Dell™ PowerEdge™ Cluster FE655Wi Systems Platform Guide w w w. d e l l . c o m | s u p p o r t . d e l l .
Notes, Notices, and Cautions NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. ____________________ Information in this document is subject to change without notice. © 2006–2007 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Supported Cluster Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iSCSI Initiator Support . . . . . . . . . . . Ethernet Switch Support for iSCSI Network System Configurations Support . . . . . . . Rules and Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contents
This document provides information for installing and connecting peripheral hardware, storage, and Internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) network components to your Dell™ PowerEdge™ cluster FE655Wi solution. The configuration information in this document is specific to the Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server 2003, x64 operating systems.
Table 1-1.
Rules and Guidelines When you are connecting two or more PowerEdge 1855/1955 server enclosures in a cluster consider the parameters in this section, All cluster nodes must contain identical versions of the following: • Operating systems and service packs • Hardware, drivers, firmware or BIOS for the embedded NICs, Ethernet daughter cards, and any other peripheral hardware components • Systems management software, such as Dell OpenManage™ systems management software and EMC® Navisphere® storage manageme
Rules and Guidelines The rules and guidelines described in Table 1-2 apply to direct-attached clusters. Table 1-2. Direct-Attached Clusters Rules and Guidelines Rule/Guideline Description Operating system Each direct-attached cluster must run Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003, x64 operating system. Windows Server 2003 service pack Windows Server 2003 is supported with all CX-series and AX-series storage systems.
Attaching Your Cluster Shared Storage System through iSCSI Switch-Attached Configuration This section provides the rules and guidelines for attaching your PowerEdge cluster nodes to the shared storage systems through an iSCSI switch-attached configuration using redundant Ethernet switch fabrics. The switch-attached configuration supports two to eight cluster nodes connected to the storage system through an iSCSI network.
Table 1-3. iSCSI Switch-Attached Clusters Rules and Guidelines (continued) Rule/Guideline Description TOE NIC for iSCSI traffic Ethernet daughter card: Broadcom 5708 Gigabit dual-port NIC controller for PowerEdge 1955 systems only. NIC driver version See "Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrix" on page 10 for the supported versions. SNP Microsoft SNP required to enable TOE capability on PowerEdge 1955 systems. Switch configuration for iSCSI traffic Dual switch fabrics are required.
