How do I test the initial SmartConnect configuration?

After setting up SmartConnect in the Isilon WebUI and making configuration changes to the corporate DNS server, you find that a client cannot connect to the Isilon using the SmartConnect Zone Name.

Below is a simple test to verify the Isilon is configured correctly.

First verify your SmartConnect service IP, SmartConnect Zone Name and SmartConnect Connection policy.

For the purpose of testing, the SmartConnect policy should be set to Round Robin. This will ensure easy to understand results.

In this example, the SmartConnect Zone name is "cluster.isilon.com" and the SmartConnect Service IP is "10.10.158.200"

Log into the CLI of node-1 of the cluster.  Typically this will be where the SmartConnect Service IP is hosted. Verify with "ifconfig".

Next, use the "nslookup" command in interactive mode to test the SmartConnect service IP's responsiveness.

Start the nslookup command

Isilon-cluster-1# nslookup

Point nslookup to use the SmartConnect SIP (10.10.58.200), as the DNS server for this session

> server 10.10.158.200

Default server: 10.10.158.200

Address: 10.10.158.200#53

Feed nslookup the SmartConnect Zone Name (cluster.isilon.com) multiple times and verify the results

> cluster.isilon.com

Server:         10.10.158.200

Address:        10.10.158.200#53

Name:   cluster.isilon.com

Address: 10.10.158.206

> cluster.isilon.com

Server:         10.10.158.200

Address:        10.10.158.200#53

Name:   cluster.isilon.com

Address: 10.10.158.205

> cluster.isilon.com

Server:         10.10.158.200

Address:        10.10.158.200#53

Name:   cluster.isilon.com

Address: 10.10.158.204

At this point, there are three correct results indicating that the SmartConnect service is up and responsive to queries for the SmartConnect Zone Name.

Next validate both the DNS and client configurations as needed.

If the test fails (probably with a REFUSED message), then validate the SmartConnect settings in the cluster configuration and test again.