VxBlock: Network configuration for PowerStore T

Goals:

How to configure Cisco Nexus switches for PowerStore T array ?
How PowerStore T is connected into VxBlock ethernet networks ?
What are the network requirements for PowerStore T models ?
 

Facts:

Dell EMC PowerStore T array contains one to four appliances. Each appliance contains redundant nodes, A and B. Each node has one management port (RJ45 Ethernet), and two ports on data-plane/ToR switches (10 or 25 Gbps Ethernet SFP-based).

All appliances connect in the same fashion on VxBlock:

• Node A 1 GbE management port - management switch A
• Node A Mezz0 port 0 - ToR switch A
• Node A Mezz0 port 1 - ToR switch B
• Node B 1 GbE management port - management switch B
• Node B Mezz0 port 0 - ToR switch B
• Node B Mezz0 port 1 - ToR switch A

The VxBlock management VLAN is used for PowerStore T models discovery and management (PowerStore Manager UI).

On PowerStore T nodes, the first two ports of the Mezzanine card (Mezz0) are combined into a LACP bond interface. It is configured as a virtual Port Channel (vPC) on both ToR switches to provide intra-cluster communication (internal), storage network (iSCSI), NAS and replication (optional).

Remaining ports on the Mezzanine card or additional Ethernet IO Module ports can be configured on data-plane/ToR switches as individual trunk ports. They can only be used for replication on VxBlock Systems (may changes in future releases).
 

Network requirements:

Native VLAN:

PowerStore discovery (management) and intra-cluster communication (internal) runs over the native VLAN. 

To allow untagged traffic on 802.1Q trunks, it is required to have the vlan dot1q tag native command disabled on ToR switches. In existing configuration, potential impacts must be evaluated before disabling  vlan dot1q tag native. When enabled, a trunk will drop any untagged traffic, and maintain tagging on native VLAN. When disabled, untagged traffic is allowed and tag matching native VLAN removed. Ensure existing trunks are not using native or default VLAN in particular with other connected switches (uplinks).
 

Discovery protocols (CDP and LLDP):

PowerStore T models rely on CDP and LLDP protocols to discover and validate network configuration. It is recommended to have CDP and LLDP enable on all switches (management & data-plane).
 

Storage network (iSCSI):

PowerStore storage network must be configured with a dedicated VLAN on VxBlock Systems.

iSCSI configuration is required during PowerStore T models initialisation and this network is used internally (within nodes) on specific operations. Ensure using the same VLAN ID in PowerStore and ToR switches configuration. It is recommended to disable flow control on these ports (best practice).

Please note assigning Block storage over iSCSI to hosts is not supported on VxBlock Systems (may changes in future releases).
 

Optional VLANs (NAS and replication):

NAS network is required if PowerStore T is configured as Unified (not used with Block Optimized). It will use the standard VxBlock NAS VLAN.
In case of replication to a remote PowerStore array, a replication network will be configured with a dedicated VLAN on VxBlock Systems.
 

Other interface settings:

- Configure ports as spanning tree protocol (STP) edge ports (management and data-plane).
- Disable flow control (send and receive) on data-plane ports (iSCSI best practice).
- It is recommended to use Jumbo Frames on data-plane ports.

Solution:

Cisco Nexus management switches:

1/ Set global parameters and define VLANs (both switches)

! discovery protocols
cdp enable
feature lldp

! VxBlock Management vlan
vlan 101
  name vcesys_oob_mgmt

2/ Configure interfaces

For each PowerStore T appliance, configure Node-A management port on switch A and Node-B on switch B:

interface EthernetX/Y
  description PowerStore_Appliance-[1-4]_Node-[A,B]_Mgmt
  switchport mode access vlan 101
  spanning-tree port type edge

Cisco Nexus data-plane/ToR switches:

1/ Set global parameters and define VLANs (both switches)

! discovery protocols
cdp enable
feature lldp

! native vlan support on trunk
no vlan dot1Q tag native 

! port breakout (10 or 25Gb)
interface breakout module X port Y map 25g-4x 


! PowerStore internal vlan (required, native)
vlan 139
  name pstore_t_internal

! PowerStore storage vlan (required)
vlan 129
  name vcesys_pstore_stor

! VxBlock NAS vlan (optional)
vlan 109
  name vcesys_NAS

! PowerStore replication vlan (optional)
vlan 157
  name dp_replication

2/ Configure port-channels (both switch)

For each PowerStore T node, configure a virtual Port-Channel (VPC):

interface port-channel30[0-7]
  description PowerStore_Appliance-[1-4]_Node-[A,B]
  switchport mode trunk
  switchport trunk native vlan 139
  switchport trunk allowed vlan 109,129,139,157
  spanning-tree port type edge trunk
  flowcontrol receive off
  flowcontrol send off
  mtu 9216
  vpc 30[0-7]

3/ Configure interfaces

For each PowerStore T node, configure:

• switch A: Node-A port 0 / Node-B port 1 
• switch B: Node-A port 1 / Node-B port 0 

interface EthernetX/Y/[1-4]
  description PowerStore_Appliance-[1-4]_Node-[A,B]_MezzPort-[0,1]
  switchport mode trunk
  switchport trunk native vlan 139
  switchport trunk allowed vlan 109,129,139,157
  spanning-tree port type edge trunk
  flowcontrol receive off
  flowcontrol send off
  mtu 9216
  channel-group 30[0-7] mode active

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