Dell FL200, FE100, FE200, FL100 User Manual

CHAPTER 3

Preparing PowerEdge and
PowerVault Systems for Clustering

This chapter provides information on adding peripherals, placing Fibre Channel host
bus adapters (HBAs), and configuring enclosure addresses.

Adding Peripherals Required for Clustering

WARNING: Hardware installation should be performed only by trained
service technicians. Before working inside the computer system, see the
safety instructions in your PowerEdge System Information document to
avoid a situation that could cause serious injury or death.

You may need to add peripheral devices and expansion cards to the system to meet
the minimum cluster requirements listed in the

and FE200/FL200 Platform Guide

network interface controller (NIC) cards to meet the minimum configuration require­ments. Each node also needs one or two HBAs to access the shared storage
subsystem.

. For example, each PowerEdge node must havetwo

Dell PowerEdge Cluster FE100/FL100

support.dell.com

NOTES: If you are adding storage area networking (SAN) components, see the Dell
PowerEdge Cluster F-Series SAN Guide for more information on supported configura­tions and components.

See the Dell PowerEdge Cluster FE100/FL100 and FE200/FL200 Platform Guide for
peripheral component interconnect (PCI) slot guidelines.

IfyouareupgradinganexistingPowerVault65xF/660F storage system to meet the
cluster requirements for the shared storage subsystem, you may need to install addi­tional Fibre Channel disk drives in the shared storage system. The size and number of
drives you add depend on the redundant array of independent disks (RAID) level you
want to use and the number of Fibre Channel disk drives currently in your system.

NOTE: For information on installing Fibre Channel disk drives in your PowerVault
storage system, see your PowerVault storage system’s Installation and Troubleshoot­ing Guide.

Preparing PowerEdge and PowerVault Systems for Clustering 3-1

Additionally, you may need to add hard-disk drives and a Dell PowerEdge Expandable
RAID Controller (PERC) to each node if you are setting up the system’s internal drives
in a hardware RAID configuration. However, this configuration is not a requirement for
clustering. See the
for instructions on installing expansion cards or hard-disk drives in your node.

Installation and Troubleshooting Guide

for your PowerEdge system

Placing Fibre Channel HBAs

For dual HBA configurations, Dell recommends placing Fibre Channel HBAs on sepa­rate PCI buses. Placing the adapters on separate buses improves availability and
performance.

NOTE: See the Dell PowerEdge Cluster FE100/FL100 and FE200/FL200 Platform
Guide for more information on your system’s PCI bus configuration and supported
HBAs.

Configuring Enclosure Addresses

When adding PowerVault 630F disk-array enclosures (DAE) to a PowerVault 650F or
adding PowerVault 224F DAEs to a PowerVault 660F, assign a unique enclosure
address (EA) to each DAE.

NOTE: See the Dell PowerVault 630F and 250F Rackmount Storage Systems Installa­tion and Service Guide and the Dell PowerVault 660F and 224F Rackmount Storage
Systems Installation and Service Guide for more information on setting enclosure
addresses.

3-2 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide