Users Guide

Networking best practices

IP address requirements

Dell recommends static IP addresses for all ports. There are seven IP addresses required for each storage

node for this solution. This solution does not include the IP address requirements for the SMB clients.

Subnet requirements

Dell recommends you to use five distinct subnets for Scale-Out File Server configurations. Two high-

speed storage networks are used for external client communication (L3–routable). Different two subnets

are used for intra-cluster communication (do not require L3 routing).

The fifth subnet is used for cluster management and Active Directory integration. This subnet must

leverage an existing network infrastructure, if required. You must have each redundant pair of subnets

routed through two physically separate switches. Internal communication between storage nodes is

performed by the dual 10 GbE ports on the Network Daughter Card (NDC) in the storage node.

Table 2. Subnet overview by port

Static or DHCP

address

Subnet mask Gateway DNS Network

iDRAC server

management

Either X X X Subnet 1 or existing

network (L3–routable)

Cluster or

server

management

Either X X X Subnet 1 or existing

network (L3–routable)

Either X X X Subnet 1 or existing

customer network (L3–

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

Static X Subnet 4