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How to add additional server to EMC Clariion CX3-10 based cluster - help?
At the moment we are running an EMC Clariion CX3-10 through two Brocade FC switches, back to a pair of Dell R900 servers running ESXi 4.1. This works well, however we now need to add an additional server to the ESXi cluster. I have got a Dell R710 and enabled EVC so the VMware side of things is fine, the question I have is what is the recommended procedure for adding this server to the SAN?
When the guy from Dell set it up initially, he configured a storage group per server - when LUNs are created these are added to both storage groups, thereby making them visible on both. I presume I need to create another storage group for my new server and add the same LUNs to it, is this correct? I presume the LUNs will present at the new ESX host with the same LUN IDs as they do for the other two hosts? I am also assuming that the unit will auto-register with the SAN, and all I then need to do is to add the host to the newly created storage group, prior to adding the existing LUNs?
Sorry if this sounds a little vague, but I'm more of a VMware man than EMC....
Cheers
JD
dynamox
2 Intern
2 Intern
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20.4K Posts
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November 1st, 2010 09:00
it's very odd that they would configure with dedicated storage group but it is what it is at this point. So the new box once zones should auto-register itself. Create a new group and add all the LUNs that you have already presented to other ESX hosts. It's very important that you specify identical Host ID for each LUN just like it is in other storage groups, add the host to storage group as well. After that is done, you can rescan ESXi for datastores and they should pop right in.
hellraiseruk
38 Posts
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November 1st, 2010 09:00
Excellent, that is exactly what I was hoping it would do. I’m slightly less nervous of adding the server now J
Cheers
JD
hellraiseruk
38 Posts
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November 3rd, 2010 09:00
One weird thing I have noticed - I added an additional 2003 server to this SAN in order to give it half a terabyte of space, didn't set up any zoning, just added a storage group and assigned the LUN to there and it worked - is there something weird with the Brocade 200 series switches that allows you to do that?
Cheers
JD
kenn2347
542 Posts
1
November 3rd, 2010 10:00
Those switches might have the default or open zoning enabled on them were all ports are zoned to eachother. the 200 is Brocade's simplest switch and they tried to make it as easy as they can for the user.
I personally dont like that and would rather create zones so i know that later down the line, if i have problems it may be easier to track it down if it is a zone issue
kelleg
4.5K Posts
1
November 3rd, 2010 12:00
You should check the switch for the presence of zones, EMC does not support open zoning (the default that the switch comes with). Each HBA needs to have a separate zone to each SP port. With open zoning, you get the switch ports all talking to each other and that can cause connectiivity issues.
glen
DanJost
190 Posts
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November 3rd, 2010 12:00
I mentioned this on another thread once but here goes again ... the Dell-branded switches come with all of the ports zoned to the first two ports. The poster that comes with it tells you to put the fiber cables for the SAN into the first two ports. Also, when you web to it you get the "EzSetup" which, from what I can remember, only gives you the option to change which ports are storage ports and which ones are host ports. To get into the web tools you have to http://theswitchip/switchExplorer.html and then you can do it "right". The HP-embedded brocade blade switches come without any zoning and if you don't set it up first the SP's log in to eachother
Not really sure the Dell default setup is any worse than that!
Dan
hellraiseruk
38 Posts
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November 4th, 2010 01:00
You guys rock - seriously
I'm perfectly comfortable with VMware and iSCSI (having set up more than a few!), but the FC SAN is something that I inherited and as it houses our production environment, I treat it with a great deal of respect
Unfortunately due to it being production, I don't really have the opportunity to play with it much so being able to ask noobish questions on here and getting them answered is indeed very useful! I'm nipping down today to add the extra host, I'll let you know how I get on - I'm also adding an Equallogic PS4000 iSCSI SAN to the 3 hosts to provide some additional lower-speed storage for some low IO VMs to free up space on the FC environment so it looks like I have a busy day ahead of me...
Thanks for all your help
JD