Support Matrix

Dell EMC PowerVault MD Series storage array
rules
This section contains both general and model-specific connectivity and consideration rules for Dell EMC PowerVault MD storage arrays.
The rules listed in Table 2 apply to all storage array models. For rules applying to specific Dell EMC PowerVault MD models, see Table 3
and Table 4.
NOTE: Dell EMC PowerVault MD3460, MD3860i, and MD3860f platforms are supported in dual-RAID controller (duplex)
configurations only.
Table 2. Dell EMC PowerVault MD Series storage array rules for all models
Rule
MD34x0 series MD38x0i series
MD38x0f
series
12 Gbps SAS 10 Gbps iSCSI
16 Gbps Fibre
Channel
Maximum number of host servers a single storage array can connect to with
one RAID controller module installed
4 64 64
Maximum number of host servers a single storage array can connect to with
two RAID controller modules installed
8 (4, if using high
availability)
64 64
Maximum number of Dell 12 Gbps SAS HBA cards supported in a single host
server attached to single array. (Dell recommends you to use two Dell 12
Gbps SAS HBA cards for all redundant cabling configurations.)
2 (each card has
two ports)
N/A N/A
Unused ports on a Dell 12 Gbps SAS HBA card already connected to a Dell
PowerVault MD3460 cannot connect to another device (such as a tape
drive or other model storage array).
Yes N/A N/A
Maximum number of Dell PowerVault MD Series Storage Arrays a host
server may connect to
2 (HA) 4 4
A hot-spare for a disk group must be a physical disk drive of equal or greater
size than any of the member disks.
Yes Yes Yes
When using out-of-band management with SMcli by specifying the RAID
controller management port IP addresses on the Dell PowerVault MD
Storage Array, SMcli commands that change the attributes of a virtual disk,
virtual disk copy, or snapshot virtual disk, must have management access to
the owning RAID controller module. Where applicable, it is a best practice to
specify both management port IP addresses on the SMcli invocation:
• SMcli 192.168.129.101 192.168.129.102 –c (2U Array)
• SMcli 192.168.128.101 192.168.128.102 –c (4U Dense Array)
Yes Yes Yes
On Linux systems, Device Mapper multipath drivers are required for
multipath support.
Yes Yes Yes
Coexistence of several Linux multi-path drivers is not supported. When
using a Dell PowerVault MD3400 or MD3800 series array with Linux host
servers, only the Linux Device Mapper failover driver is supported.**
Yes Yes Yes
Virtual disks on Dell PowerVault MD Series Storage Arrays cannot be used
for booting.
Yes Yes Yes
Disk Groups can be migrated between a Dell PowerVault MD3460/3860i/
3860f by following the appropriate disk group migration procedure.***
Yes Yes Yes
Maximum size of a virtual disk in a dynamic disk pool: 64 TB Yes Yes Yes
Disk pools cannot be migrated. Yes Yes Yes
3
Dell EMC PowerVault MD Series storage array rules 7