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PS6000 iSCSI setup
I am setting up an iSCSI environment for a Windows Server. I will be using 2 Dell Poweconnect 7024s , 1 Dell PS6000, and a Windows Server (2008 R2). I have more experience in fiber switches and EMC VNX series SANs than I do with the Powerconnect and PS series products, so I have a few questions.
1)The PS6000 has 2 controller cards (the greens) with 4 Ethernet ports each. In this documentation, Section 4.5.1, the image shows all 4 ports of each card connected to the iSCSI network I believe. Additionally it looks like one of the preferred methods to setup these SANs is via the Remote Setup Wizard.
Question: Do people generally not have a dedicated IP/management port to each SP for remote management on these? Is the preferred method to use all 4 ports per controller for iSCSI network traffic, and then just manage the SAN via the Windows Server that will be connected to it? Or should I be able to setup 1 of those ports, possibly the last one of each card, as a separate remote management port?
2)In all diagrams of this setup it seems like I have to have the switches either stacked or LAGed. In the same document, figure 19 in section 4.3.1, shows stack or LAG.
Question: Do I have to have these switches stacked or LAGed for redundancy, or can they remain not connected?
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
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274.2K Posts
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November 27th, 2012 13:00
Please call me Don.
You can still configure the SAN via the serial port, that hasn't changed at all. So if you're more comfortable with that then please do so. Just don't forget to assign IPs to all the ISCSI ports and enable them. It's an easy step to forget.
If you use the Remote Setup Wizard (RSW), you have to be on same subnet as the array, so yes from a server that's going to connect to it is easiest. RSW is just trying to make it easier to configure the array it's not mandatory.
Re: Dedicated Port. In a majority of customer installations, the network is not the bottleneck, so you don't see all the GbE ports 100% utilized. So using a port for Mgmt isn't likely to impact the SAN performance. Some customers will use a router to get to the SAN subnet to allow mgmt from their LAN, and block port 3260 to keep iSCSI from traversing the LAN.
Regards,
Anonymous
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274.2K Posts
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November 27th, 2012 08:00
Dedicated Mgmt is totally up to what works best for your environment. When using the Dedicated Mgmt port option, ONLY the last ethernet port on the CM can be used.
Switches, yes they MUST be lagged or stacked for proper operation. You have to wire the CM ports across the switches, so when both switches are available, some servers are going to have to go across the LAG/Stack to reach the array.
Setup can be done via Remote Setup Wizard, or by connecting to the Serial port of the array. Whichever you find easier.
Chadddada
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November 27th, 2012 13:00
Dwilliam62:
I really do want to have the separate dedicated management port setup but not sure if I should. I think this desire mostly comes from managing EMC VNX/ Ax / Cx series SANs. However most of the setups in Dell EqualLogic documentation don't seem to be using the dedicated remote management. Rather they use all 8 ports, across the 2 different controller modules (array controllers) for iSCSI traffic across 2 different switches.
Would it be best, design wise, to just install the Remote Setup Wizard on the file server I am connecting to this SAN to? So basically the build would be:
1)Setup switches.
2)Connect SAN to the switches / Window File server to the switches, as described en.community.dell.com/.../3615.rapid-equallogic-configuration-portal-by-sis.aspx .
3)Power up the SAN.
4)Run the Remote Setup Wizard on the file server and it should find the array to initialize and configure it?
Generally I have set the IP via the serial connection and then used Unisphere (and the old version) to connect and configure the SAN.
Dev Mgr
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November 29th, 2012 20:00
Note that if you purchased your Equallogic array in the US (within about the last year), it should have come with a remote install service from Dell. This service covers setting up the unit, updating the firmware, going over the GUI basics, optimizing your 2 switches for iSCSI and configuring the server to connect to the storage.
Several of the engineers that do those setups have experience with EMC and could help explain the similarities and differences between EMC and Equallogic to help understand what is different and why.