Dell F-Series manual SAN-Attached Cluster Rules and Guidelines

•Storage area network (SAN) — A configuration of computer and storage systems that incorporates dedicated Fibre Channel connectivity between the computer systems and storage. A SAN bypasses traditional network bottlenecks and sup- ports direct high-speed data transfer between the servers and storage devices.

SAN-Attached Cluster Rules and Guidelines

The following rules and requirements described in Table 1-1 apply to SAN-attached clusters. For rules and requirements for cluster consolidation configurations, see “Cluster Consolidation Rules and Guidelines” found later in this document. See the Dell PowerVault SAN documentation for more information on general SAN rules and guidelines.

Table 1-1. Rules and Guidelines for SAN-Attached Clusters

Rule/Guideline	Description
Number of servers	Up to 10 two-node clusters attached to a SAN.
supported	Combinations of standalone servers and cluster pairs
	not to exceed 20 server maximum.
Cluster pair support	All homogeneous and heterogeneous PowerEdge
	Cluster F-Series configurations supported in direct-
	attach configurations are supported in SAN-attached
	configurations. See the Dell PowerEdge Cluster FE100/
	FL100 Platform Guide for more information on sup-
	ported cluster pairs.
Primary storage	Up to 8 PowerVault Fibre Channel disk arrays are sup-
	ported on a SAN. Primary storage can be owned by a
	single cluster and multiple clusters (through SAN-
	attached cluster consolidation configurations discussed
	later in this document). A mixture of these types of
	ownership on a single storage system is not supported.
	For example, the following are supported configura-
	tions: one cluster to one storage system, one cluster to
	multiple storage systems, and multiple clusters to one
	storage system. However, a configuration with multiple
	clusters to multiple storage systems is not supported.
	A mixture of configurations is supported on a SAN.
Secondary storage	Up to 4 Fibre Channel Bridges are supported, each with
	up to 2 PowerVault 130T tape libraries or up to 4 Power-
	Vault 120T tape autoloaders. Any server attached to the
	SAN can share these devices.
Dell OpenManage™	Not required for standard SAN-attached clusters.
Storage
Consolidation
Fibre Channel switch	Redundant switch fabrics required for clusters.
configuration
Fibre Channel switch	Required whenever a cluster shares a SAN with other
zoning	cluster(s) or standalone server(s).

1-6 Dell PowerEdge Cluster F-Series SAN Guide