Dell Ax4-5 Manual

Cabling Your Cluster Hardware31
 The shared storage systems and firmware must be identical. Using 
dissimilar storage systems and firmware for your shared storage is not 
supported.
 MSCS is limited to 22 drive letters. Because drive letters A through D are 
reserved for local disks, a maximum of 22 drive letters (E to Z) can be used 
for your storage system disks. 
 Windows Server 2003 and 2008 support mount points, allowing greater 
than 22 drives per cluster.
For more information, see Assigning Drive...

32Cabling Your Cluster Hardware
Connecting a PowerEdge Cluster to a Tape Library
To provide additional backup for your cluster, you can add tape backup 
devices to your cluster configuration. The Dell PowerVault™ tape libraries 
may contain an integrated Fibre Channel bridge, or Storage Network 
Controller (SNC), that connects directly to your Dell/EMC Fibre Channel 
switch. 
Figure 2-12 shows a supported PowerEdge cluster configuration using 
redundant Fibre Channel switches and a tape library. In this...

Cabling Your Cluster Hardware33
Configuring Your Cluster With SAN Backup
You can provide centralized backup for your clusters by sharing your SAN 
with multiple clusters, storage systems, and a tape library.
Figure 2-13 provides an example of cabling the cluster nodes to your storage 
systems and SAN backup with a tape library.
Figure 2-13. Cluster Configuration Using SAN-Based Backup
cluster 2 cluster 1
Fibre Channel switch 
storage systems
tape library Fibre Channel switch  

34Cabling Your Cluster Hardware 

Preparing Your Systems for Clustering35
Preparing Your Systems for 
Clustering
 CAUTION: Only trained service technicians are authorized to remove and access 
any of the components inside the system. See the safety information that shipped 
with your system for complete information about safety precautions, working 
inside the computer, and protecting against electrostatic discharge.
Cluster Configuration Overview
1Ensure that your site can handle the cluster’s power requirements. 
Contact your sales...

36Preparing Your Systems for Clustering
4Establish the physical network topology and the TCP/IP settings for 
network adapters on each server node to provide access to the cluster 
public and private networks. 
5Configure each cluster node as a member in the same Microsoft® 
Windows Active Directory® Domain. 
 NOTE: You can configure the cluster nodes as Domain Controllers. For more 
information, see “Selecting a Domain Model” section of Dell Failover Clusters 
with Microsoft Windows Server 2003...

Preparing Your Systems for Clustering37
 NOTE: For Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters, you can also use the 
Cluster Validation Wizard. 
12Configure highly-available applications and services on your failover 
cluster. Depending on your configuration, this may also require providing 
additional LUNs to the cluster or creating new cluster resource groups. 
Test the failover capabilities of the new resources. 
13Configure client systems to access the highly available applications and 
services that are...

38Preparing Your Systems for Clustering
4The shared storage system
5A failover cluster
Installing the Fibre Channel HBAs
Fo r  d u a l-HBA configurations, It is recommended that you install the Fibre 
Channel HBAs on separate peripheral component interconnect (PCI) buses. 
Placing the adapters on separate buses improves availability and performance. 
See the Dell Cluster Configuration Support Matrices located on the Dell High 
Availability Clustering website at dell.com/ha for more information about...

Preparing Your Systems for Clustering39
5In the We l c o m e window of the setup wizard, click Next.
6In the CLARiiON AX-Series window, select and click Next. Follow the 
onscreen instructions to complete the installation. 
7Click Ye s to reboot the system.
Implementing Zoning on a Fibre Channel 
Switched Fabric
A Fibre Channel switched fabric consists of one or more Fibre Channel 
switches that provide high-speed connections between servers and storage 
devices. The switches in a Fibre Channel fabric...

40Preparing Your Systems for Clustering
A WWN consists of an 8-byte hexadecimal number with each byte separated 
by a colon. For example, 10:00:00:60:69:00:00:8a is a valid WWN. Using 
WWN port name zoning allows you to move cables between switch ports 
within the fabric without having to update the zones.
Table 3-1 provides a list of WWN identifiers that you can find in the 
Dell/EMC cluster environment.
 WARNING: When you replace a switch module, a storage controller, or a Fibre 
Channel HBA in a...