Dell EqualLogic Technical Article Dell EqualLogic PS-M4110 Blade Array Technical Article
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Table of contents 1 Executive summary .........................................................................................................................5 2 Audience .........................................................................................................................................5 3 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................5 4 Reference architecture overview ...........
Acknowledgements This whitepaper was produced by the PG Technical Marketing for EqualLogic Infrastructure and Networking.
1 Executive summary This paper provides guidance for incorporating a data center-in-a-box solution with the new Dell EqualLogic™ PS-M4110 Blade Array, PowerConnect™ or Force10™ Blade IO Modules, and PowerEdge MSeries blade servers to form a reliable, stable, and well performing consolidated solution. This paper focuses on the networking recommendations for creating a self-contained, dedicated SAN network within a single M1000 blade chassis.
4 Reference architecture overview The Storage Interoperability Lab conducted preliminary testing on a self-contained M1000e based data center-in-a-box architecture that included testing of multiple networking components as well as using blade servers from the latest two generations of M-Series blade servers. The following sections describe the various sub-systems used: 4.1 PowerEdge M-Series blade servers The blade servers used servers from the last two generations of PowerEdge M-Series servers.
Figure 2 Blade Chassis configuration (Front) 4.1.1 Additional configuration information Chassis Management Console (CMC) version: 4.1 EqualLogic Host Integration Tools version: 4.0 Microsoft Native MPIO – V6.1 Build 7601 4.1.2 Network adapter information Table 1 NIC/CNA and Driver version tested Network adapter QLogic QME8242k Brocade® 1741m-k Broadcom® 57712k Broadcom 57810S-k QLogic® QME8262k Driver version 4.5.14.1020 3.0.1.0 7.2.8.0 7.2.8.0 4.6.12.
4.2 IO module information LAN IO modules were installed in Fabric Slots A1 and A2 for all tests. SAN IO modules were installed in Fabric Slots B1 and B2 for all tests (except for tests involving the Broadcom 57712k which is a Network Daughter Card (NDC) where Fabric A was used). The IO modules tested are listed in Table 2 below. Table 2 IOMs and firmware version tested IOM Force10 MXL PowerConnect M8024-k PowerConnect M8428-k Interconnect modes Stack & LAG Stack & LAG LAG Firmware version 8.3.16.1 4.2.
Figure 3 Sample MXL datacenter in a box solution S A N S A N LAN LAN SAN Stack LAN/Client Network SAN Stack LAN-to-Agg Uplinks
5 Switch configuration Any of the currently available 10Gb Ethernet IO modules can be used as SAN switches within this reference architecture. The following sections provide the detailed list of CLI commands used to configure each switch model for use as a SAN switch to support the PS-M4110 Storage Blades as defined in the reference architecture described in Section 4. 5.1 Force10 MXL 5.1.
FTOS (conf-if-range-fo-1/33-37) port-channel-protocol LACP FTOS (conf-if-range-fo-1/33-37-lacp) port-channel 1 mode active FTOS (conf-if-range-fo-1/33-37) #no shutdown FTOS (conf-if-range-fo-1/33-37) #exit FTOS (conf) #exit FTOS#wr mem FTOS#conf FTOS (conf) #interface Port-channel 1 FTOS (conf-if-po-1) # mtu 9216 FTOS (conf-if-po-1) # switchport FTOS (conf-if-po-1) # no shutdown FTOS (conf-if-po-1) # exit FTOS (conf) # exit FTOS# wr mem Note: Repeat the same steps on the second switch 5.1.
5.2 PowerConnect M8024-K 5.2.1 iSCSI Auto-Configuration The PowerConnect M8024-k IO module supports the “iSCSI Auto-configuration” feature. When enabled, the switches will automatically enable link level flow control on all ports of the switch and configure the switch for jumbo frames (mtu 9216). Monitoring for EqualLogic storage arrays via LLDP is also enabled by this command.
Spanning Tree is a global configuration setting for the PowerConnect M8024k. Spanning Tree is enabled by default on the PowerConnect M8024k. Rapid Spanning Tree (rstp) is the default mode for spanning tree for the PowerConnect M8024k. If the state of the spanning-tree settings is unknown, use the following commands to enable spanning tree: console>enable console#config console(config)#spanning-tree console(config)#exit console# copy running-config startup-config console#exit 5.2.
console(config-if)#channel-group 1 mode auto console(config-if)#mtu 9216 console(config-if)#exit console(config)#interface port-channel 1 console(config-if-ch1)#mtu 9216 console(config)#exit console# copy running-config startup-config console#exit Note: Repeat the same steps on the second switch 5.2.
Create the stack on switch 2: Put ports into stacking mode. Ports 17-20 were used as stacking ports. console#configure console(config)#stack console(config-stack)#stack-port tengigabitethernet 2/0/17 stack console(config-stack)#stack-port tengigabitethernet 2/0/18 stack console(config-stack)#stack-port tengigabitethernet 2/0/19 stack console(config-stack)#stack-port tengigabitethernet 2/0/20 stack console(config-stack)#exit console(config)#exit 5.3 PowerConnect M8428-k 5.3.
5.3.2 LACP Member Port configuration: M8428-k> M8428-k>en M8428-k#conf t M8428-k (conf) #interface Extengigabitethernet 0/17 M8428-k (conf-if-te-0/17)# channel-group 2 mode active type standard M8428-k (conf-if-te-0/17)# no shutdown M8428-k (conf-if-te-0/17)# lldp disable M8428-k (conf-if-te-0/17)# lacp timeout long M8428-k (conf-if-te-0/17)# qos flowcontrol tx on rx on Note : Repeat the same steps above for all LACP Ports. LACP Port-Channel configuration: Repeat the same steps above for all LACP Ports.
6 General recommendations and guidelines • • • • • • Recommend for use with general purpose small-medium sized consolidated loads. Not recommended for purpose built heavy I/O applications. Do not directly attach 10GbE arrays to 1GbE IOMs. IOMs are just like any other switch and must follow the same configuration recommendations as other Top of Rack (ToR) switches. PS-M4110 blade array requires Fabric A or Fabric B (default). IOMs must be interconnected.
A. Port Map This appendix contains the port mapping information for the IOMs used during testing. During testing of each M-Series IO Module, the blade servers and PS-M4110 blade arrays remained in the same server slots, resulting in an internal port mapping that was similar for all three IOMs. The Force10 MXL has 32 internal network connections and the per server slot connection map is illustrated in Figure 4 below.
Figure 5 Force10 MXL External port map Figure 6 PowerConnect M8024-k and M8428-k common internal port map M620-1P1 P1 M620-2P1 P2 P3 P4 PSM-C0P0 P5 PSM-C1P0 P6 P7 M620-8P1 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 PSM-C0P0 P13 PSM-C1P0 P14 P15 P16 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 M620-1P2 M620-2P2 PSM-C0P1 PSM-C1P1 M620-8P2 PSM-C0P1 PSM-C1P1 Server Connections Array Connections
Figure 7 PowerConnect M8024-k External port map Figure 8 PowerConnect M8428-k External port map
B. Additional resources • • • • • Dell Tech Center EqualLogic Whitepapers: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/2632.storage-infrastructure-andsolutions-team-publications.aspx Dell EqualLogic Compatibility Matrix: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/2661.equallogic-compatibilitymatrix.aspx Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/2639.equallogic-configurationguide.
THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.
