• A separate fault domain must be created for each front-end Fibre Channel fabric or Ethernet network.
• A fault domain must contain a single type of transport media (FC or iSCSI, but not both).
• Dell recommends configuring at least two connections from each storage controller to each Fibre
Channel fabric (fault domain) or Ethernet network (fault domain).
Requirements for Virtual Port Mode
The following requirements must be met to configure a storage system in virtual port mode.
Table 2. Virtual Port Mode Requirements
Requirement
Description
License
Storage Center must be licensed for virtual port mode.
Switches
Front-end ports must be connected to Fibre Channel fabics or Ethernet
networks; servers cannot be directly connected to storage system front-end
ports.
Multipathing
If multiple active paths are available to a server, the server must be configured
for MPIO to use more than one path simultaneously.
iSCSI networks
• CHAP authentication must be disabled if converting from legacy mode to
virtual port mode. CHAP is not supported in virtual port mode.
Fibre Channel and Fibre
Channel over Ethernet
fabrics
• The FC topology must be switched fabric. Point-to-point and arbitrated
loop topologies are not supported.
• FC switches must be zoned to meet the virtual port mode zoning
requirements.
• FC switches must support N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV).
• For most switches, virtual port mode does not work when persistent FCID
is in use. Some operating systems such HP-UX require persistent FCID.
NOTE: AIX servers are not supported.
Related links
Connect the Front-End Cabling
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