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Introduction

9

Cluster Nodes

Table 1-1 lists the hardware requirements for the cluster nodes.

 

 

NOTE: 

For more information about supported systems, HBAs and operating system 

variants, see the 

Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrices

 located on the Dell 

High Availability Clustering website at 

dell.com/ha

.

Table 1-1.

Cluster Node Requirements

Component

Minimum Requirement

Cluster nodes

A minimum of two identical Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers are 
required. The maximum number of nodes that is supported 
depends on the variant of the Windows Server operating 
system used in your cluster, and on the physical topology in 
which the storage system and nodes are interconnected.

RAM

The variant of the Windows Server operating system that is 
installed on your cluster nodes determines the minimum 
required amount of system RAM. 

HBA ports

Two Fibre Channel HBAs per node, unless the server employs 
an integrated or supported dual-port Fibre Channel HBA.

Where possible, place the HBAs on separate PCI buses to 
improve availability and performance. 

NICs (public and 
private networks)

At least two NICs: one NIC for the public network and 
another NIC for the private network.

NOTE: 

It is recommended that the NICs on each public network 

are identical, and that the NICs on each private network are 
identical.

Internal disk 
controller

One controller connected to at least two internal hard drives 
for each node. Use any supported RAID controller or disk 
controller.

Two hard drives are required for mirroring (RAID 1) and at 
least three are required for disk striping with parity (RAID 5).

NOTE: 

It is strongly recommended that you use hardware-

based RAID or software-based disk-fault tolerance for the 
internal drives. 

Summary of Contents for EMC AX4-5

Page 1: ...Dell EMC AX4 5 Fibre Channel Storage Arrays With Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clusters Hardware Installation and Troubleshooting Guide ...

Page 2: ...ten permission of Dell Inc is strictly forbidden Trademarks used in this text Dell the DELL logo PowerEdge and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc Active Directory Microsoft Windows Windows Server and Windows NT are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries EMC Navisphere and PowerPath are registered trademarks and MirrorView ...

Page 3: ...ed 13 2 Cabling Your Cluster Hardware 15 Cabling the Mouse Keyboard and Monitor 15 Cabling the Power Supplies 15 Cabling Your Cluster for Public and Private Networks 17 Cabling the Public Network 19 Cabling the Private Network 19 NIC Teaming 20 Cabling the Storage Systems 20 Cabling Storage for Your Direct Attached Cluster 20 Cabling Storage for Your SAN Attached Cluster 25 Cabling a SAN Attached ...

Page 4: ...nel Switched Fabric 39 Using Worldwide Port Name Zoning 39 Installing and Configuring the Shared Storage System 41 Installing Navisphere Storage System Initialization Utility 41 Installing the Expansion Pack Using Navisphere Express 42 Installing Navisphere Server Utility 43 Registering a Server With a Storage System 43 Assigning the Virtual Disks to Cluster Nodes 44 Advanced or Optional Storage F...

Page 5: ...Contents 5 A Troubleshooting 47 B Cluster Data Form 55 C Zoning Configuration Form 57 Index 59 ...

Page 6: ...6 Contents ...

Page 7: ... 4 Fibre Channel ports per Storage Processor storage array s NOTE Throughout this document Dell EMC AX4 5 refers to Dell EMC AX4 5F and Dell EMC AX4 5FX storage arrays NOTE Throughout this document Windows Server 2008 refers to Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems For more information on deploying your cluster with Windows Server 2003 operating systems see the Dell Fail...

Page 8: ...or storage system without taking the entire cluster offline Implementing Fibre Channel technology in a cluster provides the following advantages Flexibility Fibre Channel allows a distance of up to 10 km between switches without degrading the signal Availability Fibre Channel components use redundant connections providing multiple data paths and greater availability for clients Connectivity Fibre ...

Page 9: ...our cluster nodes determines the minimum required amount of system RAM HBA ports Two Fibre Channel HBAs per node unless the server employs an integrated or supported dual port Fibre Channel HBA Where possible place the HBAs on separate PCI buses to improve availability and performance NICs public and private networks At least two NICs one NIC for the public network and another NIC for the private ...

Page 10: ...e storage functionalities such as snapshots LUN masking and remote mirroring Disk array enclosure DAE Provides additional storage and is attached to the disk processor enclosure Standby power supply SPS Provides backup power to protect the integrity of the disk processor write cache The SPS is connected to the disk processor enclosure Table 1 2 Cluster Storage Requirements Hardware Components Requ...

Page 11: ...ter In a direct attached cluster all nodes of the cluster are directly attached to a single storage system In this configuration the RAID controllers or storage processors on the storage systems are connected by cables directly to the Fibre Channel HBA ports in the nodes Figure 1 1 shows a basic direct attached single cluster configuration Table 1 3 Dell EMC Storage System Requirements Storage Sys...

Page 12: ...tem Because of the single port limitation PowerPath can provide only failover protection not load balancing in a direct attached configuration SAN Attached Cluster In a SAN attached cluster all of the nodes are attached to a single storage system or to multiple storage systems through a SAN using redundant switch fabrics SAN attached clusters are superior to direct attached clusters in configurati...

Page 13: ...e included with your rack solution describes how to install your system into a rack The Getting Started Guide provides an overview of initially setting up your system The Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide provides more information on deploying your cluster with the Windows Server 2003 operating system The Dell Failover Clusters with Mi...

Page 14: ...figure and use the operating system software The Dell PowerVault tape library documentation provides information for installing troubleshooting and upgrading the tape library The EMC PowerPath documentation that came with your HBA kit s and Dell EMC Storage Enclosure User s Guides Updates are sometimes included with the system to describe changes to the system software and or documentation NOTE Al...

Page 15: ...es Refer to the documentation for each component in your cluster solution to ensure that the specific power requirements are satisfied The following guidelines are recommended to protect your cluster solution from power related failures For nodes with multiple power supplies plug each power supply into a separate AC circuit Use uninterruptible power supplies UPS For some environments consider havi...

Page 16: ...tems and One Standby Power Supply SPS in an AX4 5 Storage System redundant power supplies on one AC power strip or on one AC PDU not shown primary power supplies on one AC power strip or on one AC PDU not shown NOTE This illustration is intended only to demonstrate the power distribution of the components SPS ...

Page 17: ...network connections for each node as described in Table 2 1 NOTE To configure Dell blade server modules in a Dell PowerEdge cluster see the Using Dell Blade Servers in a Dell PowerEdge High Availability Cluster document located on the Dell Support website at support dell com manuals A B A B 0 Fibre 1 Fibre 0 Fibre 1 Fibre A B A B primarypowersupplies on one AC power strip or on one AC PDU not show...

Page 18: ...ure 2 3 Example of Network Cabling Connection Table 2 1 Network Connections Network Connection Description Public network All connections to the client LAN At least one public network must be configured for Mixed mode for private network failover Private network A dedicated connection for sharing cluster health and status information only cluster node 1 cluster node 2 public network private networ...

Page 19: ...or NIC documentation Table 2 2 Private Network Hardware Components and Connections Method Hardware Components Connection Network switch Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet network adapters and switches Depending on the hardware connect the CAT5e or CAT6 cables the multimode optical cables with LC Local Connector connectors or the twin ax cables from the network adapters in the nodes to a switch Point t...

Page 20: ...ms This section provides information for connecting your cluster to a storage system in a direct attached configuration or to one or more storage systems in a SAN attached configuration Cabling Storage for Your Direct Attached Cluster NOTE Ensure that the management port on each storage processor is connected to the storage server with the management station using an Ethernet network cable A direc...

Page 21: ... HBA port SP port or tape library port NOTE The connections listed in this section are representative of one proven method of ensuring redundancy in the connections between the cluster nodes and the storage system Other methods that achieve the same type of redundant connectivity may be acceptable Cabling a Two Node Cluster to an AX4 5F Storage System 1 Connect cluster node 1 to the storage system...

Page 22: ...luster to an AX4 5F and AX4 5FX storage system respectively NOTE The cables are connected to the storage processor ports in sequential order for illustrative purposes While the available ports in your storage system may vary HBA port 0 and HBA port 1 must be connected to SP A and SP B respectively Figure 2 5 Cabling a Two Node Cluster to an AX4 5F Storage System A B A B 0 Fibre 1 Fibre 0 Fibre 1 F...

Page 23: ...A port 1 to the first front end fibre channel port on SP B 2 Connect cluster node 2 to the storage system a Install a cable from cluster node 2 HBA port 0 to the second front end fibre channel port on SP A b Install a cable from cluster node 2 HBA port 1 to the second front end fibre channel port on SP B 3 Connect cluster node 3 to the storage system a Install a cable from cluster node 3 HBA port ...

Page 24: ...ront end fibre channel port on SP B 2 In the first cluster connect cluster node 2 to the storage system a Install a cable from cluster node 2 HBA port 0 to the second front end fibre channel port on SP A b Install a cable from cluster node 2 HBA port 1 to the second front end fibre channel port on SP B 3 In the second cluster connect cluster node 1 to the storage system a Install a cable from clus...

Page 25: ... attached cluster Figure 2 8 shows an example of an eight node SAN attached cluster Similar cabling concepts can be applied to clusters that contain a different number of nodes NOTE The connections listed in this section are representative of one proven method of ensuring redundancy in the connections between the cluster nodes and the storage system Other methods that achieve the same type of redu...

Page 26: ...Each HBA port is cabled to a port on a Fibre Channel switch One or more cables connect from the outgoing ports on a switch to a storage processor on a Dell EMC storage system public network storage system cluster nodes 8 Fibre Channel switch Fibre Channel switch private network ...

Page 27: ...switch 1 sw1 2 Repeat step 1 for each cluster node 3 Connect the storage system to the SAN a Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP A Fibre port 0 first fibre port b Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP B Fibre port 1 second fibre port c Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 1 sw1 to SP A Fibre port 1 second fibre port d Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch...

Page 28: ... Channel switch 1 sw1 2 Repeat step 1 for each cluster node 3 Connect the storage system to the SAN a Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP A Fibre port 0 First fibre port b Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP A Fibre port 1 Second fibre port c Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP B Fibre port 2 Third fibre port A B A B 0 Fibre 1 Fibre 0 Fibre 1 F...

Page 29: ...ble from Fibre Channel switch 1 sw1 to SP A Fibre port 3 Fourth fibre port g Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 1 sw1 to SP B Fibre port 0 first fibre port h Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 1 sw1 to SP B Fibre port 1 Second fibre port Figure 2 10 Cabling a SAN Attached Cluster to an AX4 5FX Storage System sw0 sw1 cluster node 2 cluster node 1 AX4 5FX storage system 0 1 0 1 HBA por...

Page 30: ...t cluster repeat step 1 for each node 3 For each additional cluster repeat step 1 and step 2 4 Connect the storage system to the SAN a Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP A Fibre port 0 first fibre port b Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 0 sw0 to SP B Fibre port 1 second fibre port c Connect a cable from Fibre Channel switch 1 sw1 to SP A Fibre port 1 second fibre port d...

Page 31: ...er than 22 drives per cluster For more information see Assigning Drive Letters and Mount Points section of Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide or Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide on the Dell Support website at support dell com manuals Figure 2 11 provides an example of cabli...

Page 32: ...d a tape library In this configuration each of the cluster nodes can access the tape library to provide backup for your local disk resources as well as your cluster disk resources Using this configuration allows you to add more servers and storage systems in the future if needed NOTE While tape libraries can be connected to multiple fabrics they do not provide path failover Figure 2 12 Cabling a S...

Page 33: ...ng your SAN with multiple clusters storage systems and a tape library Figure 2 13 provides an example of cabling the cluster nodes to your storage systems and SAN backup with a tape library Figure 2 13 Cluster Configuration Using SAN Based Backup cluster 2 cluster 1 Fibre Channel switch storage systems tape library Fibre Channel switch ...

Page 34: ...34 Cabling Your Cluster Hardware ...

Page 35: ...e information on step 3 to step 7 and step 10 to step 13 see Preparing your systems for clustering section of Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide or Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide located on the Dell Support website at support dell com manuals 3 Deploy the operating system...

Page 36: ...east one logical unit number LUN The LUN is used as a cluster Quorum disk for Windows Server 2003 Failover cluster and as a Witness disk for Windows Server 2008 Failover cluster Ensure that this LUN is presented to the servers that will be configured as cluster nodes NOTE For security reasons it is recommended that you configure the LUN on a single node as mentioned in step 8 when you are setting ...

Page 37: ...erver roles prior to configuring a failover cluster depending on the operating system configured on your cluster For a list of Dell PowerEdge Servers Fibre Channel HBAs and switches and recommended list of operating system variants specific driver and firmware revisions see the Cluster Configuration Support Matrices located on Dell High Availablity Cluster website at dell com ha For more informati...

Page 38: ...g and configuring Emulex HBAs and EMC approved drivers See the QLogic support website at qlogic com or the Dell Support website at support dell com for information about installing and configuring QLogic HBAs and EMC approved drivers See the Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrices located on the Dell High Availability Clustering website at dell com ha for information about supported HBA contro...

Page 39: ...ifferent devices and operating environments These barriers create logical fabric subsets with minimal software and hardware intervention Similar to subnets in the client server network logical fabric subsets divide a fabric into similar groups of components regardless of their proximity to one another The logical subsets that form these barriers are called zones Zoning automatically and transparen...

Page 40: ...configuration known as single initiator zoning prevents different hosts from communicating with each other thereby ensuring that Fibre Channel communications between the HBAs and their target storage systems do not affect each other When you create your single initiator zones follow these guidelines Table 3 1 Port Worldwide Names in a SAN Environment Identifier Description xx xx 00 60 69 xx xx xx ...

Page 41: ...storage system 2 Install the expansion pack using Navisphere Express optional 3 Install the Navisphere Server Utility on each cluster node 4 Register the cluster node with the storage system 5 Assign the virtual disks to the cluster nodes Installing Navisphere Storage System Initialization Utility The Navisphere Storage System Initialization Utility provides a user interface to initialize your AX4...

Page 42: ...ed below 1 From the management host open an Internet browser 2 Enter the IP address of an SP in the storage system 3 Log in to Navisphere Express with the username and password that you specified during the storage system initialization 4 In the Navisphere Express navigation pane under System click Software 5 In the System Software screen click Upgrade Software 6 Insert the expansion pack media in...

Page 43: ...guage and click OK 4 In the main menu click Install Products on Server 5 In the Install Products menu click Navisphere Server Utility 6 Follow the on screen instructions to complete the installation Registering a Server With a Storage System To register the server with the storage system 1 Start the Navisphere Server Utility by clicking Start Programs EMC Navisphere Navisphere Server Utility 2 In ...

Page 44: ...e initialization 4 In the Manage menu a Click Disk Pools You can create multiple disk pools b Click Virtual Disks You can create multiple virtual disks for each disk pool c In the Virtual Disks screen select the virtual disks that you want to assign to the cluster node and click Assign Server 5 In Assign Server screen select the cluster nodes that you want to assign to the virtual disk and click A...

Page 45: ... source virtual disk WARNING To avoid data corruption do not access a snapshot from the same node as its source SAN Copy SAN Copy allows you to move data between storage systems without using host processor cycles or LAN bandwidth It can be used in conjunction with SnapView or MirrorView and is managed from within Navisphere Manager Navishphere Manager Optionally you can also upgrade Navisphere Ex...

Page 46: ...des The procedures for configuring the failover cluster are different depending on the Windows Server operating system you use For more information on deploying your cluster with Windows Server 2003 operating systems see the Dell Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Installation and Troubleshooting Guide For more information on deploying your cluster with Windows Server 2008 operat...

Page 47: ...ed properly from the node to the storage system See Cabling Your Cluster for Public and Private Networks for more information The length of the interface cables exceeds the maximum allowable length Ensure that the fibre optic cables do not exceed 300 m multimode or 10 km single mode switch to switch connections only One of the cables is faulty Replace the faulty cable Switching zone is not configu...

Page 48: ... running the ping command from each node to the other node Try both the host name and IP address when using the ping command One or more nodes may have the Internet Connection Firewall enabled blocking Remote Procedure Call RPC communications between the nodes Configure the Internet Connection Firewall to allow communications that are required by the Microsoft Cluster Service MSCS and the clustere...

Page 49: ...ccessfully joined the cluster If these events do not appear in Event Viewer see the Microsoft Cluster Service Administrator s Guide for instructions on setting up the cluster on your system and starting the Cluster Service The cluster network name is not responding on the network because the Internet Connection Firewall is enabled on one or more nodes Configure the Internet Connection Firewall to ...

Page 50: ...ith Microsoft Windows Server Installation and Troubleshooting Guide The private point to point network is disconnected Ensure that all systems are powered on so that the NICs in the private network are available Using Microsoft Windows NT 4 0 to remotely administer a Windows Server 2003 cluster generates error messages Normal Some resources in Windows Server 2003 are not supported in Windows NT 4 ...

Page 51: ...nnection Firewall enabled blocking RPC communications between the nodes Configure the Internet Connection Firewall to allow communications that are required by the MSCS and the clustered applications or services See Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB883398 at the Microsoft Support website at support microsoft com for more information The disks on the shared cluster storage appear unreadable or un...

Page 52: ...e click Cluster Services 4 In the Cluster Services window click the Recovery tab 5 Click the First Failure drop down arrow and select Restart the Service 6 Click the Second Failure drop down arrow and select Restart the service 7 Click OK For information on how to configure your cluster with the Windows Internet Connection Firewall enabled see Microsoft Base KB articles 258469 and 883398 at the Mi...

Page 53: ...cking RPC communications between the nodes Configure the Internet Connection Firewall to allow communications that are required by the MSCS and the clustered applications or services See Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB883398 at the Microsoft Support website at support microsoft com for more information Table A 1 General Cluster Troubleshooting continued Problem Probable Cause Corrective Action...

Page 54: ...54 Appendix Troubleshooting ...

Page 55: ...ster node or rack to record information about the cluster Use the form when you call for technical support Table B 1 Cluster Information Cluster Solution Cluster name and IP address Server type Installer Date installed Applications Location Notes Table B 2 Node Name Service Tag Number Public IP Address Private IP Address ...

Page 56: ...56 Appendix Cluster Data Form Additional Networks Table B 3 Array Array xPE Type Array Service Tag Number or World Wide Name Seed Number of Attached DAEs 1 2 3 4 ...

Page 57: ...Appendix Zoning Configuration Form 57 Zoning Configuration Form Node HBA WWPNs or Alias Names Storage WWPNs or Alias Names Zone Name Zone Set for Configuration Name ...

Page 58: ...58 Appendix Zoning Configuration Form ...

Page 59: ... cluster storage requirements 10 clustering overview 7 D Dell EMC CX3 40 Cabling a two node cluster 21 Dell EMC CX3 20 Cabling a two node cluster 21 Dell EMC CX3 80 configuring 41 installing 41 direct attached cluster about 20 drivers installing and configuring Emulex 38 E Emulex HBAs installing and configuring 38 installing and configuring drivers 38 H HBA drivers installing and configuring 38 ho...

Page 60: ...5 private network cabling 17 19 hardware components 19 hardware components and connections 19 public network cabling 17 S SAN configuring SAN backup in your cluster 33 SAN attached cluster about 25 configurations 11 single initiator zoning about 40 T tape library connecting to a PowerEdge cluster 32 troubleshooting connecting to a cluster 49 shared storage subsystem 47 W warranty 13 worldwide port...

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