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October 6th, 2008 09:00
AX4-5, M600 Dell Blades, Brocade 4424
I'm looking for information regarding the AX4-5SC when it is getting used with M600 blades running Server 2003.
The Blades have built in Emulex HBA's - Each blade has a single HBA with dual port, ie. two WWN's.
When I am using the Navisphere server utility to "register the server with the connected storage system" I can only get one the WWN's to register. Is this normal behaviour?
When I check the Brocade 4424 switch I can only see one of the WWN's for the server and when I check Navisphere express only one HBA is visible for that particular server.
I would have though that both would register so that Powerpath can react if one of the HBA ports encounters a problem?? (PS. My setup is not HA as I only have one SP and one Brocade 4424)
Can anyone give me information re this setup as this will affect my Zoning?
Thanks in advance.
Dev Mgr
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October 6th, 2008 13:00
gedi
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October 6th, 2008 13:00
Thanks for Reply.
Is there a case for running 2 fibres from SPA (A-0 & A-1) to the 4424 - To cover port failure.
Do you think this achieves any more resiliency or would this just confuse the issue? I'm assuming powerpath can deal with this.
Will have new Brocade 4424 soon but just trying to find the best setup for the time being.
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October 6th, 2008 15:00
gedi
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October 6th, 2008 21:00
It is only a single SP AX4-5. Will be getting it upgraded to dual SP at the same time I get the new Brocade 4424.
Should I give cable both ports in a single SP setup?
I'm thinking this would mabey cover me incase of a SP FC port failure but unsure if this is a supported configuration or if powerpath will manage this correctly.
Dev Mgr
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October 7th, 2008 11:00
When you upgrade to dual storage processor you'll be buying the 2nd storage processor and at least 1 standby powersupply. This will require 1 U in your rack. For dual SP Clariion arrays the "SPS" is required for the array to enable write cache, so it's not an 'option'; it's a requirement (unless you're ok with having a permanent fault light and no write cache). The batteries will recharge once a week. If you only have 1 SPS, during this recharge cycle (usually 20-40 minutes) the write cache will disable, causing a performance hit. If you opt to purchase the optional 2nd SPS, it'll recharge 1 at a time, allowing the write cache to remain enabled throughout the whole recharge cycle.
One note about the 4424 is that by default it only has the first 8 internal ports active (first 8 blades) and the first 4 external ports. If you need the other blade slots to also be able to connect to the switch you'll need to buy a port license (enables the next 8 internal ports and the next 4 external ports).
gedi
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October 7th, 2008 12:00
I've just checked the Single-SP to Dual-SP conversion doc as supplied by Dell and it seems that they are upgrading the AX4-5 with a standby power supply at the same time.
I've recieved a quote for the "Dual-SP upgrade pack" so i'm going to check that the other power supply is included.
I noticed that the 4424 only had 4 SFP's attached, I think this should be sufficient for now as I only have one disk array. If I bought a seperate HBA for say a PE2950 could I attach this to the 4424 even though it is designed for the M1000e? - Just a thought as I could activate the other 4 ports instead of buying a new FC switch.
Just looking at the zoning now, I've created a zone for each blade that contains the HBA WWN and both AX4-5 WWN's. I'm hopeing i've followed the recomendations correctly, i'm asuming what i've configured is single-initiator zoning??