Gigabit and TenGig for Datamovers

Hi Martidi, and welcome to the Support Forums.

I think your EMC representative was confused with what you were asking.  Let's see if we can address each one of your questions:

1- I need to change my whole datamovers to have "tengig-enabled" DM (?)

I don't even know what that means.  Perhaps he was talking about ensuring that all of your Data Movers had similar network connectivity for failover.  He also could have been talking about being on the most current 5.6 code in order to capture the 10G fixes.  Beyond that, there is nothing more you have to do in order to "tengig-enable" your DM.

2- Tengig and 4xGig module can not cohabit because of no correct fail-over. So I've to choose 2 xTenGig module to setup my redudancy.

The answer to this question is "it depends."  If you are trying to set up a trunk using mixed media, then he is correct.  However, if you are trying to set up Fail Safe Networking (FSN), then you can have your primary FSN connection as the 10G card, and your secondary connection as a trunk of the 1G ports.  This is perfectly acceptable.

-bill

Hi Bill,

Thank you very much for your answer. ;-)

No, I dont need a trunk with a mix TenGig/Gig.

So normally if I add one TenGig module in each of my DM, my setup should be Ok ?

Kind regards

Didier

You need to reconfigure the network configuration on the data movers, which requires some downtime to be planned, if the box is already in production. You may take the help from your local EMC implementation/support team, especially with setting up the Fail safe network.

And also I like to join Bill to welcome you to our Support Forums.

Sandip

Thank you to both of you for your answers .

But I need to know if it's possible to simply add a TenGig (or 2xTenGig) ethernet module to my 4 curent datamovers, configured with 2 4x1gbps module, OR do I need to change my datamovers (X-Blade) for 4 new DM configured with a 2xTenGig module and a 4x1gbps module.

Simlpy put, does the LAN conenctivity of DM is a FIXED one (requiring to change the whole X-Blade to change the connectivity options) or a MODULAR one (2xTengig and 4x1gpbs module could be added/swapped at will).

Sorry if this question seems trivial,but I still have no clear answer of my EMC representative here.

Thank you.

Hi Martin,

I understand.

In general the NS-960 blade I/O config is modular, but there are some restrictions on adding/replacing I/O modules.

I'll get get someone to contact you with an answer for your config.

Rainer

Greetings,

I think that this is the information you need:

As already noted, the NS-960 Data Mover (X-Blade) is built to use UltraFlex I/O modules. In the original launch of the NS-960 & NS-G8, there were eight fixed-configuration Data Mover models that could be chosen.

In August 2010, a decision was made to offer more flexibility as follows:

• Additional LAN connectivity I/O modules can be added to empty slots as an upgrade (up to the configuration limit set for a given system type)
  
• Any combination of I/O mudules is permitted after the first slot (which is occupied by the 4 or 8 Gbit/sec FC module (up to the configuration limit set for a given system type)
  
• All Data Mover configurations in a system must physically match (in order to allow successful failover)
  
• Current upgrade rules state that you may not exchange one type of I/O module for another type in the same slot.
  
• Current upgrade rules state that you may not create empty slots by removing currently installed I/O modules.
  
• Not all types are supported by all NAS code versions.(For example, the new 2-port 10 GbE UltraFlex I/O card requires NAS 6.0 to be installed first)
  

The changes only went into the ordering system at the beginning of September 2010, so that may explain why you may have had trouble getting an answer, quickly.

As described, your system has two available slots for I/O upgrades in each of the four Data Movers. You will need to factor adding 4x I/O modules at a time (because of the X-Blade matching rule)

There is a maximum limit of two 2-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Optical I/O modules per Data Mover.

Regards,

Kola

Kola,

great information, thank you.  Are the new requirements/options documented anywhere ?  What are my "network" upgrade options on NS-480 ?

Thank you

Thank you very much for your answsers.

It's indeed the information I needed.

Kind Regards

Didier

Hi dynamox,

the NS-480 uses a different blade technology - its not as modular and doesnt have empty I/O slots.

There are upgrade options to change it to include 10GBit ports - I suggest you get a quote from your account team for that.

Since these upgrades currently are not customer installable I wouldnt expect them to be documented customer-facing.

Rainer

Hi Rainer,

do you know what those upgrade options are ?  For example right now i have 4 x 1G copper interfaces. Can i swap them out for 10G interfaces and how many? Can i go with 10G optical ?

Thanks

yes, in that case the mezannine card with 4x 1G copper gets swapped with one that contains 2x 10G optical and 2x 1G copper ports

thats the only config option that includes 10G for the NS-480

of course your standby (actually all) data movers need to be upgraded

Rainer