Dell EqualLogic PS-M4110 Blade User Manual

Dell EqualLogic Technical Article

Dell EqualLogic PS-M4110 Blade Array Technical Article

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.

© 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell. Dell, the DELL logo, and the DELL badge, PowerConnect™, EqualLogic™, Force10™, PowerEdge™ and PowerVault™ are trademarks of Dell Inc. Broadcom® is a registered trademark of Broadcom Corporation. Brocade is a registered trademark and VCS is a trademark of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Intel® is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft®, Windows®, Windows Server®, and Active Directory® are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Qlogic is a registered trademark of QLogic Corporation.

Table of contents

1 Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... 5

2 Audience ......................................................................................................................................... 5

3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5

4 Reference architecture overview ................................................................................................... 6

4.1 PowerEdge M-Series blade servers ............................................................................................... 6

4.1.1 Additional configuration information ...................................................................................... 7

4.1.2 Network adapter information .................................................................................................. 7

4.2 IO module information .................................................................................................................. 8

4.3 Array information .......................................................................................................................... 8

4.4 Reference architecture network configuration ............................................................................ 8

4.4.1 SAN infrastructure.................................................................................................................... 8

5 Switch configuration .....................................................................................................................10

5.1 Force10 MXL ................................................................................................................................10

5.1.1 Global Switch settings: ...........................................................................................................10

5.1.2 Array and Host Port configuration: ........................................................................................10

5.1.3 LACP configuration (Non-Stack configurations): ....................................................................10

5.1.4 Stack configuration (Non-LAG configurations): .....................................................................11

5.2 PowerConnect M8024-K .............................................................................................................12

5.2.1 iSCSI Auto-Configuration ........................................................................................................12

5.2.2 Global Switch settings: ...........................................................................................................12

5.2.3 Host Port configuration: .........................................................................................................13

5.2.4 LACP configuration (Non-Stacked configurations):................................................................13

5.2.5 Stack Configuration (Non-LAG Configurations): ....................................................................14

5.3 PowerConnect M8428-k..............................................................................................................15

5.3.1 Array and Host Port configuration: ........................................................................................15

5.3.2 LACP Member Port configuration: .........................................................................................16

6 General recommendations and guidelines ...................................................................................18

A. Port Map .......................................................................................................................................19

B. Additional resources .....................................................................................................................22

Acknowledgements

This whitepaper was produced by the PG Technical Marketing for EqualLogic Infrastructure and Networking.

The team that created this whitepaper:

Guy Westbrook and Tony Ansley

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. Additional information regarding scalable M1000 blade chassis solutions can be found in the EqualLogic Configuration Guide. See the Appendix B links to additional resources.

of this document for

2 Audience

This white paper is primarily intended for those who are involved in defining, implementing, or supporting an EqualLogic storage network using the new EqualLogic PS-M4110 blade array as part of a strategy that deploys storage with the purpose of providing data for use by the blade servers located in the same Dell M1000e Blade Enclosure.

This document assumes the reader is familiar with EqualLogic storage operation and general networking fundamentals as well as being familiar with the M1000e chassis architecture and its configuration.

3 Introduction

Dell’s EqualLogic product suite continues to drive innovation by delivering all the functionality and enterprise-class features of its traditional rack-based arrays in a new blade chassis form factor product. The newest member of the Dell EqualLogic PS Series family is the scalable and easy-to-manage Dell EqualLogic PS-M4110 blade array designed for use with the Dell PowerEdge™ M1000e blade chassis product.

The PS-M4110 is targeted at small to medium blade chassis customers demanding shared storage with advanced features at lower cost and with lower space, heating, and electrical requirements than other storage products on the market. The tight integration of PS-M4110 along with the Dell M-Series chassis and blade servers presents some new and unique use cases for shared storage.

Of particular interest is a use case for a completely converged server, network, and storage infrastructure called data center-in-a-box. In this deployment model, the M1000e, along with integrated servers, networking, and shared storage, becomes a modular building block for customers wanting to grow their infrastructure – virtual or physical – as they need additional capacity while minimizing the data center impact in terms of power, cooling, and rack space.