Dell PS4100 Technical Information download pdf (Page 49)

June 2012 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v13.2 43

Table 18 Stacking vs. Inter-Switch Trunking

Interconnect Type Primary Purpose Analysis

Stacking

Create a larger,

logical switch

within an isolated

physical location.

Advantages:

• Easier to manage multiple switches as single

switch

• Higher bandwidth than using link aggregation

and Ethernet

• Not limited by Ethernet standards

Concerns:

• Proprietary, cannot be used to interconnect

switches from different vendors

• Increases cost of switch

• Stack bandwidth overload risk

Recommendation:

• Best way to scale a storage network in a single

location on a single subnet

• Provides lower latency and higher bandwidth

than inter-switch trunking

• Understand the stacking technology and limit

stack size in accordance with total throughput

requirements and connection counts.

Link Aggregation

Groups (LAG)

Create a data

path between

switches in one

location or

subnet with those

in another

location or

subnet

Advantages:

• Leverages Ethernet standard extensions

• Can be used to interconnect switches from

different vendors

• Can use Link Aggregation Protocols

(LACP/EtherChannel) to pool multiple 1GbE or

10GbE links into a single logical link providing

bandwidth and redundancy

Concerns:

• Most solutions limited to 8 port link aggregation

group

• Spanning Tree Protocol must be used if more

than two switches are used causing some links

to be “blocked” reducing bandwidth availability

• LAG bandwidth overload risk

Recommendation:

• Use when stacking is not available

• Use when connecting to aggregation/core

switching infrastructure

•

Use when switches are from different vendors

4.4 Block I/O Host Configuration Guidelines

Designing a redundant SAN requires the availability of redundant NICs or HBAs on each server. A

redundant NIC configuration on the server requires at least two NICs installed into separate PCI slots

in the server. Table 19 below shows how to achieve redundant server NIC connection configurations

for a server with three installed NICs.

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