Dell DAE Installation Manual download pdf (Page 25)

CONNECTIVITY

This section discusses the different connectivity methods.

Management

EMC has customers that use either the on-array or off-array Navisphere management. Provide

one LAN connection to each Dell/EMC CX Series SP. Use Host Agents to automate connectivity

of hosts at boot time. The agent is not always necessary if a connection was already established,

but it will be needed after a power fail and a restart of the Dell/EMC CX Series. Therefore, it is

recommended to always run the Host Agent.

Protocols

There are two protocols available for Dell/EMC CX Series storage systems: Fibre Channel (FC)

and iSCSI. The FC protocol is available for all CX3 Series systems. Limited CX3 devices allow

iSCSI as an option. Refer to the product listing on http://www.EMC.com for a complete list of CX3

Series systems that support iSCSI.

iSCSI connections

iSCSI connections from the storage system can be made to either network interface cards (NIC)

or TCP/IP offload engines (TOE). Use cat 6 cables to connect to the Dell/EMC CX Series iSCSI

ports.

The Microsoft, QLogic, and Dell/EMC CX Series software all provide ping and trace-route

capability to assist with troubleshooting connections. Use these tools to check connectivity if the

host or the Dell/EMC CX Series report that they do not have a connection.

NIC cards

The NIC port speed can be set to 10/100/1000 Gb with CX3 iSCSI/FC storage systems. Use

IEEE 802.3 certified NIC cards.

TOE cards

Check the EMC Support Matrix for the current list of supported TOE cards. When using a TOE

card, you need to remove the native (Microsoft) iSCSI driver from the host. Booting from SAN

requires a TOE card.

iSCSI security

Currently the only iSCSI security supported is the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol

(CHAP). CHAP requires a secret password on both the host and the Dell/EMC CX Series be set

during installation. At a minimum, use initiator-based CHAP security. The secret password must

be 12-to-16 characters long and must be correctly typed on both sides of the connection. Typos

in the secret name will cause the connection to break when CHAP is enabled.

Fibre Channel connections

EMC supports Emulex and QLogic host bus adapters (HBAs). For specific types, firmware

revisions, and driver revisions, refer to the EMC Support Matrix.

Use current drivers and firmware. Current driver and firmware revs for HBAs can be found in the

EMC Support Matrix.

Dell/EMC CX Series Initial Configuration

Best Practices Planning 25

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Dell DAE Installation Manual Page 25