Dell PS4100 Technical Information download pdf (Page 59)

June 2012 Dell EqualLogic Configuration Guide v13.2 53

4.6.1 Design considerations

To properly implement a mixed speed SAN, you must pay close attention to the following design and

implementation considerations:

• Ethernet switch feature set, port density and required configuration settings

• Optimization of Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol behavior

• Optimal switch interconnect pattern

• Awareness of I/O workload patterns coming from 1Gb and 10Gb initiators vs. target volume

locations in the SAN

• I/O performance

implications when using mixed speed vs. segregated speed pools

To create a redundant, mixed speed iSCSI SAN, at a minimum we recommend that you start with dual

1GbE and dual 10GbE switches. Figure 23 shows an example SAN design, where two switches of each

type are used.

Referring to Figure 23:

• The design is based on using features provided by the Dell PowerConnect 6248 1Gb Ethernet

switch and the Dell PowerConnect 8024 10Gb Ethernet switch.

• The Dell PowerConnect 8024 is not a stackable switch, so a link aggregation group (LAG) is

used to create the inter-switch trunk paths.

• Each of the 1Gb switches is configured with one dual-port 10GbE uplink module and one

stacking module. The 10GbE uplink modules are used for creating 20Gb LAG uplinks to the

10Gb switches.

• Split Interconnect –The 20Gb LAG uplinks between the 1Gb and 10Gb switches are cross-

connected so that each 10Gb switch physically connects to both switches in the 1Gb stack.

• FS7500 Connection Path – The initial FS Series NAS product (FS7500) is a 1Gb only solution.

The NAS Reserve pool for the FS7500 could also be stored in a mixed 1Gb/10Gb PS Series

SAN. In this case the FS Series appliance must connect via the 1Gb switch path as shown in

Figure 23 and Figure 24.

The 10Gb switches are connected together using multiple 10Gb links. This provides us a path for

devices connected directly to the 10Gb switches to communicate without having to go through the

slower 1Gb switches.

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Dell PS4100 Technical Information Page 59