Deployment Guide

Switches
Dell offers enterprise-class switches as part of the total Storage Center solution.
The SCv3000 and SCv3020 storage system supports Fibre Channel (FC) and Ethernet switches, which provide robust connectivity to
servers and allow for the use of redundant transport paths. Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet switches can provide connectivity to a remote
Storage Center to allow for replication of data. In addition, Ethernet switches provide connectivity to a management network to allow
configuration, administration, and management of the Storage Center.
Storage Center Communication
A Storage Center uses multiple types of communication for both data transfer and administrative functions.
Storage Center communication is classified into three types: front end, back end, and system administration.
Front-End Connectivity
Front-end connectivity provides I/O paths from servers to a storage system and replication paths from one Storage Center to another
Storage Center. The SCv3000 and SCv3020 storage system provides the following types of front-end connectivity:
• Fibre Channel – Hosts, servers, or network-attached storage (NAS) appliances access storage by connecting to the storage system
Fibre Channel ports through one or more Fibre Channel switches. Connecting host servers directly to the storage system, without
using Fibre Channel switches, is not supported.
• iSCSI – Hosts, servers, or network-attached storage (NAS) appliances access storage by connecting to the storage system iSCSI
ports through one or more Ethernet switches. Connecting host servers directly to the storage system, without using Ethernet
switches, is not supported.
When replication is licensed, the SCv3000 and SCv3020 storage system can use the front-end Fibre Channel or iSCSI ports to replicate
data to another
Storage Center
Fault Domains for SCv3000 Series Storage Systems
The Storage Center handles all fault domain creation and modification on SCv3000 series storage systems.
Depending on the hardware configuration, the following fault domains are automatically created on SCv3000 series storage systems:
• For SCv3000 series storage systems with Fibre Channel HBAs, two fault domains are created for the Fibre Channel ports.
• For SCv3000 series storage systems with iSCSI HBAs, two fault domains are created for the iSCSI ports.
• For SCv3000 series storage systems with SAS HBAs, four fault domains are created for the SAS ports.
• For SCv3000 series storage systems with iSCSI mezzanine cards, two fault domains are created for the iSCSI ports.
• For SCv3000 series storage systems with iSCSI mezzanine cards and iSCSI HBAs, four fault domains are created for iSCSI ports
NOTE:
Additional front-end fault domains cannot be created on SCv3000 series storage systems. In addition, existing
fault domains cannot be modified or deleted on SCv3000 series storage systems.
10 About the SCv3000 and SCv3020 Storage System