HP P4000 SAN Technical White Paper
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HP P4000 SAN Technical White Paper

San networking recommendations
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HP P4000 SAN networking recommendations
Technical white paper

Table of contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 2
General recommendations ............................................................................................................. 2
Specific network recommendations ................................................................................................. 2
Recommended switch infrastructure for an HP P4000 SAN ................................................................ 3
Storage node connection options.................................................................................................... 5
Sample configurations ................................................................................................................... 6
Sample IP storage network configuration setup ................................................................................. 7
HP P4000 multi-site SAN networking requirements ........................................................................... 7
Network latency ....................................................................................................................... 7
Network bandwidth .................................................................................................................. 8
Suggested best practices for HP P4000 Multi-Site Configuration ..................................................... 8
Remote copy ................................................................................................................................ 9
IP networking requirements......................................................................................................... 9
Scheduling bandwidth usage ................................................................................................... 10
Best practices for 10GbE ............................................................................................................. 13
SFP+ Connections ................................................................................................................... 13
Switches ................................................................................................................................ 13
Flow control ........................................................................................................................... 13
Bonding ................................................................................................................................. 13
Server-side 10GbE NICs .......................................................................................................... 13
HP P4000 multi-site SAN ......................................................................................................... 14

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Summary of Contents for HP P4000 SAN

  • Page 1: Table Of Contents

    Table of contents Introduction ..........................2 General recommendations ......................2 Specific network recommendations ....................2 Recommended switch infrastructure for an HP P4000 SAN ..............3 Storage node connection options....................5 Sample configurations ........................6 Sample IP storage network configuration setup ................. 7 HP P4000 multi-site SAN networking requirements ................

  • Page 2: Introduction

    This document will provide you with the guidelines for creating a high-performance, highly available IP network for use with HP P4000 SANs. As of the writing of this document, this paper applies only to the server based storage nodes, such as the P4500 and P4300. You’ll find important configuration guidelines, best practices, and frequently asked questions that will help you to accelerate a successful deployment.

  • Page 3: Recommended Switch Infrastructure For An Hp P4000 San

    10,000 Mb/s accordingly with full duplex. P4000 10GbE adapters are configured as 10 Gb, full duplex only, thus the storage network must be 10 Gb. * This value can be changed on the HP Networking and Cisco switches to reduce the number of buffers but increase the size of each individual buffer cache.
  • Page 4 Ethernet frame. The storage nodes are capable of frame sizes up to 9 KB. Jumbo frames must be enabled on the switch, storage nodes, and all servers connected to the HP P4000 SAN. Typically, jumbo frames are enabled globally or per-VLAN on the switch, and on a per-port basis on the server.

  • Page 5: Storage Node Connection Options

    IP address on the network; at this writing, the software does not support storage nodes with multiple IP connections to the same network. Table 2 highlights the HP P4000 software– supported NIC bonding types and provides recommendations for using each of them.

  • Page 6: Sample Configurations

    Sample configurations This section illustrates a recommended P4000 configuration. • Switch infrastructure—Dual redundant gigabit switches trunked together for bandwidth and fault tolerance. • Storage node connectivity—ALB NIC bond with one port connected to each switch. • Host server connectivity—Dual NICs connected to the IP storage network with a single port connected to each switch.

  • Page 7: Sample Ip Storage Network Configuration Setup

    12. For optimum performance, choose NICs that support hardware TCP Offloading and TCP Checksum Offloading. Check to make sure the OS is configured to use these features. At this time, HP does not recommend the use of iSCSI offloading for use with the HP P4000 SAN system without a qualified HBA. HBAs that are qualified at the time of this writing are the QLogic QLE4060c, QLE4062c and QMH4062.

  • Page 8: Network Bandwidth

    If possible, use automated data failover (recommended)—Configure an equal number of managers on both sides of the P4000 SAN and add a failover manager at a third location. If an event disables any of the three locations, a quorum will still exist with the managers running at the two remaining locations; automatic failover will occur and the volumes will stay online.

  • Page 9: Remote Copy

    IP networking requirements You can use HP P4000 remote copy from one cluster to another cluster on a single IP subnet as well as across routed environments. In a routed environment, the two IP subnets must have IP routes to each target network without network address translation (NAT) or port forwarding.

  • Page 10: Scheduling Bandwidth Usage

    Best practices for IP networking • Use a VPN client on a remote host running the management console to manage remote copy tasks. Tasks may also be managed from either Private LAN. • Use private line point-to-point or VPN connections for your remote copy implementations. •...
  • Page 11 Estimated time to copy Link speeds are commonly listed in Mb/s or Kb/s on lower-bandwidth connections. To estimate the time needed for a copy: 1. First convert the size of the volume to bytes: Begin by multiplying the gigabytes by 1024 to get megabytes. 2.
  • Page 12 Tune bandwidth usage HP P4000 remote copy is a pull technology and initiates jobs from the remote side of the task. The remote management group should be configured to use only the amount of bandwidth that has been allocated. As shown in Figure 4, use the management console to edit the remote side by right-clicking on the management group and selecting Edit Management Group.

  • Page 13: Best Practices For 10Gbe

    ALB) is also not allowed. Server-side 10GbE NICs Follow your server vendor’s recommendations for maximum compatibility and support. HP does not recommend or endorse any particular vendor or 10GbE card for the servers.

  • Page 14: Hp P4000 Multi-Site San

    HP P4000 multi-site SAN In a HP P4000 multi-site SAN configuration, each half of the P4000 nodes in a cluster (or each half of a SAN) lives in a different physical space—for example, a separate rack, floor, or building. In order to realize the benefits of 10GbE, the link speed between the two locations must be adequate.

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