Dell PowerVault MD3600f Series User manual

Dell PowerVault MD3600f and
MD3620f Storage Arrays With
Microsoft Windows Server
Failover Clusters
Hardware Installation
and Troubleshooting
Guide
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Notes and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if
instructions are not followed.
__________________
Information in this publication is subject to change without notice.
© 2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, PowerEdge™, and PowerVault™ are trademarks
of Dell Inc. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows Server®are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this publication to refer to either the entities claiming
the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
2011 - 07 Rev. A00
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Contents 3
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Cluster Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cluster Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cluster Nodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Cluster Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Cluster Storage Management Software . . . . . . 10
Supported Cluster Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Direct-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SAN-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Configuration Order for Direct-Attached
and SAN-Attached Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Direct-Attached Configuration Order . . . . . . . 15
SAN-Attached Configuration Order . . . . . . . . 15
Other Documents You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2 Cabling Your Cluster Hardware . . . . . . . . 19
Cabling the Mouse, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . 19
Cabling the Power Supplies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Cabling Your Public and Private Networks . . . . . . . 21
Cabling Your Public Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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4Contents
Cabling Your Private Network . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Using Dual-Port Network Adapters for
Your Private Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
NIC Teaming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Cabling the Storage Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Cabling Storage for Your
Direct-Attached Cluster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Cabling Storage for Your
SAN-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Connecting a PowerEdge Cluster to
Multiple PowerVault MD3600f or MD3620f
Storage Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3 Preparing Your Systems
for Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Cluster Configuration Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Installation Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Installing Supported Fibre Channel HBAs. . . . . . . . 44
Installing Fibre Channel HBA
on Your Host Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Customizing HBA Drivers and
Firmware Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Implementing Zoning on a Fibre
Channel Switched Fabric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
World Wide Name Zoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Switch Zoning Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Setting Up Zoning on the Fibre Channel
Switch Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Installing the Storage Management Software . . . . . 47
Configuring the Shared Storage System. . . . . . . . . 48
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Contents 5
Troubleshooting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Configuring the RAID Level for the Shared
Storage Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Windows Operating System and
Dynamic Volumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Assigning Drive Letters and Mount Points . . . . 60
Naming and Formatting Drives on the
Shared Storage System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using Advanced (Premium) PowerVault
Modular Disk Storage Manager Features . . . . . 63
Configuring a Failover Cluster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
A Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
B Cluster Data Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
C Zoning Configuration Form . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
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6Contents
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Introduction 7
1
Introduction
This document provides information for installing and managing your cluster
solution using Dell PowerVault MD3600f and MD3620f storage systems. It is
intended for experienced IT professionals who configure a cluster solution
and for trained service technicians who perform upgrade and maintenance
procedures. This document also addresses readers who are new to clustering.
Overview
The Dell PowerEdge Cluster with Microsoft Windows Server Failover
Clustering combines specific hardware and software components to provide
enhanced availability for applications and services that run on the cluster. A
failover cluster is designed to reduce the possibility of any single point of
failure within the system that can cause the clustered applications or services
to become unavailable. It is recommended that you use redundant
components like system and storage power supplies, connections between the
nodes and the storage array(s), connections to client systems, or other
systems in the multi-tier enterprise application architecture in your cluster.
This guide addresses the configuration of your Dell MD3600f and MD3620f
Fibre Channel storage arrays for use with one or more Windows Server
failover clusters. It provides information and specific configuration tasks that
enable you to deploy the shared storage for your cluster.
For more information on deploying your cluster, see the Dell Failover Clusters
with Microsoft Windows Server Installation and Troubleshooting Guide at
support.dell.com/manuals.
NOTE: Throughout this document:
•Windows Server 2008 refers to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64 Enterprise
Edition or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Enterprise Edition.
•Dell PowerVault MD36x0f storage array refers to both Dell PowerVault
MD3600f and Dell PowerVault MD3620f storage arrays.
For a list of recommended operating systems, hardware components, and
driver or firmware versions for your Dell Windows Server Failover Cluster, see
the Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrices at dell.com/ha.
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8Introduction
Cluster Solution
Your Fibre Channel cluster implements a minimum of two-node clustering
and a maximum of sixteen-node clustering and provides the following
features:
• 8 Gbps and 4 Gbps Fibre Channel technology.
• High availability of system services and resources to network clients.
• Redundant paths to the shared storage.
• Failure recovery for applications and services.
• Flexible maintenance capabilities, allowing you to repair, maintain, or
upgrade a cluster node 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 Channel allows more device connections than Small
Computer System Interface (SCSI) or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).
Because Fibre Channel devices are hot swappable, you can add or remove
devices from the nodes without bringing down the cluster.
Cluster Requirements
Your cluster requires the following components:
• Servers (cluster nodes)
• Storage and storage management software
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Introduction 9
Cluster Nodes
Table 1-1 lists hardware requirements for the cluster nodes.
NOTE: For more information about supported systems, HBAs, and operating system
versions, see the Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrices at dell.com/ha.
Table 1-1. Cluster Node Requirements
Component Minimum Requirement
Processor At least one processor for each cluster node.
Cluster Nodes A minimum of two identical PowerEdge systems.
RAM At least 1 GB RAM on each cluster node.
Host Bus Adapter
(HBA) ports
Two Fibre Channel HBAs per node, unless the server employs an
integrated or supported dual-port Fibre Channel HBA.
Network
Interface Cards
(NICs)
(public and
private)
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 internal disks for each node. Use any
supported Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)
controller or disk controller.
Two physical disks are required for mirroring (RAID 1) and at least
three are required for disk striping with parity (RAID 5).
NOTE: It is recommended that you use hardware-based RAID or
software-based disk-fault tolerance for the internal drives.
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10 Introduction
Cluster Storage
Table 1-2 provides the configuration requirements for the shared storage
system.
NOTE: RAID 0 and independent disks can be used but are not recommended for a
high-availability system because they do not offer data redundancy if a disk
failure occurs.
Cluster Storage Management Software
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager
The software runs on the management station or any host attached to the
array to centrally manage the PowerVault MD3600f and MD3620f RAID
enclosures. You can use Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager
(MDSM) to perform tasks such as creating disk groups, creating and mapping
virtual disks, monitoring the enclosure status, and downloading firmware.
Table 1-2. Cluster Storage Requirements
Hardware
Components
Minimum Requirement
Supported storage
systems
• One Dell PowerVault MD3600f or MD3620f RAID enclosure.
• Any combination of up to seven Dell PowerVault MD1200
and/or MD1220 expansion enclosures.
NOTE: The number of hard drives must not exceed 96.
Cluster nodes All nodes must be directly attached to a single storage system
or attached to one or more storage systems through a SAN.
Switch and cable At least two 8 Gbps Fibre Channel switches in a SAN-attached
environment.
Power and cooling
requirements
Two integrated hot-swappable power supply/cooling fan
modules.
Physical disks At least two physical disks in the PowerVault MD3600f or
MD3620f RAID enclosure.
Multiple clusters and
stand-alone systems
In a switch-attached configuration, clusters and stand-alone
systems can share one or more PowerVault MD3600f or
MD3620f systems.
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