General Configuration Considerations

environment. For environments with different server configurations, choose the solution that best matches the servers whose applications are mission-critical or most important.

General Configuration Considerations

The entry-level configuration for an FC array uses only one RAID controller. If this configuration is used, two single-controller arrays should use host-based mirroring to ensure high reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS).

It is preferable to use dual-controller arrays to avoid a single point of failure. A dual- controller FC array features a default active-to-active controller configuration. This configuration provides high reliability and high availability because, in the unlikely event of a controller failure, the array automatically fails over to a second controller, resulting in no interruption of data flow.

The Sun StorEdge 3510 FC array is extremely flexible, but when designing storage solutions remember to keep them as simple as possible. Keep the following suggestions in mind when designing the configuration of a Sun StorEdge 3510 FC storage system:

■Prior to creating logical drives and mapping them to host channels, set the appropriate cache optimization, Fibre Channel protocol and controller channel IDs. Reset the controller after these configuration parameters have been set.

■For best performance and RAS, create logical drives across expansion units.

■Use either local or global spare drives when creating logical drives. Any free drive can be designated as a spare and more than one drive can be used as a spare.

■Use dual pathing for each LUN and use Sun StorEdge Traffic Manager software to provide load balancing across controller ports for increased performance.

■The maximum number of LUNs when using point-to-point protocol is 128 for single- path configurations and 64 for dual-path configurations.

■After completing the configuration of the Sun StorEdge 3510 FC array, the configuration should be saved using the firmware “save nvram to disks” menu option and the Sun StorEdge Configuration Service Console's “save configuration” utility.

Best Practices for the Sun StorEdge 3510 FC Array 11