IBM 9835-415, Deployment Manual

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Notes:
v For best performance, use a 16 Gb Fibre fabric and HBA on the host.
v
Host system can have as many HBAs as needed to support the operating
system, application, and overall performance requirements.
v In a FlashSystem A9000R with Fibre Channel configuration, each grid controller
has two dual 16 Gb Fibre Channel ports.
Figure 30 shows the port numbers for each of the FC ports on the grid controllers.
Several network configurations that use Fibre Channel are technically possible, and
each configuration varies in terms of cost, flexibility, performance, and reliability.
Fibre Channel (FC) best practices
Talk to your IBM installation planning representative (IPR) to help optimally setup
your host connections, according to your needs.
In order to achieve high performance, it is important to:
1. Spread the host connections to each grid controller evenly.
2. Utilize the CPU in each grid controller as much as possible; therefore, it is
recommended to use ports 1 and 4 and then ports 2 and 3.
It is recommended to use half the ports in each grid controller (ports 1 and 4) and
create three identical zones in each fabric.
Table 24 is an example of how the zones should be divided in a full rack
configuration.
Table 24. Example of recommended fabric zoning
Fabrics Zones Grid controllers Port numbers
1, 2 1 Grid controllers 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 4
1, 2 2 Grid controllers 5, 6, 7, 8 1, 4
1, 2 3 Grid controllers 9, 10, 11, 12 1, 4
This configuration creates high availability, high performance, and balancing. In
addition, all grid controllers are utilized for each host.
▌1▐
FC port 1
▌2▐
FC port 2
▌3▐
FC port 3
▌4▐
FC port 4
Figure 30. Fibre Channel port numbering on the grid controllers
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IBM FlashSystem A9000R Models 9835-415 and 9837-415 Deployment Guide