Deployment Guide

Network infrastructure requirements for SOFS
Dell recommends that you use five distinct subnets for Scale-Out File Server configurations. The first
subnet is used for cluster management and AD integration. This subnet can leverage an existing network
infrastructure. Two high-speed storage networks are used for external client communication (Layer 3-
routable). Other two subnets are used for intra-cluster communication (does not require Layer 3 routing).
You must have each redundant pair of subnets routed through two physically separate switches.
Network settings and IP addresses
On the basis of your network infrastructure, you must know the following information to associate with
the network setup of each NIC:
• IP address
• Gateway IP address
• Subnet mask
• Static DNS server address
NOTE: A set of the following IP addresses are required for each server node in the cluster.
A summary of the seven IP addresses required for configuring the NICs on each node in the following
table.
Table 4. Node IP address summary
Static or
DHCP
address
Subnet
mask
Gateway DNS Network
iDRAC Server
Management
Either X X X Subnet 1 or existing network
(Layer 3-routable)
Cluster- or Server
Management
Either X X X Subnet 1 or existing network
(Layer 3-routable)
Either X X X Subnet 1 or existing customer
network (Layer 3-routable)
External
communication to SMB
clients
Static X X X Subnet 2 (Layer 3-routable)
Static X X X Subnet 3 (Layer 3-routable)
Internal communication
between server cluster
nodes
Static X Subnet 4
Static X Subnet 5
Switch requirements
The SOFS solution requires a minimum of two physically separate switches to provide resilient
connectivity between the storage nodes and clients. Divide each of the two switches to accommodate at
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