Dell Networking X4012 User manual

Quick Setup Guide
This document provides information around
the Dell X4012 switch for use with the Scale
HC3 cluster. Any information listed here is
not a substitute for the product’s user guide or
support and is not covered under the support and
warranty for the HC3 cluster. Check for additional
information on this topic at
http://www.scalecomputing.com/support/login/ or at
the manufacturer’s website.
Dell X4012

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Dell X4012 Quick Setup Guide v1.0
You can nd the most up-to-date technical documentation on the Scale Computing Portal at:
http://www.scalecomputing.com/support/login/
The Scale Computing site also provides the latest product updates and information:
http://www.scalecomputing.com/
Provide feedback on this document at:
[email protected]
Contact support at:
[email protected]
http://www.scalecomputing.com/support/login/
US: +1-877-SCALE-59 (877-722-5359)
Europe: 0808 234 0699
Document Revision History:
Version 1.0: 8/2015 Document created
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www.scalecomputing.com 1-877-SCALE-59 (877-722-5359)

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Contents
Introduction 4
About the Dell X4012 Switch 4
About the HC3 Cluster 4
Requirements and Assumptions 4
Best Practice Conguration 4
Cable the Nodes 5
Provide Feedback or Contact Support 6
Disclaimer 6

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Introduction
This guide provides a basic overview and information on how to congure and deploy the Dell X4012
switch with a Scale Computing HC3 cluster. Specics for mounting hardware and installation of brackets
are provided with guides inside the box the switch was delivered in.
About the Dell X4012 Switch
The Dell Networking X4012 switch is a compact and affordable switch that provides 12 ten-gigabit (10
Gb) ethernet SFP+ interfaces. With a small form-factor and low power consumption, the X4012 is a
perfect entry into a 10 Gb ethernet deployment with a Scale Computing HC3 cluster.
About the HC3 Cluster
HC3 combines the benets of server virtualization and shared storage into a converged IT infrastructure
platform where virtualized workloads have direct access to a distributed, scalable pool of shared storage
and computing resources. The cluster eliminates complex virtualization and storage architectures for
greater cost savings while greatly simplifying management of your IT resources.
Requirements and Assumptions
• Windows, Linux, or Mac workstation with a USB port and a terminal emulation program
(puTTY, screen, HyperTerminal, etc.).
• 10 GbE SFP+ Twinax cables for connecting the HC3 nodes to the switch.
• The switch[es] have been mounted and are within 15 meters of the cluster.
• The X4012 switch will be installed in an appropriately cooled environment with adequate
power and airow.
• The switch will be deployed with a single VLAN (default) as a switching fabric for the HC3
backplane network only.
• This guide assumes a 3 node Hz (10 GbE) HC3 cluster.
Best Practice Conguration
The Dell X4012 switches are ideally suited as a dedicated backplane- only switch. This minimizes the
conguration requirements and ensures the backplane switching fabric has dedicated resources.
In order to achieve full fault tolerance and high availability for the cluster, each node has independent,
redundant Network Interface Cards (NICs). As the X4012 switch does not have redundancy in power
supplies, in order to mitigate a single point- of-failure, two switches are recommended to ensure a single
switch disruption does not cause a loss of access to guest VMs on the HC3 cluster.
See the diagram below for a visualization of the ideal cabling and setup with two switches:

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For both backplane and LAN networks on the cluster, the interfaces are in an Active /Passive bond, and
not in a team or Active/Active bond.
Looking at the back of the node, the interfaces labeled “L0” and “B0” are the primary LAN and
Backplane interfaces respectively (L0 is the primary LAN and B0 is the primary backplane interface).
These interfaces will always be primary. The secondary interfaces are “L1” and “B1.” It is vital to ensure
that all primary interfaces and secondary interfaces are connected to separate switches to avoid loops
or additional network hops for backplane trafc.
Cable the Nodes
Using 10 GbE SFP+ Twinax cabling, connect the backplane interfaces “B0” on each node to ports 1, 2, and
3 on the X4012 switch.
Then, connect the second “B1” interfaces to ports 1 , 2, and 3 on the second X4012 switch. An example
is shown in the image on the next page.

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You can connect the power to the switch now, which will automatically power on. The default
conguration for the X4012 is an isolated (default) single VLAN. The switch will not require any
conguration as the goal is to have an isolated, non-routed network for node-to-node backplane
communication only.
For the LAN Network, you can connect the interfaces “L0” and “L1” to your existing LAN infrastructure.
As this guide focuses on the deployment of the X4012 switches as a backplane-only switching fabric,
conguration for the X4012s serving in a multi-VLAN capacity (LAN and backplane) is not covered in
this guide.
Once the LAN and Backplane interfaces are connected, you can power on the nodes. From this point,
you can validate the connectivity with link lights (as seen in the image above) for the backplane and LAN
interfaces.
If you have not done so, please schedule the installation process outlined in the “Welcome to Scale
Computing” email that you have already received. If you have not already received credentials, please
create an account in our portal at: http://customerportal.scalecomputing.com/ and contact Scale
Computing Support to schedule an installation.
Provide Feedback or Contact Support
If you have comments or suggestions regarding this document or other Scale Computing documentation,
you can send them to [email protected].
If you need help, call +1-877-SCALE-59 (877-722-5359), and someone from the Scale Computing
Technical Support Team will be happy to help you.You can also email Scale Computing Technical Support
at [email protected] or nd them on the web at www.scalecomputing.com.
Disclaimer
Any information listed here is not a substitute for the product’s user guide or support and is not covered
under the support and warranty for the HC3 cluster. Scale Computing is not responsible for any issues
or damages arising out of the use of this guide. If you need assistance troubleshooting issues with your
switch you can contact Dell technical support.