Contents Notes, Cautions, and Warnings....................2 1 Configuring Fibre Channel With Dell MD3600f/3620f/MD3660f Series Storage Arrays...............................5 ..............5 Configuring Fibre Channel On Direct- and SAN-Attached Storage Arrays ..........................6 Other Information You May Need ........................6 Installing Supported Fibre Channel HBAs ....................6 Installing Fibre Channel HBA On Your Host Server ..........................7...
For basic setup information such as racking, power cabling, and recommended handling procedures, see Getting Started Guide for your Storage Array at support.dell.com/manuals. NOTE: The cabling and configuration concepts shown in this document apply to both 2U- and 4U-based Dell fibre- channel storage arrays.
The storage array supports a specific set of Fibre Channel HBAs, each requiring a unique driver and firmware level. See Support Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals for a list of supported HBAs with the software patches, knowledge bases, drivers, firmware, and BIOS versions.
NOTE: For a list of supported Fibre Channel switches, see the Support Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals. Figure 1. Example of Switch Zoning on SAN on an MD3600f-series Fibre-Channel Storage Array World Wide Name Zoning There are several different switch zoning techniques used across various SANs.
If the Remote Replication premium feature is activated, a separate zone for each replication port is required. Only data traffic related to Remote Replication can move through that zone. For more details and requirements Dell PowerVault MD3260/3260i/3660i/3660f/3060e Storage Arrays regarding Remote Replication, see the Administrator's Guide at support.dell.com/manuals.
Direct-Attached Cabling Direct-attached cabling configurations provide simple, non-switched connections between the host server and storage array. Redundancy is achieved in a direct-attached configuration if two RAID controllers are installed in the storage array and multiple paths between the host sever and storage array are established. A single RAID controller, direct-attached configuration is supported, but is not recommended due to the low level of redundancy offered.
Page 10
Figure 3. Two Host Servers With Two Single-Port HBAs Connected to a Single-Controller Storage Array...
Page 11
Figure 4. Four Host Servers With Single-Port HBAs Connected to a Single-Controller Storage Array Dual Controller Configurations Figure 5 through Figure 7 show two and four host servers, each connected to two RAID controller modules. Since each host server has redundant paths, loss of a single path allows access to the storage array through the alternate path.
Page 12
Figure 5. Two Host Servers With Two Dual-Port HBAs Connected to a Dual-Controller (Duplex) Storage Array...
Page 13
Figure 6. Four Host Servers With Single-Port HBAs Connected to a Dual-Controller (Duplex) Storage Array...
Figure 7. Four Host Servers With Single-Port HBAs Connected to a Dual-Controller (Duplex) Storage Array Using Cluster Cabling Figure 7 shows a four-cluster node connected to two RAID controller modules. Since each cluster node has redundant paths, loss of a single path still allows access to the storage array through the alternate path. SAN-Attached Cabling SAN-attached cabling configurations provide the highest level of redundancy and alternate-path connectivity between the host server and storage array.
Page 15
Figure 8. Three SAN-Attached Host Servers Connected to a Storage Array Using Multiple Paths Switch Fabric A Switch Fabric B Zone_1_Server_1_HBA_0 Zone_5_Server_1_HBA_1 Server1-HBA_0 Server1-HBA_1 Array_Ctrl-0-1 Array_Ctrl-0-0 Array_Ctrl-1-0 Array_Ctrl-1-1 Zone_2_Server_2_HBA_0 Zone_6_Server_2_HBA_1 Server2-HBA_0 Server2-HBA_1 Array_Ctrl-0-3 Array_Ctrl-0-2 Array_Ctrl-1-2 Array_Ctrl-1-3 Zone_3_Server_3_HBA_0-0 Zone_7_Server_3_HBA_0_1 Server3-HBA_0_0 Server3-HBA_0_1 Array_Ctrl-0-1 Array_Ctrl-0-0 Array_Ctrl-1-0...
Page 16
for Remote Replication traffic. No other data traffic is allowed on that port until the Remote Replication feature is deactivated. A dedicated zone on each Fibre Channel switch is also required. Figure 9. Remote Replication Cabling Switch Fabric A Switch Fabric B Zone_1_Server_1_HBA_0 Zone_5_Server_1_HBA_1 Server-1-HBA_0...