Dell EMC AX4-5I Manual

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Dell|EMC AX4-5i iSCSI Storage Arrays
With Microsoft®Windows Server®
Failover Clusters
Hardware Installation and
Troubleshooting Guide

Notes, Notices, and Cautions
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___________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2008 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
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Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, PowerEdge, PowerVault, and OpenManage are
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April 2008 Rev A00

Contents 3
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Cluster Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Cluster Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Cluster Nodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Cluster Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
NICs Dedicated to iSCSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Ethernet Switches Dedicated to iSCSI . . . . . . . . 9
Supported Cluster Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Direct-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
iSCSI SAN-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Other Documents You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Cabling Your Cluster Hardware . . . . . . . . 13
Cabling the Mouse, Keyboard, and Monitor . . . . . . 13
Cabling the Power Supplies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cabling Your Cluster for Public and
Private Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Cabling the Public Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cabling the Private Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
NIC Teaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Cabling the Storage Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Cabling Storage for Your
Direct-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Cabling Storage for Your
iSCSI SAN-Attached Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

4Contents
3 Preparing Your Systems
for Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Cluster Configuration Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Installation Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Installing the iSCSI NICs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Installing the Microsoft iSCSI
Software Initiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Modifying the TCP Registry Settings . . . . . . . . 31
Installing EMC®PowerPath®. . . . . . . . . . . 31
Configuring the Shared Storage System . . . . . . 32
Installing and Configuring a Failover Cluster . . . . 41
A Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
B Cluster Data Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
C iSCSI Configuration Worksheet . . . . . . . 51
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Introduction 5
Introduction
A Dell™ Failover Cluster combines specific hardware and software
components to provide enhanced availability for applications and services
that run on your cluster. A Failover Cluster reduces 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 servers, storage power supplies, connections
between the nodes and the storage array(s), connections to client systems or
other servers in a multi-tier enterprise application architecture in your cluster.
This document provides information and specific configuration tasks that
enable you to configure your Failover Cluster with Dell|EMC AX4-5i
Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) storage array(s).
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 located on the Dell
Support website at support.dell.com.For more information on deploying
your cluster with Windows Server 2008 operating systems, see the Dell
Failover Clusters with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Installation and
Troubleshooting Guide located on the Dell Support website at
support.dell.com.
For a list of recommended operating systems, hardware components, and
driver or firmware versions for your Failover Cluster, see the Dell Cluster
Configuration Support Matrices located on the Dell High Availability
Clustering website at www.dell.com/ha.

6Introduction
Cluster Solution
Your cluster supports a minimum of two nodes to a maximum of either eight
nodes (with Windows Server 2003 operating systems) or sixteen nodes (with
Windows Server 2008 operating systems) and provides the following features:
• Gigabit Ethernet technology for iSCSI clusters
• High availability of 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 node or storage system without taking the entire cluster offline
The iSCSI protocol encapsulates SCSI frames that include commands, data,
status and so on to Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
packets to be transported over Ethernet networks. The iSCSI data blocks are
sent between the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator that resides in the host and the
iSCSI target, which is usually a storage device. Implementing iSCSI in a
cluster provides the following advantages:
• Geographic distribution — Wider coverage of Ethernet technology allows
cluster nodes and storage systems to be located in different sites.
• Low cost for Availability — Redundant connections provide multiple data
paths that are available through inexpensive TCP/IP network components.
• Connectivity — A single technology for connection of storage systems,
cluster nodes and clients within existent local area network (LAN), wide
area network (WAN), and storage network.
Cluster Hardware Requirements
Your cluster requires the following hardware components:
• Cluster nodes
• Cluster storage

Introduction 7
Cluster Nodes
Table 1-1 lists the hardware requirements for the cluster nodes.
Table 1-1. Cluster Node Requirements
Component Minimum Requirement
Cluster nodes A minimum of two identical 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.
iSCSI Initiator Install the iSCSI port driver, Initiator Service, and Software
Initiator on each node.
Network Interface
Cards (NICs) for
iSCSI access
Two iSCSI NICs or two iSCSI NIC ports per node. Configure
the NICs on separate PCI buses to improve availability and
performance. TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) NICs are also
supported for iSCSI traffic.
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.

8Introduction
Cluster Storage
Cluster nodes can share access to external storage systems. However, only one
of the nodes can own any RAID volume in the external storage system at any
time. Microsoft Cluster Services (MSCS) controls which node has access to
each RAID volume in the shared storage system.
Table 1-2 lists the supported storage systems and the configuration
requirements for the cluster nodes and stand-alone systems connected to the
storage systems.
The storage systems work together with the following hardware components:
• Disk Processor Enclosure (DPE)—Configured with storage processors that
control the RAID arrays in the storage system and provide 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 1-3 lists hardware requirements for the AX4-5i storage array.
Table 1-2. Cluster Storage Requirements
Hardware Components Requirement
Supported storage
systems
One to four supported Dell|EMC storage systems.
For specific storage system requirements, see Table 1-3.
Cluster nodes All nodes must be directly attached to a single storage
system or attached to one or more storage systems
through a SAN.
Multiple clusters and
stand-alone systems
Can share one or more supported storage systems.

Introduction 9
NOTE: Ensure that the core software version running on the storage system is
supported. For specific version requirements, see the Dell Cluster Configuration
Support Matrices located on the Dell High Availability Cluster website at
www.dell.com/ha.
NICs Dedicated to iSCSI
The NIC controlled by iSCSI Software Initiator acts as an I/O adapter to
connect the system's expansion bus and the storage components. Failover
Cluster solutions that are configured with the AX4-5i storage array require
two iSCSI NICs or NIC ports in each PowerEdge system to provide
redundant paths and load balance the I/O data transfer to the storage system.
Ethernet Switches Dedicated to iSCSI
The Gigabit switch for iSCSI access functions as a regular network switch
that provides extension and dedicated interconnection between the node and
the storage system(s).
Supported Cluster Configurations
Direct-Attached Cluster
In a direct-attached cluster, both 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
iSCSI NIC ports in the nodes.
Figure 1-1 shows a basic direct-attached, single-cluster configuration.
Table 1-3. Dell|EMC Storage System Requirements
Processor
Enclosure
Minimum Required
Storage
Possible Storage
Expansion
SPS
AX4-5i One DPE with at least
4 and up to 12 hard
drives
Up to three DAE with a
maximum of 12 hard
drives each
1 (required) and 2
(optional)

10 Introduction
Figure 1-1. Direct-Attached, Single-Cluster Configuration
EMC PowerPath Limitations in a Direct-Attached Cluster
EMC PowerPath provides failover capabilities and multiple path detection as
well as dynamic load balancing between multiple ports on the same storage
processor. However, direct-attached clusters supported by Dell connect to a
single port on each storage processor in the storage system. Because of the
single port limitation, PowerPath can provide only failover protection, not
load balancing, in a direct-attached configuration.
iSCSI SAN-Attached Cluster
In an iSCSI switch-attached cluster, all of the nodes are attached to a single
storage system or to multiple storage systems through redundant LANs for
high-availability. iSCSI SAN-attached clusters are superior to direct-attached
clusters in configuration flexibility, expandability, and performance.
Figure 1-2 shows an iSCSI SAN-attached cluster.
cluster node
private network
public network
cluster node
storage system
iSCSI connections
iSCSI connections