Dell DAE User Manual download pdf (Page 8)

Upgrading to Dell/EMC CX4 Series Storage Systems

Applied Technology 8

For a Dell 40U cabinet, check the power requirements for all equipment to be located in the rack and ensure that

the total current draw does not exceed the total available current.

If the Dell/EMC array is racked in a custom enclosure, check the power distribution limitations of that

enclosure.

If the power requirements for the new equipment exceed the capacity of the current rack, equipment must be

moved to a new rack that can support the power requirements, or an additional rack must be provided to house

some of the enclosures.

Mixing 2 Gb/s and 4 Gb/s DAE Technologies

Dell/EMC CX series storage systems (CX200 through CX700) were designed around 2 Gb/s Fibre Channel

technologies. All enclosures and drives on the existing CX system will be supported on the new system after the

upgrade. Existing 2 Gb/s enclosures will remain and 4 Gb/s enclosures can be added. When added to a 2 Gb/s back-

end loop, 4 Gb/s enclosures and all disks within them will run at 2 Gb/s. If upgrading to a system with more back-

end loops, 4 Gb/s enclosures with 4 Gb/s disk drives can be connected to the new loops so that the disks and loops

can run at 4 Gb/s. No enclosures or disks should be added during the upgrade, but once the new system is running

new enclosures and disks may be added.

When planning for the upgrade, consider whether 4 Gb/s back-end loop bandwidth is necessary and plan

accordingly. It may be better to purchase a new CX4 series system if the system is intended for high-bandwidth

applications and all back-end loops need to be running at 4 Gb/s to meet performance requirements.

NOTE: Resetting a loop from 4 Gb/s to 2 Gb/s does not occur during a array conversion; however, it could be an

issue whenever a 2 Gb/s DAE is migrated to a different array (no data is migrated, just empty capacity). If a 2 Gb/s

DAE is attached to a 4 Gb/s back-end loop, the 2 Gb/s DAE will be ignored and the loop will continue to operate 4

Gb/s. If the array is rebooted, then the loop, as well as all other 4 Gb/s DAEs and drives on the loop, will be reset to

2 Gb/s.

To summarize:

Existing disks and enclosures will continue to operate at 2 Gb/s. 4 Gb/s disks and enclosures added to these

back-end loops will operate at 2 Gb/s.

If upgrading to a system with more back-end loops, the new loops can operate at 4 Gb/s.

For an end-to-end 4 Gb/s solution, consider purchasing a new CX4 series system.

Cabling and Connectors

When upgrading from a CX series storage system, some new back-end cables may be needed for the upgrade. The

CX series systems with DAE2 and DAE2-ATA enclosures use HSSDC connections. All back-end cables are

HSSDC-to-HSSDC. DAE2P enclosures offered for the CX300/500/700 use HSSDC2 connections. These are

connected to existing equipment using HSSDC2-to-HSSDC cables. The CX3 and CX4 series storage processors

have SFP connectors for the back-end loops. They connect to DAE3P and DAE4P enclosures using SFP-to-

HSSDC2 cables. With the addition of CX4 data-in-place upgrades, SFP-to-HSSDC cables are available to connect

CX4 series SPs to pre-existing DAE2 and DAE2-ATA enclosures. Use Table 3 as a quick reference for the type of

connector used by each enclosure.

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Dell DAE User Manual Page 8