5.5 HP StorageWorks X9720 Network Storage System Administrator Guide (AW549-96026, March 2011)

4 Configuring virtual interfaces for client
access
X9000 Software uses a cluster network interface to carry management console traffic and traffic
between file serving nodes. This network is configured as bond0 when the cluster is installed. For
clusters with an agile management console configuration, a virtual interface is also created for the
cluster network interface to provide failover support for the console.
Although the cluster network interface can carry traffic between file serving nodes and clients, HP
recommends that you configure one or more user network interfaces for this purpose. Typically, bond1
is created for the first user network when the cluster is configured.
To provide high availability for a user network, you should configure a bonded virtual interface (VIF)
for the network and then set up failover for the VIF. This method prevents interruptions to client traffic.
If necessary, the file serving node hosting the VIF can fail over to its standby backup node, and clients
can continue to access the file system through the backup node.
Network and VIF guidelines
To provide high availability, the user interfaces used for client access should be configured as bonded
virtual interfaces (VIFs). Note the following:
• Nodes needing to communicate for file system coverage or for failover must be on the same network
interface. Also, nodes set up as a failover pair must be connected to the same network interface.
• Use a Gigabit Ethernet port (or faster) for user networks.
• NFS, CIFS, FTP, and HTTP clients can use the same user VIF. The servers providing the VIF should
be configured in backup pairs, and the NICs on those servers should also be configured for failover.
• For X9000 Linux and Windows clients, the servers hosting the VIF should be configured in backup
pairs. However, X9000 clients do not support backup NICs. Instead, X9000 clients should connect
to the parent bond of the user VIF or to a different VIF.
Creating a bonded VIF
Use the following procedure to create a bonded VIF (bond1:1 in this example):
1. If high availability (automated failover) is configured on the servers, disable it. Run the following
command on the management console:
# ibrix_server –m -U
2. Identify the bond1:1 VIF:
# ibrix_nic –a -n bond1:1 –h node1,node2,node3,node4
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