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January 16th, 2023 14:00
PowerVault MD3600f + MD1200 fiber channel?
Hey all -
I was just wondering, looking at the Administrator's Guide for these devices I'm uncertain if it's necessary that I connect ALL of the fiber channel ports to our fiber channel switches in order to gain functionality and redundancy - mostly because I'm not sure we're "licensed" for enough fiber channel switch ports on our QLogics (which is insanely frustrating, hooray artificial scarcity! - but it is what it is).
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DELL-Joey C
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3.9K Posts
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January 16th, 2023 21:00
Hi @Master-None,
Well, not necessary. But it all depends on how you want your environment configuration to be. You can refer to page 7 of the getting started guide for redundancy cabling: https://dl.dell.com/manuals/common/powervault-md3600f_setup%20guide_po-pl.pdf
ewongsmx
2 Intern
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176 Posts
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January 17th, 2023 16:00
The Administrator's Guide for your devices should specify the minimum number of fiber channel ports required for functionality and redundancy. If you are not licensed for enough fiber channel switch ports, you may not be able to fully utilize the capabilities of your devices.
It is possible to connect only the minimum required number of fiber channel ports and still have functionality, but it may not provide full redundancy. In such case, if one of the connected ports fail, the device will lose connectivity and may cause a disruption in service.
You may want to reach out to the vendor or manufacturer of your devices to clarify the minimum requirements and see if there are any options for obtaining additional license or ports. If you have a limited number of ports on your fiber channel switch, you may also consider using a port-based zoning configuration to limit the number of devices that are connected to the switch.
Alternatively, you can also consider using a different network technology like iSCSI or Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) if your storage system supports it, which can use standard Ethernet ports instead of specialized fiber channel ports.
Please let me know if you have any other questions or need more information.