gb hot spare, 2x 450 Gb parity and 2x 100Gb SSD parity. Table 7: RAID 6 Drive Layouts Table 8 shows the amount of raw storage available using the hot spare drive layouts specified in Table 7 above. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 16: Raid 10

    For EqualLogic arrays using a RAID 10 policy, the total quantity of raw storage available can be computed based on number of drives and the hot spare configuration. The Table 10 below shows the amount of raw storage available using the hot spare drive layouts specified in Table 9 above. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 17: Raid 50

    For EqualLogic arrays using a RAID 50 policy, the total quantity of raw storage available can be computed based on number of drives and the hot spare configuration. The Table 12 below shows the amount of raw storage available using the hot spare drive layouts specified in Table 11 above. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 18 23400 39000 78000 (a) Solid State Disk (b) Legacy PS50E (c) PS4000E and PS6000E only (d) Legacy PS70E,PS100E, PS100X, PS200E, PS300E and PS400E Table 12: RAID 50 Total Storage Available with Hot Spares (in GB) Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 19: Peer Storage Operations

    The following rules apply to pools:  Each member can be assigned to only one pool.  Each pool can host up to 8 members.  Each group will have at least 1 pool – the default pool. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 20: Volumes

    3.3 Volumes Volumes provide the storage allocation structure within an EqualLogic SAN. Volumes are seen on the network as iSCSI targets by hosts and are presented to the user as disk drives once the iSCSI initiator Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 21: Volume Attributes

    Note: IQN names are assigned to volumes automatically when they are created. They cannot be changed for the life of the volume. If a volume name is changed, the IQN name associated with the volume will remain unchanged. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 22: Volume Features

    10%.  The storage administrator and application owner should reach an agreement on storage use and procedures in determining the best automatic growth policy, reducing the frequency of monitoring and intervention. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 23: Snapshots

    Cloning creates a new volume by copying an existing volume. The new volume has the same reported size, contents and thin-provision settings as the original volume. You can clone a regular volume, a specific replica of a volume, or a specific snapshot of a volume. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 24: Replication

     A group can have volumes replicating with multiple partners, but an individual volume can have only one replication partner.  A maximum of 128 volumes per group can be configured for active replication. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 25  A volume can have up to a maximum of 512 replicas stored on a partner group. For a PS4000 only group, you cannot exceed two replication partners and 32 volumes configured for replication Warning: Any type of application or operating system level process that causes block level data changes will affect replication data size and time to complete.
  • Page 26 Figure 5 Replication Partnerships with Multiple Groups Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 27 Figure 6 Partner Groups with Bi-Directional Replication Figure 7 Multiple Groups Replicating to a Single Secondary Group Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 28 Delegated space for a replication partnership must be assigned to a pool (the ―Default‖ pool, by default). Delegated space for different replication partnerships can be assigned to different pools on the secondary group. Figure 8 Replica Reserve, Local Reserve and Delegated Space Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 29: Clustering

    By default, EqualLogic PS Series groups disable multi-host (shared) access to target.  If needed, you can enable multi-host access for a volume.  If you enable multi-host access to a volume, then proper I/O operation concurrency must be maintained. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 30: San Design

    IP address.  Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol must be enabled if the SAN infrastructure has more than two switches in a non-stacked configuration. The Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) specification: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4171 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 31: Quality Of Service (Qos)

    PS Series groups. If you plan to use QoS, Dell recommends that you use it only on VLANs that do not carry iSCSI traffic, or on WANs, where bandwidth is shared with other applications and the PS Series array uses it for time-insensitive replication traffic.

  • Page 32: Ethernet Switches And Infrastructure

     Support for unicast storm control iSCSI in general, and Dell EqualLogic SANs in particular can send packets in a very ―bursty‖ profile that many switches could misdiagnose as a virally induced packet storm. Since the SAN should be isolated from general Ethernet traffic, the possibility of actual viral packet storms occurring is non-existent.

  • Page 33: Connecting San Switches In A Layer 2 Network

    The stacking link bandwidth should be at least 40Gb/s in each direction on each wire (full-duplex) to provide adequate throughput to support an EqualLogic SAN consisting of 10Gb arrays or a mix of 1Gb and 10Gb arrays. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 34 Distribute the links across multiple switches within each stack (this is known as a ―cross- stack‖ link aggregation group).  Use LACP or another type of dynamic link aggregation protocol.  Perform tests to determine the best hashing algorithm to use within the link aggregation group (port channel). Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 35: Sizing Inter-Switch Connections

    1GbE switches connecting to Actual requirements will vary. For more details see Section 10GbE switches in a mixed speed SAN 4.6, Integrating 1GbE and 10GbE SANs Table 16: Switch Interconnect Design Guidelines Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 36: Comparing Inter-Switch Connection Types

     LAG bandwidth overload risk Recommendation:  Use when stacking is not available  Use when connecting to aggregation/core switching infrastructure  Use when switches are from different vendors Table 17 Stacking vs. Inter-Switch Trunking Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 37: Host Configuration Guidelines

    Table 18: Redundant Server NIC Configurations Using the Dell PowerEdge R610 server as an example, you configure redundant connection paths to the SAN switches as shown in Figure 11 below. The R610 server shown in Figure 11 has one additional dual- port PCI-E NIC installed.

  • Page 38: Multi-Path I/O

    Multi-Path IO (MPIO). Though some storage solution can and do support either method for iSCSI connectivity, EqualLogic requires the use of MPIO to enable multiple NIC/HBA connections to be utilized for access to an EqualLogic SAN. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 39 On each array enable at least two(2) ports for host connectivity.  Install the Dell provided MPIO extension features if available for the host operating system.  For Microsoft Windows, install the Device Specific Module (DSM) found in the Host Integration Toolkit for Windows.

  • Page 40: Equallogic Iscsi San Design

    SAN infrastructure has a redundant connection or path. Note: For a production environment, this configuration shown in Figure 13 will protect your access to data and is the ONLY type of configuration recommended by Dell. Figure 13 Redundant SAN...

  • Page 41: Partially Redundant San Configurations

    SAN. These configurations are for reference only. They are not recommended for production deployment since they do not provide end-to-end redundant connection paths. Single Array Controller Configurations You can configure a Dell EqualLogic array to run using a single controller. Table 19 below shows configurations using a single array controller. Single Controller...
  • Page 42 Dual Array Controller Configurations You can configure a Dell EqualLogic array to run using dual controllers. Table 20 below shows configurations using a single array controller. Dual Controller Single Switch Single NIC Dual Controller Dual Switch Single NIC Dual Controller...

  • Page 43: Integrating 1Gbe And 10Gbe Sans

    Figure 14 shows an example SAN design, where two switches of each type are used. The design in Figure 14 is based on the features provided by the Dell PowerConnect 6248 1Gb Ethernet switch with 10GbE uplink modules, and the Dell PowerConnect 8024 10Gb Ethernet switch. The Dell PowerConnect 8024 is not a stackable switch, so a link aggregation group (LAG) is used to create the inter-switch trunk paths.
  • Page 44 Figure 14 Mixed Speed Redundant SAN Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 45: M1000E Blade Chassis Integration

    PS Series arrays that are then uplinked to the M1000e blade enclosure I/O modules. It is recommended that stackable blade I/O modules and external switches be utilized for all blade solutions when possible. Note: See the following Dell EqualLogic whitepaper for more information on integrating blade solutions into the EqualLogic SAN infrastructures: ...

  • Page 46: Single M1000E Enclosure Integration

    M1000e, the maximum number of I/O modules per stack is 9 modules for Cisco® Catalyst® 3130 family of switches and 10 modules for the PowerConnect M6220. This is the preferred method of stacking the M1000e chassis for EqualLogic. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 47 PowerConnect M6220 I/O modules, the enclosure limit would be 5 M1000e’s. This configuration is not a preferred method for stacking M1000e blade enclosures. See the Dual I/O Module Stack in the previous section for the preferred method of stacking. Figure 17 Single I/O Module Stack (Fabric B) Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 48: M1000E Ethernet Pass-Through I/O Module

    When the external switch stack consists of more than one switch, the 10GbE ports used for up- linking should be distributed between all switches in the stack to protect against a switch failure.  Use Switch vendor preferred method for link aggregation (if all switches from same vendor) Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 49: 1Gbe Uplink Recommendations

    Figure 18Error! Reference source not found. shows how to link the M1000e enclosures using I/O modules connecting to an external switch stack consisting of Dell PowerConnect 62XX model switches. Figure 18 Stack to Stack Uplink Using 10GbE Links 5.6.2...
  • Page 50 Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). LACP is typically the only method for creating link aggregation groups that can link switches from multiple vendors. Figure 19 shows how to link the M1000e enclosures using I/O modules connecting to an external switch stack consisting of Dell PowerConnect 62XX model switches. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 51 Figure 19 Stack to Stack Uplink Using 1 GbE Links Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 52: Appendix A Network Ports And Protocols

    Web Based Management HTTP To group IP address 3002 GUI communication To group IP address 3003 GUI communication To group IP address (encrypted) SNMP SNMP To and from group IP address Syslog Syslog From group IP address Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 53 EqualLogic Diagnostics Software update and diagnostic procedures; to all individual member IP addresses SMTP E-mail and diagnostic notifications; from all individual member IP addresses to the configured SMTP server Table 22 Optional Ports and Protocols Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 54: Appendix B Recommended Switches

    Table 24. The choice of switches available for Ethernet networking is too broad to allow Dell to test every device for use within an EqualLogic SAN. Dell’s goal is not to restrict which infrastructure components a...

  • Page 55: Recommended 10Gbe Switches

    Table 23 Recommended Switches: 1GbE Recommended 10GbE Switches Vendor Model Firmware Brocade 8000/8000e 6.3.0a Cisco Nexus 50x0 NX OS v4.2(1)N1(1) PowerConnect 8024F 3.1.1.9 PowerConnect 8024 3.1.1.9 Dell PowerConnect M8024 3.1.2.5 Powerconnect B-8000/B-8000e 6.3.0a Table 24 Recommeded Switches: 10GbE Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 56: Appendix C Supported Iscsi Initiators

    Appendix C Supported iSCSI Initiators The scope of products available for Ethernet networking is too broad to allow Dell to test every device for use within an EqualLogic SAN. Dell’s goal is not to restrict which infrastructure components a customer can integrate with the EqualLogic SAN, but to provide a clear statement of how Dell will support 3 Party devices that have not been tested and validated by the switch vendors.

  • Page 57: Software Iscsi Initiators

    Netware 6.5 version 1.06.05 initiator Novell Solaris 10 U2 (SPARC & Intel) Oracle/SUN RedHat Enterprise Linx 5.1 or later RedHat Apple OS-X (globalSAN iSCSI Initiator 3.3 or later) Studeio Network Solutions SLES 8 SP3 SUSE SLES 9 SP3 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 58: Network Interface Controllers

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 FW: 2.4.06 Table 27 Supported Network Interface Controllers Note: for optimum performance and stability you should insure that all 10GbE NICs are installed in PCI- E slots that support x8 or x16 modes. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 59: Appendix D Powerconnect 54Xx Switch Configuration

    PowerConnect 54xx Family of switches are non-stacking switches and must be configured independently using either the web-based Switch manager or the Command Line Interface (CLI). The instructions in this Appendix provide CLI commands for configuration. Please go to Dell’s support website for the latest documentation if the web-interface is preferred.

  • Page 60: Enabling The Portfast Option To Configure Stp Edge Ports

    To enable flow control on all ports of a PowerConnect 5448, enter the following commands: console# configure console(config)# interface range ethernet g(1-48) console(config-if)# speed 1000 console(config-if)# duplex full console(config-if)# flowcontrol on Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 61: Disabling Unicast Storm Control

    The following steps are an example of how to disable storm control on all ports of a PowerConnect 5448 switch: console# configure console(config)# interface range ethernet all console(config-if)# no port storm-control broadcast enable console(config-if)# exit console(config)# exit console# copy running-config startup-config console# exit Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 62: Configuring Jumbo Frames

    Jumbo frames are not enabled by default. To enable jumbo frames on the PowerConnect 54xx switch, use the port jumbo-frame global configuration command. Jumbo frames are enabled on all ports on a switch when enabled. console# configure console(config)# port jumbo-frame console(config)# exit console# copy running-config startup-config console# exit Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 63: Appendix E Powerconnect 62Xx Switch Configuration

    PowerConnect 62xx Family of switches are stacking switches and must be configured as a stack using either the web-based Switch manager or the Command Line Interface (CLI). The instructions in this Appendix provide CLI commands for configuration. Please go to Dell’s support website for the latest documentation if the web-interface is preferred.

  • Page 64: Enabling The Portfast Option To Configure Stp Edge Ports

    The following steps are an example of using this command to disable the unicast storm control on a single port – Port 10 of Switch 3 in a stack: console# configure console(config)# interface ethernet 3/g10 console(config-if)# no storm-control unicast Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 65: Configuring Jumbo Frames

    All ports on a switch can be configured using the port range command. console# configure console(config)# interface range ethernet all console(config-if)# mtu 9216 console(config-if)# exit console(config)# exit console# copy running-config startup-config console# exit Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 66: Appendix F Cisco Ios Based Switch Configuration

    24 fixed ports, the SFP module ports are gigabitethernet1/0/25 through gigabitethernet1/0/28. For example, on a Cisco Catalyst® 3750-E, port #4 is identified by entering the following command: Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernet1/0/4 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 67: Enabling The Portfast Option To Configure Stp Edge Ports

    This section describes how to configure Flow Control on Cisco Catalyst 3750 and 2970 switches. You must enable Flow Control on each switch port that handles iSCSI traffic. Note: Cisco Catalyst switch ports are capable of receiving, but not sending, pause frames. Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 68: Disabling Unicast Storm Control

    On Cisco Catalyst switches, MTU size cannot be set for an individual interface. Instead, it must be configured for all Gigabit Ethernet ports on the switch, or for all ports in a VLAN. When the MTU size is Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 69 VLAN1 cannot have Jumbo Frames enabled. VLAN 2 must be used if Jumbo Frames are required. Switch# vlan database Switch(vlan)# vlan 2 mtu 9000 Switch(vlan)# exit To view or confirm MTU size on port 7 of the switch, use the following command. Switch# show interface gigabitethernet1/0/7 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...
  • Page 70 For more information on configuring Jumbo Frames or Giant Frames on Catalyst switches, see: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps700/products_configuration_example09186a00 8010edab.shtml Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v11.3...

  • Page 71: Related Publications

    Understanding Data Replication Between Dell EqualLogic PS Series Groups Published in 2009 10 GbE, Servers, Storage and Virtualization - Interoperability Review and Highlights Benefits and Best Practices for Deploying SSDs in an OLTP Environment Using Dell EqualLogic PS Series (EqualLogic support site – registration required)
  • Page 72 Red Hat Linux v5.x Software iSCSI Initiator Configuration, MPIO and tuning Guide Published in 2008 Creating and Applying IP Access Control Lists on Dell PowerConnect 62XX Series Data Protection Examples using PS Series Snapshots in a VMware Virtual Infrastructure Integrating Blade Solutions with EqualLogic SANs...
  • Page 73 THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

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